Summer Hiking

I've done quite a bit of hiking this summer! I love to get away from the every day stresses of life and lose myself in the mountains! It's so peaceful up there. I've seen the most amazing views and fallen in love with Utah. I will miss these wonderful mountains so much when we move to arizona! 

Here are some of the hikes I've been on this summer.....

1. Lake Solitude 

Located up big cottonwood canyon. Lake solitude is accessed from silver lake. The hike itself is fairly easy and ends at a small lake. This was a great evening hike. 

2. Silver Lake

Silver lake is located at the top of big cottonwood canyon. There is a board walk around the lake so it's more of a walk. I've been multiple times this summer and I've seen moose up there each time. This lake is gorgeous year round and great for all ages. 

3. Little Cottonwood Canyon road up to Cecret Lake

Before the road to access Cecret Lake was open to vehicles, I walked it. It was so peaceful! 

4. Lake Blanche 

Lake Blanche is up big cottonwood canyon. This hike is not for beginners. It took roughly 4-5 hours. The hike itself has amazing views! This is one of my favorite hikes in Utah! Bring plenty of water as it gets hot! Once you reach lake Blanche, you see sundial peak. All in all, incredible! 

5. Twin Lakes 

Twin Lakes is located up big cottonwood canyon and is accessed at silver lake. The best part of this hike is the view of silver lake. The hike is fairly short and moderate. 

(View of silver lake)

6. Willow Heights 

Willow Heights is located up big cottonwood canyon. It's a short hike. The hike is beautiful! You begin by walking through aspen trees and end up walking through an open meadow. 

BEWARE: we saw 5 moose on the trail which is common. 

7. Lake Mary 

Lake Mary is located at the top of big cottonwood canyon, accessed at Brighton Resort. This is an easy hike and great for all ages. This is a perfect evening hike. The lake is gorgeous! 

8. Cascade Falls (cedar breaks)

Located in Cedar City this is a very family-friendly hike. 

9. Cecret Lake 

Cecret Lake is up little cottonwood canyon. This hike is only available during the summer months. It's in the Albion basin which provides beautiful wild flower secenry! This hike is family friendly and also a great evening hike. Currently there are salamanders up there, so families bring nets to try and catch some. We went up and saw the sunset which was beautiful! 

10. Sunset Peak (dog lake, lake Mary, lake Catherine, lake Martha) 

Sunset peak is accessed up big or little cottonwood canyon. We chose the longer route (big cottonwood) so we could hike by the lakes you see from the peak. This hike took roughly 2 1/2 hrs round trip. It wasn't difficult and had the most incredible views at the top. I would highly recommend this hike! It's one of my favorites in Utah. 

*I've already shared pictures of lake Mary

Lake Catherine 

Lake Martha 

At the top of sunset peak. Unfortunately you're unable to see lake Catherine in this picture, but it's between the two lakes you do see. 

Summer is the perfect time for hiking so get out there!! 

I still have a few hikes left that I know I want to do, but I want your suggestions, what are your favorite hikes in Utah???

Shout out to my brother who goes hiking with me at least once a week!! 

Halfway mark!

It's the end of June...so halfway through the year! I'm proud and excited to say that I'm on book 57/100! (for those keeping track, that means I am AHEAD of schedule!....by almost a month.)

I've been asked if I am getting sick of reading, nope! Just about the opposite. I'm so sad when I don't have a lot of time to read, I'm consistently thinking about what I'm going to read next, and I've been wondering what my reading goal for next year should be. 

