400 Posts and 8 Years Later

Happy Birthday to me! I have been saving this 400th post for my birthday. I am now 38 years old and loving it. 20 years ago I turned 18. I thought I would have children and have been married for years. That is about it. Maybe I did not have a big imagination. I am the dental hygienist I wanted to be. I am married. I am happy. I am surprised by how the years have just gone-disappeared. I cannot get them back. All the moments I have enjoyed are over. I am thrilled to enjoy the future moments. 

It has been hard for the past couple of years for me realizing that my choice to live chaste resulted in the choice to not have children. I thought I would have time to make that choice. Time is almost out. I feel too tired and worn out to have a newborn and consequent toddler. I would not give birth til I was 40 yrs old since I am not pregnant now and doubt I can at a drop of a hat-my egg yolks might be dried up. And while 40 yrs old is young I can tell the difference when I miss sleep and how my energy level is not as high as it was 10-20 years ago. It is something I am still thinking about and feeling less inclined to. I am not in as good of shape as I was years ago. That is my fault for not keeping fit and ready to bring a child to this world. I fear I will be punished for my selfish  unrighteous decision.  

Here I am on my birthday enjoying the spoils of the day!

Scott bought be so many wonderful gifts! He bought be some Reef flip-flops. I love my previous pair of Reefs I bought with Sara Melling in Cedar City 5 years ago. I had never spend that much on flip-flops and have not had a moment of regret. So when Scott asked what I wanted for my birthday I said Reef flip-flops. He ordered me 2 pairs (since Reefs are not sold in Vernal). I told him the wrong size. I tried them on this morning and they were too small. Luckily Zappos has way easy and free shipping so bam-they are already on their way back to their homeland and I can get the size I need!

Scott got me some intimates. There is nothing brag worthy about lingerie except the fabric--MODAL. I love it! It is the softest fabric and just lovely. I am thrilled and excited!  

My wonderful husband got me the book and ramekins I wanted! He surprised me with an iPod. I feel like such a fall behind because I did not have one. I had a Zune discarded from my life in Portland and it gives me grief. I get irritated almost every time I try to use it or buy music. I am thrilled to pass this on to Scott until I get him something better and I can destroy the Zune-with a bullet hopefully! Now that is worthy of a 400th blog post!

My dear Andrea had her 6th grade class sing to me over the phone! How sweet!

My Mother-in-Law and her mother took me to lunch today. They are 2 really truly sweet women who have had hard times in their lives and I am grateful they have accepted me into theirs.  I did not remind them it was my birthday. They remembered on their own. That was so touching!

I am thankful for Scott. He is a blessing to me and I cannot believe how lucky I was to have met him.

I am so thankful that I have posted 400 wonderful and sad and memorable events in my life. 

9-Mile Canyon

Scott took Suzie and me to 9-Mile Canyon yesterday! The day started out with rising early and taking it slow. After a leisurely breakfast of strawberries and cream french toast we packed up and left Vernal. We got to Roosevelt and noticed it was almost time for Round Robin to open up. Round Robin is a local fast food place. It is only open when the owners feel like it. We got there at 11:31 am a mere one minute after it opened. We were 18th in line. Amazing huh?  My theory is that since the joint is only open a few weeks a year the crowds take advantage of it when it is open-much like Girl Scout Cookies. Well the lunch was quite unique and worth the stop. 

It is early afternoon and we are officially on our way. Quickly we ran into rain, hail, sleet and wind. Luckily it didn't last long causing the long dirt road to become mucky. The first stop provided a lot of petroglyphs. 

I was surprised and happy to discover the trail took you right up to the rock. I am glad people respect these artifacts. The next picture is one of my favorites, to me it looks like Santa being pulled by reindeer. In actualality the pictures are of small sheep and adult big horned sheep and a man next to several marks-could be kill count.

The canyon is large and high and impressive. The layers and layers are cool. There is a Freemont Indian Village spot in the canyon-it is just one room repilca. The Indians also made granaries to hold their food. The canyon has at least one. We could not find it. It is camouflaged really well.  

