Thankful

I am so very blessed! Sometimes, in the craziness of life, we have a tendency to forget that simple fact. From friends and family to the little things around us, it is important to see those blessings for what they are. So, for Thanksgiving, I like to challenge myself with a list of (some of) the wonderful things I have to be thankful for (in no particular order). This year, I get to share it with you!

1. Good health
2. My cats, and all of their crazy antics
3. Unexpected hugs from children
4. The power of music
5. Testing negative for celiac disease :-)
6. Christmas music (I started a few days early... couldn't wait!)
7. The support and friendship I find at TGR Fitness
8. Having Cassie (a good college friend) living a block away this year!
9. Sunshine
10. Audio books - they get me through every work day!
11. Cozy slippers and sweaters
12. Having people all around me who believe in me and my potential
13. The girls in my Girl Scout troop, and the opportunity to learn with them
14. A home, and the relief of knowing it's already sold!
15. Trees and pretty fall leaves
16. All of the people who have given up so much for our freedom - Thank you!
17. Beautiful outdoor spaces, near and far
18. Brothers whose antics growing up gave me character ;-) And who can now be friends!
19. Doughnuts.
20. Family (near and far) who I know love and care about me
21. Camp Tahigwa - a place I call home - and the many people who continue to fight for it
22. My clients, their families, and the joy they bring me
23. A group of wonderful friends from college who continue to get together and love me even when I fail at keeping in touch.
24. A wonderful job I truly enjoy!
25. All of the awesome people who make me laugh
26. Good deals
27. National Parks
28. "What Does the Fox Say?" ;-)
29. Pie.
30. All of the women who give their time as Girl Scout Volunteers - especially those in Ames/Gilbert who I get to work with!
31. Grandparents who have always been involved in my life and who are still healthy!
32. Seeing big smiles from kids when I come to see them for music!
33. The ability to keep making progress and trying new things as an aerialist
34. My lovely husband, and the fact that I'm still his favorite wife after 3.5 years! ;-)
35. Random YouTube videos that provide laughter, tears, and entertainment
36. Games!
37. The Ames Public Library
38. A family I can be goofy with
39. The stars, and the joy of photographing them!
40. My Mom sewing me a music therapy bag made specifically for my needs!
41. Slow cookers
42. Modern medicine, and the miracles it helps make possible every day
43. Kid President
44. Performance opportunities with the TGR goddesses
45. The funny things kids say
46. Those days when I know dinner will be ready to eat when I get home - Thanks Brian!
47. Parks, their parking lots, and their bathrooms. Great for a girl who works from her car.
48. Flowers
49. The anticipation of not knowing what's next - it keeps me on my toes!
50. The hilarious fact that one of my clients has started saying "My name is Molly" to EVERYONE! I call him my newest advocate for music therapy!
51. The opportunity to connect with other aerialists through the (opening Black Friday!) AAFA
52. Freebies
53. Days that I cross a lot of things off my to-do list
54. Days to do nothing
55. Celebrating holidays with my family, and all the traditions that accompany that
56. Laughter
57. Instant communication!
58. People who pursue what they are passionate about
59. Good books
60. Plants Vs. Zombies.... a guilty pleasure
65. Hugs from Mom/Dad/Grandma/Grandpa/etc, after time apart
66. Seeing people I love, in love!
67. Babies! My Facebook is full of them!
68. The parade!
69. Learning something new
70. IPTV
71. Music therapists who share their experience and expertise with others through blogs and CMTEs!
72. Local businesses
73. Living close to family
74. Snow
75. Getting mail
76. Silly songs
77. My mom's family being closer together after years of being so spread out!
78. Friends who I know are always there, no matter how long it's been since we last talked
79. Story People
80. Space Heaters
81. A close-knit family of in-laws to gather with!
82. Ibuprofen
83. Clean water
84. A computer to type this on!
85. My amazing parents who have always been there in every way
86. Santa!
87. The group of ladies helping me plan Women of the Wilderness at Camp Tahigwa
88. Dance parties - especially the impromptu kind
89. Bad jokes
90. Google calendar
91. Lunch with friends
92. Lotion - my skin is already feeling this winter weather
93. Cuddling with the cats - all 30+ lbs of them!
94. Hot cocoa and hot apple cider
95. New recipes
96. Scarves
97. Disney movies
98. Leftovers :-)
99. Everyone who took some time on Thanksgiving to give back to their community!
100. The fact that I have people in my life to share this with! Thanks for being a part of my life!

Apple Cranberry Sticky Buns

Talk about heart-warming fall food! YUM!

I got the idea for apple sticky-buns from the Pioneer Woman, who made a caramel apple version. Her version, however, is a little more time-intensive than I was up for this weekend. So, I found a bread-machine version of sticky buns, and added my apples and cranberries to the topping! The recipe I used is here. Instead of the pecans and raisins, I used 1 apple, finely chopped, and a sprinkling of dried cranberries (sorry, I don't measure things). Everything else I followed as written! Here's how they turned out:

YUMMMM!!! The sauce turned out quite a bit thinner than a typical "sticky bun" but it was really yummy that way! The dough also didn't rise as much as I would have liked, but I don't know if that's because of the dough or user error :-) Overall, really delicious, and I will definitely make these again!

Glacier National Park: Backcountry

...and here we are at the most exciting part of our trip! We spent only 2 nights backcountry, but you could easily spend a month and still have so much more to see. My overall thoughts and experiences: the trails are very well-kept, and very well marked. You know where you are at every intersection, there is a map of each campsite, and always somewhere to hang or store your food (you do still need your own rope!). There were little log bridges over every creek (if the creek was too big to jump over), and while we didn't see a bear, we saw a moose, lots of marmots, jackrabbits, and more! The campsites were all full, which made for a unique backcountry experience: one where you share conversation around the "dinner table" and share your experiences with other campers. I very highly recommend a backcountry experience in Glacier National Park, and I especially recommend the route we took. We were told time and time again that we got the best 2-day trip possible in the park!

This was our basic itinerary:
Day 1: Many Glacier to Poia Lake
Day 2: Poia Lake to Elizabeth Lake Foot (via Red Gap Pass)
Day 3: Elizabeth Lake to Many Glacier (via the Ptarmigan Tunnel)

Day 1: Many Glacier to Poia Lake

Brian and I were all packed up and ready to go after lunch. We left from the Poia Lake trailhead, near the trail to Apikuni Falls.

Day one was a full half-day, 6.4 miles from the trailhead to Poia Lake. The trail is beautiful, but unlike I expected. Lots of flowers and mountain meadows, as well as wooded areas.

Here is an example of what you see when you get to a backcountry campsite:

Clockwise from top left: Actual campsite (there are multiple of these at each larger campsite), the map that shows you where everything is, campers' food hanging on the pre-strung line, the food prep/eating area.

Poia Lake was beautiful, though it was a windy day! We spent the evening enjoying the view before having dinner. While eating, we met some other campers who were headed the same direction we were. We decided to travel the next day as a group.

Day 2: Poia Lake to Elizabeth Lake (Foot) via Red Gap Pass

Luckily for us, the wind had died down some for day 2. It was a beautiful day, and our new friends set quite the pace! This day was a total of 10.2 miles with a GREAT elevation change - up and down! I was completely worn out, but boy was this worth it. A few tips for this stretch of trail:

• There is no water in the middle of this day, so make sure you have enough for the day before you leave, or fill up before you get too close to the top of the pass.
• The top of the pass is very windy and quite chilly! Make sure you have enough warm layers, and a wind-blocking layer.
• There is a peak off to the side of the pass if you want to take a side-trip in the middle of this long day, but it is farther up than it looks! There are multiple false-peaks before you reach the real one.

And the view from the top of the pass? SPECTACULAR! Worth every step!

There is seriously no beating this view! After all the hard work to get there, your jaw just drops at the beauty and vastness of it! We had the perfect day with the high puffy clouds and sun shining!

We finished our day around 1pm, thanks to our friends' crazy pace, had a late lunch, and lounged around the rest of the day at Elizabeth Lake. We played cards (I always bring a deck backcountry), enjoyed the rocks on the beach, and Brian even tried making a fishing pole. One of my favorite parts of being able to eat with other campers was hearing their recommendations for other places to camp (both at Glacier and other parks), and their tips on gear, food, etc. We stayed up past dark (which really isn't that late) playing cards, which we scored with rocks.

Day 3: Elizabeth Lake Foot to Many Glacier via the Ptarmigan Tunnel

Day 3 was another doozy! 10.1 miles with similar elevation change as the day before. I wasn't sure I was going to make it another day, but the trails are so well-graded, and the views amazing as always! The Ptarmigan tunnel is a tunnel through the mountain that is about 250 ft. long. It had just been opened the day before we left on our trip, so we were some of the first visitors of the season! Here is the tunnel, and the view from either side:

The foot of the lake on the left is where we camped the night before.

The way down from the tunnel to Many Glacier gets busier and busier the closer you get. There are many other things to see along this trail, so it is a popular one for day hikes! The trail is a piece of cake the rest of the day, but started to feel long once I knew how close we were! Arriving at Many Glacier, we celebrated with some beer (for Brian) and huckleberry ice cream (for me)! If you need a place to hang out at Many Glacier while waiting for a shuttle or ride, the picnic area is a great place. We set up our tent to air out, washed up a little in the bathrooms, and even took a nap!

Cheers to another great adventure!

Trailer for Sale!

Well, we spent the last 24 hours deep-cleaning our trailer in preparation for vet-school interviews this week. We knew there would be interviewees who would want to come take a look at some potential living spaces, and we had 4 people planning to come over the weekend. We cleared out some space by taking some large tubs out to the shed last weekend, and finally taking a trip to Goodwill to drop off a few large bags of clothes. I inhaled way too many cleaning fumes, and the cats were getting worried about what was going on, but we made it "shine like the top of the Chrysler building!"

... and it paid off!

We showed the trailer to 2 different people today, and already sold it this afternoon!

It is crazy to be taking these first steps toward moving in May, but it has been a long time coming! Brian has multiple interviews set up and has been talking with a variety of places about jobs, but it is a process. I will be a lot more ready to take the next step when we know where we're going! It's just one more adventure in life!