#16 Rappel Up Farmington Canyon

Today my husband and I shared an adventure with our friends and neighbors the Stevens. They were wanting to go rappelling and we were so excited to share it with them! They are  fun to be with and such great sports. They put their trust in us and we were off. We had previously gone to check out a good place for a beginner to rappel. We wanted it to look exciting and challenging but be something totally doable. We had planned to leave early this morning but the weather didn't cooperate. It rained and rained and continued to rain. When we saw a little bit of blue sky and the wind was calming down, we called them up and said be ready in 15 minutes!

We took them up Farmington Canyon in Farmington, Utah. It is so beautiful right now...green and the rushing stream adds to the ambiance!

Trained and skilled be-layer. Adventure buddy and friend. My hubby.

View from the top!

Here I go!

Heaven awaits!!

Woo hoo! Fun!

The crag we rappelled  is the rock middle left. It doesn't look too scary at all from here!

#15 Fifteen New Things!

For my 50th Birthday, and my 15th adventure, I decided to do something a little different. I tried 15 new things. One of my best friends went with me for many of them. It was a blast! I would recommend it to everyone. 

1. I went to a new place for my birthday lunch, The Bickering Sisters

2.  I a new food... "Toad in the Hole" - a bagel with an egg in the middle. Yum!

3.I tried another new food- a roasted eggplant humus and peppers sandwich. Interesting. Pretty good. 

4. I also had Thai Peanut Slaw for the first time.

5. I had a "Better than Sunshine" cupcake. It was pretty amazing!

6.  I went to a new gift shop in town that I had never been to before. I bought some Mr. Rogers "Encourage Mints" and some other fun gifty items. Fun store!

7.  I tried a "Dirty Coke" for the first time. I am a huge coconut fan. It was fun to try it.

8.  I planted the first flowers of the year in my pots on my porch! Welcome Spring!

9.  I pulled 15 dandelions for the first time this year! Welcome Spring part 2!

10. I felt my future Grand Baby kick for the first time! First future Grand Baby!

11.  I learned how to say "Happy Birthday" in Chinese!

Zhu ni sheng ri kuai le

This literally says, "Wish you birthday happy".

🎂

12. I ate Chunky Monkey ice cream for the first time. Thank you Ben and Jerry's!

🍨

13.  I tried a new exercise- Disco Fitness. I thought it was fitting for this 60's born baby! I found an online fitness video by Jessica Smith Tv on You Tube! Fun times!

14.  I learned 5 new yoga poses.

15.  Last but not least...I took a cupcake to a friend (she didn't know it was my birthday and I didn't tell her). I just wanted to do something I had never done before. It was a fun way to end the day! 

Happy birthday to me! Happy 15 new things!

#14 Baer Canyon Hike

Found this on Adventure Quotes...Couldn't agree more!

It was a beautiful Spring day in late April and my husband and I decided to hike Baer Canyon. It is considered a difficult hike. because of the altitude gain. As we were hiking along the beautiful, fast moving creek, we were met by piles of snow on the hill sides. We hiked and  crossed the creek a couple of times until we decided to stop and enjoy the view and have a snack. At this point on the trail we would have to cross the creek and head up the hill towards Francis Peak and the water towers. 

www.alltrails.com/trail/us/utah/baer-creek-trail

We decided that due to the snow, we would forego climbing further. It was still a great hike. Beautiful and serene.

What you need for a great day hike:

• water
• snacks
• a rain jacket
• lip balm
• sunscreen/bug spray
• a bandana (for nose wipes or to dip in the stream to cool you off on your head or around your neck)
• basic first aid
• hand sanitizer
• a pocket knife

Happy Trails!

#13 Running a 5K

• "The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start."
  -John Bingham, running speaker and writer

I am a walker. A pretty fast one. I can out walk my husband and sons who have a much longer stride, my daughters who are much younger than me and every neighbor or friend I have ever had the joy of walking with. I love to walk but I am not a runner. I want to be one, sometimes.

 For my 13th challenge I decided to run in a 5K. There was a cause I believed in and so I jumped in! I ran in the Women for Decency Pummel Pornography race. April 23, 2016 in Lindon, Utah.

