E! The True Shaw Story

ALOHA!!

2011-12-26T20:27:00.000-08:00

In November we decided to embark on a 9 day adventure with our friends Howie & Amber to Hawaii!
For some reason the pictures are in reverse, so it will start on our last night there to the first day we arrived!

The famous "Merry Christmas" card picture!

A classic Hawaiian rainbow!

Sipping Pina Coladas on the beach

As we were basking in the sun, we noticed a man cheerleader doing some jumps down on the beach, so Josh was inspired to show off some of his skills. In this picture, he is performing a herkie!

Enjoying the luxuries of the JW Marriott in our suite (Thanks to Howie's reward points)

The view from our room!

Delicious Lunch at the Grass Skirt Grill

Our view in Ko' Olina

Snorkeling at Hanama Bay... Amazing!

Josh's right foot was bit off by a shark.. No BD

Hanama Bay

Enjoying the best purchases of the trip... Snorkel Gear from Wal Mart!

Howie attempting and succeeding at a Cheeseburger in Paradise Challenge. He had to finish this (below) in 20 minutes.... Accomplished in 13:11

Taking a catamaran to swim with sea turtles!

Waiting for our boat to arrive!

What a beauty of a catamaran... Thanks Travelzoo.com!

Risking their lives to climb a coconut tree.

Getting all "harnessed up"

Polynesian Culture Center

Spear throwing contest

Love Love Love the stripes underneath the white shirt!

Laie Temple! Taking us back to the day we got married!

Classic!

Beautiful North Shore!

The view from our hotel in Honolulu

Uh,Trying to get my system moving with some grape juice...

Never ever use L & L's Drive Inn bathrooms unless you like mold on the walls and poo all over the floor!

Serendipity! We meet the same guy that we met on the same beach on the day of our wedding!

Visiting the same beach we had our ring ceremony on the North Shore!

This was Josh's grand picture idea

"The steps we have taken since we said I DO" What a hopeless romantic!

Pineapple Ice Cream

Dole Plantation!

Cruising in the Converts!

My new favorite restaurant... DUKES!

Serenading!

Josh demonstrating the newest break through ab exercise!

Bros watching the sunset!

Playing frisbee, catching some rays, and drinking some Coladas!

Obama so happened to be in Hawaii the same days we were!

How did the gangster street dancers Amber's balloon???

The answer to this, we will never know!

Lets just say... This is what happens after leaving Senor Frogs!

The entourage. Hilary Clinton or a Prime MInister????

Too much Diet Coke for Howie!

The most expensive balloon hats around. Miscommunication leads to $20.00 in tips!

Aloha!!!!

If I had to rate the food from 1-10... I would say a 4, Josh would say a 10!

Rules Josh taught me about First Class

1. Use the warm rag to wipe down your face.

2. Ask for as many candy bars you can get your hands on

3. Don't ask for a virgin Mai Tai on the plane... They will have no idea what that means in First Class!

The plane that took us across the big blue!

Summer is now in session

2011-06-27T20:34:00.000-07:00

We challenged ourselve to a 10K with Andrew and Mary!

Half marathon is the next thing on the list!

.... Too bad I have not been running in like two weeks....

Then off to Bear Lake with the Shaws!

Yes it snowed on Memorial Day at the end of May

We dressed in our winter camp gear the whole time

Minute to Win It!!!!!!!!

And the game begins in Three, Two, One (Monotone Robot-woman voice)

The head banger

Ready Spaghetti

Rick & Melissa: LEVEL FAILED

Brooke & Amber: LEVEL COMPLETE

(Of course you two would)

Ha ha ha I love the random teams together!

Chug, Chug, Chug, Chug.... LEVEL FAILED

Bobble Head Howie

Concentration at its finest

Rick & Melissa: FIRST & LAST LEVEL TO COMPLETE

Team Shelley & Scott: Mastered Breakfast Scramble

Shake Shake Shake, Shake Shake Shake, Shake your Pepsi!

Yes those are golf balls, and Yes they are balancing!

DRIVE IN MOVIE!

I am pretty sure this was the best drive in movie set up ever!

Blow up mattress+ loads of blankets+ pillows galore= Sleeping instead of watching the movies!

Sorry, no room in the In (Drive-In vehicle that is)

BABY JACE'S BLESSING!

Ryan found the chocolate...

Oh wait, Chris found the chocolate and then gave it to Ryan.

Am I right Karen?

We love you guys!

Girls night out at Mikados

When Josh is away, Melissa will play!

Stripes

ZAGG Lagoon Day. Sky Coaster & 3 big boys. I would have peed my pants.

Saying goodbye to the wives, just in case they don't make it back.

Birthday Bash at Memory Grove.

We had to take a picture of the sandbags so we could remember the "flood of 2011."

5/6th of the Davenport Family

BABY PAIGE'S BLESSING DAY!

We are going to miss you guys like CRAZY!!!

We will see you in Viva Las Vegas very soon!

As of Lately...

2011-05-09T20:31:00.001-07:00

A couple of weekends ago we CELEBRATED Ashley's 21st birthday by trying out our luck in Wendover!

Long story short... There was no luck to be had.
This picture was taken right outside of a "Rest Stop" 30 miles from Wendover. I have always been led to believe that these stops are a breeding ground for creepo truck men looking for their next prey...Josh on the other hand enjoys and often prefers stopping at these "Rest Stops"

The birthday flame!

While we were in San Francisco last fall, my mom was diagnosed with Breast Cancer. Fortunately, they got her right in for operation which was followed by six weeks of radiation. We are so grateful that she caught it early and felt so blessed to run/walk together at the Race for the Cure. It was amazing to see how many people were there all for the same cause!

Woke up early and waiting for the Trax train's arrival

The girls (minus Tayler who had to work... we missed you Tay)

Sidenote: While we were taking this picture, Josh was waiting in line for the porta-potty for 30 minutes! ha ha

Running and probably listening to Katy Perry E.T. on his pod. Don't judge.

We made it 30:38!

Race Accomplished!

Go Team Davenport!

We also celebrated my Dad's birthday all day after the race! Zupas for lunch and El Rancho Grande for dinner... a family favorite! Heaven forbid we keep off any calories we burned while running. Topped off with some cake and ice cream for dessert!

Blue and tan cargo short matchy twins!

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!

We made my mom a delicious sunday brunch full of belgian waffles and choc chip, blackberry, strawberry, whip cream, and powdered sugar toppings!!!

Abbie always gets so excited when there are birthdays and decided to sing along this year.

Note: This was a reenactment, hence the creepy Opera singing voices. We noticed that Abbie would sing more if we sang five octaves higher!

Easter Weekend

2011-04-25T14:07:00.001-07:00

We have been waiting for Spring to spring... and finally it has at Thanksgiving Point!!

Tulips, tulips, and more tulips!

These flowers remind me of the talking flowers on Alice and Wonderland!

When we walked through the gardens, it felt like we were in a fairytale!

When you buy your ticket you have the choice of walking, riding a golf cart, or a segway.
We decided to walk and work on our fitness but found an abandoned cart halfway through the gardens that we decided to try out!

My honey bunny!

What the Niagra Falls in Thanksgiving Point gardens... Where did these come from??
Bunny Bread: A new Easter tradition

Happy Easter!

