Winter Card Making

For my birthday Kristy gave me a card that said instead of giving me homemade cards, we would make cards together! So... we did! And it was fun. I like being crafty and I like hanging out with my sister. Now I have some cards to give away. Thanks Kristy! 

Grizzly Ridge Yurt

This weekend was my 4th Annual Yurt Trip. I put it together every year and I choose a different yurt every year. This year I chose the Grizzly Ridge Yurt in the Ashley National Forest. It was one of the best rated yurts in Utah, I so I was excited.

Sadly most everyone that I invited wasn't able to go the weekend that I had reserved back in October. So it ended up just being me, Allison, Daniel (the core group that has gone every year) and Jared which was his second year. I was fine with only 4. It would still be fun. So yesterday morning we all met at Daniel's house around 11 to pack up the car and drive to Vernal (2 1/2 hours away) to begin our yurt adventure. That morning someone called me to make sure I knew how to get there (which was nice) and warned me of a few things... which made me a little nervous. It was going to be the coldest year out of all the years we have gone... but we prepared for that. What we didn't prepare for, nor could we have... was the snowshoeing we had ahead of us. I wanted to get an early start because it is a long drive to get there... but of course, we left an hour later than I wanted to, then someone had to rent their snowshoes still and then people wanted to stop and eat... bla bla bla.... we ended up getting a late start.

By the time we found the trail and started our hike, It was close to 4pm and I knew that we had a 3 mile hike in snowshoes... who knows how much of that would be uphill. I knew that we would be hiking some of it in the dark... which is what I was trying to avoid. The picture of us above... we are all smiles, because we had JUST started our hike and had no idea how hard it was going to be.

Let's start out with the positive. The sun was out and it wasn't snowing... we could have had windy snow in our faces as we hiked. I also really appreciated that the trail was very well marked so we knew we were on the right path. In past years... that has certainly not been the case. Jared and I also used those markers on the trees of when we would stop and rest... especially towards the end when we started to get really tired.

Not only was it the coldest it has been on any of our yurt trips so far (17 degrees) but also the most snow... so we sunk about a foot every step we took... which makes the hike a lot slower. You feel like you have been hiking a lot longer than you actually have. Jared and I complained a lot... especially towards the end after it got dark. I felt like we were never going to get there. Once the sun went down, the temperature dropped fast. My hair started to freeze and so did my sweat... so I started to get pretty cold and cramp up a little and started losing energy. If you are not careful, that can get dangerous... so thinking about that also freaked me out. Thankfully we found the yurt not too much longer. Daniel found a short cut up a steep hill that I really didn't think I was going to be able to get up in my snowshoes and backpack and lack of energy... but I eventually made it up. Even when I saw the yurt, you would think I would rush there and get inside... but I still didn't have the energy for that. I still had to stop and rest a couple times before I actually got there. It was brutal.

Once we got inside, I was so happy. I took off my back and lied down on the bed. Although I was super happy to finally be in the yurt... I quickly realized that it is still freezing inside the yurt (it got down to -17 that night). Daniel was trying to get the fire going in the wood stove, but it wasn't working great. I don't know if the flue needed to be cleaned or what... but it was open and we would get a fire going... but as soon as we shut the glass door, the fire would go out. If we left it open, it would smoke up the yurt. It took an hour to get it going to the point where it actually stayed and we could close the door to the stove. We were all SO cold, but thank goodness Daniel had the patience to keep at it until it worked. After that, it still was going to take a while to warm the yurt. I got in my sleeping bag just waiting for the yurt to warm up because I was so cold I couldn't take it. Thankfully we had a good group that through the crappy situations, we could laugh it off and joke about it. We kept reassuring ourselves that it was getting warmer in the yurt even though it didn't feel like it. We then decided the real celebration would come when we stopped seeing our breath. It took a couple hours after the hour it took to get the fire going... but we finally got to that point. Once the yurt warmed up... we were all very happy. We made our dinners and could take off a couple layers and play games and enjoy ourselves now. NOW the yurt was cozy. This yurt even had the best beds out of all the yurts I have stayed in. Real mattresses. We were feeling great. There were 2 bunks that were doubles.. so 8 people could have fit and since there were only 4 of us, we could have each gotten our own bed, but everyone wanted to sleep on the bottom bunk. So... Jared set up his sleeping bag next to mine and Allison and Daniel slept next to each other on the other one. Even though we were all comfortable, I don't think anyone slept very well except for Jared. I know that Jared slept well because he was snoring in my ear most of the night... which is why I didn't sleep very well. Daniel didn't sleep very well because he set his alarm to go off every hour so that he could make sure the fire was still going and put more wood on (what a trooper) and Allison didn't sleep very well because... well... she was next to Daniel who was getting up every hour. But at least we were warm huh? I'd rather not get much sleep and be warm than be cold and not get much sleep.

