Behold, the face of pure happiness

 

That's right, my child is pretty much excited out of her mind about 2 things:  waking up to ridiculous amounts of snow, and the infant hiking pack that my parents got us for Christmas.  So, I think I've effectively brainwashed her on at least the most important things.  I felt more than a little bit ridiculous this morning walking around the neighborhood with this thing on my back, but. . . not ridiculous enough to stop me.  Because, hello, there were six fresh inches of snow, there was no way I wasn't going to go out in it, and there was also no way I  wanted to push the stroller through it.  Make that our backup, hand me down from a friend jogging stroller, as our regular stroller is currently Out of Order thanks to the stairway of death (pictured below) that Tanner slipped down the other day (the whole thing, top to bottom), because it was covered in 2 solid inches of ice, stoller in hand, leaving me nearly widowed and our stroller missing a limb (aka wheel, snapped clean off).

Anyways, we are all thrilled about the hiking backpack, including and especially Camryn.  If there are any Provo moms out there fortunate enough to have one too, I am your woman if you need a hiking buddy to spend the summer with.

Poor Buddy. . . we probably should have gotten him a cover for Christmas. . .

The Staircase of Death:

This morning I was feeling reeeeeeally lazy.  Kind of like I don't think I'll leave the house or change out of my sweats today lazy.  I've been really tired lately in the mornings because I'll stay up really late waiting for Tanner (I hate finals week) or just for the sake of putting off having to go to bed alone.  I really hate going to bed alone.

So I was tired and lazy and outside is a lovely blend of overcast, freezing, gray and stormy and I don't really have anything to do today and I got to thinking that this bout of optimism was probably all wrong and winter really might just be the death of me this time around.   And Camryn was getting fussy long before nap time and. . . I'm really proud of how I dealt with these things.

I went outside on a run.  It took everything in me to throw on no less than 3 jackets, dig my running shoes out of the corner they've been hiding in since my last workout 2 weeks ago (my BYU class pass ended Dec. 1 and I've barely moved a muscle since), bundle up Camryn, drag the freaking jogger stroller down the stairs (see, it's a whole production) and just go, but I'm so glad I did.  I fully intended to go just around a block or two and call it good (it's getting out there that counts right?)  but I actually felt really good and went an astonishing 1.89 miles and kind of feel like I deserve a round of applause.  And now I feel 1,000 times better about everything and I'm thinking my rules/coping mechanisms are really good ones.   

in which i try to keep it short

Since I've been writing marathon posts lately, I thought I'd keep things short today.

Happy election day!  My husband was so stressed out all day as if the entire election and the future of America depended solely on his vote (and he was still undecided as of this morning).  It was cute.

It's normal, right, for your dad to harass you and all of your siblings with multiple phone calls and emails with links to government websites to make sure you are registered to vote on time, know where to vote, and for heavens sake are actually going to vote.  right?  that's normal?

Today we met up with our friends (after voting, of course) Mac and Kelsey for a beautiful walk up the canyon by bridal veil falls.  We are soaking in this beautiful week as if we'll never see the sun again.  (We will, right?)  Sometimes I just can't believe I'm lucky enough to live in such a beautiful place.   The mountains, leaves, and sunshine are blowing me away right now.  

Camryn had a check up yesterday.  16 lbs 12 oz.  22nd percentile (back up to where she should be from a pretty dramatic drop a while back) Why do I feel every time my baby is weighed as if I'm waiting to get results back from a test I studied hard for?  I don't know if it's because she's small and keeping her on track for weight gain is constant hard work, or if it's because I'm breastfeeding and it's like I directly nurtured all 16 lbs, 12 oz of her into existence or what, but let me tell you--those numbers are a point of pride.  

She also has a little purple and blue snoopy bandaid on her big toe (that is about 3 times the size of said toe) from when they took some blood for an iron sample, and guys, that little bandaided foot is adorable.  I don't have a picture so you'll just have to do your best to imagine.  

I promised to keep this short so I guess I'm done.  

have fun watching 5 hours of political news coverage and analysis tonight!  (or is that just what we're doing at my house?. . )

edit:  Hahahah no lie, the second I posted this, my dad called.  "Dana, have you voted?!?"   

