To Colorado We Go

For the last two school years, Scotty and I have been trying to be more intentional about making plans for school breaks. Our kids’ fall break was this past week, and as it grew closer, I started bugging Scotty to go out of town. I didn’t know where to go, but we did some searching and decided to hit Glenwood Springs, Colorado. 

Scotty is really great at planning road trips. He loves maps, and he always finds great places to go. In our martial teamwork, he does the navigating and plans all the stops, and I do the packing. Then I just climb in the car and let him whisk me away on an adventure.

We took our time getting to Glenwood Springs and made a lot of stops on the way. Here are some of the places we visited en route:

Stop 1: Historic Coke Ovens, Carbon County, Utah

Nope, not that kind of Coke.

And not that kind of coke, either.

Coking is a process of burning impurities out of coal to make a more efficient fuel. 

This old coke oven facility is cool and creepy. There are kilns as far as the eye can see, and a few old buildings that are, sadly, quite vandalized. I really hate to see the vandalism - it just makes me feel yucky. 

Sometimes when I visit places like this, I feel inspired for the setting of the horror novel I will someday write. 

It's a cool place to see, though, and there is a restroom and a little playground there.

Stop #2: Jackass Joe’s, Thompson Springs, Utah

This is one of those alien beef jerky shops in the middle of nowhere. It has some fun photo ops. It’s not a must-see, but our kids liked stopping in, and it’s right off the freeway.

We had some good laughs in the shop

Stop #3: Sego Canyon Petroglyphs, Thompson Springs, Utah

Petroglyphs are another thing I hate to see vandalized. Don’t vandalize the historic vandalism, folks! But one set of the petroglyphs in this canyon are pretty well preserved. 

This set has a little bit of vandalism where people have carved things in the rocks

This set is well-preserved (probably because the petroglyphs are higher up, but that doesn't always stop people)

Stop #4: Colorado National Monument, Mesa County, Colorado

First, let’s address what a National Monument is. I used to think the word “monument” just meant a plaque or statue, so if I were to visit a National Monument, it would be to read a single sign or look at a single structure or shrine, but that’s not always the case. A lot of National Monuments are large parks or canyons, so don’t let the word Monument deter you. 

Also, note that National Monuments are included on National Parks passes and in the passport books. 

Colorado National Monument has a lot of easy viewpoints, so if your kids, like mine, don’t want to hike or even really get out of the car (lazy turds), this is a good option to get them out into nature.

(I, too, appreciate an easy viewing location).

----------

The journey from home to our hotel in Glenwood Springs with these stops took about 12 hours. Otherwise it's about a 5.5 hour drive from Salt Lake, so it's a great road trip option if you need to get out of town. I'll tell you more about how we spent our time in Glenwood Springs in some future posts (whether you like it or not). 

Books, McDonald’s, and Death (in ten random facts)

Fact #1: As a post-pandemic reader, it weirded me out the first time COVID was included in a novel. I felt like it didn’t belong there, and we needed more time. Now it’s just a normal historical event that regularly gets worked into stories, and it doesn’t faze me.

Most recent book I read that includes COVID

(I liked this one, by the way)

Fact #2: Speaking of books, I keep reading about characters who are 42. It’s happening in TV shows, too! Everyone is 42! Is there something special about being 42? Because if there is, I’m missing it, and I only have two months left til 43. 

Fact #3: The other day I was reading about what happened to Ted Bundy’s body after he died (he was cremated, and his ashes were released to his attorney who was supposed to scatter his remains in the Cascade Mountains, which is kind of icky because that’s where some of his victims were found). Guess how old he was when he died? 42. 

Fact #4: I feel like McDonald’s Monopoly is playing dirty this year. Last year I got so much awesome free stuff, and this year I’ve been hit repeatedly with “no prize this time.” Oh! Except for the three times I earned two free months of Peacock (eye roll). Can’t they just throw me an egg McMuffin? Just one? Please? 

