If you would have asked me five years ago if I thought I'd ever be an avid skier, I would have said "Hell-to-the-no." I started skiing two years ago and this year I have been skiing so many times that I have jumped from a beginner to an intermediate-level skier. I never in a million years thought that I would ever ski any run that had a black anything associated with it. But last month as I was following Garrett down a run, he accidentally led me down the wrong route and we detoured through a black run, and I did just fine. Go me!

On Saturday, we decided it would be our last ski day of the season. Shortly after lunch, we were going down a green run at Snowbird, easy enough. Nearly at the bottom, we stopped for a minute because we realized we missed the turnoff to go down to a different lift. When I started skiing again, I must have caught an edge and literally tumbled. I have no idea what happened, I wasn't even going fast. I just fell. In the process of falling, I slightly tore my mcl. That's right, I killed my knee. I cried as I sat there for a few minutes because I was in so much pain. Two different medics stopped to ask if I was OK. I wasn't, but there was no way I was going down on a sled, so I said I just needed a few minutes. I thought I might be OK to keep going after taking a break, but as soon as I stood up to put my skis back on, I put weight on my leg and straightened only to feel several sharp pains shoot through my knee. I did put my skis back on and went down, but only because it would have been so much more painful to walk down than to ski down. We got to bottom and went home. I was so sad. Sad that we had to leave early, and sad about my knee.
Turns out while my mcl will probably heal without a problem as long as I take it easy and don't run or anything for few weeks, there is a chance that my meniscus could be wrecked. My doctor didn't know if the pain on the outside of my knee was associated with my noisy, crackly knees just bruised and compensating for my mcl or if it was truly injured from my fall. I'll find out in a few weeks when I go back to the docs.

On different good note, the Easter bunny brought me a baby!


My sweet sister and her husband welcomed their first child, a son, and fourth grandchild to our family on Saturday, March 30. I was shocked that she had him -- he arrived 18 days early! Ethan William was born with no complications, healthy, and weighing in at 7 lbs. 9 oz, and 20 inches long. He reminds me of an Eskimo and has the most delicious cheeks. If his disposition is anything like his parents', he will be calm and sweet. I already think he looks like his daddy, Nick, and he has dark thick hair, very much from our side of the family.
I can't wait to meet him. I am so happy that he is finally here. It makes me emotional to see him out in the world. What a beautiful thing.

 For Valentines day Garrett purchased two cooking classes for the both of us. The first one was at Harmons City Creek and it taught us how to cook with fresh herbs and different salts. It was taught by Chef Evan, a seasoned cook (get it?!) who tested us on our knowledge of salts from around the world and fresh cut herbs. We played a guessing game of sorts with the the ingredients and after each salt or herb he told us what types of recipes it's used in most frequently and the flavor profile for each.
It was so much fun to get formal instruction on cooking and we learned so much. Did you know there is a proper way to cut an onion? I didn't. But I learned how! An hour into the class, Chef Evan showed us how to make a simple meal of grilled chicken and vegetables with a savory red sauce. Because of time, he made the marinade and sauce that morning for us so when we were ready to break off into groups our chicken was set to grill, and all we had to do was prep the veggies and throw them in the oven. He had us grill the chicken to get a good crusty layer outside the chicken and then we finished it off in the oven. I will probably do this from now on because I it keeps it moist but has a grilled flavor. Garrett is usually our resident grill master anyway, so who am I kidding? I won't be doing that. Garrett will!

Garrett tossed the veggies and fresh herbs in olive oil.

Grill the chicken like normal for about 3 minutes each side, then throw it in the oven at 375ish for about 20 minutes. Use a thermometer to make sure it reaches 165 internal. To die for.

Also, who knew what an impact using fresh herbs in your cooking has on your food and meal? We used basil and rosemary in the veggie mix and the flavor was just so much better. I recently started growing fresh herbs in my terrarium just so that we can cook with them this summer.  

This was by far one of the best gifts I've ever received from Garrett. It was thoughtful and fun, and a good way to spend time with each other. As I write this, looking at this picture of us, one day I won't remember what it's like to cook for fun because I'll be forced to cook for my family. Just kidding. I love cooking, but so does Gar so he can do that for our family and I can do it for fun, right?