Jackson Hole

At the end of August we took a fun trip to Jackson Hole with Tanner's family.  Feast yourselves on the photo dump.  Also, blogger and I have been hating on each other a little bit lately--does anyone know how to set a default for picture size so you can have larger photos without having to change them one by one?

This is right before an epic spit up all over my pants, shoes, and most of the floor of this wagon.  The other passengers were a combination of seriously grossed out and sincerely impressed. 

This is my niece Claire.  She's pretty much adorable.

A while ago I was looking through old family pictures of when I was a kid and my dad always took us camping and hiking everywhere.  The thing is though, I don't really know where I've been because none of the pictures are labeled so it's kind of a guessing game (trees and dirt tend to look strikingly similar no matter where you go).  So I started taking pictures of trail signs whenever we go hiking so that 20 years later (or even 2 months later when you're labeling your photo album) you know exactly where you were.  Just a tip. 

Our niece Ruby with her grandpa

Tanner siblings doing . . . well, I don't actually know what they're doing. . .

Just for the record we did way more fun things than what's pictured but I couldn't find my camera for a few days.  And also don't like to take my chances with cameras on water activities, but we went river rafting and had a blast.  I looooove being on the river.  Definitely a highlight of the trip.

Adventures on my bicycle

well.  in case you remember my mileage goal for July and have been just dying to know how that went down, here it is.  The goal was 180 miles on my bike.  And. . . . I made it 174.  I was 6 miles short.  six.  But I'm really not too down about it because that last ride on the last day of the month I was pushing my way up Provo canyon loving the ride, feeling great and like I could go forever, and. . . I had to turn around to make it home on time to feed my baby.  And those are just the kind of little sacrifices that you have to make when you're a mom (especially one whose baby decided to refuse to take a bottle anymore.  future moms--you should listen when you're doctor tells you to give her a bottle every couple of days so that she'll remember how to take one).  And it's ok.  Sometimes I wonder how far and long and hard I could go on that thing without time restrictions.  If I didn't have to squeeze in my ride between the end of my shift and the beginning of my husbands and between feedings.  But then I'm just grateful to be able to squeeze them in at all, and grateful that I have a nice bike and a healthy body and beautiful places to go riding, and a hard working husband and lovely baby to come home to and then I get over it. 

Here are some of the adventures we've had together so far this summer and the things I've learned:

I ventured out into west Provo.  Far enough to pass cornfields and lots of sunflowers, cows, and horses.  And something about knowing I live that close to cornfields, sunflowers, cows, and horses makes me feel good about life.  And there is one spot with a good view of Mt. Nebo that completely makes me feel like I'm in Guatemala and it's beautiful.  Utah Lake is a common destination of mine.  If I have time I stop and sit by the Lake and wish so hard that it was the kind of lake without disgusting water--one that you could actually swim in and come hang out with your friends on the beach kind of lake.  Then Provo would have everything I think. 

One day I got caught in an absolute downpour and it was the highlight of probably my entire month.  I LOVE getting caught in the rain.  I made it to bridal veil falls that day, and by the time I stopped to rest there I was completely soaked and dripping.  It had been so dang hot all month and that ride was so nice and cool and refreshing and I can't even tell you how happy it made me so I'm just going to stop trying.

Let me just say I feel really dumb having such a nice bike but knowing absolutely nothing about how the thing works.  I need like a bike mechanics 101 class or something.  It leads to some really awkward moments like having to ask the bike shop guy to come look at my bike to tell me what size I need to replace my tube.  And one day when for some reason my brakes were misaligned and rubbing my tires and I could not figure out how to adjust it even though I could tell it was just some tiny little thing that needed to be done if I just knew where to tighten it.   And it was.  But it made me feel a little better when the nice high school kid in the bike shop couldn't figure it out either and had to get his boss to come help (who fixed it in about 2 seconds and didn't even charge me.  Thank you Mad Dog Cycles).   The kid also made me feel better when he told me that some guys will come into the shop with like $10.000 triathlon bikes (yes, people do spend that kind of money on athletic equipment) with flat tires.  It made me feel less spoiled and incompetent if that makes any sense. 

