Our "backyard"

I'll give you one guess as to what we did Friday night.

Yup, you got it.

You guys, I soared up that wall like a champ. Which was very redeeming since last time I froze. It was dark, I couldn't see anything and I was hanging off the side of a cliff. Slightly panic inducing. Lesson learned. Rock climbing is much easier in the daylight.

Instead of just slapping the top of the chains and calling it good, I climbed up high enough so I could look up and over the top of the climb. It was awesome. The sun was starting to go down and the colors in the sky, mountains, and city in the distance was gorgeous. Definitely worth it.

Ode to a pair of pants

I am the worst when it comes to buying pants. Seriously, the w o r s t. My favorite pair of jeans come from a Target sale from before I was married. I paid $7 for them. I only have one other pair of jeans that I wear. And that's it! 2 pairs of real pants.

I really don't wear real pants a lot though. I'm in scrubs all day and who in their right mind is going to change into jeans after work when they've basically been wearing pajamas all day. Not this girl. Chad is one lucky guy.



I know and I'm sorry Nina.

I have a lot of athletic pants and the dreaded yoga pants that get a lot of wear. And, can we be honest, I am more likely to work out if I change directly into some work out clothes after work. That way I'm all ready to go.

So while these two pairs of pants have served me well, I was in desperate need of another pair. If only because my beloved Target jeans are old, faded, stained, and have a hole in them where I've tugged them up by the belt loop. I'm sad to say they've had this hole since the summer, and I still don't think twice about wearing them. Again, lucky Chad.

Our mission this Saturday morning? Get Danielle a new freakin' pair of pants. A dark pair of pants that she could even dress up if she wanted to, gasp! I've been reluctant to get new pants because that means I have to try on pants. Blegh.We all know that trying on pants is absolutely horrifying. A sweaty, awful, horrifying ordeal.

But Saturday was actually really good. I found a bunch of pants that I loved! After a trip to Target and DownEast I now have the best pair of jeggings in the entire world. Seriously. They were originally well over $100 and I paid $15. So double score. Best pair of pants in the world and I could afford them. These pants... they are the softest and stretchiest pants, just as comfy as my scrubs or athletic pants. I can't wait to wear these non-stop for the next 4 years, until I am absolutely forced to replace them!

Killin it

You guys, my nails are painted, I've been eating veggies and fruits, and getting some sort of exercise every single day. Even my toenails are freshly painted. This is a rare occurrence indeed my friends.

The trick is always the weekend though, isn't it? We'll see what happens, although I'm sure there will be chocolate chip pancakes, sleeping in 'till noon, rock climbing, pizza and Nos. When you've got a good thing going....

Awkward and Awesome Thursday

Awkward:

• Dr. found a snake in his office. I kept my eye on it as it slithered into a corner and disappeared up in to the cupboards, whoops. The Dr. was trying to find something to catch/kill/get rid of it with. He came back with some sort of pole. Not super sure what his game plan was with that. It was fantastic to watch him freak out about a little baby snake.  
• I've only wore pink clothes to work out and hike in the past week. Pink running tights, pink t-shirts, and pink sweat shorts. I really don't even own that much pink, at least I thought.
• Apparently I have ringworm? Chad discovered a tiny little rash on my thigh and then immediately jumped up, ran to the bathroom and washed his hands. He proceeded to sit on the opposite end of the couch as me and text Nikki about how gross I am.
• Complaining very loudly about all the line cutters as we were getting on the bus in Zion's. We were loud and didn't care. And when I say "we",  lesbehonest, I mostly mean Chad :) We then proceeded to complain as we were smushed together like sardines immediately next to said line cutters. Sorry I'm not sorry.

Awesome:

• After visiting 7 nursing homes the past two weeks, that Dr. was in Nevada the past two days and it was glorious. I got caught up on almost everything.... and maybe painted my nails and watched The Voice.
• Crockpots. Is there anything better than coming home from work and dinner is waiting for you? Nope. Unless you have a pan of brownies also waiting for you, and I do. Bonus: there's ice cream in the freezer too.
• White Chili. Every time we have it I forget how good it is and then only want to eat that for days.
• UFC energy drink. The CranRazz sugar free did not disappoint. New favorite. Plus, what's an "awesome" list without mentioning a ridiculous amount of food and caffeine. Clearly both are always awesome in my book.
• Angel's Landing. It just never gets old.

Hope you have a fantastic Almost Friday! Anything awkward or awesome to share?

Fall?

 

The desert really doesn't have fall like Michigan has fall.

Who would have thought, right?

So we ventured up north, just 20 minutes or so, and soaked up all the Fall that southern Utah had to offer us that day. We may not have the burning reds or fiery oranges but we still have a little somethin' somethin' going on. By the time the trees are changing here in town Michigan will be covered in a foot of snow, ha!