 In October, my nephew and I went to visit Nick and Naomi in California. They are expecting their first child, a son, this coming spring and we are all so excited! The weather was warm, even for October and we got in the ocean and even buried Orlando in the sand. My favorite part was Santa Cruz, I think I should live there.















In November, we went to visit Gar's dad and step mom in Tombstone and while the first big snow storm dumped over Utah, we enjoyed the beautiful Arizona weather and sunsets and filled our time with horseback riding and museums.









In December, I finished a small shelving project in the dining room and I've already used the skis I got for my birthday several times. I am now a new ski bum; no one would have ever guessed I would begin to love the snow because I look forward to playing in it.

We finished off the year with a lovely and long holiday break from work, even with an awful cold, that crept up on me. I have two resolutions this year, since last year I sadly, only accomplished one of the several I made (story of my life). I resolve to read more classics this year, and do my first triathlon or marathon. Go me.

One thing that has been weighing on my mind since mid December is the horrific shooting at an elementary school in Connecticut. I can't even begin to explain how angry and sad it made me. Obviously, I don't have children, but this even has had a deep and sobering effect on me. As I sat in our living room watching the news that day, crying and thinking, "I don't understand how this could have happened. The one place that you think would be safer than most, where you send your child to learn and play, the one place that is perhaps protected more than any other public place, and it was so easy." My emotions are beyond feelings of sadness; a fear that I have never paid any attention to has settled nicely in my mind, perhaps forever.
Here are some cute cats in my life to make everyone feel better.

Our last stop in Brazil was the Amazon. We flew into Manaus, a city built during the rubber boom, now the largest city anywhere near or on the Amazon. From there we took a boat ride 1 1/2 hours up the Rio Negro. The lodge we were staying at was remote, staff are there for four days at a time, and the nearest village is about a 25 minute boat ride away. It is the same area they filmed Season 6 of the reality show Survivor and the same lodge the crew stayed in. The lodge was made up of several tall round towers made of wood, built over the water, and surrounded by trees. There was a lot of wildlife, which I loved, of course. Within the first hour, I saw a gorgeous blue Macaw and dozens of monkeys that only wanted food from me, but were super cute anyway.













When we got there we were greeted with fish-scale necklaces, went to dinner (along with everyone else staying at the lodge), and got ready for our first activity, Cayman hunting! This was one of my favorite things the entire trip. We went out on the river in the pitch black of night, I couldn't help but stare straight up -- I have never seen the stars so clear and visible, it was so incredibly peaceful, even though you could barely see your hand in front of your face because it was so dark.
There were about a dozen of us in a small boat and we had to be silent the entire trip, so we wouldn't scare the alligators. Our guide used a bright spotlight to find the gators and the light would reflect off their eyes (kind of like a cat) making them temporarily blinded, which made it easy for one to catch it. Once our guide, Mike, found one that the boat could get close enough to, our driver, Tony, JUMPED IN THE RIVER. Actually no, he DOVE into the water head first. In the pitch black of night. Into water full of Caymans and Piranhas. And he came back up with a relatively small Cayman in his grip. It was awesome.
Our guide told us all about Caymans, this gator was about 7 years old and he weighed about 15 pounds. When Mike asked who wanted to hold it, I jumped out of my seat, I was so excited! Not scary one bit. Had it been any bigger, maybe it would have been scarier. Don't mind my super sunburned face...
We woke up at 4:30 a.m. the next day to go on a sunrise tour. I LOVED IT. We went out on the water in the dark and as we made our way out of the smaller canals (the Amazon has thousands of canals and tributaries that run in and out of it) and on to a larger part of the river, the sun was creeping up. Our guide was adamant about us being quiet because he said we'd see more wildlife. But I didn't mind and actually preferred it that way. I felt overwhelmingly at peace and in a way, like this is how life is suppose to be: no hustle and bustle, no worries about money, no pollution or drama, just me in this big world. These pictures don't do it justice, and I must admit that even taking pictures and hearing the small "click" of the shutter made me feel like I was missing out on really enjoying my surroundings.





















We also went to a two nearby villages and learned about how they collect, melt, and solidify rubber from the trees and how they make manjioc flour. The natives were not as indigenous as I had imagined they would be. There are still native tribes that live deep within regions of the rainforest who rely solely on the land and have never had contact with civilization, but obviously we weren't near those tribes and even if we were, we wouldn't have gone there.

