Awkward and Awesome Thursday

Awkward:

• A man calling and asking me for the number to an orthotics company. I told him I didn't have the number and he didn't respond. Dead Silence. Sigh. "Do you want me to google it for you?" I ask.  Of course he did. Unfortunately this isn't the first time people have called me just to google something for them.
• Getting pinched on the butt at a Nursing Home.... by one of the crankiest old ladies I've ever met. Not surprised it finally happened, surprised it was her that got me first though. Yikes.
• The Dr. encountered another patient in Nevada yesterday who had poop on their socks. Took of their shoes and so far so good. Then he reached down for the heel of the sock to pull it off and BAM! Poop. I just don't understand.
• Since last July I've been having back/hip/sciatic nerve issues. After multiple Dr.'s, a chiropractor, doing what I've done before in physical therapy and countless internet searches I think Chad and I have stumbled on to my real problem and how to fix it. Thanks Yo Elliot. You Tube > Doctors. I kid. Kinda....

Awesome:

• We found Paczki's at Kroger on Tuesday. I immediately abandoned my "cleanse" I was doing this week and ate one as pre dinner. We may have bought 2 boxes of them. 4 each sounds reasonable right?
• Thanks to the stretches I found I was standing upright at the end of the day yesterday. Seriously a freakin' miracle.
• Our goal this week: Eat all the gluten in the house. Next week will be remarkably different lol. But for now all the gluten is ours!
• New Bras. In the correct size. Chad has always and will always know better than I do about what size I am. In everything.
• The past 2 days have been in the high 70's. Sorry Michiganders, that one was for you :) If it makes you feel better it rained today and was only 61.

Happy and Tired

We wrapped up our last weekend with Debi and Barry with a bang! We ran around doing and seeing everything we could fit in to our last weekend together! On Friday Chad started by climbing his hardest, most impressive climb yet. We've seen so many people fail on this beast, it was awesome to watch him conquer it! To celebrate we burned our old dining room table in the gorge, first flinging it off the edge down to the bottom. It's always more fun to start off a bonfire by tossing the wood off a cliff. We roasted hotdogs, made smores and just plain ate ourselves silly after playing with all the fire.

Saturday we soaked up all the sunshine on a new to us trail that follows part of the Virgin River. We only went around 4 miles, but that just about killed poor Rukia. After biking we caught up with one of our favorite Elders, Elder Mulvaney! Between climbing,  biking and all the sunshine we were pooped so we relaxed in the best way possible: pizza and breadsticks, a giant chocolate cake and ice cream, and cards. Mmmmmm, so fun.

Sunday started off with an even better Mmmmm. Debi made us cinnamon rolls for breakfast. No better way to wake up than to the smell of homemade cinnamon rolls. The four of us devoured them in a flash. After a few noon naps we were out the door again to Red Cliffs. I always forget how awesome this place is. Red Rocks for days and mini waterfalls from all the snow melt. Chad jumped in more than a few times and Rukia was overwhelmed with happiness. Home girl loved the water. Really, we all did. It was a gorgeous hike and a fun way to spend our last day together.

Insta-Yoga

Thanks to instagram Chad and I have a new hobby of sorts. I'm following a bunch of awesome yoga girls and guys. They are crazy strong and bendy and super motivating. After a day of climbing you can usually find Chad and I rolling around on our living room floor, smashing into walls and seeing if we can do the crazy poses too.

To spice up our hikes we've started taking yoga pictures wherever we go now too :) It's been fun combining our love of nature, photography and yoga!

Mukuntuweap

This place never, ever, gets old.

Busy Bees

We haven't had vacationers to our house in a long time. Also the weather has been perfect lately. Perfect! So naturally we've been running around everywhere showing Debi and Barry all of our favorite places. First things first though, Valentine's Day.

Valentine's Day was a Friday so naturally.... we climbed. And hiked. We hiked out to Turtle Wall and spent the afternoon climbing, taking pictures and videos and just enjoying nature. It was perfect. We thought maybe we would go out to dinner once we got home but we were all pooped from the afternoon/evening. It was late so we ordered pizza and breadsticks and stayed inside :) Chocolate covered strawberries and Swig sugar cookies rounded out our meal! We had a blast being outdoors and sharing what we love with Debi and Barry.

A Lovey List for a Lovey Day

From way back when at BYU when we first started dating.

Happy 9th Valentine's Day to my very favorite person. In honor of 9 big ones together here are 9 things that I absolutely love about Chad in no particular order.