We took our time getting up the next morning. We chilled in the yurt for a few hours before we finally packed up and decided to make the hike back to the car.  It took us between 2 1/2 - 3 hours to hike up there. We figured it would take us an hour to hike down. It was mostly downhill anyway. What we didn't take into consideration was how windy it was last night. It was super windy. What does that mean? Well... all of the open spaces with not many trees around (which there were a lot of areas like that) all the snow got blown over our tracks and was no longer packed down from us hiking up. Not only that... but it was warmer today than it was yesterday. What that means is that the snow was very powdery, but still really deep. At first the path was alright, but it didn't take long before every step we took we were sinking in to at least our knees. I fell in the snow 4 times... and with snow shoes and a backpack on, getting up out of the snow when you fall in deep isn't the easiest task.. plus then I was wet and cold from having snow all over me. Miles of this... it gets old really fast. We were all VERY frustrated. I wasn't the only one that fell in either... I think everyone did at least once. Although it was mostly downhill, it was a very frustrating 3 miles back. You know it is bad when Daniel get's upset to the point of swearing. That happened. What we thought was going to take an easy hour ended up being a very frustrating and difficult hour and 45 minute hike back to the car. We were all SO happy to be in the car and I didn't want to snowshoe again until next Winter. Ha ha.

With as difficult as it was, we were kind of glad that it was a smaller group and I was also glad we were a group that could laugh through our frustrations. It was hard and very frustrating... but I am still glad we did it and I will do it again next year... if anyone wants to come back after this. ha ha. We actually all decided we would only go again if Daniel was going to be there. He helped us all survive. He is a champ. Cheers to another successful yurt trip! Until next year...

Confessions of a Brunette on the Internet 359

I skipped a week. So I have the last 2 weeks to talk about it. Not that I will have that much more to say. Just the day to day life....

Picking up where I left off, Friday night I hung out with Allison, Mackenzie and Daniel to grab dinner and Sodalicious and watch the couple latest episodes of the Blacklist. Our little tradition. After watching the episodes we hung out for the rest of the night and chatted because we don't really see each other that much anymore.

Saturday I went out to lunch with Rachel. Rachel and I have not really seen or talked to each other since she moved out from my house 4 years ago. Kind of had a falling out, but reconnected and are friends again. We spend a few hours catching up over lunch until I had to go because I was meeting up with Justine at her place in Sandy. I already blogged a little bit about that, but Justine is awesome and I wish we would get together more often. Maybe I need to do a better job of initiating that. We had fun making gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches and catching up on life while eating and soaking in a nice hot tub. We relate a lot to each other in this stage of life we are in... so always nice to talk to people who truly get you.

Next day was church and then dinner with the family. The usual. I like family day.

Monday it was back to work and the gym and work out with my trainer after work. Although... I am feeling differently with my trainer these days. I feel stuck and I'm not really making progress anymore. It is hard for me to want to spend so much money when I don't feel like I am really even a priority to him anymore. When another guy I have been working out with for a while (Chase) told me he was done this week... I decided I would be done at the end of the month. I think I will start working out with Jack at work instead. I'm sure I can get just as good of a work out with Jack and he is free. So... that is how I am feeling now. Next I need to find a way to adjust my diet because that is like 80% of losing weight. It is always a work in progress.

Later Monday night I headed to MacKenzie's house to watch the Bachelor with her and her roommates. Always a good time.

Tuesday after work... instead of going to work out with my trainer... I went to the movies. $5 Tuesday. Here is how it went down. I'm leaving work and my boss is leaving too. She says, "Tracy, are you coming?" and I reply... "yeah!" because I thought she meant leaving to walk down to go home right then. Then she asked me if I had met her daughter and that I will get to meet her. Then I was really confused. I told her I didn't know what she was talking about and then she said.. "the movie. You are coming to the movie?" and I told her I didn't know what she was talking about because I wasn't invited to a movie. Then she said... oh, Katy didn't tell you? We bought you a ticket to come with us because I knew you would be down to go. She knows me so well. Of course, I am always down to see a movie. So I met up with them at the theater later that evening to go see Patriots Day... which I didn't really have much of a desire to see, but I ended up liking it a lot. So.. that was my Tuesday night.

