It's That Time of Year, Sign Up is Open

I'm going to be short and to the point. The Fall 2016 Grow Your Blog Hop (for Healthy Living Bloggers) is now open.

If you've participated before you know the slots fill up fast. In fact last time they filled up in less than 4 hours.

Sign up & details found HERE.

I've made a few new adjustments to try out this time. Make sure you read through all the rules and details even if you've joined before!

Most important new aspect I am limiting the number of participants to allow about 30-50% less of a time commitment than in previous hops.

20-25 Past participants will be allowed to join.
20-25 New participants will be allowed to join.

Past participants will want to act quick, as those slots are filled a first come basis.

New participants have a little more time to consider if this is something they have time to do, as I am leaving their LOTTERY open until 11:59PM on October 3rd, 2016.
However, the first 10 NEW participants who sign up who qualify will receive a guaranteed entry.

If the hop dates fit your schedule, and you'd like to join I'd love to have you!

DETAILS AND SIGN UP CAN BE FOUND BY CLICKING HERE

Adventure, Crazy Weather and Cops

Life got super busy for me last week, but on the plus side busy is good because it means less time to be bored or wish I was back home around my family and good friends.

I did try going to the singles church again, I didn't see the girl who gave me something to roll my eyes about. LOL

I sat alone this week, and a kind of cute guy came and sat next to me. Which means, I think I'm going to go with the sit alone thing more often and just see what or who happens!

Of course and I'm just saying, I'm not here to meet anyone or get into any serious relationships. I have every intention of moving back up north in a couple of years.

However, I am totally open to meeting cute guys who enjoy the outdoors! Because frankly hiking partners are always welcome!

CLASS PROJECTS

Seriously, I had one of those I couldn't be more annoyed moments in one of the groups I am in a class project with.
I really dislike people who think they can just piggy back off everyone else's hard work.

On the plus side, after walking across campus and back from a meeting with one of the guys in my group my thoughts are not alone. We both think it's high time the others start pulling their weight in this, that or just drop out.

Which is why later this week in class I have every intention of suggesting the get your act together or just drop out of the class to one of our group members. I'm a nice person, but sometimes some people just need the hard truth!

CRAZY WEATHER

We had some crazy weather here in Utah. Most of it was up north, my sisters had tornado's go through their cities. Which is odd because we don't usually get weather like that here in Utah.

We had some flooding down south here, in fact the road I live on was washed out by mud and rocks coming off of the mountain. I sat in my apartment and watched the awesome storm out the windows. But I thought it was funny when my neighbors truck bed filled up with water in a matter of seconds, LOL

My only regret is not getting out and taking a drive right after the storm to see what awesome waterfalls appeared up on the red cliffs... next time!

PICTURE FUN

Okay, so I am on Snapchat. But unlike all of my other social media things which I have synced with my blog. I have kept Snapchat a strict family only thing and put in the higher private settings.

My sisters and my nieces and nephews have so much fun sending pic snaps all day long. If my niece or nephew send me one, I'll even send one back (semi) unnoticeable in my classes LOL

That and Facetime have become my favorite ways to keep in touch and try to keep my fun aunt stuff going:)


GETTING PULLED OVER

I live in a small town and am surrounded by nearly a dozen other small towns. If you've never been to a small town let me tell ya, the cops just love to give tickets.
I wasn't paying attention coming out of this little mountainside town I drove up to over the weekend and when I saw the cop pull behind me I was just like NOOOOOO...

Normally in the past, I try to do everything I can to plea, beg or fake cry and get out of the ticket LOL. I have a very good track record of talking my way out of them. I also have no shame, LOL

However, this time I had a headache and didn't have the energy. So I just went with the truth. An odd concept I know, LOL.


Me: I put both hands on the wheel because with a concealed weapons permit I didn't want him to get any wrong ideas.
Officer: Did you know you were going 25 over the speed limit?
Me: Yes, and I'm sorry. I wasn't paying attention until you pulled behind me and I noticed the speed.
Officer: Can I get your license, insurance and registration?
Me: Yes, but apparently I don't have my current registration.
Officer: That's okay, I'll take what you have.

The wait.....A little prayer asking for only a warning...

Me: Watching him get out of the car looking for the pink slip and not seeing it as he walks up I get very hopeful and happy.
Officer: I decided to give you a warning for 5 over the speed limit, just watch it going forward okay.
Me: Thank you so much, you are awesome! Hope you have a great rest of your weekend!
Officer: Thanks, you too!

