Two months later I lost my best friend to a drug overdose.

Today I finally got a replacement iPhone. It is the “new model.” It took me two hours to figure out how to sync everything up and get all of my old apps to download.

Do you know, it saved everything?

Including my last text message to my dear friend Zach, which was spoken in anger. And all I can think is fuck you, iPhone.

Fuck you very much for that painful reminder staring me right in the face. It’s bad enough that I take the long route from school so I don’t pass by his work, and it really sucks that Facebook won’t stop telling me to “reconnect” with him. But you, dear iPhone, take the prize.

Here’s my open wound, please, feel free to pour salt into it.

Fuck you, because while you are replaceable, my friend will never be! Those words you so kindly remembered are words I can never take back and I hate myself for ever typing them.

Honestly, iPhone, the least you could do is come with a warning.

CAUTION: SYNCING WILL RESULT IN PAINFUL MEMORIES THAT WILL LIKELY LEAVE YOU A BLUBBERY MESS.

Then maybe add a precautionary:

ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT TO PROCEED?

Because then? I would have answered NO. No, iPhone,  I do not want to relive the last thing I text to my dead friend.

Blogfully yours,

Summer

Not that I can’t handle it, because I totally can.

It’s just that I am also in college full time too. I know, what was I thinking, right? But the good news, which I keep reminding myself of, is that it’s only until May. After May (this semester), I am dropping the number of credit hours I take. This will likely mean that I’ll finish my degree about the same time as my six year old niece will, but hey,  the price of sanity is filled with four year degrees that take twenty to complete.

Now if you’ll excuse me, the clown car just rolled up and it’s my turn to drive.

Blogfully yours,

Summer

Saturday night after our exciting night of working out together, getting Indian food (curry not campfire) and fighting for 30 minutes in Blockbuster over which movie to rent, ED gave me the perfect opportunity to challenge his strength.

We were home, and had just gotten into our movie watching clothes, when he started to complain about having sore legs from a workout a few days earlier.

Wimp.

ED: I don’t think you understand, I was squatting more than double what you weigh!

Me: Psssh! You couldn’t squat me.

At which point ED picked me up, put me over his shoulders and proceeded to prove me wrong by doing not only deep squats, but lunges as well. WITH ME ON HIS SHOULDERS laughing uncontrollably.

ED: I could probably bench press you too.

Me: No way. For one thing I couldn’t hold still enough for you to lift me because I’d be having a giggle fit and would probably fall on your face and break your nose.

ED: Giggle fit?

Me: What?

ED: Just adding another reason to the list.

Me: The list of why I am so awesome?

ED: No, the list of things you never grew out of.

He has me there. I do have a pretty long list of things I’ve never grown out of, but it is also a list of things I never want to grow out of.

Giggle fits, playing in makeup for hours, finding magic in the first snow fall, wanting to discover the end of a rainbow, and being the first to jump into any large body of water – just a few of the things I never, ever, want to grow out of.

What about you? What’s on your list of things you never want to grow out of?

Blogfully yours,

Summer

Please excuse Summer for her recent absences and tardiness.  Believe me when I say she is not slacking off and has been going through a major transition in her life. OK, not major as in sex change operation. But major as in getting the job she has wanted, with the company she has wanted, for oh, I don’t know, over three years now!

We ask for your patience and understanding as she learns her new juggling routine, which she is told will consist of SEVEN lit batons, a pink sparkly balancing ball, a one armed leotard and a tutu. She also needs to tames the circus lions and makes friends with the carnie folk.

As you can imagine,  she is going to be a busy busy girl.

But do not fret, it won’t take long and she’ll be a regular performer at the Circ de Advertis` and the consistent posts you have come to expect at Blogfully Yours will be back in full force.

Thank you in advance for your understanding.

Sincerely,

Blogfully Yours Management

It was a-freaking-mazing!

The night before my friend Heidi and I hit the road, it snowed. Not just a little flurry either, we are talking serious inches here. Fortunately we were about an hour and a half shy of our original “get a jump start on the drive,” so the roads were fairly clear for us.

The drive from Salt Lake City to Moab is magical. With every passing mile you watch the mountains turn from brown dirt to red rock, or in this particular case, the parts of the mountains peeking through through the snow.

It’s as if the rest of the world, all of your stress, worries and responsibilities, just fades away and you are simply… FREE!

The drive home is nowhere near as fun.

For our first full day of hiking we kicked things off with a three mile round trip hike to see the beautiful Corona Arch.

The trail had the sun shining directly on it and was fairly dry for the most part. We lucked out in weather with sunny clear skies and a brisk temperature in the low 40’s.

Our second hike was a six mile portion of the Porcupine Rim, a trail normally reserved for mountain bikers. I’d have to say over 60% of the trail was covered in snow. The last mile or so had not been traveled since the recent snow fall so we broke trail through 4-6 inches of slushy snow.

Hiking through the snow is actually quite fun. Mostly because I got to try out crampons for the first time, which surprisingly is nowhere nearly as kinky as it sounds.

For our second day of hiking we decided to try something a little off the beaten path. Our group leaders spoke with a ranger about a hike to see Tunnel Arch and Ring Arch. We followed the rangers instructions as best as possible, but the ground was so covered with snow it was difficult to find the defined trail. We ended up playing hopscotch from one patch of snow to the next to avoid destroying the cryptobiotic soil for portions of the hike.

It was about a five mile round trip hike. The payoff was not worth the large potions of bush whacking (again, not nearly as kinky as it sounds) it required and I don’t think we will do this hike again.

When we stopped for lunch, my feet were soaking and I had blisters, but with two hikes still to go, I bandaided up and carried on.

The second hike was a short one and a half mile round trip, through a very snowy hike into The Devils Garden to see Landscape Arch. The crampon’s were lifesavers on this hike.

It was beautiful! Breathtaking actually. It’s hard to describe the pure magicalness of it all. Most people associate Moab with warm weather and dessert scenery. To see it snow covered is such a rarity and it may sound funny to say, but I feel privileged to have been able to see it.

The final hike for our Moab trip is always to Delicate Arch. A semi-grueling three mile hike to see one of the most well known arches of Utah.

Even though the trail was icy in parts, muddy in others; and in spite of the fact I had blisters and was more than a little exhausted from the previous 16 or so miles, I still had to run down the Delicate Arch trail back to the car. Just like I did last year.

People look at you like you are crazy when you are running full speed down a sandstone trail, completely unable to stop, yelling at them to MOVE OUT OF THE WAY, but the feeling is so exhilarating I just flat out didn’t care. I ran. Down the sandstone, through the mud, across the bridge, to finally collapse in the back of a truck bed with a huge smile on my beet red face.

When the rest of the group got back to the cars, we all had a beer in the parking lot to toast another year of amazing hiking.

To say I love my hiking group and the time I spend with them is an understatement of mass proportions.

How many days until next years adventure?

Blogfully yours,

Summer

PS – For more pictures of my Moab adventure check out my Flickr page.

Right now I have so many pots in the fire that my best is to juggle work, school, homework and eating twice a day, sometimes more. My best has not included finding time to blog, yet alone finding time to see my boyfriend.

Be patient with me.

Right now, I’m doing my best.

Blogfully yours,

Summer

***

With the exception of blood relatives, I would venture to guess that few Blogfully Yours readers have known Summer as long as I have. I have known Summer for 17 years…over half of my life.

My family moved from Oregon to Utah when I was 13. Summer was the only other girl my age in the neighborhood, which put us through two hours of church together for 5 years. I remember the first time I met Summer. She was sitting with her older sister in a gorgeous sundress in the Young Womens room. We were doing an activity where our names were written in large print on a red construction paper heart. Each person in the room wrote a compliment on the heart, and passed it on to the next person. Summer and I hadn’t yet spoken at this point, but she wrote, “I don’t know you yet, but I know we’ll be friends.”

We sang in choirs together, “roughed it” at Young Womens camp, giggled through chastity discussions, took rides in the Family RV, unsuccessfully attempted waterskiing, partied in high school dance groups together, and shared many hopes, dreams, fears, crushes and musical interests. We both complained about short boys and finding tall jeans. We’d take walks and climb our favorite tree near the Jordan River to talk. Her mom was my Young Womens President, and her dad was my Sunday school president, and I knew her sisters well. Summer and I weren’t ever best friends, but we knew each other quite intimately.

Once we were out of high school, we lost touch for the most part. We both married young, and her wedding reception in Millcreek Canyon was the last time I saw her for several years. Our parents went to church together for several years, so I’d occasionally get an updated on pertinent Fred Family news. We both divorced our way out of toxic marriages. After many years of not seeing each other, we ran into each other at our 10 Year high school reunion. Summer was as gorgeous as I’d ever seen her, in a white satin ruffle blouse and hair darker than I remembered. We participated in a somewhat awkward conversation with other divorced alumni. I was happy to see her, but didn’t have too much to say.

We’ve been friends on Facebook for a few years, and last June I randomly clicked on her page. There was a link for her blog post about getting her cherry blossom tattoo. I was so excited to read the post for a variety of reasons 1) I love cherry blossoms, 2) I love Summer’s dad, 3) I love the Jordan River Parkway. Although I’m not a fan of tattoos personally, I was happy that she found such a beautiful design that had a deep personal significance. I was very impressed with her writing, and went all the way back to her first blog post, and have been keeping up with her posts ever since.

As for me, I’ve been blogging since 2002. It’s my therapy, my creative outlet, my way to connect with new friends around the world. I’m the mother to an amazing 9 year-old daughter named Rosie, and wife to a regional airline pilot named Taylor. I too make a habit of moving, having lived in 5 states in the last 10 years (with countless other smaller moves). I’m a foodie, a tech geek, a concert whore, and an aviation family advocate. Summer and I hope to collaborate on some posts in the future, but in the meantime, feel free to check out my blog at www.cuteculturechick.com

As I am starting to prepare for my adventure by pulling out countless fleece jackets, camelbacks, and of course my trusty boots, I am reminded of how much fun it was last year was. It was my first time every going to Moab and I enjoyed myself so much I even wrote three posts about it!

This year my friend Heidi is going with me which I am totally stoked about. We’ve gone on hiking trips together before and travel very well together. We leave Friday morning and will meet up with the rest of the group that evening. Saturday and Sunday will be filled with hiking and Monday will be a lot of scenic drives and smaller hikes as we slowly head towards home.

As for staying on top of my school work, for all two of you who care, I have been working ahead in most of my classes so that this weekend get away will not set me back, much.

One more day. Just one more day. I can hardly stand it!

Blogfully yours,

Summer

Sarah is great to work out with because she follows my lead as I  take her through my normal routines. She is not quite the gym rat that I am (I’m dating a personal trainer, what do you expect?), but she knows enough to spot me when I need help.

That said, there are some drawbacks to working out with Sarah.

Like when we show up at the gym wearing the EXACT. SAME. CLOTHES.

Yep, that right there is two gals, both sporting bangs, wearing gray 3/4 length sweatpants and baby pink tank tops.

You should have seen us doing lunges in unison while holding matching weights.

Actually, I’m glad you didn’t. Wearing matching clothes is cute when you are 12, not so much when you are… older than 12.

Something tells me we might start checking to see what each other is wearing before we go to the gym from now on.

Blogfully yours,

Summer

I got banged.

By my sister the hair stylist.

What do you think?

Blogfully yours,

Summer