A Wee Tee Pee!

Arizona is one of those states that is honestly so surprising.  So many people get stuck on the "hot as hell" valley and forget that Arizona is AMAZING and varied and full of spectacular places as spaces. Flagstaff is one of those amazingly beautiful spaces.  A mere 2 hours from the valley it boasts gorgeous forests and cool temperatures.  Its beautiful.  

We usually find ourselves in the White Mountains so we jumped at a chance to spend a couple of days in Flagstaff.  One of our good buddies, Josh Blake, came out and wanted to hike Mt. Humphreys peak so Bob and I decided to make it a little vacay and head out of the lingering Summer heat.

Lily was at a birthday party for the weekend so it was just the Bee.  What a treat.  I heart this little girl and she and I got to spend some real quality time together.

Given the fact that we were only going to be there for about 36 hours, we decided to try our luck at "glamping" at the Flagstaff KOA.  Camping is all fine and good, but when you have to pack everything, set it up, tear it down, and re pack it, that is a lot to do mostly by yourself.  Given that the boys would be out hiking for most of the second day I voted for glamping so that Evie and I could play and not pack.  It worked perfectly and we all had a blast! The teepee had a double bed with a twin bunk on top and a big sleeper chair in it.  It was perfect for the 4 of us!

The guys were out early for the trek up to Hmphreys and Evie and I had a blast hiking and checking out the campground area.  Our really big thing was that I planned to go to the local ski resort and ride their chair lift!  After a treat at Starbucks and some working, Evie and I headed to Snowbowl!

Meanwhile, the guys were in the middle of the challenging hike up the mountain.

They, of course, made it and I am only a wee bit jealous of the gorgeous view they were able to experience.  What a cool reward!

Evie and I had our own view from the top of the mountain after we got to ride up on the chairlift.  So much fun to do that in shorts!

Arizona is full of old and ancient volcanoes and Snowbowl is no exception, it is literally a ski resort on a volcano and the volcanic rock is just astounding.  Evie and I got to the top, pottied in the "highest bathroom in AZ," and then had a little geology camp looking at all the different rocks.  Such fun.

I think our favorite part was getting to ride the chair lift down the mountain.  The views were spectacular and in between a heated game of rock paper scissors, Evie and I had such a special time.  Gosh I love that kid.

The trip was wildly successful all around.

And we brought home a very tired Daddy, and and Evie who cannot wait to go back to our TeePee!

The Art of Undersharing

So right now I am sitting in the atrium of Skyline pool while my incredibly passionate and talented 8 year old is swimming her little heart out in preparation for her first swim meet.  I have been horribly ill for the past 2 weeks, we are still neck deep in remodeling our bathroom, and we are carefully handling the logistics of being 2 travelling and working parents.  Guys we all-go-no-quit Longmires are doing life, taking names, and making memories.

During the past couple of months though I have found myself less in the sharing mode.  I don't think it is anything other than sheer busyness, and the fact that there simply isn't enough time to actually fully experience all that we are doing, let alone share it while doing so.  I have missed blogging something terrible and I have multiple blogs that just sit in the "draft" tab waiting for me to get to them.  I promise I will, but the chances that I won't post everything I once deemed important enough to write are high.  I am so grateful for this time in our life because we are just doing it.....that living thing, and for the first time in a while I have the confidence knowing that sharing every little thing simply isn't as important as living every little thing.

I am in a good place.  No......a really good place.  The injury to my foot changed my life and in great and immeasurably beautiful ways.  I dare say it, but I am grateful for it.  It quite literally gave me my life back all while I thought it was taking it from me.  My focus has shifted back to what is truly important and my marriage  and children are thriving.  Ill say it now and repeat it often, I am madly in love with my husband and cannot get enough of him!  Man I picked a good one.

My girls are absolutely thriving in school, swimming, karate, friendships, and life.  My kids are freaking amazing kids and even on the days when I want to duct tape them to the wall I just sit in awe of them.  Such boldness and beauty.  I am just proud.

My foot is healing slowly but beautifully and I am back in my MHPC gym.  I love Crossfit and I look forward to all the physical changes I am making.  I also find such joy in yoga at Exhale YOGA and have even found my running shoes again.

I just might be cleared to run a half marathon in early 2020.  I am ecstatic.  The injury was a long storm, but the sun is shining and the growth after the rain is huge.  I am grateful for life's storms.   When not being active I am working with Bob, doing photography, running our house, and playing chauffeur to my girlies. Mine is a good life.  A really good life.

But I am not sharing as much as I have in the past.  It's an art.  Truly, it takes a lot of intentional thought to not share everything,  after all, if nobody "likes" your happenings, did they really even happen?

YES they did, and they are special, and our life is so full of so much and frankly I am really loving just living it.