Porto Covo to Vila Nova de Milfontes

 For spring break Amber and I headed to Portugal to hike the Fishermans Trail or the Rota Vicentina. We had plane tickets to go in 2020 but we all know how badly that ended. We were excited to finally get our chance to visit Portugal. It did not disappoint! 

We flew out Friday morning and the drama to get there started right away. Our flight to Amsterdam was delayed due to weather, which meant we would miss our connecting flight to Portugal, which meant we would miss the bus to Porto Covo, which meant we would not have accommodations the first night in Lisbon. It was stressful for a hot minute! Luckily we had lots of time in the Houston airport to rearrange all our plans. We only ate the cost of one hotel. We got everything figured out before we left for Amsterdam. The major bummer was the 8 hour lay over we had in Amsterdam. Way too long. But we survived. We ended up flying into Lisbon and staying the night in Lisbon. We woke up early the next morning, Sunday in Portugal, caught the bus to Porto Covo and just started our hike. After being stressed and traveling for so long it was great to be on the coast and finally hiking. It was a gorgeous day!

 It was a bummer we didn't get to explore Porto Covo but what do you do.

We followed these cute little signs the entire trip. The path was very well marked.

Once we started hiking I felt great. All the stress and worry melted away. The sights were amazing. the sunshine felt so good. The beach, hiking and sunshine is a great combination for success!

The sandy beaches in Portugal were amazing. The best sand ever. No rocks or other ocean debris, just sand.

The trail alternated between the beach and the cliffs above the beach. I loved all the terrain.

This first day we did almost all of our walking in the sand. That can be discouraging. Luckily the views made up for it. We walked 12 miles to get to our destination for the night. We stayed in the nicest bed and breakfast. The small town was very cute and we had the best pizza for dinner.

Our hotel had the cutest lemon tree in the courtyard.

I thought the architecture was so cool in Portugal. I loved the white houses with the vibrant trim.

The first day was a success. It was great to be on the trail. Our luggage was dropped off at the right place. We found our hotel. We had yummy food. We located a grocery store for the next morning. The shower was amazing. It was a great start to our trip!

Random Things

 Jacklyn sends me pictures of Tyla and they are my favorite. She gets cuter and cuter every time I see a picture. I wish I could see her more often.

Erica and I snuck in a couple hikes to the G after basketball ended.

Erica bought some yummy cupcakes to celebrate my birthday. She is so good at celebrating birthdays!

I snapped this picture of the sunrise one morning as I got to work. So beautiful!

Sam and Amanda's kids came for a sleepover. We watched a movie, used my hot tub and swam at the rec center. Both Audrey and Emerson did not want to go home so that was a good sign.

 

 My cousin Muriel was in town for a family wedding shower. We always say we should hike together. We finally did. It was great!

February Vacation

 After basketball ended I took some days off of work and went to California. I had coached two sports and was physically and emotionally exhausted. It was so fun to leave for a week and get a reset to finish off the year. I went to Aaron and Jacklyn's. We really just hung out and played lots of games but it wasn't work so I was happy.

The Sunday I was there my grandma Brown happened to be in Redding so we drove over to see her. She will be 92 this year. She looks so good!

Tyla is at the best stage. She let's everyone dote on her and is just generally a very happy baby. Gosh I love her. It was so fun to spend so much time with her.

 

 My camera roll was filled with pictures of this cute girl. I love that Aaron and Jacklyn live so close to so many beautiful outside places. We did get out and enjoy the beauty everyday as well. The weather was still pretty chilly but we bundled up and made the best of it!

My favorite picture I took that doesn't involve Tyla was on one of our walks the morning after it snowed. The trees are magical on this one portion of the loop we walked most days.

Nancy came to California with me. It was really nice. I was grateful for the company. My mom came over the first weekend so we got to see her. We went to Redding and saw Virginia and family, Jan and Lou, as well as grandma. It was a nice get away.

Basketball Season

 Before basketball started I was already feeling exhausted. I was seriously questioning if I should coach. At the time I started having these feelings it was a little late to back out. I am glad I went through with it. I had the best girls on my team this year. They worked so hard. We didn't win a game until almost February but they continually improved and we got 4 wins. It was so fun to watch them all progress this year. Coaching is hard, tiring, and emotional but it is also so many good things. 

In our last regular season game we beat our rivals Orem Junior. My team played so well. It was an amazing way to end the season.

These girls really were great. I am excited to cheer them on in the things they do the next few years!

