The Wave, Coyote Buttes

Jordan and I have been trying on and off for the past three years to get permits to hike to 'The Wave'.

We finally got permits!! 

We planned a quick road trip, driving to Page, AZ after work on Monday and then stayed the night at a hotel before getting up really early the next morning to start our hike.

The Wave is located in the Coyote Buttes area of the Paria Canyon wilderness on the Utah/Arizona border. 

The BLM limits access to the North Coyote Buttes Wilderness Area to just twenty permits per day. Ten of the permits are available in advance by an on-line lottery that is conducted four months before the month for which the permit is sought. The remaining ten permits are made available by lottery the day before one's intended hike. Year round the lottery is held at the ranger station.  We had tried twice to win permits through the lottery at the rangers station and didn't get our names drawn either time so we tried the online lottery and got our permits for the hike that way.

"About to embark on an unforgettable adventure" as the trail head says.

 It was so cold in the morning!  I was so glad that Jordan packed gloves for me. It was early but I was so excited to finally see the wave.

The warning sign that clearly states emergency response is never rapid.

There is no trail and it is very easy to get lost!  At the start of our hike I took this picture.  I could understand how people lose their way.  Luckily we had our GPS and notes from my Dad that led us right in. 

We occasionally did see carins which helped keep us on track.

About to enter the wave!!

I was so excited that I started giggling, after all this time I was finally there.  

 It was a short but moderately difficult day hike that takes you to a multi-colored chute that has been cut into a sandstone mountain. 

 The Wave!!

 Jordan

 We saw one couple from Switzerland leaving as we got there.  We were all alone for quite awhile.  It was amazing!

 Brook

 Jordan wanted to look around and climbed to the top of the wave.  That is me eating my lunch! 

 The wave was a lot bigger then I thought it would be.  Jordan secretly took this picture of me looking around.

 Both Jordan and I had hiking the wave on our life goals.  We are finally able to cross this of our list!

The Piano Guys

Friday night Jordan told me that for our date night we were going to a piano and cello concert with Brad and Lindsey.  I have to admit it sounded a little boring and I wasn't too thrilled about it. 

We met for dinner at Pei Wei 

It was the first time Jordan and I have eaten there.  It was so good. Definitely a place we will choose to eat at again. 

Then we went to see the Piano guys.

"The Piano Guys is an American music duo consisting of Jon Schmidt and Steven Sharp Nelson. They became famous through YouTube, where they posted videos of renditions and mashes of popular songs accompanied by professional looking video clips."

It ended up being really entertaining.

My favorite song they performed was a mash up of Taylor Swift's Love Story with Coldplay's Viva La Vida.  I also loved their version of Adele's "Rolling in the deep"

Here are some of their Youtube clips:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfH2BY5pdLw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUjWJSnGVB0&feature=related

Dinner Success!

I love to try new recipes and they don't always turn out as planned. 

Tonight I wanted to try to make homemade Cafe Rio barbacoa salads.  I love Cafe Rio but there isn't one very close to us so we don't get to go there very often.  

It was a lot of steps, but pretty easy to make and turned out sooo good!  It tasted just like being at the restaurant.  Dinner success!!

Tortillas baked with cheese for the bottom of the salads.

Black beans cooked with cumin, garlic and cilantro.

Jasmine rice cooked with garlic, cilantro and lime.

Barbacoa meat cooked all day in the crockpot.

Salads were topped with a homemade ranch cilantro dressing.

Salad complete!

Phoenix Suns vs Utah Jazz

For Valentine's Day Lindsey surprised Brad with tickets to the Phoenix Suns vs Utah Jazz game. 

She invited Jordan and I to come with them, so we all bought tickets together.  

Our seats were center court but as far to the top as you could go! 

 The day before the game Brad's parents surprised them with second row seats.  They felt so bad when they found out that Lindsey had already bought tickets with us.  It ended up working out perfectly. They were able to give their tickets to some friends from school and then Lindsey would switch her pass every period so that the guys all got a chance to watch the game from the second row.

My favorite #13 Steve Nash 

 Jordan and I had such a fun time. 

I cheered for the Suns while Jordan cheered for the Jazz.

 Lindsey and Brad

 Lindsey and Brook. 

I am so lucky to have found such an amazing friend!

After the game we were able to meet some of the Jazz players and Brad got his hat signed. 

It was such a fun night.   