Wednesday was another normal day of work and gym.

Thursday was even more boring because it was just work... and then work some more because we had to work late. We stayed at work until 10pm so that we could get caught up a little before quarter end which is just around the corner.

Friday I left an hour early... because I had tickets to the Ice Castle. When I bought the tickets, I actually thought it was for Saturday, but it was for Friday and I thought... oh well, guess I will have to leave work early that day. It was nice that I was able to go with Lacy because she gets off work early anyway... so we headed up to Midway together after meeting at the bottom of Provo Canyon. I am glad that we have kept in touch even though she doesn't work at the gym at work anymore. She is great and it is always fun to get together with her and catch up. I also already blogged about the Ice Castles, but I am glad I bought tickets and went this year because even though it is a very popular thing to do so it can get crowded... it is popular for a reason. It is beautiful and not a lot of places has Ice Castles to go explore. So we enjoyed going. After I got home, I met up with Rachel and we went to a movie. We both go see a lot of movies I guess because the only movie out that we both hadn't seen were animated movies... so we went and saw SING... which was cuter than I thought it was going to be if I'm being honest... but it is still not my top choice of movie I would have wanted to see.

Saturday I just cleaned and ran errands. To be honest... I know that is what most people's Saturday's look like, but I always feel a little bummed when I don't do anything else on Saturday because I feel like my weekends are so precious, I look forward to them all week... and if I don't do something fun, it is like I wasted the weekend. Is that a weird way to think? Maybe it is because I'm single that I think that way? Or maybe I would still think that way if I were married and had kids. I don't know.

Sunday was the usual church and family dinner.... but after dinner, my friend Kyle text me wanting me to come over and hang out. So I went over to his place to hang out for a couple hours. Kyle and Heather are great (Heather was there too ha ha) so it was nice to catch up with them for a little bit.

Monday back to the Grind. Monday, then the gym with the trainer and then I went over to Hillary's place (which I blogged about) for her LipSense party which I hate. But I love Hillary and Lyndi so I went just to hang out with them... and watch the Bachelor... which was on at the party. I miss them and really wish that we hung out more... but they both have boyfriends so....

Tuesday work and gym..... until ..... guess who decided he wanted to see me again? Mr. Tyler. He waited 4 1/2 months last time and this time it's been 2 weeks and he wants to see me again. Of course, I let him come over whenever he wants because he is fun... so I hung out with Tyler that night.

Wednesday I went to work then the gym and then I hung out with this guy that I met online. He was pretty weird. Looked normal in his pics, but you just never know with online. That is why I always meet guys with ZERO expectations. That way you are never disappointed and if it turns out great... then it is a pleasant surprise. That is how I handle it.

I guess that brings us to today. Just went to work and then I went to the Temple for the first time in a while... which was nice. Now I am packing for my annual yurt trip tomorrow.

And there you have it... the last 2 weeks.  Peace.

Photo of the Week 357

I take a lot more pictures of the Sunset at Utah Lake during the Winter because I don't have to pay to get in. I like that. So here is the Sunset I watched at Utah Lake this past Saturday.

LipSense Nonsense with Hillary

I hate LipSense... especially after I tried it. It's the worst. When Hillary sent me an invitation to go to her LipSense Party... I had no desire to go. But she text me and really wanted me to come, so I went to hang out with her, not to buy anything. I did humor her however and try some on. That is when I decided I really hated it. However, me Hillary and Lyndi had some fun taking pictures with it on. I miss working out with those girls. All of us met at the gym with my personal trainer. Those days are over... but I wish I got to see them more.

Bowie

Sadly the Beta that my cousin Dave bought me (Luna) died. I waited until after I traveled to the Middle East, and Mexico... but now I'm ready to have another Beta. I just like having one I guess. So... I went to buy one.

I went to PetSmart hoping to find the new Purple Rain. When I say new Purple Rain, I realize that no other Beta could replace Purple Rain, but one that has the same energy and hopefully will live close to as long as he did.

I picked one out. Long tail like P-Rain, but this little guy has blue and red. He has a lot of energy and follows me when I am around and gets excited when I come home because he knows I am going to feed him... just like P-Rain did. So I have high hopes for this little guy.

Now... for a good name. I feel like because P-Rain lived so long (5 years which is like a million in Beta years) and had such a stellar name and theme song, I felt I needed to do the same for this little guy.

I thought long and hard and even brain stormed with MacKenzie. I came to a conclusion. I decided to stick with the rock stars that have passed away. The last one was named after a Prince song. Davie Bowie passed away not that long ago as well... so...  his name is Bowie and his theme song is Space Oddity.  I almost named him Major Tom... but I liked Bowie better. So Bowie it is. I hope Bowie sticks around for a while.

