Not Total Eclipse of the Sun

Remember 6ish years ago when we trekked to South Carolina to be in the path of totality for the solar eclipse of 2017?   That experience was kind of amazing and I've been so obsessed with the recreating that experience, that I already have plane tickets and a hotel room reserved for Austin, Texas for the full solar eclipse of April 2024. 

But somehow, even with that obsession going on,  we missed the memo that we had an annular solar eclipse right here in Utah on October 14th.  

We had too much going on (a long story I'll share soon enough) to drive the mere couple of hours to the path of totality, but we donned our eclipse glasses (which I'd also bought for April 2024) and took our normal Saturday morning walk with regular stops to check the progress of the eclipse. 

Annular means it was a "ring of fire" eclipse and it was only 80ish% here at home, but it was still enough to get the cool eclipse shadows and for it to feel dark and cold as peak time approached.  

We trekked to the local park and I literally asked anyone who passed us if they wanted to peek through my glasses.  I think more than a few people thought I was nerdy and weird, but pretty much everyone peeked anyway, so I kept embracing the nerdiness.   I also woke Spencer up and pretty much demanded that he grab some of our glasses and head outside.  Spencer definitely thought I was being obnoxious, which I probably was.  But he saw it and I felt like I did my Mom duty, so I'm calling it a win.   

All in all, a cool experience that made me extra excited for April!     Wanna meet us Austin?   Give me a ring and let's make it happen!

Obsessed and Boring

 Hey there! 

Here's a boring little life update...

 I think I have discovered the yummiest cookies in the history of the universe.  They're brown butter maple pumpkin cookies.    I used gluten free flour and subbed some of the brown sugar with coconut sugar, but that didn't affect the deliciousness level one bit and I think I may be obsessed.

  I made them once in Saint George, then made them again because I couldn't stop thinking about them...this time with a healthy maple frosting (sweet potato based with maple syrup, a bit of maple extract, and a little coconut oil).   It sounds weird, but it was sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo good.   Have I mentioned that I'm obsessed?   

 

 Also, the garden harvest has been plentiful this year and I'm loving it, though I am kind of over all the giant zucchini....and I haven't checked yet, but it was 31-degrees when I woke up the other day, so it might all be dead now.  Boo.

I went on an 8 mile hike the other day in the fall perfection and my average mile was 15:18...it felt great!

Glen didn't come with me on the hike, because he was doing his annual fall fishing trip on Strawberry Reservoir with Alex and boys...

The next day, Glen smoked that very trout and we ate it for dinner, which was quite delicious.   The kale salad was from our garden, the bread was GF, and the sweet potato a nice touch.   We ended with the aforementioned cookies that I'm currently obsessed with, so I ate way too much and ended the day with a tummy ache....

I keep finding photos like this in my camera roll (which we share with the youngest 3 kids) and it makes me smile!   I think she's liking college life!  

I haven't seen Lucie, Cam, or Garrett since Labor Day weekend and I have been missing them extra lately (probably has something to do with the empty house).   Every picture (even when taken at a gas station)  I get makes me want to get on a plane right now...   

In the meantime, I am eagerly looking forward to Thanksgiving! 

Thanks for reading!  Have an amazing day!

40 years of Sunshine!

Just a quick shout-out to my favorite youngest sister, who turns 40 - years old today!   

 There's nothing she likes more than making people smile, so my family and I are trying hard to make sure she smiles big today. 

Watch out for lots of sunshine, silliness, and loud singing today!  

We love you, AnnaLisa!  

Fall Splendor

Fall has always felt like a time of new beginnings for me, even more so than the actual beginning of a new year. I think it partially has to do with the fact that the advent of a new school year generally brings with it a new schedule to work around, which gives me the opportunity to re-establish good habits that I often let fall by the wayside in the summertime, but that's definitely not all of it.     

I love all the seasons for different reasons (except maybe winter, which I only tolerate), but I think fall might just be my favorite.    I  really, really love the glorious fall weather when I can turn the AC off, but before I have to turn the heat on.   And the beauty of the earth as it enters into the autumn-mode is an absolute delight to my senses. 

Last week we decided we needed to take a drive into the mountains and see the aspens in their peak colorful beauty. 

An East Coast tree cover it is not....

but I do have to say that Utah did pretty well for itself this fall. 

The beauty took my breath away and I wished I could freeze the change of seasons right here and make it last another month or two...

 But  I already turned my heat on this week...and  took my morning walk in  brisk sub-freezing temps today...and noticed that the snow in the mountains isn't melting right away....I was reminded that winter is on its way.  

And it's probably not that far off. 😐

 

 

Zion, Conference, Nerds, and Gala...Oh My!

It's a long story about how we ended up with a Saint George Outpost (a small townhome we're renting in SG while keeping our homebase in Alpine), but, for now, Glen is commuting down there every week and I am trying to figure out as much time with him as I can.     It's not ideal, but selling a house we just bought 2ish years ago isn't totally ideal either, so this is what we feel like is the right option for now.   Perhaps I'll go into more detail about it another time, but this post is for another purpose, so stay tuned! 

We spent our General Conference weekend (a twice yearly conference of our church where we watch messages broadcast at home, rather than at a church building) at the Outpost.   Here's a little recap of our weekend....

  We started the weekend (on Friday) with a trek to Zion National Park.  Glen had never been before and my last journey there was in 2015, so we were excited to be able to experience it together.  We didn't win the lottery for getting a permit to hike Angel's Landing, so we did two shorter hikes instead.  First we did the Canyon Overlook Trail, then Kayenta to the Emerald Pools.  Both were lovely! 

 

 Then on Saturday, we settled in at the Outpost to watch General Conference streamed from Glen's phone onto the television Glen never uses.  We opted not to get internet at the Outpost to save money, so it was just a matter of getting the right cords from Target to stream from his phone.  I imagine that the television will get used a bit more (especially for BYU sporting events) now that we've got cords! 

  It was weird watching Conference without having a houseful of people.   I wasn't really feeling baking a whole batch of cinnamon rolls or doughnuts with just the two of us.  If we'd been at home, I probably would have stopped by a gluten free bakery, but we couldn't find one in SG...

so  we had Nerds Clusters instead.    I'm not usually much of a candy eater, but I have been mildly obsessed with them since discovering them in Thailand.  I can easily eat a whole bag myself, so I was glad to have at least Glen to share them with.  

 On Saturday evening, we went to the Doctors' Volunteer Clinic Gala, representing Glen's workplace.   It was another big reason why we decided to stay in Saint George for the weekend.   It turned out to be a big giant money grab, but it was for a good cause, so it was fun to be there (especially since it was his work that did all the donating).  We did discover that we are pretty terrible at photo booth pics...

Sunday was World Postcard Day (betcha didn't know that was a thing!) and I celebrated between and after sessions by sending around 30 postcards--mostly to people I know and love and a few to some people in a postcard exchange I am a part of.  

All in all, it was a great weekend and I loved the extra time with Glen at the Outpost and being uplifted by the talks.  (I especially love this one, this one,  this one, and this one).   

Have an amazing week!