To help me prepare for the run I exercised as often as I could...mostly doing some in home videos that I found! I will add a link to them after this post. I found the Jessica Smith videos and was able to work out whenever I wanted, no matter the weather. I also rode my bike a couple of times and tried to run with my son (17, loves to run, much younger and more fit than I) and once  my daughter rode her bike to keep me going. The night before the race I still hadn't made it the whole distance. 

The day of the race was pretty chilly. I prefer that to sweating my guts out. I was determined that I would run the whole distance even if that meant I was shuffling along! I had invited two of my nieces to join me and one of them brought along her boyfriend. 

I was pretty proud of us! I learned a great lesson that day...keep moving, don't stop, even if you're slow at it just keep moving your feet and heading toward the end goal. It's also helpful to have someone run with you. It makes it so much easier to keep going.  One of my nieces ran with me all the way. She had to slow down to my pace but we got into a rhythm and kept at it. By the middle of the race I was feeling pretty good. I couldn't believe it! We talked the whole way and before I knew it, we were crossing the finish line. 

I was one of 55 women running that day. Some older than me but most of the runners were younger than I . I was 49...just three days away from my 50th birthday. I tied for 15th in the women's category. I couldn't have been happier. 

Thank you to all the great sponsors and especially to Women for Decency for putting this on!

Here are our times  35:25.7

Just beyond the finish line, hidden by these bushes were two punching bags. I loved pummeling them in  honor of those struggling with pornography addiction. Proceeds from the race were awarded as scholarships to counseling for those affected by the harms of pornography. Great cause! Great run!

My young supporters! I have an awesome extended family!

jessicasmithtv.com  Here is the link to some great exercises I found that helped me prepare for the race. I love her indoor mile runs with weights! Many fun variations. Great exercise.

#12 Farmington Canyon Walk

This was my first adventure with my oldest daughter and her husband. She's pregnant with my first grand baby so we didn't go too crazy! My husband and youngest daughter were also with us. It was a beautiful day. The temperature was perfect... We did gain some altitude but we took things at a leisurely pace and didn't go too far. Probably only a couple of miles in all.  It was fun to have my youngest along. She sees the beauties in the world around us. She also picks up trash  along the way to make things better for those who follow. That's my girl! (and especially that's her daddy's girl...she learned that from him). 

#11 9th Street Rapell

First rappel of the year! 9th Street in Ogden.  My husband went to a rappel class last Spring and we enjoyed some amazing mountain descents last year. Being the first in several months, I did have to take a deep breath and do a little self talk that everything would be fine before I could take that first step off the mountain.  After that first time down I was hooked again! There is nothing like it. It is so fun and something  I long to share with friends and family. 

My youngest had a wave of fear come over her. We tried to ease her into it. When we could see the fear was bigger than we thought, we set up a double rope so that my husband could go parallel with her. We thought it would work but this particular rock is a pretty abrupt descent. She was hooked up but something was holding her back. She walked away from the edge and had to go sit away from everyone for several minutes to process it. That is OK!! We have since been looking into some rocks that are more gradual and we will work on helping her breakthrough this little set back. She is a pretty adventurous young lady and I bet we can have her begging to go rappelling again!

My husband and I and our two sons that were with us enjoyed several rappels down the rock!

#10 Hike on the Deuel Creek Trail

"Life delights in life". William Blake

A hike with young blood! So fun! So good for me!! Me and four 15 year old boys. It was the first day of Spring Break for them. I felt super lucky they let me take them hiking. It was a beautiful day and perfect for a good hike. Although it is only about 1.4 miles up, we were able to trail run back down and that was a whole new experience for me. 

Deuel Creek Trail is so fun. It is beautiful to walk along with the stream rolling over the rocks! Who needs a playlist when you have nature's music. It was stunning. The hike is considered easy. Young children could hike this but you do want to be cautious at the beginning where there is a steep section next to a thin part of the path. Also, poison ivy can be an issue at times. We were in luck and didn't have any unfortunate anything to contend with. 

There is a bonus on this hike. There is a swing when you are almost at the end. You could end the hike there if you wish but there are some beautiful rocks and a nice place to sit and have a  snack or have a little fire in the fire pit up ahead.

I enjoyed my hike with these young guys. I'm glad they let me come along (OK, I was the only one that knew how to find this trail but still...they agreed to share this adventure with me and that was fabulous!)