My Favorite Things

Good morning y'all! I'm going to get straight to the point - the last week or so has been freaking awesome. It first started with a trip back to Wisconsin and ended with finding a new pair of climbing shoes that fit perfectly. For my beautiful family members who have never jammed their feet into their first pair of new aggressive climbing shoes and had their toes cry because it felt like a torture chamber strapped to your feet, just know that when you find the right pair and there is a 'thwoop' sound when your foot slides in, it is music to your ears.

So let's start from the beginning. I somehow convinced my dear friend Alex to get up dark and early to get me to the airport for my 6a flight. Smooth flight to Detroit only to find out my connecting flight is cancelled. After mass confusion, quick change of plans, I was rebooked for a flight at the same time to the same destination from a different airline. I barely had time to run to the bathroom and fill up my water bottle before we boarded and took off like a bat out of hell. Once I landed in Madison, I realized how lucky I was. The majority of the other flights coming into the area were very very delayed or cancelled due to the weather. Anyways, I saw a cute guy in a Tacoma and hopped up into his truck. We went straight to Mickey's Dairy Bar for breakfast which was delicious as always. Then we went back to Aaron's and hung out for awhile so I could acclimate to the chilly weather (which wasn't even that cold yay!!). Later that afternoon we went to Boulders to get our climb on. As usual, we went to the Laos place for dinner. I think I have gotten the same thing every time we've gone there but that's not the point. It is delicious and I love it. When we got back to his place, I took a little nap because I'd been up for 19 hours and was getting sleepy. He had a few people over for drinks and games and I managed to wake up and drag myself out of the warm comfortable bed. Anyways, it was a lot of fun. We played countdown, which Angie won much to Aaron's dismay. After a bunch of laughs, a conversation about sleep cuddling, and Maddy confirming she had a concussion, we went to bed to rest up before a Devil's Lake adventure.

Okay, so it wasn't snow covered when I was there but this picture is pretty nonetheless.

On Saturday, we stocked up on crashpads and warm clothes and hit the road for DL. The weather was BEAUTIFUL. It was in the 40s and sunny. We worked Flat Iron (V4) for awhile, went and got a few V0s to keep me warm, did the Leaning Tower South Face which is a really tall thing that has a beautiful view from the top, and Tombstone Right Crack (I have a picture Aaron took). Then we went to go join the others who were working Fat Pants (V7). Aaron, AKA the Blue Bandit, sent it. Then him, Blair, and Austin worked Ivory Face (Vhardasshit). After we made it back, Austin hosted Climbsgiving where he cooked a bunch of delicious food and we watched some old school climbing video. Sunday we went to Monty's for breakfast and then went to Colectivo to do homework for awhile. We made a late lunch of green curry and rice before I had to get to the airport.

Courtesy of Aaron to make me look good.

So that is part 1 of Megan's awesome week. Then on Monday, I had tickets to go see Sufferfest 2 and Alex Honnold and Cedar Wright courtesy of TRC. Sufferfest 2 was hilarious. It was Honnold and Wright doing a massive bike tour and climbing 45 towers in the southwest. This was also called '34 Pieces of Choss and 5 Horrendous Life Experiences.' Please please please click the link and watch the trailer. 

http://www.climbing.com/video/trailer-sufferfest-2-starring-alex-honnold-and-cedar-wright/

So after watching Sufferfest 2, Honnold and Wright came on the stage and talked about the video. They covered everything from climbing 'mud towers' to getting pelted with rain while biking and everything in between. There was a rappel station that was made with wire and nails that Honnold easily pulled out of the rock. I don't even know how to describe the show - those two are quite comical. Wright was right about putting Sufferpup into the video that's for sure!! Anyways, i'm rambling and not making sense but I was very extremely happy I got to spend my evening staring at Honnold and Wright. Thank you Chance so much for the tickets!!! You are the best :)

I could do this to describe how I feel: dlkjf saoyfhsadkfh but I will stick with: Wow.

