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. 

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.

f r i d a y

i thought we were getting over this being sick and all.
yesterday that cold smacked me over the head and told me it was here to stay for a while.

i had a big monthly presentation at work
and then i bundled up and headed back home
to climb into bed.

somebody else was still in there feeling equally bad.
and that is where we stayed until late in the evening.

it was awesome.

i am still amazed at how everything i want out of life

can be bundled in one very manly human being

he pushes me to be a better person, a better climber, a better wife.

isn't he intoxicating?

by the way, how did you spend your

10-11-12

we carved pumpkings, played rockband, and watched the debate.

amy and travis are pretty killer to spend the evening with.

excuse me now. 
the husband is golfing and shopping is calling my name.
here are some other fall....ish pictures floating around my iphone.

s t i t c h e s n ' t h i n g s

a p r i l s h o w e r s

bring more goals.

i am the most happy i have ever been

and it 

feels ... inexplicably good

but i need to keep pushing myself.

i'm not use to not traveling and

not moving around.

although we love utah

we wanted to move early on, but

we are going to be here for a while

so i'm going to start getting

into killer shape.

cheers to that.

this month

1. gym or climbing gym daily

this is a must to make my other goals.

2. get corrisa's wedding photographs edited

i have been putting this off for a good reason... i am lazy.

3. climb a V5. 

i can climb V3's and some V4's, but i am going to climb a solid V5.

4. lead climb at least a 10b

i can climb 10's pretty solid. i just need to lead climb them.

5. cook every weekday

casey will love this. crock-pot help me.

6. go into work early everyday

7. paint our bedroom

casey and i have painted every other room in our house and draw on the walls. i have paint and i have time. i just don't have time to paint. odd isn't it.

8. do 15 pull-ups continuously

i use to be able to do 20+ in my good old days, but i've lost it sadly. we got a new finger board we put up in our kitchen for climbing, so that will do for pull-ups.

9. a new song on the guitar

with the amount of guitars, a ukulele, and a banjo we have around i should know a lot more songs.

10. yoga

i've tried to teach casey some yoga, but need to keep going. i do it as a de-stressor, but i need to make it more of an anti-stressor.

this summer

1. run a full marathon

i ran a half in october which wasn't bad, so i am determined to run a full.

2. make 5 rappel trips in zions

3. learn to crack climb

it kicks by butt. i need tape.

4. lead climb outside

5. sprint triathlon

casey and i are going to do one together. i need to learn how to swim long distance. help?

m a t t e r s .

if you know what's best for you,

watch this.

we will be cooking

and eating a lot

different at our house.

but the occasional

chocolate won't kill you.