The Week of Firsts

                Even though Mike & I have been together since June of 2009, we have missed a few “firsts” the first time around. This was due to Mike being in Iraq from November ‘09 to May ’10 because of serving our country in the military. This week we have experienced a lot of “firsts” together.

We had our first Thanksgiving together. Even though I had to work for 12 hours, we at least got to see each other for the holiday. A few days before, we were able to have a Thanksgiving meal together on base with Mike’s shop. On Thanksgiving, Mike was able to go to a friend’s house to share Thanksgiving and he was still there by the time I got off of work. So I was able to join him for the evening. It was not the best Thanksgiving ever but it was better than the year before, where we were on opposite sides of the world.

It was our first Black Friday together. While I was working for 12 hours on Thanksgiving, Mike was nice enough to pick up a newspaper with all of the ads for me. When we got home I looked through the ads to see if there was anything worth getting up in a few hours to stand in the freezing cold for. I usually don’t go unless there is something I was already going to buy and there is a good deal on it. So I found a good deal and set out my clothes. My alarm went off 3 hours later and Mike did not even flinch. Apparently he has never gone shopping on a Black Friday…and he was not planning on breaking his tradition. I, on the other hand, had my coldest Black Friday yet. After 3 hours of sleep and 2 ½ hours standing in the freezing cold, I could not feel my toes and I wondered if it was really worth it. My mission was clear. I got in and got out before the end of the line even reached the entrance. Next door didn’t open for another 2 hours and the line had started forming. I got in line, still not able to feel my toes, and thought, “now is THIS next 2 hours really worth it?” I’ve already saved a total of $170 at the first place, so why am I at this next one? In the end I did talk myself out of it. By the time I got home and slipped back in bed, my body was so cold I was shivering.

Later on on Black Friday, we went snowboarding. It was the first time Mike and I have gone snowboarding together. I was very nervous going with Mike, because he is completely amazing at it and I knew I barely remembered how to even stand up! Well, my socks and brand new boots were causing my feet issues all day, but I didn’t complain too much. Mike, of course, was awesome. No worries there, even after missing a season. I just tried to remember the basics and was completely sore pushing through the day. The next day I worked another 12 hour shift, where I am mostly on my feet for 90% of the day…and I was sore, from my neck to my feet. The next day we went back to the slopes. I was still sore, but while we were going down on the snowboard, I couldn’t even feel it. My boots felt better. I wore different socks. And everything just felt better. I kept up with Mike and our friend Cho. I even tried to grind the box & the pipe in the terrain park for the first time. Of course, Mike is amazing and can do all of the rails wonderfully. It was snowing the whole time and created a little more fluffiness for the falls.

We bought and set up our first Christmas tree together. It is not decorated, yet (it came with lights already on it). We found out that I don’t have to work on Christmas or Christmas Eve, so we get to spend Christmas together!

Yesterday, Mike bought a truck. It’s red and big. It is for the sole purpose of our dream and one of the biggest reasons for this blog. We plan on living in a truck camper one day and Mike’s little Ford Ranger that he has is not big enough. So now he has a big truck, a 2003 Chevy Silverado, Diesel. Now I will just try to sell my car…

So that is our week of a lot of firsts. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Never the Same Again

I realized this year that Thanksgiving will never be the same again.  As a tradition in my family we would wake to a roasting turkey filling the house so full of mouthwatering aromas.  We would wake early and watch Mom and Dad preparing all of the yummy goodies.  Someone would be putting the casserole together with rice and broccoli and cheese.  Oh, so much cheese.  The yams cut up and mashed with the marshmallows tightly packed above the orange vegetables.  The stuffing made in a very large pan, not too gooey and never too dry, with plenty of leftovers.  Dad would be tasting everything as he thought it was ready, but mainly to decide on adding more spices.  When he started cutting and eating the turkey, we knew it was almost time to eat.  The gravy would be put together and stirred with meticulous detail to thickness and taste.  My picky sister liked the gravy the best and liked giblet gravy to be made with certain perfection, but to never know what ingredients were actually used in its preparation.  I would sneak a peek at the perfect looking pies that were labored over only the day before by Mom’s traditional recipes.  Pumpkin pie, with whipped cream, of course…pecan pie, preferred by few…and the time-honored peanut butter pie, two for especially Mom and me. 

