The Cube

This is my new work space. I had to get rid of A LOT of my stuff. I have tried to make the best of it... but I hate it. At least I'm by the window.

I invested in these sweet headphones. They block out everyone. I like that.

Confessions of a Brunette on the Internet 282

July is over starting Saturday. It's going too quickly. Pretty soon I will have another new roommate moving in.

My roommates have both been out of town this week. It's been nice having the house to myself, but I do start to get a little lonely after a while. However... I am also a lot more productive than usual when I am by myself. Monday-today I have cleaned the kitchen, organized my pantry, went food shopping, did laundry, cleaned my bathroom, cleaned my fish tank, made a DI run, finally took my fort down (only been up for a month) and organized my room. Not too bad. I even finally started on my video of my trip to Bali and the Philippines. I know, it has taken me forever to start. It's an overwhelming project... and so will be putting together the book, but it needs to be done. I am hoping that now that I have started it will be a lot easier to keep it rolling.

I hung out with Stacey on Tuesday. It was nice to have some company for a little while. He is so busy... seems hard to keep him around for too long.

Work has been surprisingly slow since it is quarter end. I hardly did anything today and tomorrow is the last day of the quarter. That can't be a good sign for the company. Makes time go by so slow at work too. I also hate that they feed us so much during quarter end because I eat it and then I feel like crap for eating too much and stuff that isn't very healthy. This has been a BAD week for my health.

Speaking of... I'm ready to try another diet. I hate that I am always trying to diet, but I have to do something... need to do something until I find something I can do for the rest of my life and just keep the weight off. When my cousin Lisa was here she says she struggles with the same thing (although I have never thought so) and she tried medifast like me and all the weight she lost came back... like mine is... but she told me of another diet she did that she loved and worked well and she told me she would do it with me. So I just need to read the book about the science about it all and buy the stuff to make the healthy recipes and follow the plan and then I will be ready. New month is a good time to start right? I told her I would tell her when I start and then she will start with me. Hopefully having someone to be accountable to and who is doing it with me will help me stay motivated. I love Lisa. She is the best. I have been blessed with awesome cousins.... and family in general.

I was pretty disappointed this last weekend. I was super pumped to go camping with a friend and I even got off of work early and was ready to go and then she bailed on me last minute leaving me home a lone with no plans at all and not really able to make plans because everyone else already had plans. I don't get to leave work early on a Friday very often so I was pretty bummed. My neighbor Jared came over for a little while and hung out with me in the fort. Easy for me to contact him. He lives next door and I can tell when he is home because I see his truck. Then my friend Lindsay was going to the Mapleton Pioneer Day fireworks that night so I decided to join her. They seriously have the best fireworks around. Also Lindsay and I... fireworks is our thing. We tent to go see them together a lot. Saturday I did a whole lot of nothing and was starting to feel sorry for myself and depressed about it... so I just decided that I would go hike by myself. This is something that I had NEVER done before. Sure... it doesn't seem like a big deal, but it kind of was for me. I'm not super motivated to do things by myself. Anyway... I just embraced it and went for it and did the 4 hour outing by myself. I was really glad I did. Way better than sitting on my lazy but feeling sorry for myself at home. I didn't even think too much about the fact that I was by myself. It was just peaceful and quiet and I did a lot of thinking and taking pictures and I talked to a few people that were at donut falls and it wasn't bad. The one nice thing about doing things by yourself if that you are on your own time schedule. You don't have to rely on anyone else which is kind of nice. I still like hiking with others better than by myself, but at least I know now. I have tried it.

Sunday dinner was at my sister Kristy's house. She made Indian food which I love. My Aunt Sharleen was in town so Levi and his family came over too. Always fun to see and catch up with family that I don't get to see very often. I need to take another trip out to Washington to visit!

I wish I had a lot of money. People think I have a lot of money because I travel, but it's only because I travel on the cheap and I have cheap rent because of my dad (bless him) and I'm not in any debt except for my car loan now. But I am always thinking of things I want to buy. I wish I was better at saving, but I am the worst at living in the moment and impulse purchases... and some things I do need. Then there are things that would be nice and are just expensive. Like getting racks on top of my car. I bought my car with all of the bells and whistles... why didn't it come with the roof racks? Seriously. It should have. buying them on amazon and then installing them myself (aka my dad installing them for me) still cost $330. Why are they so expensive. I don't NEED to have racks on top of my car, but I want them. Why? So I can spend money on more things that I want... like a paddle board or a kayak.... for my adventure needs. I'm the worst. Why do I have to want to do everything and love to decorate and garden and learn and do all these extra hobbies. It all cost money.

I'm still watching Heartland. I have kind of come to love it. Makes me want to go ride horses. I am on the 5th season. I'm almost done because there are 6 seasons. I think I will be a little sad when it's over. I really like most of the characters. There are a few annoying ones, but I really love Jack, Ty and Amy. That means nothing to you if you have never watched the show. HA! ANYWAY. Funny thing is... I have been watching this show, this week I have been cleaning up paperwork that has been sitting on my desk for a while and I came across this! Guess I'm meant to be watching it? ha ha. That is all.

