Snowshoeing in Utah!

For our Christmas present to each other this year, we got snowshoes! We took them out for a spin on Christmas day and then again with family along the next day. So much fun!! It was absolutely gorgeous both days and it felt so surreal to be hiking through such beautiful snow covered trees! What a great treat! We plan on going to Cloudcroft, NM this week to do a little more! (In case you didn't know, click on the picture to view it larger!)

Campbell Christmas

Can you guess what we all got for Christmas at the Campbell house?! You guessed it! Scarfs! I loved seeing the different ways we all chose to wear them :) Since my family's house is only five minutes from Shanam's, we had two Christmas mornings in a row! And what did we get from my family? A beautiful cast iron pot and "The World's Healthiest Foods" book!! Way way way exciting! My grandma was able to come from California to spend Christmas with us and that was a total treat seeing her! My family doesn't do a traditional Christmas dinner but we do a Christmas Taco Party a couple nights before Christmas every year and we flew in just in time! Gotta love Christmas Tacos with the WHOLE fam!!

McG Christmas

Christmas with the McG's and Santos'! Woo hoo! Whata party! We stayed with Shanam's family in American Fork for this holiday season and so did the Santos family from Florida! A full house is always the best during the holidays :) Shanam and I decided, after eating lobster for Christmas dinner, that that was to become our Christmas tradition! It was delicious! Shanam's mother is such a great chef! Always good healthy food at their house! Our Christmas gift from them this year? A wheat grinder! We're soooo excited! On Christmas morning we got to talk to Elana, Shanam's sister, who's serving a mission in Guatemala. Shanam's dad wired up a whole telecom system so we could all be on speaker phone. It was great to hear how well she's doing :)

Christmas on the Pecos

What's more fun than cruisin' down the Pecos River in Carlsbad on a boat filled with people singing Christmas carols looking at beautiful lights all down the river front? Doing it with good friends and tons of dazzled kids sitting around you ooing and ahhing :)

Mexican Reception

Not everyone gets to experience a true mexican reception in Mexico, but I think everyone should! The party doesn't even get started until 11 at night! I got a kick out of the invitation. The reception hours were listed as 9 pm to 2 am. Can you imagine a Utah wedding reception with those hours!? Never! The picture above was taken at about 3 in the morning as the party was just starting to wrap up. Can you tell we all look a little dazed? Especially Sam, the groom. He was totally out of it by the end! We all were! But boy did we have a blast! My favorite part was the balloon dance. The bride and groom got in the middle as everyone surrounded them in a big circle. Long balloons were thrown out and we all got to parade around them following the directions in the music lyrics (in Spanish of course) and wave our balloons at them. It looked way cool and I wish I could have gotten a picture of that! We danced and danced, it was the only way to not pass out in a corner somewhere and wait til it was over :) Sam and Marisol are great friends of ours and it was so great to be a part of that experience. His family came out from Indiana so we got to party with them at the only gringo table. Haha! Great memories :) Even more fun was waiting an hour an a half to get back into America with all of their wedding presents in our trunk at 4 in the morning. What a night!

Thanksgiving in Utah

What a wonderful holiday! Tons of food, time with family, naps, and shopping. Can't get any better then that! We decided to take a little road trip out west, and by little, I mean 16 hours :) We drove through the night and it actually went great!! Aside from almost running out of gas in the middle of nowhere and hitting a deer, we had no problems at all! Lol! I'm not laughing about hitting a deer, though, that was really sad :( We brought a homemade Texas Pecan Pie to share and enjoyed some great homemade pumpkin and apple pie. Gotta love the classics! My dad enjoyed frying up the turkey in peanut oil (poor little turkey) and I enjoyed my favorite childhood salad: butter lettuce, pomegranate seeds, pears, pistachios, and a dressing made with pear juice, rice vinegar, cilantro, and red pepper flakes. Amazing!! Thank you grandma! Shanam got to go skiing on his birthday the next day while I went and got him some lovely discounted sweaters on my Black Friday shopping spree. And the greatest thing about this season...we get to go back in three weeks and do it all again!! This time I think we'll fly :) Enjoy the pictures!

Snow...in Texas?!!

Who knew!! Last night Shanam and I drove around in the snow on the empty streets (because everyone else is afraid to drive on an inch of snow) and listened to Christmas music as we looked at lights. It really is beginning to look a lot like Christmas :)

Pecan Pickin'

It's time for some good old fashioned pecan pickin' in West Texas! All the trees are letting go of their precious nuts and we got to have some back breakin' fun :) We picked up over 50 lbs of pecans in 2 hours! Thanks to some great friends all we have to pay for is to get them shelled! What a deal! Shanam's extremely excited to have a year's worth of pecans. He loves his whole wheat pecan waffles with real maple syrup on Saturday mornings :)

Our Wedding Video!!

