Escalante

Eric got the week before last off of work. I decided I was not OK with going to work while Eric got to sleep in for an entire week, so I got it off, too! We decided to go camping in Escalante. I went a couple years ago and loved it.

A little Escalantian background: 1.9 million acres of pure, untouched nature. There are red rock canyons, ancient Indian petroglyphs, waterfalls, scorpions, tarantulas, and some rugged 4WD high clearance vehicle only backroads. A moutaineer's paradise. I am a little ashamed putting these pics up. They do NO justice to the landscape.

There were tons of cows on the road out to Escalante.

You may not be able to see it, but theres a canyon in the lower right of the pic. Our campground was down in that canyon, to the far left. Coolest campground ever.

That's our tent!

Hiking is to Escalante what mullets and cut off shirts are to monster truck rallies. They both make the experience complete. Here's Eric filling up our Platypus bag. A MUST when hiking in the desert.
Who's excited??

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Hike #1

Lots of cacti and cactus fruit. We were brave and ate some of the fruit. It was actually pretty good. Mildly sweet and refreshing.

About an hour in. Destination: through the canyon you see behind us, eventually ending up at Lower Calf Creek Falls.

But first, Eric sees something on the ground....

....and picks it up.

We also saw some fish. See, there's three of 'em!

Another half hour and we make it.

Seriously, this water was frigid. The guy behind me was crazy. Although I think maybe he thought I was crazy, judging by the way he's looking at me.

All in a day's work.

We headed back for some good ol' R&R around the campfire, where Eric burned a huge hole in his Sanuks.

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Hike #2, 3, & 4

26 miles down an unpaved, 4WD-cars-only road is a wash with some amazing red rock canyons. There are three canyons in this particular wash. Here's the first one:

The second and third hikes are the more famous ones. Peekaboo and Spooky. They are slot canyons. And by slot, I mean, so narrow that you have to take off your backpack to get through some parts. And if you're slightly overweight, you might get stuck. And if it rains, even 2 miles away from these canyons, youre pretty much screwed. As in, dead. Flash floods are what kill people out here. Peekaboo isn't as bad:

That's looking back at where we came from.

This is towards the end of Peekaboo. It's narrow, but not as narrow as Spooky. I didn't even get any pictures of Spooky because the sky was turning gray and we pretty much hiked like the dickens to get out of there so we wouldn't die.

Here's a video showing you what it's like. The first two minutes are in Peekaboo. Right around the second minute is where he gets into Spooky.

Escalante in a nutshell!

Gross

That is all I have to say about the what the world has become. It's 2am, and Eric and I are wired. We don't have work this week, so we're milking it. And it seems that the only thing that is on was the VMA awards.

First of all, I hate MTV. I feel gross when watch it. I hate how crude, vulgar, obscene, and uncensored it is. All it is, to me, is visual proof of how horrible most of society has become. Such a contrast to the peac and happiness the gospel brings.

I'm just at a loss for words at how terrible the world has become. This year's VMA's was a disgustingly perfect example.

I never thought I'd say this, but I'm starting to really be grateful for the Utah Bubble. I'm grateful for the good examples of those around me. There are so many here. For those of you who relentlessly strive to be forces of good in the world...THANK YOU!

Sometimes I Feel....

like this is the story of my life:

Stop laughing, Dad.

Anywho, here are a few pics I took of my lil sis, Catherine. I don't have Photoshop, but when I do, and when I learn how to use it, watch out.

And for the road, one of my hubby.

Blgo Break

Multiple times throughout the day I enjoy taking a blog break. Yes, I am a blogstalker.

I've been pretty busy and that's why there aren't too many pics up.

First things first, I just want everyone to know that I didn't get to go on the Nie hike. I am pretty much depressed about this. So...next topic.

Eric had his oral board interview with West Valley. We don't know the results, but they gave him a HUGE background check packet, so we figure that's a good sign. We were filling it out until Eric made a few good mistakes, so we hopped in the car at 11:00pm and went in search of a whiteout tape pen. Rite Aid didn't have it, Walgreeen's didn't have it, so we trekked across Orem to WalMart. Dude, Walmart is insane. You wouldn't think so at 11:15pm, but I swear, the whole town decided it was the prime shopping time. The worst part was the School Supply Shoppers.

