Breakfast at Finn's

This is a place right down the street that serves Scandinavian brunch and we never tried it until today!









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Cazuela!

Two for one margaritas- may as well bring them all out at once, eh?

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Friday night at home

Amy is now a proud employee if the Social Security Administration!



Nintendo Wiiiii!



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Holland pickled okra!

Supposedly it's Lady Bird Johnson's recipe. I'm a pretty picky eater when it comes to vegetables and I must say, these are good!

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Jipsy vs. The Vet, part II

She had to go back for a second round of shots because the vet doesn't like to give them all at once.

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spic 'n span

So many things that I want to do and so little time to squeeze them into - especially when you take into account that I practically have narcolepsy and fall asleep almost anytime I sit still. I'm always trying to develop some sort of "system" that will allow me to somehow have the clean house that I want without feeling the pain of sacrificing several hours of time. My latest system (that I came up with today) is to focus on cleaning one room really really well every week and then just doing a quick clean of the rest of the apartment. Kind of like having a monthly target muscle group at the gym. =) Today? The kitchen!

It also occurred to me that I didn't necessarily have to vacuum my entire house every week to get the dust, cat fur, and blond girl hairs that collect on my hardwood floors. I could sweep! My mother, who was always a big advocate of sweeping over vacuuming as a means of day to day cleanliness, would be so proud. And my floors feel so nice!

And here's your Lazy Jipsy picture of the day:

I woke up this morning and she stayed asleep on the bed while I showered and got ready. I came back by the house at noon today and she was still there. It's hard, all that sleeping and eating and scratching on the window.

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Park City Sunday

Holland and I woke up at the wee hour of 8AM today and drove up to Park City to spend the day with his brother Rob and Rob's wife, Rachel, who were recently married in Mexico. We first went for a nice hike up Guardsman Pass. It was sunny and slightly chilly but it felt nice. There was still a little snow on the ground.

The little dog in the pictures is Rob and Rachel's dog, Papi. After hiking, we went to the Park Silly Sunday Market, which is an aptly-named farmer's market + arts & crafts fair that Park City has every weekend during the summer. Aptly named because Park City is a strange little town. The market is pretty big and lots of fun.

Then we all drove home where we laid by the pool (heated, thank goodness) and later ate ribs that Rob had been cooking all afternoon. They were delicious. Back to work for three more days, then vacation for a week!

Salt Lake Farmer's Market

Hooray, it's finally warm! Unfortunately, I got sunburned. Like really? I have to wear sunblock just to go to the farmers' market?


Holland buying local wildflower seeds. It's still early for most produce here but there were a lot of plant and flower nurseries selling seeds and starters.


Homemade falafel!



I myself went across the street to the Belgian waffles and frites (fries) place and had a delicious Belgian waffle!

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Dead Horse Point

Some pictures from Dead Horse Point, a state park that we visited on a quick trip to Moab last weekend before Dad and Sylvia had to head home. We wanted them to see some of the unique geology in southern Utah.

Beehive Tea Room

I had the afternoon off of clinic, so I decided to take Sylvia to one of my favorite places in Salt Lake City for "high tea," which is both lovely and a filling lunch. It includes scones with butter and jam, finger sandwiches, and dessert. It's amazing how full you can get off of it. Afterwards, we went shopping in the cute stores around my neighborhood, which was fun because I actually hadn't been in some of them myself!





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Life's tough

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Bicycle!

I bought this old Schwinn road bike at a yard sale down the street on Saturday. I've been wanting one just to ride short distances to the store, coffee shop, and (if I'm ambitious) Holland's house. I figured I would buy a cheap old one to start and see if I actually ride it!

The good news is that it is cute, just the right height, has relatively new tires and a basket, and was cheap. I took it on our first ride tonight to the grocery store-staying on the sidewalk, of course. You need lights to ride on the street. The disadvantages that I can tell are that it rattles and only has one speed, which I don't mind but man my thighs were burning after a short incline! It was a nice bike ride though. The weather is nice and cool at night right now.

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some photos from the trip to Park City with Dad and Sylvia

My dad and his wife, Sylvia, are in town visiting (and attending a business conference) for the next week. We spent this afternoon looking around the shops in Park City.

The hot sauce store, with a bazillion different types of hot sauce.


Old skis and poles for sale in a souvenir store. The skis literally go for hundreds of dollars. Don't the baskets on those old poles look scary?


Caramel apples from Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. They'll cut it into pieces for you to make the eating easier.

No explanation necessary:

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Injured

Holland and I decided to go backpacking/camping over Memorial Day weekend down in south Utah. We went to Owl and Fish Creek Canyons, because our guide book said it was a great hike and that we would get to see Anasazi Indian ruins. With some of my tax refund money and with a coupon I had, I bought my own backpack and hiking boots from REI! Look how great my boots are! It pains me to think of how horribly dirty and beat up they are now. =(
Unfortunately, the trail was not what we thought it would be, which was well-marked and at least somewhat maintained. I don't know if it was because it was early in the season or what, but the trail was hardly marked at all after the first mile or so and was not cleared very well. So we kept getting lost and having to search around for an hour or so to find the trail and getting scratched by trees and bushes. Not to mention the gnats! I didn't realize that gnats bit but we were both eaten alive.

The real rough part of the hike came at the end. In the beginning, we had climbed about 1000 feet down into a canyon. Which meant that, in the end, we had to climb back out. We had already gotten very lost at least twice. When we finally got to the end, we had to basically rock climb out of the canyon. The trail markers completely disappeared about 1/3 of the way up and we were stuck on a rather sheer rock face, trying to figure out how to please-for-the-love-of-God climb out. Getting out took us a couple of very stressful hours and when we finally did get out, we had no idea where we were or how to find the trail to get back to our car. We wandered around for at least two more hours, completely lost and running out of water. We could just see the search parties coming to find us the next day when we didn't show up for clinic.

Just as we were getting ready to give up and stay put until the rescue team found us, I finally deferred to Holland's innate sense of direction and we ran into the trail. The trail that led us back to the truck! We were elated. The Gatorade that I got in the first town that we came to never tasted so good. Unfortunately, it was dark by the time that we got back to the truck and we ended up getting back to SLC very late before going to work in the morning. I guess the good news is that we still like each other after that harrowing experience.

Unfortunately, along with the many scratches and bug bites and near-dehydration, I seem to have overworked my Achilles tendon. It is bothersome to me, especially with exercise, and has some physical exam findings consistent with Achilles tendinopathy so I'm treating myself for that. Because self-diagnosis is always good right?!?

The most irritating thing is having to rest it. The lack of exercise is driving me NUTS.

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