Live the Life You Love

Hello hello! 1028 miles over the course of 16 hours, I made it back to Elkhart Lake, WI. Yay! Oh jeez, where do I even start? How about the fact that last week it was colder in Wisconsin than Mars?! Or that it was 19F in Raleigh for a high?! Or that I didn't even hit bad traffic in Chicago?! Yeah, that's what I thought. I'll start from the top.

Look what book I found at Epic!! Never been so excited before!

 Alright, so after winter break, I had one more week in Raleigh. I worked my last three shifts at TRC, ate some delicious Nepali food, climbed until my fingers ached, and soaked in all my friends' "love" in my last days. So Monday, I went to work, ate some dinner super quick, raced out to TRC MV, climbed with Dane and Alex and whoever else showed up. Yay climbing! Tuesday, I went to work, ate some dinner super quick, raced out to TRC MV, climbed with Dane, Patrick, and Alex and whoever else showed up. Wednesday, I went to work, ate some dinner super quick, raced out to TRC NR, climbed with Dane, Manish, Alex, and whoever else showed up. Thursday, I ran errands, climbed at TRC NR, the power went out, children screamed, I chatted with the route setters, power came back on, crushed some boulders, said goodbye to my coworker Evan, and had a lovely dinner at Nepali Himalayan Cuisine in Cary with Alex, Dane, Kate, Geoff, Manish, Eric, and Patrick. 

Friday, early afternoon climbing session with Dane, Alex, and Eric, watched Harry Potter (?), ate some dinner super quick, raced out to TRC MV, climbed with Dane, Alex, Andi, Eric, Ryan, Olivia, and whoever else showed up. Alex and I then left for Charlotte. He had to coach the team kids on the ABS Divisional competition and I promised Miss Kelly I would go and cheer her on and all the other team kids. After a good night's sleep and sleeping through all 3 coaches getting up and making noise at 6am, a cup of coffee that slipped all over me, getting lost on the way to Inner Peaks, I made it to the comp. I'm going to try and remember everybody's name I went to support: Kelly, Dorrit, Ashley, McKenzie, Kai, Caleb, Hannah, Alisha, Henry, Mark, Josh, Charlie, Emma Grace, Alexa, Hollis, Jason, Paxton, Luke, Rowan, Teya... maybe that's all of them?? And dare I mention that Team TRC is Divisional Champions!!! That's my kiddos :)  Also, I want to send all my love and healing to McKenzie - I hope you heal quickly!! So that was my Saturday! Sunday, we packed my car (all thanks to Alex for playing tetris within the confines of the trunk) and watched Harry Potter. In the afternoon, we went to TRC NR for one last climb. I got to see all my climbers one last time. I got many hugs, I'll miss yous, come back soons, we must meet up and climb together soons, and even a 'behave yourself, Megan'!! Then Andi and Dane came over for pizza. Way too soon I was waking up and hopping into my car.

Alright, here comes the fun part. In 16 hours, I drove 1028 miles from Raleigh, NC to Elkhart Lake, WI. Here is one big perk for leaving at 4:30a EST: you miss morning rush hour :)  And the second perk (if you don't stop often or for very long), you only get caught in the beginning of rush hour in downtown Chicago! Yeah, that's right. I took I94 through downtown Chicago and didn't even have to fully stop my car. I rolled along at 2mph but never was at 0 :) Skill or luck? At 7:30 central time, I rolled into good old Elkhart Lake. I even managed to stay up until 10pm woohoo! This morning I went to Gma and Granddad's for breakfast! Then I emptied the contents of my car into the entryway (expecting a good reaction from mom when she came inside but DIDN'T). She forced me to move everything I own into the living room. Want a pic? Good, because I just took one.

Alright everyone. This is everything I own (besides a bin of clothes). Yup. Everything I own is right here in this picture. Well, besides my car that is. Everything....

So my plans for the rest of this week? Tomorrow, get breakfast again by Gma, go to walmart and pick up shipping supplies, sort my stuff into three piles, and take over the living room. Thursday I plan on reading a book all day long and causing trouble with the bro. Friday, get everything in boxes and ready to be shipped. Saturday, don't know, don't care. Sunday, get on that plane and be in Vegas by 10pm local time and start climbing to my heart's content. And now, a sappy little interlude for my climbing friends in NC:

Manish and I

You guys and gals know who you are. The ones that made my life here in Raleigh a great time of my life. When I first moved over 1000 miles away from everything I've ever known and loved and didn't know I single person, I was scared and lonely. Soon my labmate, Megan Sexton, and I started hanging out. When classes started, I began climbing at State's wall where I met Dane, Patrick and Kate. One day, Dane brought me to TRC and I was hooked on climbing. Shortly after I became a member and met new people every day. A few months later I started working at TRC and met even more amazing people. Members became familiar happy faces I looked forward to seeing. Climbing partners became extensions of myself and best of friends. When Dane or Alex or Patrick can be climbing and I could practically belay them with my eyes closed because I know exactly how they climb and like their slack. When Dane can tell me to "man up and just do it" and I just sign and do it. When two people can "peer pressure" me into doing I climb I think is stupid (and then actually really like it) and take my peer pressure right back. When it's okay to give slack when Dane says take. When it's okay to poke fun at Patrick because he is tall and can't give me short-person beta. When it's okay to tease Alex that his warm-ups are sometimes my projects. When Kate boulders halfway up the tall walls or forgets like 4 clips. On top of that, coworkers became my backbone when I was caught in a tornado, hurricane, and blizzard all at once. When they gave me unexpected hugs at exactly the right time. When they listened to my worries and joys. When they became my close friends. When I looked forward to work because it meant hanging with the coworkers. I love y'all sooooo much!!