Fanny Attack!

2011-04-22T10:26:00.000-07:00

Not THIS kind of Fanny Attack!!!

(Josh is still trying to convince me that fanny packs are coming back in style)

We are stepping up our fitness this month as we embark on a one month challenge full of strenuous exercise! .... A Fanny Attack!!!

I am doing a 100 miles of exercise in one month challenge.

If you do the calculations (100 / 31 days= 3.22 miles per day).... I will obviously want to take a break on Sundays so this comes out to be about 4 miles, six days a week!

Can it be done....

So far:

Monday: 3 mile run, 1 mile eliptical

Tuesday: 3 mile run, 1 mile eliptical

Wednesday: 3 mile run, 1 mile eliptical

Thursday: 4 mile run

I think I can, I think I can

Three

2011-03-16T15:02:00.000-07:00

It feels like yesterday that we were boarding the plane with my wedding dress in one hand and my bag in the other... Wow has time flown!

We have been married 3 years on 3.13.....

Marrying my best friend was the best decision I have ever made!

I love you Josh!!

As the Job World Turns....

2011-02-26T09:44:00.000-08:00

When planning to leave for California, EVERYTHING seemed to be working out in our favor!

1.) When we found out we would be leaving in two weeks for our internship, we needed a renter for our condo while we were gone. The next day a lady pulls up in her car while I was outside cleaning out my trunk and asked me if I knew of any condos that were being rented... She was heaven sent! I informed her that ours was being rented out and to come in and take a look at it. She LOVED it and signed a lease the next day

2.) I had to give my job a 1 week notice and I was so nervous that they were going to be mad. My boss was so great about it and was excited for our adventure!

3.) We were able to get ALL of our stuff moved out of our condo very quick with TONS of help from our wonderful families, neighbors, ward members, friends.

*************************

When we came home in January, we were prepared for the reality that we would not have jobs and our condo was still being rented out. I guess you could say we are... Homeless and jobless!

But not really the homeless part because we are living with my cute parents in their basement.

We have been home for almost two months and we are still without jobs. It seems as though our luck has changed a bit ... I spend most of my day everyday applying for jobs and getting my resume out there. Whenever I talk to someone from Human Resources about a particular position they inform me that I am running against 300 other people for the same position.

I went to an interview for a Legal Assistant position and the man interviewing me said that there are people with their masters and even attorneys applying for this position.

I will admit it has been very frustrating, especially since I got my Bachelor's to prevent this sort of situation from happening. All we can do now is to stay positive and have faith that everything will work out in its own time.... Its not always my time or the way I want it to be.

Life is full of ups and downs and you have to go through the hard times to appreciate when things come easier! We have so much to be happy and thankful for. We have amazing parents and sisters. We are blessed with,who we consider, the world's bestest friends!

As the job world turns...

Hopefull it starts turning our way!! :)

Homeward Bound

2011-02-18T09:57:00.000-08:00

Well we have been home for a month and a half and I never posted about our journey home!

In total, we covered 1,076 miles of land!!

Our last night in San Francisco was so sad!
We had grown to love this city and everything about it.

I of course took the trolley down to Union Square for one last time...

There is so much magic in this city!

We met a man names Mitch who we grew to become great pals with!

He is an entertainer on the pier and has promised our first born child an amazing birthday party on Pier 39 when they turn 3 years old.

We will definatley take you up on that offer Mitch!

We miss you buddy and see you soon!

On our way home to Salt Lake, we stopped in Solvang where we had spent our summer!

We met up with all of our friends, Sandi, Jon, Timmeri, Mary, and had breakfast at The Longhorn!

Mary, our adopted grandmother, surprised us with a luxurious room at the Chumash Casino!

We have been surrounded by the most amazing people on our journey!

While living in Solvang, we never took our picture next to the infamous windmill.

So we first stopped at The Fudge Kitchen for the world's best Pretzel and then took our picture together.

We love you and Miss you Solvang!!! We will be seeing you soon!

Our next stop was Universal Studios and Disneyland!

The christmas lights were still lit up in Disneyland!!

As our last night in California came to a close, our little eyes filled up with tears while watching the fireworks show.... even Josh's filled up a bit!

We LOVED living here for 8 months and found it soooo hard to leave!

We know that this moment would be so bitter-sweet as we left the place we loved but going home to family and friends!

We are now residing back home in snowy Salt Lake City...

Oh how we miss Sunny California!!

Leaving our HEARTS in San Francisco!

2011-01-04T18:55:00.000-08:00

Our journey here is coming to an end and we are so grateful that we were able to have this oppurtunity! We have been in California since May and have truly loved every minute of it. Josh and I have grown so much and it has been such a great experience to leave the stresses of life and just focus on eachother for a few months. This is definately a part of my life that we will always look back on and wish we had it back! We are excited for all of our new adventures in life that await us... Goodbye City by the bay, you have stolen our hearts!

I think Amber said it best when she said that Tony says it best..

We LEAVE OUR HEARTS in San Francisco

High on a hill, they call to us.

To be where LITTLE CABLE CARSClimb halfway to the stars!

The morning fog may chill the air,

I DON'T CARE OUR LOVE GREW there in San Francisco
Above the blue and windy sea

When we COME HOME to you, San Francisco,

YOUR GOLDEN SUN WILL SHINE FOR US!

San Francisco will always be considered a home to us,

for it is where it was just us two,

So until NEXT TIME San Francisco,

WE WILL BE MISSING YOU!!

Twas the night before christmas...

2010-12-29T18:11:00.000-08:00

Josh and I finished up our christmas shopping on christmas eve. This is my favorite view as we are driving back into the city from Daly City.
The Harmers creating their first christmas tradition... Cheesecake for Christmas Eve!

Christmas eve dinner at Cheesecake on our way up to Sonoma!

As we pulled into Sonoma at 11 pm we found a christmas tree lot with one lone tree standing in the lot. It was heaven sent! So the boys walked up to the door to ask if we could take the tree. A guy answered and said that we could have it for $50. Mind you, this is 11 pm on Christmas eve and clearly this tree is not going any where. Josh and Howie sparked a deal and got it for $40.

Amber getting excited for some christmas eve fun!

Bringing the tree to our christmas cottage in Sonoma.

Setting up for Christmas!

The christmas elves found us in our cottage and brought us some matchy jammies!

Making the cottage feel like christmas and tying knots on the ornaments.

I tied 1 knot for every 5 knots Amber tied!

Matchy!

Twas the night before Christmas when all through the house,

not a creature was snoring, not even a mouse.

And the stockings were hung by the chimney with care...

In hopes that St. Howie soon would be there.

When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,

But a miniature sleigh, and four tiny reindeer.

CHRISTMAS MORNING!!!!

Santa brought Josh every color of chords this year!

We spent christmas day...

Relaxing

Watching movies

Eating

Hot tubbing in the rain

Playing Mad-Gab (Amber won every time, I think I might have won once but I think that she just let me win so I felt like I was playing too.)

Laughing

Eating

Laughing

And spent our christmas dinner at the best seat in town...

BLACK BEAR DINER.

The concierge warned us not to eat here because it was like eating at an old folks home.

And boy was she wrong, not about the old folks part....

Thank you Black Bear Diner for the best christmas memories!