Art Festival

This weekend Jordan and I went to the local arts festival. 

We ended up seeing Brad, Lindsey, Lindsey's sister Chantel and Brad's parents and sister Amber there!

We saw some amazing art work.  I found the kissing artist the most interesting.  She paints portraits of famous people by kissing the canvas.  It was so weird but she was really talented.  

I bought a reclaimed wood cutting board, which I love and I am excited to try it out.  It is all natural wood. No dyes were used which I liked. 

(We forgot our camera so the pictures are off our iPhone.)

It was a fun festival.  They had a ton of booths, bands playing and some of the best food carts in the State.   I made me think about entering my Dad's photography for next year.   I think his photography would do really well there.  

   

This weekend was all about projects

Saturday morning Jordan ran a 5K with his coworkers.

He said it was fun and made him a little more excited about running.

I was sad that I couldn't go down for the race since I had to work. I would have loved to have taken pictures of him running and his team.  

I am so proud of Jordan. 

 When I got home from work, I wasn't feeling well from a headache, so I decided to take a nap.  Jordan woke me up saying that he had found a bike on craigslist and that he was going to check it out.  

He brought home a road bike for $100!!  

He has been looking for months for a bike to ride to work now that his new office building is only three miles away.  The bike needs some work so Jordan spent the rest of the weekend taking the bike apart, inspecting everything and cleaning it.   



I on the other hand have started to work on my quilt again. Lindsey and I had a sewing day earlier in the week and it got me excited about sewing.  I seem to go in phases so it is taking awhile. That and I have done everything by hand. I drew up the animals, cut and sewed them on and have started putting the blanket together.  I still have A LOT of work to do but it is starting to look pretty cute.  

Del Sol Ragnar

Some of our friends ran in the Del Sol Ragnar race this weekend.

It was a 200 mile running relay that took their team of twelve all day and night running through the desert to complete! 

We were so proud of them!  Here is Lindsey and her sister Chantel crossing the finish line with their team.

Lindsey, Burgess and Chantel

I had to work in the morning so were only able to come cheer them on as the finished.

Lindsey has been training so hard for the race and watching her complete it was so inspiring.  We are now talking about putting together a team to run in a Ragnar race in Utah.

Favorite part of the race was this guy and his sign.

So funny!

#29 Visit a Renaissance Fair

I started my new part time shift at work this week and Jordan had President's day off of work so we planned a day at the Renaissance Festival.

It was the Kings birthday so if you brought him a birthday card it was buy one get one free admission.  So we brought the King a card to wish him well on his birthday and get a fantastic deal. 

They had so many people dressed up that you couldn't tell who was working and who had just came to spend the day at the festival.  Some of the costumes were pretty amazing.

We listened to a harpist play Celtic music.

We watched a magic show.

We watched jousting!!

They even had elephant rides.

Then we stopped to watched a family circus show. 

He sure looks happy and nice doesn't he?  Just wait...

Who gets picked out of thousands of people to be the one person to go up on stage to help them in a dangerous juggling act??

Me!!!!

This is him telling me not to move because if I flinch at the one coming towards my face the one in the back will hit my head.  Great....

Then they ask the crowd if this is dangerous enough. 

Of course they say no so then the bring out spiked sticks to juggle with.

I hate being the center of attention.  And I especially hate being the center of attention while spiked sticks are being juggled around my body!

But what else can you do but smile and try to go with the flow.

Jordan loved it!  I could see him laughing in the audience. He knew how much I did not want to be up there.  Afterwards he gave me a hug and told me I did a good job on stage.   

We had a fun time, being the center of attention and all.

A Wicked Valentines Day

For Valentine's Day Jordan and I bought tickets with our friends Brad and Lindsey to see the musical Wicked.  We had planned this as our gift to each other so I was surprised when I came home from work on Valentine's Day to roses and a half dozen cupcakes from Sprinkles!!    

I love that Jordan knows me so well.  I am a very lucky girl.

I also surprised Jordan on Valentine's day with a new jacket for work.      

The next night we met Brad and Lindsey for dinner at PF Chang's before going to the theater. 

We all LOVED Wicked! 

I loved the music, the singing was amazing and I was completely entertained the entire show.

(I have already started talking my sisters and Mom into planning a trip to Salt Lake City to see the show when it comes this summer.) 

#18 See Wicked

One more goal completed!