the great outdoors

If there is one thing I know to be true on this earth, it is this: throwing rocks off a cliff or down a mountain is really, ridiculously fun. 

Ammon and I went hiking with a couple friends last Tuesday and then we went camping near Flaming Gorge with his family over the weekend. It was during these two adventures that I realized just how satisfying it is to throw rocks. I like throwing them as far as I can. I like watching them shatter. I like the ripples they make when they hit the water. I like the sound they make each time they hit something on their way down. It's so simple. But I love it.

I also like watching my husband throw rocks. 

Provo Canyon:

Flaming Gorge:

The bigger the better, right?

Here's the rest of what I've captured during our time spent in the great outdoors:

About ready to hike up Provo Canyon 

uh...

Provo canyon is beautiful!

 Flaming Gorge with the fam:

just chillin

lots of fishing

and catching crawdads

I did it! I finally held a crawdad! It was my first time ever. {and probably my last}

Caleb was pro at catching crawdads. He took quite a few pinches for the team.

ew...

Ammon caught a fish! 

It was just a little guy, but still exciting!

Well. My skin is fried, my back is achy, (Ammon and I tent camped) but oh man do I feel good! I love the great outdoors and I am loving this weather so I can enjoy it comfortably. I'm grateful for parents who took me to National Parks instead of Disneyland because my passion lies within just a few miles of my front door. 

how to create beach-like curls without heat

One of my summer bucketlist items includes going the whole summer without using heat. 

How is this going to be possible? My hair is not naturally straight. Nor is it naturally curly. It's just kinda in between. Well. I have found the perfect solution that I am so excited to share. I plan on having beach-like wavy hair all summer. And here's how:

Conair medium spiral curlers. 

Plus a little bit of this every other day:

I've never used either of these products before, but so far I am liking both of them very much. Especially the curlers. I bought them at Rite Aid for $13 and they work very well with my hair. All I do is spritz my hair with a little bit of water with a spray bottle or I wait until my hair is just about dry after a shower. (If your hair is too wet, then it will take a lot longer to work). Then I wrap my hair around the curlers as if it was a curling iron. It'll look a little something like this:

Then I wait about 10 minutes or so and my hair looks like this:

Tuh-duh! Beautiful beach-like curls without any heat! 

Note: if you want your curls to be a little tighter, here's a very helpful video. (This video is where I got the inspiration to go without heat)

want to see a magic trick?

A slightly long time ago, in a not so far away land, Ammon and I were were really bored. 

The month was August, which meant the weather was far too warm to go outside.

Thus, the following pictures proceeded: 

We thought it was the coolest thing. And now that it's been two years, we still think it's cool.  The following pictures were taken at my Aunt's house in Riverton. We were visiting for Easter and couldn't resist. :)

fail

success!

Oh man. Some things never change. Like my love for Ammon. Because I'm not the only one that thinks doing dumb things makes us really cool. :)

yesterday

Today was the first day of school which means yesterday was the last day of Christmas break. Yesterday was a great day. When yesterday was all said and done, I felt very content with how it was filled. To begin, it was the first sunday in a year that I didn't feel guilty for sleeping in (yay for 11:00 church), then i went to church and made a couple new friends, then back home where I began the task of making homemade bread. Before yesterday, I had tried making homemade bread probably 7 or 8 times. And I kid you not... all 7 or 8 of those times ended in disaster. Sometimes I would curse the heavens above asking why I couldn't make homemade bread. BUT THEN, yesterday, I found this recipe. And I did it... I, Leah Ruth Lott, made a successful batch of delicious homemade bread! I even ground up my own wheat to do it. {Ammon's mom gave me a wheat grinder} So there you have it folks, if you struggle making homemade bread like I did, you should try out this recipe!

Here's me grinding some wheat

Tuh-Duh!!

While making bread, I also made terryaki chicken for dinner. Then Ammon and I had FHE for the first time since being married (It is our goal to have it every week this year), then Nephi came over and we played lots of game (I finally won Monopoly), and then Ammon made us a cookies and cream milkshake for dessert. I can't think of a better way of spending my last day of Christmas break. And today wasn't too bad either. So far, I am really liking 2013. :)

vacation at last part 2

After living the dream and spending a couple days at Northstar ski resort, we packed our bags and drove to Susanville, California where Ammon's family is from. There, we celebrated Christmas a few days early.

Here are some pictures: 

Woke up to this Christmas day

Eveylyn with her stocking

 Santa brings exotic fruits to the Lott house

My man looks good with a little scruff

My stocking. No touchy.

Rise and shine Caleb

 Isaac helping out with the fire

Mom making breakfast

Nephi sneaking through his stocking

Merry Christmas Taz!

This one is self-explanatory

Issac opening his fort-kit I made him

The coolest socks ever!

Ammon playing with his new dinosaur toy that Evelyn gave him

Mood mustaches. This one is "happy"

Eveylyn holding the cat hostage. haha.

This is my "I just survived a snowball fight" face

One of the chickens got loose

The power was out all Sunday night. No worries, we just kept playing monopoly and ate dinner by candle light. Thank goodness we had our blankets and a fire to keep us warm.

Early Monday morning (Christmas Eve), Ammon and I packed our bags once again, this time to head back to Utah. While waiting at the Reno airport, I finally got to do something I've always wanted to do... gamble.

This is me about to put in my dollar.

Pulling the lever

And I won seventy-five cents! 

Wahoo!

Ammon bet a total of 5 dollars

And left with nothing...Haha. 

Nephi was also with us. He walked with 50 cents worth of profit. I pride myself in walking with the most profit, even if it just 75 cents. 

After a turbulence-filled flight back to Utah, my mom picked us up from the SLC airport. Ammon and I then got to spend the next few days with my family. Those pictures will be in my next blog post, so stay tuned!