We went back to our cottage and watched Josh dance around to some hip-hop jams.

Thong song was probably the one he was dancing to in this picture.

Howie, you still have to show us how you can dance....

You have less than 48 hours to do so, and trust me, we are not letting you leave us here without a sneak peak!

Making our gingerbread house village.

Our Christmas Cottage!

An orange tree!

This christmas will be one that we will never forget! I can't wait for our christmas together again when we are seventy and we take that christmas cruise with Harmers!

We hope you all had a Merry Christmas!

A month to Celebrate

2010-12-12T16:48:00.000-08:00

A MONTH TO CELEBRATE...

CHRISTMAS IN SAN FRANCISCO!!!

Union Square.
We love you at Christmas!

A month to Celebrate...

Josh's 25th Birthday!!!

1/4th of a Century.

His birthday Streamers.

We drove 30 miles to pick up his favorite birthday cake in Concord, in Sam's Club.

Birthday Boy gets whatever Birthday boy wants on Birthday Boy's Birthday!

We could not have spent his birthday with anyone better, The Harmers, our "lifelong friends!"

A Birthday Pazookie at BJ's

This whole Birthday wish stuff is a big deal when you get older.

Josh concentrated like this for a few seconds before blowing out the candles.

I hope he get's what he wished for.

A month to Celebrate...

Parents.

You guessed it, Santa did not come to town but my parents did!

Yay!

"Put your hands in the air and wave them like you just don't care"

Seriously have a halo on my head in this picture.

Instead of being a christmas elf this holiday, I am a christmas angel.

We love you San Francisco at Christmas!

Did someone say Cheesecake?

We made my parents take the Rosa Parks Trolley.

It looks like they like it.

The next morning we drove down to Monterey!

And ate at Bubba Gumps.

Trust me, We did not hold back.

We could not decide whether to get the onion rings or the shrimp platter, so we got them both.

And ate them both.

Glamour shots on the beach.

My two favorite boys.

I am one lucky girl!

We had to build the best pebble pile that there ever was on Pebble beach.

Josh chanted Jenga Jenga Jenga as we placed each rock.

The suspense almost killed me.

Ours is the better looking one of the two.

I hope that you were choosing the one on the left.

After taking this picture I accidently ran toward the wrong car and was two inches away from jumping in with a random man.

That wouldn't have been awkward.

Dang you Black Beauty Doubles!

17 Mile Drive

We did not let the rain stop us, we stopped the rain!

Lovers in Love

The original BLACK BEAUTY.

The original SLEEPING BEAUTY.

It was a long ride to Monterey!

We had to take them to Lombard.

Its a Must Do on your list to San Francisco.

Thank you Hello Kitty for taking our picture!

I spy something red.

Thank you guys SO much for flying out to see us!

Thanks for taking us out for every meal, bringing an endless supply of werther candy, and showing us a good time.... or were we the ones showing you a good time.

Either way! We love you and can't wait to live in your basement in a month.

Or can we?

And a special thanks to my mom and dad for bringing us a little piece of home.

A great salt lake snowflake ornament!

From our house to yours,

A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR TOO!

TOOTALOO!

On the Road Again!

2010-11-29T16:46:00.000-08:00

NAPA VALLEY

It was so BEAUTIFUL here!

Redwoods Schmedwoods. Who needs them when you have a huge tree in a park in a neighborhood in Napa?

I made Josh listen to a French CD of mine as we were driving through the vineyards.
He could not believe my antics. ( I think he secretly liked it though)

Jim would have been so proud

In Napa you have two activity options:

Wine-Tasting

Ride the Wine Train

But, if you keep your eyes peeled while you are driving you will find a place where you can do

OLIVE OIL TASTING!

So many flavors of Olive Oil to try:

Lemon, jalepeno, lavendar, garlic, lime, almond, grass, apple, musky, rosemary, herbal, and the list goes on and on.

I think we tried all of them twice!

My favorite was Rosemary.

Josh liked Garlic.

As we drove through some of the small towns of St. Helena, Yountville, Zinfandel, we came upon a castle called

Castello di Amorosa

Sheep were wondering the grounds.

This castle had a mote, draw bridge, and real animals roaming out front.

I can now check off my bucket list, Future trip to Europe.

I felt like this scene with the cat and the chair should have been on Harry Potter.

Let me make one thing clear though... I have never watched or read any of the Harry Potter series.

Therefore, I really have no idea what a scene on HP should look like.

Castello so magicallo

I chased down those sheep that you saw in previous photos.

Chasing them again...

I don't think they like me very much.

We decided when we have kids, we will come back here for our family photos!

Driving home that night there was the most beautiful sunset ever!

I think that it was the magic of Castello di Amorosa in the air!

Next morning we attempted to make some abelskeivers!

Abelskeiver is a danish dessert that is topped with jam and powedered sugar!

abelskeivers are puffing up quite nicely. We will need to go back to Arnie's to get a professional lesson on how to make the best!

Thank you Shelley Shaw for the pan!

SAN JOSE

We went to the Winchester Mansion in San Jose!

Us in front of the Winchester rifles.

We tried to look like scary old-fashioned people that never smile in pictures.

Sarah Winchester continuously built on this house for 38 years. And by 38 years I mean 24 hours a day and seven days a week. She was building rooms for the spirits that haunted her.

There are doors that lead to no where, windows on the floor, staircases leading up to the ceiling, and walls behind doors. The House contains 160 rooms, which includes 40 bedrooms, 13 bathrooms, and 6 kitchens.

Those aren't statues next to us, they are ghosts.

During our tour in the ballroom, one of the doors slammed shut! Our tour guide was even shook up about it. ~Pretty spooky~

Skeptics would say it was the wind, others (Howie Harmer) would say it was Sarah Winchester.

The Door to No Where!!

On a holiday note,

The Tree Lighting at Pier 39!!

Christmas is finally here!

**See bottom for Video**

SACRAMENTO

We heard Michael Mcclean was in town so we drove to Sacramento to see the Forgotten Carols!

Ladies and Gents, the future cover of Ensign Magazine!

Ha ha just kidding but that would be funny though.

"Wow look at that thread detail" -Salesman at Banana Republic

I guess he sold us!

Raining cats and dogs at Memorial Auditorium!

Exhibit A

I think the longer you are married to someone, the more you look alike.

Ha ha Exhibit A above!

We waited in line for an hour to get this photo and for Michael to sign our CD.

From Michael and Us....

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!

THANKFUL

2010-11-24T11:42:00.000-08:00

This Thanksgiving I have so much to be THANKFUL for!

Every year on Thanksgiving at my parent's house, we go around the table and name the things that we are thankful for while enjoying dinner. This is something that I look forward to every year. It is a good time to reflect on all the blessings that we are given each day.

This year I am thankful for:

Our Wonderful Families

A Great Marriage

Health

Christ and his example

Amazing Friends

Prayer

Freedom

The Gospel

Our Beautiful Country

Our "California Adventure"

Music

Having a Job

Doctors and medical technology

Sunny Days

The Ocean

Ability to See (We met a lady this last week who was blind and she had the best attitude and a love for life. It made me appreciate being able to see.)

