The other part of my incredible birthday was the day trip to Sedona. It was pure magic. Truly. What an incredible way to ring in my new year. We drove the road out to Sedona from Flagstaff and the leaves had just turned their bright oranges and yellows.

And the creek along the road…

We went to one of my favorite lookouts called Airport Rock (near the airport in Sedona) that has an incredible 360-degree view of the entire valley:

Here’s one Matthew took hanging over the side of the mountain:

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But the experience, as incredible as it was, couldn’t compare to what we witnessed next…

A bit of back story first:

As a Scorpio (and on the cusp of Sagittarius), my symbol is the Phoenix. I’ve always connected with the mythology of the Phoenix. My first company was called PhoenixFire, my license plate is FENXFYR, I collect Phoenix, you get the idea…

Well on my birthday, imagine my incredible surprise when Matthew just looks at me as we’re sitting on the top of the mountain, and then looks up into the sky with a wise smile on his face. I follow his gaze, and guess what was soaring above us…

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My very own phoenix in the shape of a cloud. Can you believe it? If that’s not a sign from the universe, I don’t know what is. I mean seriously…you don’t have to stretch your imagination to see a phoenix in that cloud. It has the beak, the feathers, the plumes, the whole bit. And it’s in similar form as many representations of the Phoenix throughout history:

The day after my birthday, we came through Sedona again, this time bringing Robyn with us. We went to Bell Rock, where we were told the views were gorgeous and you could climb the rock. I figured this would be the perfect time to face my fears of rocky heights and do something courageous and daring. Well unfortunately no one told me it wasn’t so much rock climbing as rock scaling, as in spiderman-style up the sheer face of the rock…

If you look all the way above our heads… the face of the mountain just before the bulbous crown – it doesn’t look like much in the picture, but it’s almost straight up, with a slight curve so you have something for your shoes to grip. Well at first I was determined. I started climbing, but then my fear just gripped me. You know, that completely baseless fear that feels insurmountable nonetheless…I just stood there trying to get myself to take the first step up onto the mountain. Basically I had to stand in front of it, face to face with this giant that had no grab holes or cracks…just sheer rock face. To take a step, I basically had to lift my foot up as high as it would go, almost like on a ridiculously steep stair stepper, and just pray it would hold my weight as I then brought my other foot up and gripped the mountain spiderman-style with all fours. I made it about two more “steps” and then I froze. I just kept imagining gravity pulling me down and off the mountain and falling to the jagged rocks below.

Now keep in mind it probably wasn’t that dangerous. Little kids were bounding up this thing like a ladder at a playground.

I tried again and made it half way up the mountain. Then I froze again and now I was really in a predicament. I couldn’t keep going up, and I didn’t know how to get back down. I just held myself there, all fours gripping the mountain, and my wonderful brother Matthew stayed with me and talked me through it. It took about an hour, and I broke down crying, but he coaxed me back down and off the mountain.

I love him so much for that. And I was so proud of myself for taking it as far as I could handle it…and then just a tad bit further.