Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Saturday, April 16, 2011
B.Legit Studios
So it's been over a year since I have added to my blog. A lot has happened this past year, but one hobby I have picked up is painting. I began painting about two or three years ago with acrylics, but was unsatisfied with their appearance. I was honestly a bit intimidated by oils due to the turpentines and other liquids (some toxic) required. I had heard about water based oils from some artist friends and discovered them in a local hobby store. Well, within the past few months I have developed an interest in this medium. I've spent many hours up late, usually Friday and Saturday nights, at the kitchen table or at my art easel listening to good music and painting. Some of the paintings have worked...and others have flopped. I have made progress and have self-taught me some techniques. I was given a suggestion by a few people to try to sell my paintings (at least the ones that worked)... and after a little work, I've already sold three paintings. The kids at most of my schools have called me "Mr. Legit" as a joke. I've used this name with B for Bryan to create my business name "B.Legit Studios." I have an Etsy account and my first painting sold about three weeks ago to a lady in Maryland. Since then I have sold two others to a neighbor. These sales have inspired me to paint even more. It is truly a hobby I will enjoy the rest of my life...and I hope others can enjoy the results.
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Hiking to the Flag
A few years ago I noticed a flag pole way up on top of a mountain near our home in Herriman. It was especially visible on windy days, when you could just barely see the rectangular flag flapping in the breeze. For years I have thought about that flag and what it must be like up there all alone looking over Salt Lake and Utah counties. In November, Finny and I decided that we wanted to take the trek. Finny is generally excited to get in the back of my truck, because it's typically a hike...but every once in awhile his excitement is dashe
d by the fact that we have just driven up to the vet's office. Anyway, this time the excitement remained as we pulled up to the bottom of a trail that I believed would get us to the flag. The trail was quite steep as we worked our way upward. Soon it split and I took the trail that seemed to continue toward the top, only to find out soon enough that we had ventured onto a de
er trail. It ran right along a steep slope and Finny and I had to be pretty creative at times to at least work our way upward. Most of the time the flag was out of sight, so we had to just guess on which way to go, getting scratched up as we made our way through bushes and scrub oak. Because I knew that there was probably no other person who had taken our particular route, I started to worry a bit about rattlesnakes. Each time we neared a rocky area I was extra cautious. Finally, I noticed the flag just above us by about 100 yards, and I was pretty relieved
because I hadn't seen it for at least 30 minutes. We worked our way to the top and eventually reached our goal. We stayed near the flag for a few minutes enjoying the view of both counties, as well as some of the Camp Williams training area, but it began to get windy so I decided to find the best "human" trail and follow it. Luckily after awhile it got us back to where we had made the incorrect turn, and the hike back to the truck was not nearly as perilous. It was another great hike. I won't ever be able to look up at that flag without thinking about this adventure.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Caching at the Watertank
Last Saturday, Sept. 29th, Aidan and I went to find a cache up above Herriman near a large watertank. We can see this water tank from our house way up atop one of the peaks near the Camp Williams National Guard training grounds. The watertank provides water for the High Country Est
ates area, tucked away up in Rose Canyon. We parked at the top of the Cove subdivision and started our hike. Finny was excited to take another hike again. I think it makes his whole week. He's getting used to the area and loves to chase lizards, mice, ground squirrels, and flocks of birds that are resting in the grass. On the way up we checked on a few of the caches that I had earlier left along the route to make sure they were okay, an
d they were still in good condition. They are not getting a lot of traffic because they are not simple neighborhood caches. People actually have to work a bit to get to them. Well, we hiked for a while and got up to the spooky house, which is the broken down house the size of a garage (see the picture of it in the last post). Aidan started to complain that she was getting tired, but I kept trying to motivate her to keep going. She 
was interested to see the totaled RV and camper shell we saw off the trail and I promised her that if she made it to the watertank we would investigate them on the way back. After a while, she started to lose interest again and was walking really slowly. She saw me spit and decided she was going to chase Finny and spit on his back. This got her moving faster, running up the dirt road behind Finny, who didn
't know what was going on. Well, we made it to the top of the last hill and there it was in the distance...the watertank! This motivated Aidan to move faster, especially when she saw that I had a map of the 
area. She became the navigator and led us the rest of the way. The cache was up above the watertank on a hill, and wasn't too hard to find. Aidan had made some earrings that she traded for a matchbox car, as there was not much swag to trade. We stopped to check out the views from way up there. The recent fires had made the Salt Lake Valley pretty smoggy, so it wasn't 
very clear, but the morning was a perfect temperature and even started to 
get warm by the time we headed back. We did end up stopping by the RV and camper shell that hadn't been lived in for quite some years. We ruined a ground squirrel family's peaceful morning, as they had moved in under the RV. Finny was too tired to chase them and just rested for a few minutes while we checked out the mess. As we approached the "Thorn" or camelback hump rock above Roase Canyon on the way back I thought I saw a person sitting atop the formation. We got out the binoculars to get a closer look, but it wasn't moving much. Once we got within a quarter mile or so the figure took off into the air. It was a massive eagle with an impressive wingspan. Aidan and I were amazed by its size. We finally made it back to the truck after a slow climb down the steep rocky trail. It was another great morning of hiki
ng 
and exploring yet one more area above our city.
