Back to the winter grind

So far January has been great. It has snowed a little each week which keeps the inversion away. I have been able to play lots of basketball during the week and I have had fun Saturday adventures every week.

Last weekend Amber and I hiked up Rock Canyon to the campground, 3 miles from the parking lot, and then rode sleds down. last year we saw tons of people doing this and we knew we needed to try it. It was so fun!!! We laughed/giggled the entire way down. My face actually hurt from smiling so much:)

Today Shaanta, Becca White, and Rob White all came snowshoeing with me. They were all first timers and it was so fun. I loved it. The sun was so warm up the canyon and it was a beautiful day. We started at Tibble Fork and headed towards Silver Lake Reservoir. We didn't make it all the way but we had a good time. Hopefully I will be able to convince them to come again sometime!

 Moki always lives her best life on Saturdays.

 I am so blessed to be surrounded by so many great people.

I came home and took a two hour nap. That was also heavenly:) Luckily I still got my laundry, dishes, and shopping done. Motivation was definitely low after my nap!

Sam sent me the cutest pictures of Ms. Audrey this week. I adore this little girl.

 She loves life and she loves dogs.

I made it out to exercise in the morning 4 out of 5 days. That was way better than last week, the first week back after break (I was only 1 for 5.) On Friday there was a snow advisory but it was clear at 5:45 when I woke up so we went. Halfway in on our loop it started to snow like crazy. It was freezing, wet, and very windy. We survived. I am glad we went. I have really enjoyed walking three times a week with Amy Davis. She moves at the end of the month and I am so sad.

In other news Olivia broke her leg this week on a trampoline. Poor girl can't catch a break. Hopefully it won't mess with her chemo treatments. I am bummed for her. I talked to her this morning and she seemed like her spirits were good so that is important. I sure love that girl. Hopefully her leg heals quickly!

New Years Week

The week of New Years was awesome. I had basketball every morning and then I had an outdoor activity every single afternoon. It was AWESOME! I also got Christmas taken down and put away. I have lived in my house for 10 years, that seems crazy. I spent all of New Years Day going through every box that is under my house with storage in it. I eliminated 4 bins of stuff. That felt really great. Unfortuntately I still have too much junk in my home.

New Years Eve I hung out with Dan and Katie Ricord. Sam, Amanda and family joined us for dinner. Dan, Katie and I played games and had an enjoyable evening. I even survived until midnight. I was not planning on that happening. New Years Day is a basketball moratorium day so we could not have practice. That is why I was able to spend an entire day cleaning up Christmas. Finally in the evening Moki and I snuck away to hike the Y.

It had snowed most of the day so it took us 45 minutes to get to the top. That is usually enough time to do the entire hike. We were a little slow but it felt so good to be out in the fresh air.

Thursday afternoon Erica Hancock and I hiked up Battle Creek Falls. I wasn't super excited about the location because the hike to the falls is so short but I wanted to see Erica. In the end the hike was amazing. We went quite a ways above the falls and enjoyed the most beautiful sunset. It was an awesome afternoon turned to evening.

 Moki was having the time of her life. The recent snowfall made it magical.

 The falls were really cool in the snow.

 I was so happy when Erica wanted to go higher up. Then an amazing thing happened . . . . sunset! And the evening got more and more gorgeous as we continued to hike. It was so pretty.

 It was one of those evenings where it go more and more beautiful with every step. We got higher as well so we kept getting a better and better view. I took so many pictures.

 Now I know this is a great place to hike in the snow you just have to go higher that the falls.

Definitely one of the most beautiful snowshoeing experiences I have had.

Friday i had practice in the morning and then Jeneca and I went cross country skiing around her parents property. It was a loop that was a little over a mile. We did that twice. It was a lot of fun. I haven't been on cross country skiis for a while so I felt awkward and fell a couple times but it was fun. Moki loved this as well.

 It was a gorgeous day in Midway.

 I love that Jeneca and I have started doing things every once in awhile. It is so fun!

Saturday Amber and I hiked up Rock Canyon to the campground. That is a favorite close to home hike. It was a great ending to the best outdoor week I have had in a long time.

By the time Sunday rolled around I was so exhausted. I had played basketball and hiked almost everyday the previous week. I slept in and enjoyed a 10:30 start time and came home and took a nap. My body was wiped out.