So anyway, here's what I read this month:

48. The book thief: Markus Zusak 

49. Call me Zelda: Erika Robuck

50. Boy 30529: Felix Weinberg

51. The diary of a young girl: Anne Frank (I had never actually read this before)

52. Paper towns: John Green

53. The chaos of stars: Kiersten White

54. An abundance of Katherine's: John Green

55. Measure for measure: William Shakespeare (getting ready for cedar/Shakespeare festival)

56. Comedy of errors: William Shakespeare 

I think my favorite this month was paper towns by John Green. I really like his style of writing. His stories are about teens and I feel like he can relate and he writes it all well. (you know how some older writers write about teens/young adults, but they don't even sound like a teen would talk/write? Well he's not like that......if that makes sense) 

**the book thief is one of my all time favorites, so I re-read it**

If you like lovey dovey books, the chaos of stars is for you. 

I have some books lined up, but I want to hear from you, what are your favorite books?

Key Lime Pie

Summer is the best time for key lime pie! Here is my favorite go-to recipe for this tart treat! 

One 14oz can sweetened condensed milk

3 egg yolks 

1/2 C key lime juice 

1 TB finely grated lime peel 

*One 9-inch graham cracker pie shell 

(I make my own) 

Whipped cream for garnish 

Mint leaves for garnish (optional)

*One sleeve (package) of graham crackers crushed 

About 3-4 TB butter melted

Pinch of sugar 

Combine and press into pie plate 

Add a pinch of sugar

For the pie: 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees 

In a mixing bowl, combine the milk, egg yolks, lime juice, and lime peel and blend until smooth. Poor the mixture into the pie she'll and back in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. 

Remove from the oven and allow the pie to stand for approximately 10 minutes, then refrigerate. 

Enjoy plan or garnish with a dollop of whipped cream, mint, or both! 

*serves 6-8

The best of SLC summer.

Mike and I may or may not be moving to AZ in August. Chances are looking good we will be so I decided I want to have a last (for a few years) hurrah summer in UT before we go. And if we do stay, we'll have a great summer to look back on!

For this summer's list, I chose some of my favorite summery things and activities I haven't done in awhile, but will always remind me of a good old Utah summer. 

Here's what I have so far: 

-go on the ferris wheel

-visit our park as close to August 18 as we can

-go to the new aquarium

-have a family cook out

-visit my favorite hikes (cecret, donut falls, sunset up at ocean rock, red pine?)

-hike lake Mary/Martha and sunset peak

-hike to the waterfall up bells canyon

-camping (big cottonwood or backpacking)

-drive in

-chalk festival

-bees game

-swimming at alta canyon 

-African ice (original) 

Go to: straws &/ swig, Ruth's diner, lone star 

-s'mores (in the backyard) 

***any other ideas? What would you do if this were your last summer (for awhile) in Utah? 

But first, let me tell you what I've been reading.

May was a good month for reading! 

I read.....

38. A wrinkle in time- Madeleine L'Engle 

39. A wind in the door- Madeleine L'Engle 

40. A swiftly tilting planet- Madeleine L'Engle 

41. The reason I jump- Naoki Higashida (this book is written about autism by a boy who has autism; so interesting!) 

42. The happiness project- Gretchen Rubin (I read this every year)

43. The sun also rises- Ernest Hemingway 

**44. I never had it made- Jackie Robinson 

45. Forest gump- Winston Groom

**46. Looking for Alaska- John Green

**47. The nazi officer's wife- Edith Hahn Beer 

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**I never had it made is Jackie Robinson's autobiography. I love autobios and this one was so interesting! I learned a lot about Jackie outside of his baseball career. If you like autos, regardless of if you like sports, this was a good read. (this was my 3rd favorite for the month)

**Looking for Alaska is by the author who wrote the Fault in our stars. I loved this book! It was a quick, easy read. The story brought me in so much, I never wanted to put it down. I would definitely recommend this book. (this came in 2nd for the month)

**The nazi officer's wife is another autobiography. It takes place in ww2. Edith is a Jewish woman who ends up marrying a nazi officer during the war. Her life story is quite interesting. I love books about ww2, and this is definitely a must read! One of my favorites from the year. (#1 for the month) 

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As always, I want to know what you're reading, what you like, and what recommendations you have! 

