Good Evening Shuttle Bus

Well eight months in the making, our honeymoon finally happened. I may be biased but I think it was pretty awesome. We got to go to Disneyland, the Queen Mary, Solvang, and to see lots of family... but I'm getting ahead of myself. I'll just give you a pictorial (with commentary) review since that's what I do.

So the first bit of our trip was spent in Fillmore with Josh's parents. It was so much fun, as per usual. We watched a whole lot of Dr. Who, played lots of cards and saw the amazing new house where Josh's parents will soon be living. And what's that you say? There happens to be a golf course right outside of their front door? Why yes, I do believe that played some part in their choice to move there... I'm not sure but I think the Camp boys like their golf... just a little :)



While we were staying with the Camps we visited my Dad and Maddie who introduced us to BBC's "Sherlock"... which I am now hopelessly obsessed with (surprise, surprise). So now poor Josh has to listen to me quoting the show 24/7... luckily both of us have always loved Sherlock Holmes so it's not as bad for him as my Dr. Who obsession. We went out to lunch with Dad and Maddie and pretty much just had a nice relaxing time catching up with them. It was so nice to see them and just spend time together.




On Monday we went to Disneyland with Jake and Rachel and their kids and the whole Schultz bunch! It was the first time I've been to Disneyland with kids and it was definitely fun to see how they reacted to everything. Van kept pointing at things with this look of amazement on his face, not unlike this look:



Disneyland was very hot but thankfully not too crowded so we were able to get on all of the rides with only the tiniest bit of a wait. The good thing about it being so hot? I was inclined to wait in the shade while everyone went on Autopia and I got to spend some time with my Lexi Bug.




It was so fun to have everyone there, not to mention the fact that Dane was dressed as a certain doctor... not THE doctor... but Dr. Jones, who is just as awesome if not slightly less time travelly. All of the workers kept commenting on his outfit and telling him what a big fan they were. I loved it!



Tuesday Josh and I went to Disneyland by ourselves and went all out with the 'Just Married' buttons and Bride Mickey ears... Josh offered to wear the groom ones but they were kind of funny looking so I let him off the hook.



While at Disneyland Josh tried to follow in Rachel's famous footsteps and pull the sword out of the stone... but had no luck.



And I found a phone box I hoped was the TARDIS... but it wasn't.




After Disneyland it was off to The Queen Mary... yes, you heard me correctly. We, the Camp family, spent the night on a very haunted and very creepy ship. The fact that this very large ship was also very empty (apparently weekdays are not a popular time to stay there) made it so much creepier.





So our first day on the Queen Mary we took the Ghost and Legends Show which was fun but it was full of special effects and things which gave it an air of cheesiness that it could have done without. After that we took the Haunted Encounters tour which was so much creepier because they just took us around to scary parts of the ship and told us what's been reported there. It was so quiet and cold and dark in most places that they didn't need any special effects to make it creepy. Also, the long hallways made me glad Josh hasn't seen "The Shining".



As the day was drawing to a close aboard the Queen Mary Josh and I were very suddenly pulled out of reading our books by a British Woman over the loud speaker saying that a fire alarm had been pulled on the ship and we had to exit immediately. So Josh and I left our room and began walking down the long hallway only to find there was a closed door that wasn't there before. So we were a little confused, not to mention frazzled by the flashing lights and lour alarm going off. We opened the door that hadn't been there before only to be met with another long hallway and another door that hadn't been there before.

Now, those of you who know us know that we aren't exactly rational people. All you have to do is say ghost and Josh and I will instantly see something out of the corner of our eye. So it's no surprise that we were suddenly convinced that we had been transported back and time and were stuck on a ghost ship. So we did the only adult thing we could think of: we ran, laughing like maniacs, down the many hallways ending in oddly placed doors. Now you have to keep in mind that we didn't see a single person until we got to the lobby... so it's perfectly understandable that we'd think we had been transported back in time... that and the fact that we had just watched a lot of Dr. Who a few days earlier. Turns out the doors (usually unnoticed in their opened state) automatically close when the fire alarms go off. Creepy.

Off subject but look at these water nozzles for the shower. So awesome! Salt bath anyone?



