To Grandma's House We Went

Two weekends ago Damien and I went up to my grandma's house in Bountiful to spend the weekend with her. While we were up there we got to help her pick nuts off her walnut trees. If you don't know how walnuts grow or how to get them to the form we usually see at the grocery store than you would find it quite interesting. I never would have known if it weren't for my grandma.



Walnuts grow on large trees as green spheres. When ripe, the green outer fleshy shell has to dry and crack off or you have to peel it off. If the green shell gets moist inside before it falls off then the green shell turns a dark brown and becomes very moist. The oils from this will stain your fingers a brown color so sometimes you have to wear gloves when handling them. Once you get the green shell off then you are left with the hard brown shelled walnut like you see at the grocery store. You have to crack the brown shell off and pull the nut out to let it dry. When you pull the nut out it is still very moist and pliable and not ready to eat. Once the nuts are dried they are ready to eat or freeze for later use. I absolutely love the fresh walnuts from my grandma's trees! Damien and I helped pull nuts out of shells while Grandma cracked the shells open for us. And of course she sent us with a bag full of them. I absolutely love the walnuts from Grandma's trees!

Another funny thing happened that weekend too. We took our laundry to my grandma's as well and Damien decided he wanted to be helpful so he went inside and switched a load from the washer to the dryer and put a new load in the washer. I came downstairs a bit latter and Damien said, "I need to show you something." He walked me over to the washer and lifted the lid. I looked in and all I could see was pink. He had thrown our red rug into the washer with our towels and a pair of his underwear. The rug had never been washed before so the red dye turned everything a pink color. I just laughed. It was nice of Damien to try and help!

October 1

Yesterday, October 1, was Damien's 25th birthday! He had a very enjoyable birthday, but the best part was the surprise I pulled on him.

Weeks before his birthday, Rita emailed me to get some gift ideas for Damien because he was refusing to send her any. He said he didn't need any birthday gifts because they are flying us out to visit for Thanksgiving. So I sent her a few a list of things he wanted. We continued our secret emails back and forth. She order a few gifts and had them sent to the house. As most of you know, we live above our landlords' garage and so we use the same address as them. This worked out wonderfully because I had them put all packages that came to the house in a closet inside their back door. That way Damien had no idea that I was having all of the gifts held back!

One day Damien came to get me from school to go to yoga and informed me that Rita had given him Mexican Train for his birthday. One of the packages slipped through and was set out on the back bench when Damien got home from school. And of course he opened it minutes after getting home. He asked me how his mom knew that he wanted Mexican Train. I had to lie and pretend like I didn't know anything about it.

All of the rest of the packages were held though and so the few days before his birthday I went and got the gifts from the closet and hid them in our apartment. The morning of his birthday he woke up and went and got in the shower. He thought I was still asleep, but I jumped out of bed and took all of the boxes out of their hiding places and had them all set up on the table. When he came out of the bathroom he was so surprised to see all of these gifts waiting for him. He had a huge smile on his face! The days before his birthday he was sad nothing came in the mail for him because he thought everyone had forgotten his birthday. Little did he know I was being sneaky and hiding them so he couldn't open them before his birthday!

Damien and I will continue his birthday celebration with sushi tonight for dinner (while I enjoy some teriyaki chicken or something a little more normal) and next weekend we are going rock climbing at the Quarry.

Yoga & The Farmers Market

Damien and I are taking a yoga class together at BYU right now! The class is good because it sets time aside for us to practice yoga three times a week. We have it Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. We have a different teacher on Saturdays then on Tuesdays and Thursdays which is a good thing. I like Amy, the Saturdays teacher's style of teaching better. We talked to Amy after class last Saturday and found out that she grew up around New Orleans. What a surprise! We haven't met very people from the south here at school, let alone New Orleans. It was fun talking to her about the culture down there. It is hard for us westerners to understand the southern culture because it varies so much from ours. But it is fun to be a part of the friendly, easy-going culture in the south. And I might end up being the TA for that Saturday yoga class which would be fun!

On another note, go to your farmers market if you have one. Damien and I have been to the one at Pioneer Park here in Provo the past two weeks. They have quite a few more vendors than they had last year. We have gotten some delicious yellow squash, peaches and grass-fed beef from there. The way I have been preparing the squash has been so good! Here is what I've done.


Steamed Yellow Squash and Onions

1. Slice the squash into medium sized slices, about 1/4 inch thick.
2. Roughly chop a small onion or half of a large onion.
3. Heat 1 Tbsp. olive oil in a pan on medium heat.
4. Place a layer of squash down in the pan. Sprinkle with some salt and then spread about half of the chopped onion on top of the squash.
5. Repeat with another layer of squash, salt, and onion.
6. Place a lid over your pan and let vegetables cook. Stir every few minutes. Let it cook for about 20 minutes or until the squash are tender or done to your liking.

A Quick Update

We made it back to Provo safely and got all rearranged in our apartment. School started last week and I can't wait for it to be over! Damien and I are taking a yoga class at BYU and it started last week. We had a great 3 day weekend, but I will have to post about that later!

Two Years

Damien and I have been married two years today! I can't believe it has been two years already because the time has flown by. We have enjoyed the past two years and I couldn't be any happier.

It's always fun to look back at pictures from the courtship. This is the evening we got engaged.
For those of you who don't know the story I will give you a shorter version.

I was leaving the next day for Sacramento to go to one of my best friend's weddings! I really wanted to be engaged before I went so I could show Val my ring! Damien told me earlier that day that he didn't want to propose that day because he wanted it to be a surprise, although I already knew we were going to get engaged soon. He told me we needed to talk and looked all sad as we drove to Manito Park (one of our favorite parks in Spokane to walk around). He sat me down on a rock and said, "I don't know how to tell you this, but I don't like where our relationship is at right now." I am freaking out thinking he is going to break up with me when he says "I don't want you to be my girlfriend. I would rather you be my wife." And he whips out the ring and asks me to marry him.


It was pretty crazy because one minute I am thinking he is going to break up with me and the next moment he proposes. He thought it was the best thing ever that I was freaking out. It all worked out though.

While getting our bridal pictures our photographer had us put our foreheads together for the picture and Damien came in really fast and bonked my forehead. This is the aftermath picture! Silly boy!


Thank you for a wonderful two years. I look forward to many more fun times. I love you Damien!