Our Adventures

2011-05-04T20:53:00.000-07:00

Hi,

It's me.

I'm still around.

Just haven't had anything blogworthy to post lately. Been too busy/tired/stressed/in pain. But overall life is still pretty good. We're getting through it.

Just thought I'd take a sec to share these amazing pictures that don't have much to do with me (other than being the lucky one to take them, so I get bragging rights).

Lynnsay - senior pictures 2011

Isn't she the cutest sister-in-law ever??

Where, oh where, has Stephanie been?

2010-12-17T22:11:00.000-08:00

Hi,

I know I haven't been around much lately. Been dealing with some health issues. Feel free to visit my food blog here for an explanation as to what's going on. I will try and post more later.

Love you all!

Stephanie

Hi fam and friends!

2010-11-09T21:06:00.000-08:00

So...Not much exciting going on to blog about here. We're both really busy w/ work, and Luke w/ school as well. But we're both mostly happy, healthy and sane. I have a few pics to get up here sometime, when I have time :D

Mt. Timpanogos Hike 2010

2010-09-30T20:41:00.001-07:00

Hi all! Life has been so busy, I haven't had much time to keep up the blog. But, we had an amazing hike, and I wanted to share it with you. So, here is our latest trip up to the top of Mt. Timpanogos.

September 26, 2010 - Bring it on! Beautiful sunrise!

It was a perfect day for hiking! Much nicer than the hike we did this time last year! And despite all my fears, the hike wasn't nearly as scary with proper gear and snowless trails (even though there were still a few narrow spots where I felt my heart quicken). My tip for those who are fearful of heights: iPod! Lots of loud, pump-you-up and motivational songs to get you through those steep and skinny parts on the trail.

There were so many people hiking this day (we went on a Saturday, which apparently is the day to hike Timp). Lunch at the top was great! We had the best view in the house ;)

I think next year, I'm going to make something much fancier for lunch. Some guy brought his camp stove and a can of soup. That smelled so good! Dehydrated GF soup? That would rock!

Yep, not so afraid of this rock trail without 2 feet of snow about to throw me off the side of the cliff to my death.

The remains of the glacier.

Emerald pond.

And yet, somehow they managed to find enough snow for skiing down the glacier...go figure.

Yes this guy wanted to get up close and personal. But who could refuse such a cute face!

This was my "Look Ma! No snow!" moment. See last year's post at this exact spot.

I have never seen a rolly-polly fuzzy caterpillar in Utah! We used to keep these as pets when we were kids. They didn't seem to live very long...

Tired faces.
I think I'm in love with this mountain.

I Heart Faces Beach Fun Challenge

2010-08-23T19:38:00.000-07:00

You all know how much I love the beach! I always say that Utah would be the perfect place to live, if only we had an ocean....I tell Luke quite often that I don't care where we live when we settle down, as long as there's a beach nearby. That's my only prerequisite...well, the most important one anyway :)

Anyway, over at I Heart Faces, they're having a Beach Fun contest. Of course I've got to join in!

Here's my favorite picture of Luke having fun at the beach! We were visiting the Oregon Coast after flying out for my little bro's graduation, and we happened to be there the weekend of the sand castle competition! Some totally awesome creations there! Great photo op!

Visit I Heart Faces to check out everyone else's beachy pics!!

More pics of our Oregon trip (and more sand castle creations) can be found here.

Red Castle Backpacking Trip

2010-08-05T18:23:00.001-07:00

So, I’m being super efficient, and not procrastinating blogging about our recent backpacking adventure. Mostly because I took over a thousand pictures, and my husband made me go through them so he could have copies of his faves to share online. There are quite a few really spectacular shots, and I’m rather excited to share them as well. So, even though I have 2 months worth of blogging to catch up on, I’m doing this post first :)

*Click on any of the pictures to see them full sized.*

*They're totally awesome!*

Day 1: We made our way up into the High Uintas Wilderness area in northeast Utah. It was me, my husband, Luke, and my father-in-law, Sam. After a 4 hour car ride through Utah, then out into Wyoming, then back into Utah, we arrive at the trailhead, near China Meadows. We started out on the East Fork Smiths Fork Trail.

