Seventh Anniversary Travels

Every year during fall break, Robyn and I take a short trip to celebrate our anniversary.  We take turns planning the trip, and this year I was in charge.

We decided to head into southern Utah for some outdoor festivities.  Our first stop on the way down was to Pando Forest near Fish Lake.

Pando Forest happens to be the oldest and largest living organism on the entire planet.  The entire forest consists of one Aspen tree that has spread its roots far and wide and sprouted other trees from that same root system.  Which means that every tree in the entire forest is part of one vast living organism.

We did the Doctor Creek Trail which goes right through the forest.

Sometimes I have to hug the oldest living organism on the planet.

The forest was really pretty.

Standing among the trees with the slowly falling leaves was super relaxing.  Robyn needed to do her zen pose.

After Pando Forest, the plan was to continue south and head to our cabin.  Unfortunately, we had no signal so the GPS on our phones wasn't working.  We figured we'd just start driving around the lake and hopefully find some place with a signal.  It was a super scenic drive and it was really pretty.  But it was also in the wrong direction, so we added a good hour to our drive.  Oh well, it was fun.

We got a picture of the lake out of our little drive.

Eventually, despite our detour we made it to the cabin.  It was a super cute little cabin in Duck Creek Village, Utah.

Doesn't it look so fun?

The next day we went to Zion National Park to do some hiking.

The drippy, mossy walls at Lower Emerald Pools

The waterfall coming off of the middle Emerald Pool (onto the Lower Emerald Pool)

Robyn at the Middle Emerald Pool

Posing with the mountains

It was very important for Robyn to take lots of pictures.

It was also important to do the signature Robyn pose.

As we were walking back to the car, this deer was just chilling and didn't care that we were there.  I've never been that close to a deer before.

The plan for day 3 was to go to Bryce Canyon National Park.  Unfortunately, it rained all day long.  We decided that hiking through mud didn't sound very fun.  And we thought the flash flood warnings sounded even less fun.  So we had to find things to entertain ourselves.

We found a German Bakery with delicious pastries.  It also had a carving of the Bread Spirit.  I've never heard of a bread spirit, but that sounds like the coolest ghost ever.

We did do some walking in Duck Creek Village.  It was wildernessy enough to at least feel like we got some nature in.

We did lots of reading.  Doesn't she look so smart with her reading glasses?

That evening I had planned to have hot dogs roasted over the fire for dinner.  The vision in my head was that I would make a camp fire, we would sit around it and chat while it got dark.  We'd eat our hot dogs outside and have a grand old time.

That's not quite what happened.  In the true story, I went out in the rain and built a fire.  Robyn stayed inside and yelled that it was cold.  When the fire was big enough to roast hot dogs over, she ran outside to participate in the roasting.  She roasted hers as quickly as she could and then ran back inside.

Isn't she a cute little hot dog roaster?

You should know that even though it was raining, it wasn't nearly as cold as her attire would have you believe.

This was the actual proper attire for hot dog roasting.

Despite the rain changing our plans, it was really quite a successful trip.  The most exciting part was that my sister totally made a person while we were gone.  (Well, it was really a project that she'd been working on for 9 months or so.  It wasn't all done while we were gone, but she completed the project during our trip.)

On the way back, we stopped off at the hospital to meet our new niece, Adaline.

Do you see the preciousness?

So with plenty of nature, plenty of time with my love and a precious new niece, it was a fantastic weekend.

When the Dentist Becomes Your Super Needy Friend

Have you ever had a super needy friend?  You know, that friend who needs constant reassurance that you're still friends.  They have to confirm and reconfirm that you're going to hang out.  Even when you've confirmed 2 or 3 times, they're not completely sure.

For me that super needy friend is my dentist.

I'm going to tell you the tale of my most recent neediness from the dentist.  I should note that the dentist is always at least this needy, but this one just seems worse because it happened in such a short time period.

Remember a couple weeks ago when I had a root canal?  Well, I'm currently sporting a temporary crown on that tooth, and I get the permanent crown put on tomorrow.

The dentist has contacted me no less than 4 times to make sure I'll be there.  It started with this email:

Note that not only do they remind me that I have an appointment, but they ask me to confirm.  It's as if they are saying, "Remember we said we would hang out?  We're still gonna hang out, right?  Promise we're still friends, okay?"

Naturally, I clicked on the link and confirmed my appointment.  The next day I got a text from them.

Confirming once is just not sufficient for them.  "Yesterday you said we would hang out.  Do you still want to?  Do ya?  Do ya?  We're totally friends, right?"

Luckily, this time around 2 confirmations were sufficient.  In the past, I've had them call me to confirm.  I should note that I've never missed an appointment.  It's not like I'm some sort of flight risk.  I'm not sure why they need so much reassurance.  After the 2 confirmations it was time for the reminder email.

"I'm not gonna ask you again, because you told me twice.  But please remember to hang out with me, okay?"

Keep in mind, it's been like 2 weeks since I was actually at the dentist, and it's been 2 days since I confirmed my appointment.  But just to be really sure, they sent me another text.

"We're totally gonna see each other tomorrow.  I'm not insecure about it at all, why would you think that?  See you then!"

Look, I totally get that people need reminders.  Especially with a dentist where your appointments can be 6 months out.  I appreciate the reminder service that they give, and I'd rather have too many reminders than too few.  My real beef is with the multiple confirmations.  It makes me wonder if there is a computer that even records the confirmations.  Maybe they just figure I'll remember better if I confirm it.

Oh well.  I'm looking forward to my snazzy new tooth tomorrow.  While I'm there, I'll have to make sure to tell my dentist that he's really nice and I really like him and he's super cool.  Hopefully if he gains some confidence he won't be so insecure.  But don't tell him I made fun of him on my blog.  He would never stop texting me then.

Needles are Terrifying

Every year my sister brings home flu shots for my family.  We all go to my Mom's house and she stabs us all with a needle.  It's kind of the coolest thing ever.  I get to avoid the flu, and I don't even have to go to a scary doctor's office.

The only problem is that, while I do get to avoid the office, the scariest part of a flu shot is that it is administered with a scary needle.

Look how scary it is.

She kept telling me to relax.  She didn't understand that she had a scary needle in her hand.

 Robyn was less terrified.  She just closes her eyes, and as long as she doesn't see the needle she's good.

But don't worry, I made sure to be terrified on Robyn's behalf.

This is what I looked like while I was taking the picture of Robyn above.

The moral of the story is that needles are terrifying.  But if you're not properly terrified, I will be terrified for you.