All else of Summer 2011, and an update on the NOW

This is the last post about summer trips and fun, I swear. I can't imagine it's all that interesting, but I almost feel an obligation to this poor neglected blog. This post feels very self-focused but I'll just humor myself with thinking that whoever reads this wants to know about my life... yeah.

We took a trip to Tahoe with Justin and Melissa's family. Here's cute little Olivia doing a pose on a "chair" rock. This was during a hike down to the lake - good times!


Hopefully it doesn't make you gag, but I just wanted to show off my square toe! This was actually from the Narrows trip I posted about before, but I forgot to show off how my toe became square (while ALL toes became wrinkly) after hiking in water all day.


I went with Bryan and Steve Sahlin skiing on the 4th of JULY!! Snowbird opened the slopes on the 4th for the first time in years. I snowboarded while they skied.


While working for 'In Our Own Quiet Way' over the summer, we hosted the Ambassador of Kenya on his visit to Utah. He's the one in the middle. This is us at Utah's World Trade Center. Cool huh?


Soooo I went on the Rock Canyon hike below with my friend Micah and his dog in the spring. I think that's Timpanogos behind me but I'm not sure. We got lost on the way down (by exploring off the trail) and a 4 hour hike turned into an 8 hour hike with permanent scarring on my legs from the brush we tore through and carried the dog through...in the rain. The picture was taken before that part, and before climbing through the snow to the top. Micah was leading us so he made up for the folly with not 1 but 3 Jamba juices (because I bet him we'd get lost and I won).


Later on, Jordan and I did a sprint triathlon that his stake put together in Springville. This is us after the race. Jordan finished with a great time, even when he ran slow with me for the first bit of the race. I finished...ok. :)


Speaking of races, one of the highlights of my summer was running in the Grand Teton Relay. We had a team split between 2 vans. We ran a total of 180 miles, of which I ran something like 16 or 17 miles... I can't remember. Anyway, it was great!!
These first 2 pics are of the hand off from me to the next guy. The "baton" was a slap-on bracelet that I'm grabbing for.




It was super cool/creepy to run in the middle of the night. The bad part: my knees were killed during my second leg of the race.


The race ended in Jackson Hole.
This is most of the team in our Sunday clothes after the race. Taking in the fresh air and a good view of the Tetons before going home.


Welp, the update on NOW is that I just moved to Washington, D.C. in search of a job. In the morning though, I'm going on a 2 week trip to Jamaica with Fairbourne Consulting. We'll be doing market analysis in an area outside of Kingston, in order to establish a new line of microfranchises. It'll be great. That's the gist of what I know, and once I learn more, I'll let you know! Much love. outpouring of it in fact.