More Camping Stories

I LOVED the camping stove we borrowed from Adam  and Joanna!  We made hot dogs, breakfast sandwiches, and it  warmed us up in the morning!  We gots to get us one o' these!

It might have been a little on the freezing side at night...  or maybe a lot... but we survived!  And we took hot showers in the morning... oh yeah that's roughing it.

We saw petroglyphs and several chipmunks and lizards.  We took some time to admire the flora and fauna, but BEWARE.  If we learned one thing from this trip... we learned that the soil was ALIVE and if you stepped off the path you'd be killing the bacteria in the dirt and the mountains would crumble before you and it'd take 200 years to rebuild itself yadda yadda yadda.  Apparently the worlds' most important dirt lives in Moab.

 My husband is cute.  I gave him an Indiana Jones hat the night before we got married and he hasn't really worn it (it's more of a collectors thing) but I suggested that he wear it when we went hiking and he was totally into it!  They shot parts of The Last Crusade here, so... why not?  :)

The Nargley Tree Gallery

I've come to find that I'm really obsessed with taking pictures of gnarled old juniper trees.  I call them Nargley, but you have to say it like Luna Lovegood.  You know... when she talks about Nargles.  Don't ask me why... cause I don't have an answer.

 The infamous bowl of death:

This was a view from the REAL path we were supposed to take.  The black line across the bottom is the ledge we were walking on... See?  Not much better for a gal afraid of heights.

Oh look, it's Indiana Jones.  Finding stuff for museums probs.

Broken Arch

Yay for still being alive!

   

I thought this looked like huts on an alien planet.

Giant Sandcastle

 Spot me!

Two!  Two arches ah ah ahhh...

Don't hate, lady

 The end.  I would like to add that Nathan and I have a wonderful marriage and it should go to our everlasting credit that we didn't bicker ONCE.  Not on the ride up, not setting up camp, not deciding what to do or eat, not with directions, and not on the way back.  Booyah.

Fear... dun dun dunnnnnnnn

So we made a camping trip out of our Moab adventure!  I'll make another post with our lovely pictures, but today we're going to talk about fear, children.  On the way up to Moab...

Interruption:  Ok so I always thought St. George and Moab were close....  not so.  5 hour drive.  Carry on...

...we used this list to keep the conversation flowing during the long car ride.  Note:  I can't stand just listening to an iPod for long car rides.  I've made a vow to stay awake with Nathan (he's usually the driver) and there's no way I can do that with no talking + music, so I always INSIST that we talk (Staying awake in the car is a BIG DEAL for me btw).  We usually do a pretty good job of keeping the convo flow, but I found the list of questions on Pinterest so I thought we could give it a go.

Question number two is:  Describe 3 legitimate fears you have and explain how they became fears.

My first two were a tie between deep, open water (this includes sharks and other big water creatures... yes whales... ) and heights.  My third was getting into a car accident (I've avoided one thus far... and now I've just jinxed myself... great...).  I thought it was interesting that we had this deep discussion about fear and heights and I had no idea I was about to be faced with THE most terrifying situation I've ever been in.

My fear of water gets me panicky, but I've shown myself that it's a mind-over-matter thing.  The scariest water moment for me was when I was staying with my friend Cami at her house on the Finger Lakes in New York.  I purposefully jumped out of her boat so I could swim to shore.  I instantly started freaking out in my head and pictured the millions of gallons of water beneath me waiting to swallow me up.  I also pictured sharks and evil Atlaneans dragging me down to my doom.  In a fresh-water lake.  But fears are never completely rational are they?  So I tried not to hyperventilate and swam as quickly as I could (in my mind I was trying to do this:)
and I made it to shore.  Not so bad.  I was freaked out a little by swimming with dolphins.  Dolphins!  Every time one swam up beside me I was like SHARK!  Awww, nice dolphin...
But I didn't let it stop me from doing what I wanted to do.  Mind over matter.

Heights however are another thing.  I have been to the top of the Empire State Building... but I stayed nice and safe in the gift shop after a two-second peek outside.  I chose to not view Paris from the top of the Eiffel Tower.  Crossing the Clifton Suspension Bridge by foot (twice...oy... that's a picture of it to the right) was difficult for me.  I don't just freak our inside my head...  I have an actual physical reaction that I can't help.  My knees buckle, I swoon, and my body wants nothing more than to crawl back to terra firma.  I keep putting myself in these situations because I don't want to miss out on things in life!  I already regret not going up the Eiffel Tower (though I know I would have hated it).

