A Regina Weekend

I might have mentioned her once or twice (or a billion times). Regina, one of my best friends, is my favorite person to travel with. She is one of those people that things just happen to. She is almost five years younger than me, has an engineering degree from UCLA, and has traveled EVERYWHERE. We met in Bolivia and traveled together through Peru and Colombia. A couple years later, I visited her while she was doing Peace Corp work in Honduras.

After years of meeting in other countries, she came out to see me in the middle of October. She was a good sport, helping me out with the Walk Against Violence and the after party on Friday. I spent the rest of the weekend being a tourist in my own town, showing Regina everything I could fit into the weekend. On Saturday, we took a trip out to the Bonneville Salt Flats. Even though it was our first time there, it was kind of nostalgic for us. Just before we met in Bolivia, we had each gone on a salt flats trip in Uyuni. I had actually overheard a guy comparing the Bolivia salt flats with the ones in Utah and thought, "Huh, I didn't even know there were salt flats in Utah." As far as the comparison, I would have to see them back to back. It has been too long. We had a lot of fun playing on the salt.











On Saturday night, Carrie was nice enough to let me bring Regina to Joel's birthday party. One of the little girls there was too cute.

Sunday, we took a drive over guardsman to look at the leaves and play in the snow.
After brunch in Park City, we headed out for a climb on Narcolepsy Wall. I did my first 5.9 (and it was a +)!

Harrow came over for a post-climb meal, and we all soaked in the new hot tub.

On Monday night, Regina and I took a long walk to the dog park. Regina picked the perfect weekend to come out. The leaves were incredible.


It was so fun catching up with Regina (and planning our next trip)!

A Mile in Her Shoes

During the summer between middle school and junior high, one of my best friends disappeared. I didn't really know what had happened to her until she sent me a letter. We spent the rest of the summer communicating by sending each other hours of cassette tapes. It wasn't until high school that I understood that her mother had been a victim of domestic violence. And, like most women in such relationships, she went back to her husband a number of times before . . . the relationship ended for good.

That first summer of not knowing where my friend was, was just the first of many times when she would suddenly disappear. She got better about calling me to let me know that everything was okay. Well, as okay as they could be given the circumstances. As a teenager, I had no idea how to talk to my friend about what was going on. Most of the time, we didn't talk about it. Looking back, I wish I could have been a better friend.

Perhaps in an effort to redeem myself, since high school, I have spent a lot of time working with victims of domestic violence and domestic violence shelters. My most recent role in this arena has been as the community service chair of Young Lawyers Division (YLD). For the last two years, my committee has focused on community service projects benefiting women and children who have been victims of domestic violence.

On October 16, YLD hosted the First Annual Walk Against Violence to kick off YWCA's Week Without Violence. All proceeds of the walk went to the YWCA, a shelter that serves over 8,000 women and children annually.

As stressful as it was putting this race together--I've barely ran a 5K, let alone organize one--everything fell into place perfectly. We were able to get several amazing sponsors: American Express, YLD (of course), Women Lawyers of Utah, Parr Brown Gee & Loveless, Richards Brandt Miller & Nelson, Dorsey & Whitney, and Durham Jones. Brandon Walker designed our awesome logo for free. Sports Am timed it for a substantially discounted race. Our costs were completely covered so that all of the registration fees went directly to YWCA.

The best part--The High Heel Challenge! We put men symbolically in her shoes to "Walk a Mile in her Shoes." Rod looked super-sexy in the fuzzy pink heels I purchased for him. :) I thought they would calmly walk the mile, collect their medals, and leave. Instead, there was a full on sprint. Terry Welch, Rob Harrow/Ponte, and Brian Lloyd won first, second, and third, respectively.



My good friends, Clem and Joanna also took first and second in the mens and womens 5K respectively. Judge McHugh also placed in her age category. So many of my friends showed up to support me (and the cause!).

YWCA was so pleased. We are already planning next year's event!




If you missed the race and want to contribute, check out www.ywca.com.

Moab Wedding

Our second weekend in October was spent in Moab celebrating the nuptials of Megan and Dasch. For them, boating has been a huge part of their lives, both together and separately. It made perfect sense, then, that their wedding would be in Moab, the boating mecca of Utah. We started our weekend with a BBQ on Takeout Beach. Megan looked beautiful as always. When it got too dark to see there, we moved the party to the Moab Brewery.

The ceremony began early the next morning at Sandy Beach. Megan's dad paddled her to the aisle. Ben, the person who introduced Megan and Dasch, performed the ceremony. Their dogs, Ruby and Tappan, were the ring bearers. After exchanging vows, Megan and Dasch skipped down the aisle to "All I want is you." After a brief, but sweet, champagne toast, Megan and Dasch floated away in their pink tulle-wrapped boat.






Between the ceremony and reception, Rod and I checked out Arches National Park. It is one of my favorite national parks. We had gorgeous weather for exploring.

The reception was held at the Sunset Grill. Rod spent most of the reception checking the LSU/Florida score. I actually had a song dedicated to me and one other girl as "The Single Ladies." :) Clem was determined to get Rod on the dance floor and attempted to steal his iPhone. Immediately after grabbing it from Rod's hands, though, he tripped and ate it. And that is what we call karma. After the game was over, Rod made up for lost time. He even made a (hilarious) attempt at mimicking Scott's butt dance. Too funny!

We finished our perfect weekend off with brunch at the Takeout Beach and a float trip on the Colorado River. Congratulations Megan and Dasch!