Goals

So I've decided that one of my goals this year is to get better at photographing people. As I go through my pictures, I realize that most of the ones that I really love are the ones with people in them. I love the photographers that can capture the essence of a person with a picture. So one of my goals this year is to practice photographing people, because like everything else practice will make perfect. And hey I might as well use my camera more often.

Camelback Mountain

Although the name mountain might be debated, I went on a hike of Camelback Mountain in Phoenix on Saturday morning with some friends. It's a peak that rises about 1,300 ft above the valley in the middle of the city. The hike to the top is steep, so the trail is considered difficult or strenuous although it's only about 1.5 miles. We went up the cholla trail which is the longer, but less steep of the two trails. It was a beautiful day to be out hiking, I don't think we could have asked for better weather. The view from the top of the mountain are pretty amazing. It's a cool view of the city to see.

Taxes are done!

I'm so glad that my taxes are done... I really don't understand the people that like to wait until April 15th to submit their taxes. I usually try to get them done as soon as I have all the necessary paperwork. I think that if I didn't work on them early I would probably forget to do them.

Project so I can do Projects

I love taking time to scrapbook, make cards and do crafts in general, but this was my current setting. Honestly I don't last very long when I have to sit on the floor and it's hard to keep everything organized when it's all over the floor. So I decided that I would make myself a work table. This is what I ended up with. I took three shelving units from IKEA as the base and used a wooden door from Home Depot as the table top. I think that it came together nicely and now I have a place to do all of my craft stuff. Yeah!

Too Many Choices!

So maybe it's because I enjoyed all the traveling that I did last year... or maybe it's just that there are options, but I'm trying to decide where to go this year! Here are the options that have come up so far:

Machu PicchuGuatemalaBoliviaNepalMediterranean SeaSwitzerland

I'm sure there are other options to and it none of them end up happening it's always fun to think about any opportunities that I would be able to have. We'll just have to see what happens this year!

FINALLY!!!

I've finally caught up... now I'll just have to have more adventures!

Rose Parade

Happy New Years! It's hard to believe that it's 2010. Seriously where does all the time go? This this year I decided to ring in the new year by going up to the Rose Parade in Pasadena. We woke up early to drive up there and find a street corner to stand on to watch the parade. It was a beautiful day for the parade. Guess you just can't ask for better weather than Southern California. I love all the flowers that are on the floats. The flowers are gorgeous! Here are some pictures... if you enjoy these you can go here for more.

Yes that's Jackie Chan

Joshua Tree

Another one of our outings while I was at home for Christmas was out to Joshua Tree. It's always fun to go out there, because not only is there weather beautiful, but we always have so much fun climbing around on all the big rocks. It always takes me a while to get comfortable with it, but in the end I'm pretty good. I just don't handle the 'gaps' very well. Once again it was another beautiful day to be outside.

Tide Pooling

So the day after Christmas we decided to head down to Dana Point to go tide pooling. It wasn't a very low tide, but there were tons of star fish to see. Usually they are attached to the underside of the rocks, but for some reason there were tons of them on top of the rocks the day we decided to go tide pooling. It was a really nice day to be outside and I always love being at the beach over Christmas break.

Christmas Treats

Yes... this post is a little late too :)

It's always a tradition at home in California. We spend the days before Christmas making all kinds of treats and delivering them to friends and neighbors. Since I knew I wasn't going to be home in California the couple of days before Christmas I decided to make treats here and make some deliveries. I decided to make the following treats. (I don't have pictures of them all, but they were all delicious.)

Holiday Pretzel Treats

Chocolate Cookie Bark
Mexican Wedding Cookies
English Tofee

I combined all the treats to make some little treat plates. I took them over to my neighbors, delivered some to my friends and took a couple into work. I was very happy with how they turned out.

Mesa Temple Lights

So I realize that this post comes a little late (since it's no longer Christmas), but I'm still going to post it. One day when I was down in Mesa at the Temple I decided that I should walk around and enjoy the lights that were set up for the Christmas season. It was a beautiful night to walk around and enjoy not only the beauty of the temple lights, but the spirit of the temple. I've come to have a certain love for the Mesa Temple. It's a place where I can go to find peace and feel the love of my Heavenly Father.

Zion National Park

On Saturday we decided to head out to Zion to go hiking. Since we did Angel's Landing last year we decided that it was time to pick a different hike. This year we decided to go up the path next to the Weeping Rock to Echo Canyon and the Hidden Canyon Trail. After a really steep hill we got to enjoy a beautiful canyon. It was a nice change from Angel's Landing. It was nice to see another part of the canyon. It was a beautiful day to be outside so I'm really glad that we were able to head out that way.