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!

Motivation, Ego, and Relationships

Here's the background for this post: Summer/ the busiest time of the year for me has ended. It was bittersweet this time. I loved the people this summer and hated to see them go but for once I was looking forward to the fall and the cooler temps.


It has been a year since I started climbing and 9 months-ish that I've gotten serious about training and improving. This summer was not so good for that - and I knew that would be the way coming in to it. It was slightly hard accepting that fact but my motivation level now is even higher. Right after summer ended, I jumped right back to outside (106 degrees, sweaty, dirty trad) route climbing. It felt amazing to be back on the rock.

However, it was a test of my self-restraint not to jump on something hard to work. Over the summer, my left elbow was chipped and the tendons in my left arm/hand were injured in an intense hurt horse experience. Let's just say that there were more of the leadership staff hurt than the horse (the horse ended up being fine, by the way).

Over the last month, I got in trips to Lost Wall (GA), the Red, and Obed. The Lost Wall trip was with Andrew H. It was a great rehab/ first-time-climbing-in-3-months trip. In between the LW and Red/Obed trips, I got some time in at Palisades. Took my first leader fall on gear - it was awesome (Box Lunch = slopey topout). Gear held the 12-14 foot whipper I took and I made another go at it without falling.

Booze and Broads (LW) - I want to do this line on the next trip

My Red/Obed trip was an eye-opening experience. I spent 9 days at the Red and I almost cried having to leave. The climbing of course was amazing but even more so, I absolutely loved the guys that were my climbing partners. Nick (met him at Miguel's in May) and Zach (met him this trip through Nick) were amazing partners [they even put up with me getting up late every morning]. We had a copperhead snake(s) experience and I worked 'To Defy the Laws of Tradition'. However, by the end of my time there my elbow/wrist/hand was hurting so bad I back off of leading 'Boilerplate' (an amazing 5.8) in tears. The guys were super great about it and I ended up napping/ watching them climb the rest of the day.

After we said good-bye, I headed down to Obed to meet up with some B'ham people. It was my first time there and it has some beautiful lines. I only cleaned a couple of really fun routes that I want to go back to lead. I was super worn out by time I got there and it was actually really nice to just to watch some inspiring climbing happen.

So for the motivation, ego, and relationship stuff... My motivation is super high right now. I've been able to keep pushing through anytime that I've wanted to stop. Endurance is want I'm needing for the routes I want to send. I'm through and through a trad climber, and mostly all I've climbed (except cleaning one route) lately is sport. I am missing the critical thinking, the risk/consequence debate, the trust that goes deeper with trad. I have loved the benefits from all of the sport I've done lately; it is more graceful and a different style of climbing. I'm battling with my ego in some of the climbing relationships I have. It is hard to trust, fall, and push my limits if the relationship is not open. I am so glad to have my friend Josh back around the climbing scene. We have a great friendship and are completely open with each other. I'm psyched to see what limits we push this fall.

Enough rambling, I'm going to get my train on... and I also kind of want to bake this!