Zion National Park

OK, prepare yourselves, because Imma bout to go BLOG CRAZY!

Seriously, though. I have some catching up to do, and I'm doing it now.

First off, I would like to present some pictures and captions from our AWESOME ZION NATIONAL PARK TRIP!!

Here's our lovely campsite.

And if you look closely, there's a squirrel that took up residence on our wheel. 

The beautiful view of Zion National Park when we woke up after our first night in Zion. 

Some lovely scenery. 

This is part of the Emerald Pools. 

This is a sideways picture of the waterfall that fed the Upper Emerald Pools.

Daniel and I below the waterfall at the Upper Emerald Pools. 

This was part of the hike to the different Emerald Pools. We met a very nice couple who had ridden a motorcycle from Vegas to Zion through the HAIL and the RAIN and all sorts of bad weather. They were from Canada and helped us out with a couple pictures. The guy kept saying, "Pictures are free, right? You can never have too many pictures!" 

This is us at the Lower Emerald Pools. There's an awesome path beneath a giant slab of rock that the waterfall flows over top of. It was beautiful! 

Here we are, cooking our tin-foil dinners. It was quite cold the first couple days in Zion, so I was trying to warm my fingers by the hot coals. The dinners were delicious, courtesy of my dearest Daniel!

 Here is another sideways picture. This was in the Hidden Canyon -- which was an incredible trail that went through this ... quite literally ... hidden canyon. It was one of the coolest hikes we did during our stay. 

Here is Daniel looking at ... something ... in the Hidden Canyon. I'm sure whatever it is he's looking at is something I told him to do, but I honestly can't remember! 

I really should rotate these pictures before I post them, but I'm tired and don't really want to. This is a pretty little spot called Menu Falls. It got its name because at one point, the spring water from these falls was listed on the Zion Lodge menu. There were cute decks that led up to these falls. It was in a really secluded area and there weren't many people there since there wasn't a marker or path to it. We received the exclusive information via a ranger tour we took one of the mornings. 

I believe this is a sideways picture of the Temple of Sinawava. This is at the very top of the canyon. There's a neat trail -- The Riverwalk Trail -- that starts here. It's really easy, but definitely beautiful. This is also where the Narrows trailhead begins, but unfortunately, the Narrows were closed because the Virgin River water was flowing at more then 1040 cubic feet per second ...  and you probably ought not cross a river moving that fast, eh? 

This is the entrance to the super-long tunnel that leads to the other half of the park. It's over a mile long, I believe. If I recall correctly, it was built during the Great Depression as part of an economy booster and employment opportunity. There were awesome lookouts throughout the tunnel ... though I'm not sure of their purpose, seeing as there were no places to pull over and look out of them. Maybe it was just for lighting purposes? Who knows. 

On the other side of the tunnel, there's an amazing trail called Canyon Overlook. It was a fun trail that led to a BEAUTIFUL view of the entire canyon. 

This is me on the Canyon Overlook Trail. Daniel likes to take waaaay more pictures of me than he lets me take of him. =)

This is us at the top of the Canyon Overlook Trail. BEAUTIFUL, right? I might also mention that Daniel is totally pro at setting up the camera on rocks with the timer when there's no one there to take a picture for us. 

We went on a trail called the Grotto, which is a really short, easy, 0.5 mile trail that connects the Zion Lodge to another stop in the canyon. While we were on the trail, we met several deer, who weren't the least bit afraid of us. 

This is a picture I took from Weeping Rock. I tried to get the "weepings" (aka, the water dripping off the rocks by the hanging gardens), but I couldn't -- so I settled for this picture. I think it's pretty impressive! 

OK, I'm going to try to explain this photo, but I doubt I will be able to do it justice. We had gotten off the shuttle at the Temple of Sinawava and Daniel started laughing at the port-a-potties. I couldn't figure out what he thought was so funny. He kept saying, "Look at the port-a-potties! Isn't that hilarious?" and I kept saying, "I don't get what's so funny?!" 

Daniel: "Yucca port-a-potties, get it?"

Whitney: "No, I don't get it. What's so funny?"

Daniel: "Yucca port-a-potties!"

Finally, I understood what he was trying to say ... Yucca (or YUCKY) port-a-potties. I played it off like it wasn't that funny, but really I was slightly embarrassed because it took me so long to get what he was saying. 

