Tennis...

So I have mentioned the list before (the one of stuff I want to do before I die) and it just so happens that 'be a good tennis player' is one of those things on the list. I have never played tennis before, and I will admit that I only put this on my list so I could wear the cute tennis outfits....but now I actually want to learn how to play. Well the other day I'm talking about how much I want to play tennis and how Ben should play with me, and it turns out that Ben has a good tennis racket. (He used to play with his friends)
So we went out and bought some tennis balls and I got a racket :)...and its pink :) and we ended up playing!! We went to a court at some park and besides the swarms of mosquitoes we had a lot of fun! I'm excited because this is something Ben and I can do together that is not the normal "going out to eat and a movie" thing. Plus maybe some day I can cross being a good tennis player off my list...if my crazy backhand gets a little work. haha. So yay for tennis!

Ben wouldn't let me take any pictures of him but here's me and my new racket!

ooooo check out those details! haha

Charlie was happy too because we gave him one of the tennis balls. He carries that thing everywhere now and is very protective of it!

Love and Hate...

A while back one of my friends did this on her website and I thought it was very interesting. It helped me get to know her a little better. So here's mine:

MY FAVORITE THINGS
blasting music and dancing around, sour jolly rancher gummies, greys anatomy, cheesecake ice cream, my blackberry, my scriptures, pictures, cuddling with my puppy, reading a good book, inside jokes, my purple ipod shuffle, making someone laugh, changing my hair, whataburger fries, singing at the top of my lungs, dance parties with ben, running, scarves, good music, mug rootbeer, looking up baby names, knowing i'm loved, texting, my temple marriage, alias, austin powers movies, my orange stethascope, blue powerade, polka dots, my vans sneakers, pearl earrings, apples dipped in caramel, turquoise, cool pens and highlighters, headbands, red high heels, sunglasses, drawing and coloring, t shirts, having yummy leftovers, bright colors, rosas salsa and queso, fun ringtones, having a good comeback.

MY LEAST FAVORITE THINGS
mosquitoes, slow drivers, mustard, allergies, the feeling after waking up from a long nap, dirty dishes, tests, olives, plucking my eyebrows, when favorite jeans are finally unwearable, swearing, tripping, headaches, reba, screamo and bluegrass music, waking up earlier than 8, beans, feeling stupid, when rappers grab their crotch while rapping, football commentator voices, cigarette smoke, when people make judgments without really knowing, misunderstandings, gas lights on, feet touching me, smacking while eating, stupid questions, attendance policies, being bored, that legs grow hair, smeared makeup, unknown number phone calls, when no one tells you that you have something in your teeth, bobby pins all over the house, grocery shopping, not knowing what to say, mixing sweet and salty foods on your plate.

Benavides Update...

So today I am avoiding studying as much as possible so I figured I would update our blog!

Sorry Charlie
1. Lately I have this horrible habit of closing Charlie (our doggie) into random rooms. Ben and I like to keep the doors in our house shut as much as possible so that he doesn't get into trouble, and usually everywhere I go Charlie follows me. So Charlie will follow me into a room, I wont know that he is there, I will leave and turn off the light and shut the door, and the poor puppy will be locked in. Its so sad cause when I finally realize that he isn't following me anymore I find him laying by the door of the room hes stuck in. He doesn't even bark to let me know he's stuck. Sad right? Last night I got all ready for bed and was reading for a while before Ben started wondering where Charlie was, and he found him in the dark closet. :( I feel so bad when I do that! Hopefully this doesn't happen when we have kids. haha.


Trial Number 3
2. So I have this list of things I want to do before I die and one of them is to run a half marathon. Now I didn't decide on a real marathon because I don't think I have the commitment skills for that but maybe some day a half marathon?? I love exercising but I'm not very good at just running. I usually get pretty bored after a while and try something else. So...I am again (for the third time) committing to run a half marathon!! I seriously have to do it! The other times I have tried I only get up to 5 miles and then I decide I want to do something else! (are you seeing the commitment issues??) But I ran yesterday and now I'm really sore. Its funny when you think you are so in shape and then you run outside and it kicks your butt!! So wish me luck...

It's Official!
3. The other day I heard Ben utter the words that made me love him even more! To preface this I will say that since we have been married (a little more than 2 years) I have been in school. I am always super busy and I am always studying or wanting to just relax. Therefore, I haven't always been the chef of his dreams. In fact I usually don't cook anything at all! But for the past month or so I have been trying to cook at least twice a week. (which is good for me) Yet I always feel pressure from certain people that I should be cooking for my husband more often. However, when I was expressing this to Ben the other day he stated, "Babe I love the stuff you cook. You always make good food! I know your busy and I appreciate you." Awwww. So take that you people who judge!

Other than those things there isn't all that much going on!! Ben has been very busy with work and I have been very busy with school/work. The most exciting things we have done lately has been finding time to just be together, and I am so thankful for those times. Ben and I both LOVE music and we are always looking for good jams, so I will close this post with one of our favorites right now! I think its just the beat behind it! ....(good to run to) ENJOY!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBrTP2VqTl0

Aren't we cute??

So Ben and I got our picture taken by Gaylene [http://ge-photography.blogspot.com/] last Friday and I'm really glad we did. We needed some updated pictures...last time we did that we were getting married 2 years ago! So I'm excited to show them off. Here are some of my favorites...


