Beautiful Zion

Thankfully the Fourth of July was on a Friday this year, which meant that we could make it a lovely long weekend. Spencer and I decided to take advantage of the family condo in St. George and camp out there for the weekend. Our time included an incredible and terrifying hike up Angel's Landing, a jaunt up the Virgin River, hiking up a tall red butte to watch fireworks from the top, and an indulgent day of staying inside with AC and all the cable we could watch.

Begin to Hope

It happens with every day-before-a-holiday. I come to work, like everyone else, with a glimmer of hope that somewhere along the course of the day, an email will land in my inbox that announces, "Our offices will be closing at 3 pm today." As the day goes on, and the email doesn't come, the hope diminishes but doesn't quite vanish until we hit about 4:30 and I know I'm a hopeless case.

I don't know why I even start to hope anymore. Maybe because that email has arrived in every other company inbox I've ever had. Even the one I had in hardcore, ruthless New York City.

-Regina Spektor-

Bicycle

For months and months I've been planning on riding my bike to work both as a quest in fitness and surefire way to save a little cash. With gas going up, oh, five cents or so every few days, it only seemed appropriate to do what I could to save our little family some moola. For those who might be wondering, this has nothing to do with the environment. Sure, I believe in being good to the planet... but all of this pop-culture-eco-friendly-going-green garbage drives me insane. Just to set the record straight.

Last Thursday I rode my bike to work for the first time. It's about eleven miles, and I figured out that one ride to work right now saves me about $1.36. If I ride my bike to work and home, I save double that. This means it will take me about 17 bike rides (to and from) to save an entire tank of gas. So that's my goal for the summer. One tank of gas. That could be $43.72... or it could be a lot more...

-Queen-

Through The Dark

(running up the pass near Jordanelle Reservoir)

Last weekend at this time I was running. In the heat of the day, and the dark of the night, and the early of the morn, I was running! My team (The Racing Hormones) had a great time running 180.5 miles from Logan to Park City. We did it in just over 30 hours. Everyone did their best and was severely sleep-deprived by the end, but it was a wonderful experience.

(At the starting line)

One of my favorite things about the race was to watch Spencer run and support all of our teammates. He is such an example to me of selflessness and compassion to all people. As a self-supported race, our "van" (a rented Ford Expedition) would leapfrog each runner and stop every mile or two to douse with water, hydrate with gatorade, and provide support, pain reliever, hugs/high fives, etc. Most of us took breaks from getting out to "support" the runner because we had either just run, were tired, sleeping, lazy, cranky, or sitting in the very back of the car. But I'm pretty sure Spencer was out of the van at every mile of the entire course, whether he was driving or not... gatorade and water in hand. He even ran my toughest hills with me (though he had 16+ miles of his own to run). I'm a very lucky girl.(The Racing Hormones)

(The first Spencer-Mandy exchange)

(a country road near Paradise, UT)

(near Snow Basin as night starts to fall)

(Spencer dousing Mandy)

(Sweet Victory)

-KT Tunstall-

If It's The Beaches

So, Hawaii.... If you've never been, just know it's as good as you imagine. Maybe better. For our honeymoon, Spencer and I went to Kauai and Maui. Kauai was my fave. Maui was like the Disneyland of Hawaii -- a little more contrived and artificial. Don't get me wrong, it was still amazing, just held a different appeal. In Kauai, everything is as I like it best... au naturale. Especially on the west side of the island where we stayed.We stayed at this very cool bed and breakfast called the Hale Puka'Ana. I'd totally recommend it to anyone. It's across the street from the longest sand beach in the state of Hawaii... which also seems to be one of the least popular. Which makes it really fantastic.
Here's that beach.
And the ocean. It's warm.
We went on a cruise of the NaPali Coast - probably one of the most beautiful places on earth. We took about 783 photos of it, but none of them do it justice. But this was us on the boat.
In Kauai you can hike to cool secret places like this cool place called Secret Beach. It was amazing.
And if you go to Hawaii and don't have shaved ice at least once a day, why did you go to Hawaii? Jo Jo's is the best.Kayaking was my fave.
Especially because we kayaked to this amazingly amazing and secret rope swing where we swung and swung until we couldn't hold on anymore.
On our last night we drove over to Waimea Canyon and watched the sunset from the land-side of the NaPali Coast. It was so beautiful.In Maui we mostly just sat on the beach. And read. And relaxed. And swam. It was super relaxing.
This is our "official" honeymoon photo.
And an un-doctored photo of a Maui sunset is a must, no?
-The Avett Brothers-