So that leads us to our camping/hiking adventure in Arches National Park.  I knew I wanted to see the Delicate Arch the most out of all the arches in Arches.  You know, the one on the license plate:

We got there early, knowing it was the most popular hike and that it'd be cooler in the morning.  The only problem is that with not a lot of people around, there wasn't anyone to follow and we lost the path a bit.  There's about 15 minutes of just slick-rock (imagine walking on the top half of a basketball made of sandstone) so no dirt or trees to create a real trail.  We just followed voices that lead us to the edge of a gigantic bowl.  Below you can see the arch at the opposite end of the bowl.

We were like..... that's not the famous view...  That's a cool view, but not the view.  How the heck to we get over there??  Now... do you see those little dots along the rim of the bowl?  Yeah, those are people inching their way up against the Dr. Seuss mountains.  We made our way over to where they are and saw that there was about a foot and a half of "walkable" space (and in some spots less... like rely-on-the-traction-of-your-shoes).  I immediately said, "Aw Heeeeeeell to the no."  But I was super disappointed that I couldn't get to see the Arch from the angle it was intended to be seen!  And all these other people were going just fine!  They were even calling back to me, "Oh it's not so bad at all!  Well, this part is tricky, but it's really not that bad!"  So, in a moment of insanity/courage I just started inching my way...

Pretty much immediately I started to crumple mentally and physically.  My face was pressed up to the rock wall, my knees were shaking, I started to hyperventilate, and I was clawing my hands into whatever crevice I could find.  I couldn't do it.  But not only could I not make it to the other side... I wasn't sure if I could turn around and make it back.  Nathan, bless him, saw my plight and actually walked AROUND ME (I still have no idea how he did that) and insisted we go back.  Of course I agreed, but DANG IT I WANTED A PICTURE OF THE STUPID FAMOUS ARCH.  And now he was in my way.  So as i'm bawling my eyes out, I yell, "Get out of my way!  I still want a picture."  So I snapped a shot (I'll post it next time) and did an about-face.

It got worse.

When I turned around I could not believe how far I'd already come... and how  far I had to go to get back  Why, WHY did I think I could do this?  I was close to throwing up and I couldn't confidently put one foot in front of the other.  My dear dear husband even put his foot out for me to step on and use as an anchor at one point.  So I mustered up every bit of will power I could and FINALLY made it back to where I could run and find a rock and calm myself down.

But now what?  There HAD to be another way to get to the arch!  This way was way too dangerous to be the only way to go!  So we did a bit of exploring to find...duh... the actual, clearly-marked path.  We felt like morons, and I was mad that I didn't have to go through moments of sheer terror if we'd only stayed on the path and not been led astray by others (well hello there metaphor, I didn't see you come in...).  The real, man-made path to the arch was better... but still terrifying.  Seriously people, some handrails!!!  That's how I was able to handle the Grand Canyon!  Simple handrails would be appreciated next to your sheer cliffs and 1 billion foot drop-offs!  Kthnx.

 I made it!

And I got my stupid picture.

It really was beautiful.  These land formations are really worth seeing in person.  My favorite thing to do in life is to marvel at creation.  I feel the most spiritual and thankful when I take in natural wonders like these.  It was all worth it :)

Oh and there was a funny French lady on the way back down that saw me clinging to the wall, getting as far away from the edge as I could, that was gesturing to me and telling me not to look down and to "regardez le mur."

So I was not happy that I wasn't able to conquer my fear like I had set out to do... but you know what?  I found a better and safer way to get to where I wanted to be.  I don't think I need to take unnecessary risks just to prove something, whether to myself or someone else... like skydiving (which is why I didn't go back in September.  I didn't want to, I would have hated it, therefore I did not go).  I think it was a big deal that I went the intended route.  I did it.  Yay for me.