There were a lot more I liked but I will probably post those later...yay for cute pictures!

Oh, and by the way! I told Ben I was going to post these pictures on our blog and he was like "Oh, for the two people who actually read it?" RUDE. I am a new blogger and have yet to find very many friends that blog, therefore if you happen to be reading this leave a comment and hopefully I can show Ben that more than two people read this. :(

Nursing School Fun??

So right now I am in the OB rotation for nursing school and so far I have enjoyed it. Before we went to the hospital though we had to learn how to surgical scrub and then sterile gown and glove. While in the process my friend Megan and I decided we looked more like lunch ladies, and decided to model it up in our new hot outfits....

That glove thing is harder than it looks...haha

Successful! Watch out OR!

Megan scrubs it up and looks good while doing it!

All in all, we had a pretty fun time....for once. haha.

On Wednesday I was able to use these skills to watch a c-section. (which by the way, I will avoid at all costs when I'm having a baby) I was also able to watch two vaginal births so that was a good learning experience. Next week I'm in the nursery so that will be fun. I can tell I am going to learn A LOT this semester. Good Times.

Fun with my Bro...

Well Ben and I have been staying over here at my parent's house while they are in Idaho with Raquel this week. Everything has gone pretty smoothly so far. It seems like whenever I am with Preston for an extended amount of time I start acting like a 10 year old again. haha. Yesterday we covered the whole living room in a blanket fort. I used to do this a lot when I was younger and Preston just brings out the kid in me. Here is Charlie and Preston in the fort.

Speaking of Charlie, he has found a best friend in Preston. He follows Preston everywhere he goes. The first thing Charlie does in the morning when he wakes up is go looking for Preston. Charlie has also had a lot of fun with Preston's dogs Harley and Fred. We tried to get a picture of all the dogs but that was almost impossible!

Hopefully we will all survive the rest of the week....

haha and awww

So I have been using my Dad's digital camera because mine is getting old and while looking through the pictures on there I found this little gem. I could not stop laughing. Ben freaking cracks me up.
Now I cant be sure when this picture was taken, but I do know that we definitely belong together. haha.

ANYWAYS...

I know Nicole already posted Spencer's 9 month pictures on her blog but I am just blown away by the handsomeness of my nephew. I had to show him off on my blog! He should be in magazines right? Awww I love Spency, You did good Nicole ;-)

I'm also excited because these pictures were taken by GE Photography and Ben and I are getting our picture taken by her next week. So I am pumped to get some great pics of Ben and I. They will most likely be better than the one at the top of this post. haha.

Family Time...

So Roxanne wanted a picture of her new hair when it was all done up so we took one together...yah, she is taller than me...I am the shortest :(

And then I took one with Presto. He will probably be taller than me too...

And then I took one with Spency...he looks thrilled. haha. I love that kid :)

Oh and here is the present I got Raquel...a scarf of course! She said she liked it. She is with her best friend Kelsey in the pic.

After dinner all the girls just hung out and talked today, it was nice to just sit and chat it up. Family is awesome! I love them :)

Long Day....

So today seems like it has lasted forever.

-I worked 7pm-7am this morning, got home but didn't fall asleep till 9...woke up for the day at 11:30...so didn't get much sleep. (I don't mind working nights though because I only work once a week.)

-After that Ben and I ate a big 'brunch' and watched a movie until he went to work. :(

-But then I got ready and called Roxanne to help me pick out a present for Raquel so we were shopping forever.

-THEN Roxanne informs me that she is sick of her hair and wants a change by Monday for the first day of school.

-So I took Roxanne to get her hair chopped off (which looks so cute) but she decides she wants to color it. Us Shumways always color our own hair so we went and bought some.

-Well I decided to get creative and so we colored the underside of her hair brown and then I put a bunch of brown streaks throughout her hair, and let me tell you...I am very pleased with the results....

-Mind you, I have never done any kind of streaks in any ones hair before so considering that, I am proud of myself. I think her hair looks awesome! Very stylish. I've always secretly wanted to be a Cosmetologist so this was fun for me. I'm also glad she trusted me. haha.

-I thought I might just add that the reason I bought Raquel something is because she is moving to Idaho in a week to go to school up there. :( So we will miss her, but she will have the best time! BYU-Idaho is a blast.

-So it's finally time for me to go to bed...yay.

My First One...

So give it up for my first post! Maybe my last...I don't know.

Other people with blogs have kids and stuff to write about. I just have the two of us to write about so this could get boring. Mainly cause I'm right in the middle of nursing school and Ben works a lot. Charlie is our doggie and he isn't that exciting either. But hey, we love our lives!

So here is what I'm all about right now:

First of all I'm obsessed with scarves. Not the heavy duty winter scarves but lightweight scarves. I love them so much that I continue to buy more and more. They are just a great accessory when you need a little color. Ben doesn't really get my obsession but I LOVE THEM!

Secondly, I am obsessed with Heros. I never watched the show on TV but since we have Netflix I have been watching it online and it is really good. I just barely finished the first season and I love all the different story plots. Its an exciting show.

Also, recently I went to a baby shower for one of my high school friends who I happen to still keep in touch with. It was good to see her and a few of my other friends from back then. It was nice to catch up with them and reunite! Here's some of us: Well I guess that's all for now :)