Nostalgia in Rhode Island

Hello, friends!  

Rhode Island may be small, my grandkids might be small, and the length of my trip may have been small, but the energy when I visited in October was anything but small!  We played hard while I was there and I left there much more physically tired than when I'd arrived, but  I hadn't gone there for rest.   My main goal for coming was to hang out with my girls and to spend as much time as possible with Lucie and Oliver, so that's what I did.  This blogpost is to show a glimpse of my time there.  

First off, I have a question to ask you.   Have you ever been to New England in the autumn time?     If your answer is, no, then I highly suggest adding it to your bucket list.    I was actually there just barely past the prime of fall colors, and even still it was glorious.    

Living in Utah has many perks, but every autumn I find myself pining for East Coast fall—the real deal, with dramatic leaf colors and enough humidity to make your hair feel feelings. In Utah, the trees try, bless them, but it’s just not the same and I intensely loved the opportunity to experience a taste of a Rhode Island fall.   One morning we three girls took a little jaunt along this trail and the nostalgia was strong!  

 (FUN FACT:  Did you know that in New England, people walk on the left side of trails and pass on the right?   Apparently, it's a regional quirk, which I found quite charming in its own  confusing way.)  

Another day, while the rest of the adults were at work, I kept the kids out of preschool and took them on a traipse through the woods, where I experienced more nostalgia as I reflected on the many woodland adventures I used to bring my kiddos on back in  the day.

We also spent a couple hours at the local library to play with toys and read books.  They had a great time and I was impressed at how toddler friendly a place it was.  We spent a lot of time in the library when our kids were young, but it wasn't quite so fun a place as this one was.  We could have spent all day there, except the kids eventually got hungry and tired.   

Another day, my girlies took the day off of work and we went to Newport together. We visited Beavertail Lighthouse, which was closed, but  we enjoyed walking around and enjoying the ocean views.  

Then we took the Cliff Walk and stopped at the Breakers Mansion for a tour. Lucie decided it was a castle and was trying to figure out where the princesses lived!   

Then it was time for some ice cream  {a family tradition}!  We found this cute spot in town and enjoyed it, despite the cold weather!  

I also very much enjoyed being  with them on Halloween.  Lucie's costume included an Elsa dress, a crown, wand, and butterfly wings, as per her request.  When asked what she was, she gave a different answer every time.  Sometimes she was a fairy ballerina princess.  Other times  a butterfly ballerina.  And still other times, a magic queen.   Whatever she was, she was charming and thoroughly enjoyed herself.   Oliver had no anticipatory excitement about Halloween, but as soon as he realized that people were handing him candy, he caught the excitement bug really quickly.  He was adorable waddling around in his little dino costume. 

Over the course of the few days I was there, we shared a lot of silly, loud, grumpy, and snuggly moments!   

And I loved seeing a glimpse of the life they're building together.  💗

Mostly I just really enjoyed being able to spend time with them without anywhere else I had to be. 

It was good rest for my soul, even if  I left there needing a nap.  

Fall Traditions: Hiking and Fishing

Fall is my favorite season.   There's just something about the mild weather and the vibrant colors that makes me incredibly happy.  I love Spring too, but sometimes it gets too wrapped up in the winter for my taste and, given the choice, I'd choose the fall anytime!  My idea of a perfect autumn day is a long hike on a lovely day, followed by some great food.  The other Saturday, Glen was busy, the weather was gorgeous, and I decided to pack a bag with food and water and just walk along the Murdock Trail without a distance in mind.   I made it 10 miles and loved every minute of it!   Then I went home, ate some good food, worked on the program, and I decided that it  was *almost* a perfect day.  The only thing that would have made it better is if Glen had been able to come along too.   :)

So, that's MY idea of a perfect autumn day, and now here's a glimpse of what Glen's ideal day would be.    For the past six autumns, Glen has taken a Saturday away from home and rented a boat to embark on a day long fishing excursion on Strawberry Reservoir.   No, your math isn't off...this tradition actually began before we even lived in Utah, but was embraced with even more enthusiasm once we did!    Usually Adam and/or Spence join the adventure, along with his brother, Alex, and a couple of his boys, but this year, after several turned down invitations, it ended up only being Glen and Adam.    One of the downfalls of only having the two of them there, meant that it was sometimes difficult to manage the boat and fishing at the same, but together they still managed   to catch about 20 fish.   It was a beautiful day and they both came home feeling like it had been a successful day on the water. 