The next day we took a Behind the Scenes tour and a WWII tour... both were very fun and informative... but we'd been walking a lot that week so we were pretty tired and ready to go relax in Solvang. And what do you think we did in Solvang?




Which actually suited me just fine because I was enthralled by "Rumors" by Anna Godberson. Which you should all read.

After Solvang and some very good hot chocolate we headed back to The Camp's house where we spent some much needed quality time with The Schultz family and, of course, the Camps. While there we went to a nursery... for plants... not humans, where we found these roses called "Hot Cocoa" which were this beautiful rust color and smelled like cinnamon. I want them.




So overall I'd say it was the best honeymoon ever... and again... I may be a bit biased.

I believe in a thing called Love

Well, as per usual, there's not much to report but I was writing... well... I use the term 'writing' loosely here... What I should actually say is I was trying to write and then got distracted by all of the wonderful distractions the internet has to offer me... I really should just unplug the internet any time I sit down to write. But since I didn't do that today, here's a blog for you!

Josh and I will be going to California in the beginning of May for our honeymoon so I'll actually have something to write about! But until then we did have a bit of excitement recently. Joe and Mandy came down for a wedding and we got together with them for a few hours. Josh and Joe went to the driving range (surprise, surprise) so Mandy, the kids, and I went shopping. It was tons of fun even though bringing Pres into Rod Works was an extremely terrifying experience with all of the glass decorations. While we were shopping Mandy, Katie and I decided to start a big hat club (Rach and Annie if you guys want in on this I suggest you tell me now. Spots are filling up quickly!)




In other news, Josh had to make a religious object for one of his classes so after ten hours and a lot of frustration, this is what we ended up with.




I actually quite like it!



Also, I cut my hair. Again. And dyed it. Again. I have a tendency to do that. But I really like this length and color so I think it'll stay this way for quite some time.


That's all for now!

We hung the clouds above our town

Well things around here have been pretty busy between Josh's ever growing mountain of paper's and tests and me figuring out how to help market my book so I have abandoned the blog for a bit... for which I apologize! But really... besides the book and the homework there's not a whole lot to update on. Although... I did make a lovely rocky road pie the other day that makes me sick each time I eat it... causing Josh to ban the further eating of said pie.

Since I haven't posted since January I will say that Josh did a wonderful job of knowing exactly what his wife would want for Valentines day. Last year he got me a beautiful heart shaped necklace with diamonds in it... which I definitely love! But you can tell how our relationship has grown since then... since this year he got me this:



All I can say is... well done :) Also, I got him a BYU thermos (which he's been wanting for forever) and some other things... including heart shaped sugar cookies. With Josh.. when in doubt, bake.



After Valentine's day I gave Josh his first unsupervised haircut. The first time I cut his hair his mom was there to make sure I did it right... which was definitely a good thing! The second time, my mom was there to cut his neck and around his ears. This time it was all me... which was a bit terrifying. But it turned out all right I think.




Now... on to the pie. I know making a pie isn't really that big of a deal... but I'm just so proud of this one! Although, from the pictures it looks an awful lot like a mud pie but I swear it tasted a lot better. Plus our oven is broken so I had to find a delicious pie that didn't require any baking... just melting stuff on the stove top. And so... somewhere in the process, this:




Turned into this:



I was supposed to put the pie in the broiler for a minute to brown the marshmallow topping but... sadly... that would require the oven.


In other news, Josh will be done with school in about a month and we're trying to figure out where we want to go on our honeymoon. I know we'll be going to Disneyland first because... really... who wouldn't want to go to Disneyland? Plus we can wear those little mickey ears with a veil and a top hat and get Captain Jack Sparrow to marry us... yes... we ARE that big of dorks... Mostly I'm excited to see Flynn and Rapunzel. Josh has agreed to pull me away from them if I start acting too much like a 5 year old.

