Graduation Vacation

My first choice was South East Asia. Malaysia, Cambodia...maybe even a little adventure into Vietnam.

All the history, the recent history! The beautiful landscapes.

Husband?

No. I can only miss a couple days of work, we'd only be there for like a day.

Fine.

Egypt. I'll settle for Egypt. I've never been, it's so rich in culture and history. We can take a bus south and catch a short safari in Tanzania (below)

Husband?

Do you want to die? Egyptians are crazy, and desperate. You'll die for sure.

Fine.

What I really need is a travel bug. I need to choose a place that will plant a travel seed to grow like an OAK. If Italy can't do it... I'm doomed.

I pushed Italy... I REALLY pushed Italy.

Husband?

10 day's are you crazy? I can't miss five days of work, you're insane.

FINE. Costa Rica. I'll settle for Costa Rica. It's closer, shorter flight. We can venture into Panama.

I settled for Seattle.

Yes, Seattle.

What can I say? I'm a push over.

What to do in Seattle?

1. Elliot Bay Book Company

2. Olympic Sculpture Park

3. The Big Picture

4. Pike's Place

5. Whale Watching

6. Fishing in Victoria

7. Northwest Folklife Festival

And, now I'm starting to get excited. Seattle...Memorial Day- wanna come?

Just got this...

new furniture is fun.
still working it out.

but I love the crate- it's made from reclaimed pine and reclaimed hardwood.


This is my favorite part. Hubs found this cute bird's nest in our satellite dish on Thursday and had it waiting on my new cart when I got home from school. Perfect end to a horrible day...love him.

Blood, Sweat and Tears

What are you willing to do for this:



Or this?


Are you willing to do this?

Or this?










I'm not.















He is.










only to later find this:











uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuugggggggggggggggggg!












Translation:
Everything in this picture = a waste of time.

Our Birthdays

are coming up. It's that time of year again, when we both turn a year older and celebrate our anniversary within three weeks. You may have noticed my not so subtle wish list to the right- my sweet husband who loves when I open presents got me a three part facial series. Love him.

I scheduled the first appointment today. I love all things skin care, mostly because I have horrible skin~ I also got a subscription to Cuisine at Home magazine, the most fabulous present! It is loaded with recipes- delicious ones. I'm going to one out asap!

I eluded to other exciting things in my last post- and I'm happy to say that I'm teaching yoga. I am teaching a class on Tuesday mornings at 6:30 am and have set up to teach additional classes in the fall. yay!

I still have 100 hours left to complete my certification but teaching has really helped me implement many of the things I've learned over the last few months. So excited.

Husband opened a present last night too, he several pairs of shorts and a belt. Not nearly as exciting.

Spring....almost.

So, it's technically spring in these parts. However, you can tell my the jackets in these pictures it's not Spring at all...practically speaking.

So here is the first issue we tried to tackle:

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Very dead grass. The previous family that lived in this house didn't exactly have an eye for detail (to put it VERY nicely). After lots of research and talking to the lady that knows lots about grass (and smokes some too, I think), we learned that we do indeed need to fertilize, but not before cutting the grass very very short. Short? It's already short- we must go shorter.

In Draper, our HOA took care of all the lawn care so we didn't have any lawn tools. Being the thifty type, I scoured 13 count 'em THIRTEEN garage sells looking for yard tools and a lawn mower, I only found two items. Neither a lawn mower so the husband and I went to Sears and bought one.

After our recent trip to Bed Bath and Beyond to buy mirrors (the lovely family before us took all the mirrors with them when they up and left this joint), we learned that Doug's back seat doesn't lay down. That makes my car (the MINI Cooper) our vehicle with the highest hauling capacity, score.

So after we picked out our lawn mower (this wasn't too hard because they only had one option for us to choose from) loaded it up, just like this:

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And made our way back to the palace, we commenced to do our yard work. Three hours later:





and no grass shorter. Doug moved on to a new project, the garden. Our lawn mower never worked. Never. It would start but it wouldn't stay started. You will notice the gas can in this picture. That is a fruit of my garage sale going. Aaand, it leaks. Awesome.


The other garage sell find was this little beauty. ( I still can't believe I went to THIRTEEN garage sales and two DI's and only found two items)

a rake.

This came in handy when the lawn mower wouldn't work and Doug had to start tilling the garden. (Gma and Gpa, this is our garden, or it will be soon.)

Don't feel sorry that he's tilling this with only a garden rake, he refuses to spend money on other yard tools- he's waiting to find them at sales.


Wicket enjoyed himself very much- he was a big helper while Doug was tilling, Wicket just dug right along beside him.

My husband, the chef

Doug makes dinner on Sundays- it's nice to have a break. Last week he made these buns to go with our hamburgers.


My friend Stacey said they were so pretty we should take pictures. Turns out, they are pretty!

Easter.... The Un-Familied Holiday

There are a couple rules I set in place before I grabbed my big rock from husband and said "Finally!" First and foremost, is that all holidays are spent with family! I have managed to come our on top of this argument up to this point, but husband is putting his foot down (using weather as and excuse) and standing his ground.