Approximate pack weight:

Stephanie: 35 lbs

Sam: 50 lbs

Luke: 75 lbs

Yikes! That’s a lot of junk! My poor hubby may have bit off more than he could chew with all our gear on his back. Usually, I’m the one struggling up the side of a mountain, whining and wheezing, while my husband patiently tries not to whistle and tap his foot. While this hike definitely wasn’t easy (my legs didn’t uncramp for days!), I know I had it much easier than Luke did. But he stuck it out, and we’ve learned a very valuable lesson for future trips!

This first hour or so was just us trudging along, making our way along the muddy path. We were passed by some porters on horses, but didn’t see much of anything or anyone else for awhile. Then, around the second hour, we were bombarded by a high school cross country team. Dang, those kids had energy. I don’t think I had that kind of stamina even when I was in high school! Anyway, there were close to a hundred of them. And there goes our peaceful retreat, we thought.

Our first glimpse of Red Castle

The next couple of hours were rather uneventful. Lots of mosquitoes, quite a bit of rain, even a little hail, and general disgruntlement all around. We did have a nice stop at the bridge, a couple miles from our destination. It was here that we got our first view of Red Castle Mountain. It was breathtaking! Encouraging as well, as I was starting to feel like we’d never get there.
Thankfully, b/c of the rain, the cross country team decided to cut their jog short, and we passed them on their way back out again.

Is that rain or sweat all over you?

Resting on the bridge

Luke thought I was really morbid for wanting to take a picture of this. There were random legs flung all over the meadow here. I just wanted to document it for posterity.

Here, have a nice pretty flower picture to get that previous image out of your head :)

We also met up with a herd of goats! Man, I wish we'd had these guys carry our stuff too!

The last couple of hours were probably the hardest. The rain started up again, as well as a bit of thunder and lightning. We had to climb some super-tough switchbacks, and by the end of that, I think my husband had just about had it. We hurried as fast as we could through the meadows that ensued, ducking to attempt to avoid the lightning crashing all around us. Then, before I knew it, we were there. The trail split, and we decided to go up into the forest to find a good campsite.

Approximate hike-in time: 7 hours

We were all more than a little cold/wet/hungry/tired, and it took awhile to find a suitable site to set up camp. But we found the perfect place, and proceeded to stretch the tarps out over the tent sites, so we had something to get under and dry out a bit. We then spent the next 20 minutes shivering as we huddled around the propane stove, taking turns warming our hands on the pot we used to heat water for cocoa and tea. We also talked a lot about getting a fire started. But we had to wait for the rain to let up. That took awhile longer. And, even though it was raining, the mosquitoes did not let up! They were horrible! We ended up using a whole bottle of bug spray in the 4 days we were here.

Time to make some fire!

The men used quite a few matches on that first fire. Thankfully my husband is a pyromaniac, and he wouldn’t give up until he got the fire started. We also didn’t have to use matches the rest of the trip. We just restarted the fire from what was left over from the night before (and when I say “we” I am, of course, referring to my amazing husband!).

Thanks to the fire, we were warm and mostly dry within an hour. We got camp set up, gathered lots of wood to keep the fire roaring, and made us some dinner (see my food blog for a detailed report on what we ate on our trip). We also headed over to the nearby stream to pump some water. The bugs were overwhelming though, so we didn’t stay long. We discovered that the only thing that kept the bugs mostly at bay was the fire, so we kept it going for a few hours, until we were ready for bed.

Day 2: We stiffly got up, had breakfast, then made our way to the main Red Castle Lake, passing the lower lake on the way. Even without packs, this was a bit of a strenuous hike, in my opinion. Having hiked almost 11 miles the day before probably had something to do with it. But it was beautiful! We kept an eye out, but there was no sign of moose.

On our way up to the lake

There were probably close to 40 other people at the lake, which my husband tells me is the deepest of all the lakes in the Uintas. It’s a pretty big lake though, so it didn’t feel too crowded. The guys found a good spot to fish in, and I got my camera out and wandered around a bit.