Fact #5: And just to show how dirty they are, they cut me off the other day! McDonald’s told me they’d had enough of me! I don’t handle rejection well, so it stung a bit. 

My rejection notice

Fact #6: The pain of the rejection must’ve really seeped into my subconscious because a few nights ago I dreamt that I was overwhelmed with Monopoly pieces that I needed to enter into my app, and I didn’t know how many I could enter before McDonald’s shut me down, so I was trying to organize them into piles that I would enter today and tomorrow. 

Fact #7: Speaking of Peacock, I am logged into Amber’s account. Is it immoral to watch TV via your deceased sister-in-law’s profile? 

Fact #8: On that note, what I miss most about those who have passed away is laughing with them, and I feel this especially with Amber. She was one of my best friends, and there are a million things I would have sent her on instagram and a million things I would have texted her in the time she’s been gone. 

Fact #9: There were a few topics that Amber was my go-to person for. There is something going on right now that I am aching to talk to her about. Fortunately, I know exactly what she would say, so I can just send my side of the conversation heavenward, and I know what she would send back if she could. 

Fact #10: I haven’t been able to upload photos from my phone to my blog for about a year, and this morning, I fixed the problem! I can’t tell you what the problem was, but in an effort to fix and entirely different problem, the photo issue seems to be repaired! I am so happy I could cry!

Sigh… never mind…

Gratitude #1: To the Left

I can't believe that we are already approaching the holidays. The movement of time has become quite the scandal as I've gotten older. A school year felt like forever when I was a kid - so long and life-shaping. Look at how we commemorated it with yearbooks and fancy photos! It was nine months! With the exception of pregnancy, nine months ain't no thing!

So we find ourselves, once again, in the last months of a calendar year, and it happens so fast!

Anyway, with the approach of Thanksgiving, I want to try and do ten gratitude posts before I stuff myself full of turkey and yams, so for the next few weeks, I'll be getting my thankful on. I've been trying to notice things I've taken for granted and make note of them so I can be a little less self-absorbed. (Who, me?)

The first thing I'll express gratitude for is being able to use both sides of my body. 

That may sound like a weird thing, but I recently read the book Left Neglected by Lisa Genova. I had no idea what it was about, but I've read many books by Lisa Genova, and she always writes about neurological disorders, so I knew it would involved something of that nature. It turns out it's about a condition called "left neglect" (which I'd never heard of and therefore, didn't catch from the title of the book until it was introduced in the story). 

Left neglect is a neurological problem (resulting from stroke or other injury) where the brain can't process anything to the left. You don't know there's food on the left side of your plate or text on the left side of the page or a person standing to your left. You don't use the left side of your body and might even think you're deaf in your left ear or lose track of where your left limbs are. 

I can't even imagine what that's like because I so easily have access to "the left." So today I'm expressing gratitude for something I haven't given enough credit to - the easy, symmetrical use of my body. I can do the hokey pokey without second thought - right arm, left arm. Right leg, left leg. I can do the Tootsee Roll (to the left, to the left), and unlike Zoolander, I can turn left. 

Sunday Sentiments - The Path to Scholar

When it comes to gospel study, I don't follow the same routine everyday, but it usually goes something like this - an actual scenario from last week:

I have 12 tabs open in my gospel library app that I move back and forth between.

I decide I want to jot down some notes about Isaac and Rebekah. 

I grab a notebook from the bookshelf, drop it on the couch, then go into the kitchen to fetch a pen. The pen is purple. 

I go downstairs and get the freshly laundered sheets out of the dryer. I take them upstairs and put them on my bed.

I decide I should wash our pillows, and in prepping them for the laundry, I start to wonder whether I should replace two of them. I do a few online searches to see if the store still carries the pillows I like.

I remember that we have Halloween pillow cases for our kids, so I get those out and give them a little douse of Febreze so they don't smell like stuffy, old linen closet (not that I even have a linen closet - it's one of my house's biggest flaws).

I haul the pillows down to the basement for a wash. 