We jammed on the guitar at our campsite for a little while. Our super-sweet neighbors kept telling us to keep playing, but my fingers were pretty much dead by that point. 

Just thought this was a pretty picture. Not sure where we were for this one. 

Alright, here it is! The pride and joy of our trip! We climbed, we saw, we conquered ... ANGELS LANDING! We pretty much felt like a hardcore mountain man and woman.

Those were the chains we held on to (or clung to for dear life) as we scaled Angels Landing.

This is us at the very, very, tippy-top of Angels Landing. 

This is a sideways picture of me trying to get DOWN from Angels Landing ... which I think was equally treacherous as going UP! 

Daniel and I, looking good at Menu Falls. 

My handsome hubby rockin' out on the drive home. It was the best trip EVER! Daniel is the best husband ever for planning this after-finals getaway. 

All in all, we did 10 trails: 

1. Grotto Trail
2. Lower Emerald Pool
3. Weeping Rock
4. Riverside Walk
5. Middle Emeral Pool
6. Upper Emerald Pool 
7. Kayenta Trail
8. Canyon Overlook
9. Angels Landing
10. Hidden Canyon

It was amazing! We'd love to go back again someday.

-Whitney

My Pillows!

I have completely finished making the new throw pillows for our couches! I'm pretty proud of myself, so I'm going to post some pictures ...

Here is our large couch. I made all of the pillows except for the gold one! 

I totally love the stripes! 

Here's a close-up of some of the pillows. 

 Here is our smaller couch & pillows. 

 Close-up, once again. 

So ... here they are! Like I said, I'm pretty proud of my craftsmanship, so feel free to leave comments full of praises! ;-)

-Whitney

For the Martineau's ...

I hereby dedicate this post to the Martineau Family (but anyone else can read it too).

First of all, I'd like to thank your genius-ness for coming up with the group FHE  idea. It's totally a blast.

Second, I would like to post the recipe for the muffins you requested on my blog, rather than email it. This is because I feel slightly obligated to update my blog semi-often since I did all those "random" posts about eating family meals.

I reckon muffins are a breakfast food, and breakfast is a meal, so therefore, this qualifies. 

So, without further ado, here is the recipe!

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 tbsp baking soda
• 2 tbsp baking powder
• 1 tbsp cinnamon
• 1 apple, chopped (we used a pear instead when we made them for FHE)
• 1/2 cup chopped dates (next time, we're going to experiment with raisins and craisins)
• 1 cup nonfat, plain yogurt (we used nonfat, reduced sugar strawberry ... any flavor works)
• 1/4 cup agave nectar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tbsp olive oil

Combine all of the ingredients and mix until moist. Mixture will be a little thick. Spoon into muffin cups/pans and bake at 375*. Cooking times will vary -- check after 10 minutes and gauge from there. They're done when the tops start to brown.

-Whitney

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yes, I know, I'm a failure at this blogging business.

Soooo this weekend has been pretty exciting. We went bowling with some friends, had a fondue party (yes, with cheese and chocolate and all the fixin's you could POSSIBLY imagine... it was divine), had some friends over for diner, AND I made SEVEN new pillows for our couches! They are amazing, if I do say so myself.

I also feel like a total stud because Daniel and I have been going to the gym every day for the past week at 7:00 IN THE MORNING! Yeah, I lost two pounds and I'm feelin' pretty awesome. If we keep this up for forever, I'll have the most rockin' bod on the planet. Lol.

What else... Oh! I had my first article published in the Daily Universe as part of my required servitude to the BYU newspaper. I have to crank out approximately two stories a week... it's pretty intense.

Anyways... I can't remember anything else of note from this past week, so I think I'll sign off.

Oh, and here's a recipe to encourage and promote family dining... since I combined blogs and all.

Chicken Chipotle

Serves 4-5

• 4 frozen chicken breasts
• 1/2 can chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
• 1/2 cup water
• 12 corn tortillas
• Vegetable oil
• Sour cream
• Cheddar cheese
• Lettuce (optional) 

Blend  the 1/2 can of chipotle peppers and water in the blender. Place the chicken breasts in a crock pot and pour the blended mixture on top. Cook in crock pot on HIGH for 4 hours or LOW for 8. Shred the chicken after cooking. Fry corn tortillas in oil until crispy. Top tortillas with sour cream, chicken, cheddar cheese, and lettuce.

Alrighty... I'm outta here.