It will be a lonely Easter in the Douglas Shumway home.

Fortunately, this gives me the ammo I need to guilt him into a weekend full of fun and social encounters. A few ideas?


Tonight there is a Faces of Hunger exhibit at the Utah Food Bank. It may be one of the best options unless I'm up for going to the movies and calling it good... I'm usually not.



Saturday will definitely include an MS Walk, my department is involved in:


Our first date-weekend Doug and I went to the Children's Theater... it's always a good choice.


I was talking to my Hot Mommy friend, Meg, the other day and she was speaking of fun things for her little baby girl to do. She said that motherhood brings upon a new phrase, "It's fun for the kids"
And that may seem what and Easter Eggstreme might be intended for, but I doubt there will be a kid in attendance that will have more fun than Wicket and myself... and Doug will have about as much fun as all the parents.


I am not above planning to go to the Children's Theater for Alice in Wonderland, The Easter Celebreation at Thanksgiving Point
Or if I really want to show him I mean business I can subject him to his worst enemy... spectator sports. The Jazz, Real and Bees all have games on Saturday.




Ah, who am I kidding...I'm typically appeased by taking Wicket to Petsmart and calling it a night. I'm mothering a young'n now, I wake up when it's still dark outside (during the winter anyway), I can't stay our all night cheering for hot soccer or giant basketball players.

Doug's Endowment Trip

Here are some old ones!
I found these pictures from Doug's Endowment trip to Blanding. These were at the Monticello Temple. It was a good trip, and all the guys he works with came down and my parents came into town. It was a good weekend.

Valentine's Day with the Shumways

Doug and I decided that we aren't going to do anything for Valentines day... we are on a budget- and in preparation for Wicket, we're just trying to save up. So instead of Flemmings and Godiva we made Valentines Day cookies and decorated them, played volleyball and he helped me study for my Med Path test next week... ah, love.

This recipe was truely the best, Doug said it was as good as Granny B's...SUCCESS; a better than Granny B's review would be aiming too high.

We made so many cookies, that we decided to share the wealth around the community... so I hope they all like lots of frosting;)


Recipe:

1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 cups sour cream
5 to 6 cups flour (until desired consistency for rolling)

Cream together butter and sugar. Beat in eggs, vanilla and sour cream. Mix in dry ingredients. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Preheat oven to 425ºF.

Roll out dough to a 1/4 to 3/8 inch thickness using a generous amount of flour. Cut out shapes and bake on an ungreased cookie sheet for 8 minutes. Cool on wire rack. Frost and decorate as desired. Yield: a dang lot

PS. These may look like they're not quite done when you take them out- but that's ideal... the perfect done-ness is just slightly golden on the bottom.

Marriage

Marriage is all about being 30% larger than your wife but only getting 40% of the bed because she is a kicker.

Keeping it Real... Wedding Website

So many of our friends and family took the time to post on our wedding website... thank you- here they all are...

Tom & Colleen Tennant ~ September 8th, 2008

Congratulations! Good luck to you both. Let us know if you ever get back to Texas.

Brooklyn ~ August 25th, 2008

Congratulations.

Julie Lee ~ July 22nd, 2008

You've got to publish a book! I laughed until it hurt! You two will never have a dull moment!

Dan and Carol Garza ~ July 19th, 2008

Have a long and happy marriage. (Lind) We love you. (Doug) Take care of our beauty.

Aunt Paula ~ July 14th, 2008

There is no doubt in my mind that the Big Man upstairs had this union planned. I am so happy for both of you. Love you big as the sky,Aunt Paula

Elizabeth Perez ~ July 7th, 2008

Awww such a romantic engagement story.

Jolyn ~ July 2nd, 2008

After pondering something profound to say to you guys, I decided, what do I know? We are so happy for you. Now, be at peace.

Catherine Murawski (Deist) ~ July 1st, 2008

YAY, Linds! So happy for you!

Samuel Wilkinson ~ June 26th, 2008

(Lou) Sorry I am not going to be able to make it sis, but you know I love you. (Doug) take care of my sis. I love 'er. (Both) Tanti Auguri. Abbiate una buon'esperienza e divertitevi! Vi Amo

Sergio Saenz Sr. ~ June 25th, 2008

Im so happy for ya neighbor! Congratulations from Jamaila, Jr. and I!

Lauren Wheat ~ June 25th, 2008

Finally! Just kidding- but not really. Love you both!

travis ault ~ June 25th, 2008

well well well, im happy for you guys!! congratulations! Elizabeth ~ June 25th, 2008 YEAH YA'LL! Very excited. Ashley N. Maupin ~ June 24th, 2008 Congrats Lu! I love you and miss you. Joel Guajardo ~ June 24th, 2008 Congrats! I'm very happy for you. Can't wait to meet Doug. Kristen Gardiner ~ June 23rd, 2008 Congratulations! Married life is the best! :) Michelle Mayberry ~ June 23rd, 2008 CONGRATULATIONS! I'm soo happy for you and can't wait to see pictures! Maxine Ramirez ~ June 22nd, 2008 I'm so excited and can't wait!!! Yay!!!!