I have this annoying habit when out in the wilderness. I have to photograph every wildflower I see! Sure, I get some great shots out of it, but mostly, I end up with several hundred flower pictures that I have to sort through. Lately, on hikes we’ve done this summer, Luke’s taken to being the photographer, just because I’m so slow that he has to stop and wait for me anyway, and would rather not stop and wait for me to take pictures as well (even though I think a photo op is a great excuse to stop and rest a bit). However, since our last hike, when he had the camera, and most of the flower pictures weren’t quite in focus, I think I might relieve him of this duty.

Anyway, so I took lots of pictures of the flowers, of the lake, of my fisherman. I tried my hand at a few panoramic shots as well. Some of them turned out pretty good.

Sam, catching some z's. Doesn't he look comfy?

After an hour or so, it started raining, so I headed back to where the fishing was happening, and hid under my poncho, reading a book. The rain cleared up after a bit, and we ate some lunch, then headed over to the other side of the lake, to see about some better fishing.

Cute little guy. Too bad he'd only make half a meal...

The fishing was a bit discouraging. Luke was pulling in a fish every half hour or so, but all the fish were too small to keep. We saw lots of people with fish they’d caught, so we knew there were bigger ones in there. Luke even caught one, but it got away, along with his last spinner. The biggest problem was that Luke didn’t have enough gear (he hasn’t been fishing in at least 10 years), and after a few hours, all his spinners were gone.

No fishing lootz for dinner tonight :(

It ended up not being a very fruitful day, but we all had fun. We headed back down to the camp, trying to beat the storm that was rolling in behind us. We made it just in time, and eventually got some dinner started. The rain cleared up again, and we sat around the campfire for awhile, talking until bedtime.

Day 3: Our bodies were still feeling pretty worn out, so we decided to take it easy this day.

A few shots of the wildlife around the stream where we got our water

A fire a day keeps the mosquitoes away!

About mid-morning, we hiked a mile or so back the trail, so I could photograph this beautiful waterfall we’d passed on the way in, as well as stopping to get some good group shots.

As well as a few funny shots as we waited for Luke to run back to set the timer on the camera.

Just hanging out

I really wanted to go swimming, because the bugs were surprisingly absent at the falls, but we hadn’t brought snacks or water with us, and were all getting kind of hungry.

So, we made our way back up to camp, where we ate lunch, and then lounged for awhile. We took a nap in the tent, and it rained a bit on us.

Ginormous waspish bug that tried to kill Luke!

After our nap, we headed down to the Lower Red Castle Lake, to see if we could do any more fishing.

The bugs were even worse than usual at the lake, and my husband’s attention span does not do well with bait-and-wait fishing, so after about an hour, we headed back to camp. Ate some food, sat around and talked, watched the stars come out through the trees, then turned in for the night.

Day 4: Got up earlier this morning, so we could head down to the meadow to look for moose. We’d read a trip report from the beginning of this month where some backpackers reported 12 moose sightings in a week! I was determined to catch a glimpse of one, and this was my last chance.

Beautiful sunrise!

Sadly, this was the best shot I got:

I totally thought I saw a moose, until I zoomed in on it. Dang my bad eyes!

After about a half hour, we trudged back up to camp, ate some breakfast, then packed everything up.

We hit the trail just after 8:00 AM. The hike back out wasn’t nearly as strenuous, it just felt long. Lots of photo ops, and the weather much nicer to us on our way out.

Goodbye Red Castle

Are we there yet??

We stopped for a bite to eat at the fence, just past the halfway mark. Then we hit the trail again.

Yep, that pack is still heavy

Loooooooong way to go!

About 3 miles from the car, I FINALLY GOT TO SEE A MOOSE! And not just one! First, we came up on a mom and baby moose just off the trail. They got spooked before we could get a shot, even though Luke (carefully) chased them with the camera.

Then, not 5 minutes later, we caught sight of another mother with her baby relaxing in a meadow. They were nice enough to hold still so we could get a few shots!

I was so excited! I felt rejuvenated. The rest of the hike seemed to go by much easier for me, although I don’t think everybody felt the same way...

Wild strawberries! Awesome!

