an end and a beginning

a boy i quite like came to utah for the last few days of 2012. i loved showing him where i come from, and we enjoyed the snow and the mountains and meeting lots family and friends. and this is the only photo i have of those wonderful days…taken at 1am on january 1, 2013 from my parents’ downtown condo. we really should have taken more pictures.

at 11:40pm on december 31, we started up the trail to ensign peak in not the best hiking-in-the-freezing-cold attire. we got to the top at 11:56 and the wide, cradled valley was sprawled out in front of us, glittering and shimmering with the anticipation of a new year. at the stroke of midnight we heard a sudden explosion of jubilant sound - the whole valley cheering in 2013. we sat close together on the cold edge of the monument on top of the peak and watched about 15 different fireworks shows sparkling against the ebony sky. it was magical. and because we were stunningly cold and totally slid down the icy mountain without any boots, it was a very, very memorable new years moment. we were so freezing … but at the same time i felt real toasty about the new, radiant year ahead.

since i don’t have pictures to help me remember those last few days of 2012 and first few days of 2013, here’s a list of the adventures the boy and i had together in utah:
-we went to a fancy dinner at the farm at the canyons resort with my mom and dad, and spent the rest of the evening by the fire talking
-we thoroughly enjoyed music & the spoken word at the conference center (mom and i were both in tears), took in the views from the snowy terrace, and then attended sacrament meeting in the exquisite chapel in the joseph smith memorial building
-we had lunch in provo with the boy’s sister and brother, then went to visit both sets of his grandparents!
-we went to ruth’s in snowy, sparkling and cozy emigration canyon (one of my fave spots ever) for brunch with abby and cath (two of my very, very most fave girls ever) and their husbands and babies
-we drove past the house i grew up in, through the neighborhoods of my childhood and past my high school, and stopped by hire’s big h for a cherry limeade and root beer float – all the while i was rattling off so many memories and nostalgic sentiments about my youth
-we got hot coco with my best friend since birth, jane, and her husband and baby at the beehive tea room
-we went to my cousins’ restaurant in layton for a traditional carver/eyre new years eve dinner and ate delicious pizza with my aunt and cousins and dad (my mom had taken off to see my brother’s brand new baby in dc!)
-then, we went to the boy’s aunt’s annual new years eve party so i got to meet his cousins, in return!
-we met my dearest dani and sara (and her husband) in american fork for a thai lunch on new year’s day
-we drove through provo canyon (and past his parents’ land in heber) back to park city – and it was so, so, so, so gorgeous in the snow and ice under the teal sky…we listened to pretty music and my heart was so alive and so full
-we went on a cross-country ski with my dad in his mountain backyard, getting home right at sunset
-i took the boy to get my favourite meal of all time at the dodo in sugarhouse and then we met up with my friend nikki for some hot tea
-we stayed up too late packing and talking before heading back to california (me by air, him by car) in the early morning of january 2

what a great few days of an end and a beginning. i am quite glad two thousand twelve is over, but i am also very, very glad it happened. i feel really auspicious about two thousand thirteen. i love being alive.