our weekend in moab according to my lil' phone : a preview overload

it was good to see the red rock against blue skies, and to feel the sun through a mildly cool breeze.

there was a little climbing, a little hiking, and a lot of eating.

more photos to come after i present a paper to my class tomorrow afternoon. very. very. nervous.

i keep trying to think of the desert to calm my nerves.

my presentation will be over tomorrow, but the desert will always be waiting for me. thank goodness.

zion national park : where this nerve-shattered soul went to rejuvinate

ceej flew home from italy, and the next day we were in the car

driving south to get to our red rock desert.

all of my anxieties about school and the day-to-day routines had 

too tight a grip on this soul--so i had to go "home" to the wilderness.

thank goodness ceej was more than willing to come along.

there's nothing like visiting a national park in its off-season:

you can enjoy the vast wilderness without all the crowds

and really take in something that is quite unfathomable...

it's quiet like this that i need. it's views like this i crave.

this wilderness is a necessary remedy. and so i defend it with all my humanity.

can't wait to go back to the desert...just a couple more weeks.

zion : an introduction through phone photos

what a lovely weekend we had. 

our night at the symphony was magical--ceej, faure, and beethoven in one night.

i felt oh so grateful that ceej came to zion with me the next day despite his jet-lag. he was a real champ.

i needed this little road trip to the desert.

we bought ourselves a year-round pass to all the national parks,

and we're giddy to get to as many as possible within the next twelve months.

will be back in the next day or two with "real" photos of our adventure in zion.

happy monday!

home again...

we're back from the grand tetons...and it was beautiful.

more photos tomorrow.

happy monday!

{p.s. my little winter picnic made its way on to a well traveled woman's blog...lucky me!}

ode to capitol reef national park {part three} : chimney rock and how we quickly came down from the mountain to avoid potential lightning

chimney rock is a classic easy little hike in the park that offers some amazing views.

on our way out of the park ceej and i decided to quickly run up this little mountain

to see what we could see. after we got to the top and took a few photos

a storm began to quickly come in...that's how these storms work: they come so quickly

that they catch you off guard. the top of a mountain is no place to be in a potentially

electric storm. so we quickly packed up all the cameras and ran back down to the trailhead,

just in time for me to have my traditional chocolate milk before we got in the car and rain

started to fall harder than we've seen in years.

i'm off to spend the day with sisters, brothers, mom, nieces, & nephews at this local theme park.

i haven't been there since i was an awkward and obnoxious 15-year-old.

all morning i've been listening to this band to add a little nostalgia to the day. so awesome.

i'm hoping my stomach still possesses a bit of steal so that i don't get too sick. wish me luck!

next week i'll have more "come alive" posts for you. can't wait!

happy weekend!