I can’t believe today is the first day of winter, because it feels like winter has been here for weeks at this point!
Gotta love Flagstaff!
After back-to-back weekends (weekend one, weekend two) in Las Vegas followed by my birthday party, things calmed down really quickly. November was pretty chill and December has been SO sleepy. Which has been much, much needed.
I’ve spent most of my time reading, knitting, working (both at Forest Service and YogaSix, plus some freelance work), walking Yukon and cooking and baking.
It’s been really nice.
I’ve been working a bit to break some of this content out into other posts. I’ve started recapping my reading more in-depth month-by-month (you can find those posts here), and in addition to the seasonal “What I’ve Worn most” posts, I also started a recent “S#!T I’ve been loving lately” series that details some cool purchases and finds of late.
Other than that, here are a few highlights from this past fall!
WORK
A few cool things lately at my day job:
I had the chance to spend late September and early October on the east side of the state for the Apache-Sitgreaves Women in Wildfire training.
I wrote a few stories about the event and our local paper here in Flagstaff picked one of those stories up for publication.
I also had a chance to speak Ukrainian at work! My forest recently hosted some environmental educators from Eastern Europe — including Ukraine! — and I was invited along to spend the day on our forest with them.
Josh and Tchelet, two of the employees in our international programs office, were nice enough to let Ryan and I join for dinner afterward as well.
I also completed “Middle Leader Program,” which sent me to Albuquerque for two full weeks this fall. I’ll write a post about the entire experience soon, but in the mean time, you can read about week one here.
At my night job (YogaSix), we had professional photos taken for our website and schedule. How professional do I look, right?!
HIKING + OUTDOORS!
I spent a good amount of time up in the peaks during October, checking out (and photographing!) the fall colors at Aspen Corner.
And now… it’s winter hiking season! Ryan and I went back to Aspen Loop a few weeks ago to enjoy the snow with Yukon.
I also had a chance to check out the Lone Tree Trail, which was a really easy hike (more of a walk) that I did with Jody and Tilly.
Ryan and I also spent a bit of time hiking down on the rim, where we picked out a Christmas tree and took our holiday card photos, and I had a great weekend snowshoeing and yurt-camping with friends a few weeks ago!
DINING + FOOD
Well, first, Thanksgiving!
Five hours of cooking later.
— Randi (@RandiMShaffer) November 25, 2022pic.twitter.com/sxSSnrAtQy
I made almost an entire dinner — mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potato casserole, corn casserole, sautéed mushrooms, rolls and stuffing — from scratch.
I’m going to share all the recipes next year, so stick around until then!
I wrapped up my holiday baking yesterday as well.
I made sugar cookies and frosting (my mom’s recipe), vanilla meringues and “Christmas crack.” I made enough to bring to both of my jobs and to keep at home, so let’s hope everything lasts until Christmas.
HOME
I mentioned that Ryan built a deck a few months ago, and we’ve been busy furnishing it. The big addition?
A hot tub!
We had been back-and-forth about whether to get a hot tub for our side yard for about a year, and I finally pulled the trigger a few weeks ago when I got some unexpected overtime money from work.
We love it! Ryan has his morning coffee and evening beer in it most days, and I love sitting in it after teaching at the studio.
It’s especially nice in the snow!
We also finally put up a “home bar.”
After waiting more than a year for Ikea to restock the Fabrikor — which was our original plan for our bar cabinet — we gave up and ordered this bookshelf.
I don’t hate it, even if it is going to be annoying to dust.
BOOKS, MOVIES, MUSIC + TV SHOWS
So much reading! Here’s what I read in September, October and November. I’ve read a lot of mediocre-to-mildly-interesting books over the past few months, but the only book that stands out as five stars is Andy Weir’s “Project Hail Mary.”
Also… LIVE MUSIC IS A THING AGAIN!
I had a chance to go to the When We Were Young Festival back in October (after a complete fiasco), and then saw Hawthorne Heights here at Yucca North in Flagstaff the next day.
I’m way more into reading than TV, so I don’t have any new movies to report on, but my seasonal guilty challenge is “Holiday Baking Championship,” which Ryan and I just finished watching yesterday!
FITNESS
I joined (yet another) studio gym!
It turns out that I get a free membership at CycleBar since it’s owned by the same parent company (Xponential Fitness) as the yoga studio I teach at (YogaSix).
I’d never tried a spin class before, so it was really cool to try it! We had a little networking event with the staff at our studios (since we’re pretty much next door to each other, just sandwiching both sides of a Lululemon, hah) where we went to a “Connect” class at CycleBar followed by a “Restore” class at YogaSix and then drinks and appetizers at Whisk & Whisky across the street.
I ended up loving the class, and I can’t wait to use my new membership and go back — especially since winter is here in Flag and indoor fitness studios are going to be so nice.
YUKON
Here’s an obligatory photo of Yukon taking a ride around the Kaibab/ Coconino national forests in Ryan’s parents’ UTV!
He loved it.
MISC.
Let’s see… what else?
We finished our garden for the season! I wrote a post recapping my first year gardening here in Flagstaff, and I’ve already started planning for next season.
We also ordered — and sent — our holiday cards!
Ryan and I also spent a recent weekend in Texas for his cousin’s wedding.
Other than our flight to Dallas/Fort Worth, it’s been a lot of normalcy around here!
Forest Service, YogaSix, knitting, reading, cooking and baking, hiking with Yukon, the usual!
Hopefully, this winter stays pretty calm. I’m getting old and tired!