While Mom and Dad prepare the food to go in the oven in the particular order of how everything will be done at precisely the right time to eat, I watch in amazement.  It seems as if this time coordination is an art perfected to the precise time things will get done by rotating many dishes through the one oven baking them all until all are done and all are not too cold and not too hot.  Everything is just right.

I remember watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving day parade on T.V.  Every year there would be the same floats but different pop stars and popular entertainers there.  I enjoyed all of the performances by the bands and dancers when they stopped in the middle of the street where on the cement is the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade emblem permanently embossed for all to see.  I would see all of the people lined along the parade route, with their big coats and mittens and rosy cheeks and smiles.  Most kids would want to be there to see the parade in person, but even from a young age I knew I had the best seat in the house and I didn’t have to freeze to experience the parade.  When Santa Claus came down the street, I just knew it was almost time to eat.

Then I would start thinking about Christmas and how I had not thought about what I wanted.  So I would dive into the bright colorful ads and try to remember what necessities I needed.  I was always a child that knew parents weren’t made of money, so I tried not to ask for things unless I absolutely needed it. Besides that, if I absolutely needed something, I would ask for it for Christmas. Santa usually only got us a big present and all of the things I really wanted came from Mom and Dad.  All of us girls would go through the ads and color a Christmas list.  Our Christmas lists would take a major part of the time to make look pretty, with extraordinary pictures and colors. We would give them to mom, as she promised to send them to Santa right away.

When we sat down to eat Dad would usually bless the food thanking “The good Lord” for what He had provided. And then we feasted. The food was the best part of the day, in my opinion, as a kid. Any Thanksgiving feasts that I have experienced since have been well below par. We would eat as much as we could and then could always find room for desert before Dad would lay down on the couch to “watch” a football game. My middle sister would normally go to another TV and find a sweet little TV movie we could watch and fall asleep to if so felt. Mom and my older sister would go to sleep.

Just about dinner time everyone would wake up and someone would pull out the leftovers and start heating up their favorite food on their own plate. We would all eat and watch whatever was on TV, either the end of a football game or a Christmas movie that they would start on TV to start the Christmas spirit. Soon we would be ready to go to bed and sleep once again after another fulfilling Thanksgiving day.

What I remember the most is the togetherness I experienced with my family on this holiday and the ease of understanding what it is really all about.

Yellowstone 9/3/10-9/5/10

Paige and Mike in Yellowstone

What to do with a four day weekend? Well back in September we chose to go to Yellowstone. Only a five hour drive from where we live and it being an epic adventure vacation for anyone in the United States because of its popularity, it was an easy decision for both of us. We actually saw everything in two days and drove back on the third. It wasn’t that it was boring or we skipped things either. Basically it’s such a tourist place that you didn’t really have to hike or find things so everything was quick and easy to get through. We even stopped at places we hadn’t planned on going. Every little place was not on our agenda both because we had looked over maps beforehand and as we were driving through. One other problem is that the park is outlined in a big circle drive, so you don’t camp in one spot and go back to that spot because it would be a lot of backtracking. The park is located in Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho.  So it was not the best time to go on Labor day weekend because campsites filled up quickly every day. There are cheaper campsites with the bare minimum and other sites with more luxuries that cost more. One thing is for sure, you can not park and camp outside of a campground anywhere in Yellowstone. They want your money. Haha! But it is the first National Park that opened up in America, in 1872, and they have a lot of really cool natural formations that they are hoping to share with everyone for quite awhile, so you can’t blame them too much.

