Pup Adventures

Oh look, it's Friday, which means it's time for me to blog instead of being a responsible adult and doing laundry like I should. Whoops.

Anyway, on Monday of this week the Foofs and I went on a little jaunt up Millcreek Canyon. She has been going completely insane being cooped up inside all the time while mom and dad are at work, so I figured when I got called off at Peak Photo (oh yeah, btw, I got a third job working for the on-mountain photography company at Alta. Yes I'm insane) I needed to take her outside. (We would've gone again today, but I'm not feeling super well and the weather is super thumbs down.)

It was great. She was a little disobedient, but didn't cause any trouble, and I have to cut her some slack- she hasn't been around other dogs in MONTHS. Oops. She's such a great dog though, and she obviously loves to be outside. Walking on groomed snow without snowshoes is kind of like walking on sand, but more difficult. We (well, I) went about 2 miles round trip (I guarantee she went farther with all of her zigging and zagging), and hiked for about an hour. I just have to say that having a gps watch is pretty much the greatest thing ever, and I don't know how I managed life without it. Thank you again, Suunto.

Look at this adorable creature. I just can't even handle it.

I wish I could tell you that I've trained her to do this.

Worst brand ever.

Warm and dry feet in my GTX Speedcross. Seriously. I'm obsessed.

We had a blast, and I should definitely try to be more consistent about taking her up there... it's just been snowing SO MUCH (a serious problem, let me tell you)! I will say though that I'm getting more and more excited for spring. I love Alta a whole lot, and I love the income it brings, but working 6 days a week is really hard. I spend so much time running around, being active, and skiing, that most of the time on my days off I'd rather just relax (and do laundry while I relax, come on). I'm probably just a lame person but I can't subscribe to the "sleep when I'm dead" notion, so instead I just relax and plan adventures for myself while I do laundry and run the dishwasher - productivity at its finest.

Trip Plans 2016... and Beyond!

If you've ever met my mother, you'll know she's a planner. Like, I cannot even tell you how many times in my life I've heard someone tell me "your mom should be a wedding planner!" or "your mom should be a travel agent!" or something along those lines. She's really good at it, and growing up watching her plan trips all those years inevitably led to me being a serious trip planner as well (as exhibited by #ERT_2015, if nothing else). But as a kid following her plan, and even as an adult following my own plan, I have to say it's really nice. Sure, spontaneity is wonderful and I love that as well, but I feel like when it comes to trips it's really nice to know what you're doing and when you're doing it.
Anyway, my point in all of this is that I've planned out a rough itinerary of our trips for the next, well, okay, fine, 5 years. Hahahaha. Granted we'll probably take more trips than I have planned, but I wanted to allot time for big road trips especially. Thankfully Brady gets a lot of PTO at his new job, and the Salomon store is the most chill about time off. Yay. So, without further ado, enjoy our little trip plans...

MAY 7 - 15 - Jen's Birthday Trip! Channel Islands National Park, Disneyland (you're welcome, Brady), and visiting Brady's grandpa and grandma Eagar in Santa Ynez

SEPTEMBER 17 - 25 - "4 Corners" Road Trip - Mighty 5, Grand Canyon, Petrified Forest, Four Corners, and Mesa Verde

8 parks, 9 days. You know, the usual.

2017

JANUARY 9-13 - Mountain Collective Trip - Ski Banff/Sunshine Village/Lake Louise

JUNE 2-11 - CORT (Colorado National Park Road Trip) - was supposed to be this summer but we opted for Channel Islands and time with grandparents instead! Easily postponed. And yes, I suppose I could have just done this one in the fall of 2016, but I want to go in June primarily due to Medano Creek in Great Sand Dunes actually running during that time. So 2017 it is.

AUGUST 18-21 - SOLAR ECLIPSE VIEWING EXTRAVAGANZA! I'm alternating between summiting the Grand Teton, backpacking the Teton Crest Trail, or just being lame and going to Tetonia or something. I refuse to go into the park unless I'm in the high alpine or backcountry because it's just going to be way too insane. Seeing a total solar eclipse is a major bucket list item for me.

OCTOBER ish - Dry Tortugas National Park, probably. It's difficult to get to. We'd probably throw Biscayne and the Everglades in there too.

2018

JUNE 1-10 - CANP (California National Parks) - no, we're not doing all of them, but as is my style, we're doing a whole bunch in a loop, plus Great Basin.

OCTOBER 15-19 - Texas + New Mexico National Parks 

2019

JULY OR AUGUST (probably August) - AK Mega Trip - might as well get those suckers out of the way before we have to start hauling babies around on bush planes

2020

EUROPE! At some point in the summer. Brady is gunning for Scandinavia, I'm pushing for Mediterranean cruise but would be happy with Scandinavia too.

2021 (yes I was serious about 5 years)

MAY 3-13 - HAWAII 3-0 oh my crap

Obviously this is nowhere near a definitive list, but these are kind of the biggies. Oh and New Zealand 2024 for the year of our 10th anniversary, for like a month.

And, yeah... I wasn't kidding about being a planner. Thanks, mom!

2015 Wrap-Up

Yeah, yeah, I know it's the 4th, and these things are supposed to be done on the 1st, but when have I ever gone with the flow, really? Anyway, without further ado, here's 2015 in review- the good, the bad, and the ugly. Really just the good and the bad.

THE GOOD!
-managed to successfully pull off the Epic Road Trip. It was amazing. I cried. I want to go back.
-got our passport cards finally! Fat load of good they'll do us at the moment but hey, we can go to Canada and Mexico without stressing out now.
-bought our cute li'l Jackie bean!

-Brady got his great new job at the end of the year, wahoo! Goodbye extreme poverty! (No, but seriously.)
-I started my great new job at Alta in November. It's really turned out to be such a perfect place for me to be.
-I started my job at Salomon in July. AmerSports is an awesome parent company, and Salomon and Suunto have been very generous this holiday season. I got the gps watch I've been lusting after since September as a reward for selling 3 Suunto watches during the holidays.

-we both made a lot of great friends!
-celebrated our first anniversary, go us!

THE BAD!
-we were really poor for a significant portion of 2015. Not sad to see that go the way of the dinosaurs (I hope at least).
-I rolled my car driving up LCC to work in February. It sucked. A lot. We had to borrow my friend's van and then my parents' car for a total of 6 weeks, and poor Dora still has a few dents. BUT, thankfully, she is in great condition and drives like a champ, and she saved my life.

Just looking at this makes me ILL.

-we did zero renovation on Jackie. Whoops.
-I accomplished less than half of my New Year's Resolutions (and there were only 10, gah).
-Brady never went skiing (even when he worked at Alta Sports with me!)

Overall, it was a pretty alright year. 2016 is looking bright and we're excited to see what it brings!