Snow shoeing and New Years

This is a late catch-up blog from Christmas and New Years! Scott and I were able to go home for a good week and a half over Christmas and New Years. We had some lovely snow storms! Perfect snow for snowshoeing, which is exactly what we did.

You feel like you're in another world when you're up in the mountains, trees heavy with snow surrounding you on all sides.

Some of the trees were getting pulled down with the weight of the snow.

Oh hey there hottie.

And I couldn't resist a picture of the mountains that are right in our Utah backyard. I miss that view.

Christmas Eve was spent with the Greenhalgh clan for their traditional Christmas Eve dinner and family time. Maybe I'll post about the amazing family crest that Michelle painted for Scott and I later. We definitely had fun putting together a New Orleans package as our gift.
Christmas morning we hid from Santa with the Croslands. My niece Evelyn, who is almost 3 now, was just dying as she watched Santa deliver the gifts. She really wanted to get out from under her hiding spot and say "hi" to Santa.
I honestly love that tradition from my moms side. Whoever started it is a genius.

This new year we spent with the Crosland side of the family. We have a tradition of playing games, eating wings, chips and dip, pineapple slush, playing Just Dance on the Wii and then lighting Chinese lanterns as the New Year rings in.

Well, resolutions have been made and some have already been left on the wayside. I tend to get a little carried away with list making. But I think I've figured out which ones are the actual important ones to me verses the excessive, "these sound like a good idea" ones.

Cheers to improvement!

Swamp Visit

Having people come visit us out here is the best. Mostly because I miss seeing family but also because it gives Scott and I the excuse to go do things we haven't tried before! Tamara and Shannon came and stayed with us last weekend and Tamara really wanted to hold a gator so we found a swamp tour to try out.

It was gorgeous out there. Not a normal Utah fall mountains gorgeous but a Louisiana swamp gorgeous that can only really be appreciated in person. The only downside was the fact that we were doing a tour in November which meant that there were no really big gators out and about. When it gets cold they basically hibernate.

Gator on a log! He's trying to warm up, it was a chilly day.

Gator!

The water was perfectly still and this tree had the most amazing Spanish moss.

We did see quite a number of birds on our little swamp tour. Isn't this guy so picturesque?

Behold, the gator! She was a little baby one.

This is the only picture of all four of us from the entire trip. How pathetic is that?

Our tour guide was this awesome guy who knew everything and anything about the swamp. He actually lives in a swampy area called Lafitte that is south of New Orleans and he is Cajun. It was so interesting hearing about his life and how he was brought up speaking French and living in the swamp. 

I'm definitely planning on going on another swamp tour in the spring when the weather warms back up and the big gators are out! Friends are always welcome too. :)

Oklahoma Camping

Yes we did drive seven hours through three different states to go tent camping this past weekend.

Scott got wind of a great river to fly fish in and he had to go. I think it's a safe bet to say that it's the closest place to go fly fishing around here. But it worked out perfectly.

Scott's friend from BYU who was also in the masters program with him lives in Oklahoma City now with his wife and little girl so they drove four hours and met us there for a couples camping/fishing trip. We were in an oak forest and it was so beautiful. I absolutely loved it. It was great feeling like you were up in higher elevation and stepping on solid ground with running rivers that aren't brown and stagnant and have potential gators in them.

We had quite the number of critters that visited us. First was a woodpecker. I have actually never seen a woodpecker in real life. Watching him made my face and neck hurt. He was going to town on that tree though and it made me think of the movie Fox and the Hound.

This little frog decided the handle of our cooler was a comfy little spot.

There was a stray cat that would come hang out with us in the evenings. It looked young, not even a year old and was really friendly. It was a pretty kitty and hung out on my lap in front of the fire. Scott wouldn't let me take it home. :( 

There was also a fatty raccoon that would come to our table every night as well looking for food. He got rocks thrown at him and then our food promptly got put away in the cars.

I don't know how to fly fish so I just hiked along the trail next to the river while Scott was out being a fisherman.

 Best catch from day one.

Day two I stayed back at camp with Kara and her little girl and we explored there while the husbands went to tackle the river again. It was a frustrating day for them with either no fish or little baby ones.

But then this happened... bam! Best catch of day two!

He's very proud of this beauty. It was almost 20" long.

Don't ask me what it is about mushrooms but I just think they are so interesting. (Hence the mushroom photos...).

