A fun, fun summer

 Wow I have a lot to catch up on... my last post was about mom's birthday and I feel like that was yesterday, but lots has actually happened since then so lets get to it.

Ya know Im still obsessed with the fact that I don't have school anymore. Seven months of freedom and I don't think I'll ever shut up about how amazing it is to actually enjoy life. With that being said - of the six-ish years Ive lived in northern UT, I have always been in school and therefore never had time to enjoy where I live. Well thats changing folks. There are a few hikes that I have planned for the summer and silver lake was one of them...

Karee is my go to gal when it comes to hikes and epic adventures so even with her hurt hip she was down to hike up to silver lake with me. 10 miles round trip and nothing but beautiful scenery. 

The lake was nice and cold. Karee was able to ice her hip before we made the 5 mile trek back down the mountain. 

I will say - I do love living in Salt lake when my days off in summer look like this. Karee is a crazy woman and even had us run the last mile to make it in under two hours down the trail. Please notice she is NOT in running shoes. 

Next item of business to discuss - my birthday (woohoo)! This is me turning 27 while doing what I do best - getting my steps in at work. We had a potluck this night - tacos were my request. It was delicious. 

Jackie called me on my birthday. It's kind of funny that we live across the world from each other yet we have the same sleep schedules haha.

I celebrated my 27th birthday with 27k steps. I got a majority of them (18k) at work from midnight to 0700. I went home and slept and then finished off the other 9k in the neighborhood while talking to mom on the phone. We may or may not have booked an entire girls trip while I was walking haha. 

Then Madi treated me to a very nice Texas Roadhouse dinner. She spoiled me for sure. Decorated my door for when I woke up and had presents all in the kitchen for me. Hot Cheetos, protein powders, my favorite drink (poppi) and bath and body works goodies. Salt lake county even got a quick little rainstorm this evening which was nice to help clear out all the smoke from the fires. It was a perfect evening for sure. 

Then we stopped in for some quick shopping and ended the night watching a show and eating hot Cheetos. Dream day haha. 

To keep the party going - I flew over to Denver the next day for a little birthday trip with the sibs. We ate good, shopped and straight chilled. 

Denver temple! 

And for the highlight of the Denver trip... the Manitou stairs! Over 2,700 stairs, 0.88 of a mile and over 2,000 feet of elevation gain. This was some tough crap, but oh so fun. My goal was to go slow and steady with no breaks. And I would say I did just that. I think I maybe stopped for like 15 seconds a couple times to look at the view or try to find Dremma. I finished in just under 42 minutes. Already want to go back and hit sub 40.  

The very early parts of the stairs were obviously not steep at all... the last part however were so steep I swear I almost fell backwards multiple times. 

#beastmode

Dremma finished 5 minutes after me and then we made the trek back down the 4ish mile trail. Highly recommend and will be doing this again someday. 

That night we ate the best Chinese food. Dad is right - I think it just takes a good hike for me to think any Chinese place is the best ahah. 

This past week I was able to attend Carlie's endowment session. It was special. Im grateful for the hursts and the second family they are to me. there have been too many times where I get to support the girls in big moments in their lives where all I can think about is I wish Erin was here to be there for them. It's really not fair, but I know Erin is with all of us helping us through hard times and celebrating all the wins right next to us. I actually cried for the first time in awhile last week thinking about Erin. I was thinking about how good life is right now and how happy I am when then I thought about how much better life would be if she were still here. But then I also thought about how proud of me she probably is. I say it all the time - I miss her like crazy, but I am really grateful to be so close with her family. As I hugged Frank in the celestial room he said "You're my Erin today". I think it's pretty mutual that we all feel Erin more when we are together. Anyways - it was a great temple session being surrounded by family and friends. Im stoked for Carlie, but also like secondhand nervous to watch the twins go their separate ways next month. I mean they have their own bedrooms but choose to sleep together in the same bed every night. I don't even have a sister, let alone a twin, but I feel like that would be hard to leave each other after all these years! 

I got my first library card! Im so excited! All I want to do is explore all the libraries in salt lake county. I don't even think Ive talked about it on here because it's such a new development, but yeah Im a reader now. Im currently on my sixth book in the last month. so you can say things are getting serious. 

After Madi showed me the local library (before this I literally didn't know libraries were still a thing. I thought they were just in elementary schools or something), I showed Madi the best local ice cream place. Lowkey dream date - library then ice cream. I actually went on a date to this place a couple weeks ago (the boy was meh, but the ice cream was 10/10) so obvi I had to show Madi. 

My days off currently look like this and it's my favorite. Im just missing a pool. 

which brings us to our last item of blog business - The Fourth of July! but this was no ordinary 4th... this was America's 250th birthday and I would say America really celebrated hardcore. I, of course, started my morning with four miles. I took a couple weeks off running to do some PT and hopefully strengthen my glutes, but it was also the six week mark for my infusion which brought about some pain those last few days leading up to my meds. so this was my first run back and it was pretty average. The fit was great though. 

Either way - Im just happy to be back running even if it's just a few slow miles. I played out and read more during the day then Madi and I had our own little BBQ for dinner. Dogs, mac'n cheese and baked beans. #merica. 

Then off to the rodeo!!

it was a blast of a night. The American pride was definitely felt and it was refreshing being surrounded by people who aren't afraid to show their love for our country. 

The rodeo was wild - really a beautiful night. 

Then fireworks - duh! I told Madi - Any other country that messes with America is crazy because we literally celebrate our country every year by blowing bombs up and all gathering around to watch them. 

One of my favorite nights ever maybe. Just really fun. 

After the long night I was starving so as Americans we made a late night trashy fast food stop at Taco Bell. But lowkey the grilled cheese burrito is the MOVE. it was so good. So happy birthday America! Ive been to many places around the world and there truly is no place like home. 

This brings us to present day. Me running a few hours ago... Now I'm at work. It's 0319 and it's been a very busy night. but TGIF because Im ready for the weekend! More excitement to come...