We went to Sundance!!

Back in January, we drove to Park City with four of our friends for the Sundance Festival!  I've always wanted to attend a film festival, and I love it that we only live 40 minutes away from one of the biggest ones.  Even though we didn't catch any films or see any celebs (my friend Sarah and I really wanted to see a celebrity!!), we still had the best time walking around the city, eating lunch in the mountains, and soaking in the Sundance vibe with great friends.

We took the Park City trolley to some of the event centers

Standing in the waitlist lines trying to get tickets.  Now we'll know what to do next year to get those coveted movie tickets!   I ❤ Park City!

Memorizing this week

It's still snowing in Salt Lake and I'm cozy and drinking hot coffee inside the house this morning with puppy Samantha.

Holley Gerth said this on her blog and I love it so much: 

The most impactful people aren’t those who are already perfect {there aren’t any of those anyway}.

                 The most impactful people are those who are in the process of growing.

          

Here is the verse I've been working on memorizing this week: "I always keep the Lord in front of me.  When he is by my side, I cannot be moved.  That is why my heart is glad and my soul rejoices.  My body rests securely."  Psalm 16

                                                                                                     

Bridal Veil Falls

See the ice fishers in the middle of the lake?

Brian and I had the day off on Monday and so we decided to take a road trip!!  Road trips are one of our very favorite things.  Although I loved living on the small island of Saipan for two years, I missed the feeling of wide open spaces and the ability to drive anywhere you want to explore.  Brian and I have been taking mini road trips now that we are living in Utah to recapture that feeling.  We're both really looking forward to taking the 4 hour drive down to Zion and Moab this spring or summer.

 Yesterday, we drove from North Salt Lake through Park City and over to the little town of Heber, then looped back through the Bridal Veil Falls area and up through Lehi.  My favorite part was seeing all of the ice fishing on Deer Creek Reservoir.

 Taking the short walk to Bridal Veil falls.  It was so icy and slippery we kept falling all over the place

 frozen waterfall

I'm looking forward to going to yoga here in an hour.  Some of my yoga teachers (and some of our friends here in Salt Lake) have been inspiring me to eat more fruits and vegetables every day. Sounds simple, but it has always been hard for me.  Brian consumes them like candy every day- he probably eats too many fruits and vegetables ha- but I've always had a hard time making myself get enough each day.  As I've been eating them more, I've discovered that they really do make you feel better and give you more energy- it's not a myth!  Now, my next move is drinking more water and less coffee.... noooooo!

Want to see the flowers that Brian got me for Valentine's Day?  I love him. So much.

We like hiking in the snow

 Brian and I took Sam to Millcreek Canyon on Sunday afternoon

 There was a ton of snow

 And it was really fun except that Samantha kept trying to chase the cross-country skiers

And then we drove home

Want to see a video of a warmer time?  I love the snow, but I do miss the beaches of Saipan.  I found this video today and it made me laugh really hard.  Miss you girls and our beach days!


Managaaahaaa from Rachel Morris on Vimeo.

And, happy first birthday to our niece Cambria!!  She is the very cutest (and prettiest) niece ever!!

Saturday morning coffee

This morning I went out for coffee with two of my friends at my favorite Salt Lake coffee shop, The Rose Establishment.  Brian and I live just north of downtown Salt Lake, so I walked to my friend Ashley's apartment to pick her up, then we walked together about 10 blocks or so to the coffee shop.  The weather here is finally starting to get a little bit warmer, and it was so fun to walk through the city.  The snow was even melting and dripping everywhere (there are huge piles of snow all over the city from the crazy amounts of snow we've been having lately).

 Ashley, me, and Liz

I've been getting back into taking yoga classes.  I've pretty much given up doing yoga here at the house because I never have enough motivation and end up quitting halfway through.  When I take a class I'm super motivated by the teacher and people around me, and usually work really hard at it.  The classes are obviously more expensive than doing yoga for free in your living room to a hulu yoga video and you also have to get up the motivation to drive across town during the week to attend the class, but so far it's been working really well.  Brian and I went to a "core" yoga class on Tuesday night together, and I was really happy that he was one out of four other guys in the room.  

