h o b b l e c r e e k

last monday after work, we tried to catch the last bit of sun up in the mountains.

we grabbed afton and her dog sam and headed to hobble creek canyon.

utah has been pretty rainy lately and nice fall climbing has been hard to find.
so on the few clear nights we head to the cliffs until dark.

we decided on a climb that we have eyed a few times on our way to other climbs.

it is over a river and the start is pretty sketchy with a lot of loose rock.
falling would mean landing on a large sharp boulder in the river.

the worrier i am, convinced casey to stick-clip.

stick clipping is a very useful safety method to use in situations where you really don't want to fall before your first bolt. it’s a technique using a long stick attached to your draw which is secured open to clip to the first bolt. you simply extend the stick up to the first bolt, hook your draw to the bolt, and yank the stick down so the quickdraw locks to the bolt. your rope is through the other side of your draw so once it's clipped, your tied in, and your belayer has you on belay, you don't have to worry about falling before the first bolt. 

see mom.... we are safe ;)

unfortunately, the climb was not  safe. 
the rock was even more brittle than we thought.
instead of sending rocks down at my head, 
casey had to down climb the wall.. never fun.

but we're safe and happy and still love climbing.
thanks to afton for the pictures. 
it's fun to have someone there to capture your happy moments in life. 

b a s e j u m p i n g a n d b o o k s

if you remember, a few weeks ago i ran into my favorite pro climber steph davis and she invited us to go base jumping in moab. sadly, sunday her husband, base jumper mario richard, died in a base jumping accident in italy's dolomite mountains.

i didn’t know much about her husband and had never met him,

but i have his company card in my wallet that my skydiving instructor handed me and said i should take a go.
from the comments in the climbing and base jumping community it is very clear what an outstanding guy he was and the huge support his wife has at this time.
and our thoughts are with her.

coincidentally, yesterday (a day after i heard the news) her book learning to fly arrived in the mail and i was anxiously awaiting to get home from work to start reading. one problem.... casey wanted me to read it with him.
we read and study a lot of things together, but when a book i am entirely interested in arrives,
i need to read it. i need to read it now. and i need to read it fast.

so, i began to read it out loud to him in the car on the way to my company party yesterday.
i read it out loud on the way home.
and then i read to him for over an hour while he worked out and i sat in my underwear on the couch.
the only thing that got me to stop was a horse throat and the lightening calling my name outside.

the two of us and june sat in silent respect on the front porch watching the electricity light up the sky.
for thirty minutes we just watched. in the moment. without thought to anything else in the world.
i find more peace when the rain pours and the earth talks. june seems to enjoy it equally.
it’s simply nature. washing and feeding herself.

we are on our way to st George for some climbing and good times with a group of friends
and i am anxious to jump in the car to keep reading from where we left off.

june gets to stay home with the house sitter.
lucky her. not. i'm going to miss that skunk butt (*story about that later)
but dogs are not allowed on this trip so hopefully she will catch up on some puppy sleep
since she has been going to work with casey every day.

to brighten the day and ring in the weekend
here is a tune that floods my memories of boise and flirting and record shops.
we love miss nina simone and life should be celebrated. 

p s i c o b l o c

i think the gods were awarding me this last weekend

for something good i must have done in a previous life.

yes, my weekend was that good.

friday night we met up with amy and travis at the psicobloc competition in park city

to watch some of the best climbers in the world.

we ran into some friends, stuffed our faces with granola, and cheered on our favorites.

it was nothing short of amazing.

saturday started off lazy. i like lazy.

casey worked on the bus and when i finally got out of bed,

i ran around town with my sister.

stopped first to grab some veggies at the farmer's market,

a little shopping, and then to the blue pablano for some lunch.

i took a little nap and then casey and i went to barnes and noble, a favorite of ours.

the coffee, and browsing, and quiet... aww breathe.

casey read books on the BMW bus and i read a book on serial killers.

we decided to see a movie and 5 minutes later we were catching an early showing of 2 guns

casey made me a super romantic dinner with homemade spaghetti,

i grilled up some corn, and we ended the night with some breaking bad.

sunday we woke up late and missed our date with af canyon.

if you don’t get up there early, some of the walls are way too hot in the summer.

instead, we headed back up to park city for the arts festival and park silly market.

after chats on main street, listening to live music, and running into good friends,

we eventually made our way back up to the olympic park.

they opened up the climbing wall from the competition (easy version) to the public.

casey climbed the wall and i met my all time favorite pro climber.

just look up steph davis. 

