Not Every Idea Is A Good Idea

Last weekend we went camping with our friends Cat and Shaun down at Devil's Den State Park. Camping is always a good idea…except when it's not.

Good idea: Plan your camping trip to a campground that has flushable toilets.

Bad idea: Book a campsite in the ONLY area of the campground that does not have indoor plumbing. A nasty, insect-infested latrine? I think not. I chose to dehydrate myself all weekend instead.

Good idea: Go to a campground that has warm showers available.

Bad idea: See bad idea number 1…also forget to bring your towel. All four of us actually forgot our towels so we couldn't even have a communal towel. (Eww) So in the spirit of becoming one with nature, guess who went all weekend long without a shower?

Good Idea: Bring lots of water with you

Bad idea: Don't bring lots of water with you when you go hiking. When some fellow hikers found us pathetically squeezing the last drop of water from the pack, they took pity and offered us some of theirs.

Good Idea: Cook some delicious food while camping including my dad's famous Dutch oven potatoes

Bad Idea: Forget ketchup! Dutch oven potatoes without ketchup is a crime.  

Roasting Woofums! Yum!

Good Idea: Religiously watch the weather forecast all week to make sure it's not going to rain on your camping trip

Bad Idea: Trust the weatherman

Good Idea: Bring your fishing poles and buy a fishing license.

Bad Idea: Think you're going to actually catch anything while casting in a puddle. The only "fish" we saw were smaller than the bait!

Doesn't everyone look excited to be fishing?

While we had some bad ideas along the way, we really did have a great time camping with our friends. It was a beautiful weekend (except when it rained), and we always love being able to unplug from life and just relax and enjoy all of God's creations. Thanks Cat and Shaun for the awesome weekend!

While on the subject of camping, I just realized I never blogged about our trip to Nauvoo. We went with Bryson, Alyssa, and Chloe over Labor Day weekend for some "glamping." AKA we got to camp in cabins! It ended up raining quite a bit that weekend so we were grateful to not be tent camping. It was neat to see all the historical sights and take some time to understand and appreciate the lives of the early Saints. I've been to Nauvoo years ago, but I honestly felt like everything was new and different this time. Maybe I'm more mature now and can really value the experience. We enjoyed touring the bakery, blacksmith, brickyard, gunsmith, and many more. It was also really special to go to Carthage Jail and see the site and hear the story of Joseph Smith's martyrdom. He was asked to go through so much in his short lifetime and he faced those trials with courage and an unceasing faith. Learning of his life as well as the hardships the early members of the Church went through, certainly puts things in perspective. We are so immensely blessed and I am glad we were able to have such a wonderful experience to remind us of this.

All five of us in front of the beautiful Nauvoo Temple

Loving the Cheese in Branson

Branson is a strange little town. For those of you who have never been there, I'm not really sure how to describe it. I always thought of Branson  as cheesy, over-the-top, and out-dated. I pictured it full of busloads of retirees on vacation eager to see performers from the golden days still onstage. And while I've discovered that all of those things are true, Branson is still somehow fabulously awesome. We've gone a few different times and always had a good time. In fact, our most recent jaunt to The Live Music Show Capital of the World proved to be no disappointment.


We didn't get a chance to really celebrate our anniversary this year, so this was somewhat of a belated anniversary trip. We stayed in a hotel that was older than dirt, but you get what you pay for and it was dirt cheap. Did you know they still have hotels that give you an actual key to your room rather than one of those little key cards? Weird. It was old but well kept and Nate certainly enjoyed the complimentary dessert bar of cobbler, cookies, and ice cream. Although, Nate freaked out when he saw the sign that said the ice cream was the lactose free. What do they make it with? Soy? And refused to eat anymore. The desk clerk was a young, friendly fellow and asked what we were going to be doing on our visit. I told him we had bought a deal on Groupon for the zipline and I was shocked when he asked me, "What is that?" "What is a zipline?"  "No, what is Groupon?" Really? Do you live under a rock? If you don't know what that is, let me just turn your world upside down and tell you to go get online and prepare to find some deals!

The zipline ended up being a lot of fun.While we had a blast actually on the zip, the highlight involved a 12 year old boy. He was very afraid of heights and talked about how he wimped out when his family was in Guatemala. After his little sister went, he stepped up and exclaimed, "God is good!" before leaping off the plank. We got a chuckle out of that, and it certainly appears that God granted him some courage.

We also went to the fish hatchery and Table Rock Damn. I know, what's more romantic than learning about spawning fish on your anniversary trip? We just can't resist FREE things! Afterwards, we went for a hike in the State Park. Once again, FREE! We finished up the night at a dinner show. My personal favorite scene was the dramatic dance/aerial ribbon routine between the two lovers performed to the theme from Titanic. There was also some cool fire twirling, singing, unicycling, and bubble blowing. It was quite the variety of entertainment. Cheesy? Yes. Enjoyable? You bet!