January

 January is always a hard month. It is hard to go back to work after Christmas break. It's hard because it is still dark in the mornings and evenings when I am driving to and from work. It is hard because it is FREEZING! It is hard because basketball season is still happening and I am tired. All the things make it hard. I do look forward for the opportunity to get outside on the weekends. Amber and I have hiked up Rock Canyon every weekend so far. It has been great. Anthony even joined us last Saturday.

Covid cases are really high again and so school shut down Friday and Tuesday to give everyone five days off in a row, school was already closed Monday for Martin Luther King Day. It was nice to catch up on rest and housework. I was even able to schedule a temple trip which was awesome. Friday during the day I hiked up Slate Canyon with Moki. I saw a crazy paw print on the trail.

The canyon has bears and cougars. This one looks cougarish. YIKES!

Anthony is good about making sure we always take a picture. Here we are at the Rock Canyon lookout. Amber and I hike every week and never take pictures, we should be better about it:)

We hiked 6 miles. They aren't super steep but we hike fast and so it is always a great workout.

After I was taking a nap and then Erica texted and wanted to hike. We met up and hiked the G with Moki and her new dog Archie. It was awesome. I was super tired after two hikes. It makes me feel my age when I do things like that. We hiked as the sun was setting. It was beautiful. There was a huge herd of deer grazing up by the G so that was fun to see, although it did make it so I had to keep Moki on a leash. The dogs did great and it was good to see Erica.

Tomorrow I am back at school as normal. Hopefully we will have less absences and start to get into a rhythm with this new semester. 

That's a Wrap on 2021

2021 . . . . the year we all hoped everything would start to resemble "normal" again. I feel like hope is like going on a very long trek. There are so many ups and downs. You have to have hope along the entire journey. I wanted to be hopeful in 2021. Lots of good things happened but it was also a very hard year. Professionally the start of the 2021-2022 school year has been my hardest year teaching. There have been so many things to figure out, respect for teachers is at an all time low, students don't seem to care about school, parents are less involved. COVID is still very REAL! It has been really hard. I am not sure what to do or how to change anything I just know my job has seemed so HARD and I am exhausted.

I did get to travel some this year. Trips to Ecuador and Africa. Ecuador was absolutely amazing and made for such a fun spring break. To finally cross Kilimanjaro off my bucket list was a dream come true. It already feels like a dream that I was standing on top of one of the 7 summits. It was a trip that was physically challenging, especially getting to the summit.

I enjoyed a lot of time with family. I had multiple trips to California and was able to visit with so many loved ones. Aaron and Jacklyn gave birth to the sweetest little baby girl, Tyla. She has been such a joy to spend time with and to watch grow. My other nieces and nephews are getting so big. They are all so smart and I love them so much. They make the wold a better place and I am so happy to have them all in my life. 

Moki and I got to hike so many miles this year. We hiked pretty much weekly with Amber on Saturdays, and then with Eric and Jacquie Carter on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. We also snuck in hikes with Jana, Erica, Aaron and Jacklyn and even Anthony. I love being able to enjoy the beautiful outdoors with people I love. 

Marco Polo. . . . my high school friends have a group and it has been the best. It has been so fun to stay in touch with the girls who I grew up with. We cry, we laugh and we celebrate one another through videos. I always listen to the daily Polos on my way home from work and it makes my day! It is also a way that I stay in touch with my Aunt Virginia which has been fun too.

I am hopeful that 2022 will be better than 2021. I know I need to rely on the Savior to find peace and happiness in this life. I really want to work at turning more towards him as I attempt to navigate this crazy world.

Lambeau

 Jana and family headed to California the day after Christmas. They have a pretty new puppy that couldn't be home alone so I volunteered to watch him. His name is Lambeau and he is the cutest. Moki and Lambeau get along great. Lambeau did really well at my house and it was so fun to have him. Moki was so tired when the week was over. I think it was hard on her to have so much energy in the house all the time:) Lambeau joined us on multiple hikes and it was fun to introduce him to hiking in the beautiful Utah winter.

Amber, I and the two dogs hiked the south fork loop right after we got fresh snow. It was a super cold day but the dogs didn't seem to mind.

Another afternoon we went up rock canyon. I tried to get both dogs in a picture with this decorated tree but it did not happen.

I  also walked the shoreline trail a few times with the dogs. 

I went outside to take the trash out and I had two dogs keeping a very close eye on me.

Just being such a good little pup!

I let him lay on me when I was on the coach. Not something he is allowed to do at his own house. I loved having a cuddle buddy in the evenings.

Lambeau really was super easy and fun to have around. I always enjoy being able to get some extra time outside during Christmas break.