hot paint pot

hot paint pot

hot stream

We started out early on Friday, the third, and by the time we made it to the entrance of the park on the Wyoming side, many people were there taking pics of the entrance sign, so we decided not to stop.  When we first got into the park, there was a beautiful lake in front of a mountain. The water was so clear you could see right through to the waving seaweed underneath. Stepping in the water was a little colder than I was expecting but it was beautiful nonetheless. Since it was the time of the year that does not rain very much and all of the snow water had barely made it through the hot summer, there was not as much water at all of the attractions. The paint pots pictures on the internet had tons of water gleaming from all of the parts along the trail, but when we were there, most of it was a trickle. It actually made some of the areas look better in my opinion. The big premise of Yellowstone is that it is on a big “hotspot” that makes most all of the water or openings in the ground have hot water coming out of them or bubbling out. There are signs everywhere that the temperature of the water can be up to boiling, so no one should ever touch it. Also, signs of how different formations have changed over time were very interesting to read. For instance Jupiter’s Cycle showed how once the trees & flowers were flourishing until the hot water came down the mountain and all of the flowers & trees died. Now the hot water spring has stopped and been dormant since 1998 so eventually flowers & trees will grow back again. The rock that was the last spot where the water was trickling is white. We also saw a petrified tree that had a sign of a picture of a guy with it in like the 1920’s and it looks exactly like it did then.  There was a waterfall that we had a short walk to and then could see from a distance away. It was actually flowing really well.

Mike



Paige



By the time we finally found a campsite available for Friday night, it was late and we were way tired. We planned on getting up early for the next day to be jam-packed. So that’s what we did. It was probably the coldest that I have ever camped in at night before. But of course, Mike has camped in freezing temps with snow on the ground. Our tent was soaked in the morning from our hot breath against the cold of outside. We had to wipe down our tent before packing up. The ground also had a lot more dew than we expected and it was much harder to make a fire in the morning. Good thing we packed milk and cereal ;). The tent we used on this trip was the one that goes in the back of Mike’s truck since we would be packing up everyday anyways. We got several comments in the campgrounds about how others (even people with RVs) liked it. It definitely has been useful on trips that we aren’t sure how the ground is going to be and it is pretty comfortable with the futon mattress. No pictures of it this trip because every day after we finally found a campsite and set it up it was dark and we left out early in the morning as well.

Jupiter's Cycle sign

 


part of Jupiter's Cycle





Paige at the Mud Volcano area



Being early in the morning that we started out, the smoke from the hot water hitting the cool air was more apparent than ever. So at the mud volcano area, there was lots of smoke off of the areas of hot water and bubbling mud, but it smelled like rotten eggs even worst too. I had seen the Dragon’s Mouth hot spring in pictures online and definitely wanted to check it out. The smoke was too much so we actually visited it again a little later in the day for better pictures. The area was called mud volcano and there were mud geysers everywhere. You could hear them bubbling as you get closer, and then see the spots where the water comes up.

Eating lunch with the Buffalo

All over the areas in Yellowstone there are signs to avoid all wild animals because you never know what they will do. They have pictures of Buffalo goring people and Elk chasing people and Bears ravaging people. So when a herd of at least 50 Buffalo came through our campsite we got a little nervous. I was actually in the bathroom at the time & could hear grunting and rummaging, like it was a big animal. And it was! I looked out the window and there they all were. I snuck past and let Mike know they were coming. Haha! They didn’t even pay attention to us and kept moving through our campsite well into the evening. There were lots of times that Buffalo would be walking down the middle of the road with the cars, seemingly unaware. But we never saw bears…and we saw one elk and several deer. We even ate lunch with a buffalo right behind us.

Dragon's Mouth

Mud Volcano area

Hot pools were everywhere as well, which actually was really pretty and you can see the steam coming from the top of it. We really wished we could touch them, though, to really see how hot they are. But we were good this trip ;).



Mike & Paige at the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

Yellowstone has what is called The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. I have never been to the Grand Canyon (yet, anyways), but I have heard its basically a big crater. So it was a big canyon with a river flowing down the middle, and a couple of waterfalls along the way. There were lookout points that you can walk to. And there was even a huge staircase to walk down (and up) to get a closer view of the waterfall. Besides being on the opposite side of the rim of the stair case, we really did not feel like walking up and down that many stairs. We did however walk along the path by the rim. We saw deer in the forest and was able to look at more viewpoints. It was really beautiful. You can even see some “hot spots” on the wall of the canyon. I wonder if the water in the river and waterfall is warm.

