So close!

We are getting so close to seeing our families again! Only 2 more days until I fly to MN and 3 more days for Todd. We are really looking forward to spending time with the Mitchells and VanWyks.

Todd has three more days of teaching this week. I have been done since my last final on Wednesday morning. 

There is still no snow in Utah. It has snowed a bit, but its never stayed on the ground for more than a few hours. We are hoping that MN or MI will have a white Christmas!

Todd and I went out to eat downtown last night and then walked around a bit. The city looks beautiful with many Christmas lights! We exchanged gifts at night with each other. 

Not much else to report from SLC. Below is a picture in front of our Christmas tree.

Thanksgiving, Mount Olympus, and a Christmas Tree!

We have really enjoyed our 5 day weekend for Thanksgiving break! It's been nice to relax, spend more time together, and get ahead on some work (for one of us, at least).
We spent Thanksgiving with friends from Church.  Everyone brought a dish or two to pass and we enjoyed delicious food, football, and talking together.
Yesterday, we decided to hike Mount Olympus. It's a 4000 foot climb. The peak is over 9000 feet high. It ended up being very slow going because the snow towards the top had turned to ice. We were slipping and sliding a lot. We used a lot of trees to pull our selves up. Since we got a late start (we had to see the end of the Michigan vs. Ohio State game---GO BLUE!), we weren't able to make it to the top. We turned around about a 1/2 mile from the top to avoid going down on the ice in the dark. Going down was interesting. I crouched down and slid down on my feet for a lot of the icy parts. Todd  had a few good wipe-outs! The last 40 minutes of the hike were in the dark with headlamps. It was really pretty to watch the sun set over the mountains and see all of the lights in the valley.
Today we got our Christmas tree. We got a small one--about the same height as me! It smells wonderful.

On our way up

Taking a break towards the top

The view of the valley

On the way down--sun is beginning to set

Salt Lake in the distance

DARK!! Using the head lamps.

Our first Christmas tree!

We can't wait until our Christmas travels! We excited to see friends and family!

Oh November

I haven't posted in quite some time. We've both been busy--too busy to take weekend trips.
Since I last posted:
1. We celebrated my birthday at the beginning of November. Todd and I went to a dinner I was invited to through my program. It was put on by the food science association in Salt Lake City. There was delicious Hawaiian food and chocolate tasting. We both discovered that chocolate liqueur (the most unprocessed form of the cocoa bean) is disgusting! Todd got me a painting for our living room. I attached a picture below.
2. We played lots of board games and card games with friends. We are so thankful that we've met so many great people here. We are also thankful that they love to play games as much as we do!
3. I gave my graduate seminar presentation. Glad that's done! Each first year graduate student gives a seminar based on primary literature to all of the department of nutrition.
4. We went to IKEA and came home with a new living room chair (picture below). Todd likes to put it in the middle of the room to watch football, and I've done lots of reading and homework in it. It's perfect! Thanks Jeff and Bonnie!
I think that's it. As I said, we've been busy with school and work. We are really looking forward for a few days off for Thanksgiving!

Our new living room chair

Painting from Todd for my birthday

Some new pictures on the wall--all scenic shots from places we've gone since we got married

Halloween Half

After months of training we finally ran our half marathon. It was an interesting experience to say the least :). We woke up at 4:00am to head down to Provo. Buses brought all the runners up to Sundance resort where the race started. It was so cold! There were lots of crazy costumes, including a couple Captain Jack Sparrows and a Cupcake. The first 4 miles of the race had an 1000 foot elevation loss. Going into the race, I thought this would be awesome. After about 1 mile I realized it was awful. My legs were numb from the cold and the downhill put so much pressure on my joints that I was sure my legs would give out. Todd and I both went out much faster than we intended, and didn't slow down for awhile even though we knew we should....and we paid for it. Todd ran an 8K pr in the middle of the race! I averaged 6:20 pace through the first 6 miles--bad idea! We both finished with decent times, but  an even paced race would have felt a LOT less painful. Next time I know what NOT to do. Despite the pain, we had a lot of fun. The course was beautiful and it was great to be racing again.
Here are some photos from the weekend:

Trying to keep warm in the tent before the race. All 4000 runners were crammed in the tent.

The view from the top where the race started.

Happy to be done!

