Stomach vs Social Life

I've been trying to get back into the habit of visiting friends. I have been out of commission for a while with what I initially thought was the stomach flu. I didn't visit people because if what I had was something that could be shared, I didn't want to be that generous. I kept it to myself and kept myself to myself.

As time went on and things didn't just work themselves out, I came to realize that somehow I'd developed food allergies. I couldn't eat anything with wheat or dairy in it. No fun. But I know people who have to deal with that on a daily basis, either for themselves or their loved ones. So I just did my best to figure things out to make my insides happy. The answer that worked for me was a round of probiotics, several vitamins, and completely cutting off dairy and wheat for two weeks. Guess what? It seems to be working.

I have started to reintroduce a greater variety of foods into my diet, and I'm working on reintroducing myself to some of my long lost friends.

Jon's childhood neighbor's the Van de Merwe's came through. We had enough time to meet up for a sandwich picnic-style lunch at the St. George temple. But first Jan had to get his hair cut. They were on their way north to visit his parents and they are "strict old-style Dutch" according to Martha. So, it was time for a hair cut. And the place closest to the Jimmy John's that we'd selected to grab lunch from was this dinky barber shop. It was awesome.

Check out that barber!

Jan and Marth on the temple stairs.

I think Martha was close to tears once they got done giving her husband a "missionary" hair cut, but then it was time to hang out on the temple grounds, and that makes everything better. We caught up on life and gawked at all the wedding parties circling the grounds. There was one girl with full-on cowgirl boots-- not the cute ones with girly colors or bling, just straight up country.

It just so happened that some of the missionaries that we know were working the Visitor's Center that afternoon. Martha was so excited to get to meet Sister Carnahan (who is in our area now and with whom I go teaching from time to time) and Sister Hyde (who taught Jon back when he was learning about the LDS faith last year). So of course, we had to take a photo.

Sisters Carnahan and Hyde (and us)

L to R: Jan, Martha, Janel, Jon

I've also had the chance to hang out with my good friend Rachel. We ended up going to the What Women Want Expo in St. George one of the times. Other than the company, it wasn't all that great. That night Jon and I took our friend Chad out for his birthday. He had been wanting to play laser tag forever, but we ended up watching a movie instead, which was just fine by me. (No photos for those events.)



On the 25th I saw my friend Ashlie from Salt Lake. We hadn't seen one another face to face in oh, about two years. We met up for cupcakes. She is as cute as ever and so fun to talk to--we ended up chatting until after they'd closed for the night and they were vacuuming. (We had a lot to catch up on.)  And the cupcakes were really tasty, too.

Two days later, it was time to say goodbye to Chad. He accepted a seasonal position at Cape Cod and will be gone the rest of the summer, if not longer. He stopped by the house to say bye and to grab a few things that he'd left at our place. 

Chad's sad face.

Realizing that I wasn't going to get sick also left me open to see Sophia Elle for the first time. She came earlier than Rebekah or anyone was anticipating, but she's a cute healthy little doll. 

No flash, and kind of blurry.

Add flash, and I'm shiny as all get out.

And finally, I got to help out with a wedding this past Thursday. Holly from my ward got married. She had been in the YW organization and her mother, Sandy is the Young Women's President. Their whole family is really sweet. Sandy does SO much to make sure that the YW activities go off without a hitch, that I really wanted to help her out in any way I could. So I went to work in the kitchen among some other really amazing women. I was glad to hang out with my pal Marcy again. I recently took her place as the YW 1st counselor and I really miss her presence in the group. She's always so on top of everything. Maybe some day I can be that together. :) So, my one photo from that evening is me working with Marcy on sandwiches.

We cut and skewered countless numbers of sandwiches.

I was exhausted by the end of that night, but it felt really good to help out. I still can only handle a couple of hours of activity, and running around Sandy's huge house, smiling, and arranging sandwiches and cakebites made me a tired girl.

