2^3 * 379 visits

In celebration of Lisa's rapidly-approaching Calculus class, I figured I'd start with some numbers through the First of August (yes, less than a month left of summer):

Visits: 3032
Countries: 33
States: 28 + DC
Cities: 265

Yep, that's right. In under 8 months, we've managed to accumulate quite a following. The sports idioms page seems to be a popular funnel for international users.

Anyway, moving on. I was told by mine acquaintance that I should try to be witty. I shall thus expand my creative sphere by writing in verse:

1. And in those days, there was great heat over all the land; yea, the inhabitants cried forth from their shelters, but respite was none to be found.

2. Nevertheless, the scribes continued in their belief of winds from the north that were prophesied to come.

3. And they were on Wednesday found within the gates of the house of the Lord.

4. And they were on Friday found in the presence of friends, feasting and fraternizing.

5. And they were on Saturday found cleaning and wrapping up loose ends.

6. And at all other times did they walk hither and thither, talking and enjoying the sights and the company of the other.

Beautiful sky scene we saw whilst walking

Bark surrounding a tree from which it did not fall....??

Anyway, enough creativity for now. We had a pretty good week and were invited over for dinner on Friday. We've got many a thing planned this week, as Thomas' dad is back in town for work and personal things. Speaking of which, his new book entitled Temple Themes in the Scriptures is soon to be released, along with the second edition of In God's Image and Likeness.

And a snippet of a conversation we had:

Lisa: You're crazy.
Thomas: No more than when you married me.
Lisa: That's what you think...
Thomas: If that were true then I wouldn't be crazy.

Interim

We will be posting tomorrow or the next day...sorry for the long delay! Pictures are proving to be difficult. Stay tuned!

Camping with Cattle

Thomas and I celebrated Pioneer Day with a nice little weekend camping trip in the woods of the Uinta National Forest just off the Nebo Loop. It was our first time camping together, and our first time visiting this area. We weren't really sure what to expect after doing some research online and deciding to go, but we were pleasantly surprised to actually end up in a forest after a relatively short drive.

We set out on Thursday after work. 

Thomas was only confused with Lawrence of Arabia once on our trip...  Really that thing did a great job keeping the sun off his neck!

A special thank you to Daniel & Sterling for loaning us their backpacks! We couldn't have had this much fun otherwise!

We hiked for a time, and not finding any suitable spots, decided to return to a meadowy-area close to the river, approximately half a mile from where we began. Unfortunately, at the beginning of our hike, we lost our trail a time or two and had to search out better-trod pathways. This meant that we were unable to find the original spot in the twilight. 

Fortunately, we decided that since we'd seen several cyclists along the way, the trail we were on must lead to the road at some point. We followed it until we reached the river again (at a different spot), and decided that because it was dusk and we didn't want to set up in the dark, the little area just off the trail with a semblance of a fire ring would do.

Although the ground wasn't as even as we had at first hoped, we ended up staying at this campsite for the rest of our trip.

Thomas is a lucky man: we thought we'd lost his sunglasses (the 4th? pair he's owned in about a year) but I found them in the grass!

We did find our original trail the next day, thanks to a random bone near a spring that we'd noticed the first time through. There were cattle grazing in the forest, and it seemed the bone could've been a bovine vertebra.

Bones were not the only things the cows left behind....

We spent our days improving our campsite, filtering water with our new Sawyer filtration system, reading James Herriot's All Creatures Great and Small series, and exploring the various trails nearby. We packed easily prepared food, which you can see at our Bradshaw Bistro blog. 

This turned out to be our favorite reading spot.

We dressed this thing up quite a bit - even adding 2 fairly flat and level rocks to aid in campfire cooking!

View from our tent!

Proof that a watched pot DOES boil...

We saw some very beautiful sites this trip. We were very grateful to have a few days to relax and enjoy the beauty of this world together.

We saw quite a few cattle... 

...a couple deer, a beautiful red and yellow bird (maybe a Western Tanager?), a hummingbird that mistook my brightly-colored tie-dye a-la-Morgan for some flowers, a German Shepherd (the pet of one of several horse-back groups), and exactly two of these:

On our way home, we decided to drive the rest of the loop and see the sights. 

Looking out at Mt. Nebo

We stopped at Devils Kitchen to see the red-rock formations... 

The other side of Devils Kitchen

...and after completing the scenic loop, hopped onto the Interstate and headed back to our place.

One lonely cloud on the way back to Provo

It was surreal to be back in the neighborhood but we were glad to shower.

oxox

Another temple on our list!

Look what happened this week!

(there were blossoms on one of our tomato plants!)

Our weekend turned out to be busier than the rest of the past week. On Thursday night, however, we attended a neighborhood meeting to elect a neighborhood chair. The neighborhood chair will basically be the neighborhood's liaison with the city counsel. It was fun to see government in action! (but also a tiny bit scary...)

Saturday morning, I got up at the crack of 7 AM to go pick up our Bountiful Basket that I ordered earlier in the week. We're going to be eating A LOT of produce...

(4 mangoes, 5 lbs potatoes, lettuce, 2 butternut squashes, 8 bananas, cauliflower, grapes, white asparagus, cherry tomatoes, plums, limes, peaches!)

Later on, we went to the optometrist. We weren't really expecting it, but they dilated our eyes! It was my first time and man, that is rough! We'll be getting new glasses soon.

In the afternoon, we went to the Jordan River temple.

(Our eyes were still sensitive...)

We hope everyone's doing well! We wish there were a few more hours in the weekend to allow for extra sleeping time, but probably you do too. Be sure to check back next week for pictures of our upcoming camping trip!

oxox

Happy Fourteenth of July!

If you thought the celebration was over, think again. This month there was an extended Fourth of July holiday, but today, for example, we have Bastille Day (think French Independence Day), and soon we'll enjoy Pioneer Day (the 24th, a state holiday in Utah).

 (Lisa in pioneer clothing in 2007, a month before a stake pioneer trek)

Also in this summer month (which itself is National Hot Dog, Blueberry, Ice Cream, Baked Bean, and Picnic Month) you can plan on throwing parties for Canada Day (on the 1st...oops...how'd I miss that?), National Fried Chicken Day (the 6th), National Sugar Cookie Day (the 9th), National French Fries Day (the 13th, and yes, they still are called as such, tho' the French call them Belgian...), National Lasagna Day (the 29th, and we have a recipe just for that occasion), National Cheesecake Day (the 30th...perhaps we'll have to come up with something for this, too)...the list goes on.

Isn't it wonderful to be an American?

Only problem is that it makes our week look uneventful. We've been going on regular walks:

 (a sweet sight on BYU's campus: a bunch of young ducks under a bush with their mom)

We had a few highlights between work and our normal errands, though. This week we went up to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple, which was enjoyable.

 

We also walked to the Provo Temple, which has been closed the last few weeks for its scheduled maintenance.

 (the early bird gets the worm, but sometimes the late one does too... this was in the afternoon!)

Probably the most labour-intensive were a few cooking projects, such as Pumpkin Pancakes and Tortellini Alfredo with Mozzarella Sticks. Check them out!