We finally made it to the trailhead

Approximate hike-out time: 4 1/2 hours

Total mileage: About 35 miles hiked

Photos taken: 1129

Bug bites acquired by Stephanie: 32

Whew, that was one wild ride! Carrabba’s never sounded so good! In the future, we both agree that if we’re packing in our stuff, we need at least 5 days total to camp, so we can have more time to recuperate and hike around. There were lots of places Luke wanted to explore, but we were all just too tired to do so. We also plan on packing much, much lighter next time! Our plan for the future is to either invest (even more!!) in more lightweight camp gear, made specifically for lightweight backpacking, or to look into using a packhorse to haul our gear in for us. We’ll probably end up doing both eventually, as I’m sure we’ll end up doing this hike many more times. We’ve also learned how to be much smarter with our food :P

We definitely needed the day after to clean up and unwind before the upcoming week. I also really appreciated the day we took off on Tuesday to get everything packed and ready. Overall, it was an amazing trip, and we’re both so excited to go again!

Check out my food blog for a detailed report on what we ate, and what I would recommend for future hikes, as well as tips for gluten free hiking.

Also, take a look at Luke’s report of the trip on his hiking blog.

Life lately

2010-06-16T20:54:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post to say what's up with us these days.

Life has been keeping both Luke and me very busy. Luke's had another successful semester at UVU, top of his class of course :) We're both doing well at our jobs. I just finished up a 50 work week. Bleh! But I get a 4 day weekend starting tomorrow!

One thing we've been spending more time and energy on is hiking. Yes, the season is upon us. We have done a few hikes so far (pictures to come soon). We're gearing up for 3 big things:
1: A return trip to the top of Mt. Timpanogos (minus the snowstorm this time)
2: We want to climb Mt. Nebo (the highest mountain in the Wasatch Range)
3: We're planning a 5 day backpacking trip to Red Castle, in the Uintas in Northern Utah at the end of the summer.

We're super excited to hit up Bryce Canyon next weekend for the Cobbley family reunion. It'll be a great place to get some training in, all those awesome hikes! We've also got FIVE people now on the gluten free diet, so I'm getting ready with some delish treats. It'll be a gluten free extravaganza!

That's about all. I will try and find some time over the next few days to get some pictures up here for your enjoyment :)

-Steph

Alexis Newborn Pics

2010-05-01T18:52:00.000-07:00

Baby Alexis was only a week old when I took these photos! She is adorable! But she did not like posing for the camera. The shoot took almost 3 hours, with lots of time outs (plus an hour of me being lost). I learned a lot about newborn photography. Thanks Michelle for such a great opportunity.

Enjoy!

Too cute for words!

2010-04-12T22:34:00.000-07:00

More pics to come!

Dessert Photo Challenge

2010-04-12T22:10:00.000-07:00

It's Dessert Week over at I Heart Faces!

I'll admit, I'm not the best food photographer...yet! It's on my to-master list :)

But this picture is pretty freaking awesome, in my humble opinion.

This was my birthday "cake" last year.
I forgot to buy candles....So we used sparklers instead.

Awesome!

I had to scrape the top layer of frosting off afterward, but it was totally worth it!

Addicted? Quite possibly....

2010-03-17T20:29:00.000-07:00

Yes, I've been avoiding my blogs. I'm still running the office at work, still trying to be my husband's dream wife (ie, gamer girl/housekeeper/super hottie), still eating ridiculously healthy and restrictively, still got the same other responsibilities...nothing new. Then where have I been?

Ahem...

Distracted...

Addicted?

Yeah, I think so!

I finally gave in (been fighting the craze and my step-mom's urgings for years now), and picked up this book....and pretty much didn't put it down until I'd worked my way through it. I read the entire series in a week, managing to find the time to make an emergency library run for Eclipse and Breaking Dawn.

I thought that would be the end of it...then I could go back to my regular life, catch up on all my chores, and actually eat a REAL cooked meal again.

Boy was I wrong!!

I picked up Songmaster next. I told my husband that I felt like I was cheating on Orson Scott Card because I couldn't get through the book fast enough! I couldn't get Twilight off my mind. It was embarrassing. It took me back to my *N Sync-obsessed teenage years *cringe*

So I started again. I just finished tonight. I read the whole series, TWICE in 3 weeks (with a week break to struggle through another book).