Oppurtunity to go to school

Ability to Run

Traveling

The Holidays

I could go on listing things for years, but for time sake I won't. This Thanksgiving think about everything that you are blessed with. It makes each day seem brighter!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!

What Wii did this week

2010-11-15T19:29:00.000-08:00

One of our goals while we were here was to see the Utah Jazz come to town!!

We walked in with Pride and walked out with Shame.

Wow Yao!

The Boys!

I think we were bad luck because
This was probably the first and the last time in the game the Jazz were up.

He probably did not make this one either.
We still love ya D! .... D-Will that is

Oh man... You can't see it very well but this poster clearly had a typo on it. The V in wives, was first spelled with an F. I wonder where he got the extra poster board to cover it up... (Look on bottom right corner) This is a classic!!
I would have been ashamed if I was one of their wifes, I mean wives.

We were sitting one row down from about fifteen 12 year old girls who not just cheered, but SCREAMED AT THE TOP OF THEIR LUNGS!! This happened for two hours everytime someone made a basket, made a pass, made a step. I felt like such a grandma plugging my ears. I was just preventing early age hearing loss.

Making some caramel apples!

Wii were having so much fun!

Josh getting his panties in a twist!

Josh: Needs Improvement

Amber: Skills and form way above average

Howie: Record breaking numbers

Melissa: Should never play this game again

On our day off this week we ate at In n' Out and then went to Krispy Kremes.

Great way to start off eating healthy.

We stared through this glass for a half hour watching them make doughnuts.

We probably left nose marks on the window.
They finally felt bad for us and brought us each a free doughnut.

This is Pacifica Beach! Just a few minutes from home! It is beautiful and has HUGE waves.

Okay, so I don't think it would be an over-statement to say Josh and I are obsessed with the Golden Gate Park. We seem to end up there every weekend. It has SO much to do and see!

Random waterfall. We had to pull the bikes over and get a photo.

We stumbled upon Stow Lake. The lake is shaped like a doughnut... mmmm that reminds me of krispy kreme..... Anyway, shaped like a doughnut and you can rent boats to go around the lake.

OF COURSE we jumped on this idea because we both live for stuff like this.

Getting on our boat for a ride around the lake.

Pedalling....

Still Pedalling....

Random chinese fort.

Random chinese man or was it a woman, climbing a tree

Seriously felt like I was in a scene off the notebook. Josh was Noah and I was Allie. And we weren't in a row boat, we were in a paddle boat. Josh knew that he could not row like Noah.

We heard some people in the boat behind us laughing at something. We turned around and noticed a seagull perched on our boat. They said that he had been there for a few minutes.

Us and our new friend

He ended up pooping on our boat before flying away! The nerve of that dirty gull!

Also at the park there is an Observatory in which you can see the whole San Francisco area.

We took the elevator to the ninth floor and saw this....

We are the PROUD, the FEW...

The Candy cane makers.

While the boys were doing the manly stuff like cutting cardboard and taping things,

Amber and I were doing the frilly stuff and making it pretty.

We started this project at 8:00 PM

11:00 PM

I spy Amber

11:45

12:52

Hey Howie did you find the color changing ring in the haystack yet?

Finished product: A 15 foot candy cane

2:00 AM

Fresh Air

2010-11-05T15:05:00.000-07:00

Wednesday/Thursday = our Weekend

This "weekend" we decided to get out and get some fresh air out of the city!

We began our day with a bay cruise around the bay and under the bridge

Sailing away from the city

The scarf definately made these moments look way more dramatic.

This was not staged, or was it?

My husband, or as he would say "my lover in love"

Our stomping grounds

Thank you Blue and Gold for giving employees half off!

Riding on a cable car has been on our bucket list and now it has a big CHECK next to it!

We waited in line for an hour for this ride. While in line we were entertained by a fellow who dazzled us with his amazing electric guitar skills.

The San Francisco Treat- Ding!

Ha ha ha this picture is only funny if you were there. Josh thought it would be fun if he leaned out of the car while it was moving.... However, the cable car conductor did not.

Conductors words exactly, " Sir, that is how people go to the hospital"

NEXT DAY

We finally got a chance to bike over the bridge!

I have two words for you: ONE SPEED

When we got over the bridge, a man by the name of Jim greeted us and insisted he help us take "More creative" photos.

He LOVED this pose!

We look like SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS, no pun intended

Way way funny. After Jim (in orange) photographed us, then ALL the foreigners started posing too! Look at what we started!

Everywhere you looked people were using Jim's ideas for their own photos.

My favorite is the girl standing on one leg trying to create an illusion of crushing the bridge. This one was completely ORIGINAL. Jim had not come up with this one yet.

And then in the picture there is Jim, photographing someone else.

Thanks JIM for helping us think outside the box!

Ocean Beach

We have all watched the yoga DVD's where the instructor takes you through a work-out in an exotic location on the beach.

Imagine this being your yoga instructor!

We had a competition to see who could bury our legs the farthest in the sand...

Apparently, I lost

Josh is not messing around with this competition!

YOGA ON THE BEACH

If you order within the next 60 seconds, we will send you not 1, but 2 workout DVD's for only $19.99

To end our day we took our bikes on a trail near the beach! It was GORGEOUS!!!

If I was still in Holstein's class, I would have used this picture in my nature portfolio.

Biking on the Walking trails.

We don't ask "why not", we ask "how can I?"

Pretending like we are on the opening credits of Full house!

That is all folks!

Happy Jelly Belly-weeny!

2010-11-02T17:56:00.000-07:00

Carving the pumpkins and telling "scary stories"
The aftermath.
Bridge, Giants, Del Sol, and Arnold
San Francisco in a nut shell

On our day off this week Josh and I drove an hour North-East to visit the Jelly Belly Factory.
It was everything we could have ever imagined and more....
John Wayne made of thousands of Jelly Bellys

Our favorite part of the tour was eating as many Jellies as you could for free!

I am pretty sure the ' Sample Bar' lady was not too happy when we kept getting back in line for more.

Popcorn, toasted marshamello, candy apple, cherry, lime, chocolate, coconut, pina colada, skunk, pencil shavings, watermelon, Root beer, birthday cake mix, 7up, blueberry, bubblegum, carmel corn, cinnamon, cotton candy, moldy cheese, french vanilla, grape crush, kiwi, juicy pear, orange, plum, pomegranite.... just to name a few we tried!

Going back for more. The "Sample Bar" lady slid out of our picture. I don't think that she could believe us.

So I was SOOOO excited when I saw what address I had to type into our GPS.

Jelly Belly Lane... Isn't that just the cutest?

So after touring the Jelly Belly Factory and driving back towards the freeway, we caught a glimpse of the Budweiser factory with a sign out front that read " Free Tours"

We decided to make it an official "Tour Day"

Before the tour everyone was told that they could have two beers each and that there was a Pepsi machine in the corner for the minors in the room.

Josh and I must have looked like minors as we filled our glasses instead with Diet Pepsi!

Our tour lady made us wear these awesome spectacles throughout the tour to prevent.......I am still trying to think of a good reason to wear these glasses.

While touring the building an alarm/siren went off. Ms. Tour Guide immediately grabbed her walky talky from her side holster and exclaimed (In a concerned tone), "Everyone back to the gift shop"

So we all walked back and then when we got there, she realized that it was a false alarm.

