I Speak For The Trees

I feel like I've been in the land of a Dr. Seuss book for a week. Joshua Trees look like something out of a crazy mutated land of Truffula trees... minus the colored tufts of fur used for making whozits and whatzits of course. Regardless of the fanciful setting Joshua Tree was a beautiful place to visit. We had so much fun running around like Bar-ba-Loots in between J-Trees, Yuccas and cactus plants in the search of the perfect climb. The rock there is incredible! Its called monzogranite and its alot like Yosemite rock but its actually sticky. It seemed like once your shoes were on the wall they were not gonna come off. I was like Spiderman walking up buildings...

a dirty hippie Spiderman who smelled a little funny. but Spiderman none the less. Normally I pride myself on being the clean chic girl fashionably ready for a day of climbing at the crag but by the end of the trip I looked like a desert rat and I probably smelled like one too. The pictures from the trip took a steady decline in proportion to how fantabulously gross we looked. Hats can only hide so much my friends.

Here is an awesome boulder we found. I think it looks like the head of the villain from the Despicable Me movie.

Bar-ba-Loot Christian ready to start a climb

climbing...

During the climb we noticed a group of people below that kept waving at us and taking pictures. After we finished climbing this cute little couple in their late 60's hurried over to us with these huge smiles asking if that had really been us up on the cliff. They wanted to know all about how it worked and what the little gadget doodads hanging from my harness were. They were from Canada and had escaped to the US to avoid the crowds of the Olympics. They were very excited to inform me that they had video taped the whole thing so maybe someday I'll find this couples Canadian blog out there and be able to see Christian and I climbing in J-Tree. We meet the coolest people on our trips!

Bar-ba-Loot Julie...

Yay for hats!

The weather was really nice for most of the trip although a little cool in the mornings and evenings.

More pictures of climbing:

Here is my stud muffin right before he climbed Illusion Dweller.

Christian brought his new Camera and took some really amazing shots of the Joshua Tree Scenery. He is having way too much fun with his new Camera.

We had planned to stay till Tuesday but it turned out that a storm was brewing and it would have left us sitting in our tents and car for two days straight with no climbing. So we returned home a bit early and were able to have dinner with my Mom who was in town. She made the most delicious Fajitas and we had lots of fun spending time with family!

Various Climbing Adventures

This post is a bit late but here it is none the less. We've been doing a lot of travel in the past few weeks between work and responsibilities and such. Some of the climbing has been here in the Utah Valley and some down south when the weather gets cold and snowy. It's always a deilema for me because I love to snowboard and when it snows I'm torn between riding the slopes or heading to the sun warmed rock of St. George. Watching the Olympics has only made things worse by making me want to quit my job and learn to shred the half pipe. But thats not realistic nor am I even close to Olympic standards but also because it means i'd have to quit climbing altogether and I love climbing way too much for that. I also LOVE to cook and invent awesome creations in the kitchen. Sometimes I feel like there is just never enough time to learn how to make the perfect ginger lemon creme cookie (my current cooking obsession). There are just too many adventures in life to follow so I try to find a happy medium and that way I'm able to enjoy as much as possible. Life's pretty fun right now and ultimately I'm a super happy girl:)

Besides if I'm listening to the right song and the snow is just right, what might appear to the casual observer to be only a foot of air as I pop into a jump to me in my fantastical memory was really a 360 board grab over the heads of no less then three punk kids at the terrain park!

Here are several random shots of our various weekends...

Most people enjoyed the Superbowl not too long ago, and we did as well but probably not in the same way. We have a wall in Rock canyon called the Superbowl wall and both Christian and I have several projects that we're both psyched to work on. Christian has completed 3 awesome 12a's and I have finished my first 11b since my tumor baby. Many more projects seem to keep popping up in this area so we might climb here for awhile.

Christian at the beginning of his send fest...

Rejoycing when he finishes!

Me.

Sometimes I get frustrated and make grumplepottamus faces... Bret likes to encourage me with his favorite phrase "Julie you just got to suss it out!"

Then I climb better...

and make happy, yet slightly sinister faces:)

Now if you look really closely just past Bret's face you can see the face of Rock Canyon. This odd shape in the side of the mountain always catches our eye so we took a picture of Bret imitating it. Can you see it?

Bret and I leaving Rock Canyon

Random day of climbing the Great White Icicle in Little Cottonwood Canyon. It's 6 pitches of awesome super stellar ice.

Here is our trip to St. George.

Contrary to popular belief making mean faces does in fact make you climb harder.

Bret.

Sometimes we get tired and need a break from climbing so we fly kites...

And shot some guns... we're in Utah it's part of the culture:)

And for evening entertainment Bret taught us how to make Sobe bombs! You drink a Sobe fruit drink and then fill the bottle with gasoline. You then light a fire and set the recapped Sobe bottle in the center of the fire. Stand back and enjoy the show! In both of these shots Bret is the one just to the left of the explosion. The rest of us all stood back much further.

This one is my favorite cause Bret is looking on with such excitement and awe.

Bret does Curry in a Hurry

Sunday evening Bret and I decided to do something exciting. We decided to make Indian food! I have attempted it in the past with some mediocre results but I knew that with Bret as my kitchen compadre we could not fail. We delved into some Indian cookbooks until our stomachs guided us to the perfect recipe.