We had a great time. It was definitely on the chilly side and I was always wearing at least a couple jackets but we managed just fine. I would never go camping this late in Utah though. Cold!

It was fun seeing our friends again too. We love doing things with them! 

A word of advice though. Don't go camping over daylight savings weekend. I don't know about you but I can never sleep in very late while camping. And Sunday we woke up around 7:15 am but in all reality it was now 6:15 am with the time change. Gross, so early!

The only downside of this trip was I started getting a cold right at the beginning. It wasn't bad but in the middle of the last night I woke up and could not breath at all through my nose. Had a little bit of a panic attack there trying to sleep and breath through my nose like normal. The stupid head cold at least waited until we were leaving to make a full blown entrance making the car ride home absolutely miserable. Paper towels are about the quickest way to make your nose raw by the way. I finally figured out that folding it up and getting it damp with cold water felt awesome on my poor raw skin.

But now we're back home and I'm making full use of cold medications and the neti pot along with heaven sent keenexes.

Every time I get a cold I feel the need to watch You've Got Mail. Anyone else in that same boat?

Utah in the Fall

I knew I was going to miss the mountains when I moved, but I didn't realize quite how much. Especially when fall came around and my Instagram and Facebook feeds were full of the changing colors in the mountains.

This picture is from Scott's parent's back yard, those mountains have been the background of most of my life. They have always been that close.

The south has giant trees, everywhere. They are my distraction from how flat Covington is. But everything is still so green! I've seen one tiny little baby tree change colors so far. It's pathetic.

 But Scott, being the perfect husband for me, knew that a quick trip home was needed. Not just for the fall leaves but to be around family. The honeymoon phase of moving to a new exciting place has worn off and it's been a little hard.

I've missed being surrounded by people I know. 

Also, dry air is the most wonderful thing.

And humidity is not. :)

But enough of my whining. I just want to look at my views through the canyon. 

This is our candid I-thought-we-were-done-taking-pictures-faces... I love it.

Don't worry guys. I'm happy. I have the best husband in the world for me. As long as he's here, I'm okay.

Thanks Utah for a wonderful quick weekend. You're awesome.

Mom to the rescue

My wonderful mom came flying to my rescue last week. I was dreading the week because Scott was leaving for Houston to attend classes for work. Which meant me being at our apartment, alone, no job to keep me busy, and no friends to keep me company. (Just so you know, I love the ward out here so far. They're awesome. But Scott and I are literally the only young married couple and also the only couple without at least 3 kids. We're clearly in a different stage of life then everyone else.) So needless to say, I was getting a bit of anxiety about Scott leaving. My mom could tell and bought a plane ticket and stayed with me for the week. It was fantastic.

I know. I have the best mom.

It was so fun having her out here and having our first visitor! 

We of course had to spend a day in the city of New Orleans. The live jazz music was excellent and the mardi gras masks were very entertaining!

Mom's mask with the beds hanging down under her eyes kills me every time! haha it's such an awesome mask. And so jeanie. 

We found an impressive living statue. Mom snuck up behind him for a picture!

We had to try out Cafe Du Monde while we were there. They only serve beignets and drinks and it's a cash only business but their beignets are delicious! mmmm 

I realized that I never feel claustrophobic while inside the French Quarter but as soon as I step out, I take a huge inhale as if I can finally breathe. Everything is so tight inside there. 

But I do love the Spanish architecture.

Now for some history provided by the mug I bought: "New Orleans was founded in 1718 by Jean Baptiste La Moyne Sieur de Bienville of France. New Orleans changed from French to Spanish then back to French control before being sold to the United States in 1803. During Spanish rule (1762-1800) two fires destroyed most of the French Quarter. Rebuilding was done in the Spanish style with wrought iron balconies, this is why the dominant architectural style is Spanish not French."

Next stop was a ride on the streetcars. The St. Charles line ventures through the uptown neighborhoods and must also be one of the parade routes for Mardi Gras considering the ridiculous amount of beads hanging from every tree and many telephone lines. (Can you see all the beads in that tree?) The houses we passed though were gorgeous.

Audubon Park is this amazing area full of huge oak trees, ponds, fountains, open green space, and a trail that has a 2 mile loop.

You may also come across a man sitting on a bench playing his saxophone, serenading the park.

Such a great find! I need to go back and walk through the park some more. So glad I was able to have my mom there with me! She kept me sane and we had a great time. It was all in all, a relaxing, fun week.