in rooms unfamiliar

what i've been listening to lately:

guster.
iron and wine.
sara barellies.
chess.
jump little children.

if my life were a sitcom
then one of the recurring motifs
would be my issues
with opening the parking garage gate.
i have never ONCE done it gracefully.
not once.

so that would be the motif.
but a full episode would be the day
that megan locked her keys in the car.
wait.
did that happen?
yup.
did that happen today?
ummm, maybe?
i'm really winning at this whole adulting game.

--------------------------------

i have all these things that i thought i would say
it was going to be clever or eloquent or something.
but the words aren't coming.
but i guess i'll say this.
mount olympus is strikingly beautiful.
it is just simply stunning.
it takes me aback every time i see it.
so.
for as unexpected as these two weeks have been
and as much as my life
looks more and more like a mormon sitcom
there are those granite giants
that ground me
and elevate me
and remind me
that God is good
and the desert, hills, vales, and mountains still sing
carry on.

"What are men to rocks and mountains?" part the second

Any week is a good week when there is a lot of hiking involved.

Especially when you get views like this:

Utah is beautiful. And isn't it incredible that the mountains are quite literally at our doorstep? I drove ten minutes to get to the trailhead.

And yes, that is the "G". I had never hiked it before--I know, I know, shame on me, especially since I graduated from PG, for crying out loud. Oh well. Better late than never . . . I guess?

Also, hiking with Melinda just made my morning. Love that girl. So, so much. (I don't have any pictures of us, but believe me--we conquered that mountain.)

I also re-discovered this week just how perfect hikes are for catching up with friends. They are better than lunch dates or girls' nights. Everything just feels more focused in the mountain air. You skip the fluff and get to the core. And I love that.

"Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home." --John Muir

Going to the mountains is like going home. Beautiful.

****IMPORTANT UPDATE********
They lit the "G" tonight. Obviously it was in commemoration of my first hike to the G. That is the only logical explanation.

"What are men to rocks and mountains?"

The mountains are always a good idea.

So are long walks and talks with Em.

[gorgeous.]

[this is me successfully crossing the water without getting wet.]

 [oh hi there, waterfall.]

[i love this girl. and seeing our selfie-taking skillz in our sunglasses.]

So, you can say that today was good.

Even if we have issues taking selfies while hiking. And sitting on rocks.

[this was our fifteenth attempt to get a picture of us with the waterfall.]

And . . . obviously we had issues trying to get a selfie with the waterfall.

*Cue photo montage of failed selfie attempts.*

Point is, mountains, kindred soul sisters, talking, and waterfalls are good for the soul.

I am a mountain girl, even if I am not a mountain goat.

I went to the mountain.

Sometimes the mountains call your name. 

And sometimes the fresh, cold mountain air is exactly what you need to clear your head and strengthen your heart. Not to mention the goodness of kindredsoulsisters. 

I love going to the mountains in every season. I love how they change with the light and shadows of the different seasons. How the colors change. 

And yet, everything remains grounded. The same. Firm as the mountains around us. 

I am a mountain girl at heart. I was born underneath their shadows, and they have provided the backdrop for most of my life. 

And they provide the perfect place for reverie. And for reminders. 

i went up to the mountain because you asked me to

up over the clouds to where the sky was blue

i could see all around me everywhere

i could see all around me everywhere

sometimes i feel like i've never been nothing but tired

and i'll be working till the day i expire

sometimes i just lay me down, no more can i do 

but then i go on again because you ask me to

some days i look down afraid, afraid i will fall

and though the sun shines i see nothing, nothing at all

then i hear your, your sweet voice

come and then go, come and then go

lord, telling me softly you love me so. 

the peaceful valley just over the mountain

the peaceful valley  few come to know

i may never get there ever in this lifetime

but sooner or later it's there i will go

sooner or later it's there i will go. 

--up to the mountain, by patricia griffin