Another summer come and gone...

This is a quick post for me to celebrate just a few of the fun things I did at work this summer. I run in circles during the summer keeping the kiddos entertained, so I am a big fan of the whole "Back to School" season. It gives me a chance to breathe again. (Sorry teacher friends).

Every Wednesday I took 2-4 teens up to Snowbird to work with the instructors from Wasatch Adaptive Sports and enjoy their summer activities-everything from fishing, the tram, Alpine slide, zipline, and a hike to Hidden Peak a time or two.


On another fun activity one night, a co-worker and I took a small group of teens to Hike Donuts Falls. It's a simple hike, with a fun waterfall, and beautiful flowers along the way.
We weren't expecting much excitement, until one of the girls said, "Hey Tiff, is that a reindeer?" HUH??? I have never experience automatic mother instinct protective mode until I spotted not one, but two full grown bull moose in the brush off the trail about 10 feet from us. We huddled the kids quickly into a cluster of trees and my heart was pounding. "Moose defense" was not in my Recreation therapist training. Holy smokes! Here's a picture, but it's not very good and I didn't dare risk startling the moose by the flash going off again for another.

After about 15 minutes, we decided to risk it and just move along slowly and quietly. Whew!

In other adventures, I also took two different groups of teens canoeing on the Jordan River. It's not known to be the cleanest river in the state, but it wasn't the worst either. Trip #1 had a couple of canoes tip--a couple of times. (Not mine though) and trip #2- no one tipped at all. We had a great time.

So I salute you work Summer 2010..... it was great doing business with you! (And now to get the winter activities ready to go)... *Insert giant sigh*

Out of my comfort zone

I wouldn't consider myself a total chicken or anything, but I'm also no daredevil. I like my life a lot. There are just some things that make me super nervous and anxious when I think about the "what ifs" attached to so many of them, so I'm not a risk taker. (..and I'm not just talking about relationships-thank you).

I can't be the only person out there who cringes at the thought of doing some things that others would consider very basic in life. For example: I HATE flying. I can hear you now..."Tiffanie hates flying?! WHHATTT? She's on an airplane all the time." I know, right?! It's ridiculous. I know - but seriously, I HATE flying, especially take off. But that is just one example.

Well, I have no idea how or why-but lately I have been doing some crazy things that are TOTALLY out of my comfort zone. I haven't had a goal or bucket list or anything to make myself do this stuff...it's just sort of happened...although I should probably acknowledge it hasn't been just randomness on my own. It seems like every social activity lately has revolved around me making a choice to either be lame, afraid and left out, or to be brave, take a risk and enjoy the ride. I've definitely been grateful for one of my long-time bestest friends, Brad, who is always somehow involved and his hilarious ability to somehow get me to do this stuff. He always knows just perfectly how far to push me in it all, and yet not make me mad in the process. Good times.

(He was building this car wall as we were getting ready to leave for Idaho. This "stay on your side" picture totally makes me laugh.)

So here are some of my crazy activities from the past week or so and why it's a big deal for me:
#1 *Lava Hot Springs, Idaho- I jumped from Platforms 2 and 3, (plunging from 32 feet) with Brad and Devin. Why?! I'm insane.

THE BIG DEAL: I'm totally afraid of heights.

(I have a video of us, but I have no idea how to put it on here. I keep trying and it won't work. Sorry. I've never added a video to a blogpost before)

#2 I held a dog on my lap for a 2 hour car ride back to Salt Lake City.

THE BIG DEAL: I'M AFRAID OF DOGS and don't particularly like animals. Now before you call PETA, let me explain. I have a friend named Devin. He also is my home teacher. He has a dog (Boston Terrier) named Bauer and he likes to bring Bauer on lots of activities. I like Bauer. I really do! My brother, Jonathan, and his wife, Cassie have a Boston Terrier (Alfie) so I have positive feelings toward that particular breed, but I REALLY don't like touching animals...especially dogs. It sounds mean and heartless and cruel, i know, but something about their hair and slobber and blah. I had a dog my entire childhood. I loved her. She doesn't count-because she was my dog. Does that make sense? I am especially terrified of big dogs. I'm a small person, so if a dog fills my entire lap-it's just simply too big. I was actually bit on my back by a dog when I was about 9 yrs old at a baseball park. I think that's where a lot of the fear probably stems from--psychologically. About a month ago, Brad witnessed me being playfully attacked by a very hyper golden retriever at his sister's house. I admit it was probably one of the funniest things he (and the whole neighborhood had ever seen), but I, personally, wasn't laughing at the time.


#3 Picking up two hitchhikers on our way back to SLC from Lava Hot Springs, ID
(Amelia & "Mumbles").

THE BIG DEAL: I DON'T TRUST PEOPLE AND I DEFINITELY DON'T PICK UP STRANGERS!!

Mumbles' real name is "Baraka Noel,"...so it ends up that Devin, Brad and I were actually in the presence of a "famous" musician-or something. If you actually click on the link, I am not responsible for the lyrical content of his myspace page. They were totally granola. It was awesome--They started "on tour" in St. Paul, MN and were bumming rides from people to get back home to San Fransisco (of course). Amelia and Mumbles had decided to get married a couple days before at a rest stop (They looked at each other, said I love you and decided they were married)....Ha! if it were only so simple, right?!...and then they decided they would go to Yellowstone for their "honeymoon." Originally they had made some arrangements with a guy on craigslist for a ride. It didn't work out. Mumbles wrote a haiku about it- "Would you like me to share it with you?" (WE ALL SAID YES TOO)... ok here it is:

"To the Craigslist driver who almost murdered my wife on the day of our wedding................."

Yep. That was it. Alrighty then. They were totally nice. It was a beyond unique experience and I got to be the one to sit in the backseat with them. (which was totally fine-just totally out of my comfort zone). See the picture of me with Bauer...you can also see part of Mumbles' arm.

#4 Night hike to the top of Mt. Timpanogos.

THE BIG DEAL: I'm too old to pull an all nighter anymore and remember how I'm afraid of heights?!

I did it. Well kinda. A group of 20 of us started the hike at about 12:30am. We hiked all through the night (with all of the headlamps along the trail, it looked like a candlelight vigil. It was very cool) and we reached the top at about 5:30am. I didn't join the group who scrambled straight up the last mile to the summit. I stayed completely content and satisfied there at the saddle of the mountain to watch the sunrise. It was AWESOME! I'm glad I did it, but I was also very happy to get down. The whole 15 miles took about 10 hours.






#5 I gladly and without hesitation nibbled yummy bites of food, shared utensils and ate straight off the plates of 5 of my lovely lady friends last night. It was magical!

THE BIG DEAL: I am a germophobe like you wouldn't believe when it comes to people touching my food or sharing drinks, etc. If I'm not kissing you, then I should not be exchanging any form of spit with you. End of story. (and kissing actually grosses me out on many levels as well...but you kinda work to get over it-ya know...well... or so I'm told when you actually like the guy-but THAT'S another story) ok...back to the miracle meal:

These lovely lady friends of mine came up with the title "Manbattical" for our evening. It was just us girls. We went to an amazing restaurant called "Sea Salt." I actually FELT like I was in Italy again, right here in SLC. The only rule for the night---eat whatever you want. It was AMAZING! I think I especially enjoyed the fact that there was no talk about guys, no man-bashing, no man-hating, no relationship complaints, no whining, just 100% a night out to celebrate being wonderful women.

It was fantastic! And after we all had ALREADY ordered desserts (the best gelatos EVER) and the waitress brought out this chocolate yumminess "just cuz"... we may or may not have squealed in delight! (or maybe that was just me squealing).

Going out of my comfort zone lately has definitely had its benefits...Who knows what's next for me...maybe that whole kissing thing again.... *shudder* (baby steps)

Summertime visits from "the fam"

As I mentioned previously, my Mom came to visit in May. That was an unusual occurrence in and of itself. In all of my years of living in Utah-the only time my family ever came to visit was for my BYU graduation in 2005 and 2 of my brothers’ weddings in 2004 and 2008. In the weeks just following my Mom’s visit, I had a slew of visits from everyone in the family. (well, except Dad, but I got to see him the weekend after my annual trip to the Nauvoo pageant…details to come).

I was able to see Kevin & Amy, who came up from Las Vegas while my Mom was here for Amy’s baby shower. (This is a picture of them now with their new baby, Isaac-born July 22nd).

A couple of weeks later, James & Krista popped in on their way back to California after James’ Ironman in Coeur-d’Alene, Idaho. Lily and Iris stayed at my house, while everyone else stayed with some family friends. I took the day off work and we all hiked Timpanogos Cave together. So cool!

A few days after that, Martin & Breckann were in town from Kansas for her family’s reunion. We celebrated my nephew, Davin’s, first birthday while they were here. I swear he is the cutest kid ever.

Jonathan and Cassie were in town from Kansas a few weeks later to visit her family and for Jonathan’s mission reunion. It was really good to spend time with them! They are in the process of moving to Philadelphia, PA so I won’t get to see them when I go home anymore.

I love my family. They are the coolest people. We always have so much fun together and I’m really grateful for the awesome relationship I have with every single one of them. I consider myself so lucky to have them in my life!

June flashback

A group of people from my ward and such got together at the end of June for a weekend rafting excursion on the Snake River in Jackson Hole, WY. One of the guys owns his own raft, so he makes an annual trip out of the whole sha-bang. Because it was so early in the season, the water was still pretty high (and cold) so we delighted in the idea of wetsuit rentals.
I was really grateful Cassie and Stacey accepted the invite to come along. It was nice to spend time together. My co-worker Kelly joined us as well. We drove together, camped together, rafted together and pretty much chilled just the 4 of us together the whole time.
I had been placed on “make breakfast duty.” Actually, I somehow had a moment of weakness and volunteered to do it before we all left. Little did I know it would include; menu-making, grocery shopping, preparing everything, waking up way too early and cooking everything all on my own for 20 people. Argh! But everyone said it was super yummy, so that at least made my heart smile. (Thanks to Kasey for lending us her dutch ovens and for her cooking tips and helpful hint of using an oven bag to avoid a messy clean-up).


Scones, biscuits & gravy, bagels, and Mountain Man meal: (eggs, bacon, onions & potatoes)

The river was great! The rapids were just enough to get my heart racing, but not so much to lead to an anxiety attack.

We all went into Jackson for dinner that night and overall just had a great trip!

My first triathlon June 5, 2010

I really thought I had written about this. Maybe when I posted all of the race pictures on facebook, it made me feel like I had “documented” my first triathlon experience.

Well here’s the report. At the beginning of June, I flew to Sacramento, CA to join two of my nieces for our first “Tri-for Fun.” Holly and I did the triathlon (swim ½ mile, bike 16miles, run 3 miles) and Lily did the duathlon (run 3 miles, bike 16 miles, run another 3 miles).

I admit I was a bit freaked out and anxious going into it, but I’m lucky to have a brother who coached me every step of the way. As most of my dedicated blog readers will remember; my oldest brother, James is an “Ironman.” He does these races all the time. It was fun to switch roles, with me as the athlete and James, as the spectator/cheerleader.

The swim was my favorite part, which surprised me considering it was what I thought would be my weakest event. It was really fun! I may or may not have lied about my age by a year so Holly and I would be able to start in the same wave. (Not a big deal, right? After all- it was just for fun anyway).

Off to transition for the 16 mile bike:

The whole race was really exciting and I loved having my other 2 nieces (Jasmine & Iris) and my sister-in-law, Krista along the course with cowbells and smiles to cheer us on.

James helped us set up our transitions, took pictures, and actually came out to run with us on the run course to keep us going. (which ended up being the most challenging part for me). Holly and I stuck together for most of the swim & bike, but I passed her on the run. (Then again, she chose to walk most of the time, so it’s not like I was going fast by any means.)

I was able to catch up to Lily and run with her for awhile.

Crossing the finish line was an awesome feeling!

I did the whole thing in 2hrs, 5 mins, 5 seconds. Not too bad for having a goal of 2 hours. And considering it's my first attempt-I'll take it! I'll break it next time, for sure!

Thanks to James for all his help, and thanks to Holly who invited me to join the fun! Go Team Player Girls! (AKA: “Finishers”)