A-Team in T-Town

Edited: 5/4/11
Here are the tips and tricks for volunteering for tornado relief and trying to make the biggest impact:

*Decide what type of work that you want to do/your skills/your resources
*Don't ask for permission - I mean don't wait for someone to ask you to come help. If you want to pass out supplies, go pass out supplies!

To Hand-Deliver:
Make signs that say exactly what you have in your vehicle.
Drive around and ask.
Make sure your vehicle(s) is/are organized so you can get to items quickly.
Have some type of bags for people to carry supplies away.
***For Mother's Day (this upcoming Sunday, May 8th), consider taking mom-type care packages or cupcakes around to pass out. Be sensitive when passing these out, as many women have lost their children in the disaster.

Supplies Needed:

Many places are currently overwhelmed with clothing* and bottled water***. It will be needed though; feel free to donate it in the upcoming weeks. If you "have" to donate it now, please hand-deliver it to the communities. Some supply centers are having to rent warehouses now because of the mass amount of clothing.
*Underwear, bras, diapers, and socks are still VERY much needed.
***Bottled Gatorade and sodas are very welcome as variety to water.

0Rain jackets (there are very few)
0Emergency candles (T-town stores have run out)
0FOOD!!! (certain areas that cannot get to shelters are running out of food)
0Tarps, nails, hammers, and people to help put them on houses
0coolers and bagged ice
0prepared food and sandwiches that are individually bagged
0any candy or cookies with peanut butter or other types of protein bars
0Gatorade and crystal light packets
0bottled Gatorade
0stuffed animals
0any blankets or sleeping bags
0diapers any size (especially size 3&4), baby wipes, baby powder
0infant formula
0baby food
0any baby clothing
0underwear
0coloring books
0duct tape (lots)
0PVC fittings and pipe
0construction garbage bags
0work gloves
0close-toed shoes and boots to give away
0crutches & splints
0sunscreen & bug spray
0chapstick with SPF
0hand sanitizers and lotion
0coloring books and crayons
0sleeping masks (take them to shelters because the shelters keep the room lights on for security at night)
0toothbrush/toothpaste
0hats
0sunglasses
0safety glasses
0traffic cones, flagging tape, spray paint -- basic colors (for SAR to mark houses)
0iodine tablets/ water filtration

***This post will be edited and reposted multiple times!

PS - If you are just out taking pictures and video, you have two options. 1) Go home! You are backing up the roads. EMS services are already spread thin and far away from each other. Don't make the drive longer. 2)Get out of your car and help.

Hello 2011! It's good to meet you!

So 2011 has been around for a couple of weeks now and I'm really enjoying it so far! My 2011 started during my California trip (a different post about all of that craziness later!) and has been great since then...

I don't believe in resolutions BUT I do believe in goals. To me resolutions end up with me giving a half-hearted effort, whereas goals are something I know I going to do. I like the whole "I-get-to-check-this-little-box-and-feel-accomplished feeling".

In no certain order, here is my "To-Do" List:
1) Attend at least one yoga class per week (during the summer, teach once a week)
2) Learn how to ice climb
3) Roadtrip to Colorado
4) Lead 50 pitches, at least 30 on gear
5) Clean my entire office, including the paperwork (anyone that has been in my office will know this is probably the hardest on the list!)
6) Use ascenders
7) Purchase yoga book and pose encyclopedias (including B.K.S Iyengar's "Yoga the Path to Holistic Health")
8) Thanksgiving climbing roadtip (who wants to come with?!)
9) Roadtrip after summer for two weeks
10) Winter break trip (I LOVE trips, can you tell?)
11) Save money for the 3 trips above!
12) Work on my kayaking skills
13) Run Warrior Dash

So that's my list! I think 13 is a great number of things to accomplish in the next 12 months!

What's yours?

Because the week was lovely!

You know that feeling when you've had a great day?! That was how my past week has been. I'm working on a lot of different parts of my life right and seeing improvement just makes me giddy.





