Sedona, Flagstaff...Our First Vacation/Camping Trip!

So we spent the night in Sedona/Oak Creek Canyon at Manzanita Campground, which sits right next to Oak Creek....which was flowing very nicely and noisely! :) Though a tad bit chilly, with the fire going and a few mixed drinks, the night stayed warm! Before we set up camp, we wandered around some trailheads and caught view of a GORGEOUS double waterfall across the creek and up probably a good 1,000 feet from where we were! Did some off trail hiking up a creek bed a couple times and came up with this awesome picture:


That may actually be where I got caught up on my facial tan! :)


Here is a picture of our campsite right next to the creek:


And this is a view from the hike we took around Courthouse Butte and Bell Rock:


After camping in Sedona/Oak Creek for one night, we headed up to Flagstaff and got this beautiful picture of the San Francisco Peaks with all the snow on them!


Since I had never been to a ski resort, we made a side trip toward Humphrey's Peak and stopped at Snowbowl to play in the snow-



And then made our way to the Grand Canyon where there was still snow that we could play in....we weren't able to hike down Bright Angel trail because there was some serious ice on it, and required crampons to get down, of which we did not have. Instead, we are planning to hike down and camp overnight in the canyon in July...can't wait!

Got to hike today...whooohooo!

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Just did a quick 2.5 miler around a few small mountains at Squaw Peak. GORGEOUS though a bit cool today....after 3 days of pouring rain and wind. A very nice change!

Here are some pictures!






Meantime, I'm getting some last minute things together for a party this weekend, and our first camping trip. Going to try to get some time in at the gym, a yoga class and some side projects out of the way! :) Busy day off!!

WOW, Have I Been Missing For Awhile!

And for good reason!

Between work, and this new relationship, I have been a very, very busy girl.

In between those two time consumers (one is great, the other pays great!), I am also spending time with my personal trainer, spending time at the gym and volunteering 4 hours a week for the library. Oh yeah, and I've been busting my hump with some professional side projects (chat host, article writer, book reviewer) and was just offered another position as an article writer for a national news website....haven't decided if there is room in my life for that yet! Unfortunately the solo hiking has been cut WAY back :(

When he and I hang out, it has ranged from throwing darts at the local bar to hiking with friends, to checking out some new restaurants, to the recently very domesticated night at Home Depot and Target :) Not only did we make dinner TOGETHER last night (and it was mighty delish!), he made breakfast this morning AND packed my lunch for me today....NEVER in my wildest dreams......:D He also recently dumped my computer and set me up with all new software....very awesome!

Meanwhile, we are preparing for a friends wedding in a month in a half in Vegas, a hiking trip to Utah in June (in addition to or in place of Yosemite) and another wedding in November. I'd also still like to fly home at some point (and perhaps introduce him to the fam?!) as well as fly to Portland to see my sisters new hometown. My parents are also coming to visit in May/June and I will hopefully be getting new digs of my own in a month or so. Plus there are conferences I'd still like to get to for work, and small weekend trips and things we'd like to do and see....I'm not sure when we'll get it all done, but we will sure try!

Whew....just writing all the things I need to do (or attempt to do) has exhausted me...perhaps there is room in here for sleep somewhere!?

So much to discuss, so little time to do it!

Wow.

That's all I can say about this last week.
I think we've all been in that relationship that just seems meant to be from the first moment, and yet feel like that isn't something that is possible until you actually know the person.

That's where I am. And him as well.

We met on Monday the 1st. There has only been 2 days since then that I haven't seen him.

We've tried. We've sworn off seeing each other for 24 hours to make sure this remains healthy and new and exciting.

But we can't do it. Haven't been able to, not even close.

Even if its only for a stolen hour from work for Starbucks or a quick lunch...I've been with him almost every moment since our date last Friday...in fact, we stayed up so late on Friday, I only had 1 hour of sleep before work on Saturday...and broke my old record of 36 hours on 2 hours of sleep by staying up 43 hours (UGH!) on ONE hour of sleep.

Adrenaline does some amazing things.

We talk. A lot. About how crazy all this is...how can you be THIS comfortable with someone you barely know...How is it that it feels like I know everything about him when really I don't know more than 10 days worth of stuff....

I find myself giggling in yoga class...grinning when I see him, sighing when we are just chilling on the couch.

Could it be ....?

New hike today and some other stuff..

MapMyHike.com | View 8A Alternate Loop in Phoenix, Arizona

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Got up early today to enjoy this hike. Well, honestly, was going to go to a class at the gym, and in my head, I thought the class was at 8:45, when it was actually at 8:30. So by the time I realized it, it was too late to get there in time :( So that crappy moment turned into this pretty hike. Was a different route than I've taken before. Even had time to sit on a big old rock and soak all the sounds, smells and sights in...since very few other people were there to ruin the moment :)

Meanwhile, we're gearing up for our trip to Yosemite. If you haven't yet seen where we are headed, read my previous blog. Will be a fun and exciting, accomplished trip!

