PoW : Sept 19-26

Let's hear it for Yellowstone National Park!

Consider yourself warned

So I love pictures. SHOCKER? Nah. Anyone who has known me longer than five minutes knows how I feel about photography. This past July I completed my “picture of the day” goal in which I would find something to document every day for one year (Turned out to be more of a fiscal year picture of the day opposed to a calendar year picture of the day. But the amount of days and effort were the same so I’m counting it.) I randomly posted some of them on my blog but the majority I hoarded on my laptop. The intent was (IS!) to make my own book commemorating the year.

Although some days it seemed tedious, the majority of the days I loved slowing myself down and looking for something fitting to photograph. People, places, food – you name it. Which brings me to my point: I’ve missed it. Enough that I wanna do it again. But this time around I’ll be posting some of on my blog. Now don’t you worry – I won’t bombard you with each and every daily picture. Once a week will be plenty. But giving myself an “assignment” like this again forces me to open my eyes and see things around me a little differently. And hopefully posting some on my blog will be enough of a reminder to keep on top of it again.

No clever name. Sorry. But it starts today. Right now, actually. My photo of this past week is the result of a really peaceful Sunday walk through our new neighborhood. Oh yeah, by the way we moved AGAIN. I mean, why not? Gotta support my local DI. Not to mention that I love our new place so I’m totally on board. But anyway. Back to Sunday walks. Beautiful light, slight breeze, good conversation, nice and tranquil. 

Photo of the Week September 12-19

P.S. On a different note, new Maroon 5 album out today … and a new Josh Groban one in November! I've been putting my race day playlist together and discovered that my iPod definitely needs some fresh meat. No Lady Gaga pun intended.

"Uncommonly Good"

Drank carbonation, spilled coleslaw all over my jacket, got a stomachache from fried chocolate donuts (WORTH IT), and sported the mace on our walk back to the car. Not bad for a quick stop at the fair. Given a few more hours I would have topped it off by nearly throwing up on the Gravitron and stepping in a pile of gigantor cow dung. Have I mentioned how much I love the state fair?! No but really, I do. It’s so eclectic and entertaining and I look forward to it every year.

Goal for next year: WIN A RIBBON. In what? Well, not exactly sure what yet. I'm open to suggestions but it's gotta be awesome so I can blow away the steep competition. Bucket List!

Peaches & Cream

Oh hey guys. Hungry? Do you like peaches? And cream cheese? Actually who am I kidding – everyone likes peaches and cream cheese. Well I tried a new muffin recipe this week and I have to say that I REALLY liked it. I thought about trying to make them low-fat and quickly ditched the idea. Maybe next time. But I needed to know what to compare the low-fat recipe to, right? Glad we're on the same page.  

Anyway. Sweet, moist, yummy goodness. That’s all you really need to know.

I did make one change, though. Somewhere in our last move we lost our cupcake pans. Gone. Now this doesn’t necessarily break my heart considering the pans were pretty old and beat up anyway. But it does create a problem when this is noticed right in the middle of making muffins. So as you can see from the picture I decided to make Peaches & Cream Bread instead. If you go this route, of course plan on cooking it longer. I'd give you an exact time frame but I was too busy watching LA Ink (Kat has red hair now!) to really know. So how's this: trust your toothpicks.

Well well. Posting a recipe. How very domestic of me!

Just a few things, Mr. Mayer:

 #1 Lovely show last night.

#2 This is how I feel when you don't sing Say or Dreaming With a Broken Heart.

#3 I forgive you for that because of your fantastic rendition of Slow Dancing in a Burning Room.
#4 You sure do make a lot of odd facial expressions when you sing.

#5 But this one, John -- this one crossed a line somewhere. A big, scary line:

#6 The Karate Kid headband was a real nice touch.

#7 Even though my toes were frozen the entire time I still had fun. Gracias!

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.

Wednesday Evening

Anyone else happen to catch the sunset last night? When I walked into Smith's the sky was looking all sorts of gloomy and angsty. About 10 minutes later I walked out and saw this business:

Um, YEAH! Talk about majestic. Almost made me to drop an entire carton of eggs -- except for the fact that that's impossible on account of my ninja reflexes. Oh if only I had a quarter for every time they've saved the day ... I could totally buy myself a frosty. REGULAR SIZE.

Seattle > NYC

Saw this today and thought it was fun – this guy hitchhiked from Seattle to New York City with 23 rides in 7 days, documenting his travels the entire time. Reminds me of the time a good friend of mine wanted me to join him in a “race” he and some of his friends were doing: start in Salt Lake and see who could make it to Mount Rushmore first – via hitchhiking. Sometimes I kinda regret turning him down and missing the chance to cross off a part of my bucket list that I didn’t even know existed. But then I remember how right now I’m alive and well instead of lying face down in a ditch with my face on a milk carton (do they even do that anymore?) and I’m suddenly okay with my decision.