I couldn't of afforded a $300+ ticket which is what it would have cost me, so yes I consider myself very blessed and prayer answered!!!

ADVENTURE

Did a little hiking, got up out of the heat and into the pine forests for a day. I wanted to see some of the fall leaves I figured down south here maybe they might be starting to change.

That's the part I miss about not being up around Salt Lake. Fall leaves have been changed for a while and the snow storm they got over the weekend likely took most the leaves.
I'll be visit there in a few weeks, but all the colorful leaves in the mountains will be on the ground by the time I get there, bummer....

The leaves were just starting to change in the mountain range I visited over the weekend. I think this weekend I should take a trip back and see them, they'll likely be gorgeous!

That was a few bits of my weekend.
On a side note, my knee is healing nicely. I almost think it's healed completely, I am just easing back into it all just in case.

ST GEORGE MARATHON

On a completely different side note, I may be participating in the St. George Marathon this weekend, not how I paid to do it. But one of my classes they want us to volunteer to hand out the medals at the finish.
I'm going to be honest, even though this will make me sound terrible. I am not really sure how I feel about it. Mostly because I know me, and I know how bummed I will be to be at the race I was supposed to be running, but helping celebrate everyone else's finish.
In other words, I need to get my act together and get into volunteer spirit or something!

I normally wait to post these types of things, but since I have several blogger friends who are running the marathon this weekend, I wanted to say if you spot me at the finish I would be honored to give you your medal!

Tell me something you did over the weekend.


I am linking up with HoHo Runs and MissSippiPiddlin today for their Weekly Wrap!

 

  

Day in the Life of a Returned College Student

Alright, let me jump right in.

I am still getting A's in all of my classes. Although I did get a 85% on a test in one class the other day that might drop my grade a little.

It's my own fault for having a bit of a migraine when taking the test. No excuses though, I'll admit I missed the easiest 2 point question on the test. Which was, "what is the name of your Instructor?"

Seriously, I couldn't think of his name for the life of me and I just emailed him the night before about something. So yeah, I deserved that 85%, LOL

The class that I picked the political topic that I wished I hadn't (mentioned it last week). We had to do open class critiques on them.
Now I have to do a total revision and take all the constructive criticism and redo the paper. My group didn't have much criticism to offer on mine I thought that was a plus until I realized I was going to have to come up with how to redo it all on my own, oh well.. I got it done and if I do say so I deserve a pat on the back it's not half bad!

My design class, finally an easy assignment. Well not really, but the first part is.
Interviewing a small business owner and doing a re-design on their company logo.
Sweet, I interviewed myself!
I'm going to re-create the logo for my wedding business!

Now, if I could just get up to speed and figure out how to use adobe Illustrator well I'd be doing even better!


FUNNY STORY


Sometimes when I get done with class I go home and throw on a trashy tank top and short shorts that don't really cover much. Especially with the extra weight I have gained. But it's just me and it helps me keep cooler so I can keep the air conditioner down, so I've never thought twice about it.
I never have unannounced guests, and I always keep the window blinds shut.

Until...

I finished with my homework and decided to pull my bike out in the living room and work on a few things I wanted to add and fix to it.  So for a tad more light I opened the blinds a little.
Right in the middle a knock on the door.

Which I was 100% fully planning to just ignore.

Until I see this girl peek to look in and she see's me and waves, LOL
Dang it!

So I get up open the door adjusting "my girls" haha to make sure at least nothing was hanging out first.

They were sweet, I forgave them when one of the girls called me a twenty-something. Anyone who thinks I look younger than I am, well they always get bonus points!

Long story short, I told the girls I only dress trashy like this when I am home alone to keep cool, or when I am opening the door to missionaries, LOL

I took it as a lesson. Open other blinds, not the ones next to the front door when I look like a Rollie pollie redneck!

Also learned, not making time for breakfast when going to a class well that is quite a bad idea. I am pretty sure I provided entertainment for at least 6-12 people around me as my stomach literally wouldn't stop reminding me I didn't eat and in a very loud way!

FIRST DAY AT A SINGLES WARD

So I attend a singles church for the first time.
I am fine to be the one to introduce myself, I have no trouble putting myself out there to make new friends. Points for me there, LOL

So this girl I sit next to on the back row, I introduce myself telling her I just moved here.
First she tells me, yeah we are an odd bunch (meaning those in that church) but occasionally one of us gets lucky and gets out, LOL
I assumed she meant gets married, so I just laughed.