Familiar Faces

Todd and I had such a great weekend with his parents! Jeff and Bonnie were in Utah from Wednesday to Sunday. Todd had a couple days off for UEA which worked perfectly for having his parents come. Together we went to Temple Square, both of our schools, Park City, Olympic Park, Red Butte botanical gardens, and Sugar House. Here's some of the highlights from the weekend:
1. The drive to Park City was beautiful! The trees on the mountainside had turned to bright fall colors and were a perfect contrast to the clear blue skies!
2. The Pie Pizzeria! We had heard it was great--and it was!
3. We sat in the Olympic bobsled at Olympic Park.
4. Playing card games and board games at night.
5. Driving around the upper avenues at night and seeing all of the lights in the city.
6. Many beautiful flowers at the gardens.
7. Catching up on life in Minnesota!
We are blessed with such great families and wish we could see them more often.
Here are some pictures:

The Mountains between Park City and SLC

Eating on the rooftop of the No Name Saloon in Park City

In the bobsled at Olympic Park

Todd steering the skeleton sled 

Freestyle ski practice jumps

Bryce Canyon National Park

It's starting to look and feel more like fall here. We are enjoying cooler temperatures! We're really looking forward to Todd's parents coming to Utah in a couple days. It will be great to see family and share part of our lives in Utah with them!
This past week we discovered that one of our neighbors has plums and apples in their trees that are free to anyone willing to climb and pick them. So, we got a bag full of apples and plums. Since it was fall break for me, I had time to make an apple pie, apple bread, peanut butter apple cookies, and crock-pot applesauce. Yum!
I had the opportunity to do a trail run with 3 other Calvin XC alumni--Christina Overbeck, Camille Medema, and Laura Holtrop. Laura's wedding was this past weekend, so many Calvin XC alumni were in town. It was great to see familiar faces!
We went to Todd's high school musical--Annie--on Friday night. It was great. I got to see one of my favorite musicals, and Todd was able to support several of his students who had parts.
We spend Saturday and Sunday in Bryce Canyon National Park. We went with Mark and Jenna Moffatt, a couple we met at New Song Presbyterian Church. We hiked the Riggs Spring Trail loop--about 9 miles long. We camped at the halfway point. It was quite cold at night! Since Mark and Jenna had a 4 person tent, we all sat in our sleeping bags with headlamps on and played cards. We got an early start hiking in the morning in order to warm up. Once we completed the trail, we drove through the rest of the park stopping at the overlooks and small hiking loops. One particular hike, a 1.3 mile loop (the Navajo trail), was very scenic. We hiked down into the slot canyon and saw many hoodoos, natural bridges, and unique trees. It was a great trip!
Here are some pictures:

View from the trail

Sunrise on Sunday morning

It was quite the climb up--but the view was stunning

Hoodoos

Natural Bridge

Slot Canyon

the "Spectacles"

the "Needle"

Inspiration Point

Differences...

After this coming weekend, we'll have pictures to share from another National Park. For now, I just want to share some of the differences we've noticed between living in the Midwest and living in SLC.

1. Churches. There is a LDS church on every other block, but protestant churches are harder to find. We've visited several churches and found a common theme--small congregations. We really like two of the churches we've checked out, and are still decided which one we'd like to get involved in.

2. Weather. After 2 months of temperatures in the 90's nearly every day, we got snow. It only lasted a few minutes in the valley, but there is still snow on the mountain tops. It's back up to 75 degrees now. It rarely rains and the skies are nearly always sunny. 

3. School. Todd teaches classes of between 35 and 40 students. Despite large classes, most students are very well behaved. In fact, he frequently gets thanked as students leave the classroom. He's never experienced that before!

4. Transportation. We've spent a lot less on gas in Utah than we did in Michigan. I take the bus every day for free with my student ID. In fact, I have only driven the car 4 times since coming to Utah. That's quite a change. 

5. Running. In Grand Rapids we had to drive to 92nd street or Tower Hill in order to do a hill workout. In SLC, we have to drive in order to run a hill-less route. Living in the foothills means either running up or down the mountain. While it was quite a challenge originally (especially when adjusting to altitude), we are becoming much better hill runners. 

6. Seasons. Utah doesn't seem to know about the season called Fall. Trees aren't changing colors--or if they are, they are going straight to brown. I miss Michigan's beautiful fall colors!

7. Housing. We really enjoy our basement apartment! We're used to living in college housing--dorms, college apartments, the radpad--so it's different having a family above us. Sometimes we think they forget that we can hear everything they say--it's been quite entertaining at times!

8. Campus. Obviously, the University of Utah's campus is quite different than Calvin's campus. For one, it's huge in comparison. Some of the academic buildings are over 100 years old. People travel across campus in many ways--trax, buses, skateboards, scooters, bikes, etc. 

