Traveling Around Paradise

It's  been difficult to find time and blog, but I really should try to jott some things down, something to come back upon and reminice. 

Bali was a blast, the Gili islands were probably my favorite place so far. It's pure paradise. The snorkeling was out of this world, discovering some of the biggest sea turtles on the ocean floor and most colorful assortment of fish. I can't wait to look at our gopro pics.

The gili islands are islands off of Bali, but are actually part of Lombok. Lombok is a Muslim country, which made it even more interesting. Up to 5 times a day, you could hear the mosque prayer anywhere on the Gili island, coming from the big speaker. It's interesting to listen to, obviously not understanding a word. At times, it would be a little bit eerie when the streets were silent, or when they would go off at 5am, but it was just something that I never really heard before. Kinda neat to experience that culture. 

On another note, the abundance of drugs on the island was crazy. Every corner I turned, I was being offered magic mushrooms and Molly.  And there's no police on the island, which scared me a little. The lonely planet book directed us to a security station if anything was stolen, but other then that, no authorities.

    Hanging at Pearl Pool for the Day!!

Also, the island allowed no motorized vehicles what so ever! Kinda neat- just horse drawn buggies and bicycles. And there were cats everywhere! BUT Absolutely no dogs allowed. At times, the cats could be pesty. They would be scavenging at your feet in restaurants, fighting over left over fish with other local cats. At one point, there was a cat that went potty right next to our dinner table. All these Cats, deffinetely made me miss my dogs. 

Gili had some of the bluest water I have ever seen. And the temp was perfect. Our hostel, Woodstock Hostel was amazing. The staff were the coolest bunch of guys. Every night they would come into our bungalow and tighten up the mosquito nets and light some awesome inncense that kept the bugs away. They were constantly helping us book things, answering all of our questions and just always joking around and having a good time. Ron was the man! 

After Gili islands, things shifted a little bit. We took a ferry back to Bali, Amed and about 2 hours after being back, my stomach went A-wall. I started puking and then Matt started with similar symptoms and then gabe. It lasted about a day, mine trailing on the longest. It was miserable. I think I have the most sensitive stomach out of the bunch, which sucks because I want to try all the street food. My last couple meals were the chicken satay, a peanut sauce dish at the local street food markets. After my stomach went BaZurk, chicken satay is now on the bottom of my list. 

I have been really trying to eat by the guidelines of "how not to gett sick abroad" but unfortunately my stomach has been a little woozy the last couple days with some unfortunate travelers diarrhea. Not fun. 

We've been abroad now for about 18 days. It's been absolutely exhilarating. So much detail and experiences that I've skipped over in the blog.I will for sure be back to recap more. Until then.

Bali is beautiful

Where do I even start? Bali is spectacular, beautiful, full of culture, wonderful food, temples, and genuine Balinese people. And- What's better then being in a wonderful paradise with the love of your life, but- is sharing it with your good friends that you haven't seen in a good long year. We re all here together indulging in the bali culture together. Finally spotting lindsay and Matt, Creeping up on them in customs, in line waiting to enter the Indonesian country. Happiness already fluttered my whole insides.

We arrived in Denpasar Bali and had a driver already set up through an acquaintance I had at work. His name was Ketut, a genuinely, honest, happy Balinese man. He brought us straight to our place, flowerbudBungalos. The cutest bamboo bungalows I had ever seen with netted bedding, which makes me feel like a princess, but serves the purpose of keeping Mosquitos and bugs off your body while sleeping. After settling in, we headed to the beach where we caught up on the last year and remineced on memories. 

Bali has some of the bluest water I've laid my eyes on. We hung out first on the most southern tip of bali near uluwatu. We beach hopped, checking out all the different beaches. Each one owning their personal unique character. Cliffs and canyons at some, looking out into the sea, others burried in beautiful luscious vegitation with Palm trees hovering over you. 

