Percy and Harry do Coyote Gulch, Part I

When last we left our intrepid travelers, they were enjoying themselves with the cast of Man of LaMancha at the Empress Theatre. What gay times were those.

For their next adventure, Percy and Harry decided to tackle the 3-day/2-night adventure of Coyote Gulch in Escalante Territory. They had missed the hike last year to Wolverine and Horse Canyons, and were determined to make it this year.

And they did so with flying colors. The same could not be said for Most Happy Girl's left knee (but more about that later).

First stop was our favorite gas station in Scipio.

Then on to Red Canyon.

We stopped at Spooky and Peek-a-Boo for fun, and meet up with the rest of the crew there.

We spent the first night near the trail head at Hurricane Wash. You're not allowed to camp at the actual trail head, but you can leave cars there for days on end, provided you have a permit, which we did. The foil dinners cooked over hot charcoal chips were fabulous. Can't wait to try making them again, with more veggies and better quality meat. Elk would be great!

The next morning, we left two cars at Hurricane Wash and took two, full of eager hikers, up to Crack in the Wall, where we were entering the Gulch. After walking about three miles, we reached the crack.

When they named it, they weren't kidding. You can't get down to the Gulch and the Escalante River without the crack, unless you are prepared to repel (which I'm not sure is legal).

Tune in later for more of the exciting adventures of Percy and Harry and Coyote Gulch, coming to a blog near you.

Wordless Wednesday

Home improvements are progressing!

With the kitchen mostly done, we've moved on to the bathrooms/master bedroom. This is a much bigger project than the kitchen, but hopefully won't take as long to complete. With the help of some really nice, really skilled friends, the bathrooms are in the demolition stage. This means that the master bedroom is shrouded in plastic most of the time.

We did get busy and rip out a bunch more paneling. Imagine our joy when we found that there was hardly any glue used when it was put up. Hurray for our side!

And here's where the new master bathroom will go. We are amazed at the Leaning Toilet of Taylorsville. We didn't notice it before now. Funny that.

Best ever reason to get a 72-hour kit

Zombie Apocalypse preparedness brought to you by the CDC.

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Day Thirty

Wah hoo! I actually made it. Today is the final day of the 30-day blogging challenge. It's a good feeling. I'll miss blogging every day, but I won't miss the pressure of blogging every day.

So, here's a picture that Mr. Perfect just took of me. It's not posed, and I just came in from exercising, so you get me in all my sweating glory.

Three good things that have happened to me:

1. Mr. Perfect
2. Serving a mission to Wisconsin
3. Having the opportunity to travel a lot (I love to travel)

What a wonderful day

It's Mother's Day today. Thank you, Mom. And thank you, Mom M, too. I have the best mother and the best mother-in-law. I am so thankful to both of these women. They are beautiful, strong, loving, and spiritual. They help to lead and guide their families towards keeping the commandments and living the gospel. I love how they love. I love that they love me.

Thank you! to both of my mothers.

And thank you to all of the woman who have influenced my life for the better.

And now, some fun Mother's Days pictures.

A man and his apron. He was going to make me breakfast and serve it in bed, but I prefer to eat at the table.

What he made for breakfast.

What every woman really wants for Mother's Day.

Day Twenty-nine

I love photography. I've loved it since I was a little kid and my dad would set up the old movie camera with the blinding lights for Christmas morning. I loved "helping" him take pictures with the old Polaroid. He still has it, but can't find film for it, which is too bad. It takes great pictures.

In 9th grade, I took a photography class were we worked only in black and white, but we rolled our own film, developed it, and developed the prints. It's one of my favorite classes I've ever taken.

As a child, my dream was to become a freelance photojournalist for the National Geographic Society. Seriously. I even knew what freelance meant.

(A word of explanation for this photo: It's from a production of The Foreigner and in no way supports or promotes the KKK or its ideals.)

I love my Nikon. I love the pictures it takes. I love the 200mm telephoto lens I was crazy enough to buy for it. The filters are fun to play with.

But mostly, I love framing and taking pictures and having them turn out the way I imagined. It doesn't always happen. A friend of mine who does side work as a professional photograph said that you have to be willing to take 50 bad to okay shots to get the one you really love. Digital makes that so much easier. Plus you can look at your picture right there and see if it's going to be the way you want it. Sort of. It doesn't always look the same printed or on a screen as in the little viewer on the back of the camera.

