Hiking the Y

My good friend from college, Jess, had her birthday a few weeks ago, and she decided she wanted to hike Y Mountain in Provo with whoever wanted to come. Sean and I said "Let's Go!" He actually had never hiked it before. I thought Mason would be chill once we got going in the baby carrier, but he was not having it. So Sean carried him up and down the mountain. We got to the top as the sun was starting to set, which made for some pretty pictures! Utah in summer is the best! Thanks for inviting us Jess!

  

Mason fell asleep halfway down the mountain. Poor kid was so tired...

Hope you had a fun birthday Jess! Glad we got to spend some time together!

PS. I've had my iPhone 5 for a year and a few months. And these are the first panorama pictures I took… hashtag lame...

Basketball Jones

One of the hardest things about being pregnant is the fact that I can't run around and play crazy sports like I used to. I miss basketball. I miss soccer. I miss ultimate frisbee even. I miss swimming. I miss going for a 2 mile run and thinking I'm awesome because I didn't have to stop (that's an accomplishment folks!). For now though, I guess I'll just have to go shoot hoops with the girls I teach in Primary. That way I get to shoot some a basketball, but I also get a freakin' good laugh too.

These girls seriously melt my heart. The two in the middle were two of the girls that offered to help me with basically everything once they found out I was pregnant. Since I had the day off yesterday, I obliged ;) We went to the church and shot hoops for about 45 minutes and then they said, "Okay now can we go to your house and clean?" How do you say no to that?! They did my dishes that didn't fit in the dishwasher, swept the kitchen floor, took out the recyclable stuff, and dusted in the living room. We turned on some Adele and rocked it cleaning for about half an hour. We were so goofy! I love that they don't treat my like a full on adult, they let me be a kid with them too. Because let's be honest. Being a kid is the best part of life!

-Hayley

Gym it up

Ever since I moved to Orem a year ago, I've had a hard time getting to the gym. In the summer, it's easy to work out: I could run around our fun neighborhood, or go on long bike rides up Provo Canyon. It only took Sean and I an hour or so to get to Vivian Park from our house, marvelous! Not to mention we did insanity from home for two months. But then winter, and my pregnancy, hit. Can't run, hurts my chest. Can't bike, too much snow. Drive to the gym? 20 minutes away? Umm yeah right. I think I've averaged about 2 days a week since I got pregnant, and 4 before that. When I used to work out 5-6 days a week, and pretty intensely, I have been feeling awful about my workout habits.

FINALLY, though, my 24 Hour Fitness membership expired. Let me tell you, driving to 24 and passing 2 Gold's gyms and a Planet Fitness on the way pretty much was awful. So I went to Gold's on Friday and signed up with them again. The guy was super nice, signed me up on the VIP membership for the basic price, gave me an extra 2 free months, and also gave me a free freeze (which will come in handy in a few months when I'm bigger than a whale, oh and after that whole labor thing..), all because my birthday is the same as his wife! Okay so that's probably not why, they probably just are dying to get new memberships.

So I went this morning, and I cannot even tell you how much I missed the cardio cinema room! The one at the 8th North Orem gym is a lot smaller than the one at the 9th East Provo one, but still. My 20 minutes on the elliptical (cause seriously, I don't think preggo me could have handled any longer) went very fast with whatever Jackie Chan movie was playing today. And that, to me, is worth the $300 I spent (in total) on Friday.

Did I mention it is only a 2 minute drive to Gold's from my house? 

Almost as good as the 2 minute walk when I lived at the Treehouse.

Gratitude Day 15

Today I am thankful that I have a gym membership. It is too dang cold to do anything outside anymore (sad day). I am usually able to make it 3-4 times a week, which I count as a success since it takes forever to get there. (Hey, I'm used to walking across the street to Gold's, those were the days.)

I'm also thankful that my membership at 24 Hour is up in February. It is too dang far from where we live. Especially when I pass 3 other gyms on the way. Hello Gold's! I'll be back in February! And you are only a 1.5 minute drive away? Even better!

Bike ride to Bridal Veil

After that Sunday walk at Bridal Veil I posted about, Sean and I decided it would be fun to ride our bikes up to Bridal Veil and have a picnic. So that Saturday, we did!

We made it!

Bridal Veil Falls

Then we decided to see if we could go further because neither of us were really that tired. So we biked up to Vivian Park to have our picnic, then biked back to our house. It was 16 miles round trip!

After we ate dinner. Love him!

