!i! My Crazy Idea !i!

 I had a crazy idea and was looking for an adventure.  There is a walking park on Wasatch Blvd and about 11400 S.  From this park, there is a hike that leads up to the Bonneville Shoreline trail.  Apparently this trail spans from Idaho to Santaquin.  Since we live on South Mountain (about as far south as the homes go), surely if we followed this trail, it would lead us home!  So that's what I wanted to try:  parking at the walking park and combing the mountains until we got home. 

CRAZY IDEA...especially in temperatures that soar into the three digits!  But I knew it could be done...and I knew that we could do it.  AJ is a supporting husband and went along with my crazy idea.

We started our hike with the most nutritious breakfast:  McDonalds!  Who cares?  We were going to burn those calories off right? 

The first part of the hike was great!  The sweet smell of morning lingered in the air.  The birds were chirping and since our hike began on the East Bench, the sun had not yet crossed over the mountains enough to blast us away...YET.

We made great progress.  We scanned the view getting our barrings.  We would notice the major streets and be able to determine how far we had gone.  We passed the occasional hiker and biker.

We passed small rivers and streams that I didn't even know existed.  We came upon a bridge in the draper area that had a motion camera.  On the bridge was posted some photos the camera had caught:  a Mountain Lion roaming the area back in 2011!

We continued on our way.  Then we got to the corner canyon trails.  Here, the trail breaks off into other small trails or you can continue on the main trail.  We kept hiking.  By now, the sun was blazing and my hips were starting to ache and I could feel a blister coming on.

We continued hiking.  The corner canyon area made me feel like we weren't making any progress at all.  As we had to comb the edge of the mountain, there were so many little inlets and outlets that we had to follow.  At one point, I surely thought we were headed to Utah County and then what would we do? But we kept hiking.

We passed the temple and the gigosphorous mega-houses and continued hiking.  Surely were were getting close!  By now, the sun was directly on us and it was easily 90 degrees.  I wasn't sure how long my muscles would hold up, but if I stopped moving, it was much harder to start moving again.  We continued hiking.

Eventually, the Bonneville Shoreline Trail led us to Traverse Mountain Road which is a pretty busy street.  At this point, we followed the road downward for the last leg of our hike.  The sun was blazing, our muscles were aching, and we felt like we were inhaling the pollution of all the passing cars.

At last...we crossed through a neighborhood, climbed a fence, and we had made it home.  We had hiked a total of 8 miles in a little under 3 hours!  We had conquered my crazy idea and we had survived.  I guess we're all a little tougher than we think!

!i! A Night at Ruth's !i!

 Carolyn and Matt have put together a "Bucket List" of fun things that they would like to do this summer.  A couple of weeks ago, we went to Ruth's Diner and ate dinner on the patio outside.  If you've never been to Ruth's Diner, it's time you head up emigration canyon!

If it's warm enough, ask if you can sit out on the patio.  There was a small wait, but it was worth it.  They had an acoustic band that played songs while we ate.  We were seated right up front and center.

To top it off, they have the most delicious chocolate malt pudding you could ever imagine.  It's worth going there just for the pudding (and I don't consider pudding a dessert).

!i! We Turned 28 !i!

 

Last month, we celebrated our 28th birthday!  Twenty eight!  Why does every birthday get more and more difficult.  In 2 years, we will be 30!  I never pictured my life older than about 22.  People have stopped calling me "Miss" and I have inherited "Ma'am" which is a word that I think should be banned, but that's another story.

As a 28 yr old...

I probably shouldn't shop in the Junior's department anymore.
I probably shouldn't blast my music in my car so loud that the neighbors can hear me pull up.
I probably should be eating my fruits and vegetables by now.
I probably shouldn't be reading Teen Fiction books.
I should probably be more interested in politics and world events.
I probably shouldn't be surprised when I see a missionary biking down the street and they look 12 years old.
I probably shouldn't be surprised when I see people my age that have kids in elementary school.

As AJ says, you are only as old as you feel and I feel like I am still 21.

The reality of things is that the next years of my life will fly by and the next thing I know, I will think "where did all those years go?"  When that day comes, I sure hope that I have a lot of adventurous stories to tell.  Many trips to Hawaii.  Many sceneries that can't be put into words.  Many stories that I can't get through because I am laughing so hard!  And many "you had to be there moments."

!i! My Husband, the Bachelor !i!

AJ just graduated from the University of Utah with his Bachelors degree in Exercise Physiology.  He has put in a lot of effort into his degree and I am so proud of him!  