End of Days

I just read an article about a group that believes there are aliens in the mysterious French Pic de Bugarach mountain waiting to save them when the end comes at the close of this year.  Hmmmm....  Interesting.  Not to stomp on anyone's beliefs (let's be honest, a lot of people, especially nowadays, think we the Mormons are wack-a-doos... we're not BTW)  buuuuuuuuuuuuuut... well, I'll let you know how I feel on December 13th.

Anyway

This made me start thinking about 30 Rock.  Yep.  30 Rock.  On the Leap Day episode, everyone supported Kenneth the Page's beliefs that the world was going to end that day, even though they thought it was cuckoo.  They just wanted him to live that day as if it really WAS his last.  Maybe facing an "End of Days" could inspire people to do things they've always wanted to / never thought they would do!  I've had a couple of opportunities I feel like I missed out on (not heavy regrets, just little things that irk me...  like not taking that extra puppetry workshop while I was working at Disney World, or not visiting Ireland again while we were living in England).

Weeeellllll

The Mister and I are killing two birds with one stone this weekend.

Stone number one:  When we were living in Provo, we always talked about wanting to go to Moab and Arches National Park.  We just never got around to it, then we moved to another country never to return.... or so we thought....  Now we happen to find ourselves not only back in Utah, but back in SOUTHERN Utah.  Sure, Moab is still 5 hours away, but hey!  It's a day trip if you want it to be!

Stone number two:  As soon as we moved to the UK, one of my favorite BBC shows, Doctor Who, filmed an episode in Utah.  Ironic.  So, once I realized that they do a lot of filming in the area (from John Wayne to John Carter) I thought I would do some research into any films they were planning on making while we were here.  ..........I found one!!!!  They're doing The Lone Ranger this summer (avec Johnny Depp...  uhhhh yeahhhh) and they're holding an open casting call for extras in Moab on Sunday!

I know I know, it's a looooooong shot, but I decided if we didn't go it'd be one of those times where I'd just look back and say, "I realllllllllly wish we'd done that."  And if we don't get cast, the day won't have been wasted because we'll have done some Arch-seeing as well!  And we're talking about living life to the fullest here!  I see no down side.

Hi Ho Silver.... Away!!!!!

Spring Break Woohoo!!

AND.... I have Ramen in my nose.

But seriously folks.

So Nathan and I have taken great pride in how normal our lives are becoming.  We are getting closer and closer to our white picket fence and 2.5 kids.  He's been accepted to 2, count 'em, TWO PhD programs, so that part of our future is getting clearer (and it sure don't hurt that they're in Orlando and Hawaii!).  We also are both working for the Washington County School District, he as a teacher's aid working with kids with behavioral problems and moi as a computer lab tech for 3-5 graders.  He goes to the gym after work and I walk home to get my exercise.  Then we reconvene and typically just have a nice quiet evening at home.  Cute huh?  Nathan has said several times recently that right now life is just good... things are falling into place.

Oh crap... did I just jinx it???

Whatevs, I'm happy and I would like to share it.

We've also helped out Nathan's bro and his wife with lots of house painting.  I'm getting my first nephew from them in 1 1/2 to 2 months, so we're doing some prep for the little guy.  I know it's not our home that we're painting, but I've enjoyed having a domestic project to do!  I like to pretend it's our home.  Is that weird...?  Anyway, it makes me feel all adult-y and stuff.

Oh, and about the Ramen...  I had Ramen for dinner and thought it'd be a good idea to have a glass of milk with it.  Bad idea.  Barf city.  So there's Ramen in my nose because of that.

You're welcome.

I Have a Love/Hate Relationship with the World

I love everyone.  There is good in everyone.  We're all God's children.

People are stupid.  I hate people who whine and ask dumb questions.  No one cares anymore.

Everyone deserves a second chance.  I give people the benefit of the doubt.

People are greedy and lazy and selfish.  Don't belive anything you read on the internet.

I feel all of these conflicting emotions pretty much all the time.  A lot of the time I have an ovewhelming love for everyone on the planet.  Everyone has their own story, they're not all just extras in the "Kelsey Snow Movie."  We (and I'm talking to those of us fortunate enough to live in a first world country) focus entirely too much on ourselves.  I know I do.  If the internet is acting up or if I forgot to wash the shirt I wanted to wear today... look out...  Kelsey angry.  I wish I could be that person who dedicates her life to making a difference.  I'm just the gal who cries when she watches a sad video made by those dedcated  people, then shares it.  Done!  I saved the world!

