PoW: Feb 17-24

PoW: Jan 10-17

Shadows and silhouettes of a great weekend getaway

PoW: June 3-17

The first part of a great trip!

Landscapes

This has been going around online so you've probably already seen it. But even if you have you'll probably want to watch it again considering it's pretty well jaw-dropping beautiful! You can thank me later :)

Summeryishesque

I know the end of summer isn't technically until September 23 (I think?) but in my mind it pretty much ends once August is over. Which happens today. So Happy Last Day of Summer! I got to take some pictures, see Celine Dion (wait until 1:03 - it was honestly breathtaking live), turn 27ish, eat lots of yogurt, scorch my hair (almost at an inch of growth now - another month and I might be able to wear my hair off my face again!), camp, and have my fair share of outdoor concerts and movies. Summer really brought his (her?) game this year. *The following over sized collage is brought to you by Instagram ... and isn't nearly as many pictures as I actually took. I suspect I may have a problem*

 

Summer, it's been great. Really. But here's the thing: I've been seeing way too many cute boots and scarves and hats all over Pinterest. Daydreaming of pretty leaves in the Avenues and drinking hot cider. Making pie and chili. And pretending I'm in love with football so I can bundle up at a game and eat nachos. Oh and I have grand plans of mastering this at some point before October 31st:

See! It's cheesecake disguised as candy corn! Genius! C'mon Summer - admit that you kinda want a piece of the candy corn cheesecake. I know I do. So without further adieu ... Welcome Fall! Now to backing up and cleaning up my phone. Need to make some room for a thousand photos of the fall leaves.

The Big 3-0

Anyone who knows me well knows that I felt some anxiety about my recent birthday. Dreaded it, actually. Which is sad considering how much I love birthdays. But 3-0 is kind of a big deal, you know? And sometimes feels even more so when you’re single. (Don't worry -- this isn't a "oohhh why am I still single" rant.)

I generally avoid talking about the “woes” of single hood on my blog because I’d rather not have it become all about that. But in an effort to not have it become all about that I’ve inadvertently left out a very big part of my life. The part where I’m a 30 year old girl who happens to be single and sometimes it can really suck.

In a place where so many people get married at such a young age, it’s all too easy to feel out of place when you haven’t done the same. Sure – you don’t have to coordinate your schedule with anyone else’s or you can go on impromptu trips because you don’t have to find a babysitter (which, don’t get me wrong, IS really great). But in the end you can also feel pretty left behind. You can feel inadequate. You sometimes worry that you’re doing something wrong. But push all of those insecurities aside and you suddenly realize that you’re not alone in feeling that way – married or single. In talking with different people over the years it's always amazed me how so many of those feelings are often the same. Someone who faces infertility feels a hole from something good that they can’t seem to have. Someone who has health problems feels disappointment and frustration over not being able to do some of the things they love. Someone who is struggling in their marriage feels lonely and uncertain about the future. The situational details are different – and some things definitely deeper than others -- but often the feelings are similar.

This all may sound trite to some. But it’s been an awesome lesson for me to learn for myself. No matter your marital status, we can call relate more than we think. Which makes me wonder -- why in the world can we be so critical/judgmental of one another at times? It just seems to be a waste of opportunity and energy.

I may not be very happy about my big 3-0, but I do know that amid the frustration and disappointment I may feel, life really is full of good stuff if we're looking. There are a lot of things that I love and a lot of things that I’m super excited to bring to the table when I do get married and have a family of my own. So I guess as far as the number 30 goes I’m not too bad off. And I'm grateful for the things I'm learning.

But I’m still telling people I’m 27. (Kidding … sort of)

So what did we do to celebrate my 27th birthday? All sorts of goodness. Family, friends, and calories = a good birthday in my book.

And that's not all. My birthday "activity" of choice is a good one this year: the Celine Dion show in Las Vegas. I've always loved Celine (despite some of her apparent cheese) and she'll always be a favorite choice for my shower singing tunes. I can't wait to hear some of this on Saturday!

Photo of the Week : July 17-24

Got lots of time with these two little chicks this weekend!