Ha ha, she LOVED her job and LOVED Budweiser.

Josh wanted a picture by the holding tanks.

Sometimes he reminds me of a little boy!

The Del Sol Crew wore costumes for not 1, not 2, but 3 days in a row!

The Shaw pumpkin patch!

Meet our friends, the Flinstones!

If we had a child, this is what he would look like....

minus the brown eyes and brown hair.

I think that we brought good tidings and great luck to our team cause they

WOOOOOONNN!!! WAHOOOOOOOOO!

Halloween Night
Amber and Howie treated us to a night full of :

Evil eyes

Blood Bath

Mummies in a Blanket

Graveyard Dip (Amber I forgot the name!)

And watched Hocus Pocus in the Twilight Zone!

Coming Home

2010-10-24T10:15:00.000-07:00

This past week we came home for my Birthday and for Ashley's wedding.

This year all I wanted for my birthday is my two front teeth and a Root Canal.

On my 25th birthday I spent the day getting a root canal.

Josh came back with me, I thought to hold my hand, but ended up taking numerous pictures of me in my finest moments.

To recap why I spent my birthday at the dentist:

For the last 6 months we have been living in California and I have been without my dentist.
The only dentist in my area that covered our insurance worked out of a garage in China Town.

I was not going to trust my teeth with him.

I conquered a Root Canal on my Birthday!

Now its time to go get ready for my Birthday Party!

I out tricked the trick candles.

The Hosts of the Party! Thanks Mom and Dad and Josh!

We invited family and friends and catered in Oliver Garden!

This is for you "Jack", our silly faces!

The newlyweds-to-be

Mingling

We miss you guys! It was so good to see our bestest friends!

Lisa, we wish you were there!

Attacking the birthday girl

Friday:

Bachelorette Party for Ash at Olive Garden. Yes I ate Olive Garden the night before and had Oliver Garden for Lunch and then Dinner.

The Bridesmaids!

Sisters!

"Rain rain go away, not on Ashleys wedding day!"

Luncheon and my parents!

Bridesmaids gifts

In between the wedding and the reception, Josh and I ran to Walmart and BARELY missed

Al Jefferson by about 30 seconds. Josh was so so so bummed, he still has not stopped talking about it.

The beautiful Bride and her maids

The photographer said, "Look at eachother and pretend like your laughing"

This is what she got.

Two Days in Tahoe

2010-10-19T20:01:00.001-07:00

Every week Josh and I get two days off of work together. This past week we decided to drive to Lake Tahoe. On the way there we decided to make a pit stop at the capital buiding in Sacramento. When we got there we walked around and checked it out for a bit. Our favorite part was going into Arnold's office. This is a picture hanging in his office and I thought it was amazing.

In front of Arnold's office. Does anyone still get a kick out of Arnold being the governor? Cause I sure do!

While touring the capital building we suckered into getting a lung test done on us for COPD week. We had to take a test in which we blew all the air out of our lungs until we felt like we were going to pass out and then suck it back in really fast. We had to do this on a machine. Her instructions were, "Blow into this tube until your face turns purple".... I was a little nervous.

Test Results:

Josh- Best reading she has had all day, cannot believe the strength of his lungs! Seriously could not stop talking about it.

Melissa- Lungs were functioning well, average numbers... ( She was so not impressed)

A classic, "in front of the capital making a hand-gesture" tourist photo.

Stopping for a picture among the pines

Lake Tahoe!

Having somewhat of a picnic in the parking lot.

Going Green

Emerald Bay.

Beautiful, Beautiful!

I have been searching for any sign of fall for the last month. I finally found it. Now it feels like October!

We came during "fish spawning" time at the Lake. This also happens to be the best time to see a bear. We decided to wait with the "bear people" to see if we could witness a bear coming down to catch a fish.

I am going to set up the picture below:

BEAR LADY ( Lady with camera)- Been here since 8 AM trying to get the perfect shot of a bear. At this point it is 4:40 PM and still no sighting.

LOG LADY( Lady on log)- Crossed the river into "bear territory" to take some pictures of the fish in the river. Has no idea that she has just destroyed someones hopes and dreams.

Josh- Innocent Bystander

Camera Lady is furious that the log lady crosses the river into bear territory. She starts walky-talky-ing (walky talky shown in picture below on right hip) her friend from across the river just bashing the log lady. Literally cannot believe it, you would have thought the world was coming to an end.

I am telling you, those "bear people" are a weired crowd of people.

We bear hunted for about 1 1/2 hours and then decided that the bear was not coming. We were not going to tell the Bear lady this. She would be crushed!

Driving home and always being the navigator, the DJ, and answering phone calls.

This is where our GPS took us. Diverted us out of traffic in Sacramento on a main highway and onto a Kansas looking road where civilization does not exist. We continued to drive home on this road for about 35 miles. Oh the memories!

Dress Design for Shabby Apple

2010-10-13T16:50:00.000-07:00

Color: Black

Fabric: Cotton/Spandex

Flowers Fabric: Silk (raised fabric on dress)

Design Inspiration: Classic Romantic

Rouching detail on waist

Bottom hem hits leg on mid-calf

Visit http://www.shabbyapple.com/ for Amazing dresses!

Ready, Set, Action

2010-10-13T10:37:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, we recieved a letter on our front door that stated that there would be a japanese movie being filmed the next day. The letter informed us that we should not be alarmed if we heard multiple gun shots being fired from the fourth floor. This was going to be a part of the scene that they were shooting.

So this morning I am running late to work. I get ready and rush down the stairs and blast through the lobby door. To my surprise, I blasted onto a japanese movie scene. Everyone was super confused as I walked through the door. There were lots of japanese men standing there with suits. I asked them if I was okay to hurry and cross through to the front door. They told me I could but quickly. I walked out the front door and every movie camera was pointing at me and a huge crowd there to watch the actors walk out. Ha ha ha. Talk about crashing a movie set.
So long story short, watch for me on japanese tabloids!

Things that rhyme with SEA...

2010-10-08T13:42:00.000-07:00

SEA...

We found an amazing beach, Muir Beach.

Josh trying to find more starfish to play with.

Don't worry sea animal activists, we catch and release.

Starfish and clams

FREE...

As we walked down the beach picking up starfish we discovered that we had stumbled upon a nude beach. Yes you heard it right... People being free in nature. So we decided to FLEE...!

TEA...

Here we are at the Japanese Tea Garden. Beautiful. Tranquil. Relaxing.

YUMMY...

A night with our friends at Knuckles.

BIRDIE?..

While at Home depot, there were birds shopping down the same aisle as us.

NERDY...

Self Explanatory.

Finally going to Alcatraz. So excited.

HAIRY...

This is what Josh would look like if he were behind bars.

In case you were wondering.

ESCAPEE...

Leaving the island.

Island Princess cruise leaving port. Amazing to see it sail under the bridge.

Josh and I took a double decker tour around the city. It was a 2 hour tour and you could hop on and hop off where ever you like.

This week is Fleet week in San Fran. The Blue angels are in town and perform amazing air shows over the bay all weekend. Luckily we were taking our tour over the bridge when they flew over.

TREE...

Our tour took us through Golden Gate Park which is beautiful!

Fun Fact: Golden Gate Park is larger than Central Park in New York.

