Hiking, Fireworks and Freedom!

Happy 4th of July everyone!

This morning Boyfriend and I did something pretty much unheard of. We woke up and left the house before 7 a.m., on a weekend!

For like ... a year, I have been promising Boyfriend I would take him to the Uinta Mountains -- an area in the northeastern part of the state with hundreds of miles of hiking trails and high mountain lakes. Since it is only a ninety minute drive, I was really slacking for not having taken him there yet.

I'm so glad we finally went! As soon as we entered the forest area Boyfriend declared that it, "looks like Yellowstone!" his favorite place in the world and that, "it's super close to us!" So, I think we'll be spending a few more days up there this summer.

We hiked to Island Lake, starting at the Crystal Lake trail head, we were looking at about a seven-mile round trip trek. For the most part the trail was pretty clearly marked, at one point we came to some low cliffs that we could see the lake from. We decided to scramble down to the lake from there and save ourselves some time.

After some intrepid adventuring through the woods, we came to the lake. Except, it was the wrong lake. We left the trail and completely bypassed our turn to Island Lake, ending up at Lake Weir. So, efficient as we are, we added about another mile to mile and a half to our overall trip.

When we finally made it to Island Lake, we stopped for maybe thirty seconds and then in an anti-climatic turn of events just headed back down the trail. My family was spending the day at Mirror Lake and we wanted at least an hour or two to hang out with them.

Unfortunately, somewhere along the way we entered a time warp:
time warp (noun)
1. any distortion of space-time
2. (General Physics) a hypothetical distortion of time in which people and events from one age can be imagined to exist in another age
3. an illusion in which time appears to stand still

For us, it is that first definition. We had been going at a fairly quick pace and made almost no stops, we both thought we were on the trails two and half to three hours. We were shocked when we got back to the car and saw we had been out for almost five hours! If you are thinking it was our ill-conceived detour that led to this massive amount of time lost, then you're wrong. The best fitting explanation is a supernatural, wibbly-wobbly time warp. We are looking into contacting the History channel to discuss our experience.

Aside from the space-time inconsistencies, it was a wonderful day in the mountains. I love that Boyfriend, who is getting his master's in environmental law, loves the outdoors as much as I do and that we can spend so much of our time enjoying it together. He's pretty great. If he could keep up with my fast pace for the duration our hikes he'd be pretty much perfect.

Tonight, we are going to hit the trails again, though a much less intense version, and go to the foot trails to watch the fireworks shows.

La-la-laaaaaaaagoon

Have I told you about Date Night yet? Yes? Maybe? Oh, look! I did here: March Maddness. Good, that saves me a lot of explaining.

This was my month to plan and I chose ... Lagoon! It is where fun is!! I haven't been there since I was about 19 and Boyfriend, not from Utah, has never ever been.

I found a promotion for it on KSL, Date Night. Two for one; a Wicked awesome deal. I actually had a different date night planned before I found this, but I can push it back to August until it is my turn again. When I found this coupon, I was beyond excited. Just thinking about going took me back to being 12, when going to Lagoon was cool. I imagined things going so well, Boyfriend and I were going to have so much fun riding rides and walking around eating junk food! We were going to relive the funnest parts of being a teenager (because there weren't that many).

Well... I was wrong. Because when you grow up, Lagoon makes you sick. Boyfriend got queasy after one ride, started sweating after the second and was completely hopeless after the third. Some of the lines were so short that I went on the Colossus a few times without him to see if he would start to feel better, but it was a fruitless endeavor. I was pretty bummed when we went home early and were in bed at a disgustingly respectable 10:45. Though to be fair about the overall trip, we did have a couple of good hours at Lagoon a Beach doing the slides and lazy river before starting on the roller coasters.

Colossus: The Fire Dragon,
Boyfriend could not handle the heat 

I want to go again this summer and ride all of the rides we didn't get a chance to go on, though I figure this time around I'll be riding solo*.

*Literally. I will be riding the rides alone.

Virginia Beach

Boyfriend and I are back from Virginia Beach! I'm happy to report that after one month of dedicated dieting, I blew all of my progress in four gluttonous days. I'm going to restart my diet in a few days. I was going to start right away, but Boyfriend reminded me that I promised to eat a whole pizza at the Pie with him when we were done with our diet in May. 

 

We had a really nice trip overall and it is definitely a place I would go again. The weather was hit and miss, but the water was warm enough that even on the chilly days that we got to head out on the nature trails or boogie board for a little bit.

I'm glad to be back home, though I wish I had a little more time off fro work to settle back in. I have a lot to think about. I've officially met all of Boyfriend's immediate family and, spent 4 days at a beach house with them.