Wow. I feel my ears turning pink just by typing this admission.

Well, I liked them (understatement), so I don't really care if you all judge me :) But, if you find yourself doing so....maybe you ought to hit up the bookstore....hehe

Just warn your husbands first!

Carnival Cruise 2010

2010-02-19T15:19:00.000-08:00

At long last, here are the pictures from our trip! Enjoy :)

Our ship, the Conquest

Barely on the boat, and already hittin' up the bar
(for a Dr. Pepper, of course!!)

View from our balcony

I'm on a boat!!

Game's on

Dolphins following us out to sea

Found the food already?

Our first day at sea

Good morning cruise life!

Luke and Kim owning the ping pong tournament

Anyone surprised? Didn't think so ;)

Formal night #1

Aaron & Sarah, Todd & Brenda, Kim & Sandy, Luke & Stephanie

So cute!

The theater

Watching movies every night! Great fun!

Second day at sea...spent soaking up the sun

Luke's raptor impression (I think he was hungry...)

Another gorgeous day!

Eating ice cream...caught in the act!

Waking up in Jamaica

Ya mon!

Hiking Dunn's River

Lol! Future Walmart!

Fruit vendor on the side of the freeway

Yes, the water really was this blue!

So that's what Jamaican school kids look like :)

This guy was selling hot peanuts in the middle of the road...

Gotta love the reminders of home out here!

Angry pirate made an appearance here when Luke's sunglasses broke.

Montego Bay

Bring on the Cayman Islands! Arrrrr!

This picture rules!

Luke the fish

Getting sunburned at Seven Mile Beach

So beautiful!

Formal night #2

Bon Appetit

Viva Mexico!

Creepy pirate dude

Waitin' for our ride

Cruisin' in the dune buggy

Here lizard, lizard

Dancing fish

Hai!!

My new friends

Punta Sur

El Caracol (lighthouse/weather station)

Livin' the good life!

Shell hunting

Dirty feet. Good thing I was wearin' my flippy floppies!

Visiting the lighthouse

View from the top

Haha! Sorry we are open :)

Another amazing day!

Getting back on the ship

Lazy morning

Shootin' some hoops

Poker winnings!

Creepy striped French men tryin' to steal mah money!

My new victory hoodie!

In line, getting more food!!

Does he ever stop??

Us with SuSu, our awesome server

My best friend Slavica. She took good care of me, helping me enjoy eating gluten free!

Check mate. Time to go home.

That's going to be us in a couple days...

Galveston. Just not as pretty anymore.

Back to reality

The end!

What an amazing trip!!!!!!

Hopefully, I will soon have my cruise/GF dining reviews online. Eventually. I promise!

Cruise Fun!

2010-01-31T21:56:00.000-08:00

We're back to reality, and super busy!! I promise to get pics up soon. There are a few up on facebook now, but I've got lots more I will post here.

A couple of my faves in the meantime:

Currently Adventuring

2010-01-16T20:59:00.000-08:00

Hi, will be MIA for the next 8 days, as we're getting on a big boat in the morning, to enjoy the warm Western Carribbean!! Promise to post pictures of the trip...after catching up on Christmas posting, of course :)

Bring on the new year! Ok gotta end the old one first :P

2010-01-06T21:04:00.000-08:00

Wow! January? Already? I'm so ashamed. I haven't posted since THANKSGIVING!
What kind of blogger am I???

Well, here's a recap of everything that's happened over the last month, that I've neglected to share with the world:

Luke's work party at the beginning of the month. Great food, and good company.

Though I do still think we're the cutest ones at the table!

Luke took me to the Festival of Trees, a fundraiser/auction in SLC. It was so cool! There were some amazing creations.

This polar bear wreath was adorable! I would have bid on it, but it was a bit out of my price range...

Gotta love the BYU tree!

This Grinch display was so incredible!

Nightmare Before Christmas Tree

Of course, Luke teased me about loving the "Pooh Tree."

There were also some great gingerbread "houses."

Driving through Provo, looking at lights.

And our lovely Christmas Eve feast.