That Big Apple

This post feels very rushed and poorly written, but I know that if I don’t do it now I probably never will. So here it is, albeit a bit disjointed. The short version is this: I really loved the city! I found it full of energy and interesting things. Random picture highlights below:

Our first day there we were able to be top notch audience participants for the Dr. Oz show at the last minute. Are carbs addictive like cocaine? I don’t know because thanks to a red eye flight we were pretty much falling asleep during the taping. I haven’t watched the actual episode but I’m okay with it because I’d rather not see myself on national television looking disheveled and sleepy-eyed. We were also lucky enough to get into a taping for Jimmy Fallon. His guests were Alec Baldwin (!) and the girl from Nikita (who, by the way, was RAIL thin - I was worried she’d trip on her heels and shatter into a thousand pieces). We randomly found the yellow teddy bear in on display, made a few H&M stops, and ate treats at Serendipity … twice (don’t look at me like that). We did a session in the Manhattan Temple, which is really ornate and beautiful. At the TKTS stand we scored tickets to the Broadway musical Memphis, which certainly didn’t disappoint.

We went to Times Square a few times for different reasons, but I always found it super crowded and frustrating. Wal-Mart on a Saturday x 500 which gives me anxiety. But we were able to get treats at Roxy’s and at least sit down for a minute or two. After being photobombed by some random guy on our picture (see below), we ended up wasting time doing our own fake ones, which we thought turned out pretty funny. Let it be known: Miss Shanna Taggart is the queen of photobombing (possibly tied with Natalie Buttars).

We had planned to see Ground Zero on Thursday which, coincidentally, was the same day President Obama chose to visit. We probably should’ve just switched the day altogether because it was crazy crowded. We waited along the street with everyone for a bit, craning our necks to maybe see a glimpse of him. People were smushed EVERYWHERE selling Obama buttons and overpriced American flags, taking pictures, and probably stealing purses. We got tired of it real quick and decided to come back later. On the way out we talked to a police officer who said that the President had actually already visited Ground Zero and was on his way out of the city. Glad we didn’t wait any longer. A few days later it was much less crowded and we were able to take it all in and see what they have planned for the site.

We made it a point to eat at Grimaldi’s under the Brooklyn Bridge. We weren’t expecting the line we saw as we walked up, but figured it was probably worth it. Long story short, Shanna made friends with one of the head honchos which skipped us ahead in the line. The picture below on the right was taken (accidentally) the same time as Shanna’s BFF was letting us know our table was ready. People probably hated us as we slid past them but hey – we were starving at that point. Great pizza and really friendly people.

After dinner we decided to forgo the subway and walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. We took our time and stopped more than once for random pictures. Like awesome jumping ones. Too bad you can’t even see the city in the background since that was sorta the point of the shot. But the city was beautiful, even if it didn't appear with our Toyota jumps. Overall it was a really great walk and one of my favorite nights there.

Central Park. One of my favorites as well. After walking around the city for awhile it was so refreshing to walk into the park and feel like you had a little bit of space. We rented bikes which gave us a really good taste of the park, which we explored a bit more later. Also on the favorites list: SHAKE SHACK. I’m not quite certain why I liked this so much since I’m not generally a huge fan of burgers. But their food was so good (hellllo crinkle fries) and, true to their name, they also offered shakes. Custard ones. And considering I’ve never tried one before I pretty much fell in love with my chocolate truffle cookie dough banana vanilla custard shake. Um, YEAH. I don’t even want to know the calorie count because I enjoyed it too much to ruin it for myself. We went back twice, thank you very much.

 

The last few days we spent with our friend Ryan who lives near Central Park (P.S. he’s going to be on Conan this Wednesday so be sure and watch!) We tried our first Turkish restaurant which was loaded with carbs. I’m sure Dr. Oz would've been extremely disappointed in us. I also tried my very first Pinkberry – assembled with love by Ellis, the most helpful employee on earth. This guy wanted me to try all the flavors they had and experience eeeeverything they had to offer. And thanks to him I really loved my yogurt, even if it wasn’t full of chocolate truffle custardy goodness. We walked around the neighborhood, went through a museum, ate hot dogs from street vendors, looked at street displays, and ended the day lounged out on the grass in Central Park.