Photo of the Week 280

Another picture from my hike to Donut Falls.

Trial Lake Camping

Not this last weekend but the weekend before (I know... I'm behind) I went with my friend Becca and her cousin John up to the Uinta's to camp with her other cousin and her cousin's two friends... you won't see pictures of any of them because they pretty much didn't like us and pretty sure didn't want us there so we did our own thing.

Despite the grumpy company.. I did make a new friend (John) and we had a great time camping and enjoying new scenery. The Unita's are beautiful. So we chilled and I of course took pictures.

Donut Falls - Take 2

Last time I went to Donut Falls was a year and a half ago. It was Winter. I wanted to see what the hike and the waterfall looked like in the summer... you know. when most people go.

I was supposed to go camping this last weekend, but my friend bailed on me last minute, so I ended up a lone with no plans all weekend. Friday night I ended up going to see the fireworks for Pioneer day with a friend. Saturday I was sick of sitting around all day by myself... so I decided to do something I have never done before. Go on a hike by myself. Maybe I would like it... I was about to find out. I don't typically like doing things by myself. Or I'm not really motivated to go do things like hike by myself. Just doesn't seem as fun, but I refused to sit and do nothing. So I got in my hiking clothes and got in the car, drove an hour away up into the mountains and hiked the 3 miles round trip or whatever it was to Donut Falls to see what it looked like in the summer.

Hiking by myself wasn't so bad. It gave me a lot of time to think and enjoy the nature around me. I would stop and take pictures whenever I felt like it. It wasn't so bad. I passed many other people on the trail, but not so many that I felt weird being by myself or that it disturbed my peace. The most people I saw was once I got to the falls.

It was a lot prettier not covered in ice. It also wasn't as scary to climb up to the falls... but you did still have to climb up there to get into the cave and see donut falls. The nice part about that was... not a lot of people wanted to climb it, so there were not many people up there... not crowded which was nice. There were a couple people though... which was also good because I was able to take pictures for them and they were able to snap a couple pictures of me.

The waterfall is so pretty and unique. It doesn't look like much from the outside... but from the inside it is so cool. You wouldn't think there was this cave to climb in or that it is as big as it is. It's very cool and worth the climb up there.

Then I headed back before it got dark. I wasn't interested in hiking by myself in the dark. I made it back and was driving down the mountain by sunset. I made it home after dark and I felt great that I had gotten out and done something that day. It didn't even feel weird that I did it by myself. So who knows... maybe that won't be my last solo hike... although I still prefer going with others. Donut Falls is pretty cool though. I recommend it.

Cherry Picking

There is a girl in my ward who's family has a cherry farm... so some of us went down to Santaquin and watched the process of how the collect all of the cherry's. It was very interesting. There is a machine that shakes them off. Cool to watch.

We were also able to pick our own if we wanted. I picked a few and ate them... they were a little too tart for me, so I skipped out on collecting a bunch. It was cool to experience though.

Provo River Falls

Years and years of living in Provo, I didn't know there was a Provo River Falls until a few years ago. Probably because it's not in Provo. It's up in the Uinta's by Kamas almost 2 hours away from Provo. Regardless.... it's a cool waterfall.

Raspberry & Brownie Trifles

This is the dessert I made for the patio dinner on Monday night. Great summer dessert. Everyone loved it.

Ingredients:

For brownies:
7 ounces unsweetened chocolate, roughly chopped
3/4 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup water
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 pints raspberries
Mini chocolate chips, for garnish

For Whipped cream:
1 1/2 cups chilled heavy cream
1/3 cup sour cream
3 Tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract


Directions:

Make the brownies:
Preheat the over to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-inch baking dish with cooking spray and set it aside.

In a medium saucepan set over medium-low heat, combine the chocolate, butter and water. Cook, stirring, until the chocolate and butter are melted. Transfer the mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the sugar and light brown sugar, mixing until combined, then add the eggs and vanilla extract and mix for 2 minutes.

Add the flour and salt and mix until combined. Transfer the batter to the prepared baking dish and bake for 25 to 30 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove the pan from the oven and place it on a cooling rack. Ounce the brownies have cooled completely, invert the pan onto a cutting board and cut unto 1/2 inch brownie croutons.

Make the whipped cream:
In the bowl of stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk the heavy cream, sour cream, sugar and vanilla extract on high speed until soft peaks form.

Assemble the trifles:
Fill each serving dish with alternating layers of brownie, whipped cream and raspberries, Garnish each trifle with a sprinkle of mini chocolate chips and serve immediately.

Confessions of a Brunette on the Internet 281

Compared to last week, this week has been slow. I have so many things I could be doing, but I find myself being lazy because it feels nice to do nothing for a change. Work has been slow too. Everyone is taking time off for Pioneer Day even though we don't even get the day off. A lot of other people do. I had a busier week last week because my cousin was in town and I spent lots of time with her family. I'm sad they are gone. They are so much fun to hang out with.

