Angels Landing in Zion makes your knees shake

I almost forgot the document our favorite hike in Zion here on the blog.  It was such a fun day.  Brian and I love to be outside.  We make it a priority during the workweek to spend time letting Samantha play outside and love to spend our weekends hiking beautiful Utah.  It's time for us to spend together and get away from the usual day to day routine.  Zion was right up our alley, and we purposely chose some of the more challenging hikes so that we could get some great pictures from high up in the mountains.

The hike starts out with this twisting, turning pathway straight up.  We stopped to look at a tarantula, take some pictures, talk to some people who were coming back down.  We kept passing the same people, then they would pass us, back and forth.  This part of the hike was actually better going up than going down.  On the way down it hurt my knees so bad and I kept having to walk backwards to make them feel better (Brian wanted to hold onto my arm when I did this so I wouldn't walk off the side of the mountain!). 

Brian wore his enormous mailman hat on the hike so of course I was obligated to make fun of him a couple of times :)

  The Angels Landing hike took us about 4 or 5 hours, I can't really remember but it seemed like a long time.  Everyone was warning us to take hats and tons of sunscreen, which we did, but this day was not super hot and we had some cloud cover while we were hiking most of the time.  We did make sure to drink tons of water/gatorade and we brought snacks for along the way.

Then we got to the part that I thought was the top

...Which turned out to not be the top at all, and the most treacherous part was still ahead.  It looks pretty scary before you start tackling it, but I saw some kids way off in the distance hiking the hardest part and then I knew I would probably be just fine.  Once you get going, you realize that it looks more difficult than it really is, but you really do need to be careful when doing this hike and hold onto the chains and rails that are built in to the rock.  We took it really slow during some parts just to be safe.  When we reached the top, I actually kind of felt sad that it was over because it was so exhilarating. 

 At the top, you are rewarded with the most beautiful view.

 Yep, this is the part that makes your legs shake.

 We did it!  Our plan was to reward ourselves with a huge dinner and lots of dessert when we got back down to the city.

The view from the top overlooking the entire canyon was well worth the hike.

Favorite things

I made my first Polyvore board!  My friend Sarah made an awesome list of her favorite things the other day and I wanted to share some too!  Next time I need to put the little numbers on the board to make it a bit more organized.


 Under Armour sportswear: I bought these Under Armour pants the other day after trying them on in the dressing room and they felt like wearing little fluffy clouds.  I've been wearing them every second that I'm not at work or out doing something- new favorites.

 black and white striped leggings: I saw these Gap pajamas on a blog and want to pick up some after I go try them on. Comfy pants are the best for winter and you can wear them out with boots over them and not even care.

Gucci by Gucci for her: Oh, I love this perfume.  They actually discontinued it but I bought some online earlier this year when I ran out of it.  Brian originally bought me this perfume for my birthday while living in Taiwan and it just brings back great travel memories when wearing it.  The sense of smell is so powerful when it comes to memories.  This scent is better in the winter and fall because it's really musky.

Body cleanser: I could only find the picture for the Organix Moroccan Oil body wash, but I actually just use the hair oil every day and it is so great.  If you use a big dollop when your hair is still wet, it will make it super soft and cut down on drying time too! I also love their coconut scented shampoo and conditioner. 

Mossimo top: I have been obsessed with these Target tanks for about 4 years and wear one under whatever I'm wearing just about every single day- sometimes two in the winter to be really comfortable and warm, and then my friends make fun of me for wearing so many layers :)

The Mat- Lululemon yoga clothes are actually not my favorite.  They are cute, but just so expensive to get all sweaty in yoga class (sweat stains are too dumb for a $50 tank top!)  I like to wear old tank tops to yoga class that are still cute but I don't have to worry about messing them up.  But my yoga mat on the other hand... I've been using cheap, regular yoga mats for years.  Then during one class, I borrowed a Manduka mat and was an instant believer in high end mats.  It felt so much better on my knees, didn't get slippery when sweaty, and didn't ever slide around on the floor.  I've been researching mats a lot lately, and have decided to get this one for my birthday next month.  In fact, my mom is going to be here in Salt Lake over my birthday and we are going to go buy it together.

Capri Blue Volcano Chub Cup This candle will make you never want to leave your house.  And big plus, it's not super feminine smelling (Brian likes it).

Neff's Canyon, Utah

 After church and brunch with some of our friends this morning, Brian and I decided to take Samantha to Neff's canyon so we could see the fall colors.  We were a weekend or two early for the majorly impressive fall colors, but about 10% of the trees were already starting to change.

Neff's Canyon is just south of Millcreek Canyon, and is much smaller than the other canyons in the valley.  We were really impressed by the hiking trails, and we saw a ton of other people with their families and dogs there.  We saw that it's also really popular for cross country skiing in the winter.

Brian is getting ready to go back to Neff's Canyon this evening for a trail run while I go to my yoga class.  I'm trying to persuade him to bring my iphone to take pictures from the top of the canyon so I can share them!

On the way home this afternoon, we stopped to go grocery shopping and I got this.  

 pic source

Which immediately reminded me of this HA!

Wandering Spirit

I was looking through pictures of our year living in Taiwan on my computer and oh I got such a tingly feeling of nostalgia in my stomach.  We loved that year.  It was my first year out of college and our second year married.  We had just moved overseas for the first time and it was such an exciting time.  Everything was new and different, sometimes frustrating (language barriers, getting lost, cultural differences and misunderstandings), but it was such a beautiful experience and so cool to be doing all of it together with my husband.

Can you believe how gorgeous our city was?

