Snowshoeing_January 2016

So...I/we've been looking for some outdoor activities to do during the winter to help fight the fatness.  We tried cross country skiing last month and I wasn't that impressed.  Granted, I only went once and it was hard to transition from downhill skis to cross country skis, so it might be better if I gave it another chance.  Anywho, I got snowshoes for Christmas.  We had a pretty good trek up the Jardine Juniper trail in December.  However, in January we ventured up the Sink Hollow trail and that was a lot of fun.  We followed along side a cross country ski trail that looped around a pretty big area.  It was so peaceful!  Though people and snowmobiles were not that far away, I had the feeling of being totally alone out here.  It was a great experience.

Other updates:

• Looking to go camping next weekend-like for reals- in the snow...we'll see how this goes.  

• I'm also hoping to participate in a half marathon in October.  Again, we'll see how that goes or rather how the prep for that goes.  
• Going to Boston/New England area in April.  Yay!

GR next to the cross country trail.

Another view of GR and the surrounding area.

Perfect sledding hill...if only I would have brought my sled.

2014 Recap: Hiking to (almost) Saddle Back Mountain

Still trying to record 2014 events.

In April (2014) GR convinced me to climb and spend the night on a mountain that is near our house.  For those familiar with Cache Valley, I believe there are cell towers at the very top of this mountain.  Just a few hundred feet below the towers is a flat spot that is almost perfect for camping.  GR (and Blair) had climbed to the towers before (hence being aware of the camp spot) and wanted to go again.  Since Blair wasn't available (him being in Cedar City) he was going to find another friend to go with. When that didn't pan out, he talked me into it. Since he is very familiar with my abilities, I decided to go with him.  It was pretty hard to get up there!  We left too late and were battling to get up there before dark.  It was also very steep without a well defined trail.  At one point, GR was carrying my backpack, and I was literally on all fours scrambling up the mountain.  I don't think I've ever felt so triumphant when we reached the camp site.  We were out of daylight and out of energy.  The views up there almost make it worth it.


Taken not too long after getting there.

 The next morning (those mountains are the Wellsvilles).

Just waking up.  To save weight/space we just brought a tarp to sleep on.

 GR the next morning.

 A look back to where we came from

 At the bottom

All in all, going down was so much harder.  I guess I don't know how to walk down steep terrain, because I jammed both of my big toes.  The toes were all bruised and gross and eventually fell off.  Good thing I love that guy enough to keep following him on his crazy adventures!

January 2015 Recap

So..one month of 2015 down, only 11 to go.  Not that I'm counting down to anything but its crazy how fast and how slow time can go.  January was pretty boring for us. GR went to San Francisco for work. I applied and interviewed for a new job that would be a couple steps from where I am now, but didn't get it.  I'm still trying to reorient myself in my current job after getting my hopes up about moving on to bigger and better things.  I'm not sure why this is so hard, three months ago I was content with my position and initially didn't think I was ready to try moving up.  However, you never know when these higher positions will come along so I decided to go for it.  Now that I didn't get it, its hard to push myself to do the job I still have.  Hopefully I can get my head on straight and be appreciative for what I have and work to better myself so I can be more prepared for the next position that comes along. 

GR and I have been called to the Nursery at church.  That has been quite an adventure.  Those kids wear me out!  They are so cute and can be so trying on my patience.  They are all really young and don't talk very much which means they don't sing very much.  This also means its me and several other adults singing kids songs together which can be kindof weird when you stop and think about it.  However, there is one girl who tries very hard to do a lot of the actions.  Her attempts are enough for me to keep singing and keep doing the actions with all of the songs.  Its so special to see her progress and the progress of the other kids each week. 

Upcoming: VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assitance--basically helping low income people with their taxes), Moab-going at Easter, and....ALASKA!  Been wishing and hoping, and planning for several years now and its finally happening.  We've booked a cruise for June 8th (also our 10th year anniversary). 

TTFN

PS How about this awesome weather we are having???  I can't decide if I want it to snow again or not.  No snow now, could mean no fires in the summer...

2014 Catch Up: New Orleans

I had great intentions of keeping a blog this year. However, it appears it has been almost a full year since I have last posted. So I guess that didn't happen.  But I've watched my two awesome sister-in-laws regularly keep me updated on their lives through their blogs, and I'd like to try and follow their example.

I wanted to post about my activities this year in chronological order.  As I got behind, I couldn't post about the latest events, because I still hadn't posted about stuff 3 months ago. Yeah, I have issues.

Anyway, in March, I accompanied GR to New Orleans for a conference.  He attended the conference during the day and I toured around the city.  I discovered Beignets at Cafe du Monde are delicious, there are lots of boats in New Orleans, the dead are buried above ground in New Orleans and people will do crazy things for money. 
See the pics below:

 Above ground burials.  If I remember correctly, the bodies are put on "shelves" within the tombs, and ideally, they break down to make room for more bodies.  Kind of gross, but necessary as New Orleans is above sea level.  This is from a Voodoo Walking Tour I took to St. Louis Cemetery #1

 I'm not sure how well you can see this but that is a dog in a casket.  The person is asking for money to bury his dog.  However, after a minute or so, to the dog moved!! He is really alive just really well trained. And for the record, I did pay a dollar.