Other than Disneyland we're looking for a cheap cruise. Ideally we'd love to go to Washington and Oregon on a cruise... if such a cruise existed. But it doesn't so right now it's looking like somewhere in Mexico. So wish us luck on our never ending battle to find a VERY cheap honeymoon! And hopefully next time I update the blog I'll have something more exciting to report... although Pie and heart shaped sugar cookies are about as exciting as it gets to me so I'm happy :)

Shameless Self Promotion

I really need to change the last name on this book cover!

Alright everyone, just wanted to share my link for my 'official' author blog. Really I just have it there to save the name and I post once every two years... but Cedar Fort (the publishing house I just sent my manuscript to) did ask for my website so I wrote that one down... so if anyone wants to comment on the post just made to make it look like I have readers I figure that would be good... in case they really do check out the blog :) Either way, here's the link for your optional convenience (which is the line Josh and I used on our wedding invites).

http://shannencbooks.blogspot.com/

The Science of Deduction

Well it's been a busy end of the year. Josh made it through finals with only a few battle scars, and we juggled going to California for Thanksgiving with staying up in Draper for Christmas and going to Idaho for New Year's. All-in-all it was a pretty great ending to our year. Christmas was a blast and somehow we managed to not get a single picture... I'm sure my mom has enough for the both of us so once I get those I'll post some. Until then, here's the end of our year summed up an a pictorial nutshell.




1. We went to California for Thanksgiving and saw our future dog (Now Watson instead of Monster Face... that way our Beagle can be Sherlock)



2. We got to visit with Josh's family and see my dad and Maddie. I snapped this right as we were running off after a full day of fun with them.



3. We decorated our apartment for Christmas.




4. I chopped my hair off after seeing "Tangled".




5. Josh made me Breakfast in bed to make up for the Saturday we'd be spending watching the BYU football AND basketball games.




6. We saw the lights at Temple Square in SLC.




7. Josh learned how to dance via Chase and Jessica's dancing game with Kinect.



8. We had Christmas with my family... um... picture unavailable.



9. We went up to Idaho for New Year's Eve and the boys got lots of 'Male Bonding' time.




10. We got back from our trip (An hour ago) and this is what we look like after a whirlwind end of the year.

It's the little things really.

So today I've been a bit stressed about how much we still need to do to settle our apartment... like unpack the millions of boxes in the office and make it so that our internet actually works rather than making it so that only one computer can get internet with the ethernet cord plugged into it... on a good day. And then I looked around and thought: "We've got a really awesome apartment and we're really lucky." So now I'm still stressed but much more grateful. So I thought I'd share some of my favorite little things about the new apartment while we're still getting settled. We'll start off this countdown with the best part of the apartment.

1. Josh lives in it... that's definitely the best part of this apartment.




2. This is my second favorite thing.... the bookshelf :) Yes it's color coordinated and none of my "Series of Unfortunate Events" are even close to each other on the shelf.... but I love it so much! Also, I've got a copy of "Through the Looking Glass" from my grandma that's from 1896. How awesome is that?





3. The view from our toilet... I know that sounds weird and maybe even a little disgusting... but just wait until you see it!



Even the view behind the toilet is pretty cool.





4. Our salt and pepper shakers.... Those are pretty self explanatory. They bring a little spice to our kitchen table... and that bad pun was evidence of the fact that it's Friday after a long work week.




5. The metal stars hanging above our sink. Josh and I hung those ourselves.... so if they're crooked... that's why :)





6. What we have until we can get a dog... "Sushi" our bamboo shoot!






7. Alright so this shouldn't be number seven this should be negative 1 since it's my LEAST favorite thing.... All of the boxes we need to unpack still.




Even with the boxes, I love our little apartment :) Once we get more done I'll post more pictures!

The Final Countdown

Well it's only two days from the wedding and I think I've made a discovery: The week before you get married is meant to prepare you for the rest of marriage... because if you can get through all the wedding plans and moving up to the third floor of your apartment, you can get through anything. Josh and I are sore, tired, and slightly homeless right now but it's all worth it. We still have tons of boxes at my parent house that need to be moved over but for now, we've done everything we're going to do before the wedding... Time for no more stress. I have some pictures of the apartment so far, though we don't have any pictures hung up and everything isn't in there... but for now this is what it looks like :) I love it!




Office





Bedroom



Kitchen




Living room