Our trip started off fairly uneventful. We found a lovely person in our apartment complex to take care of Kitty and made it to the airport without issue. Unfortunately, our luck ended there. We had an awful layover in Philly, a city I have decided I hate, and our flight ended up being rerouted. Originally we were going to land in Norfolk, but instead had to land in Newport News, a tiny airport, because the fog limited visibility in Norfolk so badly. We then had to take a taxi back up to Norfolk, adding about 1 1/2 hours total to our travel time.

After a night of not sleeping on the plane and being run for loops at the airport Boyfriend, surprisingly, was in a very bad mood (usually I am the one in the bad mood). Boyfriend's bad mood made me even more nervous to go spend a week-ish with his family.

White leg ...  

Luckily, his brother was late to pick us up. So, in the additional 20 – 30 minutes we spent waiting, I was able to karate chop Boyfriend into behaving a little bit better.

The week overall went pretty well. Boyfriend's siblings are really nice and his niece (1) and nephew (2 1/2) are great. I got along the best with them – even though I don't have a special affinity for children, I feel better with them than adults that I don't know.

The best part about the trip, were the days we got to boogie board. We couldn't one of the days because the undertow was apparently so bad the lifeguards were not letting anyone out past their knees. The next day we were allowed to go in up to our thighs, but weren't supposed to boogie board. without flippers

... brown leg

In a rouge move, (that I DO NOT recommend or endorse for safety reasons) Boyfriend and I took our boogie boards and ran out to the water when the lifeguard wasn't looking. We got in a good 30 – 45 minutes before the supervisor came out and made the lifeguards kick everyone on boogie boards out again. It was totally worth it.

I want a house by an ocean, next to the mountains. If I could magically make Yellowstone ocean front property I would be happy. And, rich. Because I think a lot of other people would want to live there too and I would sell the land for a lot of money.

Forced Announcement

I can't believe it is already June. I say that every time I write a post at the beginning of the month. I'm going to try to stop, but from now on it is implied. Cool?

Boyfriend and I are getting ready to go to Virginia Beach. We are going to be spending massive amounts of time in a beach house with his whole family. Nervous. Anxious! Wine? Wine will help.

So, lately I haven't been the greatest vegan. My "friend" Kent is annoyed that everyone doesn't know this. Apparently, the choices I make and what I choose to consume/put in my body is not a personal choice -- it is his business and everyone's business.

I've been eating eggs, from my friend Val's chickens and some cheese. It started as a small amount of farmers market cheese and has expanded from there. I would like to say that this slow descent was preceded by a thought process involving my values and code of ethics. Rather, it was preceded by a general apathy. I'm tired, I'm swapping my own convenience at the expense of other sentient beings. I realize that. I think there are a lot of things contributing to this lapse, but apathy is the most pertinent or maybe what the reasons all boil down to. And, I don't mind right now. I don't feel any worse for taking a step back for awhile. I don't often go easy on myself, but for once I'm not beating myself up about it.

On the positive side, it has been pretty wonderful. Boyfriend and I have a standing date every week where we go to Harmons and buy fancy cheeses on Fridays, after catching a matinee at Station Park. Small things in life. Plus, cheese goes great with wine.

Our date night spread, on a terrible Penn State plate.

I'm still vegetarian. I don't see myself changing that. But, honestly, anything could happen. Maybe I lied about not thinking about things, I'm probably just trying not to think about things right now while I get through the next few months. Or, maybe I'll push stuff off until I come to a breaking point or a realization. Or, maybe ... I'll just keep heading down this road until I decide to get back on track with veganism or vegetarianism. I'm enjoying life, trying to get through grad school and work. I have enough on my plate (HA! A pun!).

I'm thinking about redoing my blog. No matter I'm doing I don't feel like vegan is a big piece of who I am right now. It isn't a label that feels like "me" and blogging under the title just feels ... off. It isn't what I want to talk about, and I haven't been. I can't remember the last time I put up a recipe or restaurant review.

A really, really awful picture. Taken by said Kent Dunn.
Designed to show the lovely cheeseburger t-shirt that Boyfriend picked.

I'm open to suggestions for new name ideas, ideally things that involve raptors. Or, maybe I'll just continue to be lackadaisically hypocritical and blog as a non-vegan vegan.

Yellowstone 2015 and Boyfriend Turns 30

In 8th grade science we watched a documentary about Yellowstone's supervolcano. Because I am me, I spent the next few months not sleeping and fretting about the safety of my loved ones. If the Yellowstone supervolcano erupted we were all going to die! We needed exit strategies, communication plans, safe-zones! Unfortunately, no one else seemed to care and it is very hard to create a Save the World manual (I will create a manual for anything) without at least a little bit of cooperation.

Luckily, I grew out of this phase. Not the worrying phase, just the worrying about supervolcanoworlddestruction phase. I still try to solve non-existent problems years in advance.

