Out on the Weekend

Last week Glen and I realized something . . . there was a three-day weekend coming up in which neither of us had "responsibilities" to keep us at home. (yes, yes, tom, i know you had a one-day weekend. my apologies.) Since it's extremely rare that this kind of thing happens, I immediately decided we needed to make the most of it. Translation? Road trip to Moab!

It is slightly sad that winter in Utah this year has been relatively snow-free. I'm not suffering by it, because we all know I highly dislike driving in snow (although now that i work at home, what difference does it really make?). However, if weather here had been a little more "normal", we wouldn't have made the drive and wouldn't have had the chance to explore and enjoy the beautiful and simply amazing creations there are in this "little" corner of the world. So, thanks, Utah, for not snowing as much.

Trip Highlights:

- Free-entrance days at national parks and gift cards, which helped keep the trip on the cheap.

- Glen calling Balanced Rock "Gearshift Rock" . . . I didn't have the heart to correct him, but the signs on the road did.

- The hike to Delicate Arch . . . next-to-no-shade, which was good for us brave souls going there in January. And the view there. Made the whole thing worth it. (fortunately, the rest of the weekend wasn't a bust, either.)

- Being in Moab in the off-season; kind of weird, and plenty of stores/restaurants were closed until February or March, but it was nice not feeling like you were stepping on other people.

- Pasta Jay's . . . excellent garlic bread.

- Stopping to skip rocks and Glen lamenting that he didn't collect rocks from the Oregon coast when we were there on our honeymoon. Not many great specimens to choose from along the Colorado River.

- Fisher Towers -- the view was fantastic, and being there later in the afternoon cast a great light on the rocks.

- Laughing at our wind-blown hair on Monday when the temperature took a dip and we still ventured outside.

- The Green River Overlook in Canyonlands. Sooooo amazing.

-Glen being a goof in both the Arches and Canyonlands visitor's centers -- admiring the animal puppets and trying on skulls as hats.

- The great big enormous bird that was hanging out with our car at Grand View Point and Glen deciding to chase after it.

- Having a husband to drive through Price and Spanish Fork canyons in snowy conditions. I could have done it just fine (and it really wasn't that bad, anyway), but I'm glad I didn't have to.

- Coming home, unpacking, and savoring a weekend well-spent.

-Me

"No man needs a vacation so much as the man who has just had one." -Edward Hubbard

I'm Walking on Sunshine

Hello, everybodee! Some day I'm going to remember that I used to be good at regularly posting on this blog. And then I got married. Go figure.

But just to update, Christmas was great. We made our way to Missouri with Bethany (glen's sis), whereupon we were greeted by weather that very much reminded me of Oregon. Joan kept apologizing that it was raining and gray, but I felt that Missouri was just trying to help me make the transition. That's the kind of winter weather I know!

Glen's family LOVES to play games, and I ... well, I like games, but not to the extent they do. Drew roped several others into a Risk Penathlon (or Olympics, complete with opening/closing ceremonies and flags for the individual "countries" such as Cletus-and-Jethro-stan), during which time I caught up on a lot of reading. Not that I needed to catch up. So while they played, Joan and I would read in the living room. Solidarity, sister! I did play some games with the family, though, and that was pretty fun. We also spent time watching Christmas movies and singing carols around the piano together. Good time all around, despite the fact that everybody at one point got sick. My turn came the day or so before we departed for Utah, and I spent our flights desperately trying to stave off my runny nose. It was a late night getting into Salt Lake (thank you again, floyd, for picking us up . . . you are a saint), and Glen will tell you I was ready to be home.

New Year's was pretty mellow, just the two of us, but after a week with eleven people in one house and then getting a whopping cold, it was just what I wanted. We crawled into bed at about 11:55, so we were still awake enough to not appreciate the fireworks that several of our neighbors lit off.

So now we're back to the same ol', and Glen's got a new slew of classes to keep him busy, and I think he's enjoying himself. And naturally I have made some resolutions, thanks to a new year, to improve myself. I got a bit lazy toward the end of the year with my physical/emotional/spiritual, etc., habits, and I want to get back in the swing of things. Here's to keeping my goals!

-Me

"You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club." -Jack London