Doug=Val?

There's been a bit of talk on my brother's blog about Doug looking like Val Kilmer. I decided to do a little comparing myself. It was hard to find any pictures of Val smiling. And I just can't imagine a picture of Doug with that serious Val Kilmer expression on his face.

Unfortunately for him, I think Doug looks a lot more like the older Val (sorry Doug...I don't mean to add 30 years to your face...)

Staycationing

Doug and I are a perfect pair when it comes to traveling. Neither of us really likes it.

If you're like every other person I've ever mentioned that to, you're sitting there thinking- yeah, but if money wasn't an option then you'd want to go all over the world right? Or, but if you had all the time in the world there's no way you'd just want to stay home. But really, it's just not super fun to either of us. The thought of leaving my life and perfectly balanced routine has always stressed me out- even as a little kid. Don't get me wrong, I think travel has a very important place in life- everyone should reach out to learn about other cultures and I'd be lying if I said I didn't love the fact that an airplane can get me to any of my sibling's states (because yes, we each have our own) in just a matter of hours. But travel and leisure are just not in the same category for me.

And that is why the day I read a magazine article about 'Staycationing' was a perfectly enlightening day for me. I've been wanting to plan a staycation ever since, and this past President's Day weekend was just the perfect time. (because whenever I get stressed out I have to give myself a project to escape to. And the week before Presidents Day weekend we were finding new renters for our apartment. The stress and the three day weekend lined up just right!)

So what exactly is a staycation? Well, ours was modeled off of a bed and breakfast. There was a delicious assortment of food waiting for us on our dining table (including homemade baguettes which I have to admit were really really good), the house was perfectly clean (there were even mints on the pillows), we had a full itinerary of classes to take (including a cooking class with Julia Child, chess class taught by the International Chess something or other and a couple other random How-To videos I found at the library. By the way, have you ever actually tried to cook along with a cooking show? It's kind of hard!) and showings of all our favorite movies.

The weekend turned out perfectly. I got to live out of my closet, not a suitcase. I didn't have to keep my toothbrush in a plastic bag. There were no moments all weekend where I sat and worried that our house had burned down, or flooded, or been robbed while we were gone. We didn't have to line up a cat sitter. But I did get to spend an entire, relaxing weekend with Doug. I'm pretty sure we'll be taking another 'staycation' soon.

Our Poor Yard

A few weeks ago we got a letter (well, actually a random sheet of paper stuffed into our mailbox which, if I'm not mistaken, isn't even a legal delivery method...) informing us that one of our neighbors is getting cable and they'd have to go through our yard. No big deal I thought. We've had people come install things in our house, they just string some wires through these nice little underground pipes that are already installed and the whole process is over in an hour or so.

I was a little surprised when 30 bright orange flags showed up in our yard accompanied by an entire mural of bright orange and yellow spray paint but I figured it had to be done so why worry about it. The flags sat there for a week or so when suddenly our entire front yard transformed into a storage area for a hundreds feet of orange pipe. (Oh, and don't think they stacked it neatly in the corner or anything, this pipe was randomly thrown all over our yard)

Ok, I thought, it's ugly but it's not doing any permanent damage.

It sat there for days without being touched. Whatever these guys were doing, they sure weren't doing it in a hurry.

Then yesterday they started digging. Really?, I thought, You can just dig up someone's property without any type of notice besides an illegally delivered slip of paper informing me that you'd be on my property? Well. It was just a small hole. So I came to terms with it and went about my day. We could plant a little grass to cover the dirt as spring came. No big deal right?

Well, I knew it was a bad sign when I woke up to the sounds of heavy machinery this morning.

I mean seriously guys? Our poor little yard! Are these people even a cable company? I feel like this is a whole lot of destruction just to get a few extra TV stations.

I sure hope our neighbors really really watching TV.

Sammy's Pie Shake

Whenever Doug and I hear of a great little shop that just opened in Provo, we have to check it out right away. Partly because we're excited to try it, but mostly because chances are it will go out of business before we get a chance to get down there. (sorry Provo businesses, but it's true) When we heard about the Sammy's Pie Shakes we had to go. (is Sammy's even new in Provo? We'd never heard of it, but when we went there it looked like it'd been around for decades...)

Most 'pie' shakes include some canned fruit and a some graham cracker crumbs sprinkled on top. Not these guys. They put an entire piece of pie in your shake. It's truly quite delightful. (And completely deserving of being listed on www.thisiswhyyourefat.com...)

Yum. All your Provoans (is that a word?) should try it while it's still around!