One of my favorite things so far, is visiting the monkey Forrest. It's always been a dream of mine, ever since I was a little girl, and watching monkey trouble over and over again, to hold a real live monkey would make me one happy gal. I got to make this dream come true as soon as we went to the city of Ubud, the culture heart of bali. Bought some bananas and the monkeys came straight for Gabe and I. Those sly lil guys tried to steal our whole bushel of bananas from the beginning. And actually, we did see monkeys earlier on too at one of the temples we went to in Uluwatu, but one of the monkeys bit Gabe, not hard but it still sketched me out. So I passed on the first  sighting. Anyways, I love monkeys. They surround themselves by all the religious temples, they are a sacred animal here in Bali. 

Since we re on the topic of animals, I will inform you of all the geckos that are here. They inhabit all over our walls in the restaurants we eat in, the places we stay and are apart of bali. They sit and eat flies off the walls, helping to keep the bugs off you. Linney loves them. Personally, I am always thinking of then crawling on me in the middle of the night, laying babies in my mouth, but i try to keep those thoughts out of my head. 

Going for a bike ride now, we re at the gili islands, 3 small islands neighboring Bali. I will try to blog a little bit more and capture these fascinating memories for the sake of your reading, and for my own personal self, trying to take everything I possibly can IN and indulging it. 

MY ADVENTURE LIST FOR UTAH

I have lived in the wonderful state of Utah now for 3 years and there is always something fun to do. A list that seems like it is never ending. I guess I just wanted to map it out for myself and see what I have left to do, which is a lot. 

1. Utah history museum (I have free tickets)

2. Zion National Park- Ahh Really Cass? I wish i would of gotten there along time ago.

3. Snowbird ski resort. I've heard its a good one and I still have never been there :( 

4. The Mormon Choir in Salt Lake. I know that sounds hmmmmm Lame? But I've heard it can be pretty cool, I do love choirs and is on the top things to do in Utah.

5. Ice Castles in Midway

6. The Paint Mixer, its on main street, gotta do it!

7. Antelope Island- where the buffalo rome

8. Weber River

9. Bryce Canyon

10. Gobblin Valley
11. Go to the Park City Museum
12. See a show at the Egyptian Theatre
13.Go snow Tubing @ Gorgoza Park
14. Ride the Town lift
15. Hike Jupiter Peak

Now the Question is, Will I get it all done? We'll seeeeeeee!!!!!

I am getting so excited for the Season....

Opening day @ Canyons Resort (the ski resort I ski at) is coming up very soon. November 29th will be the glorious day. Very soon. A few ski resorts in our area have all ready started to open up this weekend,  including Brighton & Solitude. 

Tonight is the Ski Swap, a cheap warehouse filled with treasures of a ski bum. From long underwear, to beanies, to barely used skis and snowboards, you find yourself lost in a world filled with so many goodies. 

Last night, I came across this video and it got me super pumped all over again. My 3 seconds of fame in the commercial industry, check it out :) I am at 1:18 on the commercial and gabe is right after me. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E04jAF0inkw

PuMpKiN CrEaM ChEeSe BaRs

Tonight I made Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bars, the best decision of my whole life. I found the recipe on the blog, The Girl Who Ate Everything http://www.the-girl-who-ate-everything.com/ . They are Amazing and you should make them too. Not a lot of odd ingredients, but the pumpkin pie spice, which you can use a substitute for and the pumpkin puree, which you can find pretty easily in the baking section. 

Ingredients:

Filling:
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Batter:
• 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice (see Note for substitution)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• (optional) 1/2 cup chopped pecan pieces

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375°.
2. Spray a 9x13" baking pan with cooking spray. Set aside.
3. For the filling: With a hand mixer blend together softened cream cheese, sugar, egg, and vanilla until smooth. Set aside.
   
4. For the batter: Combine the pumpkin, sugar, egg and oil in medium mixing bowl and mix until well combined.
5. Stir in flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix well to combine.
   
6. Pour batter into prepared baking dish, and spread to cover bottom of pan.
7. Add dollops of the cream cheese mixture over the batter. Cut through the batter with a knife to make a marbled effect w/ the cream cheese mixture in an up and down pattern. Repeat going the other way. When marbling make sure you don't go all the way to the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle with the chopped pecans if desired.
8. Bake for 25 - 28 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
9. Cool an cut into squares. Store in the refrigerator.

Notes

If you don't have Pumpkin Pie Spice you can make your own. The substitute for 1 1/2 teaspoons of Pumpkin Pie Spice in this recipe is: 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/4 teaspoon ginger, 1/8 teaspoon allspice.