A few things I'm looking forward to:

Blue Christmas! I'm in my own house that is big enough for a tree - so I'm decorating with turquoise (my favorite color!) this year.

{photo via Southern Living}

Chico, CA: I'm going to visit one of my friends for 16 days! A kid in a candy store is the level of excitement I feel about this trip!!! I arrive there Dec. 21st and leave Jan. 6th. His mom has even made me a stocking! AND, my friend Sara lives about an hour away in Redding, so I'm getting to see her again finally.

Climbing: I was able to climb yesterday and climbing again tomorrow. I seen lots of improvement in my climbing and have become closer with a lot of new people lately. I've got a few really great climbing photos from the past few times that I will post here soon.

Go be awesome this week!

REALLY?!!

So I like to think that for the most part I'm a fairly level-headed, listen to both sides kind of person. However, there are certain issues and situations (these include human rights, children, and how to improve our thinking as a society) that I'm super passionate about and will enthusiastically jump on my soapbox.

This is one of those times! Amazon.com is currently (and plans on continuing) selling a how-to guide for pedophiles. This article does a fairly good job at explaining the situation.

I am boycotting Amazon.com. I feel strongly about two points that are leading me to my decision.

1) Amazon.com as a retailer has a responsibility to us as consumers. They get to choose which books they sell. They do not have to support this one, but they do. They have chosen to say that it would hinder free speech if they pull it. What if what you're saying is morally wrong or hurtful?

2) Go check out Amazon.com's Facebook page. It is frustrating to see so many people not getting a response as they comment en masse. The lack of personal response just shows how non-personal Amazon's business sense becomes when receiving criticism. However, check out their current status. The Facebook admin replied back about a sweepstakes during the same time customers were commenting about the book.

The book's contents completely irk and disgust me. However, Amazon's lack of responsibility to the public appalls me even more. As adults, we have responsibilities that maybe we don't want to have, but we have them none the less! Same with companies. You choose the culture you live in and the culture you show to others. Think about how amazing and slightly heavy that is all at the same time. What if we always thought about our actions, how we treated others, and the things we teach everyone around us? What if we did all of this from a moral, healthy, well-rounded place within each of us? Amazon, how 'bout you do that too.

Gorilla Time

To start this off, I FINALLY found my camera a couple of weeks ago (yay! because I just bought it in May). This fact complies to post on here more since I'll have fun pictures to share! With that being said...

I got to go to the Green River Narrows Race for the first time this past weekend! I've heard my guy friends talk about it for the past few years so excited was an understatement. The race is in Saluda, NC (near Asheville - love that city!) and hundreds of people flock there for this race.

The adventure all started with a Facebook chat with Cruise telling me that I should come and then Alleysun (she really spells it Allison but I don't) wanting to come visit the same weekend. SOOOO - we decided we were going to the race in a matter of about 5 minutes. Alley came over from Mississippi on Thursday and we headed up to North Carolina on Friday afternoon, only about 2 hours behind schedule. The best part was we had almost NO clue of where we were going - as in I hadn't talked with Cruise or any of the others since we had decided to go to the race. I printed off some race info, left a voicemail for Cruise, Alley plugged Saluda into the GPS, and away we went!

Cruise did call me back when we were right outside of Atlanta and confirmed we had actually guessed correctly as to where to go. Alley and I stopped at awesome Mexican resturant somewhere in northeast Georgia where she said my chipotle sauce tasted like band-aids but she liked it (okay?! - I liked it though too). We finally got off of the exit after six hours of driving and have to find our camp ground. The road down towards the camp grounds was switchbacks all the way down and unlike Alabama, North Carolina doesn't really believe in guardrails. After arriving to the camp grounds, we proceeded to quickly get lost and do a complete circle (the camp ground really wasn't that big). We then go looking for everyone that is camping there. We didn't find them. I even called for Chama (Cruise's dog - Chama is awesome) but apparently he was already in the truck for the night. The camp ground-getting-lost-and-searching-for-everyone event took about 30 minutes, so Alley and I finally gave up, parked, and went to sleep in the back of my Jeep.
The campsite where everyone was for the weekend. The two trees on the right are where we slept Friday.