We finally got our wedding video after 6 months!! Check it out and relive that beautiful day! Some of the facial expressions our videographer, David Perry, caught are priceless! It captures the feelings of that day perfectly and is exactly how I remember it :) Viewer discretion advised...lots of kissy scenes. Hehe. When we get our actual DVD, our ring ceremony will be added on at the end...haven't seen that part yet! That's what I really want to see, cuz we don't even remember what we said to each other :)

Halloween Fun

I'll give you a few guesses as to who we were for Halloween. Nope, you didn't get it :) The girls at church that I teach wanted us to dress up as Barbie and Ken since that's the joke at church, so we decided to give in, but put our own twist to it. So we were "Sport" Barbie and Ken. Nice, eh? The girls enjoyed it, and Shanam enjoyed not really having to dress up, since that's what he wears all the time anyway (minus the backwards hat :) Although someone did call him Ken's brother the bum. Haha!

Michigan!!

This past weekend we attended a conference for Amway Global in Grand Rapids, Michigan and had a fabulous trip!! These pics are at the headquarters where the products are manufatured and distributed world wide. We were excited to be there :)

I wish I had taken pictures of the actual conference, because it was more like a huge motivational party! We heard amazing speakers, including the man who's life was made into the movie "The Pursuit of Happpyness" as well as political and business leaders. So cool!! We loved being there together to experience it and learn side by side :)

Surprise trip to Utah!!

We decided to surprise our family by flying in for conference weekend. LOL! It was great!! My parents had no clue and it was so fun to get my brothers in on the surprise. They helped in devising ways to jump out and surprise them when they came home Wednesday night, and we got them good!! Shanam and I hadn't been home since we got married 5 months ago, so we enjoyed being with our fam again.

BYU game against Utah State with Shanam's parents
Fully enjoying conference :)

My family drives through the Alpine Loop while we listen to the Sunday afternoon session on the radio. Guess what we found at the top of the mountain!! SNOW!! Shanam was very happy, to say the least :)

During priesthood session the girls all got toether for a little shopping. Guess how much we saved during their sale at Shade!? $176.00!!! Now that's definitely some conference upliftment! So fun to spend time with family and friends (especially my newly pregnant best friend :) Congrats, Bre!

Phoenix!!

Girl Bonding Time!!!!!

I was able to go hang out with these awesome girlies for a whole week!! So much fun!! My trip to Phoenix was for business, but when I wasn't working it was all play!! Anndalyn and Melissa were great hosts and took me to see all the sites. The zoo being one of my faves :) These pics were taken on our girls night out for dinner and a movie. We saw Fame (fabulous I recommend it) and ate at an awesome restaurant that was right up my ally!

Married women can still have fun and act like goofs :)

Great organic food grown right there at the restaurant in their greenhouses!! I had a fabulous, maybe even best I've ever had, portebello mushroom burger with fresh beet salad. Yum!!

Went to visit the Mesa Temple on Sunday after going to church with Mel and her hubster. Their ward was baby crazy!! Can you believe 7 nurseries!! On the church records there are 300 kids under the age of 12!

We got to talk to the sister missionaries and they were so excited to hear that we had served as companions in France together. They let us listen to the Christus recording in French! We were both crying by the end because it brought back so many good memories from the mission :)

The trip was also filled with great physical activities! Mel and I played a match of tennis in the sweltering heat and worked out at the gym she works at and Anndalyn, the kids, and I went for a beautiful morning hike in the mountains right behind there house on another morning.

Aren't her kids so adorable!!! I loved spending time with them, singing and laughing and playing!

I could just eat her up!

It was fun to watch the kids when daddy got home!

Copper Canyon!!

Well, we made it! We had a fabulous trip and enjoyed every minute! Even the minute we got rear-ended within 10 minutes of being in Mexico. Lol. A little ironic...don't you think? Don't worry, everything was fine and our car wasn't damaged at all, thank goodness! All of our prayers worked :) Above, is a beautiful waterfall we off-roaded to. I have never been more happy to be on smooth ground after that little adventure!
This is the little bed and breakfast we stayed in for two nights in the town of Creel. Get this! All four of us in one room with breakfast and dinner included was only $45!! I love Mexico!

These are wonderful little hot springs at the bottom of a canyon. So amazing!! So were the scary, steep switch-backs leading down to it! You weren't allowed to drive on it unless you had 4 wheel drive. Guess who was first in line :) I was very grateful that we didn't have to walk back up, though! It takes 4 hours!!

