Happy Birthday in the Bahamas to Me!

My husband spoils me rotten! I have to say, I'm probably the luckiest girl in the world to have such a man. Sometimes I get mad at him for going a little overboard in his spoilage of me, but secretly I love it too! My birthday was one such occasion. Ok, not true, I didn't even pretend to be mad because I was just so excited. He took me on a cruise in the Bahamas!
This a picture of what we left behind in Arkansas....


This is a picture of what we went to...


I don't know, it was a toss up where I'd rather spend my birthday....

Our trip started out on a positive note at the Tulsa airport. You know those signs they have posted now that tell you about the new full body scanner/naked screening machine? The sign says if you refuse to do the body scan you will be subjected to the thorough pat down. Well, lucky me, I walked through the machine like everyone else AND received the "enhanced" pat down. I was my usual oblivious self though and didn't even notice that no one else was getting felt up and down until Nate asked me what I did. Apparently, I looked suspicious. We managed to make it through security and to Port Canaveral without further event.

When we got to our stateroom on the ship, I realized that the room had been misnamed. It should actually be called a "bed"room because the bed actually took up the entirety of the room! And I don't mean that the bed was unusually large. The room looked impossibly small in the pictures, but let me tell you, those pictures must have been from first class because our room was even smaller. Good news was we were on a giant cruise ship with plenty to do besides watch the mini t.v. in our room.

The Bahamas were beautiful. Nate was initiated into the world of snorkeling in Nassau. The water was chilly and the sun was in the clouds, but under the water was an amazing sight well worth the temperature. Too bad we didn't have an underwater camera to share the view with our readers. Nate's favorite part was feeding a Cheeto to a fish.

The highlight of Nassau was most definitely seeing Chuck Norris' house. No joke! This is his vacation home:



We were scheduled to go to a private island owned by the cruise line one day, but the sea conditions ruined that, so we spent the day on the ship instead. The nice thing was there were a bunch of shows and such to keep us entertained for the day. Comedians, musicians, magicians, dancers, etc. We also discovered that both of us had a hidden talent for shuffle board. In fact, we're now considering converting our wood flooring in our living room, into a shuffle board! So while it was disappointing not to make it to the island, we still enjoyed out day of relaxation and entertainment.



And of course, there is always everyone's favorite part of a cruise....eating! A cruise is like a Thanksgiving feast, but for every meal of every day. I'm ashamed to admit we joined our fellow cruisers is a weekend of gluttony and paid the price of a 16 pound weight gain between the two of us. Good thing it was just a short cruise! However, as part of my birthday present Nate signed us up for the Bentonville Half Marathon, so hopefully our training will put us back at an acceptable weight. Overall it was a wonderful birthday all thanks to my amazing husband!

A Letter to our Followers

Dear Faithful Followers of this Blog,
I apologize for my temporary leave of absence. I'm trying to think of a good reason for my lack of writing, but I can't even come up with a truthful excuse. I could say nothing exciting has happened in the last six weeks, but that would be a lie: my best friend Erin came for a weekend visit, Nate and I spent our first Christmas together, we celebrated our six month wedding anniversary, and we started house hunting for our first home to name a few of the recent events in our lives. I could say I didn't have time with the holidays and such, but once again, that would be a lie: I was given vacation time from the 23rd of December-4th of January. (I may or may not have watched several seasons of Gilmore Girls during that time while Nate had to work...) I could even say my computer was destroyed in the New Year's tornado, yet another lie: while we did experience heavy rains and winds, the actual tornado hit a few towns away. (Good thing too, since we slept right through the sirens!) Needless to say, I can not provide any explanation to my bloglessness as of late (yes, I made up the work bloglessness), but seeing as it's a new year, I plan to get back on track.

I find it tedious to recount things that have long past, so I'll just touch on a few highlights since my last post.