DANNY...

Look Familiar? Yes, this is thee Danny Tanner's home on Full House. The yellow one in the middle.

"What ever happend to predictability? The milk man, the paper boy, evening T.V You miss your old familar friends, but waiting just around the bend."

WEEEEEE...

KISSY...

WINDY...

Our residence. North point apartments.

A place where you can count on smelling chinese meals being cooked 24/7 by your neighbors.

We loved our city tour so much that we went around twice. We got off and bundled up for round two.

Round Two!

SYMPHONY...
They designed the building to look like the keys of a piano

Baseballs and Pedals

2010-09-19T19:56:00.000-07:00

....We had ten mintutes to get the park to pick up our tickets from will call. Usually, no problem. Tonight, we were taking the bikes. We live right off of Embarcadero which is the road that takes you to the stadium. Probably a good mile and a half ride. So we get pedaling as fast as our legs can take us. I gain speed as I am cruising in front of Josh. A few minutes later I look behind me and Josh is no where to be seen. I pull my bike over and wait for him. All of a sudden I see Josh coming down the road in a "up and down" motion. Then I notice that he is carrying his pedal in his hand. Ha ha who's pedal falls off their bike?

Apparently Green Line Beach Cruisers.

We payed a pretty penny for these things, apparently not pretty enough!

We finally find our seats and enjoy the rest of the night! (With the pedal in Josh's back pocket)
Loading up the dogs.
Josh sneaking a taste before we go back to our seats.

Peanuts= I'm sorry for whoever cleaned up row 1 on upper deck, seats 1 & 2

LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS PLACE!

Lovers in Love

Crazed Fans!
I am pretty sure we did the macarena about two seconds after this picture was taken!

Bottom of the ninth inning, no one on base. We are down 1.

Score: Brewers: 2 Giants 1

Apparently you wear your hat like this if you are feeling a comeback from your team.

No Comeback. Maybe we put them on the wrong way!

For the record, it was a great night!

GO GIANTS! and GREENLINE BEACH CRUISERS!

City by the Bay

2010-09-15T15:22:00.000-07:00

So we are now living in San Francisco. It is quite the change from Solvang. We were used to waking up to bell chiming from the town clock tower right behind our house, now we are waking up to the sound of sea lions and Pinky* sliding her pool chair across the ground...

*Pinky: A woman who rain or shine, cold or hot will be out at the pool in her bright pink bikini, pink towels, pink bag, and pink shoes with her bright blonde hair in a high pony tail. She is fabulous!

We are living one block from pier 39 in the most ideal location... (Bay and Powell Street) We feel SO blessed to be able to travel and live in a location where we probably never would have lived. It has been such a great experience for us and one that we will never regret doing!

I wanted to post some pictures but they are way out of order, but who would have known!

I hated Harry Potter, but fell in LOVE with Harry Otter!

Josh says that we should eat at Hooters. He says they have the best wings....

On our way home from Monterey over the weekend we took a detour over to Stanford University. We parked our car and walked around campus pretending like students.

` So this is us at Carmel-by-the -Sea! It is GORGEOUS!! White white sands, blue water, and green green plants everywhere.

View of one of the holes on Pebble Beach

The cutest sea lions ever!

Monterey

Putting at THE LODGE!

This picture reminds me of a scene on the Titanic as I descend from the staircase.

Enjoying the amenities of THE LODGE

( I spy a man between two vases)

17 Mile Drive!

Josh was convinced to stop at this viewing area because the tour bus did.

Pebble beach really does have pebbles!

In Monterey!

So a couple of weeks ago, we had the worst case of the "Bird Poos" on our car. We literally would get people turning their heads as we drove by because it was so bad! We were driving through china town and this old old chinese man was walking across the street in front of us at a light and literally stopped half way across the crosswalk and pointed at us and laughed. He continued laughing as he walked across the whole crosswalk. He kept squatting and making poop gestures and noises and then pointing at our car laughing.

So we typed in "car wash" into our GPS and every car wash was a full service in which you had to pay $29 to get it washed. We decided to take measures into our own hands. I had a brilliant idea. Wash it at the Water/air machine!

So this may have been the lowest we have stooped in a long time, but we literally washed our car with the water from the tire machine, filled a bucket with the hand soap we had in the back of the car and washed our car with the windshield squeegie from the gas pump. Classic moment.

Stopping at a chinese bakery to see what all the fuss is about. Everytime we walk by there are chinese people lining the streets to get inside this building. We had to wait in line to see what the hype was. Egg-tarts was the conclusion.

Ding Ding, the San Francisco Treat!!

We are happy owners of the Rain Forest Cafe Membership Club. Free Appetizers for Life!

I left my heart in....

2010-08-15T17:26:00.001-07:00

You guessed right! We are moving to San Francisco for the fall! We are in fact leaving our heart in Solvang, but I am sure we will love Frisco as much as we have loved it here! It is going to be really hard to leave everything here. We have really grown to love living here and it feels like home. We are coming home a week from today and will be in Salt Lake for a week to see family and friends before we embark on our next adventure!

Some things that we are going to miss about Solvang is:

*The amazing people we have met while we have been here

*Waking up to the bell tower each morning

*Our commute to work. (We live in a little apartment right above the shop)

*Santa Barbara

*The endless sunny days. We have not had ONE single cloudy day since we have been here. It has been amazing.

*The beautiful Santa Ynez Valley

* The fudge man

*Farmers Market every Wednesday

*Joe

*And Everything else :(

We love you Solvang, we will be back to visit soon!

West Coast Wonders

2010-07-14T19:13:00.000-07:00

Our life here in California has been wonderful over the past couple of months! We have been able to see and do so much! During the week it feels like ground hog's day. I will go over the weekly schedule and then get to all of the pictures of our adventures over the weekends!
Week goes as follows, like clock-work

Sunday: Church & then take our chairs and bikes to the beach and watch the waves.

Monday: Our day off (Refer to weekend adventures below)

Tuesday: Wake up, go running. We always pass the fudge shop. The man inside is always rolling and stirring dough at 8 am. We wave at him and he waves at us. Clockwork. Then we shower and head to work. Usually the slow day at work. We have to work to get people into the store. I blow bubbles outside to lure in people and Josh is inside working some deals.
Night: Go to worldmark to present our store to a whole bunch of tourists. We then have to listen to the lavendar man and the wine vendor promoting his bottles with "girls and dice" on them. Things he can relate to.

Wednesday: Running and waving to fudge man. This is Farmers Market Day. I look forward to this day to get my fresh flowers and cherries!

Thursday: Running and wave to fudge man. Tamale Day. The local tamale comes in and sells us a half dozen tamales. I tried the " I don't have any money today" excuse and then he said that he accepted checks. I could not resist his offer. Therefore, we have more tamales.

Friday: Running and wave to fudge man. Bus Tour Day. The foreigners come into town which means that the communication barrier begins. The best story is Josh saying to a shopper (in an asian accent)
"Where are you from, Korea? "
To have them respond back by saying, "No I am from LA."

Saturday: Running and wave to fudge man. Busy Day and Strawberry Day. The local farmer comes in to sell us fresh strawberries. You cannot say no to his gentle face.
Go to Santa Barbara for dinner.

