Quick trip to southern Utah

Last month, BYU gave its students a three day weekend for a "spring break." We wanted to make the most of it so we planned a little weekend trip! Chris' dad offered to take us to a few places and since he owns most of the gear we needed, we were grateful he was willing to go with us. (We're trying to build up our camping supplies but it's a slow process..)

We left Friday morning and headed to Goblin Valley. When we got there it looked like everyone else had the same idea haha. In the main area there were lots of families, scout troops, and BYU students but once we left that area, it was pretty quiet. Unfortunately, there was only one rappel in Goblin Valley so my inner adrenaline junkie was a little disappointed ;) It was a great hike though and I really liked Goblin Valley! 

That night we camped under the stars and it was beautiful! And really cold. During the day the temperature was in the mid-80s but during the night it dropped pretty low. I guess that's normal for March :) The next morning we left for Ding and Dang Slot Canyon. It's a loop and we went the easier route but it was still technical enough to be fun. This may be one of my favorite canyons. It was stunning, interesting (sometimes I get bored on hikes), and a great length. I'm hoping that we'll go back and do the harder route someday. 

Being outside is Chris' happy place. And even though adventuring together is one of our favorite things to do together, we don't do it often enough. So, here's to going on more adventures with my love! 

one year ago - then and now

March 7th marked a year since our first date so I decided to re-create it. We went on the same hike except this time we held hands, Chris wasn't awkward, and we saw lots of mountain sheep (ya know, key differences).

Thank goodness this time around didn't end with a "Well, thanks for a good time."

"Yeah! Let's do it again sometime."

"Yeah...(but in my head I'm thinking we're just gonna be good friends)" 

I love you Chris. Happy one year awkwarddateversary. 

I married his family and their hobbies

A few weeks ago I went to Colorado for the first time! We (and by that I mean Chris, his sister, and his dad) drove to Ouray [pronounced your-ay] on a Wednesday. We stopped to get dinner at a run down Mexican restaurant and apparently, I was convinced that sitting in the car for six hours would make me starving so I ordered a ginormous meal. I ate half of it and the rest sat in the car...and then the fridge...and then, after a few bites, the trash can. But I digress.

Last summer Chris asked me if I wanted to go ice climbing during the winter. I jokingly said that I would if we were still dating. Ha. Chris' dad has some doctor friends who are ice climbing junkies so they get a big group together and go every year. So I added my newbie self to the mix. Once we got to Colorado, our days looked like this: Wake up. Eat a huge breakfast that we didn't have to prepare. Ice climb. Eat lunch. Ice climb. Come back. Play hearts until our hands our shaky and we can't grip our cards. Sleep. Repeat. After the second morning, my body was like "whaaaaat are you doooing to meeeeeee." Maybe I should've trained or something? We took a fancy camera with us but once we got to the climbing area, we realized we left the memory card. In Utah. So iPhone photos it was! Enjoy the over filtered, pure high quality snapshots ;)

 ^setting up. felt utterly useless during this part but i was more than happy to leave the tying/knotting of our lifesaving ropes to the experts.

 ^yay for doctor friends :)

^Friday morning was crowwwded. It's hard to tell but there are ropes going down about every six feet. the little red person at the top is Chris!

It's terrifying feeling like the only thing preventing you from dropping 80 feet are your two axes and crampons. Yes, there's a rope you're dangling from and it's similar to rock climbing and rappelling but...it's different! My form was all over the place but somehow, I made it to the top on multiples routes. Only took me fifty years but I was still pleased with myself. When Chris saw the giant purplish-green bruises on my knees, he explained to me yet again that I wasn't supposed to bang my knees against the ice. Logically, I knew that but mentally, I needed to know that something other than two little axes and flimsy crampons were supporting all of my weight.

 ^the awkwardness is tangible. 

^Chris doing a mixed route. thanks to global warming, there wasn't as much ice this year but that didn't stop people. nope, not at all. 

^it's a pretty good feeling to get to the top. just saying. 

^Colorado, you are beautiful.

^just a few photos of Ouray. such a little, quaint touristy town with laid back hours ;)

Overall, it was a great trip! Despite the stress and mountain of homework I came home to, it was worth it. And although I don't think it will become my passion, I'm excited for next year!

my fourth

We left for Zions National Park early Friday morning to start off our holiday weekend. It was a bit of a drive but totally worth it!

When we got there, the place we had initially planned on going rappelling was too muddy so we had a quick change of plans. We decided to hike Angel's Landing instead, which is a hike I've been wanting do for a while now! We did it in the evening so luckily it was cooler but I still a sweaty mess by the time we got to the top. The final view was completely worth the narrow this-is-really-close-to-the-edge! parts of the hike.

^^with my hair growing out, this is the easiest way to keep hair out of my face. It makes me feel like a 5 year old but looking younger is all the rage, right?

It was probably 80 degrees (if not hotter) the whole night. Plus bugs. Plus rustling noises in the bushes. Needless to say, I didn't sleep all that well. But the next day we got up and did an easy hike in the park. Everyone was dressed up in red, white, and blue! There were a lot of people on the Emerald Pools hike and since we wanted to get away from the crowds, we decided to leave the park and go rappelling.

^^this tree was hit by lightning and split right down the middle. It was black and charred and I guess we thought it would be cool to take a picture...?haha.

The 180 feet rappel was beautiful and not nearly as scary as the first time I did it a month ago ;) But the slot canyon was a lot harder than Chris' dad remembered it. Our hour and a half hike turned into two and a half hours as we ran into unexpected pools of water. After rounding the third corner and hearing Chris say "Oh look! More water!" the whole thing got comical. Some of them were so deep, we couldn't touch the bottom, so we had to swim through them. By the end we were soaked and luckily still laughing about the entire thing. We smelled like old, dirty water and our clothes were streaked red from the rock. But we were happy we made it out safely! We changed our clothes, packed all of the gear up, stopped by Wendy's, and then headed home. We saw a few fireworks from the freeway and people were still going crazy when we rolled into Provo around midnight.

There was no classic BBQ and fireworks for us but for me, it was the perfect 4th of July. I spent it admiring the beauty of our country and God's creations. It was easier for me to appreciate our country and the blessings I have in the quiet peace found only in nature. So grateful for you America.