Oh Here We Go Again

Good morning, afternoon, evening, or night. Choose the appropriate one for wherever you are at this morning. For Anna, it's night. For me, afternoon. But for someone I never met and stumbled upon this blog, it may be morning. Whatever. You get the point.

I first started this blog for my family to read because I didn't live nearby. They followed my adventures starting in my last year at Wisconsin where I made Dean's List both semesters, traveled to Guatemala with a plant pathology class, flew over to England to see my dearest friend, Anna, and graduate with a B.S. in Plant Pathology in a short 3 years. Then they witnessed my 1000 mile journey to Raleigh, North Carolina where I started graduate school at NC State, my love for climbing begin, develop, and become my rock (haha, oh puns), and woke up with me at 3 am and go to bed at 11pm after a full day of research. They journeyed through my happiest moments in life even though we lived in different time zones. They understood why I put graduate school on pause as I went to pursue other dreams. My family was a part of my life as I drove from Raleigh back to Elkhart Lake with Kati car packed as many of belongings as I could fit. 

Reason One to come visit me in Seattle: We have a view of the Olympics from our living room and bedroom. The sunset behind them is one of the most beautiful sights imaginable. This is a view of the Olympics over the Puget Sound.

 They smiled as they knew I was going on a trip of a lifetime and doing what made me happy instead of being shoved by what society deems as "necessary to be successful." They traveled to Red Rocks, Nevada as I lead my first trad climb ever! They followed me to Bishop, California where I climbed my hardest boulder problem ever! They journeyed with me to Yosemite, California where I climbed 2 of the 50 Classics of North America and learned how to crack climb. They followed me to Seattle, WA where I dealt with the novelties of moving across the country for the second time. They felt my stress as I applied for jobs, received smashed belongings in the mail, scrambled to pay bills since I was jobless, and figure out life. They felt my anxiety on my first day of work where I tried desperately to make friends or at the least have my coworkers like me (I'm very clearly not from here...). They felt my anguish as I morphed into a weekend warrior. They could sense my joy as I climbed my hardest trad climb with little difficulty. They try to understand my frustration of traffic on I-5 (it's downtown Chicago but 37x worse - yes, that's a rough estimate). 

Then new people started reading my blog and they couldn't decipher my tone. Was I serious or joking but using a serious tone? Is she really that dramatic? They don't understand my ramblings or my sarcasm. Nothing better than moving across the country and knowing one person. Nothing better than having to test the waters to see if you can truly be your silly self around new people. Thankfully, people in the south are as endearing as you think they will be. I discovered that my quirks and slight social awkwardness would bring me friends immediately. Hence how Dane and Patrick became my immediate friends/climbing buddies. Hence how I wiggled my way into the hearts of my future coworkers. Hence how 80% of TRC members are my friends (the other 20% I just haven't met). TRC is the kind of gym where you can bust out your best dance moves and all they see is a person who is thoroughly enjoying themselves. TRC is the kind of gym where you can ride the struggle bus on a climb and the person next to you on the wall cheers you on (or rides the same bus and laughs with you). I guess what I'm really trying to say is that I miss TRC and all of the members and employees so gosh darn much. I really truly love y'all with every bit of my heart. You took the northerner in as one of you.

Reason Two: Seattle is a beautiful city. It's clean and smells pretty good for being as big as it is. I mean, Starbucks originated here, there's Pike Place, Space Needle, The Sound, ferries, expensive but delicious places to eat, and lots of lakes.

Anyways, sorry for the dialogue. Sometimes people can be frustrating and I just have to shake it off like T. Swift. And yes, I like that song. It's fun to dance to. I will happily turn up the volume and sing out of tune as I inch along I-5 towards work. Man am I easily sidetracked today! Unfortunately I wasn't able to get out and climb last weekend because I was scheduled full shifts both days. But I was working for the SBP 4th anniversary party which made the time go by super fast. So nothing cool to talk about really. It's work. Although it's at a climbing gym so that's always at least a little fun.

Last night, Aaron and I went to Exit 32 and climbed at the World Wall. We warmed up on what felt like a very brutal 5.10c (Girls in the Gym). I say brutal because I usually don't warm up on hard 10s especially when it's my second time at this specific crag where I'm learning how to climb on the type of rock. Then Aaron red-pointed (still not entirely sure what that really means...) Hang Them Out to Dry a 5.12a (maybe 12b?). He kept saying that his hangboarding routine is paying off. He has fingers and tendons of steel. Anyways, then I gave it a go and fared fairly well. We were both impressed at my performance! By the way, this was my second 5.12 I've ever touched outside so making it up about halfway was a huge accomplishment! I will admit, I had to jug through one section because I couldn't quite figure out how to make a move (after struggling for 15 minutes and denying I wanted a boost). Anyways, it was a cool climb and I'd be totally psyched to try it again once I get some training on.

Reason Three: Do I even need to say it? Mount freaking Rainier! I'm not even going to explain this one.

Oh oh oh! I don't really remember what weekend this was but Aaron and I hiked Mount Si and climbed the haystack via the southface direct (or something like that) to the summit! I had my new fancy pack (well, it was new and fancy in Yosemite) filled with the trad rack, my shoes and chalk, food, and water. It wasn't the lightest pack I've ever carried but I have had heavier. Anyways, we had a 4 mile, 3500ft gain hike until the climb. My quads are the strongest they've ever been, I promise you. Wall sits are nothing nowadays. Anyways, we cruised up the trail, climbed the chossy route, had a quick snack and headed back down. For the brief amount of time we were in the sun, I managed to get a wicked sunburn. I'm still peeling like an orange.

So, yup. That's all for now. I have some very exciting news about my birthday weekend. Well, actually it's Memorial Day Weekend but my birthday is next Tuesday so I'm going to say it's my birthday weekend. I'm not going to tell you the news now goofballs! But it does involve mountains...