Our search for Squaw Peak

A couple weeks ago, Sean and I realized that we really haven't done a whole lot this summer. Every Saturday, I was spending a few hours at the Pharmacy finishing up my hours, so after that and grocery shopping and laundry, we didn't have a whole lot of time to do anything else. So after I finished my hours we I made a bucket list of things I want to do before school starts/the weather gets crappy. We both really wanted to make it to the top of Squaw Peak for whatever reason, so we decided to try.

July 21, 2012

I had read online a few different "trails" that you are supposed to be able to take to get to the top of Squaw Peak. I didn't want to bear climb up to the top like a couple of my sister's friends did a few years ago. We set off..

There was a doe walking along down in that field. 

Old random abandoned tennis course. With the sunflowers growing in the middle.

A tiny cave!

Don't worry guys. I totally got this. I can hold up the whole mountain.

Turns out the way we started off at first would have had us bear climbing up to the top. So we went back. Apparently, there is a trail that goes to the top of Squaw Peak if you park at the overlook and go south from there. So we decided to try that. We started off on what we thought was the trail...

We got up to this point and realized we were supposed to be one mountain forward...

So after taking a few pictures, we decided to continue up the way had already come.

So pretty!

So at this point on the trail, we stopped to look around to see if we could see any signs of civilization. We saw some campers off to the east (the right side of this picture) and then Sean all of a sudden says "Oh crap." I turn around (facing the direction this picture was taken) and there was a mama and baby black bears crossing the trail, maybe 20 yards away from where we were. From where we were standing it was about where the road curves off to the other direction. So scary!

We were disappointed and frustrated that we didn't make it to the top of Squaw Peak, but luckily we saw some really pretty scenery, and of course, came away with a really awesome bear story!

At this point on the way up, Sean said "Welcome to Mars!" I asked him why he said that, and he said, "Because it looks like a completely different country right here!"

The Parker's went over the mountain to see what they could see...

We decided that the next Saturday (yesterday) we would try again, and we looked up and found where the real trail head is. It's up Rock Canyon, in case anyone is wondering. We hiked for about 3 hours this day though, and had a lot of fun.

July 28, 2012

Our second attempt. We invited Sean's best friend Cameron to come with us, and he brought a friend from his home town that just got off his mission.

Cameron meditating to continue to get into the hiking mood I guess. We had already been hiking for a good 45 minutes at this point.

We made it to the top! East bay...

...and north Utah county.

Facing east, up Rock Canyon. To the Northeast, we could see where Sean and I had ended up the week before. I should have taken a picture...

Sean found a bouquet of flowers that someone had already picked for me.

Finding all of their favorite climbs, and looking for a cave they've heard about.

Still looking for the cave

Cameron on the ledge

Sean on the ledge

Me on the ledge

Another shot of the east, and the storm that was a-brewin...

We found the top!

Let's be honest. We can't ever take a serious picture.

Pretty part of the trail

We played in the river for a few minutes on the way down

We were all the way up there!

Such a fun hike! It's a little steep at times but it was a lot of fun. There were little kids that did it, so it is family friendly... ish. Lots of fun though. I would recommend starting earlier in the morning (like 8 or 9) or doing it in the early early fall. It was really hot while we were hiking. At the top it was nice though. So glad we found it!

documentation

This is my first "injury" from climbing. No big deal. It hardly even hurt. 

It was more scary flying through the air. 

(I was belaying Sean and was letting him down, but my footing was crappy and I'm not heavy enough apparently to let him down.) 

The only reason for this post? I knew I would hate myself if I didn't document my awesome battle wounds. I'm so weird like that. So here it is. My epic battle scars from rock climbing... 

or something like that.

3 month-iversary!

P.S. I was going to post this forever ago (or a week and a half ago, whichever is first), but my computer decided to just about died on me. We are taking it up to the Apple store this week to get it fixed. Bummer... Also, can it be a P.S. at the beginning? Oh well. Anyway...

On the 17th, Sean and I had been married for 3 whole months!! It is so interesting to me to think that just 3 months ago we were at the day we had been anticipating for our whole lives, and now it feels like it has been just me and him forever. Being married has been such a blessing for both of us. It is amazing to have my best friend with me all the time, a shoulder to cry on, a permanent Disneyland buddy, a fellow five-year-old goof, and someone to share every moment of every day with. He is the biggest blessing in my life to date and I am so excited for the rest of our lives together. And don't forget eternity...