The History of Stupidity Repeats Itself

I have this history of stupid, self-inflicted injuries. There was that time when I roasted a marshmallow on a fork over the stove and then put the fork in my mouth. My lips had a four pronged blister for a week! Or the time I accidentally cut off the middle of my eyebrow with a pair of scissors. I'm still trying to figure out how I managed that one. Well you know what they say, history repeats itself, and my history of self-inflicted injuries has repeated itself three times in the last three days! 

Saturday morning, I bought a new bike and I was so excited to break it in and go for a ride on the trails around Lake Fayetteville. Unfortunately, my new, purple Mongoose's maiden voyage was doomed to the same fate as the Titanic's voyage. It went down! And just as the captain went down with the Titanic, so too did I go down with my bike.....twice. There were a couple of tricky spots along the way with giant roots growing in the middle of the trail, and I apparently didn't maneuver them very well. I had my seat up too high and couldn't reach my feet down in time to catch myself, so I took a tumble into the brush! Fortunately, I managed to land on a nice pile of leaves. I took two falls before I realized I needed to lower my seat. (Why two and not one is beyond me.) I escaped with only a few minor scrapes and bruises and enjoyed the rest of the ride. Luckily, my new bike is just as resilient as me and held up beautifully to the abuse I inflicted. 

Sunday, our friends Zach and Anna, invited us over for dinner. I was in charge of the salad and decided that I just had to have candied nuts in it. Of course, I forgot to buy them earlier in the week, so I determined I would have to candy some nuts myself. Should be easy enough, I thought to myself. When I caramelized some sugar, it just smelled so delicious and I simply had to have a taste. (Hey, it's quality control. I gotta make sure I'm serving edible food.) In my glutinous state, I forgot that sugar caramelizes at 320 degrees and stuck my finger right in that lava goodness.  I now have a blistered index finger to remind me. 

Today, I was so proud of myself for waking up early to fix dinner and throw it in the crockpot before I left for work. Alyssa gave me a new recipe for cilantro lime chicken that I was eager to try. I chopped everything up, tossed it in the crockpot, and washed my hands with soap and water. Then, I went to go get ready for work. Imagine my surprise and pain, when I went to apply my makeup and realized the jalapeno residue remained on my hands! My eyes felt like I dumped gasoline on them and put a match to it. I couldn't even open my eyes the burning was so bad. I tried to splash some water on my face, but quickly realized that was a dumb idea too since I was still using my hands. I finally put my head under the faucet and attempted to extinguish the burning with running water. I was blinded for several minutes, and needless to say, I was late for work this morning and never bothered to reapply my makeup. I decided to go all natural rather than risk another eye scorching moment. I will say that dinner turned out quite tasty almost making the whole fiasco worth it….almost. My advice: wear gloves when cutting jalapenos!

The Unexpected Helper

Who knew dogs could be so helpful? When we first adopted Ollie, we had no idea how willing he would be to help out around the house. I only hope our future children can live up to Ollie's example and be just as productive.

This was right after I shaved him. I think he was a little depressed.

Ollie helped us plant our garden this spring. We thought he might like to weed the garden while we were gone at work, so we decided to put a fence around it. We wouldn't want him to overwork himself while we're away.

I was surprised to learn that Ollie enjoys quilting. He loves to help lay all the squares out and then lay out on all the squares to keep them in place.

Finally! A man who enjoys helping with the dishes. Boy, did I get lucky with this one!

Let Freedom Ring in the 15k

We ran in the Freedom 15k in Logan, UT on the 4th of July with some of my family. We learned a few things about freedom throughout the course of this race.

Nate learned that you are free to avoid running for over a year and wait until the last 2 weeks before the race to start your training, but this also entitles you to a week of pain in the aftermath! The finish line volunteers were sure he was about to pass out, but he pulled through! He actually got a pretty decent time as well.

Here is Nate, going strong and looking over at Ollie

 Laurel learned that you are free to train all you want at 1296 feet, but it will feel like you haven't done a darn thing to prepare when you run a race that starts at 5610 feet! Fortunately, the race was mostly downhill and I was proud that I didn't walk any of it.

Kyle (Laurel's brother) learned you are free to attempt to relive your glory days from high school, but you may discover you are not quite as glorious as you used to be! He was actually the first one done of our whole group, so I guess he's pretty glorious amongst the Feuz clan.

Brianne (Laurel's sister) learned that she is free to humble her sister and leave her in the dust after the first 3 miles. Oh how the mighty have fallen! She was the first of the girls to finish.

Paige (Laurel's aunt) learned that you are free to use the porta-potty as many times as you like before the race just to make sure you are prepared. The best strategy is as soon as you come out of the porta-potty, cut in line with someone else you know to make sure you get all four times in before the gun sounds.

Jeff (Brianne's husband) learned that you are free to read a book in the car as you wait for the runners to go by to cheer for them, but you will probably become engrossed in said book and miss half the people you were there to watch.

Kaley (Nate's sister) learned that you are free to set the leash down to take a picture, but Ollie will run through the throng of runners to try to reach Nate if you do so.

Mom and Emily (Laurel's sister) learned you are free to spectate on the middle of the big, fat hill but the runners may begrudge you for it. I know I wasn't the only one who's plans to walk up the hill were spoiled by the sight of our fans. That would be shameful to be caught walking! 

