I climbed a mountain!

My name is Tiffany and I have a problem. I am terrible at taking pictures when I should, and I keep them on my phone for way too long without doing anything with them. My phone is just a jumbled mess of pictures. So today I thought, you know, maybe I should post that trip to Denver back in September on Facebook. I am pretty sure I told many-a-person that I would share the pictures... 7 months later is still timely.

So I created my Denver/Albuquerque album (if you're my FB friend you can check them out) and forgot how much fun and how memorable of a trip that was. For one, Denver is gorgeous and so much fun! Second, we got to spend the second half of the trip with some of Spencer's best friends in Albuquerque. They are definitely some of my favorite people! But one day on the trip, a couple of us decided to go hiking... up a mountain... a little more than 12 miles. And in case you forgot the direction of a mountain... it goes up!

So that morning, we got up early, packed our Gold Fish and PB&J's, filled up our Camelbaks and started trekking up this thing. What really scared me the most was the thought of coming foot to face with a rattle snake. Stu and Jenna, who live in Abu and hiked with Spencer and I, talked about how they've seen rattle snakes along the trail and it's not a big deal. Really?! A rattle snake? Not a big deal?! Needless to say... a majority of the beginning of the trip, my eyes were locked on the ground looking out for death.

This was my forced "I'm having fun and not worrying about snakes" smile.

After about mile 7, I was tired and I figured if the snakes got me, well at least I died in a pretty place. The hike was so beautiful the entire way up. It is so amazing to see God's creation from this perspective. I've always said that the higher you are in altitude the closer you are to God... mainly because the higher you are, the closer you are to certain death if something goes wrong... just saying. How many people pray for the first time in years during bad turbulence? Man a lot of death talk on this post. I promise it gets happier.

Then after more than 4 hours and 12 miles, we made it to the summit! It was the most incredible feeling! This of course was back in September, but my stomach gets all butterfly-ee when I think back on that moment. That moment of feeling like you conquered... no kicked something's butt! I think back to how bumpy my health was then and how many strides I have made up until now. If I was able to climb a mountain at one of my worst points, think of the things I have to come!

I may never run a half marathon again but hiking almost a half marathon ain't half bad. (I bet there is a pun somewhere in there) I know it's only been a year, and I know my battle has just begun, but by golly, I have faith that can move a mountain! I have faith that things happen for a reason. It would be lovely to know that reason right now, but I know I will look back at these years, just like looking back at these photos, and I will have that butterfly-ee feeling because I will finally get to see how each experience, wether good or bad, was just a trail up the mountain. And when I reach the summit, it will all be worth it.