Week 3

We’re back to me again! The week’s events from Pyper’s perspective. As for the meat of it, we both had a normal work week. I worked three nights (Mon-Wed) and Aaron worked his usual Mon-Fri. Working nights is a little sad because it means Aaron and I only overlap for about an hour each day. I can’t remember if I wrote about this last week already… Anyway, sometimes when I get home for work in the morning, I don’t really have the motivation to make a wholesome meal. So here’s a photo I sent to Aaron one day this week showing off my “fancy dinner/breakfast”:

Speaking of meals, we used up some seasoning packets I got on sale once to make some Greek (ish) chicken. Half was shawarma with garlic sauce and the other was gyro with tzatziki. With the exception of a couple hiccups along the way, it turned out the way it was intended and made for some pretty delicious meals.

As for random events of the week, I finally made it to a dermatologist. I’ve finally given in to the fact that it’s time for me to stop making trips down to St. George for all my appointments so I got in to a dentist a few weeks ago and this week I had an appointment with a new dermatologist up here. And it was a great experience! I was impressed with the PA’s bedside manner, kindness, and willingness to listen. That was all stuff I valued before, but I suppose being in healthcare now makes me appreciate it even more.

Okay enough with the mundane. After a thought-provoking comment from someone this week, I decided that I want to get out and stop being so boring. This also happened to be a 3-day weekend, so that seemed like a sign from the universe. Long story short, Aaron and I took a little road trip down to Capitol Reef with the intention of camping for a couple nights down there. I say “intention” because after the first night of pretty cold weather, we decided to shorten the plan a little bit. I’m no stranger to camping, having spent the majority of my nights for the last few summers sleeping on the river, but I am definitely a stranger to winter camping. I am NOT a cold person haha. It was a fun experience and I would certainly like to go again soon, but I would like to maybe upgrade some of my gear and better mentally prepare myself before next time. On the bright side, we had a great campfire Saturday evening and made a Dutch oven recipe from Aaron called a Hornet’s Nest. Similar to the difference between summer and winter camping, it turns out that summer and winter Dutch oven cooking are two different beasts. I’ve made dozens of Dutch oven cakes on the river, yet we came across a few difficulties with the usual coal ratios I’m used to using in the heat of summer. Long story short, we figured it out eventually and the Hornet’s Nest turned out pretty well (according to Aaron’s memory from scout camp).

After a slightly restless sleep (for me - it seemed like Aaron slept pretty well actually), we attended a church meeting in Torrey, then went on a rim overlook hike in the park. The hike was quite lovely - good views, good conversations, good exercise. And the fresh air - wow, nothing makes you realize just how gross the air is up here during the winter until you breathe the air down south. Anyway, that’s a whole tangent. Back to the story: on our way back home, we stopped at a little pullout and tried to fly our kite. There was just enough wind to get it up a few times but only for a few seconds each time. We gave up after a little while and made our way back home. All in all, I’d say it was a successful weekend trip. It was so refreshing to spend time together outside and away from the rat race of the work week. That leaves the last major event of the week: we found a kitchen table AND a couch today! The table was a bit of a bust, but the couch was a big win! A rich man in American Fork was trying to move and just needed to get rid of all his stuff. So we lucked out and got a really really comfortable couch for only $50! We are both quite excited about it and finally feel like adults now that we have proper seating in our living room.