As I have stopped worrying about Yellowstone destroying me, after all there really is nothing I could do (trust me, I have run through all the scenarios) I have come to realize that it is one of the greatest places on Earth, if not the absolute greatest. It stands out for its geothermic activity, but that isn't even the best part. The wildlife experiences and the sheer beauty of the landscape make it a worthwhile venture, not to mention it is just a four hour drive from us.

Boyfriend and I did not die from the cold or extreme geothermic activity this weekend. We camped in a different location than last time and got to experience a whole new part of the park.

We got there late Friday night. The reports said to expect inclement weather (see previous whining), but we had no issues. Apparently, that wasn't the case for everyone. Boyfriend's sister was on her way over from Colorado and ended up having to camp out on the side of the road for the night so she wouldn't hydroplane and die.

By Saturday we had all arrived at Bridge Bay safely and were ready to see the park. We saw a lot of wildlife and the dark, ominous skies made for some gorgeous photos. It was so relaxing. I'm planning on relocating next summer so I can live in Yellowstone. Even if I have to hide out in the park and join a wolf pack.

It was a wonderful weekend and a great way (I'm speaking for him) to celebrate Boyfriend entering a new decade with the big 3-0.

Coyote

Bison

Orange Tent: Boyfriend's birthday present from me.
Given for selfish reasons, now we can go on LOTS OF CAMPING TRIPS!

Boyfriend making breakfast

Bison fording the river

Baby pronghorn, cutest ever

Baby bear ... cutest ever ...

Moose! One was male with tiny antlers

Bia and deer

Me!

Memorial Day Repeat

May is almost over! Things are good! I hate my diet on the days I stick to it, but I rarely stick to it so it isn't that bad! I have made improvements though. I don't have two dinners every night anymore and I haven't had wine for almost three weeks. I think that no matter what happens we can call this month a win. Or a loss. Depending on how you look at it ... because I really miss second dinner. And wine.

Anyway, Boyfriend and I are hoping to end this month with a bang. We have a trip planned for this weekend and are thinking about going SKYDIVING on Tuesday, if the weather permits it. For our trip...we are going to Yellowstone. Because Boyfriend is illogical and psychotic.

Last year, for Memorial Day weekend, we took a wonderful trip to Yellowstone National Park. It was my first time ever to Yellowstone, I had wanted to go for ages but never made it. It turned out to be one of the best trips I have ever had. Definitely, top five. We saw at least six bears, a baby moose, mountain goats, bighorn sheep, all of the wildlife on our lists with the exception of wolves and river otters.

Thrilled and overexcited, we decided we could go to Yellowstone EVERY Memorial Day FOREVER! Turns out, Yellowstone is a fickle friend. It is raining like crazy up there this year. I was more than ready to throw in the towel and head down south to Arches, we'd still be going to a national park and it would be warm. I could lay out in the hammock and read a book.

Unfortunately, Boyfriend is not ready to throw in the towel. He is still insisting that we go to Yellowstone for our vacation. Despite my most heartfelt whining, we are begrudgingly preparing for our Yellowstone trip. Where we will freeze, and die. I don't understand it. He is normally very mellow and easy-going, but he is digging his heels so that we can CAMP IN THE RAIN because, he "was just really looking forward to it."

But, I love him so we are going.

Even though it will be freezing, I'm looking forward to the break. We haven't had a vacation since his cousin's wedding in Pittsburgh last December. And, I feel like we are always going non-stop. Yes, we live together now and technically spend every night together, but a lot of our time is taken up with homework and half of the evenings I go to school straight from work. It will be good to unwind, even if we are stuck in the car and buried under blankets.

May Day! May Day!

Happy May, friends!

I can't believe we are almost half-way through this month. It has been flying by. School started up again, I really don't feel like I even got a break. My professor sent out three reading assignments and an essay for us to do before the first day of class. I complained, A LOT. I went to class yesterday expecting to hate it, like I hate most things. BUT! I love it. Mostly ... I love my professor. Sorry, Boyfriend.

Another big development this month has been our decision to go on a diet. Big commitment, right? We are going to Virginia Beach the first week of June and I "want to look nice." I was expecting to hate it, and I do! I have stopped having second dinner (my favorite kind of dinner) and stopped having wine every night.

I can't wait for this trip to be over. As soon as we get back I'm going to the Pie and ordering an ENTIRE PIZZA. 

We did make banana bread, because we buy bananas but never eat them, but we were devouring the whole loaf so Boyfriend took it to my mom and dad. Which, was nice since they wanted to try it  buuuut WTF.

Here is the recipe we used, we doubled it. We had A LOT of bananas going bad :/

RIP Banana Bread