Fall Break

I had a nice fall break with my sister and the twins. We left on Thursday and drove to Vernal. Our first stop was in Heber to eat lunch at a park. Then we drove on to Vernal and checked into our hotel. We wandered around town the first night. There is an indie bookstore, Billie's Books, in Vernal, although when we got there we saw that it is not it's own store. It's a small section of what is basically a gift shop. They did have a handful of books I already own so I think their selection was decent, and it's another one crossed off the list. 

On Friday we drove over to the Dinosaur National Monument and spent some hours there looking at the quarry, but also petroglyphs, and the Josie Morris cabin. I don't know what the trail was called, but the little hike we did was really nice as well.

We ended up with a late lunch at the Ashley Valley park, which the kids had a lot of fun in. We decided it was too late for the other thing we had planned so instead we also went to the Ashley Nature Park after dinner. 

Then late that night while we were asleep, a drunk person pulled the fire alarm in the hotel. That was awful, though not the hotel's fault, and I didn't sleep very well after that. Luckily it was not a real fire and we were safe.

Saturday morning we were slow to get started, which was fine after the night we had. After breakfast, we packed the car and checked out of the hotel and drove to Fantasy Canyon. It's been something my sister has wanted to see for years. The roads were mostly dried out after the big rains, and it was the perfect day to go. I had a great time climbing over the rocks. 

From there we started our journey home by way of Flaming Gorge and up into Wyoming. We had a good time. It felt great to be outdoors and also to have a little time in the mountains. 

My car was filthy and I took an early lunch today to go get it vacuumed out and took it through the car wash. I even took out the rubber floor mats and washed them. It needed to be done before winter anyway, so nice to have that done. And now I'm home for the rest of the month and looking forward to the end of October. 

Book Signing

A few weeks ago, I found out about an author signing event hosted by Folklore and Lovebound Library. It was for Ally Carter and she was "in conversation" with Shannon Hale. I thought about it for a few days because it was in Park City on a Tuesday, but then I just decided I was going to go. Spoiler alert: I had the best time!

Somehow, I ended up with 9 books yesterday! LOL 2 of them came in the mail that morning, but still, that's a lot for one day, even for me. 

I decided to take the entire day off and spent the morning doing some errands and getting the oil changed in my car. Then around 2 pm I took off and drove to Midway. I figured if I was off work and heading in that direction anyway, I really needed to go back to Folklore. Three of the books in that stack got purchased at Folklore. Then I drove over to Park City for some dinner. I had a little time to spare so I went into World Market and then they have a huge Barnes & Noble up there. It has been a while since I've been to Park City and it was new to me. I went inside because I knew they'd have a restroom. I ended up with one more book as well. 

Then it was time to head over to the high school, which is where the signing was. I picked up my copy of Ally Carter's new book and then there was a table with books for sale. I bought 2 more books. I figured I needed the other Ally Carter to match (I only had it on Kindle) and then I bought the Shannon Hale book as well. What can I say, it sounded good? 

The conversation was fantastic. They were so fun as they talked and I was so happy I decided to go. They talked and answered questions for about an hour and then we got in line to get our books signed. I was standing in line with 2 other ladies who also drove almost as far as I did. It was so fun to talk to them about books. I really miss that. I don't care if we talk about specific books or just books in general, but that's not something I've had a lot of in my life. That's probably why I am on bookish social media places? Ally and Shannon were very nice and it didn't matter if I sounded stupid when it was my turn.

After that, I drove home. I was grateful that I took a coat because the tops of the mountains got a tiny bit of snow. It also rained most of the day. That only made it better, IMO. I had to really pay attention to drive home in the rainy dark, but I got home without any problems. 

It was just a really good day. 

Rainy Weekend

We are getting the moisture from a pacific hurricane, which means rain. Yay! It rained a bit on Saturday and Sunday. Then this morning when I woke up, I listened to the thunder and then the rain for a bit before I got out of bed. It finally feels all the way like fall. I even got to wear a long sleeved t-shirt today for the first time this season.

I didn’t do much on Saturday. I did my grocery shopping early and then just read or did a puzzle. I did fall asleep on the couch in the afternoon. It was a nice day for a nap and I hadn’t slept well the night before. But that’s what rainy days are for!

On Sunday, I had to prepare for family dinner. Both starting the roast in the slow cooker and rearranging my house. The roast turned out excellent. And I made au gratin potatoes for the first time and they were delicious. That recipe is a keeper for sure. The family ate the entire pan except for a very small scoop, which I saved for my dinner tonight. It was a good time, even though having that many people in my space gets my anxiety up. I didn’t get impatient with the kids at all though. And when they left I just sat there in silence for a few minutes. Then I got up and cleaned and put everything back the way I like it.

Cramped, but the setup works. I'm glad I got that old card table from my mom.

Single Night Out

I got it in my head that today would be a good day to run to Logan after work. So I went to the office and then after work, headed out through the canyon. I went to The Book Table because I knew they would have what I was looking for. Plus, they have sheet music and I picked up 2 small books of easy organ preludes, which I have been wanting for awhile. And since I was already there, I stopped by Locals, a store that’s a lot like The Quilted Bear. I ended up with a few more of my favorite wax melts in fall scents.