Midway Ice Castles

Utah is the first state to get these man made ice castles. Lucky for me it is only a 20 minute drive up the canyon for me to go see. I went a few years ago, but I only saw them at night, and in 3 years, the ice castles have changed.

The first time I went, it was a small space that didn't take long to walk through. It was cool... for sure,  but now... now there are fire pits to stay warm, ice slides to go down, ice throwns to sit on, an ice fountain, music (of course they play the Frozen sound track) that goes to the lights in the ice. It is a lot larger... more to explore. Not only that but not only do they build one in Utah, but they have them in a few other states and Canada now. Pretty awesome.

I really wanted to go last year, but it closed down early because it got warm quickly. They also sell out... so this year, I thought ahead. I really wanted to go so on my way home from Mexico, I got online and booked 2 tickets and figured I would be able to find someone to go with me by the time it got to the day I bought tickets for. And I did, Lacy! She told me she wanted to go and her husband didn't want to go again, so I told her to come with me. Perfect.

Since I only went at night the last time (and only time) I went, I decided that this time, I wanted to get there before it got dark and then stick around until it did get dark and the lights came on. So we could experience both. It was perfect. It definitely got more crowded the later it got, so we were ready to peace out soon after the sun went down. We had a great time and got a lot of fun pictures... so get ready for a picture overload. :)

Grilled Cheese with Justine

I met Justine through my friend Lexi. Lexi used to have girls nights every once in a while so we met at one of them. Well... I think Justine is awesome and girls nights don't really happen anymore now that Lexi is dating someone, so we decided we needed to get together just the two of us.

She invited me up to her place in Sandy. So I drove up and we decided to make Gourmet Grilled Cheese Sandwiches. I had seen some on Pinterest that looked really good and had been wanting to try some and Justine had been wanting to as well... so we went to the store and bought the ingredients to make a few different kinds and that is what we did. Quick and easy and delicious AND got a variety. We decided it would be super fun to do it again. After dinner... we headed to the hot tub that she has at her complex. For most of the time, we had it to ourselves.... so we chatted while relaxing in the hot tub. So nice.

I feel like Justine and I relate a lot to each other. She is also super chill and easy and fun to be around. Plus she is fun to talk to because she is Australian and has one of my favorite accents. Ha ha... but seriously... she is awesome and I need to hang out with her more often. Also... she has her own place and it REALLY made me want me own place more than ever. #goals

Such a fun night.

Confessions of a Brunette on the Internet 358

So... starting off the new year. Hillary and I patched things up a little bit. Friday we got together for the first time in a long time and went to dinner and a movie (saw the new Star Wars Movie Rouge One). We also did a little bit of shopping. It was good to catch up with her. I miss hanging out with her... but I am not going to get used to having her around again either... because even though she is no longer with the last boyfriend... I can tell she is about to get another one... so I don't think our relationship will change... but at least we are on better terms than we left things off before. Will just need to continue to make new friends.

Sunday I went to dinner with the family after church at the new time 1pm (yuck) and I was super excited because my Aunt Brenda & Uncle Carl and cousin Dave were all there for dinner. I love the Anderson family. We had some good food and some good times.

Monday was back to the grind. Work, then work out with my trainer... then watched The Bachelor with MacKenzie and her roommates. Just my typical Monday... you know. Watching the Bachelor is way more fun to watch with a group of people so you can all make fun of it together. I really love to make fun of it.

Tuesday after work and my trainer... I decided to take a bath. It's cold out and I didn't have anything to do and relaxing in a hot bath sounded really nice... so I put in some bubble bath and filled up my tub. It of course would be more relaxing if my tub were big enough to have my entire body under the water. I have to choose one half at a time... upper half or lower half. Maybe if my tub could fit my entire body, I would take more baths. Anyway... it was nice. Then I got a text.

Who was the text from? Tyler. Who is Tyler? This guy that I met online in June and that has been in and out of my life since. It will be weeks sometimes months before I hear from him again. We have a great time together... but I don't put any stalk in it besides that it is fun. Anyway... this time it had been 4 months since I had heard from him. I honestly didn't think I would hear from him again. Anyway... he wanted to see me and catch up... so he came over after my bath and we hung out the rest of the night until I went to bed.