Anyway, I love photography.

Day Twenty-eight

My favorite movie. Now I really have to think. I enjoy a lot of different movies for a lot of different reasons. I'm not always in the mood to watch a movie I love, but that doesn't mean I won't want to watch it later.

I do have a favorite mini-series: Little Dorrit. The new one with Matthew Macfadyen.  It's wonderful, but you need a good nine hours to devote to it.

Day Twenty-seven

Me last year:

Me today (literally, I just took this about two minutes ago):

How have I changed in the last year? I'm not sure. I've gained a little weight (grrrrr!!!) and my hair has more grey (also I think the humidity in Las Vegas helped it look better). I still teach piano and work as a technical writer. I'm still married to Mr. Perfect and love him desperately.

Last fall we took the Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University course through our Stake, and now our only debt is mortgage payments for the house and the condo I had before we got married. It feels really good.

I've learned that I don't handle what to me seems irrational as well as I thought I would. Especially if it affects people I love. It can be very hard to walk away from it and not let it affect you negatively. I need to work on that. I really like this quote from Mr. Perfect: "The only thing I can't tolerate is intolerance."

Day Twenty-six

This picture was taken on the dirt road to the access of Wolf and Horse Canyons last April. We like to try and get down to the Escalante area every year to do some hiking.

Day Twenty-five

I don't carry a purse. No, really. I don't carry a purse. I have a small, evening purse I used to use on dates, but now that I'm married, I don't have to take keys, my own credit card, or money for a phone call.

Here is what I take with me to work:

Sorry about the blinding silver strip. In my messenger bag, I carry:

• Work laptop
• Planner
• Whatever books I'm readying
• iPod
• Phone
• Work badge
• Wallet
• Small camera
• Miscellaneous papers

It gets pretty heavy at times.

Mr. Perfect calls my wallet my purse, because it's what I take with me when not going to work. It has

• Debit card
• Library card
• Costco card
• Various other discount and store cards (not credit cards)
• Money (though not much)
• Stamps
• Driver's license
• Fishing license
• Insurance cards
• Temple recommend

Funny, it has more stuff than my messenger bag...

P.S. Once again at a loss as to what a male blogger would write about for this day. Even though it seems like most bloggers are women, not all of them are women. Maybe only women do these kinds of challenges. Though I have several nephews who do this sort of thing on facebook...just saying.

Wordless Wednesday

Day Twenty-four

A picture of something that means a lot to me:

Ask me sometime.

Day Twenty-three

15 random facts about me:

(What would they be other than random?)

1. I love flowers, especially roses, from someone's garden more than flowers from the florist.
   
2. I've never been to New England, but I've been to old England.
   
3. My favorite food is green beans.
   
4. My favorite holiday is Christmas.
   
5. My least favorite holiday is Halloween.
   
6. I love to fly.
   
7. My eyes have no brown in them, even though most people think that they are brown.
   
8. I look 10-15 years younger than I really am, depending on who you ask.
   
9. I'm 5 months older than my husband (see, I told you).
   
10. I find #8 irritating sometimes, though most people I know think I should be happy with it.
    
11. My favorite meal is Chicken Cordon Bleu, rice, asparagus, and fresh-baked rolls.
    
12. I'd rather eat food I haven't made.
    
13. I'm not that great of a housekeeper, and I wish I were better at it.
    
14. I love my family very much.
    
15. I love God even more.

Day Twenty-two

A letter to someone who has recently hurt me. No one has recently hurt me. I'm a very lucky person. Most of the people I know like me; and the ones who don't like me, leave me alone.

Maybe I'm just too easy going. Maybe I don't take things personally enough. Some of the kid's actions used to hurt me, but it's been a while since that happened. I know that they hurt Mr. Perfect frequently. Children can be that way. I know that their mom tries her best to hurt him, but her actions actually hurt the kids more than they hurt him. Silly how we think it won't be that way.

So, I don't have a letter to write. I don't have a hurt that burns and needs to be expressed.

As I said before, I'm a very lucky person.