2 7 t h i n g s b e f o r e 2 8

"so many of us choose our path out of fear disguised as practicality. what we really want seems impossibly out of reach and ridiculous to expect, so we never dare to ask the universe for it. i am saying… that you can ask the universe for it."
jim carrey

it finally set in last night that yes, i am now 27 and it is enough to send me into a full-blown panic attack. the lady at the rec-center counter offered me the youth rate membership price and i was all smiles until she glanced at the screen and was like... wait, you're 27?? my facebook feed screams late twenties as it's drowning in baby announcements and questions like, how do i get my baby to sleep through the night and i'm over here like ahhhhhh.

27 is going to be a wild year. i can feel it. a year of firsts, a year of travel, a year of climbing, and a year of change.

as always, my birthday comes with a list of to dos. so without further ado...

27 things before 28

1. legally change my last name to fromm

2. make 5 new lifelong friends

3. maintain an exercise regimen so i can run a 50k

4. love my body :: wear sunblock, floss daily, sleep more, exercise, eat brightly colored fruits and vegetables, and stop abusing my body with diet soda and too much sugar

5. begin learning a new language

6. get over my road rage problem... it's starting to affect my mental health

7. touch my feet to my head in a handstand

8. climb a v9 boulder

9. on-time birthday presents for every family member

10. bike around utah lake
11. go on a road tip to joshua tree in our bus sunshine

12. visit a new continent
13. lean a new trick on the wakeboard

14. kiss my husband on the top of ancient art tower

15. play a song on the violin for my mother

16. cut the umbilical chord of child and welcome him to life!
17. tattoo my wedding ring
18. visit the wave - coyote buttes with afton
19. go on at least 1 river trip
20. earn $10,000 to help save my friend josephine!

21. lead a trad climb

22. picnic and mountain bike ride around antelope island

23. restore my grandparents typewriter and write someone a letter

24. finish our back patio and have a big bbq with friends

25. train june to bring me her leash, to bow, and to put her toys away 
26. paraglide at the point of the mountain

27. and when/if we have/adopt a baby, prove the "i can't wait until you have children...." spiel wrong. i will still love my dog and i will still go climbing. :)

but most importantly, i am going to enjoy another 365 day journey around the sun.

much love,

kenny.

w h a t i f

"what if our religion was each other, if our practice was our life, if prayer, our words. what if the temple was the earth, if forests were our church, if holy water- our rivers, lakes, and ocean. what if mediation was our relationships, if the teacher was life, if wisdom was self-knowledge. if adventure was the center of our being."

-ganga white

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. 

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.

w i l d t o t a m e

my relationship with casey started fast and wild. luckily, not only was it care-free and mildly insane, it was perfect. i saw this quote a day ago and was reminded me of how different we are and that’s why we work.

what we find in a soul mate is not something wild to tame, but something wild to run with. 

robert brault

i panic. i worry. and i am hells sure I ain’t as crazy as i once was

.... probably the reason we are still alive.

he, the exact opposite. he is dedicated, sweet, and totally worry free.

he is who keeps us balanced and feeds my wild bug.

unfortunately, this whole growing up and responsibility thing manipulates us to thinking that there is one right way. we start comparing ourselves to others who have conformed to society’s “right answer” for everything. individualism is lost.

not us folk.

we let each other be our own person.

we had to learn to let each other be our own person.

sometimes it’s difficult to let you spouse do their own thing. to be their unique, wild, wonderful self. the last few weeks i have focused on letting the husband be the husband, instead of trying to force him to be who i think the husband should be. i stopped trying to force my agenda on him. we are growing together and we seem happier when we simply encourage each other. it’s strange what you can learn from someone when you stop trying to run everything.

i have also focused a lot on who i want to be. how i want to define myself. i am a working woman. i am a wife. but who am i really? i set goals for the year to keep focused on what i want. i became lazy this summer. we got busy and even more so, i pretend to be busy. i have a lot of pretty hefty goals in this life. i want to push myself in extreme sports. control my fears on a cliff side. run longer than is right. test my body, even more so my mind, to see what it can do. to see what is past the point of reason. meet new people. grow from relationships and experiences. i have found that the best interactions with people come when limits are pushed and walls are down. i want it clear i choose experiences over things. limit the things i own, appreciate the now, and put more value into living.

the amazing climber, steph davis, posted this today from backcountry.
i would dare say it will inspire just about anyone.

here, blood meets rock, sweat meets trail, and the well-worn path to a routine existence reaches its terminus. this is an invitation to feed your wanderlust, to rediscover the spark inside you and feel the strain of your muscles against the forces of nature. every second is about action—it's gas and a match fed to grit and determination. 

 so when you are ready to suck the bloody marrow out of this bone called life… we’re ready for ya.

pictures from lunch in my mother's garden.

2 5 t h y e a r u p d a t e

for my birthday last january, i created a goal list
i have 25 things to do before i turn 26.
here is a little update...

1. hike mt timpanogos (planned for september)
2. write an ebook
3. maintain an exercise regimen so i can run a full marathon in may, do 100 pushups, and 30 nonstop pull-ups
4. shoot an elk and eat it. then start eating a lot less meat.
5. sky dive (next week, ahhhhhh)
6. buy a house (working to put in an offer, double ahhhhhhh)
7. get to under 100 pounds
8. lead a multi pitch sport climb and climb a v7 boulder
9. go on a backpacking trip
10. learn to cook 3 family meals from casey’s mother and 3 from mine
11. make at least 20k outside of my regular job and/or enough money to allow casey to quit and pick a job he likes.
12. 360 picture challenge on instagram: follow me @kendrafromm
13. save a few thousand dollars
14. write another song on the guitar
15. learn at least 5 new difficult piano songs
16. camp on the beach in california
17. travel to one new country
18. do a hundred mile bike ride
19. keep my car clean (ha ha)
20. visit joes, moes, moab, or the city of rocks at least once a month from april to october
21. be able to work from home
22. teach june how to roll over, play dead, and stick em’ up.
23. get pregnant (working on it ;))
24. learn photoshop and start taking photography clients
25. make 5 new friends

hopefully the second half of the 25th year is a little more productive.