Moab

It is finally the time to show the world some pictures from our very fun trip to southern Utah. We spent about four days down there and figured that we hiked about 30 miles throughout our stay.

Our first hike was in Arches National Park--the Devil's Garden trail. Brandon got a kick out of that name and for THE REST OF THE TRIP pointed to random things and said "Oh, that there's the Devil's Toilet...that's the Devil's Nordic Track...that's the Devil's missing baby...the Devil's Eyeball" etc. I realized that I myself am fairly pathetic because I laughed out loud about 80% of the time. One of the reasons we work is that I laugh at his jokes without being prompted.

Here are some of the images from that hike:

If you ever do that hike, we totally recommend doing the Primitive Loop...there's some really neat scenery that you miss if you stick to the main trail.
Above is Double O...one of my favorite arches in the entire park. Of course, pictures don't do it justice.
This is when Brandon almost died. I managed to snap this picture before racing over to him and pulling him to safety. Just kidding.
This is Partition Arch.

We spent our first night in a campground typically reserved for RV's. I'm a sucker for these campgrounds because the have hot showers and flush toilets. The particular one we stayed at also had a hot tub, which was an AWESOME way to remind ourselves that yes, we were on vacation and yes, it was time to relax.

Here's me getting breakfast ready that next morning:
While it is a pretty nerdy picture, I show it because you can see our bathing suits and towels on the table...we put them there the night before to dry out. Unfortunately, it was soooo cold that night that they were covered with a nice healthy layer of ice on them in the morning.

After breakfast, we packed up and headed down to the Needles district of Canyonlands National Park. If you haven't been...GO. It is beautiful. We wanted to get there first thing in the morning to snatch a campsite since you can't reserve them ahead of time. Luckily, it wasn't a problem. This is my favorite picture of Brandon looking like an ape:
He actually had just finished setting up the tent...and I didn't even have to help. He's the dear of the year.

Later that day, we did a really neat hike...I don't remember the name, but it was a loop hike that takes you up one canyon and then out another.
As the afternoon progressed, it became quite cold and snowy. Here's us huddling in a little sandstone cubby-hole, trying to stay warm from the wind. It didn't really work. We decided that the best thing was just to keep moving. It is kind of a cute picture though, eh?
We took about a billion pictures at this particular spot...where the trail took us up a ridge that separated the two canyons. The landscape down there is just so enchanting. We couldn't get enough.

I noticed that this is Brandon's pose in every photo. I think he is just always thinking, "Are you finished? You just took a photo that looks exactly like this two seconds ago." This is one exception, though:
Apparently all trail markers resemble poop. That is the difference between boys and girls my friends.

That night was exceptionally cold. When you are camping and it is freezing there isn't much you can do except for sit in your sleeping bag in the tent or sit in the car, out of the wind. We did a little of both. Anyways...when we woke up in the morning, there were several inches of snow on the ground. Yikes!
The snow didn't dampen our plans too much though. That is mainly because when you are out in the middle of no where, there really isn't a Plan B. We had already paid for our camp site for the upcoming night and knew that we would either be cold in Canyonlands or cold in Moab. Pick your poison, I suppose. So we chose to stay where we were, do the hike we had planned, and just put on extra clothes.

The hike we did that day, Chesler Park, was beautiful. Perhaps one of my favorites ever. BUT, I'm getting bored posting. Which means you are probably bored reading this. So...I'm going to take a break. We are having the Mormon missionaries over for dinner and I need to get some stuff ready. Peace out folks...we'll be back!

An Almost Sad Story

I know I need to post pictures from our recent trip to Moab, but I have to first explain what a miracle it is that we even have the pictures...we got home last Wednesday, unpacked our car and put all of our camping gear away.

I am realizing that I have a version of ADHD called Cannot Complete One Task At a Time...meaning that I always do about eight things at once, which ultimately means that a.) it takes me forever to get one simple thing accomplished and b.) I usually have to do at least half the things on my list twice because I'm too all over the place to get things done right the first time.

So...as we were unpacking I was having some serious Cannot Complete One Task at a Time. I was unpacking the cooler, uploading photos, getting ready for a shower, telling Brandon some important story, and preparing for an appointment I had later that night. Needless to say, things were chaotic. When all of that was finally done...I sat down to look at the photos and could not find them anywhere.

Brandon and I spent the next twenty-five minutes searching through all my folders and performing every 'search' function we could. The file I thought I created wasn't there and the camera's memory card was empty. It was all so strange because I remember seeing the thumbnails of the photos appear on my computer as they uploaded. The longer we searched, the more I become overwhelmed with the most frustrated, upset, and disappointed of feelings. I just knew I had pressed some stupid button on the computer as I was overwhelmed with my Cannot Complete One Task At a Time and unknowingly deleted everything. I even cried and said one swear word. Brandon, I think, was a little blown away by how I was acting and I can't even explain why I was so upset. I guess I really wanted the photos.

Anyhow, This is actually what I looked like:

See, I'll be graduating soon and with the economy all fickle...non-profit/social service jobs are the first to go. So its vital that I perfect my Microsoft Paint Skills. You'd do the same if you were in my shoes. Notice how I'm able to capture the most important of details? My sunburned face, my sorrow, my deepest, most inner thoughts?

Anyways, we had to postpone the search because Brandon had to work and I had clients to visit. Later that night, though, I investigated programs you can download that are supposedly able to retrieve lost data. While I was encouraged, I was also thinking to myself, "Great, now I'm going to get a computer virus, too."

Luckily, this isn't the saddest of all pity-party tales. Brandon got home shortly after I did and instantly became a miracle worker. He began looking at files that had been modified around the time I had uploaded folders and somehow realized that there were hidden files in that folder. After some abra-cadabra with the keyboard, he figured out how to expose the files...of the five or so that were uncovered was a weird 'temporary' file with our Moab photos!

What relief. I still have no idea how the whole mess happened, but I am just grateful we (Brandon) found them. So now that you guys know the FULL value of our photos, you will appreciate and marvel at them as if they were you own when I post them tomorrow, right? You better! Oh, and watch out for Cannot Complete One Task at a Time...it has some serious side affects.

Spring Break!

Don't you love how the night before you have to get up early you think of a million things to do and suddenly don't feel tired? That's how I am, at least. I've always been a night owl, but I get especially wired the night before a big trip; once I'm in this mood, I won't be able to sleep once a To-Do thought pops into my head. So for instance, it has suddenly seemed like a brilliant time to blog about this weird quirk of mine while making some road trip cd's...

Anyways, while I wait for this second road trip CD to burn, I'll let you know that this week has been great. I finished up my quarter by turning in all of my final papers which in short means that I am now a sane person. Yup. I have now returned to the land of the people who eat more than cereal and diet coke, don't bite heads off of their spouses, and actually notice the weather. It is good to be back.

And--get this--I quit Crate and Barrel. I've worked there part time for almost two years and have finally decided that earning a few pennies an hour wasn't worth missing Friday nights and Saturdays with my husbands. I know, it takes me a while, but I eventually do learn. So tonight was my last night and I spent a lot of money to prove to myself that I'll be OK without having a discount.

To make things even better, Brandon and I are leaving tomorrow morning for Moab, UT--exactly from where Leslie and Clay just returned. We aren't as tough as they are, though, so don't expect any cool pictures (unless you consider pictures of us pigging out on oatmeal cream pies cool). I actually dreamed last night that I was getting very winded on a simple hike and was feeling bad about myself. See how badly I need to get a life? Anyways, we'll be there for about four days--just enough time to get dirty, sweaty, sunburned, and relish the opportunity to be with no one else but each other, not look at a computer, worry about clients calling, or think about anything else that has consumed us since the last time we had a break.

Sounds like heaven, eh? My CDs are done--in other words, I need to stop rambling and get to bed.

Buffy

I just wanted to inform everyone that I've eaten my 5 specially marked boxes of Kellogg's Raisin Bran and Raisin Bran Crunch to earn a free copy of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. No, not the Sarah Michelle Gellar TV show (although I have a secret crush on that show, too), but this gem of a movie:



I know you're jealous! If you come over to my house in 90 days (the amount of time the box says it will take to arrive), we can watch it together. It will be fun.