• Erin came to town! Erin and I lived to together for three years, so we've both been suffering from separation anxiety issues since I got married and moved to Arkansas. The only remedy was for her to come for a visit. We reenacted all our great moments: watching cheesy holiday movies, eating Little Caesar's pizza, going out to Olive Garden, watching 16 and Pregnant, etc. Another show we used to watch together was 19 Kids and Counting, and it just so happens that the Duggar family lives a mere 20 miles or so down the road from me! We decided to do a little detective work and see if we could stalk, I mean find them. We drove through the backwoods of Tontitown and we found their house! We had a grand weekend!
• The holidays brought a mixture of emotions. We were excited to celebrate our first Christmas together as a married couple, but we were also sad that we weren't able to go home and visit family. We did spend Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve with Bryson and Alyssa playing games, eating delicious food, playing the Wii, watching movies, and just enjoying each others company. We are certainly grateful that they live in Bentonville as well, so our holidays weren't completely devoid of family.
• Our six month anniversary was in December! Now I know to most people that may not seem like a big deal, but it was still fun to celebrate and look back on our first six months of marriage. It's amazing how much has already happened and how much I've learned in that short period of time. But in looking forward, I know I have infinitely more to learn about being married! Last Christmas, if you would have asked me where I'd be in a year, I never would have said married to Nate Shepherd and living happily in Arkansas. This year was one of surprises and tender mercies. I'm just amazed at how much better Heavenly Father knows me than I know myself. I'm definitely grateful that His plan was better than mine! So many changes have occurred in my life this year- graduated college, got married, moved to Arkansas, started my first real job- but I'm happier than I ever could have imagined. May you be blessed to recognize that same happiness in your own lives.

Wishing you all late happy holidays,
Laurel & Nate

The South Fails to Rise Again

I love living in the South. Things are just a little different here, and Nate and I have found that we thoroughly enjoy learning and immersing ourselves in the culture. Culture lessons this weekend consisted of going to our very first Civil War Reenactment! For those of you who have never been to one, just picture that scene from Sweet Home Alabama. It was just like that.

They started the show off with a bang... literally. The Rebels shot a giant cannon right next to the crowd. Everyone gave a startled cry and then laughed at being caught off guard. After that the Union returned fire, and the battle was on. The cavalry charged, the infantry followed, the drummer boys drummed, the cannons fired, the wounded fell, but it seemed neither side would relent. (The cows in the back field certainly retreated though. I've never seen a group of fat cows book it like that. Poor things thought their day of doom had come. )

As the battle raged on and the outcome was still uncertain, I heard whisperings throughout the crowd of "Did we win....Does anyone know the actually story....Did we get 'um?" I wanted to answer, "If by 'we' you mean the United States (since that is your country), than yes, we won! If you mean the Confederate States, than no! I hate to break it to you, but they were defeated and no longer exist for you to affiliate yourself with." However, I chose not to share my thoughts on that, and by the end, I found myself rooting for the South. Hey, everyone else was doing it, and I found myself caught up in the excitement of the crowd. Plus we're just trying to adopt the local culture. In the end, the Yankees won the battle much to the disappointment of the spectators.

This is near the beginning of the battle. If you look closely, you can see the cows in the background. Unfortunately, you can't see them running in a picture.

Here is the Rebel retreat

Casualties of war

A Thanksgiving To Be Thankful For

The Feuz's braved the blizzards of Northern Utah and Wyoming to make the long drive out to Arkansas for Thanksgiving. At first, we were worried they wouldn't make it at all. When it became clear that they would, our next worry was they would get here too quickly. Our house was a mess, we didn't have any food, our grass needed mowed; we had a long to do list, and time was running out quickly. I called my mom around 2:00 on Wednesday to ask what time they would be here. According to my calculations, their ETA was 7:00. However, my mom said according to the GPS, they would pull into our driveway at 5:30. 5:30!?!?!?! How would we ever be ready by that time? Fortunately, Nate and I were both able to leave work early and get through our checklist. As I was sweeping the floor and pondering how they were making such good time, it hit me. They forgot to change the time on the GPS when they crossed into Central time! They assumed it would changed automatically like their cell phones. With a sigh of relief, I called my mom to tell her the good news for me and bad news for them. They really wouldn't arrive until 6:30. In the background, I heard Shane let out a cry of "Christmas is ruined!" (his favorite thing to say when something is amiss.) Nonetheless, they continued their journey and made it just in time for dinner.

