A few years ago, I "met" @lindseasnow on Instagram. She commented on a few of my snowboard-related posts, and we soon realized that she used to snowboard at my "home" mountain. We quickly determined that we seemed to have a lot in common and joked that we were practically the same person - just separated by 10+ years in age. ;) I hoped I would meet her in person one day, but that possibility seemed a bit far-fetched once she packed up and moved from Baltimore, MD to Utah.
Fast forward to this fall...
If you know me personally, you know that snowboarding is kind of a big deal in my family. ;) My oldest daughter is competing in the Nor-Am Cup for alpine snowboard racing, and had a last minute race added to the calendar for November. The race was supposed to take place in Jackson, Wyoming. The cheapest airfare we could find required that we fly in to Salt Lake City, Utah and then drive 4 1/2 hours to Wyoming. I made our travel reservations, and then remembered that my Instagram friend, Lindsay, lived in Utah! I reached out to her to see if she lived anywhere near the SLC airport, and as luck would have it, she was very close! I told her that we would be in town and we decided to meet up for lunch while I was in Utah!
I also found out that Lindsay had recently undergone a prophylactic double mastectomy and reconstruction, and I wanted to use my photography passion to help celebrate her strength, positivity, and kick-ass zest for life! So, I offered to donate a photoshoot while I was there. I'm so glad that she immediately took me up on my offer!
The week before the race was supposed to take place, it was cancelled due to lack of snow. And when I say lack of snow, there was literally no snow to be found in Jackson, Wyoming. Winter got off to a very late start in Wyoming this year, so there was no way the race could go off as scheduled. They got a few inches of snowfall right before the race was supposed to happen, but it was too little too late. Our airfare and hotel were prepaid in order to get the best rates at such short notice, and were nonrefundable. So, my daughter and I decided to make the best of a crummy situation and take our trip anyway. And, I'm so glad we did! Not only did we manage to see some incredible wildlife while in Wyoming (one day I'll post those pictures when I find the time), but we also managed to meet up with Lindsay for lunch, incredible conversation, and an amazing photoshoot. We even managed to squeeze in one more dinner (and dessert!) with her on our last night in Utah before we flew back home!
Here are some of Lindsay's blog posts that discuss our online friendship and our in-person meeting, since she's way better with words than I am:
https://lindseasnow.com/2016/11/09/woman-crush-wednesday-the-amazing-women-ive-met-via-blogging/
https://lindseasnow.com/2016/12/13/using-social-media-to-actually-socialize/
If you browse around her page a bit, you'll learn more about her story and her incredible outlook on life. I highly recommend that you pour yourself a nice cup of coffee or tea and check it out!
Since I'm much better with photos than with words, I'll leave you with a few of my favorite images from our brief time together. (Her photoshoot took place at Jordanelle Park and Jordanelle Reservoir, some of her favorite spots in Park City.) Thank you for agreeing to meet with me, Lindsay! I truly believe that everything happens for a reason, and I know that our meeting was meant to be. I have a feeling our Instagram meeting years ago was just the beginning of what is to become a long friendship.