I remember shopping for school supplies as a kid. I LOVED it. I loved picking out my pens--that usually took me the longest. And every few years, a new Brenthaven binder. I had a one track mind--having the perfect armada of supplies to impress all of my schoolmates and teachers.

I had not a clue. Not a CLUE how crazy people are when school shopping. It is literally every man for himself out there on the WalMart battlefield. Moms have this crazy look in their eye that I never noticed when I was a kid. You are one poor soul if you have to visit the office supply area for a whiteout tape pen during this craze. I was a little nervous. Howver, after some aggressive searching, exchanging of glares, and a few choice words muttered under my breath, we were in the clear. Yeah yuh!

Out in the parking lot, we saw a lady driving out of her parking spot, but there was a shopping cart in her way. Instead of getting out and moving the cart, or reversing out of the spot, she proceeded to move the cart out of her way with her car, leaving the cart in the middle of parking lot traffic. Pretty much, WalMart attracts only the most sophisticated customers. If you ever need entertainment, just go to WalMart. It's freakin awesome.

Break over.

Ahh.

The sigh of relief. I took today off of work. Work is closed on Monday so that means a 4 day weekend! Perfect.

Things to Do Today

1. Wake up at 9:30am. That's the extent of my sleeping in abilities these days.
2. Rewash clothes and sheets that smell mildew-y because we left them overnight in the washer.
3. Find nice apartment complex maintenance man to jumpstart Eric's car so I could drive it to the repair shop.
4. Walk home from said repair shop and pray that we can afford whatever seems to be wrong with car.
5. Take a break.
6. Clean apartment.
7. Decide if I'm brave enough to go meet Nie tomorrow. (I get to cross it off my list! see ''10 Things'' entry) She's hiking the Y in lieu of her one year anniversary of the crash. Not gonna lie. I'm a little nervous and trying to decide if I can do this! What to say to someone who has had such an impact on your life. Words can't do it, I don't think.

UPDATE ON ERIC'S WEST VALLEY APPLICATION

Eric had his oral board interview yesterday. Now he has to get a background check turned in by the end of August and then they'll call us. And we found out there are about 100 applicants for 27 positions. Oh, I'm so nervous. So is he. We were both so confident, and we still are, but we can't help but freak out. What did they think? Why can't they let us know now?!

BAH!

I think I need to go to the Spanish Fork fair and supress my anxiety with a good ol' elephant ear...

You know you're hungry when....

....conversation stops as soon as the dinner hits the table and resumes only after forks are laying on plates and bodies are slouched contentedly against the backs of chairs. We didn't have dinner until 8:00pm, so we were starving. Ahh, green enchiladas. How I adore you. Anything with cilantro and queso fresco is totally my mouth's best friend.

After dinner was interview practice time. Eric's interview with West Valley police department is this Thursday! Keep us in your prayers, k? I grilled him for at least a good hour. Hopefully the preparation will pay off! 'Cuz it's seriously all I can think about.

Aannndd....I might be getting a calling in our ward tonight! I'm guessing that's why the bishop asked to see me... Please don't be pianist! Dont' judge me. I love playing piano, but seriously, everyone makes me play. However, the great thing about living in the heart of Provo is that pretty much everyone plays piano. Fingers crossed.

First Photo Shoot

Today was my 8 hour long, plus two hour travel time, photography workshop. I'm home and pretty pooped! It was a long day full of learning how to shoot completely in manual mode. That's right. No more automatic for me! We didn't take a lot of visually exciting pictures because the point of the class was to learn the basics. So, instead of posting 183,434 pictures of a vase in 234,235 different types of light, here are a few from the mock photo session.



During the lunch break, I headed up to the Bountiful temple. I'm never up in Bountiful, and I've never been its temple, so this was a good opportunity.


It was a long day, but I learned a ton so it was definitely worth it.

That's it for now!