UTAH: Day 1 & #25

I hope you're ready for some pictures and stories from Utah, because here we go...

I left Austin on Wednesday afternoon, with one layover in Phoenix. I was so excited and antsy just to get to Utah. I got to the airport way early and tried to spot some celebs in town for SXSW. Hipsters, famous and ordinary, look exactly alike. Lesson learned.

The desert that is Phoenix

When I got to Salt Lake City, I found Jarah and we headed back to her cute house for dinner and catching up. Not to mention frozen yogurt! One way I know we're soul mates is that both of us will eat frozen yogurt in any temperature or weather. Fast forward to the next day, and it was off to the mountains.

First stop was Ruth's Diner, a cool little place that used to be a trolley car. Y'all...three words: giant FREE biscuits. I could already tell I was going to love Utah.

Delicious biscuity goodness

Banana nut bread french toast...what what

Cute Jarah with her cinnamon roll french toast

Then we off to pick up some ski gear and head to Snowbird. I have never ever skied in my life. I was a bit terrified at first...it's way harder than it looks. It took a couple runs on the bunny hill, but I was finally able to make it down (very slowly!) without falling. Never did master getting off the ski lift though. I'm glad I can say I did it, but that sure was a lot of work. And I was soooore for a couple days after. It was fun though, and I'm thankful for Jarah and her friends for being so patient with me!

[If you direct your attention to my 25 before 25 list, you will see that #25 is "Attempt to learn how to ski". I'm proudly crossing that one off the list.]

Ski lift photos

After a couple hours on the mountain, we showered and then went to the Promised Land.

I grew up going to In-N-Out in California, so when I heard they were in Utah, I knew we had to go. It did not disappoint. I was like a giddy kid. So good.

We strolled around Target for a bit and then ended the day with True Grit and Hornsby Cider at Brewvies, a local discount movie place. It was such a great day. That night we stayed up way too late talking about the future, sharing some dreams and what we're learning during out Lenten project, and praying for each other.

And this was just my first full day. Stay tuned!