And months later...

Hi, yes it's been awhile I know....my bad!

So, lets see what is new....

Well it turns out that when you get married, its a whole new social arena.  I am trying to figure out how the whole making friends thing works, at least that's what we've been working on the last few months :)  I mean, you kind of have "couple friends" after you get married, right? At least that's been our experience.   And you have to find a couple that you both like...And then you hear about certain people hanging out with other people, and its like, "Wait, I thought you were MY friend!"  Kidding.....but it IS a whole new world of socializing. :)  And when you make friends with a couple that has kids and you don't, its nearly impossible to hang out...unless its early enough in the day to where the kids aren't in bed or don't have to go to bed soon.  And then, when you see couples hang out that DO have kids (or when you hang out with them), that's all they ever talk about.  It's one of those things that is of course completely natural because it's a major part of their lives.  And that's fabulous :)  It just makes me think that I hope that Rob and I can find outside things going on so that the kids aren't the entire focus of our lives...you know what I mean?  Maybe that's easier said than done :)  And that certainly doesn't mean I don't like talking about kids. :)  It's just not exactly something that we are experiencing yet haha :)  And, don't get me wrong, its not a terrible thing :)  And not everyone does it, for sure.  I'm just saying...and hoping none of those people are reading this thinking, "IS IT ME??!!! WHY DO YOU HATE ME!!!  FINE DON'T EVER COME OVER AGAIN!!!"  Guys, seriously....OK So maybe I'm exaggerating. Because honestly, I only notice it when another couple enters the room who has kids.  They don't do it with us so much because we don't have kids in common :)  OK horse beaten....

And, I am totally loving having sisters.  Someone said that once--the value of sisters after getting married :)  They are great.  I text them all the time.  When we hang out its like a breath of fresh air.  I love it. :)

Rob and I are now both working with the youth. I just got put into Young Womens as the 2nd counselor and I teach the one and only beehive, haha.  I always wanted to be in Young Womens, and now I suddenly find myself feeling incredibly intimidated!! I was in Primary teaching the 6 year olds for about 6 months, so this is a whole new ball game!  :)

Let's see, what else.....hmmm.....well I'd love to hear from anyone.  :)  I miss my Utah friends :)  I was so blessed to have really bomb roommates and coworkers and ward members, seriously.  I think at the time, though I knew life was great, I didn't value my friends as much as I do now :)  Friends are huge blessings.  I can't say that enough :)  Rob is great, don't get me wrong :)  But without friends, I think we would both go crazy, its just not healthy! ha.

Anyway, I realize after several months this isn't much...but I just thought I'd catch up!!

PS, I knew we should get a lovely picture of Christ or the Temple for our living room wall, but.....we have a really big Zebra.  A ZEBRA.  A big one, in all his glory.  prancing.  I think, or he's just a really good poser.....There was just something about him that drew me in. :)   ha...And it was only $28 as opposed to similar sized paintings of the Temple or Christ that were like, $200....on a budget, people. So, I will end with this....inspiration can be found anywhere, so I am very grateful for Heavenly Father's creations. I always feel closer to Him in nature :)  (Even if its a zebra, I guess.....)

The end.   (and since this is on an ipad I'm still gettting used to it....anyone know how to post pics from an ipad???? so confused....ha)

Portland!!

For Rob's birthday in July, I received an e-mail from Southwest airlines about a deal they were having on flights..... so I took a look, and BAM!!! Portland was on the list.  Why Portland, you ask?

Well, well.... Rob's best friend and old band mate, Kendall, lives in Portland along with his wife and soon-to-be baby! 

So, of course, what better present could I get??  :).

It has been a good trip.  It turns out that Portland is very clean, very green, and there are blackberries growing along most of the roads!  Have you ever picked a blackberry right off the bush and eaten it?Mmmm.....so good.... PS, it turns out that blackberry bushes have TONS of thorns. Just for warning you.....

Ew...are you impressed, or what?

PS if you want to hear Rob and Kendall play, click here! http://youtu.be/cQeTqB_VY7E (its much more attractive than my scratched up foot....).

The Ninja Blender

A couple of weeks ago, Rob and I decided to splurge with our Target giftcards and wait for it...get a....wait for it...Nin....wait for it...ja!!! A Ninja blender!!  

Saturday morning came around, and we decided it was time to give it a shot! We were so excited to try it out.  We got out every fruit and vegetable we could think of and placed them before us.  It was also a beautiful day--a little bit of a drizzle but a perfect temperature.  So we opened all the windows up and let in a fresh breeze. What a great day!

Rob has class early Saturdays, so we decided that sending him off with a healthy breakfast drink would be the perfect topping to this morning, not to mention using our awesomely strong blender....

Well, as I wasn't sure just how strong this thing was, we put in the veggies one at a time and discussed each one. Like this:

"OH ROB!! DUDE!!! CHECK IT OUT WE SHOULD PUT IN SOME CARROTS!! AND BANANAS!!  AND CELERY!! AND CRUNCHY APPLES!!"

"SHAYNA THATS AN AWESOME IDEA!!!  YEAH-YEAHHHH!!! WE ARE GONNA ROCK THIS THING!!! BOOYAAAAHHH!!"

"HEY ROB! (he is in the other room) DO YOU THINK WE SHOULD ADD SOME ROCKS TO THIS??  MAYBE SOME ICE CHUNKS??"

"HUH? WHAT?? WHAT DID YOU SAY HUN? YEAH MY RASH IS GOING AWAY!!!"

"I SAID...."

Anyway, as I pulsed the blender, "ROARRR!!! RoOAARRRR!!! RROOOOAAAARRRRRR!!!!!!" I was thinking, and saying, 

'THIS THING IS AMAZING!!! WOOHOOOO!!!!!" (upon which I *almost* put on my clogging shoes and clogged across the kitchen....)

Rob walked into the kitchen and I pulsed it a few more times...."WAAAH....WAHHHHH....WAAAHHHH....WAAAHHHH...."

Then, before we knew it, as Rob and I bellowed out our joyous laughter and excitement, "Ha HA HA HA".....a figure in a flowing gown appeared at our window...

"GEEZE!!! I know you guys are diggin' your new place and everything, but seriously!!  What are you doing??  It sounds like there are power tools going off in here!!  My bed is right next to the wall where you are doing that! I can hear everything!!!"

And that was our first introduction to our next door neighboor.  Needless to say, we are a lot quieter in the kitchen now that we know that her bed is LITERALLY right next our kitchen wall.  

PS...Highly recommended: the Ninja.  

Geocaching! What??

OK, ok. I know we are about 10 years behind on this, but its pretty cool.  My cousin Amber introduced it to us :)  So, we decided to try it out and on our Sunday walk, we realized there was a Geocache about a mile from us!  So we walked to it, and after digging through some rocks, we found it!  Our first geocache ever! 

If you have kids or just want something different to do, this is kind of fun :) It spices up a typical walk, and these geocaches are everywhere!  

And....I am almost ashamed to admit this, but I have been watching episode after episode of How I Met Your Mother. I stopped watching for a long time because Barney is soooo inappropriate....but I finished Chuck and got sucked back in....and its HILARIOUS.  The end.