UTAH: PART DEUX

Our big goal of our trip was to climb Mt Timpanogos. I did it once my freshman year and Brad has never done it. While we’ve always heard that it’s the quintessential Utah Valley Hike we’ve also heard it was on the tougher side. Brad and I consider ourselves experienced hikers, but we haven’t done much of that in Illinois (remember the all consuming flatness we’re currently blessed with?). We got to the trail head at 6:30 AM and reached the summit around eleven. We spent some time at the tip-top and signed our names in the guest book. Luckily we were there on a Tuesday so it wasn’t too busy; according to said guest book at least 100 people had been there the Saturday before. The hike really isn’t that difficult, it’s just looooong. The last mile to the summit is a bit precarious; I wouldn’t suggest it to the faint of heart. But reaching the saddle just below the peak is still worth it, you still get to see the incredible view of the valley. Once we finally made it back to the car we visited JDawgs before heading back to my mom’s house. We took about a million pictures so I’m sorry to post so many - it’s just easier to add a bunch then to decide which ones I like.

The More You Know Moment: Brad and I didn’t pack sunscreen. We were foolish. Between the back of Brad’s arms and my face, once we started peeling we were one aloe bottle away from joining a leprosy colony. Choosing to hike mid-summer in high altitude = not our smartest move.

JUST A FRIENDLY REMINDER

... So Can Dance starts tomorrow. I know. Didn't we just finish season 5 last week? I wouldn't even care if we did, get excited! Season 6 in the hizzzouse.

For now here is Ellen dancing with the top 10. Hilarious.

DUUUUUDE

*this is spoiler free


Who has finished? I need friends to discuss this with. Because remember when the thing happens at the beginning and then that other thing happens and then there's that thing with the thing and then there's THE THING?! Okay, clearly I need someone to be nodding along to my train of thought. PLEASE. Has anyone else finished yet?

UTAH: PART UN

Pictures and re-cap are coming in increments over the next week. Get on the edge of your seat people, these posts are going to BLOW YOUR MIND. Honestly they'll be pretty boring, but since this is kind of our scrapbook/journal I can't leave out our vacation. It might be our last one for a very long time.

So we'll start from the beginning of the trip...

In high school I had a very... colorful room. That's probably an understatement. This is just one portion of the room, a TV shelf painted to reflect the earth and the sky (I was DEEP). So it turns out my mom wanted a more subtle shelf for her craft room so it got painted white. This picture is the last remaining vestige of its former glory. I always knew I should have been a professional shelf painter. I would have made BANK in the brightly painted philosophically themed niche shelf market. Dang it!


After doing some chores we made a beeline for Cafe Rio - well you get thrown out of Rio if you dare to take pictures of their secret going-ons so this is a picture on the way to Rio. But it's debatable on whether we were more excited to eat or see the mountains again. I totally took them for granted before.


I also got to spend some quality time with Kster. Not only is she getting married in a little over a month (!!!!) but her and Adam bought a house in Orem. This is a picture by their front door. I got to see their fabulous book nook, fireplace, and huge downstairs. K, ash, and I have known each other for almost ten years. It's crazy to think how much we have all changed. Who would have guessed how we'd all end up:

Ash - married to Sam, living in Cali, has Parker, with another dumpling on the way
K- almost married to Adam, has a house in Orem, works in Provo
B - married to Brad, living in Southern Illinois, working in St. Louis

And we all have college degrees, I think we've done pretty well for ourselves. I'm glad I can actually be proud of my friends. Thanks for not going off the deep end guys! I do love them and I'm proud of all of us.

Wait, is this post supposed to be about Utah? Oops. More to come... I'll stay on topic next time.

M.I.A. (LIKE THE MILITARY, NOT THE SINGER)

Confession. I have been MIA. That might not be such a revelation but it's true. This blog has lacked over the last several weeks for reasons out of my control. I have a new position at church - second counselor in the Relief Society presidency. Talk about intimidating! So I went from hanging out with 11 year olds and making friendship bracelets to hanging out with ladies, well, several years older. So things have changed around here. My first big assignment was organizing an evening activity for all the ladies of the ward about family history. Confession #2 - I don't do family history. I know, I'm awful! But the truth is I was intimidated about the process and didn't even know where to start. So instead of skirting the issue for the next few decades I was faced head on with not only tackling the subject, I was actually responsible for teaching others about it!? Yikes. So I called in reinforcements (aka the women who are basically professionals) to teach the classes on family history and then I taught a class about doing your own personal history - blogging, writing in your journal, writing your own memoir, ect. Oh boy was I nervous! I was positive disaster would ensue and the earth would open up to swallow me whole and then worse they would kick me out relief society altogether. But you know what? We had fun. The night turned out great and everyone seemed to actually learn something. So over the last few months of this calling I've come to realize that the Lord does indeed work in mysterious ways.

We had that family history activity a few weeks ago and then last week my uncle coincidentally gets on facebook and starts sharing all these pictures from dad's side of the family. He had no idea that I've been going through my pedigree chart over the last few weeks wishing I had pictures of ancestors beyond my grandparents. But WAH-LA! There they were served to me on a silver platter. Thank you Right Click and Save Image As, you are lifesavers.

The above picture is of my great-aunt Rita. Isn't she fabulous? I'd take those glasses and cardigan any day.

So am I now some aficionado on family history? Heck no. But do I have a pedigree chart 4 generations back? Indeed I do. I can finally stop feeling guilty.