Even with all the road construction and our forgetting binoculars it was still a great day. I am so glad Scott took me and spoiled me and let me see the cool things that near to us.  I really loved the hundreds and hundreds of dear we saw! There was one meadow with about 6 deer and 2 antelope. The antelope were having a stand off with the deer. The antelope won. They ended up chasing the deer out of the meadow. I had no idea antelope were aggressive and deer who had more in number are sisssies!

Just Another Adventure. . .

This is Fantasy Canyon. It is grey and dull but the formations are amazing!!!

When I think about how an ancient large lake cut and eroded this canyon, I am impressed at the time and layers that are found in the formations. In my opinion this is a breathtaking canyon!

To get the canyon we traveled through Ute Indian land, the canyon is on BLM land but the legend of the canyon is still Native American. The legend is on the website I linked to above but the short sum-up is that there were evil creatures who were tired of living in the dark and started to dig out of the earth. The coyote, wild horse, and eagles helped the Indians become aware of the need to stop the evil. The medicine chief prayed to the  great Wind of the West and dust was blown, the Rain God poured rain. These did not work to stop the evil. Finally the God of the North froze the evil with a great cold. They stand frozen in place. When the frost melted the dust covered them up and the evil creatures stand as a reminder not to destroy the green earth. 

There is a small 0.6 mile round trip trail around the formations. There are rods in the earth marking where certain formations are found. There are things like witch, flying dumbo, diving seal etc. My brain had a hard time finding the images in the rock. I blame it on my imagination. Although the following picture is of one I did see-a gargoyle. Can you see it?

The next one I saw was the throne. I am sure you can see this.

One of the unique things about the Uintah Basin is the presence of gilsonite. It is a natural asphalt type deposit that is found only here. There is a mine near Vernal and there is a vein in the Fantasy Canyon. I thought it was awesome to see the vein throughout the formations. Geology really is amazing! 

I wanted to show the different layers in the hills surrounding this wonderful canyon. All the colors and deposits intrigued me. My camera does not show the green layer. I have wondered and wondered what mineral or ore or deposit could be making such a green color. It was beautiful. In the following picture there is the beginning of the short trail outlined in rocks.

Utah's deserts are so fascinating to me. I find them beautiful and who can deny the exfoliation effects of the wind and the sand? I had the thickest layer of sand on my lips -stuck in my chapstick- my lips are nice and smooth now. 

Suzie came with us. She is finally getting old enough to be fun. We are standing by another formation I recognized--boxing bear. Can you see the cute bear standing up with his front paws out ready to box? 

Scott was so kind to surprise me with a trip to the canyon. I love how he knows that I would love to see the natural wonders and marvels that have been created for our joy. He knows that a 45 min drive and a walk/hike gives me more happiness than shopping. He knows I love driving and exploring with him!

I loved all the wild horses we saw on Ute land. I have seen cows, deer, antelope, and elk often, I have rarely seen wild horses-this is my 3rd time. I love them! It feels so old time western-ey. Especially when there is a dead bull decomposing with rib bones showing, bleaching in the sun and wind. If I wasnt in a car on a paved road I would have thought it was 1912.

Suzie is just now becoming inquisitive. She is about 7 weeks old and should still be with her mom and siblings but oh well. She knows her name, and knows when she pees inside she is in trouble, yet she will  play outside with me for 20  minutes come inside and jump on the bottom shelf of the end table and pee while looking right at me. . . . UGH! 

I took the above picture just now. Her cute little face is so sweet. She is trying to climb on my lap and type. Sheesh. Yesterday we took her with us while we got an oil change. The entire crew loved this little pup. Her face truly is adorable. Scott and Suzie are best of friends. She is a good pup. I am not sure I would be a good mother. I do love her but get frustrated sometimes. I dont enjoy licks of my face, or how Suzie loves to curl up on my neck and lay her head on my shoulder and her butt in my face, I dont love puppy breath, I dont love dog hair. I do love how Suzie gets a strip of cardboard that she found somewhere and attacks it and tosses it and jumps on it, I love how she full on runs to her food and water after being outside, I love how she can finally go down the steps. I love how she is so intrigued with the large neighbor cats.

I know puppies and babies are not the same. Yet Scott and I had that same thought one day when I was especially frustrated with Suzie.