My dad taught me how to change and patch a flat tube which is way harder and than you might think (or maybe just for me).  While doing so he said my tires looked practically brand new which totally hurt my ego.  He also told me never to go on a ride without a patch kit, spare tube, hand pump, and your cell phone so that you don't get stranded miles and miles from your house with no way to get home but walk.  Which advice I did not follow and had to learn my lesson the hard way.  I had only gone 4 miles and did have my cell phone except that almost every single person I know in Provo decided not to answer their phone that day.  And to be honest, even if I had everything I needed, I'm not sure I could have fixed the tire myself anyway in a reasonable period of time.  So I got to have the really awkward experience of accepting a ride from a good Samaritan college freshman who pulled over and asked if I needed help.  Making smalltalk for 4 miles made me feel like I was on a first date and I will probably never forget my patch kit and pump again.

Roadkill is pretty hazardous for a biker.  And I have seen more varieties up close and personal lately than I care to go into detail about.

I really really really appreciate bike lanes and smooth, clear roads more than ever before.

I discovered while on vacation that Jackson Hole, Wyoming is pretty much the cyclists paradise.  I felt like I could explore the place for an entire summer and still not even hit every trial, not to mention that most of them are in beautiful national parks.  I got in a few completely amazing rides and want to go back just for that.

I also had a long chat with my husband about how someday we are going to bike across the entire country, coast to coast.  Yep, totally doing that.

As I was lamenting to my dad the fact that I need some cycling buddies and that I don't know any other girls who are into cycling, let alone that live in Provo, he told me that most bike shops have "bike clubs"  that will meet weekly or so for rides and that's a good way to learn a lot about biking, to get a lot better, and make friends who you can go with!  I just found out Mad Dog Cycles has a ladies only group Thursdays at 10:00.  But I'm pretty sure Tanner has class then.  I may need to recruit a babysitter and muster up the guts to go!

All of you should start roadbiking.  It's the greatest thing ever. 

happenings

hello people of my blog.

I'm just here to share a few thoughts this morning.  without theme, direction, purpose, or pictures.  Just warning you.

Today is my last day of work and I am thrilled.  By 1:00 p.m. today I will have told someone for the last time that their call will be recorded for quality assurance.  At times, this job has been great for me, but right now I am done with it.  I've kept it this long mostly because it was so convenient to be able to work from home (definite perks including but not limited to working in my pajamas, setting my alarm for 6:55 and still being on time for my 7:00 shift, no commute spent cursing UDOT for 30 whole minutes, I can still breastfeed my baby and don't have to pump) but it does remove the main good thing about my job which was being friends with my coworkers (and about 50% of my friends at work were pregnant at the same time as me and are gone now anyway.  there was a whole row of us.  kind of awesome)
So yay! I'm done.  And we are going to be super poor and I'm not even going to tell you how much money is not in our bank account, but we'll work it out.
I'm really excited to be a stay at home mom.  slash writer, I'm going to start writing a lot.  And biking and cooking and reading and yoga practicing and cleaning a lot.  Oh, the things I will do with my time.  Mostly spending a lot more of it with my baby!  Which I really want.

Can I just say baby gifts are one million times easier and more fun to shop for than wedding gifts?  Firstly, they are adorable.  Secondly, there are a billion things that you need for your 1st baby, so it's unlikely you'll give a duplicate gift, and most things, it doesn't matter how many duplicates they get, they'll still use/need them all (diapers, wipes, clothes, toys, blankets, and you can never have too many bouncy/hanging/swinging play mat zones/devices).  Besides that you can buy a perfectly acceptable small gift for a few dollars, or you can go all out and spend as much as you want--whereas wedding gifts can be really pricey and if you want to spend very little money, you're only option is something really lame like. . . one spoon.

We got home on Wednesday from a lovely vacation to Zions National Park.  We had a few days off for a family reunion that got cancelled and decided we'd do our own vacation instead.  We almost bagged the whole thing though because it's really hard to plan a vacation that's long enough, cheap enough, and close enough for us to maintain sanity with a baby in her car seat that long.  And since we live in Utah, most of the locations that fall into that category are places where the main attractions are camping and day long hikes.  We love camping, but 3 days straight with a 6 month old? no thank you.  So we opted for hotel in Zions and had to be content with the scenic walkways and mile-long hikes in the park.  Which was plenty awesome.  And also dreaming about the days when our kids our old enough for hiking through the narrows and to Angel's Landing.   And we spent a whole lot of time just being lazy.  Ooo i love that place.  If you haven't been, go.  It's really interesting when you're there how many people are not only from across the country, but across the world.  Tanner and I were talking about this, and if you were from Europe and wanted to take a trip to America and see what there was to see, where would you go?  New York probably.  California.  And . . . national parks!  Zions is right up there on the list of amazing national parks and it's just 4 1/2 hours from good old Provo.   Now, just a few days of laundry and recovery until our next vacation with the Staples family to Jackson Hole!  I feel kind of funny that all my summer activities and plans are right now and all I keep seeing and hearing online is how people are so excited and so ready for fall.  Not yet, please.  I've barely even touched my swimsuit.