The new semester at school started on Monday January 6th. That first week back to school was exhausting. I don't know if I was still worn down from all the activity the previous week or if jumping back into 12 hour days was just too much. I was very tired all week and so grateful I survived:)

The End of a Decade

I didn't really realize it was the end of a decade until everyone started talking about it. That is so crazy to me. My 30's have not been my favorite. That being said they have not been bad, just hard, and lots of really really good things. These 10 years I think I learned more than any other years that everyone is dealing with really hard things. Some people really hard things and sometimes you have no idea what people are going through. I have come to really not love social media and the time I waste on it.

I experienced the loss of someone I love so much, my dad. It was the hardest time in my life to date. He was sick for so long and nothing in my life has been harder than watching a strong man that I love grow old, practically overnight, and slowly over the course of 18 months die. It was AWFUL! I have also never felt so alone in my entire life. It was a very dark and hard time for me. I feel like it took me a good year and a half to start to climb out of the darkness that had accompanied me.

This last summer when Olivia was diagnosed with a brain tumor was 100% awful/terrible/nightmare. I cried and worried and stressed so much. It has been a very very hard thing. Luckily she seems to be responding well to the Chemo, but her life will never be the same. She has had to grow up so fast. She has had to see worry in the eyes of those she loves. She has to be so careful to ensure she stays healthy. She is handling it beautifully but man it is so hard to watch.

 I think it has also been really hard to still be single. The life I live looks absolutely nothing like the life I dreamed of as a child/teenager/young adult/adult. That has been so hard. My life is still really really good but finding a different path has been very challenging. Attending church in my 30's has been so hard. It is probably one of the hardest things I have done in my life. Showing up to church, sitting alone, doing my calling, because I know the church is true. It would be so easy to walk away but I can't deny what I know and what I have felt. So accepting callings and going to church still happens for me even though it is so HARD!

I still love my job but it is hard. I have been teaching for 14 and a half years. That is crazy. My job is awesome but doing the same job for so long comes with many challenges. I can see why my dad came home from work frustrated/angry/annoyed at times. I think I have been more insecure in my 30's about my teaching than in my 20's. It seems it is rare that I please people. Sometimes I feel like I am always under a microscope. That is so hard. Especially because I love the kids I work with and try to give so much. My 30's had some of my best teaching years and some of my hardest. Every year is different and with 10 years on the line there are 10 very different experiences. I gave up coaching track and started coaching cross country. I tried coaching basketball at the high school and realized that was way too much of a time commitment for me.

I really started to travel in my 30's. I would say that has been the highlight of my decade. Realizing that there is so much to see in this world and having the opportunity to explore some of it. I have been truly blessed to see so much this decade. This world we live in is an amazing place!

I became a dog owner. What the heck!!!!!!! I am not an animal person so it was very shocking when I started to feel like I should get a dog. Moki has been a great companion. It is hard to have a dog and often a big fat pain, but she really is great.

The best thing that happened in my 30's is that I became an aunt. I love love love being an aunt. I didn't know I could love those little monsters as much as I do. They seriously make my world go round. They bring more joy to my life than anything else. I am so grateful to each of them and I seriously love them so much. Hopefully this next decade will bring more nieces and nephews.

I think the things I really want to focus on this next decade are increasing my spiritual capacity. I feel like my 30's were more of a struggle in this area than my 20's. I want to work on losing weight I gained when my dad was sick. I know you gain weight as you age but I gained too much this decade. I need to be better at holding myself accountable. I want to move into an actual house. I love my town-home and it is perfect for me but I want a one level house that I can retire in. I want to love more and give more. I want to really try to remember to be a positive influence for all I come in contact with.

I am so grateful for the body I have been given. It is not perfect and I feel like I am aware of its every flaw, but my body is healthy and strong. It can do amazing things. I am thankful that I can still participate in activities I love and ones that keep me sane. The older I get the more I realize that a healthy strong body is truly a gift!

Finishing out 2019

The trip back to Utah was also uneventful. Let me tell you I was so happy to be back in my own bed. I slept so good Sunday night. I had to get up early Monday for basketball practice and I did not want to do it. I think I missed my bed the most.

Basketball practice was good but man my team looked so stinking slow. It is crazy what a week of no practice can do to you. I was proud of the girls for coming out during Christmas break this week. We have made some progress and I think we will be ready for our games when school starts back up.

We have done a lot of shooting and ball handling this week in practice.

Outside of practice I have tried to get things done in my house and enjoy the beautiful Utah outdoors.

Monday afternoon Toni Carlson and I hiked up Rock Canyon. The storm was still hanging around so it was very misty. The hiking and company were great!

Then on Tuesday after practice Hannah and I headed up and the Provo Canyon and hiked the Alpine Loop. I can not get enough of all the flocked trees!

 It really was such a beautiful day!

 It was New Years Eve. Hannah and I enjoyed lunch on our way home. I took a great nap before heading to Dan's to ring in the New Year. Sam and Amanda and crew were also at Dan's. We ate dinner and played games with the kids. Once the kids left Dan, Katie and I played games. It was a very low key New Years. Just how I like them. I can't believe 2019 is over. Time goes way too fast. I am glad I closed out the year with one of my favorite activities . . . hiking!

BROWN PARTY!

It was so nice to see all the Browns. Days where we all get together really make you feel the absence of my Dad. He would have loved to have been there with all his family and kids. He loved to visit and play games. I hate that he isn't here with us.

Janice and Lou reserved the scout hall in Willits for our party. It was awesome. There was plenty of room for everyone and it is located in a park. That meant the kids could run and play as much as they wanted. The weather was nice which was a bonus. We set up pickleball outside and had food and games inside. It was an awesome day!

 The ladies played their game of Hand and Foot

 The kids had a riot with the pinata

Katelyn and Emerson went to town with the gingerbread stuff. They enjoyed unsupervised time with lots of candy.

 I would say it was the perfect day. We had so much fun. The weather, the venue, the company were all perfect. I hadn't seen Ty, Allison and Autumn since they moved to New Hampshire, which was a few years ago. It was great to see them.

The only terrible thing that happened was soooooooo many people got sick. Monday on Facebook multiple family members said they had thrown up. It seems that people in my family must have still been carrying whatever Emerson had and passed it off to almost everyone. It was an awful ending to such a good party. Seriously the worst outcome. Thankfully as of today Olivia still hasn't gotten sick. She must remain healthy. I think it was a 24 hour thing for the most part but it is just a bummer that such a fun day had such a terrible twist. Love this Brown family of mine!

Lodi

We were all so excited to see Ben and Katie's family. None of us had seen them since Olivia was diagnosed with a brain tumor. It has been a long few months filled with anxiety and worry for that sweet girl. One of the rules was that we could not go to Ben's if we were sick. We really tried to follow that rule. Emerson had been sick and so Amanda kept him and Audrey at the rental house and missed out on Christmas dinner with everyone else. Luckily the rental we got was super close to Ben and Katie's house, only two blocks away. That was awesome. It was so easy to go back and forth. Ben and Katie made an amazing Christmas dinner. We visited and all enjoyed watching the cousins play. We also sang a bunch of Christmas songs which was really fun!

Ben, Katie, Aaron, Jacklyn and I stayed up visiting until after midnight. I was sooooo exhausted but it was so good to be with family!

Thursday we had the entire day to just hang out. Some people went to Sushi, others ran errands, I played with the kids. The weather in Lodi was perfect and it was a great day to be outside. Emerson was feeling better and so he joined in on the cousin fun. Ben's kids were so good to share all their Christmas toys with their cousins. The kids played hard all day long.

The littlest three did sidewalk chalk

 while the older three played basketball

 All the kids ended up with suckers at the same time:)

 It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed the outdoors.

We also walked over to the house we were renting because Ben and Katie's kids wanted to see it:)

It was a really nice day spent with family. We ended the evening with Katie making her delicious homemade pizza.

Friday we had breakfast at Ben's and played outside. I snapped a couple group shots of all the grand kids.

We only spent the morning in Lodi because we were headed to Willits for the Brown family reunion. Oliva and Katie were not coming because Olivia should not be around that many people.Dan and Ben decided they would drive over on Saturday. Mom and I took Braxton and Katelyn with us so they could have more cousin time. It was hard to say goodbye to Olivia. She headed off to Chemo as we left. I hate that this is her reality. We all sure love that girl!

The drive went great! We got to Willits just in time for pizza with the Browns. Luckily Janice had reserved a party room. We filled the room up and had a very enjoyable evening visiting while the kids ran around like maniacs!