Anyway, I was hungry by that time, so I stopped at a sandwich shop and ate dinner before heading home. I was almost to the canyon when a big sign over the highway said 89/Sardine was closed. It didn’t quite register, but then traffic slowed down and I saw the flashing lights. There was a crash involving a semi at the mouth of the canyon heading southbound. So I turned around. I haven’t been the long way around in many, many years. I had to pull over and pull up Maps to make sure I remembered which road to turn on. It was getting dark fast, so I can’t really tell how built up that area is now, but I suspect quite a bit since the last time I was on that road. There was a lot of traffic. I finally joined up with the freeway just a little north of Brigham and made it home. I had turned up the radio and just sang real loud to all the songs that came on and I had a great time. 

Anyway, I had fun on this night out by myself and this is a reminder that I should do it a little more. I like to stay home, but sometimes it’s fun to get out as well, and I’m perfectly happy doing it by myself. 

Too Much?

My freezer is so full. The soup I made yesterday barely fits and I am making more soup today. I wouldn’t,  except that I have the ingredients and don’t want to waste them. I will dig out the containers I don’t like to store it in and figure out where to put them. I bet I have lunch and dinner for the next 2 weeks for sure. Maybe a bit more. So I just need to worry about breakfast (although I also have frozen muffins) and maybe a salad or something to break up the soup eating? I also have corn bread, pumpkin bread, a few biscuits, and the plan is to make bread sticks today. LOL

It’s ok. I have food for lunch for work so I don’t eat out, and I’d rather eat leftovers than cook every day. This was my weekend to stay home and to cook. I’ve been doing a puzzle as I listened to conference and have a craft out as well. It’s noon and I’m in my pjs. I don’t actually plan on getting dressed at all today. I kind of love it. 

From today’s conference President Oakes talked about those with diminishing faith. I don’t truly consider that I have diminishing faith, but I do think that my blind trust in the church is no longer. And I admit that my attendance is mostly just that. Attendance, and not much else. But his talk reminds me that I haven’t actually given up. There are still parts of my faith that I love and I don’t actually want to leave. So I struggle on and try to not doubt my faith.

I do wish it wasn’t going to be in the 80s today. I’m so happy that the leaves are turning, but I could wish for cooler temperatures. I have my electric candles on timers now and my fall scents are in the candle warmer. I guess on the flip side of that, my yarrow is going to bloom again and my flower garden is still a riot of color. It’s so pretty. So no complaining, just enjoying how beautiful everything is. 

October?

I really can't believe how fast September went. I thought I was doing well living in the moment, but it still went by so fast. I was in North Carolina for work this week and it was still quite warm there. Luckily, not too humid, but I was indoors in meetings all day anyway. 

But! As I looked out my windows this morning, the trees at my house are starting to turn yellow. The one tree always goes first, but it's definitely starting. The other one doesn't truly turn until November. It makes me so happy!

I'm having lunch with the twins today and then I need to do some grocery shopping. It's general conference weekend and except for hitting up my niece's mountain bike race, I plan on staying home. I'm going to make soup and rolls and go all out cozy, no matter the temperature. 

I have some fun stuff planned this month and I think it will be a good one. 

Fall!

I’m a few days late but it’s finally officially fall! We’ve had a few cool nights where I have slept with the window open and it’s been so nice. Tomorrow, I’m getting out the rest of my decorations, the ones that are mostly Halloween. 

I took today off work and my sister and I took the kids down to Fan X. It’s early out for school so we caught the 1:07 train down to Salt Lake and went to pick up our wristbands. The kids are still free, which is nice. At that time of day, there is no line to get inside. I don’t know why I like going. I mean, I can totally get behind getting excited about things you like. I don’t recognize most of the costumes, but they are always so fun to see. The kids got a picture with some K-pop demon hunter girls and also saw a bunch of some blue haired girl that they love. 

I guess I think it’s just fun to be part of the geekery and fans. I still can’t justify getting a celebrity picture but I don’t judge those that love to do that. I still really want to get to some of the panels one year. I say that every year and I mark them on the app, and then just don’t go. This year we got there too late for the ones I was actually interested in. We did hit up a K-pop dance party, but I left quickly. There were way too many people in the room and I wasn’t dancing. The kids wanted to try it though. We got to some vendors and artists and I bought a trilogy of books from a UT author that I have been meaning to try. She was really nice to talk to so I was happy to support her and buy her books. ha ha Now I have to actually read them. 

Then we walked over to the mall food court and got dinner and we were able to catch the 6:25 train back home. I get peopled out pretty quickly in those crowds. I think what I would like to try for next year is getting a 2 day pass and going down in the morning one day just to explore exactly what I want to. And then I could go back for a half day with the kids and be happy to do what they want. I’m absolutely fine with what we did today. There’s just so much more going on that we didn’t even get to experience. But more than 4 hours at a time is kind of a lot for me. I guess we need to figure out how to rest up and get out of the crowds and then maybe go back in?  Anyhow, I’ve already blocked off 2 days at work next September. While I don’t want to travel to a bigger con, I love having one in my backyard that I can get to pretty easily.