Two New Stickers - Now Available!

The two newest stickers from my Utah’s Public Lands Series are here and they’re beautiful. Sticker Mule does such a great job with printing them. These two locations are ones that are a couple of my favorite hikes in southern Utah.

Babylon Arch is close-ish to Hurricane, UT and Zion National Park. You meander through sandstone canyons and cliffs and then after a short stumble down a loose sand bar you’re greeted with the beautiful arch and a panoramic view of the Virgin River. It’s so beautiful; especially in the late afternoon with the sun low. Depending on road conditions, you may need a high-clearance vehicle to get to the trailhead though. I haven’t been brave enough to see if my minivan could make it.

Lower Calf Creek Falls is outside of Boulder, UT kind of in between Bryce Canyon and Capitol Reef National Parks. It’s a perfect stop if you’re traveling from one park to the other. It’s a long-ish hike (for kids at least), but it’s not very difficult. It wanders through a canyon, along side a creek, a few spots are sandy. There are trail markers on the way the coordinate with a PDF file that teaches about the canyon itself. There are pictographs on a canyon wall and at the end you’re greeted with a stunning waterfall. In the warmer months hikers can swim in the icy water.

I have seven paintings completed in this Utah’s Public Lands Series and I need to decide where I’m heading next. Should I do a few more and round it out at ten? I have a few more spots I want to paint, I just haven’t been to all of them in person, so I have to rely on the photographs of others to guide me. I really want to do a sticker from Gooseberry Mesa near Hurricane, but I’m still looking for the right photo inspiration. Other spots I have started to investigate include Colonnade Arch near Moab, Moonshine Arch near Vernal, and Buckskin Gulch near Kanab.

Any suggestions or recommendations?

Alex's First Day of Freedom

It’s September 2nd and summer has flown by in a flash. This year I tried my best to pack our summer with as much fun and adventure as possible while squeezing some contract work in the crevices between travel, camping, hiking, biking, swimming, and sleeping in. We spent a week with family in California. We camped and hiked with friends. We went on bike rides (which are way more fun now that I actually have a bike!). We had a real, week-long vacation in Lake Tahoe (the first in many years). We spent lazy Sundays fishing in high mountain lakes with Daddy. We had shave ice dates, frozen custard dates, gelato dates, and lots of swimming play dates.

Now school is back in session and my youngest and last baby started kindergarten! Since I make a sign for both of my kids every year, I figured that after eight years of being a WAHM (work-at-home-mom) I deserved one for myself. In case you can’t zoom in, it discusses how I would like to be on vacation when I grow up. My favorite foods are anything I don’t have to share and hard lemonade. My hobbies include quiet time, hiking, reading, cooking alone, and anything without an audience. My teachers are Netflix and Amazon and I’m 40 years young. I thought it was fitting to take the photo from my hammock overlooking a beautiful alpine lake… which is where we spent the whole Sunday before the first day of school.

Next summer I’ll add this sign to my Etsy shop so fellow parents can have a sign of their own.

All summer my youngest has had nothing but positive things to say about how awesome kindergarten would be and I’m so happy that his first full week lived up to the hype. Every day he came home tired, but ready for another day of fun.

My kindergartener is kind and smart and quick to laugh off scrapes of bumps that might slow him down, but fully admits that a BandAid will take the pain away. He loves Crocs, Lego, Paw Patrol and anything his big brother is into. He often narrates whatever he’s doing or playing with and when asked who he’s talking to, he’ll tell you he’s narrating a YouTube video for his subscribers. He loves taekwondo and his flexibility allows him to kick higher than his own head , much to his brother’s chagrin.

My oldest started fourth grade and is really excited for what this year will have to offer. He is so smart and wants to know EVERYTHING and show everyone that he knows EVERYTHING. We joke that he’ll be a Jeopardy! champion some day. He continues to train in taekwondo every week and is currently one belt below a black belt. He will be eligible to test for his black belt next year. He loves history and we watch YouTube videos about random history together and discuss the historic places we can visit. He also loves to play soccer and run cross country. He adores fishing and camping and has rather suddenly fallen in love with exotic cars. He is also becoming a foodie and loves to cook and try new foods.

Since my printer is down at the moment, I had all of our signs printed on card stock at my local Office Depot (it was less than $2 total). They did an amazing job and in photos they almost look like real chalkboards. These signs are available in my Etsy shop in the summer and ready to be customized for your kids.

Happy first day!!