And the most beautiful sight of all...Copper Canyon! We hiked as high as we could go and enjoyed the breathtaking views (and drops) all along the way! Wish we could have stayed up there a little longer! The weather was gorgeous for the whole trip and it was neat to experience a different culture as well as enjoy their yummy food!

Labor Day Weekend Trip

This may be the most adventurous adventure yet!! And hopefully we'll return from it...we're going to Mexico...we're bringing guns...and I wish I had some body armor. j/k It won't be that bad :) But I'm sure it'll be exciting! We've got some friends who have a house in the canyons south of Juarez, so yes we'll be driving through Juarez...but it will be during the day, we'll be staying on the highway, and we won't be making any stops. This was assured me after I expressed my concerns, so hopefully this will calm your apprehension as well. We'll be with people who are from there, so that makes me feel better, too. We're pretty excited to go and can't wait to see the beautiful sights! We'll make sure to take lots of pics!

It's that time again!

It was time for Shanam's monthly dose of medicine. This was a more spontaneous trip, as in a 5:00 Friday night text while he's at work, "Honey, why are we not driving to the mountains right now?" I knew that was a clue to how stressful his day had gone and how much he needed to get away. "Well, do you want to go?" I texted back. The answer, "Uh, yes?" It sounded like he didn't know how I was going to respond :) I'm up for fun adventures and a good road trip any day (just ask Bre or Anndalyn :), so I told him I'd pack and pick him up in an hour. We decided to go to a little town in the mountains of New Mexico called Cloudcroft. This place sits at 9000 ft, pretty much at the top of a mountain ridge. The drive through the mountains would have been gorgeous if we had left a little earlier, however, we managed to arrive right around midnight. After an hour of trying to find a perfect spot to pitch our tent for the night, we found a cop who was on bar duty to show us a little road tucked away in the forest that lead to some good areas. We thanked him and eventually got settled in to bed around 2 am. Fun stuff! The stars were absolutely breathtaking that night and we slept with our rain cover off so we could enjoy them. Only problem was, it got dreadfully cold in the morning and we made sure the next night to enjoy the stars before going to bed and slept with the cover on :)

Our first day was full of adventure! Of course we went mountain biking, and I must say, I was awesome!! LOL! I did a whole lot better and except for the high elevation "stop-I-can't-breath" parts, it was great!! Shanam said that his favorite part of the whole weekend was watching me push through the challenging parts. I told him that my favorite part was watching him ride in front of me. He's really good and he'll jump off things and hop over other things, but more than that, I just love taking in the whole picture. His home is in the mountains. That's what gives him life. So when I see him, racing through an open meadow, with the mountains and trees surrounding him, I know at those moments that there is no other place I would rather be than right there with him, feeling his joy and freedom :) No matter how hard I'm huffing and puffing :)

That's true love, right there, baby! LOL!

Questions

After 3 months of marriage, here's the most common question I get asked, "So, how's married life?" And it always begins with 'so', as if the answer is some hidden secret :) I usually respond with something short and sweet, which I'm sure they were expecting (they couldn't possibly think I'd tell them the secret! :) I answer with, "Great!" Or sometimes, "Amazing!" Or other times I get really detailed and I say, "It rocks!" LOL. But, honestly, how could I tell them the full answer? How could I explain the joy I feel when I wake up every morning next to a man who when he realizes I'm up, rolls over and draws me up into his arms to tell me good morning. How could I explain the love I feel as he serves me by doing the dishes after a long day at work and all he wants to do is relax. We eat together, we play together, we drive together, we talk together, we sit in silence together, we pray together, we laugh together, we set goals together. We are together in every sense of the word. There are no words to descibe how wonderful that feels. Man is not meant to be alone. God teaches us that, but it isn't until you enter into that marriage covenant that you finally gain an understanding as to why. And we're only at the beginning of that understanding :) To our single friends, keep becoming the best you you can be, for it will only make that beautiful relationship that much better when it happens! We are so grateful we married each other when we were a little older and knew ourselves a little better. We both agreed that if we had met in high school or college we would have wanted nothing to do with each other! LOL! God's timing is perfect :) It only took one time for our lives to cross, and that one time has turned into eternity :)

Disclaimer added!!

Please read added disclaimer on last post!! It's very important :)

Little Breath of Fresh Air

Another weekend spent in the mountains of New Mexico! This time with company! Shanam's parents from Utah, our good friend Sam and his fiance came up to enjoy some time together. We rented this cute cabin for the weekend and enjoyed making fires in the fireplace and breathing in the fresh mountain air. Highlight of the weekend? Mountain biking!!! This time, with my own bike and some miles of training back in Andrews, I did a little better :) Besides the fact that I threw up on the side of the trail and almost went into shock, it was great! LOL! It just shows I was pushing myself, and that's good, according to my coach :) Really, though, it wasn't that bad. I made it all the way up the mountain and it was a great feeling of accomplishment! I can't wait to go back and do another trail :) I'm going to get into shape, you just watch me!