Enough with the mush. Here is a brief description of what we have been up since my last update post. Sans pictures, of course, because I don't have any of them because they are on my computer that won't wake up:

My birthday: I celebrated my 24th 26th (can I pretend I'm still 24??) birthday with Sean and some of his family, and my sister Jenny came too! Sean got me climbing shoes and a tennis racquet, my family got me the cups and silverware we registered for, and Sean's family got me a holy cow (family joke) and a cake decorating kit! It was a wonderful day, especially since it was Sunday and General Conference.

Climbing outdoors: see my post about this, but we went climbing outside and I am now addicted.

Vacation: We went to Disneyland! And Sea World. And LA. And my parents house. We spent 10 days roaming around (not aimlessly) CA and loved it!

Sean's birthday: Sean turned 24 this month, and he got spoiled. I got him Insanity (ok, I admit, it was a present for me too) and a new french cuff shirt and new cuff links (fancy!). He also got a sno-cone maker, blender ball bottle thing, a book about different diving sites (can't WAIT to try that out) and probably some other stuff. I can't remember.

Insanity: we started Insanity. It's insane. Hence the name. But seriously? We have both come a long way as far as endurance in the last couple of weeks. Yesterday started Week 3. Only 6 more to go!.

Blaze: annoying as ever and does not like to listen. He is stubborn but is a lot of fun and I can't help but love him. His little smile with his tongue hanging out the side is so funny I love it! Any takers for giving him a bath?

Pharmacy: I'm still working externing at Walgreens about 10 hours a week. I wish I was getting paid. And they probably wish I was too, cause I would probably show up more than I do. Sorry guys, but 50 hour work weeks are busy enough!

Physical Therapy and Prosthetics: Sean started working as a physical therapy tech at SOS Physical Therapy in Provo two days a week. About two weeks after he started, he went to a prosthetics office to talk to the prosthetist and see if he could get shadowing hours in. After some deliberation between the prosthetist and his coworkers, they decided it would be more worth their while to hire Sean! He has been shadowing for a few weeks now and loves it! They let him play work on the machines and help make stuff for actually prosthetics for actual patients. Pretty cool for only being there for a couple weeks! He is loving it and is excited for the next year and a half of hands-on training he will be getting.

So, there are a bunch of wedding and Disneyland trip pictures on Facebook. I realized yesterday I have yet to post our Moab trip pictures. Hopefully we get the computer fixed this weekend and I can get those up.

All in all, we love being married and had a fun Memorial Day weekend. Hopefully that post is coming soon. Those pictures are still on my camera. Pray for my computer!!

climbing

Sean loves climbing. When we met, I had never been climbing, indoor or outdoor. It took us until after we were married, but we finally went climbing at the Quarry together. Then, finally last Friday, the weather was warm enough that I didn't chicken out of climbing outside.

 Rock canyon is beautiful!

 Sean was so great. He let me climb and climb and climb so I could get used to climbing outside.

 Look at that handsome man up there on the wall!

Thanks for taking me climbing Sean!

Oooh and then we went to Maria Bonita's on 800 North and State Street in Orem.

Highly recommended.

tennis pros

Happy birthday to me! Sean got me a tennis racquet for my birthday, so obviously that makes me a professional tennis player right?

Unfortunately no, but we sure had fun playing yesterday!

 

For reals though, does anyone want to help us learn how to play tennis??

run, bike, AND swim?

I've never been much of a runner. Anyone shocked? Until lately, I guess. I mean, I still don't like doing it. Hate it actually. Hate that I can never seem to break the 3 mile mark without passing out. Sometimes I just want to go further! So, sometimes I swim instead. Because my arms get tired at the same rate as my lungs.

Yesterday at the gym was a swim day. I was thinking about it at work, though, and wondering, hmm, if I swim for half an hour today, would I be able to even attempt to run a mile right after? I decided to try it. And after a mile, I still felt okay. So I did a second mile. Halfway through that second mile I thought, I wonder if I can jump on one of those crappy stationary bikes for 10 minutes. So I did. And the good news? I didn't die.

So the question is:

Is there a triathalon in my future? Maybe. It would have to be a sprint triathalon, because lets be honest. I still won't be able to run further than 3 miles without wanting to die. But the other stuff? Maybe it won't be so bad...

I definitely have not taken advantage of all the amazing hikes in Utah in the last 7 years.
(Yuck has it really been that long that I've been here? Sigh...)

Rock Canyon was introduced to me, oh, a month ago by Sean. And I will be forever thankful. Because Rock Canyon is beautiful. And peaceful. And secluded.

Last week, I decided to go up before FHE and hike as far as a could (in my allotted time) and then sprint down the canyon. It was fun!

I took some pictures with my phone on the way down:




And this week, Kjerstin came with me.

We hiked down, though, we did not sprint.