It has been nice to have a ground hogs day life. Very predictable and relaxing.

This is what we have been up to on the weekends:

Noqoui Falls

Guess how you would say this? I will help you....

(pronounced Na-Howie)

Butterfly Beach.

Our First and last set of friends our age. We met them at church and they were from Ogden, Utah. We spent two nights with them playing ping pong and in the hot tub.

Neverland Ranch.

Santa Monica Pier."Bevewee Hiws"

We tried to follow the hollywood house tour bus around the streets. I think the tour guide and everyone on board caught on that a black fusion was following them. ha ha

The Americana Mall. Biggest Regret: Not buying that bubble machine.

You are looking at Universal Annual Pass Holders.

Pismo Beach. There was a shark attack there last week. You bet your bottom dollar I am getting in those waves next time we go.

Avila Beach. Our most favorite Beach to go to. It is ALWAYS sunny and just Beautiful!

Morro Bay.

Trying to conserve dough by making dinner in our hotel room. We stayed in San Simeon. The world's smallest town ever!

Hearst's Castle

Fourth of July. Our first 4th of July Parade in Solvang. We dressed to the nines for the fourth. We were not going to cut any corners. Notice my vest. I literally had people yelling at me from the floats just LOVING the sequined wonder.

My Paint Job. GO USA!!!

Farmer's Market! (Refer to top: Wednesday)

Notice the black pot. Shu.

This week's arrangement. I think it is my favorite, then again I always say that.

My parents came in this last weekend and we thought it would be fabulous to meet at the pier like a scene from a movie. Meeting up with your long lost love. So this was our meeting place.

My parents treated us to a lunch on the pier.

I think the best photo op is in a convertible.

The bikes. In the Hadsten House.

Three Muskateers.

Stopping at Los Olivos Vineyard

We thought it would be funny to do a penguin pose. It actually turned out kind of cute.

Mother and Son

Kodak

Stocking up on treats on a late night run to Nielsen's.

Our day up to Hearst's Castle.

Guess Who.

Morro BaY!

Hearst's Castle. Thanks Patty for being our personal photographer and tour guide.

My favorite pool!

The Hadsten House for a delicious breakfast!

Reading memoirs left at Neverland Ranch.

The mission at Santa Barbara

It looks so easy when you watch everyone else do it. We literally had to pump ourselves up to get over the smallest incline. Legs were burning. We had to take a pit stop.

The Van.

I think that this has been my favorite night in Santa Barbara so far. It was 72 degrees. Gorgeous night, no wind. Just Josh, me and our beach chairs.

As Josh would say, " We are getting some really good California Babe tan lines"

If you are reading this, we love and miss you~

Wish you were here!

Life in Solvang

2010-06-01T09:58:00.001-07:00

Embarking to California on our new adventure was exciting, scary, and a little sad. I was so excited to get up and move to California for the summer and go to a place that I have never been before. Scary because we had to leave both of our jobs and leave our condo and rent it out while we were gone. Sad because I had to say goodbye our families and friends for three months. I know that sounds silly cause it is only three months, but I have never gone that long without seeing my family! I don't have any pictures with me and my family before leaving because I was being a bawl-baby tiddy mouse (as Josh calls it.) But I knew that we were making the right decision because everything fell into place and we both felt really good about going!

Tightening the bikes one last time before we hit the road. (652 miles to be exact)

One last picture of the beautiful mountains as we were leaving!

Checking the bikes again.

We stayed in St. George with Grandpa Wayne for the night to break up our long road trip.

And of course we had waffles for breakfast with Grandpa before leaving.

Grandpa, Kirby, and Me

The view of the bikes from the rear-view mirror. I kept a good eye on them after our bike-falling off the rack and onto the road incident.

Yay, finally reached California!

Had to stop for the famous photo-op of the thermometer!

Our first morning in Santa Barbara!

Getting ready to drive to Solvang. The place where we will be spending the next three months of our lives.

Our little apartment. We live on top of Ann-tiques.

The bikes.

All around us are beautiful vineyards! I still don't understand how they make the rows so straight.

Solvang and the imfamous windmill.

The streets of Solvang.

Our Second home.

We discovered that there is a casino three miles from our place. Who would have thought?

Santa Maria Senioritas! I tried to fit in.

Not sure if we could trust leaving our bikes out at night so we would bring them in every night so they would not get stolen. We have realized that Solvang is a very trustable town so now they stay outside.

Relaxing in the gawden (with an english accent)

As mentioned before, we live above ann-tiques. So clever.

Santa Barbara Sunset!

One of our very favorite restaraunts in Solvang~ The Touch!

Oh my gosh! So this little dog came by with "doggles" on and I fell in love. I had to get my picture taken with her!

Niquoiqi Falls! Gorgeous Gorgeous!!!

Side walk chalk art at the Santa Barbara Mission. Seriously amazing.

Our sunday bike ride down the board-walk.

We packed a dinner and when we went to pull out our so-called "dinner," I found the PB&J's smashed and not looking so appetizing. Surprisingly, they were delicious!

Entering the secret world of Solvang.

Our Friday nights are now spent watching our clothes being rotated. Luckily we met a new friend named Maria. We have a laudry date with her every other friday.(Because I WILL make our laundry stretch two weeks :)

California Here We Come!

2010-05-09T21:54:00.000-07:00

In two weeks we are headed off for an adventure in California! We got accepted to do an internship in Solvang, California! Solvang is a small danish town outside of Santa Barbara! So we are not too far from the ocean. I am thinking of it as checking off another item on my bucket list!I have ALWAYS wanted to move to California so this our chance. We will be leaving in two weeks and will be in California for 3 months!

We were offered the internship last Wednesday, made a decision Thursday, put in our notices at our jobs on Friday, and found a renter for our condo on Saturday. It could not have worked out any better!!

We have really felt like we should go have an adventure and the most amazing thing is that everything has been leading us in that direction. I don't believe this is any coincidence.

We are so excited! I will be keeping up on my blog so that we can share our fun adventure with all of our friends and family! Yay! California here we come!

VIVA

2010-04-24T08:28:00.000-07:00

The Pool!
Karen trying to catch some more rays in the car on our way to Vegas!

Spring is definately one of my favorite times of the year. I just LOVE to see all of the flowers blooming and everything becoming more colorful!

The Bellagio

The girls!

Chris and Karen
We love you guys so much!!!!

This shot was particuarly trick since we were on an escalator!

Taking the train

These stairs were so beautiful. Those two words don't really go together in sentences, but they were colorful and intriguing.

Examining the sculpture. This is what we came up with... A fetus in the womb.

Go figure?

Trying to acheive "the pose"

Take 30/47

This was take 42/47. We had to get the perfect waterfall shot!

While in Vegas, we were able to go see the Lion King! It was amazing! The costumes and music were spectacular. We really wanted a picture in front of the Lion King sign, so we asked this lady to take a picture for us... Needless to say, we did not get our picture by the lion king sign.

"The best part about Vegas is you can break wind and no one knows it's you."

-Joshua Shaw

Perfect warm sunny day!

The view from our condo. Thanks Aunt Dee Dee

On the ride home, Josh and I got to be the kids in the back seat. We ate candy and watched a movie.

What we have been up to...

2010-03-15T18:44:00.000-07:00

Making pizza's with the fam!