1. He does the laundry and the dishes on a regular basis. In fact, I rarely do the laundry, and "rarely" is being generous. Also, I never vacuum. Or clean much of anything really.  #spoiled

2. His curly hair.

3. His generosity. He's given away his last $10 before to a (crazy) man who said he really needed it, we've turned the car around so he could help people with car troubles or chase down loose dogs for kids, and he'll always buy coupon cards from any kids that come to our door.

4. His passion for new hobbies. Once Chad gets excited about something he learns everything there is to know about it. He eats, breathes and lives it. Whether it's photography or climbing he's all in!

5. He pushes me to be better and to try new things. I'm a creature of habit and comfort. New things, people, experience, places all terrify me. Thanks to this guy I've become much braver and done things that I never would have dreamed of, and loosened up a little along the way.

6. His love for kids. Chad loves kids, loves being around them, talking to them and (duh) playing with them. Our primary class stole his heart in the Clarkston Ward and his nephews and nieces are his absolute favorite. We routinely come up with plans on how we can steal away our nieces and nephews and bring them home to live with us :) You've been warned parents.

7. His love of our fur babies. At one point we had a dog, 2 cats and a rabbit. We may be down to a cat and dog, but he loves them and we never would have gotten them if it hadn't been for Chad.

8. His love of the outdoors. Camping, Hiking, Climbing, Biking, he loves it all. I love it too but I know I wouldn't be out in it nearly as often without this guy. I love all the adventures that we go on and the many places that we've been able to see and enjoy together. We've hiked Angel's Landing and camped in Arches National Park among others. We've got many more on our list! I adore being outdoors with him.

9. That he truly is my best friend. There isn't anyone else I would rather spend my life with. I love waking up with him in the morning and spending all of my time with him until we fall asleep. I love adventuring with him, shopping with him, walking our dog, running to the gas station for caffeine, making dinner with him, driving around aimlessly late at night, doing crazy yoga poses with him, and just living my life with him. I love all of our fun adventures, but even more, I love the everyday with him.

Happy Valentine's!

Awkward and Awesome Thursday

Debi and her new hubby Barry got here Sunday night! We are super excited to spend a couple weeks with them, showing off our favorite outdoor spots and eating an ridiculous amount of dessert. They've only been here 3 full days and we've already made brownie sundaes, giant chocolate chip cookies, bought krispy kremes, and restocked the snickers stash. Side Note: We may have a candy drawer that has turned into a snicker's/Chocolate Chip drawer. Livin' large at the Lewis House. I've got plans to test out a new sugar cookie recipe and am pretty sure I can trick everyone into going to my favorite Chinese Buffet on the way back from Zion's. Clearly my most important plans involve eating massive amounts food.

Awkward:

• An old man doing a ring check on me at the Nursing Home. Why yes sir, I am married. Good thing I remembered to put it on after rock climbing, who knows how that could have played out.
• Getting back from a nursing home and finding a weird brown stain the size of my fist on my thigh. Hmmmm.... Poop or Chocolate?
• Speaking of poop, finding poop on our bed Tuesday night after staying up until 2am with Debi and Barry. Poop on the bed is never good, at 2am, it's down right horrific.
• Trying to tell older patients my name. Danielle is absolutely exotic to most people over a certain age. And after yelling it 10 times in a row, directly into someone's ear, it starts to sound strange to me too. I'm thinking I should just tell anyone over 80 or hard of hearing that my name is Kate.
• Shoving all of our clean clothes (we hadn't done laundry for weeks) into a random closet when Debi and Barry got here. Folding? Ain't nobody got time for that!
• Mountain Biking in broad daylight and tipping over into a bush, that's right, tipped over. Granted I was wearing a giant backpack so I do have a bit of an excuse.

Awesome:

• Trying to replicate Panera's Chocolate Chip Cookies. I haven't found the right recipe yet but we are sure enjoying the process!
• Getting to the top of my harder climb without having to rest on the rope once! A clean climb is the best feeling!
• Mountain Biking in the dark and not totally wiping out.
• Attempting crazy yoga moves and realizing I have the strength to attempt them. Attempt being the key word. I may not be at all flexible, not at all, but I am getting stronger! 
• Garlic Bread.
• Our back Patio! Barry cleaned it up and rigged up our tarp for our bikes!

Happy Early Valentines Day! Hopefully it's full of love from friends and family, and lots (and lots) of chocolate!

My Phone Has Eyes

Betcha can't guess what we did this weekend...