She randomly asks, so are you  going to be looking for a job here?
I said, yes eventually.
She gets all defensive, and says "well I hope you don't take one I am after, because I am sick of working retail and I need out and I can't work in a cubicle either because it might kill me. This is a vacation town, so retail jobs are nearly all there is, so I hope you don't mind retail."

I just thought, OOOOKAY.

I told her, no worries I am probably going to get a job at....... I am just waiting for the position I want to open.
She gets even more defensive and says "But that is where I have been trying to get into, you won't get in it's very hard I have been trying for years." LOL

I tried to be kind but the part of me that doesn't care decided to speak so I said: "Actually I was working for the same organization up north up until a few weeks ago, so I am pretty much a sure thing as soon as one opens."

Yup, I didn't win a friend over there, but I'm not sure that's a bad thing, LOL.

Sometimes you meet someone and you wonder "how can they still be single" then other times you meet someone and say "I know exactly why they are single."
I have decided not to let it get to me, next time I go I think I will just sit next to a guy and hope for less drama, LOL LOL

Note to self, if I ever tell anyone there I am a blogger come back and delete this so I don't offend anyone there! LOL

 I did break in my mountain bike a little.

Another funny story:

So I drive to a trail head, starts out dirt but then is nicely paved along some beautiful red cliffs.

Originally I was going to to 20 miles that day. However after a few miles I was huffing and puffing so much. I seriously was wondering why I am so much more out of shape than I thought I was.
I mean I knew the hills kicked my butt, some were so steep I had a hard time pushing the bike up the hill. LOL

But the area's I (thought) were somewhat flat I still couldn't figure out why I was having so much trouble catching my breath.
So 5 miles in I had it, I was totally completely spent. Slightly disappointed, but tired enough it didn't bother me to turn around long before I got to where I had wanted to go.

As I did, I realized and was somewhat vindicated in feeling so out of shape on my way up.
I literally didn't have to peddle more than 5-6 (peddles) times the entire way back. It was virtually all downhill and some area's were so steep downhill it gave me more than enough momentum to make it up even the steep hills. I made it back down in what felt like minutes.

Apparently the somewhat flat I thought on my way up was just a messed up illusion, it was pretty much all uphill, thank goodness! I am not as terribly out of shape as I was thinking on the way up, LOL

On a side note, I need some practise, some of the downhill was such a decline I was seriously going so fast I knew if I crashed I would be near death and my helmet wouldn't protect me much ha ha. I think the more I do it, the more comfortable I will get with high speeds... and my fears will fade... theoretically, LOL

KNEE UPDATE

The cartilage seems to be beginning to heal. I have been off all drugs for it for a week now. It hurt when I went biking on the uphill, but didn't damage it so much that some ice and a nights rest eased the pain and swelling.

Took a rest day, then went on a 5 mile walk with 1/4 mile run and the pain was nearly not noticeable. If I remember the last time I tore it, it was 6 weeks of pushing to a little pain, letting it heal to help the muscles build while I got used to the new stretching of the tear.

If I'm still having trouble in 3 weeks, I'll get a cortisone shot to help with any inner swelling, between that and the healing it will hopefully fix things for good. Or so is the plan:) Because I've got a serious amount of hiking and climbing I want to do in a few weeks and I'm going to be totally bummed if I have to cancel it!

On a side note, even in the desert I can see dolphins on may walk/run, LOL (above picture.) You may have to look close to see them:)

Day in the Life of a Returned College Student

I thought it would be fun to start a day in the life of a returned college student series. I've never been a day in the life blogger, its something I've contemplated doing for a while now.

It's going to take me a while to get the hang of how to do them. So it may seem like a recap, but I promise the more I do these the better I will get!

Well hopefully...

You're actually getting a 2 day experience as I have different classes on Mon. Wed. Fri vs Tue. Thur.

I've been sleeping in this week.
I know the shame!

I am still babying my knee so why wake up earlier than I have to. So yeah 7 or 9 am depending on the day.
But I won't lie, I've missed my sunset or sunrise runs each day!

Monday night I had this brilliant idea to save money on air conditioner costs and sleep with just the windows open.
I opened them earlier, and I should have taken the hint at 11pm and my apartment at around 85 degrees that it was going to be a bad idea.

But lets be honest sometimes I'm not that bright...

Short version, I got very little sleep and it took me nearly an entire day to get the apartment cooled off again,
Yeah, won't be trying that again for a few months!

I went to my Digital Design class the first morning this week, I was so lost within less than 2 minutes. Yeah I am one of the only people in the class who have never used Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator and a few other programs.