Other randomness:

• We ran into these guys at church on Sunday. Who knew they lived out there? Shanna about fell off the pew when she spotted them.
• At H&M I learned that jumpsuits are making a comeback. Heaven help us. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – if that’s stylish then I guess I’m out. Unless it’s a swim suit cover-up because then I think it’s pretty cute. Or is that just opening the door?
• Good walking shoes are important when visiting a big city. No, I apparently didn’t think of this beforehand but my feet sure told me all about it. Running in Central Park will have to wait until next time.
• We didn’t see one celebrity on the streets – not ONE. What the what, Celebrities? I really had my fingers crossed for a James Franco or James McAvoy sighting, but to no avail.
• Apparently the phrase “get a room” doesn’t apply to those making out (+some) in Central Park. Who needs a room when you have the park?
• When the guy at the TKTS stand says that his family gets into Wicked every single time they sign up for the lottery, he’s lying. Right to your face. We tried three times -- NADA. Nonchalantly crinkling your paper doesn’t even increase your chances.
• Opera singers in the subway are pure awesomeness. I’m sure everyone there is pretty used to it, but I was completely loving it.
• And last but not least, never share your dream of petting a NYC pigeon. Or “diseased flying rat” as Ryan would put it. People laugh AT you, not so much WITH you.

After all that I’m not certain how to end this post. So I’ll just say: I DO heart NY! (And I now have a touristy sweatshirt to prove it!)

PoW : May 8-15

New York City at twilight

PoW : May 1-8

We spent this last week roaming the streets of New York City having a really fantastic time. As we walked (and walked ... and walked) around I kept accidentally taking pictures of the ground with my phone-- which is when I noticed that New York has some really nice patterns on their sidewalks/roads/etc. I started taking note and purposely taking pictures instead of accidentally. So for my Photo of the Week I thought it I'd use a few of them, with a little cameo by my feet since it IS the ground and all. 

Central Park, some random sidewalk, and the dirty (but so convenient!) subway. 

Oh what a trip ... I can't wait to go through all the photos!

Jackson Hole

Jackson Hole, Wyoming! We went a few weeks ago and it was exactly the refresher that I needed. I've already posted some of these photos on Facebook so if you've seen them there I'll take no offense to you marking this post as read and moving on with your life. I wouldn't even know about it. Just sayin'.

So where was I? Jackson Hole, Wyoming! I've been there in summer and fall, but never winter. A friend of ours was working up there for a few days and he invited us to come along. I checked the weather beforehand to figure out packing and it said snow. And more snow. And boy was it beautiful snow.

Here's the watered down recap. First up - these creepy fellers:

What's a trip to Jackson Hole without feeling like you're being stalked in each and every store? I suppose it's not their fault. I wonder if stores ever think about putting surveillance cameras in their eyes in order to catch shoplifters. If I owned a store I'd totally do that ... and then jimmyrig their eyes to move back and forth to freak people like me out. I'd probably pass out. Puuuurfect.

Anyway. Jackson was beautiful and the cold wasn't so bad as long as we were covered on nearly every square inch.

Turns out it was "Winter Fest" up there that same weekend. They were doing these ski jump shows each night which were pretty entertaining. There was even some punk tween kid who was keeping up with the rest of them. Start 'em young when they have no fear, I suppose. These are his friends (that's not him jumping, though):

Looks terrifying, right? My thoughts exactly. I'm real glad that we're all different and that some people get a thrill off of this so they can entertain the rest of us .... the ones who'd much rather get down that hill by sliding on a garbage bag.

We also took a sleigh ride out to the elk reserve. While heading to the sleigh we were told that our guide would be Meredeth. For some reason I was a bit disappointed since I had imagined some sort of authentic cowboy as our guide. Which seemed entirely unlikely with a name like that. But looky here - Meredeth was a man! A cowboy (see: bandanna), just minus the hat. And he knew his stuff, too. I've never been so fascinated with elk in my life. Good work, Cowboy Meredeth.

Elk. Lots and lots of them. Their antlers are made of calcium. Did you know that? Neither did we until Meredeth came along.

The snow was beautiful during the entire ride. The white against the black of the horses was really great.

Sidenote: this horse had mega gas. Try sitting towards the front of the sleigh right in the line of fire. Fail.