As for the rest of my week, I finished my finals, gave the final to the class I TA for, found a sublettor, started packing up my goodies, and tried on climbing shoes. OH MY GOSH I ALMOST FORGOT ABOUT CLIMBING SHOES!!! So, here is the story, Wednesday evening, there was a 5.10 demo and I tried on a few pink Blackwings of varying sizes (AKA Ladywings). Besides my toes not really appreciating being jammed up in the toe box, the heel cup was way to big :(  I also tried on Dragons, Hiangles, and Teams and much to my dismay, nothing fit the way I wanted them to. Have no fear, La Sportiva came the next day.  BUT THEY DIDN'T HAVE Muira to try on! So, I tried on all the other ones they had and didn't like how they fit. But... there was one shoe of Lady Muira VS that was exactly my size that he had to show the whole La Sportiva line. Sooooo, I put the one Lady Muira on and it FIT PERFECTLY!. My heel was hugged exactly how I wanted it to without an air pocket, my toes weren't getting crammed all sorts of ways but just the one way I wanted them to, and I made my feet sing joyful songs. Now it is safe to say I am going to buy some Muiras :)

So, yup, that was my week. Now I'm off to wrap up some lab work and write extension papers! I'll be back in Wisco in no time!! Later fools.

Alex Honnold

Cedar Wright

Wrapping Up the Year

Hey y'all. How is the weather back home? We had a bunch of rain lately but today was a beautiful 70 and sunny. I'm not kidding :)  Also, I got that symposium out of the way, had a few meetings with my committee and advisors, and have been climbing until my fingertips are so raw it hurts to type!

Raindrops make me think of fall when the leaves are changing color and is a different kind of spring. The world awakens with colors so vivid and tempts us outside to cherish those last few beautiful warm days. Raindrops that are warm and make you want to play in the puddles like children. Raindrops that are rejuvenating and make you want to sing out loud.

So I thought I had something cool and brilliant to say, but I really don't. OH WAIT! YES I DO. I forgot there was a holiday called Thanksgiving and I went to Vale, NC to visit the Galloways. I got there Wednesday evening (traffic wasn't too terrible) and hung out with the boys. Myles came home from Savanna, GA for the holiday. I haven't seen Myles or his family for over 5 years so it was really nice to have friendly familiar faces surrounding me for Thanksgiving instead of spending it alone :)  Also, they have a black lab named Maybelle. Let me tell you this: I miss having a dog around and Dad won't let me have Tank down in Raleigh!! Anyways, it was a really good few days at the Galloways and I am very thankful they let me stay with them and cooked me delicious food!!

Besides that, I have been scouring for jobs in Seattle, looking at places to live, searching for sublettors, and trying to finish the school year in stride. I also bought all my christmas gifts already (even beat G-ma Meyers!) and even bought myself a little gift - AKA global vegetarian cookbook. I have yet to try it but I promise I will soon and I will report back.

There is just something about this photo that makes my heart long for Seattle. Yeah, so it rains a lot in winter but it rains pretty much everywhere. Yeah, so it's far from Wisconsin but so are a lot of other places. Yeah, so there are a lot of people that live there but that's probably because it is a really cool place to live. So yes, I am very excited to move out to Seattle.

Today, I went down to Fayetteville, NC to check out the newest TRC with my friends Peter, Alex, and Andrew. I had a lot of fun, tried a bunch of routes, fell quite a lot, lost a bunch of skin, and sent a really powerful V4. I felt very accomplished on that one mainly because my lats and delts are telling me they worked hard today. All in all, it was a good time with good friends. Now I just owe Peter a beer or two for driving me!!

Fayetteville, NC

Anyways, gonna go skype the man. I hope y'all have a lovely last few hours of November and a great start to December!

I never thought I'd say these words but I miss the snow. Look at how beautiful it is. Everybody in North Carolina complains how cold it is and how they could never live in Wisconsin. But they have never seen the beauty of a light snow fall reflecting a morning sunrise or how fairy lights twinkle against the icicles hanging from the roof. Yes, it is cold but I think the beauty of the world surrounding me as I'm curled up next to the fireplace with the ones I love in the room with a cup of hot apple cider totally makes the winter a spectacular season.