she is an incredible climber, base jumper, and book writer.

i made an ass out of myself, having our good friend grab her so i could get my picture with her.

it was awesome. and i even got a personal invite to go base jump.
will do.

v e g e t a r i a n

ready for a mind purge.

ok go.

i am married to an extremely healthy man. we have always ate pretty healthy and have participated in things like rock climbing and running. however, the winter blues always roll in and any and all exercise came to a halt. in fact, the last time i ran besides a few weeks ago was the las vegas ragnar on november 9. gross. i spent the last couple months reading books on fitness and packed on 5 extra pounds. weird, i know. some of you may think that 5 pounds is no big deal, but for someone as little as me, it is. as you may know.. or not.. i was a competitive gymnast for years and my husband was a state champion wrestler, so we enjoy pushing our bodies to the extreme. for about 5 years, after quitting gymnastics i was still as flexible, i could still out sit-up and out pushup most people, and life was great. i even started to think i was just a natural, because i could always do it. this last year something happened. i suddenly can’t whip out 100 sit-ups whenever and my splits are... well pathetic. sitting on my yoga ball at work just isn’t cutting it anymore.

back to the reading books part. casey and i both read: 

eat and run: my unlikely journey to ultramarathon greatness 

by: scott jurek

&

high infatuation: a climber's guide to loveand gravity 

by: steph davis

scott an ultrarunner and steph a climber/runner. both at the top of the game. and a few weeks ago we watched forks over knives and actually paid attention. 

two things i got from the books and movie: 

1. i suck at life and have accomplished nothing.

2. i should become vegetarian if i have any chance at not sucking at life. 

the first one, will take some time getting over. i can’t run all day long and i can’t crack climb... yet. but when my husband mentioned he wanted to give the vegetarian lifestyle a shot, i was like sweet! this i can do...  followed by wait. what the heck am i going to cook? so we began. and let's be honest. it is a breeze. hahaha. i'm not joking.

we don’t eat meat. we don’t eat fish. we don’t eat dairy-mostly.

important things we have noticed: 

you won’t go into a food coma.

you will meet gypsies while at whole foods.

the food tastes better.

you have more energy.

you can always find something at restaurants

sure, nothing sounds better than wings from wing nuts, but really going vegetarian has been great. the food is so yummy. we spend more time thinking about what we are cooking, so things are more colorful and flavorful. i have seen a lot of these fasts and juice cleanses. but let’s face it- cayenne pepper does not belong in any lemonade and who has the money to spend $100+ on juice.

staying healthy is about balancing what you need and what you don’t. casey and i have juiced our whole marriage and have loved it, but when i take it to work and within an hour it looks all foamy... ew no. we mostly juice when we get home from a workout or as a treat for a movie. but be careful. if you don’t know what you’re doing, that juice can pack more sugar on those hips than you think.

lastly, we all know fitness also requires working out. i have a lot planned this year and i am going to have to kick my butt into gear to get it all done. i have started running more in preparation for my first full marathon in june. my sister and i are signing up for a triathlon in july. i have another ragnar in june and casey and i plan on climbing a lot this summer. and honestly.. i really just want a six pack.

in case you want to know what we eat.

lunch 2/18/2013

-a few grain chips with jalapeno humus

-wheat bun sandwich with more humus, peppers, mushrooms, cucumbers, and spinach

-a few berries and almonds

-water

*humus found at sprouts 

(what used to be the sunflower market)

so damn good.

lunch with my girl, miss june.

w e e k e n d i n g

i wonder how many days i can fail in a row.

there is a basket of clothes in my kitchen,

the bed is not made,

and i ate more calories at lunch 
than i should have this whole week.

i did sit on my yoga ball the entire day at my desk.

usually it’s just my foot rest…. no lie.

it’s finally getting warm enough to run.

i take that lie back.

finally the sun is out to pretend like it’s warm enough to run.

maybe if i run tonight my husband will be so shocked

that he will not notice the fact i didn’t make dinner.

we baked vegan breads and ground our own coffee yesterday,

so that counts for a week.

speaking of yesterday, the superbowl was a trip eh.

i did not like either teams, so i cheered for the underdog and we won.

the highlight of our weekend was definitely Saturday

although dinner and coffee on friday with our neighbor was pretty awesome.

saturday we slept in and spent the afternoon in the canyon snowshoeing.

the mountains are our haven and it was good to breathe the fresh air.

we made our way to good earth for a wheatgrass shot afterwards

and got ready for dinner with amy and travis and their new pooch dolly.

god bless weekends.