One of the restaurants we tried was the Silver Dollar. It was super loud because there was a live band (and the only table that could fit us all was right next to them), but that's also what made the atmosphere fun. And then there was this couple:

They danced EVERY song. And not the LDS singles swing dance kind -- the real kind. Which was really fun to watch. Not to mention that fact that the man was giving Wilford Brimley a run for his money with that mustache.

And of course - snowshoeing:

This was fun, I only wish we could have ventured a bit more away from the pack. But I have a feeling we would have gotten carried away and gotten ourselves lost so maybe it's all for the best.

So. Ski jumps, elk stalking, snowshoeing, trying new restaurants, movies, art galleries, HOT CHOCOLATE, hot tubbing ... yeah. Not bad at all.

... and then I ran for a really long time.

Anyone else feel like time is just flying by and disappearing without even asking? I meant to post this last week but as per usual, life happens. How rude. (Eww. Olsen twins Full House flashback….)

Okay so St. George Marathon. I DID IT! Over the last couple months I’ve talked to pretty much everyone I know who runs, desperately trying to glean all the experience I possibly could. I heard first marathon horror stories, success stories, embarrassing stories, etc etc. A pretty broad spectrum. And it seemed that those first experiences weren’t always directly tied to the runner’s preparation for the race. I can honestly say that I tried my hardest to put my time in and stay on track with my training. I’m not the fastest runner or the most experienced runner, but I sure tried. Hard. And so with that I was confident that I could at least finish. Possibly hanging on by a very thin thread, but finish nonetheless. But it was those other unknown variables that kept my mind swirling. The weather. How my body would react if I tried the gels/bars they were passing out. WHAT IF I SLIP ON AN ORANGE PEEL AND FALL? (Oh wait, almost really did that)

Well, I can gratefully say that this first marathon was a really good one. Great, in fact. And I feel so lucky for that because I know that isn’t always the case. It was sunny, the atmosphere was (of course) exciting, and things just seemed to fall into place. Let’s just say that one very appreciative prayer was said on Saturday night.

Here’s my rundown. This is definitely longer than what I generally post so I’ll have to ask you and your attention span to please indulge me.

We got down to St. George on Friday evening and stopped by the expo to pick up my packet. Talk about intimidating. Everyone looked so elite and I couldn’t help but think how much I didn’t fit in. But everyone now and again I’d see a “normal” looking person like myself and instantly feel relieved. See? We can do it too! After the expo and a quick trip to Walmart we settled in for the night. Too bad “settling in” didn’t really entail too much sleep considering my nerves were eating away at me. Finally I decided to just get up, get ready, and get myself in line for the bus.

On the bus ride up I sat next to a man who looked like he’d done this a thousand times. The whole drive he was taking down a ginormous sub sandwich. Sheesh. If I had tried to eat an entire sub sandwich right before the race there would be guaranteed puke by mile 3. We rode through the city which was pretty alive for that time of morning. Then we made a turn toward the canyon and the city lights disappeared. As we went further up all I could see in the pitch black was the steady stream of buses up ahead of us. It was almost eerie but slightly pretty, much like my lightening bug Panamanian bus ride last year. Yet the feeling that we were all doing this together gave me an odd sense of comfort.

We were greeted at the top by spotlights and TONS of people. I got off the bus and headed straight for the porta potty lines, knowing they would be ridiculously long and there wasn’t much time before the gun went off. I chose a random line and was surprised to find my roommate, Charlotte, right in front of me. What are the chances? I’m still convinced it wasn’t coincidence. We were able to talk and stretch together which helped calm both our nerves. I had done the majority of my long runs alone and had intended to run the marathon on my own as well, but having someone to start with sounded nice.

We were barely through the line when the gun went off. We rushed up to the crowd and made our way to the starting line. We threw our jackets off to the side, hugged each other goodbye, and started our longest run yet. For the first 3 or 4 miles we yoyo-ed back and forth with each other until we randomly fell into the same comfortable pace. Having never actually run together it was strange for it work out as it did (we ended up running the entire race together which is something that helped us both a quite a bit).