I saw people taking shapes and making the below cowboy in minutes while I was still trying to figure out how to get the shape pieces.
The other project, looked so simple.... But it took me forever!

It took me 4 hours that afternoon to make a couple of stupid designs like we were instructed to do in class. I am not afraid to admit that I got back and pulled up You Tube videos to watch others teach me how.  Thank Goodness for You Tube!!!!!

Let's just say, the graphics on my blog might NOT be getting a vast improvement any time soon. I think I need to take the weekend and just play with the programs and figure things out!

My apartment bathroom in the morning gets to like 95 degree's before 9am and I discovered while driving home one night that the frosted windows in them don't really block much as I could see right in my neighbors window.

So to keep the risk of me giving passerbys a peep show each time I take a shower at night, and well to help bring the temperature down I decided to make curtains.

I hit up a fabric store and had these done and hanging for exactly $7.50 and that includes the rod. They only took me about 10 minutes to make! I even impressed myself, LOL

Here is the before and after. Oh this is when the sun wasn't shining in the room, this is how bright it used to get in the evening in the shade. So much better now!

In one of my classes we were asked to write a short essay with a few questions. I happen to be watching something political on the news so I just did it on that for Monday.
Just my luck I am now stuck with this topic for a while, as tonight I just spent 4 hours writing a research paper on a subject I never cared to know so much about.

In case your wondering the original topic was, How the Media Weakens Society with Misleading Opinion Polls on the Candidates...
Yup....
I would have never done this if I thought for a minute I'd have to spend more than 5 minutes in class presenting it...
Lesson learned!

In my Event Management class we are required to work on a project. Well let me simplify I have to work with other students to create a glow in the dark frisbee event.
I'm paired with one of the Football players, who could careless and is always gone for games. A girl who just wants to flirt with the football player and rarely shows up. Another guy, who like me doesn't want to do it but we will.
So he emails me last night and is like, so I think it's just going to be us, LOL - My thoughts exactly!

I tell ya, that is just luck in the group project pairing system!

Last night I hurried to get all my homework done. I decided to take a break from school and homework and go see The Hunchback of Notre Dame Musical at Tuacahn. I had bought season tickets there with my sister for last Christmas and I still had one show left to see.
I didn't even care that I was going alone, to be honest I had a great time and it was a really nice break!
The above picture is the entrance, the Amphitheatre stage is right up against that beautiful red rock!

Speaking of outdoors, we had a little cool front move through and the temps last night in that little red canyon the theater is in dropped into the lower 70's.
Let me just say you know you live in a desert when over half the people around you find that so cold they are wearing puffy winter coats or jackets of some sort.
Okay, okay I'll admit I bought a jacket just in case, but it was hidden in my purse where it stayed... Well where it stayed until the wind kicked up in the 2nd half and I may have put it on...
Yikes, I am already a wimpy temperature girl!

So that is a day in the life of my past two days...
Okay, yes my college life is a little lame this week, but it will get better I (for you) I have some very embarrassing oral reports coming up and I am going to attempt going to a singles church Sunday to meet others...Yes good times, LOL LOL

Palm Trees, Mermaid's and Dangerous Animals

Life has certainly been busy, I am starting to get a hang of this new college schedule and fitting everything and life in.

Classes are going great. I do my best to not get distracted from what I need to be doing for them.

But as vain as this will sound I was absolutely loving my nail color a week ago. The bright yellow and gold were the perfect way to put an unofficial end to summer.

Sometimes I come up with a few great color combinations, but I will also admit sometimes not so great too:)

I'm adjusted to the desert heat here now, although I am enjoying that the mornings are cooling off quite a bit more. Waking to the lower 70's has been nice, even if it warms up to 90 not long after the sun comes up over the mountain I live on.
Although, I will say I am definitely wanting to re-think the black leather seats. Seriously, I can't even tell you how hot it feels to climb into my car after class if it's around 100 outside, inside feels like a freaking oven in Hades inside!

I was enjoying getting out to do a morning or evening run. (The was I will explain below.) I've nicknamed some of my trails, definitely gonna squish a lizard under my show trail, the road runners like to cut me off trail, jackrabbits do breed like crazy here trail, and the palm tree 5 mile loop. Betcha can guess which named loop is below.

My sister and her adorable kiddos came to visit.
I finished my 2nd mermaid tail for my other niece and gave it to her while she was here.

