My First Ever Winter Backpacking!

I tried winter backpacking for the first time ever! But I have to admit - it might not have been true winter backpacking since it was 45 degrees as we hiked in and probably barely hit freezing for the low that night. :) But I'll take it and count it as winter backpacking. We hiked into the Diamond Fork Hot Pots so we could dip in the hot springs too. We started hiking in after work around 6:30 PM and then hiked out by 9 or 10 AM Saturday morning. I slept in two sleeping bags - a 0 degree bag and a 25 degree bag. Ha ha! It was probably a little overkill for that warm of a night, but I wasn't complaining since I was nice and toasty - seriously! The trip was actually pretty fun! The only bummer about it was the 4 miles on the road hiking in from the gate to the actual trail head. 

In my two sleeping bags and loving it.

That's me trying to pack up in the morning. 

Our friend, Dave

Waiting to start the hike back to the cars; (left to right) Mike, Steve, Larryboy, and Tess

Quiet Birthday

This year's birthday ended up being pretty quiet. It was going to be awesome! My sisters were coming into town for our annual sisters ski weekend.... but then I got sick with a nasty case of the flu. I had a fever! So then the ski weekend was canceled. I was feeling better by the day we would have gone skiing, but I was still really weak and dizzy/lightheaded. Teri came down to take me to Kneaders for dinner (which was lovely since I hadn't been eating much for several days and what I had been eating was getting very old), and she brought some lemon cupcakes too! Then on the Monday holiday (Martin Luther King Jr Day), I felt well enough to go for a little walk/hike in the snow on the Whiting trail. That's where Mike and I took this pic.

Houston with the Cooks

Right after Christmas, Mom and I flew down to Houston to be there for Whitney's wedding! And then to spend New Year's with Joni, Adam, Ethan, Adam, and Whitney Kay.

Whitney's wedding was beautiful and wonderful. I'll let the pictures do the talking - down below. They had the reception at this really cool, old plantation and the owner kind of hung out with us as we brought in the drinks and favors the day before. He was such a cool old man! He had some really neat old family photos on the walls of the plantation, and so he and I got to talking about those. Then the day of the wedding came and we weren't too rushed, really, since Joni had other people there to set up and take down the reception. We went to their sealing at the Houston LDS temple, had a quick lunch at Joni and Adam's house, and then we rushed off to the plantation for pictures, the receiving line (that thankfully I didn't have to stand in), a catered dinner, dancing, cake cutting, and sparklers and fireworks for the get away of the newlyweds.

New Years was spent at home watching the New York Time's Square special, drinking nonalcoholic champaign, eating chips and salsa, and popping crackers. Then everyone went to bed before midnight, but I stayed up watching Netflix so I could text Mike at midnight to wish him a happy New Year. 

2014 Year in Review

Mike and I had a ton of adventures this year! In fact, I became infamous at work for being on vacation nearly every Friday. So I've dubbed this past year as the year of the Weekend Warrior.

Christmas

This year for Christmas, Mike went home with me and it was so fun to have him there. We did the usual that my family does - nice dinner Christmas Eve with Mom, Jill, Mike, Jen, Parker, Chandler, Justin, Amy, Alec, and Andrew; and then Christmas day at Jill and Mike's house. Lucky for me this year, Spencer called a little later in the day so it was fun to see and talk to the missionary! Then the day after Christmas I took Mike up to Idaho City and we went snowshoeing. Thank goodness the Christmas Eve storm put down some fresh snow.

Helping Mom put on her Christmas apron

Christmas Eve dinner at Mom's

Christmas Day at Jill & Mike's talking to Spencer on his mission

Snowshoeing up by Idaho City

I Passed my Senior Professional in Human Resources Certification Exam!

For the past three and a half months I have been studying and preparing to take the Senior Professional in Human Resources certification exam. And yesterday that day I was preparing for came and went. I was so nervous because I had dedicated so much time to it - what if I didn't pass and all that time was wasted?! But thankfully.... I PASSED!! I wanted to cry afterward just for the relief of it finally being done and not hanging over my head anymore.

To celebrate, Mike made me tacos for dinner and bought sparkling cider for us and served it in some margarita glasses! And then he also bought some of my favorite desserty-treats: dark chocolate covered blueberry-flavored acai berries. Yumm!

Mountain Biking in St George

Mike and I took a quick trip to St George to get out of dodge and go mountain biking! We left early Saturday morning and met up with our friends Steve, Tessa, and Joel to ride Bear Claw Poppy and Zen. I'm pleased to report that I wasn't as discouraged after riding Zen this time around because I think I actually did ride a little more than half of it as opposed to walking my bike over all the technical parts.

Then Steve totally surprised me and Mike and let me keep his brand new Santra Cruz Nomad to try out and ride on Sunday since he knows I'm on the hunt for a full-suspension mountain bike. It was heavenly and so fun to ride a full suspension! I was much more confident to do technical spots in the trails. Mike and I rode Barrel Roll and then Prospector and Church Rocks, and then we headed home.