Friday favorites: more hiking & a surprise visit

Happy Friday friends! I hope this week brought many smiles to your face. Mine brought more hiking (two in one week!) and a surprise visit from a friend. What could be better than that?

Let’s start with the hikes. The first one was Lake Catherine via Brighton Lakes Trail with two of my lovely sisters. Spending a Sunday morning with them was delightful. Spending it on this beautiful trail was perfect.

Me and my sisters at Lake Mary

I’m grateful for the stunning wild flowers…

Wild flowers at Lake Catherine

Three gorgeous lakes within a 4.5-mile hike…

Lake Mary, Brighton, Utah

And for the AllTrails app for getting us there and keeping us on the right trail. If you like to hike and are looking for new trails, I highly recommend AllTrails. It will not only direct you to trails in your area, but also provides a description of difficulty, elevation gain, and other helpful information, like what you can expect to see along the way and whether you can bring dogs. Most important (for directionally-challenged hikers, like me), it provides a map you can follow to stay on the right trail. (AllTrails did not pay me for this glowing review, or indeed, even ask for it. I just love the app so much I had to share!)

My second hike of the week was with a group of ladies I work with. We hiked 1-1/2 miles to Donut Falls. I am grateful for such a fantastic team, for our company’s wellness program that encouraged us to get out hiking together, and for the abundance of hiking opportunities in Utah.

Donut Falls

We finished off the evening at MOD Pizza. I can’t even describe how delicious this pizza was. I will definitely be going back there. I am grateful for taste buds, for a healthy appetite, and for plentiful food available to me.

MOD Pizza

Now to the surprise visit part of the week. One of our good friends, Blake, who lives in New York, came into town for the weekend. I am grateful for friends, new and old, and that Blake thought enough of us to spend one evening of his short stay with us.

Larry, Christie, and Blake

I am also extremely grateful for all of you. Have a beautiful week!

Follow my blog with Bloglovin.

Your turn

That’s it for me. What are you grateful for this week?

You may also like

16 Comments

  1. I’m grateful for a sense of humor this week. I’ve had many annoying things happen that could have upset me, but I laughed instead. And found some good blog post fodder along the way– so there’s an upside.

    Happy weekend, christie.

    1. Blogs are great for that, aren’t they, Ally? I hope your weekend is less annoying–although if you can laugh at life’s annoyances, you’ll be good either way. Enjoy your weekend!

  2. I’m extremely grateful for family and friends who have and continue to help me these past two weeks. Seems when I was hurt a 1-1/2 ago while on vacation in Hawaii, I was the victim of Mother Nature. She decided to hit me from behind, above, and below to slam me into the sandy beach where we were enjoying the water and sunshine. Although one injury was more than obvious at that instant , it seems that there was other damage (broken knee cap) as well. This required another surgery that I am still recovering from.
    And to say I’m grateful for everyone’s love and concern is an understatement. I’m very grateful to all of them and especially Christie❤️

  3. I love looking at your hiking trails Christie and have decided to look for some near where I live in Brisbane. Such a wonderful way to appreciate nature. The pizza look yummy and it is always good for the soul to catch up with friends, especially those you don’t see often. Enjoy your weekend! 🙂

  4. Lots of things to be grateful for! You have some lovely hikes in your area. Thanks for the heads up about that app… I’ll check it out.

  5. We’ve been without water a lot of this week (a total of 10 days over the last two months), because of some pretty intense utility work in our neighborhood. So this week I’m feeling extra grateful for running water! It’s amazing how much I use it without even realizing it.

    Thanks for the new book! I’m excited to read it! And thanks for the alltrails info! I’ve been wanting to hike more, but have been intimidated by my lack of knowledge in that area.

    1. Yikes, that’s rough. We’ve gone through no water at the cabin (which is not as bad as your primary home), but it certainly has made me appreciate how blessed we are to have running water at our fingertips and flushing toilets. I’m glad you got the book and hope you enjoy it as much as I did! XO

  6. Christie – downloading the App as I type this. Will be interested to see what comes up local to me in Cincinnati….I’m looking for some new places to walk/hike with my dog. Thanks for the review!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *