Birthday Camping

To celebrate Em's 26th bday we went camping in the Santa Ritas. This is the range to the south of Tucson. The base of the range is 2000 feet higher than Tucson, and this is evident in the friendlier flora of the area relative to the angry desert succulents. We've been camping together a few times with variable success. We have the goal to camp more and become more efficiant with it (read: stop forgetting things like tent poles...).

Our first camping trip together, pry 3 years ago... hopefully our last without tent poles.

Of course, we're both too tall to fit in the back of Troop-Troop.

This trip was a great success. We made it to the campground in time to get the last spot, get the tent set up, fire lit, and dinner cooking with a some dusk. Our smores were delicious. It is so dark out here, and the stargazing is amazing. So good in fact that there is an observatory on the next mountain over. When we moved here our landlord told us the there aren't many streetlights in Tucson because of all the observatories nearby. Cool. We are at the stage in our lives where it's time to replace our aging handmedown camping equipment. Everything works... but our sleeping bags are almost as old as we are... I got Em a new bag and pad for her bday, and she slept like a dream. In the morning we had coffee and headed out for a hike.

I've been hiking down here a few times without Em, once to the top of Mt. Wrightson; it's an amazing area. Fifty feet from our campsite there was a trail head that made a 6 mile loop up to a cool springs and back. This was a tough little hike. The way up was a rocky double track that was super steep. It had some awesome boulders right off the trail. I don't know much about bouldering, but it looks like fun so we checked it out.

In other news, we made the best ice cream in the history of the world. We both love cookie dough but sometimes wish the choclate chips weren't all crunchy in there. So we made some cookie dough sans chocolate chips. Don't get us wrong, we love chocholate but melty chocolate like in hot cookies or really good dark choclate at room temp... So we decided to add the chocolate in the form of ganache. So it's vanilla icecream with plain cookie dough and chocolate ganache folded into it. It's as dangerous as it is delicious.

Before:

After:

Willow like the ice cream too:

"I scream cream; you scream; we all scream for ice cream." -Willow

Anticipation

The holidays are coming soon! YAY!! Tommy and I are having my parents and brother over for Thanksgiving and we are so excited! It's our first time to have family over for a holiday meal :) It makes me feel grown-up. My little grown-up self will be going to bed before 10... Now I just feel old...:) good night.

UGA

:( This is a sad day for Georgia Dawgs... A sad season actually... I guess we were in need of a building year after losing 3 really good players to the NFL... I am scared for Mark Richt's job right now, though he is a GREAT coach! We'll just have to see I guess... Florida will be a HUGE game! Well, I had better stop whining now... :) tata.

Staying Centered

Em took me to a yoga class at Rubber Soul almost three years ago.

I went because I was mountain biking a ton and my body was tight. At first, I thought this is for women; I might get a good stretch but pry not any appreciable workout.

I was so wrong. I pretty much got hooked on yoga since then. I went from thinking it was silly to respecting as a workout to respecting it as a way of life.



Warrior 3 on a boulder atop Mt. Lemmon.
Yoga is huge in Tucson. I go to Tucson Yoga



Em looks so elegant when she does anything, even though that's not the point of yoga. Tree pose.



This is one of my favorite pictures ever. Our photog asked if there were any pics we wanted him to take... The best part about this pic is the corners of our mouths.

"If one practices yoga twice a day, they will start a revolution," C. Clements.

A song from an amazing album!

Head Full Of Doubt / Road Full Of Promise

There's a darkness upon me that's flooded in light
In the fine print they tell me what's wrong and what's right
And it comes in black and it comes in white
And I'm frightened by those who don't see it

When nothing is old deserved or respected
And your life doesn't change by the man that's elected
If you're loved by someone you're never rejected
Decide what to be and go be it.

There was a dream
One day I could see it
Like a bird in a cage a broke in and demanded that somebody free it
And there was a kid, with a head full of doubt
So I scream till I die and don't ask for those bad thoughts to find me out

There's a darkness upon you that's flooded in light
In the fine print they tell you what's wrong and what's right
And it flies by day and it flies by night
And I'm frightened by those who don't see it