It was really pretty up there. I took water and Gatorade every chance I could and just kinda got into a groove. The sunrise hit at about mile 8 (?) which was definitely a sight to see. About mile 12 or 13 my left IT band starting tinging a little and my right hip flexor tightened up. Not ideal but I did kind of expect it at some point. I could also feel my toes start to curl around the top of my orthotics which I knew would mean blisters. This hadn’t happened in my previous long runs so it was kind of a surprise. But I was able to focus on other things and forget about it for the most part. By about mile 16 I had had enough of my waist pack and decided to carry my gels and throw my pack to Charlotte’s family when we saw them next. And by mile 18 or 19 this was us:

I was surprised by how good I felt. Maybe it was race day excitement. Maybe it was running with someone (did I make training harder on myself than it needed to be??) But no matter – we were feeling good.

By about mile 22 I saw my parents on the side of the road – fresh with some flat Coke to give me a little more energy for those last 4 miles. My awesome dad had agreed to run that last bit with me so he jumped in at this point (I know, I know – frowned upon by officials. But it helped.) And so we went – finally making our way down to St. George. And can I just say how awesome all the spectators were? There were people lined up all along the road cheering us on. Sometimes they’d even call us by name which startled me every time until I remembered that our names were on our bibs. There were even a few misters on the side of the road to run through which felt more refreshing than I can even tell you.

My “wall” snuck up on me when we hit St. George, yet by some miracle I kept moving. I’m continually surprised by how much of running really is mental.

I didn’t know the route that well so every corner we turned I hoped I would spy the finish line. But it seemed that we kept turning and turning. AND TURNING. Until that final turn when I saw the banner of balloons. By this point I was so ready to be done so I pulled some extra ummp out of somewhere (still not sure where) and just went for it. The sooner I crossed that finish line the sooner I could stretch out my aching muscles, right? My dad left the course right before the chutes but I could still hear him cheering me on as he ran on the side. I looked to my left and saw my brother and his cute family holding up signs and cheering me on.

And then the finish line. Can I just tell you what an amazing feeling it was to cross that line? To know that all of my hard work had paid off and I had just run my very first marathon. 26.2 MILES! And with a final time of 4:05:54! My goal had been to get 5 hours or slightly under so to see that as my finish time made me one happy girl (with some very achy quads). 

My only “battle wounds” were a sore IT band and some blisters on my feet. Not bad. I keep getting asked if I cried when I crossed the finish line. I was close, but no tears. But you know what did in fact get me teary eyed? (everyone get out your Kleenexes) All the support I got from family and friends. Some of my family came down to support me and those who couldn’t come made it clear they really wished they could be there. I had countless friends who were so thoughtful to send me good luck phone calls, text messages, emails, Facebook messages. And then afterwards to see how it all went. I was a bit overwhelmed by just how many people took the time to remember and cheer me on. I’m definitely a lucky girl.

And there you have it. St. George Marathon 2010. Not sure if I’m crazy or not, but that following week I signed up for the Ogden Marathon in May 2011. Fitness by fear, right? Here’s to a second as good as the first!

Morning Light

A weekend for the books! But I won’t post about it until Curlie has because, well, it’s her goodness to be shared :)

So instead I’ll just go ahead and take it back a month or so. Pioneer Day weekend. The lovely Franklin Basin. When my family and I went camping there I went on a little ATV ride with my parents. I was kicking myself for not bringing my camera on the ride because the evening light was insanely gorgeous. So I begged and pleaded and talked Jennie into waking up early with me to catch the morning light instead (you know -- strength in numbers). These are some of the results of our morning ride:

Aside from running, the chance to photograph something like this is pretty much the only thing that will get me out of bed any earlier than absolutely necessary. Oh, and maybe banana nutella crepes.

Mmm ... banana nutella crepes.

Big Fat July

Oh July ... where did you go? Thanks to you I'm kinda exhausted. Three words sum it up: working | running | camping. Is the absence of "sleeping" screaming at you like it is me? And August isn't exactly looking to be any more restful. Which is fine because c'mon -- it's summer. I've always been partial to spring and fall, but aren't there just a gazillion fantastic things about each season? Except maybe that part of winter (around late February) when I mean seriously, Mother Nature -- enough is enough. But right now we're focusing on SUMMER! Sun! Swimming! Camping! Creamies! Remembering to reapply your sunblock! Excessive use of exclamations!

The 45 second July recap starts ... NOW.

Logan Canyon & Bear Lake

  

Six Lakes

Sunday (birthday!) dinner. With standard Venable water fight.

