Weekend Retreat

Last weekend, Michael and I packed our bags, dropped Jack off with the Grandparents, and headed up to Snowbird for the weekend. It was fun to spend some un-interuppted time with my husband.
Oktoberfest is going on right now, so there was plenty of free entertainment. We also got free tram passes with our room, so we rode to the top and hiked around for a while. It was nice to be away without really going anywhere.
It was a little bit hard for me to leave Jack (this was the first time we left him overnight), but he did well and it was extra fun to see him when we got back.

Granduer Peak

Since Michael and I both worked on Labor Day, we had our own special holiday the following Friday. We took the day off and headed up to Grandeur Peak. It's a beautiful hike with the trail head in Milcreek Canyon. It is about 6 miles round trip, with the way up a fairly steep incline, and the way back a nice, easy, downhill stroll. We made the mistake of starting at noon on a very, very hot day, but despite the heat, we made it to the top in pretty good time.
Jack is such a good sport about our family hikes. He seems to enjoy being packed up mountains on his daddy's back. He really only fussed when he was hungry. Perhaps our enthusiasm for the outdoors has been genetically passed on to our child :).

Goodbye Old Friend

It's time to say goodbye to an old faithful friend... my car. I bought my 1998 Honda Civic with the help of my parents in November of 2002. We've been many places together since then. It came with me when I got married and was our only vehicle until we bought the Liberty a couple of months ago. I put 113,532 (someone else put 33000) miles on it.
On Tuesday, Michael was driving it home from work. He got off the freeway and was stopped at a red light on the off-ramp. A guy fell asleep at the wheel and rear ended our car. Of course, the guy who fell asleep is irresponsible and doesn't have car insurance, so our insurance company has to cover everything and we have to pay our deductible. Grrrrrrrrrrrrr. The adjuster looked at it this morning and decided it was totaled. So we are now looking for another car... NOT what we wanted to do this weekend.
Oh well. I'm sure something will work out. By the way, Michael was not injured at all in the accident. I wish I had a picture of it to go along with this post, but you'll just have to imagine what it might have looked like all mashed up...

Happy Life

Do you ever have one of those days when something just hits you?

Today is an ordinary day. It started with a brief visit to the dermatologist who examined a "changing" mole I have on my shoulder. "It's nothing" he said. Then Jack and I came home and spent the day together playing with toys, doing laundry, baking, snuggling, etc.

Throughout my day, I just keep having the thought "my life is good." I am in a great place right now. I am young, healthy, happy, in love with the best man, have the sweetest baby, a good job, a nice home, wonderful friends, and I'm near a supportive and loving family. What more could I want?... (maybe a little more disposable cash, but I'm not going to complain).

Jack is 6 Months

Jack had his 6 month photo shoot last week and we just got the pics back. My brother, Landon's girlfriend, Megan has recently started her own photography business, so we wanted to be supporters. She did a great job. I guess it's hard to take a bad picture of such a cute little guy though.

Jack has grown a lot in the last 6 months. He now weighs 16 lbs 12 oz (about 10 lbs more than when he was born). He is a joy to be around and Michael and I are so happy to have him in our family. At 6 months Jack
-Is able to sit up all by himself
-Chews on anything and everything he can get his hands on
-Is growing his first tooth
-Is continuing to develop his funny little personality
-Is starting to eat solid foods
-Is finally mobile (if you count rolling around the floor from toy to toy).

Family Picnic and Canyon Drive

On Saturday, we went up American Fork Canyon for a picnic. We drove up to A meadow above the Timpanooke trail head (same place where Michael asked me to marry him).

After our picnic, we decided that since we now have a car that works off road, we would go on a little exploratory drive. The drive was beautiful. There were wildflowers everywhere. We found a few trail heads for hikes that we might go back to. We assumed that the road would come out another canyon, but instead, it took us a little over 1 and 1/2 hours to get to a dead end. So we had to back-track our whole trip. It was still fun and beautiful.

Raw Wednesday #1: a learning experience

Well, last week, I attempted my first Raw Wednesday. I was not as successful as I would have liked. What I learned is that I need a little more prep work. I was eating whole foods, but I completely left out grains, so by about 3 pm, I was absolutely STARVING. I decided to give up and try again next Wed. So I am spending some time making some more hearty raw foods for this coming week. These foods take a little preparation because they have to be sprouted, soaked, and dehydrated. This week I am making Raw Cinnamon Granola and Raw Hummus. This should keep me more satiated. Here is my menu for this Raw Wednesday:

-Breakfast: Raw Cinnamon Granola with Almond milk and fresh fruit
-Lunch: Celery soup with avocado and red bell peppers (I didn't get around to having this for dinner last week)
-Dinner: Green Salad with veggies and hummus
-Dessert: Mango Sorbet (again, didn't get around to this last week)
-Snacks: Raw nuts, veggies with hummus, fresh fruit

If anyone wants to join me for a delicious raw breakfast, here is the recipe for the Granola:

3 cups rolled oats
1 cup slivered raw almonds
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (or more to taste)
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup pure maple syrup

Combine dry ingredients in plastic container. Add syrup and mix well until moderately saturated.
Cover container and dry overnight in refrigerator.

*Note: I have not yet attempted this recipe, so I'm not saying its good, I'm just saying that I'm trying it. I hope it's good...

My first week of training for my half marathon was quite a bit more successful than my first raw Wednesday. I'm up to 4 miles... Woo-hoo.