This guy looks like he had quite the adventure, though. I admit -- I'm a little bit jealous. I might have to settle for a good 'ol fashioned road trip. I hear there's a giant rubber band ball somewhere in the midwest.

The Sukster

Everyone, meet Suki.

Suki, meet Everyone.

So apparently my parents missed our little Sullivan a little more than they expected to .... enter Suki (Pronounced sue-key). Isn't she the cutest little thing you've ever seen?? Suki is a Napoleon, which I learned is part Persian part Munchkin. (Don't worry -- they have a website. And a Facebook page. And a Twitter group. Huh? Who knew there were such enthusiasts out there?) Anyway. Suki. She's soft and cuddly and pretty much the sweetest thing you've ever seen. Cuter than every single 0-3 jumper you've ever ooed and awwed over at a baby shower. Yeah, that cute.

Suki got some serious attention this weekend when my parents brought her camping with the family. Two little 5 year old girls squabbling over a kitten was a sight to see. Apparently bordering on apocalyptic at times. Buuut guess who got to ride home with her all cuddled up in their lap? Pretty sure I'm her favorite ... until I'm not at my mom and dad's house for a few weeks and she forgets who I am. But it's fine cause I'm prepared to pull a 50 First Dates and make her fall in love with me again every time -- with the help of my laser pointer. I got this.

Everybody together now: AAAAHHHHHHH........

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.

MF

It's witty things like this that remind me why I love this show so much. Not to wish my summer away, but is it September 22nd yet?

Circuses & Vampires?

So I just found out that THIS

is being made into a movie! Am I just really behind? Either way, I'm pretty excited. Especially since my fav Reese Witherspoon is starring as Marlena :)

And for any Twihards out there, Robert Pattison has been cast as Jacob. I'm skeptical, but we'll see. Maybe he'll be more convincing without a ridiculously thick layer of white plastered all over his face.

SPEAKING OF FAKE VAMPIRES: Sunday I put on some mmmm lemony smelling sparkly lotion. I mean, why not? It IS summer and all. As I was walking to my car after church I glanced down and noticed that I was sparkling ... everywhere. A LOT. Turns out my lotion appears to be pure glitter when sunlight hits it, just like those angsty teenage vamps. So basically what I'm saying is this: I've officially had my Twilight moment. I'll just go ahead and cross that off my bucket list right in between seeing the northern lights and running a marathon. It's good to have goals, you know?

Ogden

After Sunday dinner. Hanging out with the fam and being lazy on the back deck. And messing around with cameras. Pretty much my idea of a relaxing Sunday evening.

Photo taken with my dad's Droid. Which, I hate to say, has as many megapixels as my little point and shoot camera.

*sigh*
Technology these days. It's tough to keep up.

Do you like the smell of adventure?

I can't tell you how much I LOVE these commercials!

Reason #109 why I love my 4-10 work schedule // Part II

Remember this uber-relaxing pool day? Well friends, lesson learned: REAPPLY YOUR SUNSCREEN. How did I let that one slip? Well, I’m usually pretty good with it. Especially since living with Shanna in all of her Utah Cancer Specialists goodness. But this particular Friday it was warm, I was tired, and I got lazy. Not so smart, Jess. Not smart at all.

By that night I swear I was on fire. Radiating heat like never before. I silently prayed for another random June-in-Utah rainstorm (or better yet -- snowstorm?) but nothing. And by the time I woke up the next morning I knew moving around and searching for my aloe was useless considering, well, EVERYTHING HURT. Too dramatic? Maybe. But dramatic seemed in order considering my skin felt like it was eating itself alive.

Weird thing is this: the burn on my legs seemed to fade pretty quickly, but it left behind a friend. Something equally uncomfortable. Something that stole my ankles right out from under me. SWELLING. Considering the burn on my legs seemed fine at that point, I wasn’t sure what was causing the swelling. So Google and I went through some of the possibilities:

• Long airplane flight/road trip? Oh, I wish. Greece or Italy, please.
• Early stage elephantiasis? Um, no thanks.
• Pregnancy? Not that I recall.
• Increased age? Hmm. Maybe?
• Starvation? Certainly not.

After much deliberation (but not really) I decided that it had to be a result of the sunburn. And so my ankles, followed by my feet, continued to grow. Awesome. Every girl’s dream, right? Wrong. Very (very) wrong.

BUT FRIDAY. Glorious, wonderful Friday. For whatever reason my feet decided to come back to me on this day. To let me fit into my running shoes and get back on my training schedule. To let me wear something besides pants in this 90+ heat. To let me look like I still have some femininity left in me.

So, without further ado ....

WELCOME BACK, ANKLES!
I sure missed you. 

I thought about not posting a photo for this ... reasons being: #1 feet are gross and #2 feet are gross. But I'm gonna go ahead and get over it. Plus, what's a post on my blog without a picture?

P.S. Check out those veins! Thanks Marmie ... or better yet, thanks Grandpa Call!