MOAB (and too many pictures)

Last weekend, Mike and I went to moab so I could run the half marathon. We spent the three days afterward hiking around. Since I am much dumber than this blogger program and still forget to upload things in the correct order, here is our trip.....backward

Fiery Furnace

Our last hike was the Fiery Furnace in Arches. This was really cool! I would recommend it to anyone. You are literally in a maze of red-rock towers. Unfortunately it is incredibly easy to get lost so you have to go on a guided tour, but it is worth the extra planning. If you are a GPS guru you can buy a permit and head out on your own, but i would suggest the guided tour first. The above photo is also the fiery furnace as well.


CHESLER PARK

The day after running the half, we decided to hike a 13-mile hike called Chesler park. This is in the needles district of canyonlands and is BEAUTIFUL!! it was truly spectacular the entire hike. At about mile nine, i decided to cut the hike short due to some pain in my feet. below are the gnarly blisters i discovered in the car...it is gross i know, but this photo doesnt due my feet justice....i had about eight on each foot......no wonder I was hurting!!

little toadstools!

Climing through little crevices is honestly my favorite thing, it is always a surprise at the other side
its not hard to figure out why it is called Needles
pretty cool petroglyphs.....Mike thought they were fake until I pointed out to him that they were 20 ft off the ground....that is a lot of work for somone wanting the create fake petroglyphs

FINALLY the cars!! i was pretty happy to sit down-


HUNTERS CANYON

This little hike we did right after the 1/2 marathon....it was about four miles of flat so it was a good one to get my legs loosened up! It is tucked away down the colorado river...i dont even know where, but we were alone the whole hike which was nice.
I always make Mike take these pictures and he always gives me crap for it.....as you can tell by his little smirk!! i am such a sap!
there was a little spring the entire hike up
CANYONLANDS HALF MARATHON!!!
And finally the beginning of our trip...the half marathon! this is a beautiful race down the colorado river.....it is all red-rock and a lot of fun!

Expose for today.....

.....i share my bed with my dog!!!







I know, it is way gross, but honestly it was SO cute when she was a puppy....and now that she is sixty pounds and quite large, she is too spoiled to move off the bed...plus look at that FACE!!! she has the puppy dog eyes down! Are any of you other dog owners guilty of this?? Or am I the only one with such a slobbery bed companion!

Oh and just in case you were wondering how izzy feels about her first winter.....here she is devouring a snowball mid air.....apparently she approves

BORING!

Alright, i am the first to admit that my blog has hit an ALL TIME LOW!!!!! really, honestly I am blogging about shopping?? FOR THE LOVE, AM I THAT BORING?!?!?! i think i am just in a funk over here, but I got a new camera for my birthday, so maybe my blog will take a turn for the best. Until that time, I am going to add A LOT of pics (because I know that is what makes every blog reader happy) of cute puppies/kitties....because let's be honest, we all LOVE cutesie pictures.


anyway, i decided I needed to resurrect my EXPOSE FOR THE DAY column....

so here it is....

I am incredibly good at doing really stupid things...i mean REALLY stupid!!! I am surprised to this day that I am even alive at times....

case number one: while running in DC, i run into an unknown park area, run smack into a drug deal, and then hop into a strangers car who promises to take me to my hotel....HELLO?!?!?! how DUMB AM I?

case number two: while in a river running and safety course, i am riding in an inflatable kayak with another girl, i decide in the spur of the moment that I am strong enough to pull us both upstream against rapids and grab onto a rope held by a man on land. I fly out of the kayak only to have the rope wrap around my neck and strangle me under water....i am not lying...this is how dumb i really am...i seriously thought that i could pull my body, this other girls body, AND the boat against rapids? HAHAHAHHAHA

and finally case number three: while in the middle of the forest in france with climbing friends, we meet some random english guys who invite us to go "sleep in the forest" rather than in a hotel room. we decide this sounds like fun, wander into the woods with a bunch of strangers and SOMEHOW end up NOT BEING MURDERED OR ROBBED!!!!


so it is time i do a bit of evaluating....i am DUMB, it is pretty obvious when i actually had ten to fifteen of these incidents i could have written on here, and had to narrow it down to three.......here's hoping the next 26 years of my life are full of smarter decisions.

Luck be a lady....

During a second whirlwind trip to DC for a conference, I decided to do a little shopping.
Sometimes you know you are simply in the right place at the right time when you wander into one of the few United Colors of Benetton stores in the country and......everything is 50% off that day!





I usually have serious buyers remorse, but honestly man....i just can't feel guilty about that splurge.

:) aaaaah men

good bye slc.......

.....GOOD BYE MY PEANUT BUTTER HEAD!!!

Mama is heading to capitol!!

One week in the nation's capitol is sounding more and more appealing, and luckily I have a reason to go. Mike is giving a talk at the international Neuroscience conference so I though I would throw on the ole cheerleader outfit and root him on!!! hahaha, ah not really, but i certainly threatened to quite a bit. anyway, I have a free place to stay, a bunch of free museums to see, and a nice boy to see them with...hopefully izzy wont have a nervous breakdown.

HAPPY HALLOWEENY!!

Right now I wish i had a kid because we all know kids are WAY cuter in costumes than sad, slightly pudgy adults....hahaha, well i guess i am not really sad, but if i had a kid, i think i would dress the little monster as an eighties rocker like the costume below (maybe the saddest thing about this pic is it wasnt even halloween, i was just trying to relive my childhood i guess).......aaaah, the many dreams I have for my unborn children (poor little darlings! i feel bad for them already)