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

Labor Day Weekend

We spent a labor day weekend in two National Parks--Yellowstone and Grand Teton! It was incredible! I've never been to either park before. We left early Saturday morning for Grand Teton National Park. We went on a 5.5 mile hike around Jenny Lake to Hidden Falls. The lake was beautiful! We saw a moose and baby from a distance! We did a trail run around Taggart Lake, which is the area that bears are most often spotted; but we didn't see any bears. We camped on the north end of the park, at Lizard Creek campsite. It was a cold night! We're used to hot weather in SLC and it got below freezing both nights that we camped! We had to be very careful when we cooked and ate to leave nothing behind because the bears would smell it and come hunting.
On Sunday morning, we drove up to Yellowstone. We set up camp at Lewis Lake to assure we would get a campsite and then went exploring. We did some short hikes to see geysers, springs, and pools. We saw elk, pronghorns, deer, buffalo, coyotes, and a bald eagle! Old faithful was really neat--and we even saw some of the smaller, less predictable geysers erupt!
Here are some pictures from the weekend:

Jenny Lake

Hidden Falls

Paused on our run to take a picture by Taggart Lake

Lower Falls

Old Faithful

Hot Springs

And it begins...

We both started school this week. Todd has enjoyed his classes so far. He is teaching mostly honors sections, and really likes teaching students who are eager to learn. His classes are very large--all between 35 and 40 students! He's getting used to the block scheduling which means all of the classes are 85 minutes long. Todd is helping with the cross country team as a volunteer coach. The team is very small, but is growing slowly. Both the girls and boys teams are now big enough to score as a team.
I am enjoying my classes as well. I'm taking 13 credits--Nutritional Biochemistry, Nutritional Assessment, Communications in Nutrition, and Medical Nutrition Therapy. All of the classes are fairly interesting. So far the studying is not overwhelming, but looking at the syllabi tells me it will soon change. I have Fridays off from classes, so I am getting some of my volunteer hours today by working at a luncheon for all Salt Lake City residents over 100 years old!
This past Sunday we went to 1st Presbyterian Church. It is located right in the avenues, so we were able to walk there. Once again, it was a small church with friendly people. We met some members there who had taught at Calvin or were from Holland, MI! It's a small world.
We don't really have any plans for this weekend, although I'm sure we'll find something fun to do! Next weekend, we're planning a trip to Yellowstone! Since it's Labor Day weekend, we figured we had time for a quick trip. It's only about 5 hours away. Can't wait!

More exploring

This past week, both Todd and I had orientation at our schools. Todd's went all week long and mine was on Thursday and Friday. We're glad to have the orientation behind us, but are a little hesitant to jump right in tomorrow! Todd still doesn't have one of the math books for a class he's teaching, which could present a challenge. I'm still trying to figure out how to navigate University of Utah's campus. All of the construction makes it difficult.
We've been able to do a bit of trail running this week. The altitude is less of a problem, and the constant hills are getting easier. Hopefully we'll be ready for the half marathon we're planning on running in about 2 months!
On Friday night, we went to a "Welcome to the Nutrition Department" potluck at a park near the University. It's so great to meet the people in my program, especially since it will be so small. There are 13 students in my year. We're going to have a lot of fun!
This weekend we got a chance to hang out with Todd's high school teammate, Tyler King. He came to our place for lunch and a game of Settlers of Catan. Then we dropped him off in Park City and walked on main street for awhile. We drove by all of the ski resorts--looks much more challenging than Bittersweet or Caberfae in Michigan :).
We're missing our friends and family!
Here's a few pictures from a park near our house and Park City:

2 weeks later

Well, we've been here for two weeks now and it's starting to feel more and more like home. It's so different from everything with which I'm familiar, but that makes it exciting and adventurous! Todd and I had a great time this past weekend. On Saturday, we went to the REI garage sale and got some great deals on backpacking and outdoor things. We're excited to put them to use. In the afte rnoon we checked out Rockport State Park. It's a lake that was made by damming a mountain river. It was beautiful and refreshing. We also went for a trail run in the park and saw a deer and a few lizards. On Sunday, we checked out a church in Cottonwood Heights--Mountain Springs Community Church. I was surprised to see so many Dutch names in the bulletin! It's one of two CRC churches in the area. The congregation is about 60 people and includes a few Calvin students. In the afternoon I walked to the City Library. It's a big public library with 5 floors, a park, coffee shops, art stores, and lots of windows. It's great! At night we celebrated a new friend's birthday with a rainbow potluck. We each brought a color themed dish and ended up with a rainbow on our plates. It was nice to meet some more people! We ended the evening at a Johnny Lang concert. It was at the Red Butte amphitheater, which is in the foothills behind the University, so we watched for free a bit higher up the mountain. We could see pretty well and hear just fine. The sunset over the valley and many stars came out. It was simply beautiful!

Enjoy these pictures from Rockport State Park: