Christmas!

How was your Christmas??

Ours was lovely. Down-time, family, movies (unimpressed by Into the Woods), presents, our own beautiful tree, and an all-around good time.




We had a seafood boil, got Christmas Eve jammies, and I got a festive manicure (among other things).

Love!

Is your life on track?

You know how sometimes you read something, and it actually makes you think... even days later? That's how this was for me.

I like plans, and planning, and setting goals, and feeling like I'm making progress.

So, to me, it makes perfect sense to take a look at my life, really take a long-term look, and see if it's taking me where I want to go. Would I be perfectly happy with the choices I'm making and the direction in which I'm heading? What changes would I make if I were able to truly look at the big picture? What things am I unwilling to give up or unwilling to try based on my own short-sightedness... even though my long-term plan should/shouldn't include them? How many questions can I ask in one paragraph?

Anyway, I like the idea of stopping every once in a while to evaluate where my life is taking me and reevaluating where I am now based on where I want to be when I'm 80 years old.

Beautiful Words

I love to read. This is known. I love my kindle (although I resisted at first) for many reasons, one of which being that I can read more than one book at once without carrying anything extra.

For example, I'm currently reading Sphere (at my husband's recommendation) when I have down-time, Amy Poehler's book when I run on the treadmill (I'm only allowed to read it then, I need something to look forward to), and I've got the Throne of Glass series up next on the queue.

Let me know if you ever have book recommendations.
I'll read anything good entertaining.

So when I saw this, I got excited. When I read through it, I loved it.
Words can be so beautiful. <3

Thanksgiving Vacation!

Warm weather, sunshine, good food, family.... these are the components of my perfect Thanksgiving, and that's just what we got this year.




Lots of shopping, volleyball, eating, golfing, biking, archery, trampolining, movie-watching (I obviously didn't do all these things... still broken)... a trip down to Mexico... and an all-around good time.

Love. Miss.

A Cleaning Miracle

Soooo I like things to be clean. However, the underside of my sink faucet is was my nemesis. Hard water buildup/mineral deposits that looked naaaasty were giving me anxiety, and no amount of scrubbing was having any effect.

Thank goodness for Pinterest.

Put some vinegar (it was the cider or the white wine kind, and I had more of this one haha) in a bag, didn’t have a rubberband so I used 3 twist-ties linked together, let that sucker sit while I watched Gilmore Girls on Netflix, checked on it once and saw lots of bubbles happening in there, took it off and all the gunk scrubbed right off.



Miraculous.

My competitive side and my crafty side

A few things.

Occasionally, my competitive side comes out. With my FitBit, you can see your friends steps, and you can challenge them to daily or weekly contests. I get challenged all the time, but I don't usually check on them/care about them all that much.

For some reason, though, when I got home from work yesterday and saw the competition (as well as seeing my name on the feed), it really struck me that I needed to win. So, out came the Zumba videos on YouTube. Over came my friend, and we went on a long (cold) walk.



And victory! My intense little competition fire burned out after my win though, maybe it will return in a few months haha.


On another note, I'm working on my wedding scrapbook! When I first got married, I made one, but I gave it to my parents (they asked, okay? I'm not that narcissistic) and I haven't yet been motivated to repeat the process.

Until now.



I'm still in the organizational stage, but at least it's progress! :)

New Headbands!

Okay, so I love headbands. Esp ones I can wear when I work out/sweat... keeps the hair/sweat out of my face, hides my gross hair, looks cute.... what's not to love??

So I saw an ad for these on Facebook (marketing at its finest) and I just clicked to see what it was all about... and between the buy 2 get 1 free, $10 off promo code (seems like they're always running one), and free shipping over $20.... I got 3 of them for like $22. Couldn't say no.



I got 3 colors... black (solid, trustworthy) and two fun patterns!

They're stretchy and soft, and I love them so far!



Ignore my grossness.

They're the kind that can be worn different ways, so I've been playing around... they slip a little, but much less than normal for me (I'm pretty sure my head is a weird shape. Never let me go bald). Love them!

Cold Weather Exercise

My attempts at running these days look less like lovely summer mornings and more like this:



Mostly my ears and fingers freeze, hence the headband (probably a cheap, walmart special) and the gloves (which I love, found here... I can even still use my phone with them - helloooo running apps).

...We do what we can, right?

Our Peruvian Adventure!

Yay! I've finally started wading through the hundreds of pictures from our awesome trip last month! We seriously had the best time traveling around Peru, and my sweet husband even carried my luggage everywhere to save my back... no easy feat, let me tell you what.

A few highlights.



Lima. Amazing cathedrals with crazy-cool catacombs underneath! So huge and so beautiful!

The Amazon. A 3.5 hour boat ride up the River to our little bungalows. We saw SO much crazy wildlife! An ANACONDA, we caught and held that baby caiman (alligator thing), SLOTHS and monkeys.... we swam with dolphins and piranhas (which Kip also fished for, caught, and ate) in the freaking Amazon River (which looked more like a huge lake that went on forever)... and just had an amazing experience.




Cusco. One of the coolest cities I've ever seen. This was our hotel, such a great view of the city!

The Inca Trail and Machu Picchu. What can I even say. SO BEAUTIFUL. Probably the coolest places I've ever seen. Pictures could never do it justice, it was definitely the experience of a lifetime. Go there. Do it. Just be prepared for those nasty toilets (yep, that gross hole in the ground) and that insane elevation.



Overall, it was SUCH a great trip! I'll forever be thankful for getting to experience parts of that gorgeous country with my love!!

Working out lately...

... has been rough. I'm on a lot of drugs and a lot of things still hurt, but I'm getting squishy, I'm getting antsy, and I don't want to get too far behind (I still have aspirations for races and rides next summer, not to mention ski season coming up), and I just plain miss exercising. So I try to do at least a little.

That means I run. And by run I mean slowly jog slash sometime walk for like 1 - 2 miles. Sad. But it's slowly getting better.

That means I lift. And by lift I mean do a few chest, bicep, and leg exercises (everything else hurts too much) with really light weights. But at least it's something.

That means I climb. And by climb I mean do a few, short top-rope routes and ask someone else to do all the belaying so I don't have to look up for long periods of time.

This means I think about yoga. But don't actually attempt it because ouch.

But I'm trying. Even when I can only manage a few minutes, I figure it'll add up eventually. And it's keeping me sane - I'm sleeping better, I'm feeling better, and I'm still getting to wear workout clothes :)



this is my life

It's Been a While....

Okayyyyy so it's been a long time. Here's what's been up:

Got in a car wreck. No bueno. I was driving on the freeway, it was raining, some guy hit me from behind, I spun and smashed into the center divide wall almost head-on. I was okay, but I'm still dealing with back and neck issues almost two months later. That means I didn't get to do my triathlon, the Dirty Dash, or my century.... among other things. Sooo that's lame.



On the plus side, I did get a new car out of it.



We also had been planning our Peru trip for months, so we went through with it, despite my limitations. While there were some things I had to miss out on, we still had an AMAZING time (we also have 50 billion pictures to go through, so more on that some other day).


(hiking the Inca Trail, Machu Picchu, eating guinea pig, taking lots of steps and climbing lots of stairs)

Since the trip, recovering, going to Moab, and going blonder!





Do you feel like you're so up-to-date now??? :)

Compression, oh yeah.

The day I discovered compression was a happy day indeed.

I swell. When I travel (via car or plane), when I hike, when I get really hot... I get cankles and sausage fingers, pronto. It's real attractive. Not. So I used to just deal with it, albeit miserably.

Then I discovered that compression socks aren't just for the overly-obese or nurses (stereotyping at it's finest), and now I hate traveling without them!! Plus, talk about cute!!



Then, I took it a step further. My body doesn't always appreciate the abuse I force upon it. Enter compression tights. I mainly wear them running, and not only do they kinda keep everything aligned (and I find that I get less sore and tight), but they also look awesome! I always get compliments :)

My body just loves being compressed, I guess! :)



Thoughts on compression? Love? Useless? Recommendations?

Harry Potter 5K!

Very very few things bring me as much joy as Harry Potter.

I used to try to keep that under wraps, but no longer. I just straight up love Harry, JKR, and the whole Potterverse. So. Much. Happiness. I really do feel bad for you if you are too young or too old to appreciate the magic and awesomeness that is HP.

That being said, when I saw that there was to be a 5K on Harry Potter's birthday, I knew it had to happen. I looked and looked for someone who loved HP as much as I do, and I found an awesome friend who gets just as giddy as I do over this series.

Come July 31st, we showed up at Liberty Park, costumed up and ready to party! So much fun! So much birthday cake! So much happiness!!

I walked/jogged the first lap with my awesome friend, then I did the second lap on my own... and at the end, they gave me 4th place in the costume contest (which I didn't deserve, but that's another story)!! Such a fun evening!

It just doesn't seem like exercise when you dress like Dobby and have such a fun time!!

Another super delicious smoothie!

Yeah, yeah, I'm obsessed. Worth it.

This one is so deliciously fruity and magical. Loving it!



Blend together:
-frozen strawberries
-frozen peaches (are you noticing that I don't measure?)
-1 banana
-1 container strawberry greek yogurt
-a few spoonfuls of coconut milk
-chia seeds
-pineapple juice and coconut water to texture

Dying of tropical happiness.

Quotes and other stuff I like

In no particular order, screenshots of things that have moved me lately.

Busy weekend!

I always look forward to weekends because:
a) I don't have to wake up at 3:45 am to go to work
and
b) I always somehow convince myself that they will be restful.
Joke's always on me.

Not that I mind toooo much, because I always seem to find something fun to do.

Saturday morning we went on a bike ride to this really fun little fishing pond in Highland. There were these really cute old ladies pushing other really cute old ladies around the pond in wheelchairs. I love riding with my husband, even though he's much faster than I am. He's nice enough to wait for me. Even when bugs fly into my helmet and I freakkk out.

Then I went and saw The Fault in Our Stars. So often, movies don't do the book justice, but I loved this one. Want to see it again ASAP.

After that, we drove and then backpacked our way up to Silver Lake (in American Fork Canyon, one of the prettiest around) for the night.



We got there pretty late, and were pretty sweaty after that hike (big packs make hiking way harder haha), so we set up the tent really quick and then fished. I caught one right away and felt so bad for the poor fishy that I didn't want to fish any more. But this cutie kept at it



We woke up this morning to gorgeous views, wonderful weather, and an appreciation for the beauty that is so near to us!



We hiked around for a bit, and then made our way back down to civilization. I love little things like this that don't take much planning, much work, or much time.... but you still get to have such a great experience :)