Monday I had friends over for dinner. I love cooking dinner and I love playing hostess. I don't know why but I love planning dinner parties and having my friends over. I love my traditions I have started also. Besides that... I haven't done anything the rest of the week. Weird.

I went camping over the weekend. I will blog more about it, but it was beautiful. Went up to the Uinta's and have not been up there for years. I made a new friend.... the rest of the people though were not my favorite. Not very friendly and didn't seem like they wanted me and my friend there. Oh well, I still enjoy camping.

I finished Arrow... I needed something more lighthearted so I started Heartland. Usually horse movies are not my favorite, but so far I am not hating this show. I'm almost done with the 2nd season. It's cheesy, but it's cute and it was a nice change from all of the intense shows I had been watching. There are a few more seasons after this to keep me occupied for a while.

I don't know why I ever have any hope with guys. Every time I get excited over a guy because we have some sort of connection... they always disappear after we have gone out a couple of times. Sometimes I wonder why I even try. Dating seems so hopeless. I know that sounds dramatic... but really. It's super discouraging to think I'm going to find someone when I don't have a lot of great experiences to go after.

I guess Nate is already moving back to Utah and got a new job. That guy... I love him, but he can't seem to be happy and settle where he is at. I'm happy he is coming back to Utah. I will get to see him and his cute family more. He stopped by Tuesday after I was done with work and we caught up and chatted for 2 hours. I can't believe we have stayed such good friends all of these years. Me and all of those boys. It's they are brothers. It was fun to hang out with him for a while. He will most likely be moving to Salt Lake area when he moves back, but I will still see him more than I would have with him in Vegas.

While hanging out with cousin Dave last week, I had a heart to heart about my fish tank. He was fading out while I was fading in. That wasn't too helpful for me... who still feels like I don't know what I am doing after a year and a half of having my tank. I always consult with my friends at the fish store and they try and help me as much as they can without seeing my tank, but I still feel like I can't get it right. I may have them come over one more time to take a look at it, and if it doesn't get better after that, I think I need to be done. Another way I can save a little money. Not that it cost me that much at this point... but all the little things add up over time. It makes me sad. If I could just do water changes every week and have it be fine, I would keep it, but seems like I am still not doing something right, so it's frustrating. It's a tricky little hobby.

Have I ever said how much I hate it when people don't text me back? It drives me CRAZY!!! If it takes a while to get back to me, sure... that is fine, as long as they get back to me that day. When people don't text me back it's like saying... I know Tracy wants to get a hold of me... but I don't really care. I don't care about her enough to acknowledge that she is trying to talk to me. It's not nice.

Tomorrow I only have to work half day because it is Pioneer day. I may go out of town for the weekend. I'm just waiting to hear from a friend. I'm always ready and willing to get out of town. I love it. I'm happy that I am spending a lot more time outdoors and camping this summer more than last summer. Makes me happy. I just need to find someone to marry that wants to do that stuff with me. That would be fun. I would love to have an eternal adventure companion.

I can't believe July is almost over. One more week. Yikes! We have been getting some nice rain. It has cooled it down quite a bit. June was SO hot and July hasn't been so bad at all. It creates the most beautiful sunsets. When I was on my way up to Lisa's cabin on Saturday night I had to stop and pull over to take a picture of the sunset. It was beautiful. The most breathtaking sunset I have seen so far this summer in Utah.  BEAUTIFUL!!!! Never get tired of sunsets.

Photo of the Week 279

Another picture from Cecret Lake. I seriously love it up there. SO beautiful.

Cousin hike to Cecret Lake

Ever since my cousin Lisa and I connected on Instagram, we have kept in touch better and because of that have become a little closer. She has seen all of my adventures on Instagram, so when she came to Utah, she wanted to adventure together. Of course I was more than excited. 

She left it up to me to decide where to go on our hike. Because her family was coming and my cousin Dave and his family were coming... I wanted to take them somewhere beautiful but also family friendly. Cecret Lake is the PERFECT place. I never get tired of going there, so I didn't mind. I was more than happy to go with them especially because the last time I went we didn't get far because of the rain. 

So I met up with Lisa & Family and Dave and Family at the bottom of Provo Canyon after work on Thursday. We all piled into the Wishart party van. Lisa had  Dewski (Mountain Dew) ready for me to prep for the hike. That is how the Anderson's roll. We made our way up to Little Cottonwood Canyon. 

As soon as we got there, everyone was so excited over how beautiful it was. That is when I knew I chose the right spot. All the kids made the hike. There was lots of stopping to explore and off trail and taking of pictures... everyone had a great time.

We eventually made it up to the lake. I got the kids all excited before we got there and told them there were salamanders that they could catch at the lake. They were SOOOO excited. As soon as we got there I started pointing them out to the kids and they got right in the water to start catching them. 

The sun started to set and it was time to hike back. 

On our way back we ran into some moose! I loved watching the mom and her two babies!!! I took a ton of pictures of them and probably got a lot closer than I should have.

So glad I was able to spend some quality time with my cousins. I really love them. They are a blast to hang out with and I wish we all got to hang out a lot more. So glad they let me tag along so much during the week while Lisa's family was here.