Chicken and Waffles; Greetings from Atlanta

I just wanted to say a quick hello from Georgia. I am here for a NeighborWorks America Training for my work. It is quite sticky and humid, a total shift from the dry Utah air.  The hotel I am staying at has immaculate architecture, which you can see in the picture above. I have tried to eat at Georgia original restaurants, such as Chicken and Waffles. And I have enjoyed walked around the big city.  Enjoy the rest of your week!  More to come on my summer travels.

Zions Weekend

A couple weekends ago the hubby and I went to Zions National Park with another couple, Kylee and Dustin.  I love Utah and it's gorgeous and diverse land.  The weather was absolutely perfect, about 70 degrees the whole time.  Gorgeous!  We hiked Angels Landing and I have to say, it is one of the most terrifying hikes I have ever done.  It has chains and two sheer slopes on each side of the trail.  It happened to have snow on the trail as well that made it that much more terrifying. 

It was a lovely trip.  We ended up rock climbing in St. George, UT the next day at Green Valley Gap.  It was truly a perfect three day weekend.  Short, sweet and action packed.   

Weekend Review: Snow Cave

Let me start off by saying, never again.  Things were going great until about two thirty in the morning.  We arrived at the top of Farmington Canyon at about  4PM and began to dig ourselves a little nook in the side of the mountain.  The snow was deep, 15 feet or so. Digging and building the cave was fun and hard work.  We finished the cave at about seven or so and began to lay out our tarps and gear.  We changed into dry clothes and snuggled up in our sleeping bags.  We even cooked dinner in our "new home".

We had a great time playing "would you rather" and talking about random subjects until we finally fell asleep.  At two thirty, everyone woke up.  Something was wrong, we all knew it.  All four of us began to inspect the snow cave.  One side of the cave was bulging in.  The cave was getting smaller.  I jumped up and moved our packs away from the door (AKA hole we crawled in and out of).  We were snowed in, and the weight of the snow was effecting our cave. It was then we decided to dig our way out and "sleep" in the car. The thought of the cave collapsing on top of us made us all uncomfortable.   We didn't really sleep in the 17 degree temperature in the car.

Morning came a few hours later.  We attempted to get off the snow covered mountain to no avail.  We were stuck, only twenty feet from where we had parked at the top of the mountain. We ended up having three burly (and I mean burly) snowmobilers help us get our vehicle out of the snow.  Our second attempt we made it a little further, about half a mile, before getting stuck again.

Luckily angels were sent our way; a man with a big truck and the three burly snowmobilers were there to help us get out of our situation.  We finally made it home at about three in the afternoon with frozen toes, soggy clothes, and a grateful yet exhausted spirit.  Would I do it again?  No.  Do I regret doing it?  No. I built and slept in a snow cave.  Once in my life is good enough for me!  I hope you all had a marvelous weekend!

Don't miss out on entering the $20 giveaway to Ande Monster Vintage!

Weekend Wonderment: Freezing My Buns Off

{via}

Hello dearies.  This weekend I will be snow shoeing up the the Rocky Mountains of Utah to find the perfect spot to build a snow cave and sleep in it.  That is how much I love my husband!  Truly, I am not a cold/snow lover.  Building and sleeping in a snow cave has been one of my husband's goals of this winter... thus we go out in the wintery snow and dig a hole, only to sleep in it.  If I live, I will report next week.  I hope you all have a nice a toasty weekend!

{Remember to enter in the Photo Print Giveaway!}

Weekend Review: Canyoneering

This past weekend the hubs and I and seven others ventured out into the red rocks for some canyoneering near Moab, UT.  It turned out to be more of an adventure than we had originally planned.  We camped the night before and woke to a cold gray day.  We arose from our warm sleeping bags and slipped into comfortable layers of outdoor gear.  We hiked until we got to the canyon mouth, our first repel.  The first five repels went smoothly.  We gently lowered ourselves down the ropes one by one lower and lower into the canyon.  

The canyon was gorgeous; tall red rock engulfed us and we found ourselves looking up at the majesties of this world.  Though it was quite cold, it worked to our advantage.  We did not have to get wet because all the water pools were frozen over.  We had our very own ice skating rinks to twirl and to slip on with not a soul in sight.

It sprinkled here and there yet the sun poked it's head out to say hello now and again.  The weather was a bit bi-polar.  At the last repel, a 205 footer, was when mother nature turned it's ugly head.  The winds came howling in at 50 miles per hour.  We all felt nervous because we knew a storm was headed our way.  We set up the gear while our jackets and pants flapped violently in the wind.  The first person went over the edge down the flailing rope to our end point.  