***Disclaimer*** My husband is not trying to kill me, so don't worry Bre :) The throwing up and going into shock were two seperate events. I went into shock after I fell from trying to get on my bike (that's a whole nother embarassing story in itself) and I was dumb and didn't eat or drink anything that morning before going out, so my body was really not liking me at all. Shanam is still the sweetest most patient guy I know. :) And I AM going to get into shape!

Cornapalooza!

Shanam and I attended our first ever CORNAPALOOZA!! What is this you ask? Well, obviously it has to do with corn...a lot of corn! At a cornapalooza this is all you eat, but don't you dare forget about the all the fixin's!! According to some, the best way to dress up a cob is by adding the following layers. First comes the butter. Let it melt and ooze all over the cob. Then slather on the mayonnaise. ( I know, I know, sounds pretty interesting!) Now that it's nice and wet, not to mention fattening, start adding the Parmesan cheese, cayenne pepper, salt and black pepper. Whew! Now it's ready!! I know I couldn't believe it either!! Any of ya'll ever had it like this? How do you dress your corn? I'm just a plain butter and salt girl myself, but it was fun trying something new :)

More presents!

Today, a huge box from home arrived with tons more wedding presents and gift cards and sweet notes and I sat on my couch opening and reading and crying. I was so touched that so many people would still make an effort to send something or write something. I'm still crying as I think about how many special people have been a part of my life. It brought back so many great memories of great times I've shared with amazing people, and made me so grateful for all that I've been able to experience before getting married. I just feel so grateful to have lived the life I've lived!!! We got a card from an amazing French family that helped me tremendously on my mission, a creative gift my favorite seminary teacher new I'd love, a funny card from an old Disney co-worker who never ceases to make me laugh, sweet notes full of love from distant family members I've only met once, a letter from an awesome college roommate who's serving as a missionary in Arizona. This is just to name a few. What wonderful people! We have received so much love and support all throughout our relationship, I don't think I could ever really say enough thank you's to cover it :)

As I go throughout my day, I have a lot of time to think and ponder, and my thoughts will often think about friends from the past. Wondering what they are up to, remembering good times we shared, and especially thinking about how they have influenced my life for the better.

You are not forgotton. Thank you for enhancing the beauty of my life. I feel truly blessed to know you!

4th of July Andrews Style

Turtle Races!!!!

This was so much fun to watch! All the kids start collecting turtles a month ahead then take them here to the city park on the 4th and race them. There were over 400 turtles entered into the race!! There were two circles with heats of ten turtles at a time. Some turtles were huge, some were babies, and some were even painted! 10 turtles are put in the middle, the barrel's lifted and the first to cross the outer circle wins. Pretty fun tradition :)

Here is the city of Andrews watching and cheering on turtles :)

Later on that night we went with some frinds to their family party. This was the garage band. It was actually the band the city wanted to hire for the town party but their family outbid the city. LOL!

We're looking a little ragged and warn out. Holidays can be like that :) Too much fun!

This is Jeffrey. These are his fireworks. $900 dollars worth. Let's just say he put on one heck of a firework show. With the live band in the backround and fireworks filling up the entire sky above us, we enjoyed every patriotic second.

And Shanam enjoyed dessert :)

San Antonio Trip!

We have been looking forward to this trip for a while now! And it was so much fun! "Wicked" was playing in the Majesty Theatre, which was the reason we went, and we loved it so much! We had both seen it previously, but there was just something enchanting about it seeing it in that theatre. The inside is decorated so that it feels like you're outside at night at an Arabian palace. Anyone ever been there? So cool!This is our possy :) We went with some friends from Andrews. Seriously laughed the whole time! They are so much fun! We ate breakfast both mornings at this Mexican restaurant called Mi Tierra. There were mariachi bands, hanging tassles, flags, murals, lights, crepe paper, I mean you name it, it was there as decoration. :) Had our first taste of Mexican hot chocolate--delicious--and real Mexican pastries. Good, but really... nothing compares to French pastries!

The River Walk, of course :) Our hotel was right on the river, close to everything! Traveling together and seeing new things has got to be one of our favorite things to do!!

Our little Texas home

Living Room (view from the Dining Room)


Sitting area across from couch

Dining Room

Bedroom

Kitchen (View from the Dining Room)

Other half of the kitchen

Not too shabby, eh? It's really starting to feel like home now :) We can finally have guests over!