Aaaadventure Time!

It really was a weekend full of awesome.

We started it out with cheap Mexican food. Nothing like tacos and burritos to get you ready to rock climb! Shocking, I know, that we took them rock climbing. We were all super successful too! Chad clearly rocked them all, one in the dark. I made it to the top of the first one, Ash was about a step away from the top of the first, and Patrick sped up the second climb. As a side note, I ran into a tarantula while climbing when I was nearly at the top. He just sort of moseyed back into the large crack that he was looking out of.

Oh the crazy eyes

The moon that night was a little out of control, SO big. The pictures really do it justice, ha, no.

Chad made us some rockin' spaghetti after all the climbing and then hiking back in the dark. Things to do before climbing next: 1. get a first aid kit together and 2. put the headlamps in our backpacks! I feel like I'm forgetting a number 3. We have 5 headlamps sitting at home. They don't do you much good unless you actually have them. Luckily the moon was almost as bright as the freakin' sun, so it wasn't as dark as it should have been.

We finished up the night in the most glorious and beautiful way possible

We cut each one into 4 pieces and devoured them.

The next morning we were off again! Lucky for us Zion's was open and Angel's Landing was up next on our list! We have been talking about taking them on this hike forever. They both seemed slightly hesitant but ready to go.

We made it to all the way up to where it starts to get tricky before there was some second guessing. Patrick made it up the first set of chains when he realized how high up he was. He headed back down to safety while the three of us powered on. I didn't make it the first time either, so no biggie. Ash was a super star and cruised through the whole hike like it was no big deal.

Along the way we ran into my cousins, Misty, Brett and Forest. Funny meeting you here.... on the top of a mountain!

We did another short hike to the Emerald Pools, watched the boys throw rocks in the river, and then headed back to the car to get some much needed food. We never planned on spending the whole day there, but we just couldn't help ourselves :)

We have finally figured out the best way to finish up any trip to Zion's. Right around the halfway point between there and home is a fantastic Chinese food Buffet. It's pretty cheap (for a buffet), we don't have to drive all the way home to eat (and of course then be starving and willing to eat anything, shakes and French fries anyone?), and hello? it's a buffet. That's exactly what I'm wanting after a long day of hiking and snacking on a granola bar. Heaven. I discovered their almond cookies this time and made it out of there with 6 in my pocket. Why are those so good?!

We just relaxed after that, ate more junk food, watched Adventure Time and The Big Bang Thoery, and shared all of our pictures. It was a fast but awesome weekend! Thanks for coming down guys!

4/40 Challenge

Cassie, on her blog, Back to Her Roots, issued her readers a challenge. In the forty days leading up to Thanksgiving, set and work on 4 goals. The idea is that giving ourselves some good momentum heading into the holiday crazy would help us get through said holidays without turning into Cookie Monster. Or is that just me?

This coincided perfectly with the 90 day sweat challenge, move for at least 30 minutes everyday, for 90 days. Thanks Jen! Thanks to that challenge, and trying to post something on Instagram everyday for it, I've been moving a lot more!

So I decided to tackle the two together. Here's what I'm working on:

Here's Cassie's beautiful printout. She's got it up on her website to download and print for free!

Any goals your working on now as we wrap up 2013?

Five {Things} Friday

1. Stretchy pants are the bomb dot com. If you need a pair of leggings that aren't totally see through and fall apart after 5 wears check out Costco, Matty M brand. They are super comfy, really stretchy, thick, and have a wider waistband. I plan on living in my 2 pairs until it's 100° again.

2. The Walking Dead is back to fill the void that Breaking Bad left. We watched the season premiere while eating dinner this week.... not the best of combinations.

3. Penny has become infatuated with watching animal planet. She sits right in front of the tv and tries to paw at the birds and jackals. It's seriously the funniest thing I've ever seen. On top of that, she then tries to figure out where all the animals are hiding, behind the tv or underneath the tv table. She just wants to play with all the lions so bad. Maybe if she watches a show with bears she'll warm up to the idea of playing with Rukia.

4. We had three types of dessert bread in our house this week. Banana bread, Pumpkin Chocolate Chip muffins, and Cranberry Orange bread. I love it when I can eat dessert all week long for breakfast!

5. Ash and Pat are here! We've got a full weekend of awesome ahead of us!

Brain Damage

That's the only possible explanation for what happens during my rock climbing experiences. Especially this week.

We got out to the gorge and I instantly knew that I would die if I attempted to climb. For a fact. Keep in mind that I had climbed this exact climb before... twice actually.

But this time would be different and I would most certainly die.

Brain Damage.

So then I started and I was a hot mess. Sigh. After my triumphant climbs 2 weeks ago I thought that I would be much more confident. Wroooong. I was hot mess city.