Sometimes Brian and I get so restless, sometimes to a fault.  We love the adventure of living in a brand new place with new surroundings, languages, dynamics.  We love the new smells, climate, and food.  We love finding the local hidden treasures and driving places just to explore.  While we are so happy and content with our home in Salt Lake City, and all of the wonderful people and places (mountains!) here, we talk all the time about how someday we will live overseas again.  I think this makes my family members roll their eyes sometimes :) (probably because they have to hear it all the time!)  But Brian and I love to dream about living in Taiwan again someday, or Thailand, China, Europe... there are just so many cool places out there.  These pictures of Taipei make me smile and fuel my passion and love for travel.

Brian riding his scooter while borrowing our friend Rosa's teeny tiny helmet.

Hanging out in our apartment in Neihu on the new yellow couch we had just bought- we were so excited about it!  This was the same couch we watched all six seasons of Lost on.  Brian and I ate out every night in Taiwan because the food was so cheap and we didn't really have a functioning kitchen.  Didn't mind that!

My friend Jenna, and I would always ride the MRT to meet each other and shop, drink milk tea, explore the city, eat shabu shabu, and get our hair washed+massage+styled.  Such good memories!

Hiking day in the mountains behind our apartment.

 Government raid!  Me and my friend James running out of our school without even time to put our shoes on!

 Hiking together in Pinxi.

 101 beauty

 

 Our beautiful neighborhood in the setting sun. I have an obsession with high-rise apartments, especially with the mountains behind them.

 Soccer during teacher training in the middle of Taipei.

 My birthday dinner and I was showing off my ring.  Brian took me to Chili's, which was the perfect thing.  American comfort food was the best birthday surprise, and he brought all my gifts our families had sent me from home and I opened them at the table at Chili's- so sweet and fun.  Also, I remember the waiter spoke English really well and sang to me.

 Cold scooter travels all bundled up.  We would always travel during the weekends.  I wish I would have written more about Taiwan when I blogged back then instead of just putting up mostly pictures.

 This picture made me super nostalgic- leading exercise time with my coworkers at my school, Hsin Hu.  One of my favorite parts of the day while teaching kindy.  These were the best coworkers in the world and we had so many fun times together- it seems like I was cracking up laughing all the time while working there!  Still miss these guys- they are the very best and gave me some of the best memories.

On a trip with Brian, Heather, Rosa, and Mia.  We stayed in the coolest little hostel that had this board in the lobby.

Taiwan, we love you.

What?! It's so cool!

This week, we got to go to the dog park twice with our friends and Sam's doggie bffs- so awesome!  Last night, it was chilly and beautiful at Memory Grove Park.  There we leaves crunching under our feet and I was a little cold even in a jacket.  We went with our friends Amanda and Martin and their two pretty dobermans.  I got to catch up with Amanda about lots of things and we discovered that we will be taking classes at the same time and same campus next sememster- yayy!

 The boys probably called each other beforehand so they could match...

 I met Amanda when we first moved here, but she moved out of state for awhile.  I'm so glad that she's back and we get to hang out again- this girl is so genuine and fun.

 Is it weird that I like my husband's mail delivering clothes and tell him he should wear this mail jacket to the dog park because I think it's cute on him?  It's probably really weird.

 On Sunday, we were driving down South Temple and I saw our friends Brian and Sarah in a restaurant parking lot, so I rolled down my window and yelled Saaaraaahh!  :)  We went to see them and decided to go the dog park together that afternoon.

I just realized that I took zero pictures of the dogs from both playdates but just pics of people oops.

We went to Memory Grove also, because they have never been, and wanted to take their little chug Kevin there.  It was really fun to show them the park (they really liked it!) and I loved sitting on the comfy blanket with Sarah and talking while the dogs played.  

Samantha swam around in this little pond for about an hour.  She loves it.  I took Kevin to the edge of the water to see if he would jump in.  He did, and disappeared completely under the water (which made me a little nervous), then popped back out and decided the water was not for him.  I think Sam's on her own when it comes to swimming, but Kevin really liked the dog park.  I can't wait to go back and have them play together again.

Me and my husband- and Samantha peeking at us from near the tree.

Fall is for wool socks, calling my little brother all the time because our favorite shows are coming back on, reading with the space heater nearby, and putting the extra blankets on your bed.  And being cozy at all times!

Fairs and I love Fall

Here's a quick post because the pictures are piling up on my phone!! 

Our downtown library (which we are kind of obsessed with right now- it's one of our favorite places) has a really cool "rooftop garden" area where you can get a beautiful view of the city and the mountains.  See Dunkin Donuts down there? Also one of our favorite places.  Tonight I'm waiting for Brian to get home from a short bike ride so we can go for a ride on his scooter and get a chocolate glazed donut...

Also seen at the downtown library in front of this cute little store that sells pretty plants and succulents and little wind chimes.

Monday night dessert at Gourmandise.  My rice pudding was so good, the weather was beautiful, and I had so much fun sitting out on the porch and talking with wonderful friends.

Then Kevin the dog was feeling a little bit exposed for a picture and I love it how he's looking at Brian like help me. 

 The other night I asked Brian to put the duvet cover back on our comforter because it's way too hard and I hate doing it. I walked in and saw him inside of the comforter trying to get the stupid thing on.  Brian is cute.  Samantha couldn't be bothered by the cuteness to even get up.  Tired puppy.

 One of my favorite things we've done this fall (or maybe this was still "summer") was going to the Utah State Fair.  We met a big bunch of our friends there, which made it even more fun, and spent the night wandering around, petting animals, and eating fried food.  

Amy Grant (the Amy Grant- I had all of her cassette tapes when I was little) was playing at the fair and Brian and I snuck off to listen to her for a little bit. I also had a fried twinkie, which I think I've told ever single person I've seen since the fair all about.  so good.

Christmas is coming!!!!  Thank you Costco for making my day with your early Christmas trees and ribbons!

7-11, I completely agree.