 I want to put up some pictures of our little rental house but haven't gotten around to taking the pictures, so here is our bathroom for starters.  Love this tub.

Skiing and Portlandia

Yesterday I went skiing for the first time in Utah.  I had been skiing before a few times as a teenager, but hadn't been for about ten years.  Our friends Ashley and Creighton were going as sponsors with our church youth group and they got a great deal on the lift passes, rentals, and a two hour lesson at Brighton Ski Resort.  I got to go with them, but Brian had to work- so we're planning on going back up to Brighton in the next month so he can ski too.

I wanted to get the hang of it again and get better at skiing my first day because I know Brian will pick up skiing quickly and I want to be able to keep up with him when we go together.  The ski lesson helped so much.  I learned a bunch of little things that I never knew when my friends taught me to ski a long time ago, and tricks on slowing down and stopping easier.  I think I was pretty cautious though yesterday, and want to learn on speeding up as I get more comfortable.  I stayed on the bunny slope most of the day, but also did a green slope which was so much fun.  It was also really cool to go with the K2 youth group and sponsors, and to get to know more people at our church.

Ash and I getting our boots on.  She's a really good snowboarder!

via

Also, I love this show so much.  Brian and I have been watching a couple of episodes a night... see?

Happy New Year

Sunset on Capital Hill

Here's a little catch up of the last month or so.  It's been snowing like crazy in Salt Lake!  I couldn't get enough of it at first, but now I'm getting so excited about spring, tank tops, running again, not wearing 15 layers, and a warm car on the 7:30 drive to work.  Our friends are doing some Salt Lake races in the early summer (Dirty Dash, a color run) that I am going to sign up for.  I'm really looking forward to using those races as motivation to run again.  I've been hibernating from exercise over the winter (which has been so nice) except for some random yoga, but now I'm ready to get into action again when it warms up a little.

Brian has been working so hard at work. He is really the hardest worker ever.  There have been challenges with that schedule for sure, and now especially since I'm working full time too (and sometimes overtime).  We've struggled with keeping the house clean, with cooking dinner at night (I cook three meals a day for my clients in their homes and do not feel like cooking again when I get home at night), and just day to day frustrations with being stressed out and not having enough time or not seeing each other enough.  

Our friends have really been such a support system for us, and they don't mind that we show up late to things a lot.  We love our friends here and make it a priority to get to hang out with them a lot, even if Brian has had a 12 hour day at work (he usually says, "I'm really tired, but let's still go!") or if the house doesn't get cleaned up... for a long time.  I'm thankful for the people God has put in our lives in Salt Lake.  I'm also thankful for a motivated, hard working husband- I'm proud of him.

Umm... what else?  We saw Django last night and it was really good!  

I have a serious addiction to the restaurant Zupa's and get a chicken pesto sandwich/cauliflower soup there at least twice a week... sometimes maybe 4 times

I love my dog. Samantha is the coolest ever and the best snuggler when I've had a bad day.

Brian is itching to ski.  He also really wants to go snowshoeing, which I don't think sounds quite as cool but he really wants to.  We want to try to get up to a resort before spring and go skiing a couple of times, at least a cheaper night ski.  

I read this blog, and also this one and this one just about every day.  They are just so good.

Brian and I still talk about Taiwan and Saipan all the time.  We still dream about travel and living overseas again.  For right now (and the next few years), we are both really content in Salt Lake City.  

Samantha wants to play

 cold walk

This could have been our Christmas card...but then someone decided not to cooperate, Samantha...

Ice skating in the first part of December- it felt so Christmas-y!

 Girls night at Liz's house!  Thanks for letting me steal these pictures Sarah! :)