As you can see, many around me were walking, but I persevered for the sake of the fans.

Shara and Susan (Laurel's sister-in-law and niece) learned you are free to wait around after the race all day because Kyle is sure he will win the treadmill in the post race raffle, but the odds will never be in your favor. I don't know how Kyle planned on getting a treadmill home to Washington anyway.....

Mike (uncle), Colin (cousin), Rachel (cousin's wife), and Connor (cousin) also ran the race but I'm not sure what lessons of freedom they were taught along the way other than they are free to be a part of the crazy runner's club and pay money to go run 9.3 miles on a holiday. 

What a wonderful country we live in that allows us these freedoms and many more! We were grateful to celebrate the holiday with our family and take time to remember how very blessed we are indeed.

We had a much needed week-long vacation with my family. In addition to the race, we had a cookout in the canyon, went to the Bountiful temple, swam at Willard Bay with Kaley, spent time with extended family at the Anderson reunion, went waterskiing at Flaming Gorge in the rain, played horseshoes and ladderball, played in the pool, and just enjoyed not thinking about work for an entire week! We took Ollie with us for his first road trip and he had a grand time! He loved being in the car, looking out the window, and sleeping on my lap. Apparently, he was too lonely in the backseat. 

Lessons Learned While Hosting a Baby Shower

Attending baby showers is an interesting rite of passage that all women must go through. There are many customs and norms that one must adhere to at such an event. I am in that season in my life when many of my friends and family members are having babies and starting families, so I am slowly being immersed into the world of baby showers. Last week, I helped host Alyssa's shower. I am like a baby myself when it comes to baby showers due to my inexperience with such celebrations, so this was a learning experience for me. 

Lesson number one: Food should not be put on sticks. No matter how cute the theme may be (She's Ready to Pop), don't give in to the temptation to turn every treat into a pop. It is time consuming and may result in the treat falling off onto the table before your guests can even see how creative you were. 

Lesson number two: Expect guests to arrive 20 minutes early and plan accordingly to ensure you are finished decorating before their (over)prompt arrival. 

Lesson number three: When playing the Guess How Many _______ Are In This Jar game, do not pick something as small as a "pop"corn kernel because it will take you an hour to count out over 2,000 of them! This was a second hand lesson as Melissa, the other host, was the one to learn it. However, I too learned a lesson from this game. It doesn't matter if you forgot how many lolli"pops" were actually in the container, or for that matter you never actually counted them but went by the serving size on the bag, because no one is going to double count them. Its okay to pick a winner based on an estimate. 

Lesson number four: Don't bother preparing food for an army because when women get together in large social settings, they feel the need to eat daintily, and you will have a lot of leftovers.

Lesson number five: Baby showers create a forum for women to tell their worst birthing and child rearing stories. It is almost like a form of hazing as a way of inducting the mother to be into the society of women who have endured the pains and joys of childbirth.

I'm sure I will have many more lessons to learn as I continue to attend baby showers. Overall, I think the shower was a success and now I'm ready for my little niece to get here!

I successfully completed another rag quilt!

Marching to Our Own Beat

Sometimes, we do things that others may consider a little strange.....

Example one: a few months ago we bought this crib from our neighbor. Since it was already put together, we saw no reason to take it apart. So.....we wheeled it down the middle of the road and waved our hands just like a parade. I'm sure anyone looking out their window thought we were making a proclamation to the neighborhood that we are expecting a baby. However, didn't your mother ever tell you not to judge a book by its cover? It's called an investment, people. Not an announcement. The funny thing is, once we got it home, we realized it wouldn't fit through the bedroom door, so we ended up taking it apart anyway.

Example Two: We, and by we I mean Nate, have trouble asking for help sometimes, so we make do. Nate had been practically salivating every time we walked past the wheelbarrows at Lowe's, so for his birthday, I told him he could pick whatever one he wanted. I saw two options: buy a wheelbarrow that hadn't been put together yet and take it home in our car, or buy one that was pre-assembled and ask someone with an SUV, van, or truck to help us get it home. However, Nate saw a third option: buy a wheelbarrow that is fully assembled and spend thirty minutes in the Lowe's parking lot maneuvering it to fit in the back seat of our car. Good thing they make windows that roll down.... On second thought, this may not be a strange thing at all. I have a feeling many a wife has experienced a similar situation.

Example three: Last week we went on an 8 mile hike with some of our friends. We decided to take Ollie with us. Let's just say Nate was able to get a nice upper body workout. I never understood how people spoiled their dogs until we got Ollie. Now we have crossed over to the dog lover's world. I brush his teeth, give him ice water, talk to him like a baby, and even let him sleep in bed with me occasionally. I do draw the line at a doggy carriage. I see this couple walk through our neighborhood all the time with a FAT dog riding in a carriage. Hello, don't you know puppyhood obesity is an epidemic and your dog needs some exercise? At least Ollie made it 6 miles before collapsing in the shade and refusing to take another step.