Adventures

"Adventure is out there!" ~ from the greatest movie of all time UP ~
And boy have we found it in the last month Jim and I have seen hole-in-the-rock, peek-a-boo and spooky gulch and some amazing hot air balloons!

My mother and father in law have both read the book the Undaunted  and they were kind enough to let me borrow their book and read it. I have to tell you, it was an amazing book, besides the fact that I love Gerald Lund's writing, I was truly inspired by the feat that these pioneers conquered. 

 

                                                                                                              

Our next adventure was to peek-a-boo and spooky gulch. These are about a hour out of Escalante.

 As well as Devils Rock Garden.

I thought this looked like a turtle!

AND last but not least our Balloon festival experience.

As you can see we enjoy the extraordinary things in life and are always up for an adventure! :)

I can SEW!!

I should correct my title... I can *kind of* SEW! I have been wanting a white skirt for some time now and I decided that since I can never find what I want I will just make it. So Erin helped me (thank heavens for that wonderful women) she taught me how to put it all together while Jim, Ryan and the kids watched Indiana Jones on Friday night. Then I spent pretty much all of Saturday working on it, then finally finished it this afternoon. I was a little vain and thought I was skinner than I really am, so its a little tight around my wonderful hips that I inherited from my mommy.Other than that I would have to say it turned out pretty dang good for my first time sewing a skirt. :) 

 I am quite proud of myself, of course its not perfect but I still love it.

Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps

"What do you get when you blend Alfred Hitchcock with Monty Python? A hilarious mystery spoof that will keep you guessing! Murder, betrayal, and espionage intertwine with sly and hysterical nods to many of Hitchcock’s films, resulting in one of the funniest plays to ever hit Broadway. See if you can figure out whodunit as this cast of four transforms into over 150 farcical characters!" - http://bard.org/plays/39steps.html

On Wednesday Jim, Margaret, Franz and I went and saw this gut busting play put on by the Utah Shakespearean Festival. They did such a wonderful job at it too, with only 4 cast members it was amazing to see what they could do. They are very talented people. For anyone that is thinking about seeing a play before this summer is over, I would highly recommend this one to everyone! I laughed so hard I almost fell off my seat, not to mention the man in front of us had a hilarious laugh!  I sure do love spending time with my in-laws and to see them laugh and have such a good time was so fun for me and Jim.

Jim's updated site!

Hey everyone, check out Jim's updated website that he has for us! It is so awesome! I sure do love having him around he is a great guy and you have to admit he is talented, I could never create my own website that looked as good as this... http://www.shakespearfamily.com/JLShakeme/Welcome.html

Goal

This weekend was such an inspiring one!

Jim was able to go home on Thursday night with Ryan and the boys so they could get up early and go fishing at Barker Reservoir. Apparently the fishing up there was no better than what we had up in the Uintahs. They had fun though and that's the important thing anyway.
I had to work on Friday and then was able to help one of my friends with her shopping. I sure do enjoy helping others when the chance comes and I know that they Lord provides ways for us to be in the right place at the right time! Then I headed on home to Cannonville where I was able to spend time with my great family. It was such a busy weekend we had the 1/2 marathon and the bear festival and the Smith reunion. busy busy.

Anyway... the reason for this post is that I now have a new goal. I was so inspired by my cousin Barbie running the 1/2 marathon that I am going to start preparing for next years race! I am a little nervous but I am going to do it! I think being physically fit is so important and I am much happier if I am getting the exercise that I need. When I got my gallbladder out the surgeon told me that every person should get their heart rate up to 150 for at least 30 minutes a day. I have been struggling with being tired all of the time and he told me with the exercise he recommended, more iron in my diet I would be happier, more fit and I would have more energy!

Anybody that wants to run with me next year, you are so invited to train and then run the race with me!
So here's to a healthier and all around better lifestyle!

Uintah Camping Trip

Last Wednesday Jim and I headed out for the Uintah Mountains. It was a very needed, relaxing trip. This annual camp out is usually just the boys and I am proud to say that I was the third Shakespear girl to ever attempt camping with the tough Shakespear Boys, and I made it! I came back with out too much damage done. There was one rough night, but that's just me learning how my body reacts to certain foods now that I no longer have a gallbladder or appendix.

It was a bit cold up there in the mountains, we were up 10,500 feet and the air is much thinner there than I am used to.

 That is frost on the ground!

I must say that the main reason I love camping ever so much is that it gets me closer, I feel, to all of Gods wonderful creations. I so enjoy seeing the hand of my loving heavenly father in my everyday life, and don't get me wrong I can see those things here in the 'BIG' city of Cedar, but to be out where there is almost no sign of man or the harm we do to this earth is such a spiritual experience for me. I always get a re-confirmation that God does love me and that he has made this beautiful world for us to live in.

Here are some of my great pictures from the trip.

That's Franz fixing up his fishing pole

I loved this flower! It is so Brilliant!

 Beautiful little waterfall

Chepeta Lake

My Mountain Man!

House Work

Jim and I are currently living in a house very close to campus which my parents bought back in November last year. It is such a wonderful place to live and we love it ever so much...except... we have house guests every weekend. My Parents. Of course it is so great that we get to see them so often the problem is that we get put to work on our nice, relaxing weekends. Its a huge project that they had invested in and its going to be an even better place to live when we are all finished.  My dad, of course does most of the work, but that's okay because most of it he does while sitting down with a BIG pepsi in his hand, you may ask how this is possible... well he owns a cement business in Cannonville,UT and he has lots of fun toys like this one.

He Loves doing work, especially when large equipment is involved! I love my daddy!

Shan doing some demolition downstairs.

Jim digging for a water line, dad in the background doing the easy digging.

 This is where the diesel tank sat before we took it out.

This is where the stairs will be...eventually.

So far we have dug out new, huge downstairs window wells and we have huge windows for both of the downstairs bedrooms. We dug up a diesel tank that was on the south side of the house and then put all the dirt back where the tank was. we dug up a water line and a gas line and replaced them, dug a ginormous hole in our front yard where eventually there will be stairs that lead down to the basement and then cut out a door to the basement as well. So that is what our weekends have been full of for the last little while. 

Of course with lots of help from all the family. 

They hope to have renters by the fall, but I don't know if they are going to be quick enough for that since we only have 6 more weekends till fall semester starts. We are still going to be replacing all the water lines in the house and putting another water heater in and putting carpet down and painting the walls and making a closet for one of the rooms. It;s just a big job to do. I will sure be glad when it is all done. 

 

They are hoping to get a married couple to live down there, so if anyone is looking for a place to live in the fall possibly or next spring, they hope to get $500 a month, just let me know.