And Ta Da.........

I did half with the pecans and the other half with none. 

Pure Beauty in my backyard

What a hike! I seriously got to witness this beautiful sunset. Do I live the dream or what. Pure beauty right outside my back door. Sometimes its hard for me to consider ever leaving this awesome place. I mean its like a hidden gem that no one really knows about. After being voted the number one city to live in by Outside Magazine this year, the word is spreading, but seriously. Just a peak into my weak. Be ready for Friday because we are making a fall Harvest Feast....Recipes & Pictures to come. Have a great week everyone. Get Outside!

Driving Home

After a wonderful weekend in Scottsdale with my family, we are making our way back to Utah. Our weekend was filled with so many fun things. I got to see my favorite person in the world, my grandma Myrt, And my cousin Adam, who I haven't seen in 3 years. Gabe and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary at a beautiful hotel and got a couples massage and lastly we got to celebrate my aunts 60rh birthday. What a fun weekend! 

My grandma is seriously my idol! I love her so much. It was amazing to see her and have her make it to my aunt debs bday. Cherish every moment you can with your family!!! It sure is a treat when I get to see them. 

On the ride home, I started to realize that I wasn't feeling too hot. Well thinking back, my mixture of events explains it all. First a day at the pool, with a few FULL strength beers and not a lot of sleep, and then a deep tissue massage (releasing tons and tons of toxins from my body) followed by a night of celebrating my aunts birthday- that explains it all. Being dehydrated and getting a massage followed with getting even more dehydrated is not very nice to do to your body. The deep tissue massage was amazing though! So nice and relaxing! I think I've drinken a lot of water to the point where it's annoying Gabe, stopping every hour to use the restroom facility! I've been spending some of this driving time tho looking up tips to do before a massage. So for next time Cassie.

 Check it out....

Massage Tips 

Remember, you are about to stimulate your body's most powerful system of detoxification. If you do not follow the recommended instructions given below, you may feel sick after receiving lymph massage. The lymphatic system is responsible for handling and neutralizing toxins and wastes created from food, pollution and our own body's daily cellular activities. It is also responsible for housing and transporting immune cells.

MASSAGE TIPS

Massage Tips Before your lymphatic treatment:

• Arrive at your appointment well hydrated. Dehydration will severely impair your ability to detoxify and rebuild and may make you feel ill.
• Expect to undress to your level of comfort but know that direct contact with the skin is always best. Tight clothing and under wire bras will make it difficult to get lymph moving.
• If you choose to wear clothing during your session, wear cotton underwear
• Arrive with an empty stomach or eat a light snack prior.Drainage will be performed in the deep abdomen and organs.
• Do NOT apply lotion to your skin prior to treatment. Dry skin contact is more effective for stimulating the stretch response needed by your lymph vessels.
• Do NOT drink alcohol or consume recreational drugs the night before or immediately after your session. Your liver will be responsible for detoxifying much of what the lymphatic system collects so please don't burden it before your session or you may feel quite sick afterwards.
• Plan and allow for a period of MOVEMENT immediately after your session. Your lymph collects toxins and places them into the blood stream for removal. 10 to 15 minutes of gentle movement and breathing is recommended such as a short walk before getting into your car after the session, walking your dog, or hitting the gym or a gentle yoga class is one of the most critical massage tips to follow.
• Plan and allow for a period of REST after treatment and movement if needed. Your body's resources and nutrients will go toward "cleaning up shop" and this may include an immune response to cleanse any bacteria or foreign cells that don't belong.Rest will allow the body to regenerate and heal.
• If you are already sick, fighting an illness, or recovering from illness, consider shortening your session or contact your therapist to identify the best time to receive lymph work. The first acute 24-48 hours of illness is NOT the appropriate time to receive massage. Be prepared for your immune system's increased response listed above!
• Use the restroom prior to getting on the table. No one likes to "hold it in" or run to the restroom in the middle of a relaxing Lymph Drainage session!

I'm feeling a lot better now. But for a good hour, I was not feeling well. I'm glad it's passed and over with. Tomorrow I will only be drinking water.