Saturday, May 7, 2011

Taking bets - will it be a boy or a girl?

Well it has been waaaay too long since we’ve updated our family blog. First off just wanted to let everyone know nothing is wrong, everything is going great right now, we’ve both just been lazy about updating this blog. Early January we found out we will be expecting our first Baby Shumate into the world! How exciting is that?

We don’t know yet whether it is a boy or a girl but we will know on May 31st so stay tuned. Chris originally wanted a boy but now he is mostly impartial, BriAnna wanted a girl then she decided she wanted a boy and now she is back to wanting a girl again. We’ll see what the final outcome is! Regardless of gender we are excited to welcome the new addition to the Shumate family on or around October 15th. Here are the earliest ultrasounds of our beloved little baby.





What do you think? Will it be a boy or a girl?

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Library Cards for Chris and BriAnna



We recently went down to the county library and got library cards. I had forgotten how awesome the library is! It is like a free book store! Both of us love reading and we found out we can check out up to 100 items at one time. Needless to say, we will be taking advantage of this luxury right away. Here is what we have checked out so far.

Friday, December 3, 2010

Harry Potter 7 Review

We recently watched Harry Potter 7.1. Below is a video blog of our review.



Have you seen Harry Potter? What did you think of it?

Sunday, September 26, 2010

A Walk in the Park

I am still making my way down the path towards becoming a better photographer and today offered a perfect opportunity to practice and improve. Surprisingly today was sunny and warm, which compared to the dreary and chilly weather we had been having lately was a great change. Chris and I didn't want to waste this rare occurance of sunshine so we headed down to the park and decided to take our camera with us. We have basically taken a picture of everything in our apartment, so this provided a great chance to venture out and see what we could capture in nature. After walking around the park for awhile and taking pictures here and there, this is what I came up with:
Here are just some cute pictures of Chris and I sitting on a bench at the park.
Can I just say that first, I LOVE our camera and the quality of pictures it produces. Second, I LOVE using photography to get creative and capture little moments in time. It amazes me how much I enjoy taking pictures and experimenting with different shots. And third, it is on days like this that I realize how truly beautiful Washington is and all it has to offer. The scenery here is one of the reasons I LOVE Washington, nothing beats being surrounded by luscious green trees, well except for maybe a tropical beach. The only problem is I hate how many rainy days we have to endure. I hate rain, I hate how it gets the bottom of your pants soaking wet and I hate gloomy, dark, cloudy days. In spite of it all, I have learned that in Washington you have to learn to take the good in with the bad and learn to appreciate that it is the rain that gives you the beauty.


Sunday, September 19, 2010

The Art of Photography

Chris and I recently bought a camera and after we brought it home and started taking pictures with it I realized that I don't know the first thing about photography. I have never taken a class in photography and im usually a point and shoot kind of a person. Since this camera is of a nicer quality I thought it was time I learned something about photography and how to make my pictures look more artistic and of a higher quality. Chris gave me my first task of going around the apartment and finding ordinary objects and displaying them in a creative way. After experimenting and going around to different objects this is what I came up with:

A pie dish
A couch pillow

The side of our kitchen table

Glass serveware that holds canola oil

A button on my sweater

A kettle
What do you think? I have to say that this task was very fun but challenging. I am definitely a beginner with much to learn about photography. Do you have any advice that can help me on my way to becoming a better photographer?

Autumn Leaves

Fall is officially 3 days away and although summer is my favorite time of the year, I have to say that I am for once looking forward to the arrival of Fall. Yes I will deeply miss swimming in the pool, wearing colorful clothes and laying out in the sun, but these are the reasons I am so eager to become acquainted with Fall once again:
1. At last you get to bust out all those cute scarves, sweaters, boots and hats you've been dying to wear