Other than the two day drive, I think my family enjoyed their time in Arkansas. I know Nate and I were happy to have them. It felt like Christmas to us to be surrounded with our family. Events of the week included: eating a delicious Thanksgiving feast, watching football, shopping on Black Friday, touring the town, Wal-Mart hopping (we checked out 3 of the local ones), playing basketball at the Walton Life Fitness Center, attempting to play tennis, watching cheesy holiday movies, building a puzzle, walking on some nearby trails, and just spending time relaxing together. Our little house was at it's maximum capacity with Mom, Dad, Brianne, Shane, and Emily here, but it now feels a little empty with them gone. We're looking forward to their next visit. Easter?

My Dad started this puzzle while he was here. Nate was so proud of himself for finishing it.

Kickin' It In The South

Nate and I have been making an effort lately to be more involved with the ward and community. One of our latest endeavors involved playing on a kickball team with my co-workers. We discovered that kickball down south is a little bit different than in Utah. When a team is at bat, they sit in the dugout and drink something in plastic cups that doesn't smell like Kool-Aid. When a team is in the outfield, they bring their cups with them. (Not my team, of course. We're health coaches.) As the night goes on, more and more balls that should have been caught are dropped, less kickers are actually making contact with the ball, and more wild throws to who knows where are seen. You'd think that being the only sober team in the league would give us an advantage. Sadly, I can't say we were the most athletically inclined team, and we had a problem with getting enough men to show up. However, we still split our wins and losses pretty equally.

The one thing we did have going for us was STYLE!



Last year my team decided to wear costumes because they didn't have enough players with just the employees; they needed to disguises underage players. Everyone in the league thought it was fantastic, so this year a Pageantry Bowl was created for the best dressed teams. Naturally, ours was included and we played for the Tiara of Awesomeness. And while we were obviously the more awesome team, the other team did win the game and the Tiara. We're looking forward to claiming it next year!

Laurel is Finishing Crafts?

Ladies and gentlemen, I have an important announcement: I have finished not one, not two, but three crafts! For those of you who know me well, you know that I never finish crafts. I just don't have the patience for it. By the time I figure out how I want to do something, I'm already tired of the craft and I never finish it. And I'm not really exaggerating here; just ask my mother how many unfinished crafts she's seen from me.

Perhaps there is a change for me. That change comes in the form of my mother in law, Lisa. Lisa is the exact opposite when it comes to crafts. She is so creative and is always making some cute decoration or card. When she was in town a few weeks ago, she brought some craft items for me and Alyssa. I'll be honest and say I was quite worried Lisa would discover that her son married the most uncreative and uncrafty girl in the world. (Which is true, I just didn't want her to know!) Well, I'm proud to say that I finished ALL the craft projects she brought. I sewed a table runner, decorated a Halloween jar, and made a cute picture frame. Granted, it did take me two days to finish what would take a normal person less than 2 hours to finish. Here are some pictures to prove I finished. (I figured most of you wouldn't believe it without some picture documentation)

The Shepherds go to the Mule Festival

We finally had company last weekend! The prize for being our first visitors goes to Nate's parents, Stan and Lisa. We were so excited to have them come, and we definitely enjoyed the entire weekend. We decided we needed to entertain them true Arkansas style, so we took them to the local mule jumping competition! Yes, you read that correctly, mule jumping competition. (Like I said, true Arkansas style entertainment.)

So the cool thing about mules is they have incredible back leg strength. This competition shows off that strength. They can jump really high from a standing position, unlike horses who have to get a running start. The jumping competition is like limbo only in reverse. The bar is raised not lowered each round. The mule who can clear the highest height wins. I believe the winning mule jumped over a bar that was 51 inches high! Pretty impressive considering the mule itself was probably only 51 inches tall. The best part of the competition was watching the trainers try to convince the mule that it should jump over this bar. Some of the mules just danced around it, some dug in their back heels and refused to move, one ran away, and some just plain walked though the bar and knocked it over.

Other events at the mule jumping competition included barrel racing (not very exciting because most of the mules didn't want to go fast, yet entertaining because it was funny to see the rider try to force the stubborn mule to go around a barrel), safe tree climbing (yes, there is a proper way to climb a tree), hog calling (unfortunately, we missed this part of the day, but I'm sure we would have enjoyed it)and an old car show. All in all it was a great event to take Stan and Lisa to. Hopefully they enjoyed it as much as Nate and I did. We loved having guests and hope to have more soon. We promise we'll show you a good Arkansas time too!



I couldn't get our video to work but this is one from the same festival I found on youtube from a different year.