My 5 year old nephew kept wanting to take his float jacket off so I asked him if he wanted to learn to swim. He said yes, tossed the jacket and I taught him to swim in less than 5 minutes.
I went with the sink or swim method. I showed him what to do, told him if he did it he would swim, if he didn't he would sink and die at the bottom of the pool.
He decided to swim, ha ha..

I have plans to teach 3 of my other nephews and niece to swim next time they come to visit, I save my sister lots of money for lessons. The sink or swim method pass/fail really works maybe I should teach lessons for a side job LOL parents can't listen as I teach though, haha.

While my Sis was here we went hiking on some Volcano Cinder Cones, great times and look at this fun dangerous animals sign.
We laughed as we took the chain off the fence and entered. Yes, with a 3 year old holding my hand we decided to risk it, I sang "bad to the bone" as we crossed ha ha. I love some peoples sense of humor with signs. Note to self, get private property and put up signs that give people something to talk about or wonder, LOL!!!

I think I would like one that says Warning, watch out for the Cannibals, I'm totally doing it one day! Heck, I might even order that sign and put it up on my sisters mountain property and see how long it takes her to notice! Good thing she tells me there is no reason for her to read my blog, because that plan just became a done deal!

I mentioned above I WAS enjoying running. Well when I was packing to move 3 weeks ago I did something to my knee. At first it only hurt to go up stairs, then to go down. It never bothered me walking or running until... This past week, I went out Tuesday felt a tiny pop and the knee literally gave out on me. I have had trouble with walking since so now I am back in a knee brace that is from mid calf to mid thigh.
I am fairly certain I either tore the cartilage in my knee a little more, or it is stuck under my knee cap in a way I can't get out yet.
Regardless, I am not enjoying taking it easy. No more trails for a while. I got some good pain killers.
On the plus side if it's just stuck cartilage one day it could just pop out and be fine. If its torn it's going to take a few more weeks to get to the point I can get on it again with the pain not making the knee give out on me.

My sister kicked some major butt in her first attempt at the Olympic Triathlon over the weekend, it was held down here where I am living now.
In fact her swim in the lake was so fast she was several minutes ahead of any of the other women and most the men. She swam that mile in 26 minutes and said if she didn't have to stop 15 times to fix her goggles that kept filling up with water she would have come in a few minutes faster than that.
Her run was the second fastest of the event too.
The bike was the only area others took her on. She only has an $1,200 bike, and the ladies with the $10,000-$30,000 bikes flew past her near effortlessly at times. (Can you believe people can spend that much on a road bike???)
Overall she ended up taking 1st place in her age group and 5th overall. Even though she was exhausted by the finish I have a feeling there will be a lot more in this distance for her! She was already talking about training for another one right after she finished.
Her husband raced too, and took 10th in his age.

A little FYI, I will be hosting the Annual Fall Grow Your Blog Hop - I'm working on the details, hope to have them out to everyone in the next couple of weeks. If your considering joining, I'd love if you'd take a quick minute and fill out this quick 4 question survey. It will help me decide which type of Grow Your Blog Hop that most who are looking to participate will be interested in this year. SURVEY HERE



I am linking up with HoHo Runs and MissSippiPiddlin today for their Weekly Wrap!

 

  

Five Things I Am Looking Forward To

It's been so long since I have been able to join the 3 fabulous ladies who host the Friday Five Link Up.
I quit blogging Fri-Sun over a year ago to give myself a weekly blogging break. But now moved to a new life, no job just full time college. My schedule has changed, and I am really excited to be able to link up with them again and get to know some of the other bloggers who link up who I haven't met (online) before!

I really wanted to go on their topic, but food and drink is something that currently I have nothing to share on. I'm a returning college student who still hasn't established the best eating habits. Though I am working on it!
To be honest I'd love to be the younger me college student and live off pizza and Pepsi, but if I did that now I'd likely be 200 pounds before the end of the year.

So that left me with the choice on what Friday Five things to share with you all.

Living in the desert again in the location that I do I have a huge list of things I want to do while I am here for the next two years. So I thought I'd share the top 5 on my list with you all. Because just quite possibly they may be things you might want to add to your list if ever visiting Southern Utah too!

1. Hike Angel's Landing.

I've probably done this hike over 25 times in my life and it never gets old. But I have not hiked it in over 10 years. It's not for those afraid of heights, especially since you climb with chains and will be standing at times on a little over two feet wide of rock with 1000 foot drop offs on one side of you, and 800 foot drop offs on the other side of you. But if you don't mind heights, the view from the top is amazing! If you've been on my blog even a few times, you likely know these things are right up my alley!
I'd really like to do this in September or October when the temps cool off and high's aren't in the 100's, but maybe the 90-80's.