Anyway, if I haven't seen you in ages (and you live close) I am super sorry. But I am trying to make amends. I've been especially missing Chrissy and hope to see her real soon. And to all the friends I have gotten to see-- hurray! It was so good to see you. :)

Red Cliffs Desert Preserve

Jon and I have known about this wonderful place not too far from home--set aside as the Red Cliffs Desert Preserve-- for quite some time now. But neither of us had gone hiking there until just recently. One day a few weeks ago I decided to walk around there on my own, and took a few photos. That was enough to convince Jon to hike around there with me a few days later.

So we walked around with our little Luna, and she did amazingly well. She loves taking walks and hikes with us, and considering her diminutive size, we're always impressed that she never tires on these little adventures. We once hiked her four miles and she was still a bundle of energy when we got home. On this day we hiked for longer than we were expecting, so we ended up squirting water into our hands to let Luna drink. We're going to have to invest in one of those collapsible dog bowls. I'm thinking one like THIS. Do any of you have experience with these things?

 

 I'm really grateful that Jon and I live in such a beautiful place. It is so unlike where either of us grew up, but we both love it out here.

 

So, this post is a few weeks behind... but I'm working on catching up!

Other adventures with Tim and Genevieve

May 4th, I spent the day with Tim and Genevieve again. Jon was busy working. Poor guy. We drove out to the Kolob section of Zion National Park and hiked the Taylor Creek Trail. I'd done parts of it with Jon before, but either weather or time constraints have kept us from getting to the end. He's seen it before, so he encouraged us to do it. So we did.

We saw two cabins built by hunters in 1930. Here is one of them:

There was also some pretty scenery along the way. . .

The end of the trail is a double alcove. I'm still not sure exactly what that means, but it was pretty cool. We found a guy to take a picture of the three of us:

Genevieve walking along the trail:

More pretty scenery:

I'll add some photos that include me once I can get my hands on some.

May 5th I took Tim and Genevieve out to do some couple's photography. And I'll share those when I get done processing them. But here is one I have of Genevieve and I from that day:

May 6th the boys went on a more strenuous hike. Genevieve and I took a wounded bunny to Best Friends Animal Shelter in Kanab, UT. Pictures of wounded bunnies aren't cute or fun, so I won't be sharing that, and I didn't take any at the shelter, either, so I don't have any of those to share. That place is neat, though. They are well-staffed and have the right kind of equipment, shelters, and employees. They are a no-kill animal shelter, so they take in injured and last-chance animals. After putting the little bunny we brought into their capable hands, we looked around a bit at the bird area.

They had parrots and cockatoos in this one area, so we went over and tried to get them to say hello. This one cockatoo kept looking at me, and he made me work for it, but after saying "hello" to him like five times, he cocked his head to one side and said it back clear and crisp. It was a pretty cute moment.

After doing our good deed for the day, we drove back slowly and stopped by this place that sold Prairie Dog Pottery. If you ever drive by-- don't stop there. The couple that own the place wouldn't quit talking to us. They told us both of their life stories. Which is how we found out that the wife is part Polish, part Ukrainian, and mostly from Kentucky. We also learned the tricks that their dog can do, and which were their favorite cats when they lived in northern Utah. Seriously, it was a nightmare getting out of there.

Then we drove over to Pipe Springs National Monument. There isn't much to the place, but it was a nice quick stop to stretch our legs. Little did we know that we'd find the most amazing duck there.

Seriously, just look at the feathers coming out of his head--

And those are the highlights of Tim and Genevieve's visit. The end.

