true affection

Aaron moved into a new apartment a few months ago. And since the roommate he was replacing wasn't moving until the end of this month it meant there wasn't room for all of Aaron's stuff in the new place quite yet. Specifically, his TV. So Naomi and I went from watching dumb TLC shows on this TV:

to watching them on THIS TV:

But it's leaving us this weekend. So I guess I know what I'll be internet shopping for from now on.

back to this

This song has now appeared on two summer mixes I've received which confirms that it is summer perfect.

I want some more

For the first time in many, many years I did not attend the 24th of July parade. Which is a big deal for me because the 24th of July is one of, if not my very favorite, holiday. After all, what other state's holiday is actually observed and is so saturated with religious content?

But I am very dedicated to this summer of outdoors and earning the outdoorsy right to wear Tevas to church (just kidding! that is never okay), so instead I went backpacking with my new bag.

Just kidding again! That is just Kristen and me moving our packs from the car to the camp site. We were going to do a backpacking trail in Escalante but for various reasons (lazy), we just camped there at Calf Creek instead.

We did however run across this,

on our way to hike through this,

to get to this.

And then later I won at life because Aaron had to buy some Keens in town since he forgot one of his shoes (I was going to buy some a few weeks ago and he has pointed out to me every nerdy Dad wearing Keen sandals with socks since then. Justice!).

The next day we did a new hike that started through a lot of this,

and then we thought it ended somewhere after a lot of this.

But it didn't! we got to the top and saw that we still had all this way until the road.

You can't see how far away it is? Let me show you:

So we collectively complained because somehow it turned into a 6 hour hike instead of a 4 hour hike.

But at least there was the sweet victory of flip flops at the end and pizza and hot pots in Meadow on the way home. Camping success!

shake a fist

Hey, today I'm grumpy! I started a post about the Kid Cudi/Asher Roth show last night but then the day made me mad.

So on my quick breath break from a busy day at work I decided to make good on my Smith's gas points that keep showing up on my receipts. How responsible of me despite my mood!

I drove to the only Smith's I know with a gas station, I scanned my savings card, I picked the middle grade (cus saving money so why not be fancy?), and I filled my tank.

And my receipt showed nothing saved. But instead of cursing, I went to the gas lady and asked her what happened. She said my card is effed up (didn't use those words exactly) and said she'd manually give me the discount. Well thank you sad Smith's employee.

And she handed me this.

So I did curse.

my last mistake

I am not a woman of many talents because I'm really only good at the following things:

1. Passing Judgement
2. Watching TV
3. Procrastinating
4. Doing a Shakira singing impression (I actually have only done it once, but it was spot on you guys)

However, Sunday night after months of an ongoing struggle with baking science, I made a batch of cookies that actually ended up like how chocolate chip cookies are supposed to look.


So I finally get to add Can Make Normal Cookies to the list. Talent!

the summer

My high camping/backpacking hopes keep right on rolling this summer. I think I'm going to pull the trigger and buy an actual pack and a sleeping bag today and there are a couple of trips in the upcoming weeks. I'm so outdoorsy!

But the major one I've been looking forward to is the Elizabeth Clifford Commemorative Backpacking Trip 2009. For Elizabeth's high school graduation Christopher has planned a (Utah) sibling camping trip and today he sent an e-mail with some generalities to discuss like food planning and water filtration. Oh yeah, and then this:


Oral Presentations
We will have oral presentations around the camp fire (or empty fire pit, depending on fire restrictions) both Friday and Saturday nights. These reports can be on any topic related to our trip and should be about 5 minutes long. If it is longer, please make sure it is interesting, if it is shorter, I will expect a fleshed out version (3-4 pages, 12 point font, single spaced) on my desk by the following Friday.

Some possible topics include:
Bear/Moose/other animal safety
Orienteering
The History of Wilderness in the US
The History of the National Park System
The Uintah Mountains
Edible Flora of the High Uintahs
Leave No Trace Camping
The Land/Wilderness Ethic
Wilderness First Aid

Be creative, pick a topic you are interested in but don't know much about so that you can learn as well.

Miscellaneous
The goal of this trip is to punch a bear in the nose. But the second goal of this trip is fun. And the key to fun is preparedness.



Why at 26 my brother is already an old Scout Master?

I want some more

If every day of the year I knew a baby with a birthday, would this get any less cute?


Or this?

Even if that did get old, I for sure could take 356 more days of Tasha parties because they are adorable.



And if there were baby Tasha parties everyday, I would happily buy a softoy present for every single one.