2. Hike Zion Narrows.

Again, another I have done dozens of times in my life, but most of those were when I was a child. I actually haven't hiked that beautiful narrow river canyon that shoot up 1000's a feet above me in over 15 years. I definitely plan to do this, during a non-flash flood risk day in October!
The pic below isn't the narrows, but a view I took a few weeks ago just before you get to them.

3. Cliff Diving at Sand Hollow.

Truth be told, I will be there this weekend, but not to cliff dive. To watch my sister swim a mile in the lake and finish the rest of her Olympic Triathlon and I think she may have a fabulous chance of winning over all. She's put in some killer training!
I'd like to go back to swim in the waters preferably with some family or friends and jump the 30-50 foot cliff dive jump options. I was sick back in June and only watched my sister and nephew do them, (that's my sis jumping below) so it's my turn this fall! I'm hoping in October when my sister brings the paddleboards we can park them at the side and climb up for the dive!

4. Run all the trails in the area I live in.

Now this will likely take me the full two years to do them all. As I have been told there are hundred's of miles of trails in the area, and about half of them are even paved through the beautiful desert. I've already hit up a few of them already! This city/county has spared no expense when it comes to giving runners/walkers lots of places to go!

5. Run the St. George Marathon.

I've already done this one six times, it's one of my favorites in the entire country. I actually got into the lottery this year. But with moving and getting ready to go on this new college adventure so quickly. My training lacked and even I am big enough to admit I am not ready as I mentioned last week I will not be running it next month. But next year, I think I can score a guaranteed entry and there will be very little that can hold me back for sure!

If you want to visually follow me on these adventures, make sure you follow My Instagram page, as I am really active on there with travel/hiking and different location scenery posts from my days.

So tell me, what is something you have on your list of things to do before the year ends?

Transition to Hotter Desert Running

I know for many this may not be a subject of any interest, or nothing you may every have to think about.

However, for the runner who likes to continually learn about the sport and the different aspects of how it implies from region to region this might be of interest or at the least slightly humorous.

As you may or may not know, I've always lived in the desert state of Utah. However, although the entire state is dry, the southern part of the state where I recently moved is not only much dryer but even hotter than it gets up north.

Here is my little running desert parody.

* Gotta drink lots and lots of water all day. Besides the fact that it's needed to walk around outside during 110 degree days. If your not fully hydrated all the time, you can loose a lot of your energy and have a lack of effort even in the cooler morning or evening hours for running.

* Lizards squishing under your foot are likely much grosser feeling than stepping on other bugs. I used to think stepping on a snail on a trail was a yucky feeling.
Well I haven't done it yet, other than I am pretty sure one lost its tail because of me the other day. I am dreading when one darts and I get the whole body squish under my foot. Because I don't always look down, and one of these times I'm not going to see one of the buggers in time!

* Every time I see a roadrunner bird on the trail, I can't help but thinking back to my childhood Loony Tunes days and thing *beep beep* as one passes or crosses me on the trail.

* 100 or upper 90's actually feels cool and is the signal in the evenings that it's okay to go out on a run. Even if you have to wait until after dark for it to cool off that much.

* Mornings are ideal, it's cooler, the sun does heat things up quick as soon as it is out. However, right now because fall is on the way I find if I run on the east side of a mountain I can have shade well into the 8am hour.

* I am glad I missed June and July! Hopefully next year I'll be acclimated enough that I won't complain that it may still well over 100 after 10pm, LOL

* You actually have to pay attention if the sky starts looking like its going to dump rain, because even a minute or two of raining can cause major flooding (as I've already seen), so I've already had to remember not to be near any dried streams/rivers or low places if the sky starts to rumble. On the other hand, storms are rare, but since I bring rare weather to places, LOL we've had a few more rain storms than normal!

* Last, these beetle bugs. I wish I had a picture, imagine a huge beetle that make this loud buzzing sound like your standing right under a power line. Each time I run past a tree that has one in it, I just hope it stays up high, LOL
On the plus side, I am usually finished with my run before the scorpions come out, although I've seen a few in rocks along the side of the trails.
Not that I'm this ewe there's a bug type of girl, LOL I don't care much except I prefer things not to fall on me or me having to squish anything big under my running shoe, just saying...

So yes, I may have bored you to death. But those are my *fun* new experiences running in the desert.

What are things you come across when you run where you live?

Do you hate accidentally crushing living things when you step on them in a run too?