Mike at the waterfall in Yellowstone Grand Canyon





Paige

The last place of the day was, of course, Old Faithful. This was the biggest visitor center and by far the most people we had seen on the whole trip. Mike and I decided that a lot of people come in to the park just to see Old Faithful and that’s it. It’s probably true, looking at all the people and the increased learning center. It was really magical seeing the geyser that everyone in the world has heard about but not everyone has seen in person. They had a countdown to when the expected time is for it to “blow” again. The whole premise about Old Faithful is that it is mostly predictable of when it will go again, and that it will go, and they can usually predict how long it will go for. So the hot water builds up pressure under the ground and then squirts out in to an amazingly high geyser, usually for 3-5 minutes. When we saw it, we got the full 5 minute view. There were actual benches at this viewpoint and a lot, a lot of people! Haha! It starts out small and then really gets height and then just goes and goes and goes. Its breathtaking really, to experience something you have only seen pictures of, and heard about as an epic adventure to see in person.









Old Faithful staring up



Old Faithful at its peak height for our time watching it!

At the Old Faithful location there is a walkway to other geysers. They aren’t as faithful or epically popular but they are really cool to see. Not every day do you see water exploding out of the ground as a natural formation and have been there for a long time.

Geyser

Mike & Paige in front of the geyser

We could not find a camping spot in the park for the night so we decided to head out of the park and check a local town. The camping places were not much to choose from and most were full. The only one we found available was KOA. It was my first time camping in a KOA, and lets just say you spend way too much money, no matter what you get. Camping is supposed to be a primitive hobby, not a luxury away from home. We did walk around and saw a lot of campers and RVs, though.





I know I definitely loved Yellowstone and recommend it to everyone to see before you can’t anymore.

Mema & Papa

Mema - October 2010

All of the best foods have mostly originated from my Mema, my Mom's Mom. From the time I have been alive, Mema and Papa, my Mom's Dad, have been retired. Mema retired from being a school teacher, but continued to teach kid's cooking classes and Sunday school. We lived beside my grandparents in Arkansas for awhile, which was a treat for all of us to be able to see them so much. I was young enough to be read to and hang out with Mema during the day and then we would walk to the school and pick up my older sisters. Then when we moved away to Alabama (and later Louisiana), we were able to spend most of the summer with Mema and Papa. We would go to the library and be on the reading programs and help Mema with her cooking classes and Sunday school classes and any other thing she or Papa was participating in. My grandparents have always been very active in church and just in general participation in activities outside of the home. Even as they get older, they remain to have more things to keep up with. Papa worked at a golf course for a long time after he was retired, then became a Limo driver. Now my grandparents are involved in a lot of groups and outings with older adults, and they even volunteer for a program called Angel Food.

Mema & Papa - October 2010

Being the busy adult I am for the past few years I had not been able to see them, so it was a delight for all of us to see each other recently in October for my oldest sister's wedding. Of course I have changed throughout the years to them, but they have changed too. Its funny how that happens. But for Mema being 85 and Papa being 86 years young, life has treated them well. You are only as old as you feel ;). They still live in their own home together and they get around pretty well together. Even Mike commented about how limber and agile Papa seemed to be getting around. Papa would pick things up off the ground and not even have a hard time getting back up. He even danced with his grandchildren & great-grandchildren at the reception. That was truly a magical moment for all of us.

Paige, Mom, Papa, Amy, and 3 of Amy's daughters dancing

Mema is more frail than normal but she still has the smile that lights up a room and makes you feel more loved than ever. Her hugs are many and strong. She has always been that loving, as long as I can remember. My mom, even though she probably doesn't want to hear this, definately has Mema's best traits (and her stubborness ;). But Mema has passed her recipes on and Mom can make them very well. One of the recipes I have been thinking about is Mema's "Instant Cocoa Mix". Since its getting colder, hot chocolate comes into most people's minds. I talked to Mike about his favorite hot chocolate mixes and found he can use just about any at the store. I have been spoiled and find those inept compared to Mema's mix. The mix is expensive at startup but makes alot and is very worth it. You can cut the recipe in half as well. But here it is:

"Instant Cocoa Mix"

1 lb can Hershey's Instant Cocoa Mix

1 lb box powdered sugar

1 11 oz jar non-dairy coffee creamer

1 box (8 qt) non-fat dry milk (powdered)

2 cups sugar

Mix all together. Use 1/3 cup mix to 1 cup hot water. Makes a very delicious drink. This is a very large recipe. (It is also good in coffee.)