Saturday morning started off lots luckier. I got out of the Jeep and spotted Chama right away. During the previous night's searching, we had definitely pulled up right beside everyone. We quickly put on multiple layers and headed to the gas station to stock up for the day. Everyone carvaned to the trail head for the 3ish mile hike-in. It was an easy hike until the very end - think a couple hundred people all trying to get down a 45-degree hill that ends at the river.

Alley and I waiting in line to go down the hill.

The race had already started by time we got to Gorilla. We actually watched Cruise and Charlie come down without realizing it was them. Robert, Alley, and I finally found a spot to watch 'Go Left'. We recoginzed Andy as he came flying past us and also got to witness some carnage that ended up with one of the competitors heading off to get sutured up.

We finally made it back to the camp grounds (remember we had that awesome hill to tackle, plus the rest of the hike out). Margie (Cruise's mom) made us dinner that included salads with FETA CHEESE! (I'm always going camping with them!) The party and awards ceremony was a few miles down the road, so we all piled in a couple vehicles and headed out for a long night.

Mark (Cruise's dad), Robert, me, and Alleysun

Hi Andy!

Cruise and me

We finally headed back to our campsite and hung out by the fire for a while. Sunday came and Alley and I packed to make the trek back to Bama, while the guys were headed to huck some falls. We said our good-byes, made a stop at the local produce stand for some A-MAZING 'Pink Lady' apples, and got back on the road!

It was an awesome adventure! Check out this random video for the race action.

Interesting Things

Lots of people ask me about my job. My job could be classified in the "non-real-world" job category.

With that being said (well, typed actually), I've learned quite a few things that I never thought I would know from it. So in no particular (except the way they come to my mind) order, here are a few:

1) I'm a pro at shucking corn. Not the camp song - but actual honest-to-goodness shucking corn. Why, you may ask? We teach school kids how to make corn husk dolls during Pioneer Life. Click the link and then come visit me - we'll shuck some corn and make some dolls.

2) I pretty much can tell you the time in any country (well at least the ones from where campers or staff have come). Here's a website for any one else that doesn't spend 9 months a year talking with the YMCA in Spain.


3) I can identify most snakes and lots of spiders. This comes in handy often enough and is a great skill to have around kids. Some of the cooler spiders I can id include Black and Yellow Argiope (eats lots of bugs), Wolf Spider (go outside where you are that is really dark, hold a flashlight to your forehead and Wolf Spider's eyes reflect back blue), and Jewelled Spider (which is the same as a Spiny Orb Weaver and I run into (actually run into) them most times I'm out on a trail).

4) Wintergreen Lifesaver mints spark when bitten into while standing in the dark. Why? Triboluminescence.

5) I know CPR and first-aid. Find your local Red Cross chapter and get certified!

6) Carpetball is awesome. Ladder ball is too!

7) A sleeve of Honey Maid Graham Crackers makes 11 s'mores. A Hershey's Milk Chocolate bar can be split into 4 s'more sections perfectly. A regular bag of marshmallows usually has 60 - 75 marshmallows!

8) Woolite washes climbing ropes wonderfully.

9) I'm a pro at making popcorn with a popcorn machine. We're not talkin' popcorn popper here, but popcorn machine - the kind you see at movie theaters or carnivals!

10) The best way to refill a deflating water inflatable involves a leaf blower and an ski tube. I'll try to get a video of that next season.

So those are the 10 things that come to mind that I have learned because of camp! I'll keep tabs on others and add them later.

Have a wonderful rest of the week!

Random Monday: Moxie and Fractals

Two random things I love: the word 'moxie' and fractals.

Definition of moxie - the ability to face difficulty with spirit and courage.

Fractals - a type of shape that yields (sometimes elaborate) detail forever, no matter how far you 'zoom' into it. My high school math teacher loved fractals and sparked my random interest in them. Here's a website with pictures and more information!

Enjoy! Have a great Monday!