MARRIAGE: THE GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING

I have two early memories of my Aunt Pete. When I was four years old I legitimately beat her at UNO (her words) and told her to, "try harder next time." I gave pretty solid advice as a kid. Since my family moved all over the planet when I was growing up we didn't get to see our extended family often, but when we visited Aunt Pet she would buy us Lucky Charms and let us takes sips of her Pepsi, so when we visited her one time when she broke her leg a little foot rub was in order. This is the same Aunt who "interviewed" Brad when we were dating to make sure he was allowed to be in our family. Good thing he passed, who knows were we'd be. Seriously, she is probably one of the funniest people I know.

Oh, and AUNT Pete you ask? That's another story. Her real name is Sharon but she'll always absolutely be Pete to me. I think I'm going to give one of my children a perfectly sensible name and then call her Harold just for kicks. My children are going to love me.

So the point of this post is that when Brad and I went to Utah in July we received another wedding present- a quilt. Aunt Pete and Aunt Peggy shared the sewing duties (from seperate states) and then Aunt Pete put it all together and finished it up. I've been trying to use it every possible chance to wear it in and make it look loved. I'm so happy that I have something beautiful, tangible and long lasting from our newlywed days. Oh, and it turns out I really like getting wedding presents... so feel free to keep em coming!

ADDICT CULTURE

There are exactly 9 days until Catching Fire, by Suzanne Collins is released. That leaves you 9 days to read the first book in the series: Hunger Games. Remember when I espoused its awesomeness last October? If you haven’t read it consider yourself lucky that you won’t have to wait eight months for the second book like I did. Even though it’s YA fiction, TRUST, it’s fantastic. You’ll thank me later.

Oh, and in case the male audience is wondering… this is nothing like Twilight. I’ve talked to quite a few males who are equally addicted.

I've also mentioned before how awesome Veronica Mars is, but here I go again. What do you do when there is literally nothing on TV and you want to spend little-to-no money? Why, you watch all the Veronica Mars seasons and observe husband get slowly engrossed. He got mad when I mentioned a plot point that had already passed because, “Hey! I didn’t see that one!” Just confess that you actually watch and LIKE Veronica Mars. You can stop standing in the doorway pretending to “leave the room” while you watch all 43 minutes of each episode, your secret is out. Besides it’s not like admitting you watch Top Model with me – OOPS.

If you're lame and can’t commit to the entire show then watch this video of quotes and see if you can stop yourself from buying all 3 seasons immediately (this is probably funny only because I'm familiar with the character... but don't you want to be in on the joke too?)

Confession. Brad and I have been Netflix-ing The OC. It’s a little embarrassing… but hey, if you can’t have a guilty pleasure than I don’t want to be alive.

Lime Chips. Brad and I are averaging a bag a week. I hear there is all sorts of hydrogenated oil and bad crap for you in these... but whatever... they are mighty tasty. Who knew lime PLUS chips could be so right?

CURRENTLY LISTENING

So yesterday afternoon I was feeling nasty and laid down for a "nap." Four hours later I woke up and instead of sleeping through the night I got up and went to the grocery store to get Brad some carrots and Ranch. He's been studying like it's going out of style and we're only two weeks into school. The least I could do was provide the kid a late night snack. So I get in the car and head to our local 24 hour grocer. It's 70 degrees, I have the windows down, I've just woken up from a refreshing nap and there is this perfect song playing to capture that satisfying late night/wide awake feeling... I've been listening to it non-stop today.

chick drummer: check
thick Scottish accents: check
leather jackets (this is imperative): check

Glasvegas - Geraldine

BEACH - MIDWESTERN STYLE

We went to "The Beach" last weekend, aka Carlyle Lake. Which turned out to be a lot fun. We took our bikes and rode around the southern trail and then spent a few lazy hours relaxing in the sand and having a picnic. It was a perfect last summer weekend for Brad because he had to start school again the following Monday. Who has two thumbs and complains a lot about studying now? THAT GUY.

CYCLE. BIKE. WHATEVER.

Did you know that you could technically bike from Alton to Chicago using only bike paths? Illinois is supposedly one of the friendliest biking states which is convenient for us because we aren't what you'd call experienced cyclist. We're working on the Hard Core though - spandex and power bars here we come!


Brad and his bike from 1982. I'm not sure, but I think this bike was ridden by his brother 11 years older than him. When he was teenager. We couldn't get the seat or handle bars to lift up so it looked like a fat guy in a little coat. Don't worry the problem has since been solved.

WHEN IN ROME

A few weeks ago Brad and I went a berry pickin'. We also drove our tractor and started listening to country music. I had to stop Brad at the wife beater though (I'm not a fan of the beer belly). Actually, we maintained our uptight yuppie personalities and merely loaded up enough to freeze for baking and breakfast cereal. My mornings have been much improved.

HOUSE FLIES ARE EVIL

So I promise I'm not a dirty house keeper. But the joys of having an old house means old windows and old doors. Lets just say the weather stripping gets a tad worn. At any rate summer brings out the worst in bugs and whatnot, which end up entering our slightly cooled home for whatever reason. I'm guessing it's my chicken dumplings.

I decided to start a revolution and hit those suckers where it hurts them most. And by "hurts" I mean "kills". This bottle - plus a gallon jug - did the trick. If I end up having a scary neuter-baby you all know why.