Yesterday I started my volunteerism for the Friends of the Phoenix Library. and was a great time. I was thinking that this would save me from my book addiction, but, I think it may make it worse! My job is to scan every single book that comes in on donation to see if it is worth them posting online for some money, or selling in their used book stores or warehouse sales. So I more or less touch every.single.book. that comes in. Weeheee. BUT, this also means I have direct access to all these books before anyone else does!!!! Yikes!

And last night, went on my first date in SEVERAL months...was very very nice with awesome company! :) Ate a restaurant near downtown Phoenix called Switch. Had a horribly yummy blueberry martini and some delish food. And did I mention that the company was awesome (and cute!) :)

Off to work! :D

Hiking, Drop Them Pounds!!

First of all, I had this post all typed up, and then it somehow erased itself! So I'm starting all over again...surely won't be as witty as the original! :(


So I went hiking at Squaw Peak Park today, first time in a while. I had my hike all planned out, but then noticed 4 side trails on my way up the mountain that I'd never seen before. (I must have some major tunnel vision when I hike!) so I ended up taking one of these back. This trail took me past some HUGE houses off of Lincoln drive and I could hear a baby hawk of some sort crying for his momma :) I just couldn't find which saguaro he was hiding in!

So this is part of my attempt to lose some serious weight this year. I am still sore from my personal training session the other day, but have been at the gym every day since Monday. I've done several yoga classes, a step class, and a hip hop class (which was TONS of fun!). I haven't done much weight lifting because I'm waiting for our training sessions to really get underway so I can see what I'm supposed to be doing. Yoga has been very relaxing, and you'd be amazed at how much strength it takes to do some of these poses (and flexibility) and it is very easy to break a sweat in there!

I also found an awesome Calorie Counter app for my phone...it keeps track of what I eat (you can scan the barcode and it knows exactly what the product is and its nutritional value!) by fat, calories, carbs and protein. It then keeps track of what exercise I do for the day and how I burn calories, then totals everything to make sure I'm taking in less calories than I'm expending. There is also a weight chart that keeps track of your weight, and actually graphs it out for you. Has been a HUGE help!

Anyway, these are the pictures from today's hike:

My trail:

Downtown Phoenix in the overcast skies:


And Squaw Peak with one of my favorite trails in the right distance:


Go Colts!

(Don't get me started on how stupid it is that the ProBowl is the weekend before the Super Bowl....!!)

I'm Gonna Get Soooo Skinny

Today I marched right into LA Fitness, plunked down my debit card, and said "Make me skinny!" Okay, it didn't quite go that way, but I did go in, they did swipe my card, and I became a member. I have never been a member of any gym because the apartments I've lived in always had one. And for those of you who don't know me, after the big breakup 2 years ago, I dropped 15 pounds extremely fast from the reduced stress and my ability to remain on a treadmill longer than 15 minutes. That's also when I had started hiking again as well.

But then I moved to LA. And my apartment did not have a gym, but I did still hike. And while some of those were challenging, and I did go as much as 5 days a week, it was just maintaining me, and not helping me lose more, and in fact, I gained it all back about a year and a half later :( Sucks, because I was mega happy being so skinny!

But, I know how easy it was before, so it will be just as easy again.

So at 10:30 am, I walked out of LA Fitness a new member and walked back in at 5:30 for my first class. I did a step class, which also had some abdominal stuff for the last 10 minutes (which was awesome!!!)...but the step instructor sucked :( so I probably won't go back to hers. I putzed around on the treadmill for a little while, and 30 minutes later, went to my very first yoga class. Now, I've done yoga in the comfort of my own home and own half-dressed state and I always liked how calm and flexible I felt afterwards. But this instructor was great! And the other participants as well...I never expected to see so many MEN in this class...probably close to half. The instructor was very calm, and yet threw some jokes in there once in a while and a few things to try to challenge us with. I will DEFINTELY go back to her class again.

I also spent 2 hours lounging at Barnes & Noble this afternoon (secret joy!!) finishing The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien.

If you haven't read it, DO! Its sort of a collection of short stories about Vietnam, but every story has the same characters in it, and they are based on O'Brien's actual experiences in Vietnam, though it IS mostly fiction. It is a VERY fast and powerful read, and makes you feel like you were there...in invoked in me all the images of all the Vietnam movies (remember We Were Soldiers with Mel Gibson?! GREAT movie!). Now, I'm not a huge fan of war-related fiction, but I'm very glad I read this, and am interested in reading more of his stuff. My dad seems curious about it, so this copy is headed out to him. And what made this book distractingly better? The person that owned it before wrote all over it and made notes and circled and underlined things...until page 52. More than anything else, I want to know why she stopped......

And last but not least, I did finish the shrug. And, its too small. Which was another reason I went to LA Fitness. I figured if I drop this 15 pounds again real fast, I'll be able to wear it! Here it is with Tula before I finished sewing it all together:



And here is another picture sans Tula just before I added the ribbing around the collar:



When I get skinny again, I'll show that off...in my new completed shrug. :)