Excerpt from Children's Favorite Recipes, by Mrs. Ann Goodman, pg 105

Current Update

Over the past couple of days I have traveled an hour and twenty minutes to and from Provo, UT. I was at a place I had never been before with no one I have ever seen and going through information I barely retained from nursing school to be tested on it at the end of two days. And I did all of this on my days off for this week! My first thought was, "Why am I doing this again?" Since my only other option, to snowboard, was out of the question for this week's off days, I decided it could benefit me in the longrun, one day. So I registered for a TNCC certification class. TNCC is Trauma Nursing Core Course, so its basically for Registered Nurses that are working in the emergency room or intensive care unit. In September, I was able to obtain an ACLS certification (advanced cardiac life support), which is an advanced CPR class. As I have described before, my goal is to eventually get hired in a hospital. So with all of the job openings I have looked at, there are a few certifications that stick out in different fields that you will need to have for a certain position. I am actually trying to get as many of those certifications to make myself standout and more appealing on my resume. Whether or not that actually will happen is up for debate, but I am learning way more now than when I was in nursing school. After the money I paid for the class, the two days in lectures, the time spent studying, the six hours spent traveling to and from Provo, I finally am done. It was a really hard written test and the instructor said I got the highest in the class! Haha! We also had a hands-on skill pass-off, which I hate. From the beginning, even at CNA level, I have had to do those and they don't get more enjoyable. Well out of the fifteen other people in the class who all worked ER and ICU, I think this nursing home RN did okay.
On our drive last week around 12 St Canyon, Mike & I saw three wild turkeys!!! It was Mike's first time seeing wild turkeys. Unfortunately we did not get a picture because ahem! someone could not resist rolling the window down and yelling "Gobble! Gobble" at them. I apologized later... :) It was great seeing wild turkeys so close to Thanksgiving though!

Moab

Mike & Paige at Deadhorse Point

                We planned to go to Moab, Utah when Mike returned from Iraq. And we did! We went the first weekend of June, less than a week after Mike returned from Iraq. Mike had been before he left the year before for a short weekend trip with some people from the Jesus field. So we headed down and as we got closer the mountains changed into red formations that looked like more of a fairytale than mountains. We marveled at the scene of these red formations of rock and dirt that was only a few hours away from where we live. On the way we were able to stop at a viewpoint of Dead Horse Point. Mike had found the place online and was interested in checking it out in real life. It was a natural formation of what is a plateau in the middle of a river. It almost looks like an island at first but the view just takes your breath away as you see in this desert area that there is green living vegetation only around where the river flows.

Deadhorse Point



Paige stepping off the edge...Mike actually got scared!







Mike at Deadhorse Point

                Upon entering Moab, we stopped at all the viewpoints that were situated at natural formations that stood out from others. Going down one of the main roads for camping, we came across one named Granstaff Campground and we just had to stay there because of the similarity of Mike’s last name: Grindstaff! It was a great spot with a great view of the huge rock formation and a river dividing us. We set up our 2 person tent with our futon mattress and quickly discovered that it was hot! It was actually hotter than northern Utah, only a few hours away. In Utah it definitely gets cold and snows, but it can also get really hot as well, especially when it doesn’t rain for awhile. Unfortunately all of the available camping spots had no trees for shade. We got an umbrella that we set up to sit under when we were at the campsite during the day to protect our skin, but the day before we left, it blew away when we weren’t there in the crazy wind that sprung up out of nowhere! Each day when we got back to our camp site, the river would already be in the shade, making it to cool to swim. We did put our feet in and waded in until we could not take the cold anymore, but once the sun went down the area became pretty cool at night.

           









Grindstaff at Granstaff Campground!