Because we both put in a lot of effort towards his degree, I felt that I should receive an honorary Bachelor's degree, but unfortunately the University didn't see it that way.  Perhaps our next school will think otherwise and I will earn an honorary Doctorate in Physical Therapy!

Although this is not the end of his educational journey, it's nice to finish one chapter in our lives and move on to the next.  Out of 12 Physical Therapy programs, AJ was accepted into 5 and is on the waiting list on another.  In three years, AJ will be completely done...I hope.

!i! Spring Has Sprung !i!

After a dreary winter, Spring has finally blossomed in Salt Lake City!  To celebrate, we went downtown to see the flowers on Temple Square.  The blossom smell filled the air and the sun blazed through the sky!  I enjoyed every moment!

 We ate our lunch at the Nauvoo cafe which is located in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.  It was fun being in the JSMB because we had our reception there almost 4 years ago!

I absolutely love Springtime.  After being cooped up in the house all winter long, there's nothing like getting some much needed Vitamin D!

!i! The Ballet !i!

AJ got some free tickets Ballet West's Jewels Ballet.  We didn't know what this performance was about.  There were 3 parts:  Emerald, Ruby, and Diamond.  Basically, they just wore costumes to match the themes.  There was no story and the music was strange so we did what any mature adults would do at a classy ballet:  We made faces to pass the time during the intermissions.

 The Smoulder

 The Puffer

The...I don't know what this is

We made it through 2 of the 3 acts and called it quits so we could get some dinner! 

!i! Flagstaff, Arizona !i!

AJ had another interview at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona for the physical therapy program.  It is pretty hard to get an interview there, but AJ was offered an interview so we booked the trip, packed our things, and we were off...eventually.

The morning that we were supposed to leave, there was a sudden snow storm.  It began during our commute to the airport and it arrived with a vengeance!  The roads were very slippery very quickly, but we safely arrived at the airport.

Our flight was very early in the morning.  It was one of the first flights out of the airport.  Due to the snow, the plane had to be de-iced.  That was interesting and a little unsettling.  They sprayed some green and orange goo all over the plane that melted the ice.  I thought to myself, this can't be good for the environment, but it did keep us safe.

Our first stop was in Phoenix.  We flew over the grand canyon which looked gigantic even thousands of feet in the air!

We had a layover in Phoenix before boarding our plane to Flagstaff.  It was a vast contrast between the blizzard we left and the sunshine and palm trees in Phoenix.  Even in February, it looked hot.  We roamed the airport riding the moving sidewalk and soaking in the sunshine that glistened through the windows.

The flight to Flagstaff was on a tiny plane.  It held maybe 30 people.  The flight was 45 minutes and when we arrived, there was snow on the ground, but the sun was shining...a sight we hadn't seen in months!

Flagstaff is beautiful.  The snow was glistening.  There were pine trees all around.  If felt kind of like a resort/college town.  I could definitely see us living there.

After gathering our things, renting our car, and checking into our hotel, we headed to the campus to scope out the building in which the interview was to take place.  Then we headed to the Petrified Forest.

The Petrified forest is filled with, you guessed it, petrified wood.  There were huge logs that had petrified and turned to stone and cracked. The entire area was littered with these petrified wood pieces!

There were also some Indian home ruins they had uncovered...

Along with some petroglyphs.  There were tons of petroglyphs scattered along all the rocks.  I couldn't help but think of the people that used to live here and how they survived.  Despite the blue skies and sunshine, the wind was bitter cold!

The following day, AJ had his interview.  He felt like it went really well.  While he was interviewed, I sat in the lobby of the hotel and researched apartments and the cost of living as well as job prospects.  After AJ's interview, he took me to the Grand Canyon.  I had never been to the Grand Canyon and I wanted to see what was so grand about it.

We drove through the flat desert and the temperature creeped up to 60 degrees!  It looked so warm outside!  I enjoyed the sun shining through the windows.  We even had to turn the air conditioner on!  This was something we soaked up with the extremely cold winter we had back in Salt Lake!

The Grand Canyon was gorgeous.  I was surprised with how large it actually is!  All the pictures I had seen in the past did not do it one ounce of justice!

We drove around and stopped at all the look outs.  I was wishing we had brought our hiking shoes!

Eventually, it began to snow and we headed back to Flagstaff.

Since we were in Arizona, we had to try some Mexican food.  We stopped at a nice Mexican restaurant near our hotel and had the best Mexican food we had ever tasted!  We shared a stuffed Navajo Taco and I think I drank three diet cokes!

Eventually, it was time to go home.  We packed up our things and boarded our flight.  We had made our decision even before we had left Flagstaff.  We have a big adventure ahead of us!