Bad times...

I came back from my trip to NY and went to Utah to visit my brother Lucien for his birthday, watch my brother Charles graduate from BYU, and deposit my brother Lawrence at the MTC. I also climbed a mountain, an accomplishment I was excited to share. But the night I got back from my trip, a dear friend passed away. I was too consumed with funeral preparations, etc., that blogging about my Utah trip was the last thing I wanted to do. Ever since, things have been rough. I just haven't felt much like sharing the depressing details of my life. But, I am feeling better and so I revisit the blogosphere. All of the pictures were taken on my phone, so sorry they aren't great.

These were taken when we went to visit Lucien for his eleventh birthday. It was a wonderful day. I miss him a lot, but, hopefully, this time, though hard, is the right investment for his future.




This is what my feet looked like after climbing the mountain. I was wearing socks and tennis shoes the whole time.

Here's Dad, on the way down, with some lovely flowers. They were everywhere and every color. Amazing.

We saw lots of these guys, too.

I took this picture the moment I reached the saddle. I guess I'm kind of a namby pamby, but I started crying. I hiked from the lake to the summit alone, and before that, my brother and I got lost on the Aspen Grove face of the mountain. We had to climb straight up, through unbelievable and nearly impassable growth, in order to (after an hour) find the trail again. (During the adventure, I experienced a free fall, and what it feels like to grab a thorny bush and have to pull all of your body weight up with thorns digging into your flesh.) So, when I got to the saddle, I was exhausted, alone, and a little traumatized. But when I saw this, it all became worth it. I realized in that instant why prophets climbed mountains.


Just a couple other fun things. I was having trouble with the setting on my engagement ring, so I was able to have it completely rebuilt. You probably can't tell from the picture (being from my phone), but it actually looks a lot different. I like it. It's lovely.


As you probably know, I want to have children more than anything in the world. But, that's just not been in the cards for me. I want children so badly that I daydream sometimes about finding an abandoned baby and being allowed to keep it, or about someone leaving a baby on my doorstep. So, I was surprised a few weeks ago to come home to this.


And finally, can you believe I wore this get-up to church. I did.