On a more serious note, one of Tanner's aunts passed away last night (his mom's sister). She's been battling cancer for years now and has been hospitalized recently.  She has 6 children and 2 living parents.  We will all miss her and our prayers go out to the Pederson family.

Our lovely Weekend

I am watching my husband trying to get my baby to drink from a sippy cup and it's probably the cutest thing I've ever seen.  He is all business and she thinks it's a really fun game and that the cup is a cool new toy.  We've been battling it out trying to get her to take a bottle and someone suggested we try a sippy cup instead.
Anyways, we had a really great weekend!  If you haven't heard, my little brother Ryan got home from his mission last week! (I have kind of a backup of pictures. . . lots of happenings in the Bramhall family as of late) And my sister Alison and her husband Zach were in town from Texas (Alison comes up for business trips occasionally but I haven't seen Zach in just about as long as I haven't seen Ryan) making it the first time in a looong time we've all been together!  So we had a big barbeque up the canyon.  Which canyon, you ask?  Well, we do things Bramhall style.  Meaning we planned it up City Creek Canyon (which is absolutely beautiful, I can't believe I've never been up there) and Tanner and I had driven all the way to the top before my family (at the bottom) found out they aren't allowing barbecuing.  Because of no cell service, my family had to drive all the way up to get us and tell us, drive all the way back down, and over to and up Millcreek canyon.  Bringing our total driving time to 3 AND A HALF HOURS by the time we even got there.  grrr.  But once we did, it was a great time.  And I think I can speak for all of us when I say we ate way too much.
Here's the whole gang!

Looking at this group picture for some reason reminds me of this week when one of Tanner's old mission companions and his wife were in town and came over to have lunch with us.  They live in the Netherlands, and she was talking about his family saying "he has a ton of cousins, like SIX!" haha ya. . . try six siblings and I have too many cousins to count.

My beautiful nieces Kassandra and Jazzlynne

How cute is this little guy??  This is Andrew and Giannia's baby Nolan.

This is the view of the City Creek shopping center from my dads new office.  We stopped by to see it and I'm definitely going to need to return for some shopping.

And we went Camping!  This was the 3rd weekend in a row that we attempted a camping trip and the first time it worked out.  I can't even tell you how refreshing it is for me to spend an entire 24 hours outside.  Tanner said "hey, it would only cost us $450 a month to live here."  I think I could live with that.  

We each took a bike ride (the canyon gets prettier the further up you get) and on mine a momma deer with 2 baby deer crossed the road right in front of me.  So cool.  We took a couple of walks to bridal veil falls, waded in the river, grilled chicken and fresh corn and zucchini, and smores of course (and were stupid enough to leave our food on the picnic table over night and it all got eaten by animals, so. . . no breakfast) And we did a hike with Camryn in the morning at big springs hollow.  

Our friends Bristyl and Kyle (let's be honest, Bristyl did most of it) threw a tea party for her little girls first birthday and it was completely adorable.  This little girl is a total ham, loves posing for the camera, and her bow is fabulous if you ask me.  They are going to be in the Middle East all fall semester for Kyle's arabic program this fall and we will miss them!

Happy moms, grumpy girls

She loved drinking from the tea cups

I also got a surprise bouquet of amazing flowers from my husband, we made an awesome batch of homemade ice cream, and watched a llllot of olympics.  Don't tell Tanner I said so, but he gets teary eyed/full on cries every time someone is celebrating their gold medal win.  And every time they play our national anthem.  Annnd that Tide commercial really gets him. And the Kellogs one. And the P&G ones about olympians moms.  No big deal, it's just kind of an emotional time over here.  It's really pretty endearing.

Hope you're having a good week.  We're almost over the hump!