We were all putting on a brave face to help one another feel a little better about the situation.  As soon as the last person's feet hit the ground the storm burst from the clouds above.  I truly believe we were being watched from above, other wise that nasty wind would have blown that storm in much faster.  In the end we were all a little more aware of our senses and emotions.  

It was a memorable trip with good laughs and good company.  We experienced a fearful encounter together, and in these times, it's comfortable to be around such strong people.  I hope you all had a fun and adventurous weekend!  What's in store for this next weekend?  Snow shoeing and building and sleeping in an igloo for me!  I love the diverse regions of Utah.

{Remember to enter in the Photo Print Giveaway!}

Vintage Post Card Downloads

Remember {this} post I did on framing vintage postcards?  I found some free downloadable vintage postcards on {Ruffled} and {Martha Stewart} so you can make your own, free of charge.  Just grab some card stock paper, some scissors, and a frame, and print these bad boys off.  Enjoy!

{Vintage Postcard Graphic from Martha}

{Vintage Postcard Brushes}

{Vintage Postcard Back}

Consider This.

Recipes: French Apple Crumble

The french couple that visited us made this for us Sunday and, oh my, it was delicious.  I had to have the recipe.  And now, I give it to you.  It is pretty simple and quite delectable.  I am planning to make this for Thanksgiving.

Ingredients:

4 Apples

1 Banana

1 Cup Flour

1/2 Cup Brown Sugar

2/3 Cup Butter (soft)

2/3 Cup Chocolate Chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Mix, with your hands, flour, brown sugar, and butter breaking it up until it looks like sand.  You can add oats and/or coconut if you so desire.

3. Put the apples, banana, and chocolate chips (cut into bite size pieces) on the bottom of a 12"x8" glass pan.  

Optional: walnuts, pecans, other nuts or different fruit such as raspberries or peaches.  

4. Put the flour/sugar/butter mix on top of the fruit.

5. Cook for 30-40 minutes at 350 degrees. 

Adding vanilla ice cream and carmel sauce is option, but recommended. 

image from {here}

Enter my giveaway {here}

Wednesday Wish-List: Paris Polaroid Postcards

Aren't these the cutest?  I am positively swooning over these Polaroid postcards of unique picturesque Paris.  {I guess this whole week is devoted to the French!}  This little packet comes with 50 polaroid postcards and 5 stickers in an iron case and it's only $17.40!  I will be getting one of these real soon.  Oh they are so cute!  This shop also has  polaroid postcards of New York & Tokyo.  I am seriously in love with her shop that is filled with adorable paper products and paper decor.  Also on my list is her Floral Fabric Tape.  And I may have already bought her Alphabet Roller Stamp.  I can't wait til it comes in the mail!  Any day now...

Weekend Update: French Friends

We had a lovely time with Regis and Vriginie!  The first night they came they helped us move (yes they came a day early to help us move!  How sweet are they?).  So we treated them to our favorite sushi place and headed for ice cream after.

We took them up Farmington Canyon and we put up a new climbing route, Pockets Full of Treasures because it has a lot of animal feces, and climbed two routes up there.  The picture above is our friend Oliver drilling a hole to put the bolt in.

The canyon colors were gorgeous!  Regis climbed very well and Virginie enjoyed the sights.  During the weekend we also took them kayaking on the Great Salt Lake.  We went to a friend's cabin and ate pizza, played games, & got in the hot tub.  We ate Sunday dinner with Chase's family and played funny games afterwards.  It was a very natural weekend for us, but for them, I hope it was interesting and fun.  We loved their company.  They are such down to earth friendly people.  Hopefully this is not the last time our paths cross.

See their travel blog {here}.

Weekend Wonderment: French Friends Come to Visit

Virginie, my husband Chase, Me, Regis

I am not sure how many of you remember when I lived in Peru and went on a 3-day boat ride down the Amazon River.  Well, if you want to read more about it go {here}.  And if you want to see more photos of when I lived and traveled Peru go {here}.

So while my husband and I were on this boat we got to know the couple in the hammocks next to us quite well.  Regis and Virginie are from France and have been traveling South and North America since last September.  (Yes over a year of traveling!).  They are coming to stay with my husband and I for the weekend!  Isn't that exciting!?  I will report next week on how it goes!  

If you were visiting Salt Lake City, UT for the first time what would you want to experience?  

Food?  Sites?  Nature?  Adventure?