Water Canyon

Deep in Polygamist country, there is a lovely canyon called, you guessed it, Water Canyon. Have I mentioned before that I get uncomfortable when in one of the polygamist towns? I mean, it isn't just that I absolutely don't believe in their lifestyle or their less than favorable behaviors, but I actually, truly, .just don't like being in their cities. As in, I wouldn't stop in Colorado City or Hilldale on my own, ever, for any reason. Many of the homes are left unfinished or their exteriors are plywood. Then there are the ridiculously high fences and the feeling that secrets are hiding behind every one of them. But for whatever reason, I have ended up there a handful of times with Jon--mostly to hike around Water Canyon or to check out nearby petroglyph walls--but one time we actually stopped by their dairy and bought a big hunk of cheese and some fresh milk (which I admit was tasty). I'll also say here that when the polygamists come into town to buy stuff from Wal-mart or Costco I don't really feel that weird around the actual people then. It doesn't make sense, but there you have it.

Anyway, Jon got me to go with him to Water Canyon, again while Tim and Genevieve were in town. We all hiked up and then Jon and Tim did the canyoneering for all of us while Genevieve and I hiked back. That's not normally an option on our canyoneering adventures because its either a one-way hike through or if you are going through the canyon, you are fully committed to that and distance yourself from the hiking trails. But the way Water Canyon runs parallel to the trail for the most part, if you choose to canyoneer down through it, there are a few different spots where you can climb out of the canyon with ease, jump back on the trail, skip a rappel or two, and then keep going. That's what our group was planning on doing.

And I was all fine and good with that until we got there and I realized that our boys would be leaving us. Alone. On polygamist land.

As always, click on the the images to see them bigger: 

The big waterfall that I didn't have to rappel through.

Did I mention that this was snow melt water that they were hiking through? It was really, really cold. The guys were wearing wetsuits and were still shivering up a storm. I am so glad that Genevieve and I took our sideline vantage point. We were cold enough when we stood in the shade with the wind blowing through the canyon (and we were dry).

 Jon on rope, Tim watching. 

 Tim's turn. 

While we were standing there shivering and waiting, this odd couple that we'd passed at least five times before starts coming down the trail (we're still not sure how they passed us...) and they start asking us about our boys, why we aren't canyoneering with them, why they are wearing wet suits, etc. I felt like they were expecting us to turn into canyon tour guides and explain to them how the canyon formed and all of the forms of recreation that could be had there. And oh, yea, the guy was standing thisclose to me while I was really close to a cliff edge and he was leaning around me to get pictures of Tim and Jon. Weird, I tell you. 

Another shot of the waterfall and part of the slot canyon that they had to get through. 

The tight squeeze through the slot.

At this point we lost sight of the boys, so Genevieve and I started to hike on to find another spot where we could see them. We stopped for a minute to drink some water when we heard shuffling feet and huffing behind us. We turned around quickly to find that Jon and Tim had scampered up to pass another group. So we all hiked on together to their next rappel:   

 The second waterfall that they chose to do.

 Genevieve waiting on Tim.

The awkward couple found us again at this point. The guy once again cornered on a ledge and started taking pictures while standing right next to me. They also asked us if the trail went up about five times in the five minutes they hung around, and my response was always, "Yes." It didn't occur to me until the last time they asked me that perhaps they were trying figure out directions to get back to their car, which was most definitely down trail. By then they were already heading back up the hill, so I didn't bother yelling to clarify what they wanted. 

Jon going down the last waterfall

 Scenery

 Water in Water Canyon

Forty minutes after the last time that I told the awkward couple to keep going uphill, we spotted them coming down the trail after us, right as we had gotten to our car. They looked bewildered and tired, so I'm guessing that they had been trying to get back to their car when they were questioning me last. Oops. 

Genevieve and I quickly jumped into our vehicle to avoid any further conversation with them. After the guys were all changed out of their wetsuits and back in the car, they shared their stories of the awkward couple-- how they stood too close and asked lame questions like, "Is this the way the trail goes?" Jon told me not to feel bad if I mislead them by telling them to keep going up by saying, "If they can't tell which way they're supposed to go, they shouldn't even be out on a trail like this." And this trail was pretty obvious. It doesn't go up and down a lot-- its pretty much either you go up canyon or down canyon.