9. Cars. Practically 1 in 10 cars here are subarus. Pick-up trucks and suburbans are much less common. 

10. Mountains. We LOVE seeing mountains every day.

11. Accents. All of my classmates tell me I have an accent. I don't know what they're talking about. It seems like I talk just like they do. 

12. "Hot Chocolate" Mugs. Yes--this is what coffee mugs are called. Mormons don't drink coffee. 

13. Groceries. Except for a couple times, I have always walked to the grocery store. It's only about 5 blocks away. It usually works quite well. The weight of the groceries sometimes is a little much for the walk home though.

14. Sports. The University of Utah is obsessed with being added to the Pac12. We haven't gotten real into watching the Utes yet. Unfortunately, our teams rarely are shown on TV, but we try to keep up with them.

15. Family. Well, this is a big one. It's very different to be so far away from family.It's great to be able to skype, but we miss spending time with our families very much.

Arches National Park

This past week was pretty busy for both Todd and I. We're glad it's over. Todd had parent-teacher conferences and met with over 100 students' parents! He also gave a test to each of his classes, so he had a lot of grading to do! I took my first test (and think it went well!) Time will tell...
We were happy to get away for the weekend! We left for Arches National Park after a morning run on Saturday. We did several small hikes to arches: double arch, north and south windows, and turret arch. We enjoyed hiking up in some of the arches. We camped in the backcountry. It was about an hour of hiking through desert dunes to Clover Canyon were we set up camp. We were on slick rock that sloped down into the canyon--so we were glad when we woke up the next morning still safely where we set up camp! We were able to watch the sunset and sunrise from our location, and left the tent fly off all night to see all of the stars.
We hiked out the next morning and saw several more arches: sand dune arch, pine tree arch, skyline arch, delicate arch, and a few more. We did some more hiking and climbing up rocks--and got very tired out by the time we left to drive home! It was a great short trip! We are so blessed to have so many amazing places to explore right near our home!

Double Arch

Underneath the North Window

Hiking through the canyons

Sand Dune Arch

Our campsite at Clover Canyon

Pine Tree Arch

Skyline Arch

Delicate Arch (our favorite!!)

An arch through an arch (credit goes to Todd)

Balanced Rock

Lately

I haven't posted in a while, so there's a lot to tell you all about. We've been doing well! The weather here is cooling off. It's beginning to feel a bit like fall.
Two weekends ago, Todd went to an Olympus Cross Country meet. The team is quite small and not very competitive, but he has enjoyed working with them. I spent most of the day volunteering at the Be Well Utah Health Fair at the Utes Stadium. Several other nutrition grad students and I worked at a station for kids. We taught them how to create healthy snacks--and helped them put together fruit kabobs. We had a lot of fun. Todd joined me at the fair for lunch and got a chance to kick a field goal in the stadium. Unfortunately, he came closer to taking out a cheerleader than making the field goal...
The past two Sundays we have attended New Hope Presbyterian. Many of the friends we have here go to this church--in fact, 4 Calvin College graduates go there. The first Sunday we were there, we stayed for a potluck after the service.
We've been playing ultimate frisbee on Wednesday nights with a group from New Hope, along with some other friends of friends. We get pretty tired and sore, but it's a lot of fun.
This past Saturday, we listened to the live audio from the Knight Invite. Quite an exciting race for both the men's and women's teams! We miss not being able to cheer. We're very excited to continue following our team's successes!
We had some new friends, Jenna and Mark Moffatt, over for dessert Saturday night. We ended up just talking for most of the night. It's crazy how similar our stories are. We both got married July 16, 2011 and then moved to SLC on August 1. Mark is in a graduate program at the U like me, and Jenna teaches like Todd!
On Sunday, many of the same people from New Hope went to Antelope Island, a state park on the Great Salt Lake. The water was full of flies, brine shrimp, and (obviously) salt, but Todd had fun floating in it. We played some games there and then drove around the island. We saw some incredible views as well as antelope and bison.
This week is the beginning on exams for me. Looking at my schedule, it seems like things are really going to pick up. Despite this, we are planning on going to a National Park in southern Utah this weekend. We don't know which one yet. Todd has Friday off, so it will be a 3 day weekend for both of us. Looking forward to another trip!

At the Health Fair with Stephanie, Leisa, Brittany, and Ema

In the Utes Stadium

A dip in the Great Salty

Floating!

View on Antelope Island

Group Shot

Bison