Our tent in Moab





Our view from our campsite

Mike at entrance to Moab, Utah



Paige at a viewpoint



                Arches National Park was full of cool things to see and experience. Most often you have to hike to the places. You can see balanced rock from the car riding trail, but to get to the good stuff up close, you have to get out of your car and hike awhile. Hiking is tiring and hot in the summer desert sun, but once you get to a magical landmark you have only heard about, it makes the hike totally worth it. We made it to Landscape Arch first. It was not only a great site but there was a plaque with the story of its history nearby. The first stop on a long hike path, we kept on going, though overhearing others on the trail, they were too tired and hot to proceed. We decided immediately that big groups is not the way to go when you have to hike everywhere. Not everyone has the same ambition and physical strength as the others in their group. We were also thankful for our Camelbacks filled with water and whatever was needed. Considering I didn’t even know what one was over a year before that, I think I did pretty good with keeping up with Mike. It was really fascinating seeing all of the older people there and hearing all of the different languages and ethnicities at a place that I was getting the opportunity to visit. Not only had I heard about this place, but I saw pictures of places like Delicate Arch as monumental landmarks in the U.S. and I was here! It feels so magical to be able to experience things that you have only heard about and seen pictures of. Its definitely not the same as seeing a picture on the Internet. Though the Internet is a great resource to plan out a trip and to see it if there is no way of you being able to experience the area.



Mike in front of Landscape Arch

Paige in front of Landscape Arch



Mike in front of Balanced Rock



Mike with Dark Angel



Hiking in this area not only causes a copious amount of sweat but flying bugs seem to massacre themselves on your exposed skin. We would scrape handfuls of bugs off of our arms as we walked to each destination. It seems gross but I would have rather them be on my arms than in my eyes and mouth! We were able to hike and climb and see neat structures and formations, that were manmade along the way. There were even chipmunks that greeted us along the way, running in between people’s feet and sitting up looking at us. We were able to see a couple of hidden arches and a formation called Dark Angel at the end of one hike. The Double O arch was fascinating because Mike, of course, climbed up in the upper O where no one else was going and got a great view and a challenge of thinking about how to get down. The landmarks were either marked off or had signs about not getting off of the path closer to the trailheads but we guessed they didn’t think as many people would come to the less popular sites and would give us a treat of being able to climb around with no boundaries.




Mike pointing at Double O Arch (there is a little O under the one you see in the pic)



Mike in the big O of Double O Arch (the very top part)





Mike & Paige beneath Delicate Arch



Delicate Arch is one of the most popular landmarks that most everyone comes to Moab, UT to visit. For this reason, I thought the trail would be much easier. It might have been the fact it was the last stop on our long day of hiking or that my trail guide got us a little lost, but when we got to the arch all I wanted to do was sit. It had gotten very windy on the hike up and being at the very top where the arch was made it unbearable to even stand. We sat against the wind for a long time looking into a beautiful looking canyon. When we finally got up to go take our pics in front of Delicate Arch, there was only one other couple there. Before we sat down there could have easily been at least 100 people there. So we exchanged taking pictures with the other couple, whom was from somewhere in Europe, because I could barely understand their accents. Delicate Arch is actually way bigger than the pictures you are used to. The place is magical knowing that its naturally formed and so beautiful and there is only one of them in the whole world and you are there.

Canyon opposite Delicate Arch

Paige climbing

Mike climbing



Paige in front of the trailhead sign



                Across from our campground was a trailhead we had found online that we had planned on hiking. We were able to the morning that we left. It was called Negro Bill trailhead and led us to experience Morning Glory arch. It was a beautiful hike so early in the morning and not many people were on the trail because it is not as popular as the other things in Moab. But it was definitely just as beautiful. There were interesting little formations and water flowing throughout the hike. The Morning Glory arch is defined as a “bridge” arch and there were people repelling down from the top. We were definitely envious of the repelling and climbing that the group had paid extra to do and vowed to do that if we came back to Moab. The water flowing from under the “bridge” came out of a crack in the wall as a little stream. It was a fulfilling end to our trip to Moab, UT.  

Mike on the trail



Paige on the trail



Mike under Morning Glory Arch



Paige under Morning Glory Arch



Mike & Paige in Moab