Wednesday after work and the gym with the trainer... I headed up to Salt Lake to get my eyelashes filled by my good friend Ali. Since she has now had her baby... we can finally trade again and I can go back to giving massages instead of having to pay for my fills. Nice to be able to save a little bit of money. It is also so fun to catch up with her. She has become a good friend over the years of doing my eyelashes. She has been doing them for like 4 years now I think. Crazy.

Guess that brings us to today. Today was work and the gym and.... that is it. I know... my life is really exciting sometimes. Work, gym, work, gym work, gym. I wish my body showed how much I go to the gym. Oh... the company that gave me free hammocks... they asked me to do a giveaway on my Instagram. So... I am doing my first giveaway... giving away a hammock. We will see how that goes.

That is all. Until next week!

Photo of the Week 356

Provo Temple sure is pretty all covered with snow.

Mr. Snapchat

Early October of 2015 ( a year and 4 months ago) I went out with this guy that I met online. I even blogged about him, but I won't reference the blog post since I try to keep my guy stories anonymous. We only went out the one time. It was fun... we hung out Friday night and then went on a hike Saturday. However, he lived at the airforce base in Ogden... so I knew that we wouldn't really see each other much.

Well... we continued texting each other for a couple of months after we hung out and we followed each other on Instagram and would like each others pictures, but then I noticed he got a girlfriend. So... I unfollowed him on Instagram and we are still facebook friends... but I made it so his pictures and stuff didn't show up in my feed. Out of sight, out of mind.

Months and months go by. He stopped liking my pictures... I wasn't even sure if he followed me anymore. I didn't even think about him anymore. His mom was following me on Instagram as well... and she stopped liking my pictures as well, so I don't know if she followed me anymore either, but who cares... he was dating someone.

This last fall (a year after we went out once) I noticed that he started liking my pictures again on Instagram. Not all the time, but occasionally. I checked his page... still dating the girl. It's fine, he is just liking my pictures, that is all.

A couple of months ago, he added me on Snapchat... which I really don't use. If someone sends me a snapchat, I send one back and that is pretty much all I use it for. I find it to be kind of stupid. Maybe because I don't like taking selfie's and that is what people do. Anyway... I added him, but didn't really think much of it.

A month ago, I receive a snapchat from him. A picture of him and saying he was bored at work. Now... I don't use snapchat much, but I know that you can send a snapchat to everyone in your contact list. So I wasn't sure if he just sent one to me or to everyone. Either way... I responded because that is what I do. I find it rude not to respond to people when they reach out to you. So I sent a snapchat back saying hi. This started up conversation.... I asked him what was new since we last spoke. He said nothing... just work. He asked me what was new with me and I told him work and travel and he told me how much he loved seeing my pictures and all the cool things I do.

Conversation ended and I thought... I wonder when he and his girlfriend broke up.... because that is what guys do. They break up after a long relationship, they get lonely and then reach out to old flings. I have seen it before. This wasn't the first time a guy has done that to me. So I go to his Instagram page. Still says he is in a relationship with that same girl. What? I look at his last post... the last post with the girl was in August... so nothing in the last 4 or 5 months. Maybe he just hasn't updated it? So naturally I feel the need to continue my stalking. Now I was super curious and confused. We are still facebook friends... so I went to his facebook page. I start looking at his info and looking through his pictures.

What did I find out? Well... not only are he and the girl still together, but then GOT MARRIED in August. I have to throw in the fact that he and this girl are not even Mormon and under the age of 25... so the fact that they started dating and got married within 7 months is kind of nuts. So he is totally married and I continue looking and I see that... they are expecting a baby! No joke. From my stalking... I could see that she did all the posting and he didn't post much about them together after they got married.

My jaw dropped. Why was he reaching out to me? Over the next couple of days after that he would send some snap chats to me. Were they just to me? Or to everyone? I don't know... but why did he add me a couple of months ago? Do I call him out on it? Or let it go because he wasn't flirting or trying to do anything sketchy? He wasn't trying to make a pass so I decided to ignore and let it go.

The other day I get a another snapchat from him. No picture, it is just text. It says.. "I still think about the night and next day adventure that we had together".

Really? You are married and have a kid on the way and you are thinking about that one time we spent together over a year ago? Think about your wife dude... think about your wife. 

Insta Fame - Part 2

Since my last Insta Fame post...  I have been featured lots more times and on some big accounts that I was SUPER excited to be featured on because they are really big accounts... like Backpacker Story and WeRUtah and Provo account is always a good one to be featured on as well since they have thousands of followers.

So here are some of my latest features. I feel honored to be recognized for great photographs. I am really hard on myself when it comes to photography... so this has been great validation for me.