2. The scenery all around you changes as the leaves display autumn time


3. You get to celebrate Halloween and Thanksgiving with your family and loved ones


4. The sound of rain lulls you to sleep

5. You have even more reasons to cuddle up with the one you love
What is it that you love about this time of the year?

Monday, September 6, 2010

Our Camping Adventure

Recently Chris and I went camping with my family out on the Olympic Peninsula. Chris had to work on Friday and since we didn't know how busy ferries can be, we decided that we could just leave after he got home from work. Little did we know that weekends are a very busy time for ferries and that we would have to wait in the ferry line for 2 hours. Making our trip out to Lake Ozette 6 hours instead of the planned 4. It was, however, fun to ride on the ferry with Chris as we enjoyed the relaxing and smooth ride across the Puget Sound.
Once we got on the other side, we realized that our journey had just begun. Our destination took us through very remote and highly unpopulated towns, letting us enjoy the scenery around us. Washington is a very beautiful place to live, if only it didn't rain so much. On our journey to the camp grounds we ran into long, winding roads. When you keep seeing sign after sign of caution winding roads ahead mile after mile, you know you are going to be in trouble. Let's just say that getting out to Lake Ozette is an adventure by itself.

After many hours of being on the road we finally made it to the campsite where my parents had said they were at, Lost Resort. It's no coincidence it's called Lost Resort, as it is 21 miles down a deserted road out in the middle of no where. Once we got there we realized that my parents had never told us what campsite they were at. Since it was 10:30 at night and there was no cell reception out there, we figured we were out of luck and would simply have to drive around until we spotted my dad's red truck. After doing a loop twice around the campsite, going out on foot seemed to be our only option. Im sure many campers were annoyed after getting headlights and now flashlights shined into their campsite, along with the occasional MCKELL....MOM.....DAD. As we were walking around we ran into a deer that was seriously only about 5 feet away from us. I know it is lame to get scared of a deer but yes Bambi did frighten me. When you are in their territory deer have the right to run you over if they want to, and take my word for it when a deer is staring at you in the middle of the night they are a lot bigger and scarier than you think they would be. Needless to say I quickly ran away from the deer as Chris was laughing at me.
After continually going around the campsite on foot and not finding my family we began to think that maybe we were in the wrong place. We found out from some other campers that there was another campsite just down the road. As we pulled in we finally saw my dad's truck parked in the first camping site. So what turned into a 30 minute scavenger hunt could have been a two second find if we had been in the right place. Although it was a very stressful car ride, the reward was worth it in the end.
After pulling into the campsite I looked up at the night sky and saw hundreds of stars. I had never seen a night sky so clear as it was that night. I guess that's what happens when you are out in the middle of the woods, very far from civilization. Not only were the stars clear but there were tons of shooting stars and I could actually see the tail following behind it. After talking with my family for awhile, my mom and I swore that we heard a bear close by. So we all quickly said goodnight and ran into our bear proof tents.
The next day we continued our journey by taking a 3 mile board walk hike through the rain forest down to the beach. It was low tide so the beach was covered with dried up seaweed, which had attracted an innumerable host of flies. It was kind of a disgusting end to our hike, which was disappointing. Luckily we had the good sense to not let that get us down, so we hiked for another 1/2 mile down the beach and saw that the tide was so low that there was a path to a sacred indian ground, which we found out later was called Cannonball Island. It was there that we found a nice patch of clean sand and clear ocean water. This might not be that exciting for those who are used to California-esque beaches, but in Washington sandy beaches are a very rare to commodity. So I guess our hike was well worth it in the end after all.
After our hike back, swimming in the lake to cool down and swapping stories by the campfire, we decided it was time to head home. Seeing as we didn't want to have to wait another 2 hours in a ferry line, we decided to follow my dad and take another way home. It was still a four hour ride home but that didn't bother me nearly as much as almost getting hit by a crazy driver. That's a whole other story in itself but luckily the car missed both my dad and us. Needless to say it was quite an adventure and we both had a great time.
This trip reminded me of the many camping trips we took when I was growing up. Let's just say those trips were never organized and were very spontaneous. I remember one time we didn't pack any real food and we ate crackers and fruit snacks for dinner, then we all slept in the car since we didn't even bring a tent. But I have to say that trip was one of the most memorable and fun camping trips I've been on. It was on this trip that we discovered Strawberry Creek, a place that holds many fond memories for everyone in my family. I think it's the unplanned and spontaneous things in life you remember the most.

What is your favorite camping memory?