Best. Day. Ever. Part 1.

Today I had a day off.

And it was glorious!

First, I met a new friend. Alisha is the sister of a dear friend, Marcia. We decided for our first meeting, we would go on a little walk on a paved path around Silver Lake--just up Big Cottonwood Canyon.

And then we found another trail . . .

It said it was only a mile up to Twin Lake.

And that might have been fine, if we didn't have a 2 year old and a 6 month old baby with us. But Alisha and I are great enablers. If it had been just me, I probably would have been satisfied with just walking around the lake.

But the very idea of hiking up a mountain with two kiddies in tow. . . The challenge was intoxicating.

And so we did it!!

Every summit, we'd renew our energies and decide to go forward.

Towards the top, it got rockier and rockier. For a two year old, it was a bit dangerous. Rather than trying to guide the little tyke up the mountain, I carried him up the last bit. Which was awesome!! I was exhausted! The trail was steep--but dangitall--I carried that kid up the final hill!! (Granted--Alisha had been carrying the baby the entire time, so... she's a rock star.)

And in the process of our journey, Alisha and I became life long friends.

We took lots of pictures, because Alisha is a professional photographer. It was wonderful! But I took pics with her camera, and I don't have the pics yet.

Soooo . . . you gotta wait for the pics. (And they are luhhvely.)

Check out Alisha's work at her webpage: www.alishastamper.com

There are a plethora of metaphors I could recite involving today's hike, but I won't.

Oh who am I kidding!! Of course I will!

Here's my favorite:

As we neared the top, we kept heading towards "summits". We pushed ourselves towards each summit, believing that if we could only make it to the ridge, we would finally be at the end of our journey. And then we'd arrive and realize that we weren't at THE summit. Each time, we would stop and consider our options. We could choose to keep going, or stop and enjoy that summit and then go back. Certainly, there was no shame in turning back, but we'd convince ourselves that it was just up the next hill and shove on forward.

I feel like I recently hit a new summit. I thought it was the top. And it's not. And I'm tired. I know I need to push on and head towards the next summit, but right now--I kinda wanna just catch my breath and enjoy this vista and I'll continue on . . . I will . . . but dangitall . . . I am tired! But someday soon, I'm going to pick up a metaphorical 2 year old and run to the top of the summit. And it will be the real summit. And I will feel that ultimate satisfaction at conquering my life's mountains.

But right now, I'm gonna sit on this rock for a bit, because it might not be the top--but the view is still absolutely stunning--and afterall--isn't life really about the journey? (cue groan at horrific use of cliche..)