Oh Cali...

California. Jake and I love it. How much do we love it? Well... we have been together 3 times in the 2.5 years that we've been dating. And we're probably going to keep that up. I mean honestly - does it get any better than seventies, sunny, surfing, swimming, smiles, and sleeping? Sorry, the alliteration just got a little out of hand there... but for good reason.

 Our most recent sunny adventure was with Jake's family for his mom's 50th. Happy Birthday, Linda!

Our adventures included runs along the boardwalk...

 Bike rides...

Surfing and fly boarding (look that one up online if you've never seen it before - so cool on so many levels)...

...and of course a nostalgic photo in the same restaurant we went to the first time we went to California together. I couldn't help myself

Cafe Crawl #4...

Another good and fancy one :-)

A Trip for a Cookie...

Sometimes you just want a hot cookie. And sometimes you get a coupon in the mail for a free one. So what do you do? You take a 2 hour trip to get yourself that cookie dang it!

Ragnar Zions 2014...

Let's talk about Ragnar Zions. 127 miles, 8 runners, in the beautiful Zions National Park. Camping, running, camping, running, etc. I went down with a group from my office and had some quality coworker bonding.

What started like this...

Turned into this...

It rained for 4 straight hours. I kid you not. Utah does not rain like that. But this time it did. And 4 hours of rain brought mud. Sooo much mud. Oh. And after the rain and mud? Snow. Yes. Snow. About a half mile into my 8.2 mile run it started. And how long did it snow for? No short of 2.5 hours. 

Running literally turned into taking a few steps and waiting as I slid around on the mud. Trees became hand holds to pull myself up the hills. I lost count after 20ish total wipe outs. I'm not talking slips in the mud, I'm talking cartoon like banana peel wipe outs.

I wish I could explain better the yards of mud up to my knees, the hills I practically had to crawl up because the mud was so slippery I couldn't even stand, the horizontal wind on the crest of the hill that made it impossible to see the next hill, and the beautiful silence running in the snow, in the middle of the mountains, in the middle of the night. It was surreal - and freakin' crazy!

So after all of that, what did I do last week? I registered for Ragnar Zions 2015...

Best Mother's Day...

Mother's Day at its best... for your viewing pleasure...

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Color Festival...

Everyone and their mom has been to a color festival in Utah. And everyone has to post their photos online. So without further ado...

Cafe Crawl #3...

The Wild Grape! So delicious! And so quaint! I really liked this place :-) It was a touch on the pricey side, but every once in a while it's okay to splurge on a unique meal - and of course when it's expensive Jake never let's me pay. So frustrating, but so so sweet. He's such a gentleman.