The video I'm talking about, of course, is the new KONY 2012 video now circling the interwebs.

 If you take the time to watch it, I think it's extremely worthwhile.  The issue is a real one that needs to be dealt with.  Whether you want to donate or buy a bracelet or slap up posters is entirely up to you.  I found an article that questions this organizaton's integrity with the handling of the donated money.  Other people are accusing the organization of trying to make things worse.  The internet is a funny place.  It's full of trolls and scammers and false information.

I toe the line between sceptic and romantic, though I prefer to see the good in people, it makes me happier.  I believe the people involved with the video and the Invisible Children organization ar legit and want to do some real good.

Anyway.

I have a good life.  A very good life.  I was born of goodly parents.  I had a good education.  I had the means to go to college.  I worked at Disney World.  I found my sweetie and got married.  We lived in England.  We have a roof over our heads.  We both have jobs...

oh  yeah... P.S.  I got a job!  I'm working as a Computer Lab Tech at Sunset Elementary in St. George.  Yeah!

... and a roof over our heads.  We are happy and healthy, so all of that puts us ahead of most of the world's population.  When I get all boo-hoo-y about doing the dishes, I should be thanking my Heavenly Father that I don't have to fear for my life and the lives of my loved ones on a daily basis.  In response to the trending KONY 2012 issue, I saw someone on Facebook write something along the lones of  "we have our own problems, cool posters though."

Disgusting.  Misenthropic Kelsey emerges.  Can you imagine that kind of reaction to the Holocaust?  Sickening.  But some people don't care about anything beyond a witty status update.

Joseph Kony is the worst kind of human being that makes this world hell for his fellow man.  I'm all for raising awareness if it helps stopping this kind of evil.


KONY 2012 from INVISIBLE CHILDREN on Vimeo.
Long rant blog.  The End.

St. George Parade of Homes

Today Nathan, Adam, Joanna, and little Lydia took part in the St. George Parade of Homes.  Basically, it's a chance for builders to show off their handiwork.  There are houses all over the area, some for sale and some sold, that have been staged to show them off.  Most of the ones we visited are far out of what our price range will ever be.  Some, however, were closer to what we could afford someday.  Either way, they were all fun to peep around.  I got the most excited about all the cool bathrooms!  I also took a million pictures of design ideas.  Here are a few pictures of the highlights:

 Nathan and I both LOVED this kitchen.  I think this was by far our favorite.

 Pool slide!

Gorgeous bathroom!  The shower is behind the wall. 

This house had it's own spa!  Sauna and all...

This was a cool infinity pool with a great view.

I loved the old door they used for the head boards.

This was my favorite dining room.  Take note of the wood on the ceiling, the mirror, the chairs and table, and the mason jar light fixture.

The next group of pictures is from our ideal house.  This one was the most fun to look at because not only was it the perfect size for our future brood, it was our style, and we felt like it was within reach since it was closest to our price range.

ADORE the tiled fireplace.

BATHROOM.  Love the tile.  Love the walk-in shower with 5 nozzles.  Love the sink area.  Love that the toilet has it's own little room so one can poop and the other can take a shower and not smell it.  Love that it has a giant walk-in closet at the end.

I love wallpaper.  I REALLY want wallpaper in my future home.

End of affordable house.  Back to pricey pricey.

The water for the bathtub came from the ceiling!!  This cute old man was in charge of turning it off and on for the visitors.

One of the houses had a diner!  With a theater attatched!  And they were watching "Tangled"!

I forgot to start taking pictures until we were about 4 houses into the day, so I missed out on capturing the memory of a TV that popped out of the kitchen countertop and countless lavish fireplaces.  It's also funny to note that at every home we had to take our shoes off at the door and carry them around.  I wore boots... so it was a pain in the butt.  I had insisted to Nathan that we dressed as if it was an actual possibility that we were potential buyers.  (We also jokingly discussed creating false identities and calling each other "Muffy").  So I donned my pearls and he sported a sport-coat and one of the hosts in an expensive house stopped Nathan to see if he needed any assistance.  Nathan said no thank you and we were just getting ideas for the somewhat distant future.  The man laughed and said, "You wear a jacket, we pay attention to you!"  Told ya!