A waterpark in January! (This is my kind of work.)

We took a business trip to Phoenix last week. Phoenix, AZ - and 70 degree weather. So, we decided to take a few extra days traveling, and we had a lot of fun.

We went hiking and fishing on the way down. Then we got to the hotel, set up our booth, played in the water park, went shopping, read (sitting by the pool in the sunshine). That evening we had a "social" for everyone at the trade show.

There was excellent food, a hot air balloon ride, a beer-toting-donkey, "old west" pictures, s'mores, a huge telescope (we looked at Jupiter and got a very short astronomy lesson), Native American dancers and drummers, donuts, and sitting around the campfire.

The trade show went great for us. I couldn't have written orders any faster - more than thirty new accounts in five hours. BJ's son came to help just as everything was slowing down, then we went out to dinner with BJ's son, daughter-in-law, and adorable 1 year old granddaughter. (They moved to AZ just recently.)

We drove on the Carefree Hwy, through NOTHING, visited the Hoover Dam and Lake Meade, visited BJ's sister, and finally had lunch with my brother before getting all the way home.

I could get used to playing in water parks and taking hot air balloon rides as part of my work.
(And now a photodump.)

It turns out, my camera has a function that I can do remote viewing with my iPhone. I took this picture - the camera was just sitting on a rock, I posed it, focused it, and TA DA!

Nat was an awesome guide. I didn't notice this in the moment, but BJ pointed out that Nat spent more time guiding me than she did him. She put me on all the fish first, and him second. I have been out with guides many times with BJ... usually, it's just the opposite. They all put BJ on the fish first and make sure he catches the most fish, and I am an after thought. Although I feel like I should feel bad, I loved the time she took to teach me and help me.

FLOWERS! In January. I needed that.

Sun. Books. I needed that too.

 Hot air balloon ride. It was cool looking over the Scotsdale Valley.

S'mores!

A quick selfie of us all before we got back on the road. (My brother just moved to Southern Utah to go to school. SUPER excited for the experience he is getting there, and I miss him. A lot.)

Even the bathrooms are beautiful in a place like this.

Us. On the river. With our boat. And huge red cliffs behind us. (This is one of my favorite places. I love it here.)

These are the only fish pictures we took. My last fish of the day.

BJ's last fish of the day.

 

Macro lens = extra awesome fish picture.

A waterpark in January. (Just enjoying the lazy river.)

I'm trying to start blogging again. In the meantime, a photodump

I haven't been blogging. Part of that is that I don't need the blog like I once did. I spend my time with a lot of people, and I talk and share myself more than I once did. I also don't have to deal with all of the crazy effects of abuse, PTSD, ED, or even leaving the church. Everything is pretty calm generally speaking. I also have been very busy with BJ's family, my family, work, with some horses and fishing thrown in.

At the same time, I miss writing. I miss blogging and having a record of who I was in that moment.

So... I'm just dropping in to say, I plan on writing more, and sharing more here.
I'm planning on writing some of the stories from my past in a more complete form. I have the journal/blog entries from when I was going through it all, but I'd like to write it all down differently.

A few days ago, I did an interview for a study about Eating Disorders and Spirituality/Religion. She asked me to share the story of my eating disorder and specifically how it related to religion and spirituality. As I shared with her, I made connections I haven't made before. It also felt good to just tell a story from beginning to end (so to speak... Actually, my story hasn't ended yet, but... whatever.)

That's my goal. I'm writing about it, so that I have a better chance of actually doing it.

In the meantime: Here is a bunch of pictures I've taken since the last time I posted.

BJ enjoying the semi-nice weather on our last ride. (There was snow on the ground in some places, but the sun was out.)

My family came over for my mom's birthday.

BJ and I went to Vegas for a tradeshow (for work), but while we were there, we stopped to visit Rick's Restoration.

We also went to Count's Kustoms

Sometimes we get bored at tradeshows.

My brother performed in a benefit concert. They gave away four scholarships that evening, and he got one of them!

Three of BJ's grandkids came over to ride the horses. J has been riding since he was a baby. He's pretty comfortable up there.

I love this smile.

My cat. She was hunting mice, and we were in the way.

She wasn't so sure at first, but by the end, "Look Grandpa! No hands!" and she wanted to go around several more times after the boys were all done.

I had an orchestra concert. BJ's daughter took this of us afterwards.

BJ's mom has been in a Rehab center. BJ's brother and his family started the deck, and BJ and I were there to help finish it up.

The little dogs were not enjoying the cold.

They asked me to take their family photos for them. I'm not a photographer, but I sure had fun.

E (my bro-in-law) and Olive (the dog)

Sadie, why are you being so naughty?

BJ helped Sadie get in the pictures.

Olive's "Batdog" ears make me happy.

I REALLY want a dog. For now, I have been playing with my sister's three. (Though, they found a home for Bandit! So, now she is back to just two dogs.)

We went fishing in the dark. Someone told me that was a euphemism for sex... but I didn't know that. We really just went fishing (for Trout) in the dark.

Sunset while I was at work. (This is the view out my office window.)

We went to the rodeo with all of BJ's kids and a few of the grandkids. These three loved the barrel races.

My sister had a birthday. They made her dance.

Happy Halloween!

This girl makes me smile. (BJ's granddaughter.) She told me to get the camera, because she was in the perfect spot for a photo.

Carving pumpkins together.

Making stuff with clay. (BJ's grandsons.)

We went to cowboy poetry.

This guy lives across the street.

We helped BJ's sister and her husband move from Montana back to Utah. (Anyone who is friends with BJ on Facebook saw this picture, cropped a little.)

BJ's granddaughter's drawing. Do you know who it is?

Last Christmas BJ bought me a camera. He said that made me the official expedition photographer. I took a photography class and learned how to use it. Now sometimes I can get cool action shots like this one.

Lake Country Ride - photo dump

I don't have time to write much lately. Not even in my private journal blog.

But... here's a few pictures from our ride yesterday. We rode in to Island Lake to go fishing. We didn't catch a dang thing, but it was beautiful. I love horses.

I know the colors of this tree mean it is probably dying, but it is really pretty while it dies... and even after it is dead... Does that mean there's something wrong with me?

It was a tough ride for the horses. They are not fans of big, slippery rocks like these.

Not sure which lake this was. Let's say it was Duck Lake?? One of the neatest things about this trail is passing ten lakes in five miles, plus the other lakes I saw in the distance.

You can't go fly fishing with a hat and boots on. (Funny that I have a picture of the hat and boots, but not of me standing on the shore in my socks...)

Sometimes I see my shadow, and I think, 'THAT girl looks like she belongs on a horse.' and then I realize, 'THAT girl is me!'

As we approached this bridge, I asked BJ, "If I can convince Sunny to go across this, will you take our picture?" I wasn't so sure I could do it... even with BJ walking Bo across first. If I'd gotten off and lead him with a rope, it would have been no problem.

We're talking about what I want him to do. At this point, I'm pretty sure he is saying, "Not gonna happen!"

HA! We did it!!!

Piece of cake. And I'm still super duper proud about it.