 We took a boat tour to this state park (at least I think its a state park).  A crazy old battle took place, though I already have forgotten the details.  The trees (shown below) are so old its possible that they witnessed said crazy old battle.

Back on the Wagon Again (This post is for you Ammie Beth Ballard Hatch)

So...I fell off the primal wagon a while back...sometime around Thanksgiving.  Turns out I don't seem to lose weight while eating out all the time and never going to the gym.  I am sad/proud/happy/longing for sugar to say we back on the primal wagon again.  GR and I go to the gym several nights a week and haven't eaten out since our Provo adventure over a week ago.  Hopefully we can continue this for longer than we did last year and finally kick all of this extra weight.  Below are some favorite recipes we've found so far:

Tomato Basil Soup
Super easy and waaaay good!

http://theprimalfoodblog.wordpress.com/?s=tomato+basil+soup&submit=Search 

Cauliflower Pizza
This is a bit harder to make.  The hardest part is getting cauliflower ground up and then getting all of the water out (after you steam it). I've made this for several people who don't eat primal and they say they can't taste the cauliflower. 

http://www.theluckypennyblog.com/2013/02/the-best-cauliflower-crust-pizza.html 

Green Scrambled Eggs
No recipe, just blend spinach into eggs (literally put your eggs and spinach in the blender).  Then cook your scrambled eggs. 

Oh, and this new one:
Breakfast Calzone
The recipe was actually in a cook book we bought but it puts a new spin on cooked eggs.  Basically you make a calzone out of the eggs and have tomato sauce and basil inside.

Further,
I've started a sewing class.  Below are the pillows I made.  Yay for my first project!  

Who's Up for a Weenie Roast?

Next week is September!!  I can't believe how fast this summer has gone.  I'm not sure what I've filled my time with, but sadly it was not camping.  One thing we have accomplished this summer is finishing the fire pit in our backyard. 

As a reminder, this is what the backyard looked like in the beginning (at least after replacing the sewer line):

GR had a hard time digging a hole on account of the MILLIONS of rocks that are in the soil.  Below are some rocks that he dug up-for reals!

After digging the hole, he lined it with bricks. Then we laid down bricks to make a bit of a patio area around it.

Here is the finished product:

Happy Roasting!

Week 1 Complete!

Well, week 1 is over on our primal diet.  Although it has only been 7 days, it feels like forever.  Yes, 7 days or 21 meals has been a trying time.  For me it has been harder to find things to eat rather than fighting cravings of things I miss.  I am so used to having pasta as a side dish that its been hard to find replacements.  GR and I also don't like a lot of vegetables so there aren't a lot of options to fill those pasta-less bowls. 

We've also had to try new things to make sure our bodies are getting everything they need.  Wednesday morning I woke up feeling AWFUL!  I had no energy and just generally didn't feel well.  GR thought I might not be getting enough fats in the recent meals.  We've had a lot of meat which I don't mind, but I don't love either.  Anyway, GR suggested I have a glass of milk.  This helped immensely.  Now that I know I like vitamin D milk (it's what was suggested if being on this diet) I try to have a glass more often especially if I don't eat a large meal.  We've also started adding things like avocado to our smoothies we have in the morning to help get us through the day. Oh...I was also recommended almond butter. LOVE IT! It is another source of fat to help with energy.

Anywho after only 1 week, I have lost 5.5 pounds.  So that's enough to spur me on to the next week.  Already we have both noticed a change in our taste of sweets.  We got a dark chocolate bar at the store (72% coco) and we both really enjoyed it.  Before this diet, I really didn't care for dark chocolate, but I feel that since I'm eating so much less sugar my needed level of sweetness has changed. 

Another thought about this diet is the loss of time.  We have spent sooo much time preparing, cooking, and cleaning that I feel like it's all I do.  If we are to continue on this path, we need to get more strategic.  A friend who is also on this diet cooks all of their meat on Sunday to save time during the week.  We may have to try this. 

Proud momment:  We were at Bear Lake this weekend and managed to say no to all of the burgers and shake stands we passed.  We were very tempted since it's something we always do when we go up there. 

Interesting food we've had:  Mashed cauliflower.  We  cooked cauliflower and then mashed it in the blender. We then added cheese and butter like we would with mashed potatoes.  Result: Tolerable.  I've never been a fan of cauliflower so I'm not sure what I was expecting. 

Things I want to try:  primal pizza (have to make the crust either out of mashed cauliflower or find some almond flour).  Also, I have a recipe for primal zucchini brownies (no flour, dark chocolate chips). 

In closing, I just want to apologize for the randomness of these lines.  It's late and I'm just typing.  No proofreading here.
G'night.