The Adventures of Kinky Reggae: A Vagabond for Beauty

I learned something new and fun last night! My friend Jenna introduced me to Geocaching. It's like treasure hunting for grown-ups! Although kids could do it, too. It's fun for the whole family! You can download Geocaching apps for your iPhone or Droid or whatever. It gives you a map of "treasures" nearby. As you hunt for the geocache, your phone has a map and compass you can follow that tells you if you're getting hot or cold. These things are hidden everywhere! We searched for 2 last night that were less than 5 minutes from Jenna's house. We couldn't find the first one (it was in someone's yard, and even though the guy had given permission, we still felt a little weird poking around someone's yard at night). The second one was hidden in a rain pipe behind Ross Dress for Less. :) It was just a fun little Atari box, and inside were papers where you could sign your name. There are all sorts of treasures you can find. Some of them are sim

I tried Bikram Yoga last night and loved it! My experience with yoga is limited. I have a DVD I used to do occasionally, and I've been to the Monday night class my church offers a few times. But this was much more intense than either of those things. It's 90 minutes of yoga in a room that's 100-110 degrees. I was terrified going in. I thought, "There's no way I'm going to make it through this." But I did! You don't even notice the heat after a little while. And there were a few poses I couldn't do, but most of them I could handle, even if I couldn't do them as well as everyone else. And it was such a great workout. I have never sweated so much in my life. It was disgusting, but we felt so good when it was over. And you can burn 1,000 calories in a session! When we left last night, our instructor told me and Rachel that we should come back for another class within 24 hours because our body was going to release all this lactic acid

I think the theme of my time here in Phoenix is that I'm stronger than I think I am. I'm strong enough to be away from my family, even though I miss them so much. I'm strong enough to drive across the country by myself and face complications and setbacks by myself. I'm strong enough to walk away from unhealthy relationships. I'm strong enough to deal with a work bully. I'm strong enough to find my way off a mountain I'm stranded on and not be completely terrified. And physically, I'm stronger than ever. I'm strong enough to go on a 13-mile hike through the White Tank Mountains that includes scrambling and switchbacks. I'm strong enough to hike the Grand Canyon with ease. And I'm strong enough to go rock climbing. I'd never been before. I always thought I was too fat. But with everything else I've been able to do lately, I thought, why not? It was both fun and scary, but I trusted Kristin, my friend who was belaying me. I

Sarah is here for a visit, and we spent Sunday out on the wild Apache Trail. Our first stop was this scenic view. It's hard to see in the picture, but you can see old cars that have gone over the cliff. We stopped to see a beautiful vista of Canyon Lake. The trail winds down hill and goes right by the lake. We got out and dipped our toes in the ice cold water. We stopped at Tortilla Flat, the only "town" along the trail. The population is 6. They were out of their famous root beer, so we settled for sarsparilla instead. The entire place is wallpapered with $1 bills (it's supposed to bring you good luck to put one up there), and there are saddles for bar stools. After Sarah took my picture on the saddle, this hot guy at the bar said, "That's going to be a great picture. You have a really pretty smile." I totally thought he was messing with me, but he meant it. We had a flirty little conversation with him and his friends, then took off for the next

Last night I had one of those moments where it feels like your heart is going to burst with joy. Me, Sarah, and Rachel were at Rachel's getting ready to go out for dinner. Cee Lo Green came up on shuffle, and Rachel started dancing around with Carmen. Sarah and I joined in, and our little dance party was so full of joy. Carmen kept squealing with delight, and my face hurt from smiling so hard. As we were singing along at the top of our lungs, it occurred to us that we were singing, "F- you" to a 7-month old. So after every F- you, Sarah would add, "But not you, Carmen!" The joy in the room was almost tangible. I feel like most people don't experience this emotion enough. Mico (Rachel's husband) was taking pictures, so I hope he got some good ones. But here's one I took of Carmen a little while after the dance party.

I really feel like it's been the best week ever, and it's not even over yet. I had dinner with Jenna on Monday night, and then we went back to her place and played Glee karaoke on the Wii. Super fun. Then Rachel came over with Carmen. Actually, I think that's one of the reasons this has been such a great week- I got to see this cutie twice! A lot of my friends have kids, and I even have an adorable goddaughter, but I've spent more time with Carmen than any other baby, and I'm head over heels for her. Rachel offered me a free ticket to the Diamondbacks game on Wednesday night. Although the final score was something like 15-5 (the Cardinals won), it was just great to be at a baseball game. And we had the best seats I've ever had to a game! Last night I went to my first church choir practice. I was SO nervous; I haven't sung in a choir for years. But it's all started coming back to me, and it's the best feeling. I just really love to sing. I

I saw him this morning. He was driving this beat-up Jeep, clearly used for off-roading purposes. (Living in Arizona has me longing for a Jeep; there are so many places I read about where I want to hike, and then I get to the part that says you need an ATV to get there.) The Jeep had no doors on it, so I could see the sexy tattoo on the back of his leg. He was only wearing shorts, and his chest was all muscular. (But not too muscular.) His fireman gear was haphazardly thrown in the back of the Jeep, and he had a bumper sticker that said "Suck it." I was instantly in love.

The hike started out according to plan. Kristin and I were going to do a 5 mile loop hike through Barks Canyon in the Superstition Wilderness. This is not too far from where I had my run-in with Picketpost Mountain, and I’m always a little creeped out by the Superstitions anyway because of all the tales of lost hikers, some who have never been found. But we were prepared. Rachel knew where we were. We had all the necessary supplies, including a trail guide and map. This would be a breeze. The hike started on the Peralta trail, climbing a mountain. It was gorgeous. We were treated with views like this the whole way up. This is what we climbed. The best part of this hike was throwing a snowball at Kristin’s head. We were so excited to see snow left over from Saturday’s storm! I wish I’d gotten a picture. At the top of the mountain, we were greeted with this view of Weaver’s Needle. Things were still going well. Although I was out of breath and felt disgust