little of this and that

Ok.... I've been busy trying to have some fun, in between working and other adult responsibilities. :) I've been trying to do more photography, since I kinda didn't do any all summer. So here are a few pics for you to enjoy. I'm posting them here because some of you that stalk me know who they are, and maybe eventually I'll get them up on my other blog. (takenbytaryl.blogspot.com)
I also made a tinker bell cake for my friend's kid, Ivie, for her third birthday.
I've also planned a trip to go to San Diego for my birthday with my friend Ashley (picture below), and while we are there we will be running a half marathon. So I've also been busy training for that so I : A- don't die. B- Don't make an ass of myself. Fingers crossed. 

She's so silly. Love her!

My friend's kid, Miles. He just turned one. Ain't he cute?!

My cousin Kelly and her cute family. 

 This is Ashley.

My cousin is about to have a baby. Yay!

Across the Wellsville Mountains

Ok. I figure it's about time I post about my hike across the Wellsville Mountains. This will be my third hike THIS year to the top, but this time we went from end to end. It's something I've always wanted to do, and I can now finally say that I've done it. I went with a couple buddies of mine, Wes and Ryan, and their dogs. I wanted to bring Trigger and Cooper, but we were short on room for transport so I'll have to take them next year. We hiked Oct 27, which was almost perfect!  (we missed all the pretty colorful leaves) But weather-wise it was great! (and the very next day it was raining and snowing and miserable!) It was about a high of 60 in the valley that day, but VERY cold up top. It was a little chilly when we started, but we were quickly stripping layers once we got moving.

 

View from Providence bench that morning.

We hiked from left to right.

Me, Wes, and Ryan

with Bella, Tamer, and Sydney in tow

We started at Rattle Snake Trail Head in Sardine Canyon.

A view of Sardine from a small bench half way up Rattle Snake.

Wes played tour guide. Ryan played tourist. I played documentary photographer. :)

Looking south. Sardine Canyon.

Once on top, it was VERY cold, and VERY windy. We layered back up and

hunkered down behind a big tree for lunch.

The beauty of this bare tree.... leaves me speechless.

The range, looking south.

MADE IT!!!

Here I am, standing on a pile of rocks,

on top of the highest peak in the range,

Box Elder Peak.

 

Geological Survey Mark

 

 

... Because why wouldn't you take a selfie?

I nailed Ryan with this snowball. Haha!

We hiked through snow.

Another AWESOME tree.

We hiked on steep sides of the mountain....

... and on rocky slopes...

... and bare terrain...

 ... and thick brush...

 

 Another selfie. Just north of Stewart's Pass.

(CV behind me)

And now starting to head down.
 

 

We came down Deep Canyon

Once at the bottom, Julie and Marie were waiting for us with some refreshing beverages. Beers for the boys, (and since I don't like beer) a refreshing mix of OJ and Cranberry juice for me. I couldn't drink it fast enough!

I had a really cool video from the top, but it's so windy you can't hear what we are saying. If I can figure out how to filter that out, I will post it. Til then, just imagine you just saw an awesome video. :)

Here's a little summary of our trip. (using MapMyRide app)

• It took us just under 9 hours (that includes stopping for lunch, photo opps, etc)
• It was just over 12 miles.
• (according to the app) I burned 6300 calories! After looking at this elevation map I almost believe it.
• My body recovered surprisingly well... As long as I didn't go up or down stairs for a few days. Haha.

Happy Halloween!

I have developed quite an obsession with Wonder Woman (thanks to Julie), so it only seemed fitting to be her for Halloween. :)

 

(This was for a party) 

The WW costume I wore to school/work was a bit more appropriate for being around kiddos. 

(Me and Julie)

But I did have one of my first graders tell me "your skin is the wrong color to be Wonder Woman." After comparing me to my phone case... Haha! What do you think? 

Happy Halloween!

(One of these days maybe I'll get caught up on the blog, for those of you that have been harassing me about it. Haha)

Triathlon

So I've always wanted to do a triathlon, and this year I finally had the guts to sign up for one, with the help of a friend. It was called TriathaMOM. :) It was a women only event for ALL ability levels. (example: you can use a kick-board to swim if you need to) Which was good cuz I HATE running, and to be honest, SUCK at it. :) But swimming and biking I can do ALL day!

I didn't 'train' like I should have for this. Like, actual TRI TRAINING. So next year I will, and see how much better I actually do. But this year, I still finished in 1 hr 50 min. That is for 300 meter swim, 12 mile bike, and 3 mile run. And yes, after seeing my split times, running was my worst area by FAR.

Even though I was in pain after, and a little disappointed that I didn't drop ten pounds immediately like I felt I should have, I still had a blast and already looking forward to next year's.

Me and my friend Debi getting ready!

Julie, Ryan, Noah, and Jacob came to cheer me on. Best cheer squad EVER!

  
My cute sign that my two favorite boys made for me to cheer me on. (they call me Auntie Tay Tay :) )

 Transition 1, from swim to biking. Here I am trying to catch my breath while dripping wet!

 There was a lot of uphill on the bike course,  when I got off to run I couldn't feel my legs! haha

Here's me about to cross finish line. 

We felt we all deserved to be on the top podium!

 

 

 

The group of us. (the three on the right actually lived on my street growing up in Hyrum) 

Crash and Burn

Last weekend I took my big dogs, Cooper and Trigger, up to the canal (50 yds from my house) for some swimming and fetch. They love it, and we do it often. I usually run them up while driving my motorized scooter just cuz it gets them running faster. I can wear them out more easily, haha. (keep in mind, we do this often. Running alongside the scooter is NOT new to them.) On our way back home, Cooper decided to come attack my front tire! So, he tries biting it... he gets run over... I go DOWN... and slide on the gravel a good few feet. I was PISSED! So we went to the house to clean up. (by this time my friend Ashley was there and helping clean the rocks and dirt out of my wounds with baby wipes.) I was pretty beat up and mad, but then when I took a closer look at Cooper that's when I lost it. Haha. "oh Cooper... I'm SO sorry..." even though it was HIS fault, I couldn't help but feel bad when I saw the bad cut on his paw and shoulder. (He was fine though. He was wrestling with Trigger as if it never happened) A few days later, I went to the Dr. I had to get a tetanus shot :( and she believes I broke my toe, but since you can't really do much for a broken toe I didn't care to pay for an xray. My knee was SUPER swollen and could barely bend it, and as it turned out I also had some sort of infection UNDER my skin in the knee area. (can't remember what she called it... a big word... lol) So now I'm on a super antibiotic that I have to take 4 times a day that makes me feel like crap. Ugh.... At least it's only for 7 days.

Scars give character tho right? :)

Day of vs Day after 

Today

Sexy right? haha