And, oh yes-- this was the other thing we saw in the parking area:

A completely unnecessary parking job.
And no, that's not a Suburu. It is a Mercury Tracer. 

The polygamists are sitting on some pretty land, I'll give them that. 

In the end, while Genevieve and I saw a few different polygamists while we were on our own, the creepiest people in the canyon weren't of the polygamist persuasion. Who would have guessed?

Fun times.

The Valley of Fire

Last weekend when we were in the process of sending our friend Tim off to Atlanta, we stopped by The Valley of Fire State Park. It was hot and dry and I sucked down more water in a three hour period than I ever have before.

It is an amazing place, and if you can stand the desert heat, its a place I'd say is well worth the visit. And if you can't stand the heat? Get out of the kitchen. Oh wait-- I mean, go check it out in the winter. Its still beautiful then.

There are more artsy photos posted at The Desert Loves You. Here you can expect to find mostly just family style snap shots. Hope that's cool with you.

First, a shot of our group. As you might guess by my hair mostly, it was a crazy windy day. I'm still not sure why the others weren't as affected. Dang bangs. And everyone else pronounced the photo "good enough" so that's what I've got to share.

That photo was taken at the bottom of Atlatl rock. The atlatl being a primitive spear used on prehistoric hunts. Here is a photo of what we saw on the rock:

And my interpretation: 

(Click on the images to see them bigger.)

Jumping Jon

What people look like when they're waiting on you to take your Polaroid picture (already!)

Tim and Jon scampered up some rocks to get a better look at some of the panels, but they left all the cameras with Genevieve and I. So I took pictures of them. This is Jon trying to scare me by fake flailing: 

.

Apparently only the curvy-backed sheep are Bighorns. The others are any number of things.
Goats? Fatted calves? Horned stubby-tailed lizards?

One of my favorite panels. I love the crazy horns on what I can only assume are deer. I can see myself using these guys in paintings in the future. 

Another of my other favorite panels. There were a few incarnations of the images at the top right of this panel. According to the informational panel at the trail head, this is a "Mysterious Bat Lady." Indeed. Plus, check out the insect-faced woman at the top center(ish)--

Happy little slot canyon--SHADE!

Smiling lizard

There is still a lot of it I haven't seen, so I hope to go back in the fall to explore further. If you can stand the heat, this place is pretty great. Just remember to bring a camera, shoes that handle sand well, and lots and lots of water. This place has camping, and I can see myself spending a couple of days here if the weather was right, or its also a great little place for a quick side-trip. 

31

I feel like I've hit a big landmark. Turning that page onto thirty-one was a bigger deal to me than turning thirty. Now I'm in my thirties, not a newbie. So far so good.
We've had friends staying here from northern California. That's been taking up all my time.
But I wanted to mention the very, very awesome birthday present my darling Jon got me-- A Canon EOS 7D. I don't know how I got so lucky. Jon may have slipped and referred to it as "our" camera, but I'm cool with sharing.
I have been snapping a few little photos here and there, but today I finally got to take it out and really break it in. I took some shots of our friends Tim and Genevieve, because if you stay around our house too long, you become subjects of my photographs. That's all there is to it. That and we decided that today was a nice day to take a break from some of our adventuring. So we drove to the Red Cliffs recreation area and I took all kinds of faux engagement shots of them (since there may well be real ones soon to follow, we thought it was good practice).
I haven't even finished even looking those photos yet, so I thought I'd share these flower photos instead. These were all taken today, and they are all straight out of the camera. The first two were taken while walking around the Red Cliffs, but the others are flowers that are blooming in our back yard. I like what my new camera can do already, but I'm really looking forward to learning more of what I can do with it. So exciting!

I especially love my tea rose. It makes me happy that roses will bloom in our little corner of the desert. I hoping next year is a better year for my parrot tulips. My poppies should be blooming any day now. I can't remember what colors I planted, so that will be fun to see.