We know that in the Indian culture cows are very sacred. And Bret and I agree that cows are sacred too... Sacredly Delicious! Therefore we replaced the lamb in this recipe for some good American Angus beef. The food turned out almost too good and we both ate entirely too much. We fell onto the couch slipping into a complete Indian food coma and contemplated our next Indian culinary masterpiece. We will make Tandoori Chicken Masala! How you ask? You don't have a Tandoori oven? These negative questions have no place in the Indian kitchen of Bret and Julie. We will find a way! But that will be another blog post. For now, take a gander at our recent creation... and let the salivation commence!

We toasted the spices and peppers first and then ground them up into a fine powder. Bret is stirring the spices.

Chopping onions can sure make you crazy!

The sacred beef has been added and things are smelling mighty fine.

The final product!

Yummmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!

Maple Ice Climbing

Maple Canyon is one of the coolest places to visit in the winter. On Saturday Morning we left bright and early to meet up with our friends in the Utah climbing club for some winter ice climbing. Maple Canyon gets some pretty amazing ice formations this time of year and if you strap on some Crampons and know how to swing an axe you can climb them. Climbing ice is really different compared to climbing rock but definitely a good way to get out some aggression as you swing the ice axe and pound it into the glistening frozen waterfalls.

Christian was a pro at climbing ice... that boy can sure swing an axe!

This was probably my favorite waterfall because it was just so pretty.

Swinging the axe... not quite as proficiently as Christian but I can hold my own!

Climbing all day sure takes it out of you so it's fun to relax and take a break with friends. Here we are all bundled up trying to look hard core.

This route just about killed me after I climbed it because it was just so long! I ran out of steam about three quarters of the way up which unfortunately is where the business section begins. The smile on my face is of course before I climbed it... after the climb I was laying prostrate on the ground making snow angels for awhile.

I even snuggled a really pretty dog!

Some animals don't feel the need to run away from me in terror:)

Christian is a goof ball!

Something about his face just creeps me out but it was cold so I drank from his cup... I survived and it was quite delicious.

Such a beautiful day!!

Holidaze

Wow! It's been a long time since I've posted. I've gathered several pictures from the past few weeks and over the holidays for your viewing enjoyment. We had a wonderful time with our family and friends and can't wait to begin a whole new year of excitement!

One of my Christmas presents was being allowed to torture the kitty for a couple of hours!! Yay for me!!

Lucifur was less then thrilled.

But he did enjoy this box!

We played at the George's place and gave the Bubbers lots o love.

My ever silly sweetie pie and I spending some quality time together.

Christian and I will be spending even more quality time together this year as he has been able to change his schedule to match my work schedule. We both work 3 days and then have a 4 day weekend. Huzzah! This new year promises to be an exciting one...

January we will brave the cold temps and ice climb in Maple Canyon,

February we will be traveling to Joshua Tree to climb some classic stellar routes,

March will hopefully be warm enough to conquer some desert towers,

April I will fulfill a life long dream of sending the behemoth Castleton,

May we will be traveling back to my hometown of St. Louis,

July we will be climbing Mt. Rainier,

After that... who knows... we're keeping our options open:)

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?

For Christmas I received Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. I decided that the first recipe I should master was the Lobster Thermador. I love lobster and Christian, who is allergic to shellfish, is out of town until Sunday evening. Perfect timing! First I needed support and help in the kitchen so naturally I called my sister Katie who was very excited about the endeavor. Second... I needed some live Lobsters...

I live in Utah which is very far from the Ocean and none of the stores in Utah County stock live Lobsters. I called every store I could think of and before you say it... yes I tried Red Lobster but no they won't let you buy a live lobster unless you plan on eating it at the restaurant. I'd heard that this great city up North called Salt Lake had a fresh fish market that might possibly carry live lobsters. I called... they only carry them in the summer... but the girl told me to call the manager and he might possibly be able order some in special for me. I called and spoke to a man named Fred who informed me that yes he could order a lobster for me but it would be expensive... or he could give me the name and number of the guy he uses and I could get it for less. Here is how the phone call went...

(names have been changed to protect their identity)

Me: Hello. I was told that you might be able to sell me some live lobsters.

Him (with a sudden and alarmed sound to his speech): Who told you that?

Me: Fred from Cottonwood Market Street

Him: Who'd he say to talk to?

Me: umm... Tim O'Conner

Him: (pause) Ok I can sell you a lobster.

Me: ahh.. excellent, can I get two?

Him: Yes. Come by tomorrow at 3pm (address has been removed) and meet me behind the building.

Me: hmmm...Ok... sounds good... thank you.

After the call I was left wondering. What kind of Lobsters are these!? Were these lobsters black market lobsters... did I need to pay in cash only... should I bring protection... Needless to say the lobster deal went down without a hitch and I met Tim who happened to be a very nice guy and told me all about how to properly cook a lobster. Turns out that this warehouse that I went to is a restaurant distributor and I don't think they are encouraged to sell to the normal public. Later that same day I found out that the Days Market right next to where I work carries live lobsters for 15.95 a pound. My lobster guy can get them for me for 10.95 a pound! Ha! I win:)

Saturday was the day for the feast and the lobsters kept surprisingly well in the fridge overnight. When it came time for boiling they were in good form and very lively. Picking them up was a bit scary especially when it came time to cut off the bands securing their pinchers. I almost lost my nerve but into the pot they went and rosy red they did turn. The recipe was very complex but Katie and I mastered it quite well and it was extremely delicious. We were almost too full when we finished eating. I would highly recommend this recipe but be warned that your kitchen will be extremely messy and you will use every dish in your cupboards so hire someone to do the dishes that day.

Here he is...

Enjoying his last few moments?

I think Lucas was nervous...

Now he's cookin!

Delicious dinner for two! We also made fettuccine and pomegranate Bellinis:)

Bon Appetit!