Make that another round of Logan Canyon & Bear Lake

Another Sunday dinner. Always notable.

And a whole lotta this. ALL. THE. TIME. (Don't let me fool you -- I'm actually liking it. Training by fear is the only way to go.)

And I'm spent. Good night.

Happy New Year!

For New Year’s we took an impromptu trip to California which allowed me to cross something off my list: visit San Francisco. Oh and we did. We also got to hang out in beautiful Sutter Creek, do the last session of the year in the Sacramento temple, drive to H&M only to have them close right before we walked in, and pretty much eat EVERYTHING (highlights being clam chowder soup bowls, dessert crepes, enough Raisinettes to ruin me, ice cream, Ghirardelli caramel hot chocolate, and on and on). Oh and also a stunning night drive through the Sierra Nevada Mountains. I’m not exaggerating – with the snow covered trees and the moonlight it was like something off a postcard. I was completely mesmerized and consider it right up there with my lightening bug Panama bus ride. It was killing me that my camera was buried in the back. Good thing I got some shots of the beautiful sunrise drive through on the way home.

Anyway. Considering I’ve overextended myself with projects this weekend, I’m not posting individual pictures but doing a slideshow instead. Which actually works out well because I find that I’m not very good with blogger and multiple pictures. So Marmie and Dad – if you’d like commentary call me while you’re watching this. Assuming you DO watch it, that is :)

Panama Pandemonium

So ... I went on a trip to lovely Panama. Some of you have probably already seen and heard a lot of this on Facebook so if you're bored I won't be offended (and won't know) if you don't finish reading this. I get it -- I've gotten blog bored a few times myself. Or if you're just not in the mood to read I'll put a slideshow at the end. Easy as that. But as for the rest of you ... here are some of my personal trip highlights:

+ Stopping in Dallas and having that old Mark Chesnutt song stuck in my head "... goin' through the big-D and don't mean Dallas ..."

+ Having that song stuck in my head until we reached Miami where the instant the flight attendant announced "We'd like to welcome you to Miami!" all I heard was a bunch of girls and Will Smith singing ".... buenvenido a Miami!"

+ Having both of those songs finally out of my head.

PANAMA CITY

The crazy drivers, humidity, ruins, some unidentified smells, Chiclets galore, riding school buses around the city for 25 cents, friendly people, and on and on.

+ PATACONES which became a regular for me throughout the trip. (Side note: when we got home I googled how to make patacones. Don't get me wrong -- I assumed they probably weren't the healthiest of food choices. But I discovered that they are friend for 20+ MINUTES. Really? 20 minutes? I feel sick thinking about just how many patacones I ate in the course of that week ... )

+ The beautiful Panama temple and it's green green grounds.

+ The Panama Canal where we watched a "historical" video about the canal which turned out to be one big advertisement for the new lanes they are opening up. But we kept watching because we were tired and it was dark in the theater. We even stayed to power nap through the Spanish version.

+ Flying in a small(er) plane. Over jungle and all sorts of beautiful things.

BOCAS DEL TORO

+ Pablo, our trusty guide. He is the father of six girls. Needless to say, he was very patient.

+ Watching the dolphins play and hearing Shanna shriek with excitement over it. Anyone ever have a Lisa Frank trapper keeper? It was like that. ONLY BETTER.

+ Snorkeling so much that we bruised the soft spot between our eyes. The most surreal thing was when we would come across jellyfish -- they're seriously beautiful. But they also sent me into panic mode a couple of times. Cause I've seen the Friends episode where Monica gets stung by a jellyfish and Joey has to pee on her to make it stop hurting. That's one favor I'd rather not EVER beg one of my friends for.

+ Playing in the massive waves and accidentally seeing more of Shanna than I (or we?) intended to.

+ Hangin' out with the starfish while drinking coconut milk out of fresh coconuts.

+ Eating Indian food and sipping soda from glass bottles.

+ Eating tons of Marias cookies and drinking PINEAPPLE JUICE!

+ Eavesdropping on funny Drunk German Guy. Almost witnessing Drunk German Guy's fight with Dutch Guy. Then listening to Drunk German Guy try to ponder the "sense of life" with tired American Guy who just wanted to go to sleep.

+ Eating the worst ice cream OF MY LIFE.

+ Walking around the more rural parts of the island at dusk.

+ Just showing up at church in one of Mike's old areas. Luckily he recognized people and vice versa. However, I'm not certain it would have mattered either way because the people were awesome. Incredibly warm and friendly, even though we didn't speak the same language.

+ Attending Primary. I cannot believe how sweet those children were -- language barrier and all. They just wanted to talk. Have pictures taken. Have us write them little notes in their scriptures. Recite their Articles of Faith (which was really funny because it just goes to show that no matter where you are, Article of Faith reciting is always super fast and as monotone as possible).

+ Jim being asked to read THE LONGEST SCRIPTURE EVER ... in Spanish. It was hilarious. Keep in mind -- Jim speaks Hmong. Far from Spanish. But he was a really good sport.

+ Being fed an early dinner by a very generous family .... complete with my patacones.

+ Walking through a banana plantation.

+ Taking the scariest 5+ hour bus ride ever. Beautiful scenery, but scary all the same. I'm still not certain how we didn't topple over on some of those corners. Then night hit and WOW. It was all foggy and kinda raining with random lightening. And then the lightening bugs started showing up everywhere which made the drive even more surreal. Definitely a memorable part of the trip that I'm sad I'm not able to describe in the way it deserves.

BOCA BRAVA

+ Choose Your Own Adventure Day! We hiked and explored for hours as we were wet (but warm), plastered in mud, falling a lot, not sure where exactly we were headed .... pretty much everything a 10-year old boy dreams about.

+ Our forever long "hike" along the beach. The tide was down and so we crawled and teetered across the rocks .... for what seemed like forever. Mike carried a kayak oar and Jim was merrily kayaking around the island, failing to notice us behind him.

+ The Jungle Incident on Choose Your Own Adventure Day. Creepy/hilarious/almost pee your pants terrifying. During a rainstorm Mike and I went jungle exploring and heard this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwQuGGFYZcA. I start running because, well, THAT THING IS GOING TO EAT ME. Mike tells me to stop running because of course That Thing is going to eat me if I'm running from it. So I took to hurriedly trotting instead, repeatedly sinking in the mud (and ruining my trusty hiking flip flops ... sad). We FINALLY got back to the beach where we see Shanna cautiously peering into the jungle and Michelle down by the ocean, also having run from the sound of That Thing. Meanwhile, Jim is still merrily kayaking around the island looking for us. Note: this story is much better told in person with hand actions and reenactments.

+ Sheepishly discovering that That Thing was a cute little howler monkey. Later that day we had the chance to see an entire family of them in the trees above the path we were on. This time there was only one scary howl that left me and Shanna clutching to Jim in some weird walking cluster. Reading this I'm sure we sound like total girls, but I need you to understand just how LOUD AND MEAN AND ECHOEY that sound is. Like something freakish off Lost ...

+ Shanna making eye contact with her fish as she ate it.

+ Our rooms. Cockroaches, mysterious brown footprints on the wall, seedy looking mattresses. We laughed about it all night.

+ Whale watching! Guys, they're huge. I mean -- don't get me wrong, I've seen Free Willy. I have it on VHS. But, shockingly, Free Willy wasn't even nearly as cool as catching a glimpse of the mama in real life. She was huuuge.

+ Beautiful beaches.

+ Being the only one in the entire group to find a bug in their empanada. TWICE. But .... when you're hungry you're hungry. And I do love empanadas.

+ Paying a quarter to use the restroom. I'm not certain this was a "highlight" because I felt it was unnecessary, but funny all the same. I'm surprised it's just a quarter, though, because when someone really needs to use the bathroom I imagine there wouldn't be much haggling with the price. People could make some good money that way.

+ The freakishly freezing cold night bus we took back to Panama City. Everyone else was clearly prepared with their hoodies and coats -- just not US. Thankfully Shanna's Spanish came rushing back as she looked at the bus driver with puppy dog eyes and sadly said "... mucho frio ...." When we stopped for a break he let us pull our bags from underneath and get Shanna's sheet. Thanks for saving us, Nice Bus Driver. Lesson learned.

+ And this man with his unintentional 'stache. Seeing him was the perfect ending to an awesome trip:

Phew .... this post is looong. Two thumbs up for making it to the end.

Oh, and the slideshow for all you lazy folks: