"in sickeness and in health..."

i returned just last night from visiting my friend Lindsay Porter in colorado.

Lindsay and I on the slopes


i had a blast- except that the night i arrived i started to come down with a horrible sore throat which worked itself over the course of the few days i was there, into a full blown cold. all this, and i was still taking antibiotics from my strep throat just last weekend! poor eric has had his hands full taking care of sick polly ever since we moved to utah. i don't know if it's just getting used to new bugs or working in a hospital or what, but i've never been so sick before!

colorado was perfect! we snowboarded at Breckenridge ski resort on sunday, meeting up with eric's best friend Sam Higby in the afternoon. Sam showed us some really fun places to ride.

that masked pirate is Sam Higby

it was snowing the whole day so we got some actual real powder during the afternoon. i haven't snowboarded in over 2 months and i can tell b/c i haven't been this sore in two months! boarding uses different muscles than skiing does, especially falling and getting back up- you have to use your arms so much more. i was having a hard time opening doors and putting on my coat after sunday. we spent monday in ft collins, where lindsay lives now in the old part of downtown. that's a really cool city with a lot of culture and personality. we would have toured the breweries there, but my sore throat was begging to not be exploited by my brain's desire to taste 'non-utah, real" beer. i am so proud of my friendship with lindsay. we actually haven't lived in the same state since 2001- when we were freshmen in college. we became fast friends during that one year however and have kept up the friendship basically through phone calls and brief visits here and there. it's like something out of a movie, the older we get the better and deeper our friendship gets and the more sure we are of being "friends forever".

traveling is actually exhausting. i have a deep desire to 'travel'- you know, the cool sense of the word. like when you have conversations with people you've just met and you're getting to know them you'll ask, "well what did you do after that job?" and they will say, "i traveled". and you'll think inside, "ooooooo, i want to travel like that- just wherever the wind blows or decides to take me...i wonder if i can take off work, i wonder how much that plane ticket would cost? should i use a lonely planet guide? who would i travel with? what do i want to see the most? is it safe for americans to travel there these days?...." well that sort of travel is cool, fun, discovery, and uncomfortable, eye-opening and an opportunity to grow. traveling within the united states is exhausting! it is still cool, and it is still a growing experience, but it isn't that exotic kind of travel where you've packed your swim suit, travel towel, and warm jacket just in case. i'm exhuasted after traveling twice in the month of february- first to ohio and then to colorado. the airports were tiring, such a feeling of urgency there and people always pushing and shoving to get in lines first. sitting in airports waiting to go home is exhausting, you can only people watch alone for so long. then there's the inside feelings, of anticipation of your up coming trip, or of saying goodbye to family or friends, not knowing when you will see them next. traveling with eric is way better b/c i can voice some of my feelings, or talk about that strange person i just saw. but traveling alone....my sense of adventure is a little tweaked being out there alone. if i had never married i might look at it differently- a time of independence and adventure. but now, no adventure is complete without eric, so traveling alone becomes simply time away from him, and not so adventurous. plus, i was just sick this time. so maybe i was a little skewed, i was really tired and just wanted to relax at home, not in that uncomfortable chair.

i believe our trip to indian creek has been put on hold. utah has received 30+inches of snow in the past week, and the powder is full on. how can we leave that?


after a long day of riding, Lindsay and i took time out to play our snowboards. i wonder if anyone else has ever done that....