They brought home a few fish to eat and later that evening, Glen cleaned them up before storing them until we were ready to cook them.    As you probably know, cleaning a fish is not a pretty sight.  It involves chopping off the head and tail, splitting the fish in half, and cleaning out the guts.   I don't even like watching, but my little 6-year-old nephew, Jesus, was FASCINATED.  At first, I tried to keep him away, so as not to disturb him, but after a while I realized that he was very much viewing the whole process like a little scientist and I opted to just let him observe and ask all the questions he wanted.  It was very cute to see how inquisitive (and very much not disturbed) he was. 

In a few more years, Glen may even have a new fishing buddy to join him on his autumn excursions! 
 
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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!

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. 😐

 

 

Friendly Butterflies

With five national parks and the gorgeous Rocky Mountains, Utah has a lot to offer in the way of outdoor appeal.   Hiking, skiing, fishing, rock climbing, and boating are all things that bring people to Utah from all over the world.  Those kinds of activities are great and I do enjoy hiking at least, but I'll be honest I kind of miss all the historical sites and interesting museums of the East Coast. 

Ellie recently had a few days off of school for Fall Break and the weather wasn't great, which meant that the main appeal of Utah wasn't all that appealing.   So I did a little digging, bought season passes to Thanksgiving Point, and we headed to the Butterfly Biosphere for some fun!  

We'd been to the Butterfly Pavilion at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum before, but this was habitat was much larger and it was great way to spend a rainy day.   The workers told us to wear perfume and sweet smelling lotions if we wanted the butterflies to land on us....

but Ellie and I had just had our hair chemically treated the day before, so we were definitely not very sweet smelling and the butterflies mostly kept their distance.  

During our journey around the habitat, Hermana Goold called {on her p-day}, and we had a little chat right there amidst the  butterflies.  

It was a fun way to spend a day off of school and we'll definitely be back again...

Although next time we'll go with freshly washed hair and some sweet smelling lotion to make some more fluttering friends!
 

Utah Skies

Ask me how I like Utah and my reviews will definitely be mixed.  While I love being closer to family and old friends, the weather, the lack of trees, and some cultural things are going to take some time for me to adjust to.   One thing I unequivocally love though...is the Utah skies.  Because of the hilly/mountainous terrain and the aforementioned lack of trees, you get a much better view of the skies here and I love it.   While we definitely had some pretty spectacular sunsets and sunrises in the East, you generally only got to glimpse them through an opening in the trees or from vista point that you hiked 5 miles to get to.    I love that I can take my morning walk around the neighborhood and get views like this on a daily basis...

 My favorite place to sky-watch is from atop a hill in our city cemetery.  It's only about a five-minute walk from our house and it offers some pretty spectacular views!  

With the pops of fall colors thrown in there too, I've been pretty obsessed with going there to enjoy the view a few times a week.  

This is a 180° pano shot I took from atop the cemetery hill one day last week.  Sometime I need to get up there with my sister's nice camera...

This shot was taken at sunset along our favorite trek up to the Horsetail Falls trailhead.   There was a baby cow in the field  (not in this picture) that had Ellie ooohing and ahhing over it, but for  me it was all about that gorgeous lighting!

The following three photos were taken that on that same walk on that same evening.   

I can't even begin to express how completely and totally in awe I am that this view is within walking distance to our house...

Man!   Look at those twinkling lights in the distance, the vibrant sky reflecting in Utah Lake, and the beautiful wild foliage.  It takes my breath away all over again looking at these pictures! 

A few days ago, while I was out walking Rocky, I looked up and saw this stunning sight!   It had been a cloudy day and I guess the way the sun was setting interplayed with the clouds just perfectly to make it look like the mountains were alight with a glowing spotlight!   I had never seen that phenomenon before and I couldn't peel my eyes away from it!  I called anyone I could think of  to make sure they saw it too! 

And breaking from the sunrise/sunset theme, here's a gorgeous rainbow my dad and I saw the other day while we were driving home from the dentist.  It was much brighter and fuller before we stopped to take a picture, but we couldn't resist this view of the Mount Timpanogas Temple with the rainbow.  

Meanwhile here's a gorgeous sunset shot Adam took down on campus the other day. This tree blocked angle reminded me of how we saw most East Coast sunsets.   Still vibrant and lovely as can be, but with an obstructed view.   

Speaking of trees....here is another glimpse at the glorious fall colors we've been enjoying...

  

I think that this farm up the road from our home just may be the most beautiful spot in all of Utah this autumn.   It's right at the corner where two mountain ranges come together and I am completely enchanted with the backdrop, the landscaping, the rock wall, and the overall idyllic scene.  Every day I walk by it and have to take deep breath to soak in the beauty of it.  

Whew...this ended up being a longer post than I expected!

 I think I might be obsessed.  😍