All growing up, my grandparents traveled with my family. We went on at least one road trip each summer. Usually it was a trip to California, but we sometimes went to Colorado or Arizona. Each year, my grandpa would buy a new atlas and road maps. He had a special drawer in the cabinet in their front room with a yellow box filled with road maps and atlases. He’d give each of my siblings and I our own map to use as we prepared for the upcoming trip. We’d then pull out the highlighters and map our way from our home to where we were going and talk about the journey. We would spend hours before our trip planning out our trip. We’d color in the roads, figure out different routes we could take in case one of the freeways was backed up or closed as we got closer to our destination. We’d talk about what city would be best to stop in for breakfast (usually the Barstow Train McDonalds). It has been a good reminder to me of finding the joy in the journey rather than the destination. Week over week, we’d look forward to our trip as we talked, laughed and drew out our plans. I look forward to the day when travel is a thing, until then, I’m looking towards enjoying the journey of getting back to normal.
Pfizer Covid19 Vaccine #2 Completed!
I was so excited today. I got my second dose of the COVID19 Pfizer vaccine. I’m so happy to be fully vaccinated. Now it is the waiting game to let it all finish building antibodies. I had covid over Christmas and it wasn’t fun. All in all, my family has been safe and made it through this pretty good. My sister and her family got it and I had a best friend I had to take to the ER, we’ve all made it through fine. I’m excited for life to get back to normal and am so grateful that a vaccine was developed so quickly and distributed so efficiently. I know there have been hiccups along the way but my experience was it was an easy and quick process and other than some arm pain, it has been as painless as could be hoped for. Thank you to all the Federal, State and Local government leaders and health care professionals for making all this possible.
National Take a Walk In the Park Day
Today is National Take a Walk in the Park Day. Between zoom calls, I was able to go check my mail and take a quick stroll through my neighborhood park. It’s not a giant park but it is nice to have one so close to my house. It was cold today so no one was at the park but it was still nice to get out and see the sun. I love the outdoors. Do you live near a park? Did you get out and enjoy one today?
National Coming Out Day
Just wanted to wish everyone a happy National Coming Out Day.
I came out to my family 16 years ago. While I haven’t always felt safe or comfortable with other people knowing who I am things have gotten better over the years. I felt alone in church, at school, in work but felt like the world was changing.
The last few years have been harder. There has been a lot of the ugly side of people come out and anger towards those who are ‘different.’ I still feel like there is a long way to go before people will be comfortable in my city. I fly my pride flag even with some members of the city having their flags stolen.
I am grateful for the progress made for gay rights over the years. I long for the day I meet someone to marry. I look forward to days when the world, country and even my city progress towards a more equal and loving community. It will get better.
Hygge Time
I’m so excited for the fall but am dreading winter. In Utah, the weather is starting to turn cold. It gives me the excuse to start cooking soup, wearing hoodies, lighting candles and drinking warm tea before bed.
The Little Book of Hygge is a fantastic book from Meik Wiking. I read it quite a few times last year and am just starting it again this year as the weather turns. If you are looking for a great book to help you find happiness when everything seems dark and cold, this is the book for you. Let me know how you stay postive and happy as we move into winter.
4×4
When i think of Jeeps, I think of 4×4. Being out in the mountains, fishing and hiking.I was playing around and really like this look. I like how clean it is. I like the edges, on its side, it has the feel of mountains. The 4s also look like stylized fish. I think it represents what i think about when I think jeep.
Apple Watch Challenge: Update and recommit
The last few weeks have been busy. I’ve had a mud race and a ragnar relay on the weekends. Because I have been so busy and had long races on weekends, I haven’t worried about meeting my daily goals. I figured my weekends would make up for my week. I am up 2 lbs.
Meal Prep
I love doing meal prep! I have been doing meal prep off and on for just over a year. I recently have built a new home and one of the things I wanted in it was the ability to really spread out and do meal prep. I am so glad I got it. I love my island where I can lay it all out.
This is one of my recent meal prep meals. This week I did a couple of scrambled eggs for breakfast. Yogurt with fresh raspberries as a mid morning snack and taco soup for lunch. Meal prep is great because I can plan out what I am going to eat for the week, make sure it fits in my macros, run to the store and then get it all done. It makes the week so much smoother, I feel like I eat better and I save money.
HomePod: Day 1
So I got my HomePod today. I was disappointed with BestBuy. I ordered the preorder through them and had a Feb 9 date but it was the ship date. Setup was super easy. My iPhone X instantly saw it once it was plugged in and away it went. The trick with it is the “Home” App. The HomePod settings all live in there. I received a call from my grandma on it and the sound was really clear. It was easy to trade it back off to my iPhone. It works really well with the room setup I have with my hue lights. So far, I am really impressed with the HomePod. I am excited to play with it for the next few days.
Timelapse on iPhone X
I have a peppermint plant that I bought at my local Smiths Grocery Store that I forgot to water. When I finally remembered, I could see it coming back to life. I pulled out my iPhone X and recorded it. Here is my timelapse.