{Let me know if you read any of these books and tell me how you liked them!}

April's reads

April was a good book month. I don't know if I even have a favorite from the books I read this month. 

30. The prophecy of bane- Suzanne Collins

31. The curse of the warmbloods- Suzanne Collins 

32. The marks of secret- Suzanne Collins 

33. The code of claw- Suzanne Collins 

*34. The house at riverton- Kate Morton

35. Between shades of gray- Ruta Sepetys 

*36. Prisoner B-3087- Alari Gratz

37. Nineteen minutes- Jodi Picoult 

Okay, so the series by Suzanne Collins was a fun, quick read. I really enjoyed it. It was just fun. Predictable, and they were all similar, but an enjoyable read. 

I had mixed feelings about this book by Kate Morton. Typically, her books are told by different characters and in different time periods. Each has a mystery and a death- usually the mystery is the death. I LOVE them! This one, however, was only told by one character. I really enjoy this author and this was one of my favorites by her. 

Prisoner b-3087 was also a good read! It is a ww2 historical fiction book based on actual events. It was a quick read, but very interesting. 

My disappointment (if I can call it that) was nineteen minutes. Jodi Picoult usually researches the topics of her books thoroughly prior to writing. I've liked the few books I've read by her and have never known where exactly they would go. I had guessed the twist/ending by the end of the first few pages and was really disappointed that it wasn't a little bit more interesting. Maybe I've been reading so much that I can see where it's going or maybe it was just obvious. It definitely made me think though. I hope my children are never bullied. 

I'm counting on reading a lot of books in May. So hit me, what should I read???

13.1

Getting ready for this half marathon was not an easy task. 

Just over a month before the thanksgiving point tulip festival half, I decided I wanted to enter. I was running solid and felt like I would be able to do it no problem. So I payed the $75 and signed up. 

There have been so many bumps in the road during the last month, I don't know if I even remember them all. I got a cold from training in the rain, my car battery died and I was so busy that week, I had to walk the two miles to and from work which gave me insane shin splints. My shoes reached their limits and gave me severe foot, leg/knee, and hip pain so I spent $130 and replaced them. I loved my new shoes on my first long run! They were amazing! And then they gave me blisters. So many blisters. I couldn't wear them anymore. So I went back to two year old shoes (if you run, you know that's desperation!) I had to buy new running clothes to accommodate early spring morning running, and then a new shirt when I saw the forecast for rain. My inhaler ran out so I spent weeks running up hills without one. Luckily, I was able to use my mom's for race day so I wouldn't have to get a new one quite yet. 

I went out of my way to run up hills to be ready for what has been called one of the hardest, if not hardest, half marathons in Utah. 

Then came race day. And with it, rain and the worst pain on the side of my knee. Each mile I counted down and told myself "I got this!" The course itself was not too bad because I had prepared so much for it. It was wearing old shoes which caused pain shooting from my knee to my hip that did it for me. (The rain and cold were not so fun either)

This sounds like I'm complaining. Poor me, it was so hard. 

I'm not complaining. (well maybe a little...) but I have never been more proud of myself for making and fulfilling a goal. I worked my butt off and kept going even when it got hard. I ran those 13 miles today and never gave up. When I crossed the finish line and was handed my medal, I knew I had earned it. I ran hundreds of miles getting ready for this, at least 20 a week, and I can honestly say hard work pays off! 

I can't wait for my next half-this time hopefully it will be out of the rain!! 

My time was 2 hours 25 minutes. Slower than I would have liked, but I was proud just to finish! 

Runners high and beyond freezing. 

I was so determined to go back into the gardens to get a picture with my medal where I ran. I huddled in a blanket the whole way. 

A big thank you to my dad who would drive me home after running to their house, my brother for going running with me, my sweet husband for all of his support even when I kept spending money just to run, my mom for constantly taking care of my blisters, and my whole family for listening to me complain, be excited about my progress or anything else about running.