ates area, tucked away up in Rose Canyon. We parked at the top of the Cove subdivision and started our hike. Finny was excited to take another hike again. I think it makes his whole week. He's getting used to the area and loves to chase lizards, mice, ground squirrels, and flocks of birds that are resting in the grass. On the way up we checked on a few of the caches that I had earlier left along the route to make sure they were okay, an
d they were still in good condition. They are not getting a lot of traffic because they are not simple neighborhood caches. People actually have to work a bit to get to them. Well, we hiked for a while and got up to the spooky house, which is the broken down house the size of a garage (see the picture of it in the last post). Aidan started to complain that she was getting tired, but I kept trying to motivate her to keep going. She 
was interested to see the totaled RV and camper shell we saw off the trail and I promised her that if she made it to the watertank we would investigate them on the way back. After a while, she started to lose interest again and was walking really slowly. She saw me spit and decided she was going to chase Finny and spit on his back. This got her moving faster, running up the dirt road behind Finny, who didn
't know what was going on. Well, we made it to the top of the last hill and there it was in the distance...the watertank! This motivated Aidan to move faster, especially when she saw that I had a map of the 
area. She became the navigator and led us the rest of the way. The cache was up above the watertank on a hill, and wasn't too hard to find. Aidan had made some earrings that she traded for a matchbox car, as there was not much swag to trade. We stopped to check out the views from way up there. The recent fires had made the Salt Lake Valley pretty smoggy, so it wasn't 
very clear, but the morning was a perfect temperature and even started to 
get warm by the time we headed back. We did end up stopping by the RV and camper shell that hadn't been lived in for quite some years. We ruined a ground squirrel family's peaceful morning, as they had moved in under the RV. Finny was too tired to chase them and just rested for a few minutes while we checked out the mess. As we approached the "Thorn" or camelback hump rock above Roase Canyon on the way back I thought I saw a person sitting atop the formation. We got out the binoculars to get a closer look, but it wasn't moving much. Once we got within a quarter mile or so the figure took off into the air. It was a massive eagle with an impressive wingspan. Aidan and I were amazed by its size. We finally made it back to the truck after a slow climb down the steep rocky trail. It was another great morning of hiki
ng 
and exploring yet one more area above our city.
Saturday, August 8, 2009
The Big 50!
So when I began geocaching back at the end of June, I set a personal goal of finding and logging 50 geocaches by the end of July. It was a fun month, and I think I have really found a hobby that I can continue for years to come. Geocaching has motivated me to get out and discover places I would have never visited otherwise. It has also allowed me to spend more time with my kids, which is always a good thing. A few times either Kali or Aidan has wanted to go, but not the other, so it has created opportunities to spend time with them individually. They are growing up fast and I think we will all look back fondly on these geocaching times...not necessarily for the geocaching, but for the time together. Well, anyway...so number 50 was a milestone. I 
didn't want this to be a quick neighborhood cache. It had to be something more momentous. I had been eyeing ".50 Cal with a View", a cache up near the "thorn" or camel back hump above the Cove area. It required a hike to get to the top of the mountain, and I thought it would be a good opportunity to take Finny with me (the girls had school). Well, Finny was so excited he peed in the back of my truck on the way there. Thanks, Finny. It turned out to be a great hike...about 45 minutes to the top. I saw plenty of deer, hawks, a few squirrels, and a chubby little horned lizard that Finny wanted to eat for lunch. We passed a 
spooky abandoned shack to add some excitement. The view was impressive from the top. It was a little smoggy, but I could still see to Salt Lake City and the edge of the Great Salt Lake. There was also a great view of areas of the Oquirrhs I can't see from the Salt Lake Valley. Well, the cache itself was a little anticlimactic, as it was just a simple water bottle with a wrinkled piece of paper for the log. I guess a couple of years ago the original cache went missing, so someone improvised and used what they had with them. I will contact the person who created this cache and see if s/he needs me to place a new one there. I figure if someo
ne makes the trek to get to it, it might as well be something that at least looks official. Well, I took a few pictures at the top of me celebrating #50. I had to take my own pictures, so they had to be close-ups. Now that I have reached #50, I hope to be at least to #100 by the beginning of the summer next year, and I'll try for another 50 at that time. I have found that some caches are very simple to find (especially the LPC's or lamp post caches), and they take just a few seconds, so you can find and log several in an hour. Well, an hour like this to make it to the top of this mountain and spend some time out in nature to just log a single cache was far more worth it to me.
didn't want this to be a quick neighborhood cache. It had to be something more momentous. I had been eyeing ".50 Cal with a View", a cache up near the "thorn" or camel back hump above the Cove area. It required a hike to get to the top of the mountain, and I thought it would be a good opportunity to take Finny with me (the girls had school). Well, Finny was so excited he peed in the back of my truck on the way there. Thanks, Finny. It turned out to be a great hike...about 45 minutes to the top. I saw plenty of deer, hawks, a few squirrels, and a chubby little horned lizard that Finny wanted to eat for lunch. We passed a 
spooky abandoned shack to add some excitement. The view was impressive from the top. It was a little smoggy, but I could still see to Salt Lake City and the edge of the Great Salt Lake. There was also a great view of areas of the Oquirrhs I can't see from the Salt Lake Valley. Well, the cache itself was a little anticlimactic, as it was just a simple water bottle with a wrinkled piece of paper for the log. I guess a couple of years ago the original cache went missing, so someone improvised and used what they had with them. I will contact the person who created this cache and see if s/he needs me to place a new one there. I figure if someo
ne makes the trek to get to it, it might as well be something that at least looks official. Well, I took a few pictures at the top of me celebrating #50. I had to take my own pictures, so they had to be close-ups. Now that I have reached #50, I hope to be at least to #100 by the beginning of the summer next year, and I'll try for another 50 at that time. I have found that some caches are very simple to find (especially the LPC's or lamp post caches), and they take just a few seconds, so you can find and log several in an hour. Well, an hour like this to make it to the top of this mountain and spend some time out in nature to just log a single cache was far more worth it to me. 
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