Giving Up

I've always been inspired by disciplined people. People that run five miles every day, or get up at 5:00 to go to the gym, or don't eat any processed foods, or never set foot in Wal-Mart. People have all sorts of reasons and motives for the things they are disciplined about and I always find myself wanting to be a little more like that. Now, I'd like to think that I have a reasonable amount of discipline -- I gave up soda for 18 months (I started this one again at the beginning of the month) and I went an entire 4 weeks without refined sugar. But lately I've been feeling like I need to reign in the natural (wo)man and show myself that I can be disciplined and that when I am, my quality of life improves.

So I'm leaving this one up to you... or at least seeking your advice. What should I do (or not do) and for how long? What have you given up or been disciplined about that has improved your life? Ah, I'm so curious. Please comment below. :)

-Ingrid Michaelson-

Tonight I Have to Leave It

On our honeymoon in Hawaii (which I'll blog about a little later) we found this great little place to eat in Maui called the Honolua Store. It's right across from the Ritz in Kapalua -- an unlikely location for the cheapest eats on the island! We went there a few times for burgers and philly's (the honeymoon was an anything goes sort of mentality as far as diet went) and on our last meal before heading to the airport we completely indulged ourselves in this delectable chocolate cake. Really, it was quite amazing. We ate and ate and I told Spencer I thought we should save some for the flight home. Reluctantly he consented and we were on our way. We drove to the rental car place, got into the shuttle for the airport and then we both realized we were missing a very important piece of luggage -- the box with the cake in it! I remembered that I left it on top of the car when I pulled our suitcases out. I think he still secretly holds it against me... But you would too if I left a huge chunk of the best cake ever in Hawaii. I know I would.

Run

Here's a little video about what I'll be doing a week from today (and tomorrow).


-Snow Patrol-

Grazed Knees

On Monday I had a little accident. I fell off my bike. Bruised, scraped, road rashed and with moderately bruised confidence, I think the worst part was pouring the hydrogen peroxide on my wounds and letting it soak in and bubble up. Spencer was there to hold my hand. And to remind me that no matter how much this hurt, it would be nothing compared to child birth. I had to laugh. I'm so glad he's in my life.

And no. I'm not pregnant.

-Snow Patrol-

Blessed

On May 16, 2008 Spencer and I got married! Despite all of the bumps in the road leading up to it, the actual day was perfect. The weather, the ceremony, the friends, family, and everyone who showed up to support us, the food, the candy, the cake, the flowers, the kids, the music... I couldn't have asked for a more perfect wedding day. The photographer is still editing our many photos that we have yet to see, but friends and family have provided some images to whet the appetite.
-Brett Dennen-

Come Pick Me Up

I've been realizing that my blog has become a complaint forum for me lately and I'd like to change that.

Lots of happy big and small things have happened lately that may or may not be worthy of sharing. Also, my poor neglected blog needs a little update! On my roommate blog we would call a post like this "Things from Recent Life." Here goes.

1. Things for the wedding are coming together quite nicely! There have been many a bump along the way, but everything so far has been pulled together beautifully - whether it was Plan A, B, or C. I'm getting to the point where there's not much left to think about. Phew.

2. I moved a bunch of my stuff over to Spencer's house last night. It's bittersweet to leave my home on Sherman Ave. Obviously I'm excited for the changes in life that are ahead, but I will certainly miss my little home, the garden, the yard, the porch swing, the neighborhood runs, and especially seeing my dear roommates every day.

3. I am so happy that Spencer and I go running together at least once a week. It seems like running is the human version of defragging your system. Moving and breathing do wonders for the soul.

4. I love Thursdays! Have I ever mentioned that? They are definitely my favorite, and have been for years. Fridays are so overrated, and I'm usually just tired from a long week (and probably because I was living it up on Thursday). But honestly, Thursdays... so good. The only television worth watching usually happens on Thursdays (The Office), Spencer and I go running on Thursdays, and tonight we're barbecuing! I like to pretend that I can stay up late on Thursdays and play because Fridays are a day of little consequence. That may or may not be true.

5. In two weeks I'll be in Hawaii. Ha!

6. I got my tooth all fixed up on Monday and found a really good dentist that I think I'll stick with.

7. Next week I'm working two half days and then I'm not coming back until June. This will be the biggest break I've had since my early days of high school summers. Maybe before that.

8. Spencer and I are planning on biking the Oregon Coast in August. If you know of any good places to stay or camp, let me know.

-Ryan Adams-

Tiny Little Fractures

right now I'm wondering

• why it's snowing in May
• why I couldn't sleep last night
• why half of my tooth came out while I was flossing this morning
• why I don't have a dentist

-Snow Patrol-

Fall Apart Again

So, I know I shouldn't expect to pull off some major event like a wedding without a few glitches, but seriously... I think I've had more than my fair share of bumps in the road. Things work out in the end, but come on! First with the dress being like 6 sizes too big, then with our honeymoon airline going bankrupt and completely halting service, and now with our printer shorting us 1/3 of our invitations. (Of course, we had to discover this one two days before they were supposed to go in the mail...) Hopefully this means that our dues are paid and the actual day will come off without a hitch. Needless to say, I'm starting to think that eloping is not such a bad idea.

-Brandi Carlile-

Working To Work

So, lately I've been getting pretty excited about Spencer's (soon our) condo as a new project. I've scoured craigslist on a daily basis, memorized the Ikea catalog, and become familiar with Target's vast furniture line (who knew, right?). As per usual, I've also found inspiration from sources that are a little bit out of the budget for now (i.e. Pottery Barn) and the blogs and magazines that I try to keep up on regularly like Apartment Therapy and ReadyMade Magazine.

As I see it, our new abode's most important purpose is to feel like home. But then there's also an element of function that somehow needs to permeate what I now dream of as our tranquil and serene escape from the world. With one bedroom, this is somewhat of a challenge. Combining our sanctuary of a bedroom with a workspace, and somehow finding a place to store a bicycle while maintaining it in an easily accessible place (so as not to discourage riding it) with no garage is another challenge. Any ideas about either of these would be much appreciated.

There maybe hope for the workspace in the bedroom idea though. I can't quite remember how the closet situation is configured, but I think that there are two. Which means, that something like this just might work.
Wouldn't that be fab? Just take off the closet doors, hang a curtain and some shelves and voila! This not only saves space, but it puts the workspace out of sight whenever it needs to be. We could even put a filing cabinet on the floor. I guess the only question is, where do we put our clothes?

-Field Music-

Everything In Its Right Place

I realize I've used this song title like 18 times, but it's such a great song. Seriously. So great.
Anyway... in recent weeks, I've become obsessed with the idea of having a cute hutch/buffet in our dining area. Spencer's house - ahem - our (soon-to-be) house has a small kitchen, and not a lot of storage space. So, in an effort to create more storage and display my awesomely cute dishes, I've decided that we need a hutch. Whether or not we actually get one is another issue. Maybe it's one of those purchases I can squeeze into pre-married life so there's no debate about it.... We'll see.

I started writing this about a week ago, and have since found a hutch! Spencer and I are going to pick it up tonight. I found it on craigslist for $70 and it will be a great little project. It's got 3 shelves, three drawers and two cabinets on the bottom. It'll be perfect to hold linens and kitchen gadgets and display dishes. I'm hoping to refinish it and possibly paint it red or white. Yay!

-Radiohead-

Rain

Praise the spells and bless the charms,
I found April in my arms.
April golden, April cloudy,
Gracious, cruel, tender, rowdy;
April soft in flowered languor,
April cold with sudden anger,
Ever changing, ever true --
I love April, I love you.

Poem By OGDEN NASH (1902 - 1971)

-Bishop Allen-