Celebrating being married two whole years!
Celebrated at my favorite restaurant, Benihaunas!

Riding plastic horses...

Bowling with friends...

Cuddling Gailz...

Celebrating babies!

I threw a shower for my friend Heather, ironically, we have been friends since we were just babies!

Baby Beckham.... so so precious!

Congrats Heath, you make the best mother!

Discovering Glitter Rocks

Teaching tourists how to mine for glitter rocks, they were so impressed by Josh's skills!

Glitter Rock Mounds

Mining for some glitter

Visiting sweet and adorable Grandpa Shaw

Ants in our Pants

2010-03-03T15:33:00.000-08:00

Literally..... Ants in our Pants.

Recently, our home has been invaded by ants. I first found them in the bathroom and so I decided to run out and buys some Raid thinking that they would vanish. Oh boy was I wrong. We now have ants invading ever corner in our house. Our poor neighbors below us have them real bad and they some how have come up through the pipes into our house.

I have tried EVERY method of killing the little fellows.
I have set up traps so that they will take the bait back to the mother load ... Failure

I have tried using spray that requires you to leave your house all day... Failure

I have tried pouring contact solution onto a nilla wafer (supposedly kills them)... Failure

(This method just made them multiply by the dozens and congregate to my house.)

Tried smashing them with my foot whenever I see one... Temporally works, but mostly fails

So last night I was picking up some of Josh's sweat pants in the closet, low and behold, ants were all over his pants!

Needless to say, we have ants in our pants!

Ding Ding

2009-10-10T15:19:00.000-07:00

California

2009-10-10T14:38:00.000-07:00

Go Team Conan!

Our lifeline!

Is this plane landing on the freeway!?

Sweet ride man! (Grossest thing I have ever seen)

V = Venice Beach

"Ding Ding"

My favorite part of the trip... the bikes! Mine had a bell... that I DID USE!

Wow... Best story of the trip. On our long bike journey, we both had to use the potty, but found ourselves more than anxious. This is Josh triumphantly coming out of the bathroom. Notice what is on the ground and would have been left if we had not taken this picture.

Low and behold it was the wallet. If any of you know Josh, you know that he is KING for losing things and leaving things around. This would not have been the best thing to leave next to the public pooper.

Santa Monica. We rode our bikes for two hours to get here!

In traffic...

Dusk: Still in Traffic

Dark:Three hours later... still in traffic ...

So Josh and I went to Disneyland over UEA weekend. For those unfamiliar with UEA, it is when all of utah travels to southern california for the weekend. It so happened to be "Gay Day" as well in Disneyland. Can you just imagine the crowds? Everyone that was there for Gay Day wore red. This is just one snapshot from Gay Day at Disneyland!!

This is what happens to your phone after you go on splash....

Magic. Candy Corn Land

In the interest of making our trip cheap, we stayed at the Econolodge. Upon arrival, I discovered that they would pride themselves on "Spa Suites"

Ha ha ha... Gross!

Newport Beach Temple

In n' Out

More Smores Please!

2009-09-13T21:11:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we enjoyed with some of our VERY FAVORITE PEOPLE! On friday, we went with the Harts and roasted some dogs over a campfire... followed by smores... of course.

Honestly do not know if it gets any better than this!

Jordan found his new trade in life.

Handcrafting roasting sticks.

Melissa, Heather, and the orb of tom.

Jordan had these in his hand the ENTIRE time!

Still holding his chips

I wish I knew...

SATURDAY NIGHT SMORES WITH THE HARRIS-BELL-SHAWS!
We love you guys!!!!

Chris workin the barbeque!

Cole Workin the ball

Me working my (hat)!

Lisa just working it......

Josh trying to prove he will be a good dad.

I love their twinner expressions! I think they practiced.

Who knew a barbeque makes marshmallows PERFECTLY toasted!?

The Group from Above

Memo to Josh: Do not lick the fork right after roasting.

Holla Back Ya'll!

Is that where it ended up!? :(

Thanks for telling us ten minutes later that we just learned how to feed ourselves!

Props to Karen! Peanut Butter+graham cracker+marshmallow= PERFECTION!

The Wives

THE HUSBANDS!

I made this hat all by myself before church this morning!

Hiking in Pearls

2009-09-09T07:20:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, me and the girls got together for a night of baseball and mysterious creations at chilis..... and brought the boys as well.

Carly (In the middle) had a baby just two weeks before.... Never would have guessed!

The Gap Line strung across the cabin!

So we finally got to go up to the cabin this last weekend (Labor Day) and we had soooo fun! While we were up there, we stopped off at this ADORABLE antique jewelry shop and went crazy! We all bought the most fabulous stuff! (If you are ever in Bear Lake, be sure to ask me where to find this store, you will not be dissapointed!)

On Sunday, we decided to take a hike to Bloomington Lake. It was GORGEOUS!

The Tree Dwellers

I SPY JOSH.....

I SPY JOSH AGAIN...

One part of the hike is crossing this menacing log.

It was scarier than it looks

Josh taking one last spin before heading home...

Trying to catch some of the last rays of the summer. Mission NOT COMPLETED.

A Summer Salute!

2009-08-20T20:08:00.000-07:00

Wow, is summer really almost over? It is bitter sweet. Summer is my favorite season of the year, but then I LOVE fall! I thought that I would re-cap the last part of our summer!

Every 24th of July, the Shaws hold an annual snow cone stand at the Days of 47 Parade in SLC.

Josh pushes an ice cream stand around the parade yelling "Big Sticks" while us girls flavored hundreds of yummy refreshing snowcones.

Josh slept here at the park keeping watch over the snowcone stand over night. He looked homeless. I on the other hand, went home and slept in a cozy bed....

We celebrated Cole Bell's 25th birthday at Rodizio. He is 1/4th of the way to 100!

Carly had her baby girl Londyn! She is GORGEOUS! Congrats Carly!

This past weekend, Josh and I decided to take a random trip to New York. I had the week off of work and Josh starts school on Monday so we wanted to do something really exciting considering. We were flying standby and did not make the red-eye flight and we were really sad. Here we were with our bags packed and no where to go....

We looked and there was a flight leaving to San Diego the next day so we decided to try that the next day....

...And so we went to the airport and ...

they were ONE seat short! But then they discovered that passenger, Sandy*, could fly the jump-seat which would make it so we could get on the plane... Wow! So they sent me back to tell Sandy* to fly on the jump seat. That wasn't awkward.

There is nothin like waiting for the PT (Public Transportation)

San Diego!

The REAL DEAL!

Us at Seaport Village

The most amazing kite I had ever seen. The man flying the kite was also flying about 3 other ones at the same time. Unfortunately one kite went out of control and nearly decapitated Josh and I as we were walking by.

Cartwheel on the beach.

Take 1 of cartwheel...

Take 2 of Cartwheel...

The marines running on the beach.

Wow this was a rather motivating plaque that was on the front of our hotel.

"Does it ever make you sad when all of your food is gone?"

- J. Alan Shaw

Padres Game!

Petco park is amazing!

I just love this picture. He looks like a little boy.

Getting our picture taken by a bleacher patrol man. Little did we know, he would give us "rocks" at the end of the winning game!

"Cheers" for one heck of a trip!