Happy Day//Making History

Today I woke up to the AMAZING news that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of gay marriage.  Best start to a day I've had in a long, long, long time.

I'm so unbelievably happy about this.

I feel like I'm part of a generation that was coming of age right as the fight for gay rights was becoming a major issue.  I remember being 17 and a junior in high school and writing my argumentative essay for AP English about why gay marriage should be legal.  At the time I was just starting to question my own sexual orientation and it mattered to me.  I was also pretty sheltered at the time, and since I was raised by fairly liberal parents, I had no idea how much backlash I was going to get for it.  (Seriously, my peer review group for that essay was one of the worst experiences of my life).  Then I went to college, met a bunch of people who were like me (both as far as supporting gay rights and as far as not being heterosexual), and contributed to that fight however I could.  So really, even though I've mostly been on the sidelines and have given support from a distance, I feel like the fight for gay rights has always been a part of my life.  And I've seen a lot of victories and a lot of steps in the right direction, but nothing has felt as good or as significant as this.

I'm happy for all of my friends who can get married legally even if they live in a state that wouldn't typically honor anything but straight marriage.  I'm happy for my friends who are already married and now don't have to worry about their marriage being legal if they move to a different state.  I'm happy we finally have a government that's willing to take a stand for equal rights and apply the law and the constitution fairly and not try to make religious leanings into law.  I'm happy that as a girl who identifies as bisexual, the legality of my (hopefully someday) marriage won't changed based on whether I end up with a man or a woman.

Definitely a day for celebrating.  Thank you, Supreme Court!

Thorpe Trail

Jerbs was off today, so she got to come on Trail Day with the dogs and me.  (Incidentally, my dogs now get super excited if you say Trail Day to them, it's pretty entertaining).

I let Jerbs pick the trail, but we ended up not being able to find the trail head for the one she chose (my biggest beef with the FUTS system is that the trails are only marked as FUTS trails, but not the name of the actual trail).  We ended up doing a different trail so we still had fun.  Today we did 1.53 miles, so go us.

Trail Day!

So a week ago today, on the 11th, I got off work a little early and wasn't really sure what to do with myself.  It was almost 5:30 and I knew I had to pick Jerbs up from work at 7, so I didn't really want to drive all the way home and do nothing.  I also didn't feel like putting in time at job # 2 (I'd already been there during my lunch break).  I thought about hitting up the craft stores or something like that, but it didn't sound appealing either.  So I decided to go home, grab my dogs, and take them on a nice long walk.  And instead of just a boring walk around home, I decided I wanted to go out on one of the FUTS (Flagstaff Urban Trails System) trails.  I've been wanting to hike/explore Flag more, so I figured why the hell not?

I drove home, changed, got the dogs and some water, and we drove to Fox Glenn Park, which is where Fox Glenn Trail starts.  I left my phone and pedometer in the car, so I didn't take any pictures and I don't know how far we walked, but it was a lot of fun!  The trail was pretty flat and easy, and the scenery was beautiful.  The dogs really enjoyed themselves, especially Hollie, because there were lots of prairie dog/gopher holes along the trail for her to stick her face in.  (I swear, she's going to end up with the plague one of these days).  We actually only walked half the trail before we had to head back.  It was a good work out and it wore out the dogs, both things that make me happy.

So I decided to make it a weekly thing.  I went to city hall and got an official FUTS maps so I know where all the trails are and everything, and I bought a backpack so I could bring water and the dog's collapsible bowl and all that stuff with us.  

Today the dogs and I did part of Switzer Canyon Trail (which was not the trail I intended to do, I just suck at reading maps).  It was so pretty and again, the dogs got all worn out and I feel like I got a decent work out.  This time I remembered my pedometer AND my phone (camera), so I got some pictures and I know I walked 2.09 miles.

The trail.

The scenery along the way.

Besties.

Adventurous puppies.