 The villages we visited were quite developed, as they have electricity and several modern day amenities like cable, though they've only acquired these things within the last few decades or so. They do, however, eat off the land mostly and they are very much supported and protected by the government. I can't imagine what it would be like to live there, but we saw several young boys (about 12 years old or so) out fishing by themselves in small boats all over the different parts of the river. That is definitely something you don't see here very often.























            Also in my top three favorite activities was Piranha fishing. I was surprised that we didn't have to travel very far from the lodge to a good area for fishing, but I shouldn't have been surprised because the fish are everywhere in the river. I was the second person in the group to catch anything and I caught a total of three fish!  Garrett also caught two Piranhas. We used fishing line tied to a bamboo stick with raw beef on the hook, worked like a charm. We took the fish back to the lodge and they cooked all of our fish for dinner. Because the fish are small, they were very bony and not very flavorful. But it was still cool, anyhow.




My least favorite thing was swimming with the pink dolphins that live in the Amazon river. Since the Rio Negro and the upper region of the Amazon is highly acidic, it does not carry parasites like other parts of it, and I was assured that I would not get sick from getting in the water. However, since I'm not used to THAT water, if I purposely drank a glass of the it, I'd most likely get sick from it.

I was terrified of getting into dark water with all sorts of fish and wildlife in it. But I did it. I did not like it at all and I couldn't wait until they told us it was time to get out. It gave me anxiety and I was not prepared for the dolphins to swim up underneath me and touch me so they could come out of the water to get the fish the guide was holding. Garrett kept pushing me TOWARD the dolphins because he thought I was saying that I wanted to get closer to them. I was not saying that. I was saying, "This is scary. I can feel the fish. Oh my gosh, gross, what was that? I don't want get any closer." Plus the water was pretty swift, it was windy, and I kept feeling fish touch my feet and legs, and I could only see about three inches into the water because it was so dark. It was something I'd do once, but never again. Ok, maybe I'd do it again...

Also, I wasn't wearing my swimming suit, just a sports bra and bottoms, which made me kind of mad because I thought there would be a place to change on the dock, because that's what the guy told us. But whatever. The dolphins were not very pretty, but very friendly. I was also skeptical because I didn't want to participate if the dolphins were captive. They weren't. They are free and have learned to come around this certain dock during the day because they will get fed.
Here are more pics from our stay at Ariau:

Garrett in front of an empty tower. This year the lodge was flooded when the river rose and some of the buildings are no longer in use. That's similar to the tower we stayed in.

 We went on a walk around the whole property. It took us about an hour and we went to every single stop along the way. We saw lots of monkeys, birds, and even a snake! But no sloths :(


These gigantic trees (right) are native to the region, they are sacred to natives and protected by the government. I can't remember the name though.

Very green everywhere. I thought this marshy area was pretty. It was really hot. I mean, really, really hot.

 We also went hiking in the forest with our guide who pointed out all the plants and trees. I was really hoping to see a big cat or a sloth, but we didn't see one. He did, however, point out several plants that are used for medicinal purposes. The one below, supposedly cures Malaria. I know, right? Then why don't we use it to actually cure malaria? Well, the rainforest is protected, even more so than any area in the U.S. The Brazilians are very careful about who is able to study and take things out of the rainforest. You must go through a huge process, and follow many stipulations if you want to study there, which makes it very difficult to take anything out. I don't know if that plant actually cures anything, but it makes sense. Native people have never had hospitals or doctors, they live off the advice the local medicine man gives them. They have an herb or plant for everything, and that is all they have ever needed. So there you go!
After our stay in the Jungle we went out to the meeting of the rivers and a tour of Manaus. The meeting of the rivers is where the Rio Negro and the Rio Solimoes meet. The Rio Negro is black, and the Solimoes a pasty brown. They are so big and powerful that they run side  by side for several miles before actually mixing. The two rivers together make up the Amazon river.

The opera house has some of the best acoustics in the whole world.

If you ever have the chance to go to the Amazon, do it. It was my favorite place I've ever traveled to, so far. We will be back someday, for sure.