Then my brain composed itself and decided that the faster I could haul my butt up, the faster I would be let back down to the blessed, beautiful ground. So up I went.

And after the first climb, I went again. And guess what happened. I flipped out again.

Brain Damage.

I was a little quicker the second time and a little less of a mess, but it was still terrifying. And while I may be saying that I have brain damage for being such a climbing wimp when I know that I will be safe, I think that we all know who really has the brain damage.

"Have you ever shot a horse?"

You should all know that when I disappear from the blog it's usually because the nursing homes have taken over my life/brain.

Once a month the nursing homes high jack our schedule at work and it's all I can do to keep up with it. I don't know how you do it Ash.

In addition to chillin' with old people feet, that smell mostly like urine, we've also been chillin' with 2 sixteen year olds. They love Chad because he lets them play grand theft auto and takes them rock climbing. We love that we will exploit them in the future and use them as free dog sitters. Also, they introduced us to a new donut shop. If you bring me donuts we will be instant friends for life, done.

I should confess that the old man at the nursing home didn't actually ask the Dr. if he had shot a horse, although that's what my crazy brain heard. He really asked if he had shoe'd a horse. But my way is funnier. 

Awkward and Awesome Rukia

Oh Rukia. We have made her into such a "special" little pup.

She hates her food. HATES it. She'll run over as I'm pouring in some food and sit. Once I tell her to "eat" she slowly meanders over to the bowl, sniffs it, and then walks away. "Yeeeeaaaah... no thank you". That's what we get for buying the food that's made out of actual meat and vegetables and not just corn.

Of course as soon as Penny even thinks about going over to eat her food, Rukia races over to her food bowl to guard it from her. Because Penny is all about eating Rukia's food, um no, never. Keep in mind she doesn't actually start eating her food, just guards it.

I will say however, that it is awesome that we can put both their food bowls next to each other with a big bowl of water and they won't touch each other's food. Never before have I ever heard of a dog not devouring the cat's food as soon as they could. So thank you for that Rukia. Or should I say, thank you Chad, for putting the fear of God into her about that and eating shoes.

So then I feel bad that she's not eating and try to trick her into it with cheese. I've tried sprinkling the shredded cheese on her food, thinking that it would be too hard to just get the cheese without eating the food along with it. Wrong. Home girl is talented. She just carefully licks up all the cheese.

So along with her horrible eating habits, she's seriously eating a days worth of food over the course of 2 or 3 days, she's also getting terribly lazy. I wonder why?

I'm still going strong with about 3 early morning walks per week (self high five!) and am dragging Rukia along with me. That's right, I'm having to drag her out of the house to go on walks.

My high energy, crazy dog is a sleepy, lazy, dead to the world pup in the morning. I have to yell at her to come down the stairs in the morning. "Wanna go on a walk? Let's go outside!!!" is met with her laying her head back down and ignoring me. Just saying "walk" and "outside" usually ends with her assaulting me and running sprints around the room in excitement, unless it's before noon apparently.

This morning I finally got her to come downstairs and she laid by the door as I put on my shoes and grabbed the leash. By the time I turned around she had snuck back upstairs and was laying down, hiding in the corner. Seriously? Poor Rukia gets to go on walks all the time now.

Maybe if she ate something she wouldn't be so freaking lethargic all morning.

In all honesty though she fits well in our family. We might be known to enjoy sleeping in and hating the morning with a passion.

Also, this is just another reason there are no babies at our house. I can't even get my dog to eat her food, I can't imagine trying to convince a small child to eat their vegetables.

Thanks Pinterest

and Nikki.... and Val.

Thanks to Nikki, via Pinterest, we made this gem of a meal. Chicken Marsala was delicious, and although our mushrooms ended up being too old and too gross to eat, the chicken and sauce alone over the pasta was so good. We now have a bottle of Marsala sitting in our fridge so this will be made a lot :)

Taste of Home

Val suggested Mel's Kitchen Café to find some new recipes, and I'm so glad she did. So I technically didn't find this on Pinterest, but it's on my board now! These enchiladas use pretty much the same red sauce that I normally make so I knew these would be a winner, and they definitely were. I can't wait to try some more recipes from her site.


Mel's Kitchen Café

I've had this pinned since forever and never actually tried it. I love making popcorn on the stove top, it's cheaper and way tastier. But... my pot was dirty and I was feeling super lazy and not wanting to wash it so I tried this little trick. Who wants to shake a pot around on a stove or spend a bunch of money on the microwave version when all it takes is a brown paper bag!? I'm sold.

One Good Thing

Workout stations on Pandora. Found this pin quite a while ago but it's was a gem, so glad I have these stations for my run/walks.

psfk.com

 

What have you pinned and tried lately?