Jenny Get Your Gun

So here is something new, this is Nate actually doing a post on here. I just have to brag about my girl. Last weekend my family went out into the desert to shoot our guns and basically just to make some noise. Well, Jenny had never shot a gun before at all, so my family was excited to see how she would do (I was very interested). We got out there and by her second shot she was putting holes in all of the bottles that we had set up. The picture here is her with my dad's SKS assault riffle going to town on some poor helpless targets. So anyone thinking about breaking in to the house is going to have to think twice.

Honeymoon take 2!

As most of you know (or if you read this post) Nate and I were sick for the duration of our honeymoon. We had talked about maybe taking a second honeymoon later this year or after Nate graduates but then we got an unexpected surprise. During a conversation with the doctor Nate was rotating with in February, it came out how we had gone to San Diego and gotten sick. The doctor then told Nate that as far as he was concerned his rotation was done on Tuesday (instead of Friday) and that if he didn't go somewhere he'd fail. Well we couldn't let Nate fail his rotation, so I looked around and found us a great 3 nights for the price of 2 deal in Sedona. It had been a good 10-15 years since I'd been to Sedona and with it only 2 hours away it was a perfect opportunity for make-up mini-moon.
The weather was perfect and it we had a great time enjoying the beautiful scenery of Sedona. We went hiking at Soldier's Pass and saw the giant sink hole Devil's Kitchen.


We drove up to see Snoopy Rock.


Hiked around the base of Cathedral Rock.


Hung out and relaxed by Oak Creek.


And walked around Tlaquepaque, where it was my turn to try on a goofy hat (maybe this will be a trend of ours).



After we had our fill of Sedona we took a drive up to Flagstaff to visit Nate's sister Jana and her family. There was still some snow on the ground and after lunch we found a spot to pull off for a impromptu snowball fight. I wasn't quick enough to get a picture of that though. Overall it was great to get away for a few days and enjoy some time with just the two of us away from work/school, the housework, and all the illness we've had for the past 2 months. A husband, a wife and the beautiful outdoors, how can it get much better than that?

Valentine's Day

Ok I know this is a little bit late but I wanted to document how sweet my husband is. In all my years I've only had 2 good Valentine's Days (one of which being this year), so historically it's been more S.A.D. (Singles Awareness Day) than a day of love. I woke up Saturday morning to a dozen red roses next to our bed and even though I didn't get a picture of them before they started dying, they were beautiful to wake up to. Nate gave me a very sweet card and then went downstairs to make me/us waffles for breakfast. I had to laugh when he told me he was going to make waffles because I had had the thought of making him waffles for breakfast. We often end up thinking the same thing and this time he beat me to it.
For my gift he got me an herb garden and I absolutely swooned over it. It was so thoughtful as I had wanted to start another herb garden since it's warming up. He'd been planning it for weeks and even consulted my mom on what kind of herbs would be good to plant. I love the mental image I have of him picking out the plants and potting them for me the day before while I was at work. He can be wonderfully sneaky sometimes.


That evening we decided to use a gift certificate Nate's sister Ellen had given him for his birthday and went to dinner at Romeo's Euro Cafe in downtown Gilbert. The restaurant is fairly small but they have a huge menu and the portions are big enough to share or take the rest home for a second meal. Also should you go and get a salad with your dinner, I definitely recommend the feta dressing, YUMMY!

Overall it was a fun day with my hubby and I'm glad to have retired from S.A.D.

Stepping back in time

A few weeks ago Nate and I went to the Renaissance Festival during their opening weekend when we could both get in for the price of one. I hadn't been to the festival for years and it was amazing to see how much it's grown, at least from what I remember.

The last time I went I was much younger and remember seeing Ded Bob perform on this little stage made out of 2x4's. One of my favorite old memories about the Renaissance Festival doesn't even come from my trip but rather from the aftermath of my friend Chari's trip with her family. After seeing the candlemaking and wax hand demonstrations, Chari thought this would be a great thing to try at home and somehow got her hands on a candle dipping kit. We spent an afternoon dipping candles in a variety of colored wax, then Chari got the idea that we should make wax molds of our hands and got out a larger container for the hot wax and a bowl of cold water. I remember thinking at the time that sticking my whole hand into a container of hot wax probably wasn't a good idea, but I went along with it anyway and while I remember it being uncomfortably hot to begin with it remarkably it worked. I walked away unscathed and with a mold of my fist that I believe I still have packed away today.

This year's trip was fun and memorable but not nearly as dangerous. We walked around, looked at the different shops, and watched the knight's joust all the while reveling in the great opportunity for people watching the festival provides. We also managed to catch two of Nate's favorite shows, Ded Bob and London Broil (a trio of comedic jugglers).

And what trip to the Renaissance Festival would be complete without gnawing on a big turkey leg.