I go up to the kitchen and decide I want to listen to a Janet Jackson song. 

I tell Alexa to play the song. 

I jam to the song as I walk in the living room, where I see my notebook sitting on the couch and remember that I was going to write down some notes about Isaac and Rebekah. 

I can't find my purple pen. I get a different pen.

I jot down two bullet points before it's time to go pick up my girls from school.

Three hours later I find my purple pen sitting on the dryer. 

I'm pretty sure this is how gospel scholars are made.

The Church Traditions I Miss

The other day I saw a social media post asking “What church traditions do you miss?”

(Pretend there is a picture of a church here. I might come back and add it later, but currently my laptop is unavailable, and for the past year I haven’t been able to add photos to my blog posts on my phone. Something is corrupted, and I haven’t been able to figure out how to fix it).

I was curious what responses people gave, so I scrolled through the comments a bit. The two most popular answers were road shows and gold and green balls. I’ve heard of road shows (though never participated in any - I’m not sure when they fizzled out), but I’d never heard of gold and green balls. 

Other answers included pageants, scout-related activities, and sports programs. As I read through the comments, I didn’t see anything that I miss all that much, but there are three traditions or former practices that I miss that I didn’t see mentioned:

1. Singing hymns in Relief Society (or other organizations)

I have always found this to be a strange elimination since music is such a big part of worship, and some people get far more from singing than from a lesson or discussion. Also, we have all these new hymns, yet we sing less. When I was a teen, music was a huge part of my spiritual development, and I’m sad my teens don’t sing in their youth classes. 

2. Farewells/homecomings 

I understand some of the reasons for this change, but overall, I feel it’s a huge disservice to missionaries and their families (plus, we basically still do them, we’re just sneaky about it).  

3. Personal Progress

After six years of implementation as a parent and a leader, I think the new youth Personal Development Program is extremely lacking. I don’t even bother to encourage my kids to participate. I loved Personal Progress. I don’t mind changes and updates to the program to accommodate the needs of our youth, but I think we took a loss on this one.

Also, up until recently, I would have said that I miss having Relief Society every week. Don’t confuse that with missing three hour church (because I can’t even believe we used to live that way), but I felt a sense of disconnect while we were rotating between Sunday School and Relief Society (or whatever classes we were to attend for our callings). So I’m glad for the new schedule. It suits my technology addicted attention span better, and I get to be with my Sisters more often. 

Name three things that…

Make you smile…

Dogs with their heads hanging out of car windows.

Certain theme park rides

Babies

You can’t buy with money…

Creativity

A sense of accomplishment

Good friends

You want to achieve this year…

(I’m running out of time)

Do a low spend challenge where we use up what we have and put some money away for Christmas

Fit into my winter pants so I don’t have to buy new ones

Make an appointment with the neurologist

You want to try out as hobbies…

Nothing. I am not seeking new hobbies at this time.

You can improve about yourself…

Spend less time on my phone

Say (and think) nicer things about people

Exercise more

You would never do…

Bungee jump

Scuba dive

Run a marathon 

Make you sad…

Cancer

Divorce

Abuse

You always do in the summer…

Get depression

Sweat

Grow a garden

Make you avoid doing your work…

No energy

Distracted

Don’t want to

You are afraid of…

Traumatic brain injuries

Shifty toilet seats

Choking on food - particularly carrots 

Signs That Kids Live Here

A skeleton taped to the ceiling. 

Origami frog in the wreath. 

Socks hanging from the ceiling. 

A candy corn that we aren’t allowed to eat or get rid of because it has wings and looks like an angel.

This entire wall. 

Chewed PopTart remnants on the furniture.

Burn rings in the table from someone pouring fingernail polish remover into shot glasses.

Dirty socks on the table next to the aforementioned burn rings. 

Origami frogs on the wall decor. 

Origami frogs on the TV console. 

Halloween garland in disarray.

Okay. Fine. I wouldn't have it any other way.

But I'm still rolling my eyes.