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Sorry for my lack of posting over the last week.  Things were pretty busy as we were traveling back east (to PA) for a good friend-from-college's wedding.  It was a quick (<48 hrs actually in PA) and busy trip but well worth the travel.  The wedding was a lot of fun, we got to see some friends we hadn't seen in a while, and the bride and groom looked blissfully happy!

When we arrived at the airport back in SLC, very sleep deprived, I said to Bryan "I'm so glad to be back home!"  Home....it took me less than a month to start calling this place home.  And we all know I am not one to adjust to change easily!  I've even notice that I'm not saying "back home in Boston..." as much.

Yes, it truly is home sweet home!


PS.  On of our friends took the above picture on the shuttle bus back to the hotel after the wedding.  Yes, that's green rock candy in my hand.  No, I'm not sure why I'm resting it on my shoulder.

Executive Decision

I am a beach person.  I grew up in New Jersey and went down the shore (no, I don't speak or look like Snooki).  My entire mom's side of the family always spent a week together at the beach every summer.  Living in Boston, we'd go to the Cape, Martha's Vineyard, or up to Crane's Beach on the north shore. 

Living in SLC is the farthest I've been to a beach (the stinky Great Salt Lake does not count).  From pretty much the day we decided to move here, I started planning a trip to Hawaii for this fall.  Our reasons being (1) we are a shorter plane ride since we'd be coming from the west coast, (2) we celebrated our 5 year anniversary earlier this spring, (3) I need to feel the sand between my toes in order to deal with the snow we will be getting this winter, and (4) it's Hawaii, do I really need any other reasons?!?!  We bought some travel books for the islands we want to visit (Maui and Kauai) and started planning what week we should request off from work to go.

Well, the other night over dinner on our patio, I made the executive decision not to go.  I do say that "I" made the decision because Bryan would do whatever would make me happy so ultimately it was my call.  It all started because we were talking about all the places we want to visit while living here.  In southern UT there's Arches, Zion, Canyonlands National Parks, just to name a few.  And then there's the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone and we talk about a weekend in Sonoma or Las Vegas or Sedona.  And all the hiking and camping we want to do around SLC.  And....well, I think you get the point.  

We started to realize that there were more trips we wanted to do than our vacation days and our bank account would permit.  That's when we decided to put off Hawaii for a year.  Hawaii will always be a long flight away, but most of these other places are just a couple hours drive.  Plus we wouldn't have to take an entire week off to visit them so we could probably get to more places with the vacation days (and $$) we have.    


So the Hawaii books went back on the shelf until next year.  I'm not giving up on reason #3 listed above...southern California is just a short cheap flight away! 

My Little Troopers

Many people have been asking me how our two cats handled the cross country drive and moving into a new house.  So here I will give you "Sarah's tips for traveling with kitties while keeping them calm and you sane!"

First, a little background.  Our cats are homebodies.  They are indoor cats and for the most part they only go to and from the vet which was about 5 miles from our old house.  Clover (C) usually just sits in her cage with a freaked out look on her face while Tigger (T) lets out the lowest pitch meows I have ever heard.  And its not just one cry.  Oooh no!  It's constant meowing the entire way to and from the vet.  Seriously it sounds like someone is killing him!  T acclimates to new situations and people pretty quickly but C is a little more wary.  And she makes sure to tell us she's not happy by peeing in things.  Laundry baskets, bags, and boxes (and you can imagine how many boxes we had in the house).

So you can see why we were a little nervous.

After successfully driving 2,600+ miles, staying in 4 hotel rooms, and packing and unpacking all our stuff, here are my tips if any of you readers ever have to travel or move with cats.

1.  Buy this stuff!   Before our trip, I brought both cats into the vet for a final check up and to ask for some advice on moving.  She recommended quite possibly the most amazing product for cats ever.  EVER!  There is a product called Feliway that is a  feline pheromone that cats release when they rub their faces on things.  It supposedly has a calming effect on cats.  They sell it in a spray and in a plug-in type thing and it's supposed to stop furniture scratching, peeing outside the litter box, and ease anxiety.  We were skeptical but we both where phitens so who are we to judge what works and what doesn't.  But this stuff is the real deal. It works like a charm!  We had one plugged in our old house to calm them during packing and pre-move.  We sprayed their carrier and the car with it before we put them in it.  We sprayed it in each hotel room and plugged one in before bringing the cats in.  And we plugged two of them in the new house.  I'm telling you, buy this stuff!  (order them online because they are much cheaper there than at the pet store)

2.  Make them comfortable.  My little ones are buddies.  They like to be with each other and we often find them snuggling together on the bed.  So we figured that if we had a cage large enough for both of them, it might make them more comfortable being together.  We bought a dog crate that fit on the back seat of the car.  The could snuggle together but it was also big enough that they had some space if they got sick of each other (5 days in a car will do that to even cats!).  We put their favorite toys in there, some comfy padding (one of Bryan's old t-shirts that smelled like him), and their dry food.

3.  Cover the cage.  Think about it from their perspective.  From the seat, all they can see are the trees and tractor trailers flying by and they hear the loud noises from all the cars.  Bryan had the idea to cover the cage with a blanket like you would with a bird cage so that they couldn't see what was happening outside.

Peaking out at a rest stop

4.  Prepare the hotel rooms before you bring the cats inside.  This starts by finding pet friendly hotels.  There are many of them so we never had a problem and always searched here or here when making our reservations.  At the hotel, we had our routine down to a T.  We'd go in first and get their litter box and food ready, spray the room with the Feliway, and then bring the cats in.

5.  Have patience.  The first day of our dive T meowed for about 2 hours.  It wasn't quite as bad as his vet visits, but still was enough to drive you mad.  Remembering that they are scared, unsure of what is happening to them, and not doing it on purpose helps.  So does turning up the radio!  Rest assured that they will eventually tire themselves out and fall asleep.  Each day it took him a little while to settle in but after that, he was fine.

Overall, it was a much smoother process than either of us expected.  They're still buddies, they still seem to love us, and we didn't kill either of them (or each other!).  I am happy to report that there have been zero boxes, bags, or laundry baskets peed in during the trip or since we moved in!  They truly are my little troopers and I'm so proud of them :)

City Creek Canyon

I don't know about you, but finding new running routes is both fun and scary at the same time.  Back in Boston, I had my standard routes.  The Comm Ave carriage road for when I wanted hills and the river path for when I wanted flat ground.  I knew these routes like the back of my hand and could tell you where every water fountain was located and how many miles it was until the next bridge.  Now in SLC, I have to find all new running routes.  And while there are endless choices, its still a bit intimidating to check them out.  I'm a creature of habit and don't like change (shocking since I just picked up my life and moved some 2,600 miles west!). 

We are lucky to be living at the mouth of City Creek Canyon which literally opens right into downtown Salt Lake.  I can't think of another place where you can be standing in the center of a city next to skyscrapers and within 1 mile, be in the mountains.  Totally cool!  There is a paved trail for the first portion and then it turns into a dirt trail (or so we've been told, we haven't actually made it that far yet!)

The other day, I took my iphone with me to snap some pictures of our 5 mile run.  These totally don't do it justice, but its the best I can do (Bryan flat out refused to run with his DSLR camera with the zoom lens...wimp!)

We start from our house with a steep 0.4 mile climb before a decent into the base of the canyon.

Within 1 mile from our house, we're on the canyon trail and in the woods.  The trees are excellent shade from the sun that feels 1000 times stronger out here than it did back east! 

The canyon road is uphill pretty much the whole time but most of it (at least where we've been) is fairly gradual.  This does not make it easy when you're at 4,500 ft!  Needless to say, there's not a lot of talking on the way up.  After about a mile, you come out into a clearing with the most amazing views.  The city is behind you, the rest of the canyon is ahead, and there are mountains on either side of you.  And we're only 2 miles from downtown at this point!

After a pretty constant climb up, we turn around and enjoy the nice downhill...and finally some talking since we aren't gasping for breath!  The picture below is the canyon from street level where we live one block over.

I know I said this before, but we are very lucky to be living in such an awesome location.  I have a feeling Heartbreak Hill is going to feel like a small bump after training up here!

Happy 4th Of July!

Hope you are enjoying your 4th of July and long weekend as much as we are!

A short hike at 10,000 ft with some new friends

First time I've hiked through snow on July 4th!

Perfect way to finish the day!

Happy 4th of July and a big thanks to all who have served our country 

to give us the freedom that we have!

Not Quite As Comfy As Our New Couch...

On Wednesday before we both started work, Bryan and I decided to go for our first hike in SLC. Not wanting to do anything too strenuous or long for our first one, we chose a short one that's up behind The U (what the locals call the University of Utah) named The Living Room Hike. It gets its name because the final destination is a manmade living room with rock tables and chairs that overlook the valley.

After taking a wrong turn very early on in the hike leading us up a different trail (oopps...bonus hike?!) we were back to the trail head and started on the actual the 980 ft climb (see I told you it was a short hike). The landscape is very different here compared to the White Mountains in New Hampshire and luckily we only saw one snake. Fortunately for us, he was dead because he was a big guy!

When we reached the living room, we enjoyed our lunch while taking in the new city that we are starting to call home.

One the way up

Relaxing in my lazy boy

Bryan looking down on the hospital contemplating his next year there

Kick'n our feet up