Monday, July 28, 2008

busy day



i have to pee, so this one will be quick.... on saturday, i woke up early (4:30... yes dad, i was smiling!), went to work, left work early, drove to idaho falls, ate dinner, played at a wedding reception, caught up with some old friends, ate some more, and went to bed by midnight. i then woke up and drove back down to salt lake, attended a brief meeting and made it to church on time, all within 24 hours... wow...
the wedding reception was SO fun! i played with some of my oldest friends... old not meaning "elderly," rather, longest running. cecily, britney and i used to always play in quartets in high school. we really didn't practice and haven't played together for at least 3 years, but we sounded great. it brought back very familiar and happy memories of high school days. i love that we're still friends after all these years!!

Monday, July 21, 2008

GRUB

first tournament of the season!! this past weekend... it was great... the fields were on this soccer complex and they were SO nice!! it was like landing on... well... soft grass as opposed to the dirt piles and turf-ish stuff we practice on in salt lake... the first time i laid-out i popped right back up without the usual *THUD* *grumble* "OW! is anything broken? no... ok, i'll get back up... i guess..." seriously, these fields were amazing!
the two favorite plays of mine (i'm bragging... fyi):
1- it was our 3rd (out of 4) game on saturday, we were playing the number one seed of the entire tournament (out of 32 teams, we went in number 8) and they were beating us, it was 8-5, and they had gone on a 5 point streak (meaning we hadn't scored any and they had scored 5 in a row)... i was getting frustrated because a couple of our men were looking off really open women (it happens in co-ed, but this was getting even me annoyed)... so i voiced my concerns to another woman and we both stepped on the field after they (Liverpunch) scored. she called the play and said we BETTER stick to it. she shagged the disc (meaning she caught the pull) tossed it to another handler who then tossed it to trevor (one of the guys who throws really far, but had been looking off some women) all the while, i'm busting deep, and not completely roasting my girl... yet... anyway, so as i'm busting long, apparantly trevor was about to look me off, again, when the girl i voiced my concerns to yelled to him "YOU BETTER HIT THAT!!!" so he puts it up long... very long... more than half field... probably 2/3 the field length and that's when i downshift and leave my girl in the dust.... there's no better feeling than hearing your defender swear at you when they know they're screwed! so anyway, it was an amazing put, right in the back of the endzone, i had to full-on lay-out to catch it... it was AMAZING!!! the girl that was guarding me had barely made it to the front of the endzone by the time i caught the disc and half my team had run out to the field! needless to say, we lost that game, but it was nice to break the one seed's 6 point run AND completely ROAST someone who thought she could keep up!
2- sunday, our last game against bad larry, a regional's level team. the points had been back and forth much of the game. it was 12-13 them, the horn had blown so it was hard cap to 15. (games are normally to 15 win by 2, but if a game is taking too long, a horn blows and you add 2 points to the highest score after that point and you play to that score no matter what... we had them at 12-12, but then they scored and it was 12-13, game to 15) oh, plus it was windy. we never play in the wind. we suck in the wind. so anyway, it was an offense point (i normally play defense points, but i decided to step in on the downwind point). they pulled to us and we work the disc downfield about halfway, and turn it over. turning it over on a downwind point is not good because it psyches the other team up. our morale is down, theirs is up. so the girl that was guarding me starting cutting out, then back in for the disc and her team threw it to her (about 10 yards outside of their endzone), again, i downshift and full-on lay-out and knock the disc out of her reach... again, there's no better feeling than hearing the other team yell "GO TO!!" and hearing your team yell "SARAH SARAH SARAH!" it's such a rush! so i pop right back up after shutting her down, and bust long. she's about half a mile behind me so the last guy picks me up which leaves a man on our team wide open so he and the handles can advance the disc up field. we scored that point! we then scored the up-wind point, then the downwind again to win the game.
so overall, we went in 8th place out of 32, ended up 5th place... seeing as how this was our try-out tournament, we did pretty dang awesome. i dislocated my shoulder again, but after not playing one game, i had had enough of just watching, so i took some vitamin i, threw around alot, screamed some, sucked it up and got that lay-out d against bad larry at a crucial point in the game! i love frisbee!!!!!

Monday, July 14, 2008

king's peak


i had the 4th of july weekend off! this is what i did! it was amazingly fun!! i went with genevieve who had done this hike before... conveniently though, she led us up the wrong peak! seriously! on saturday we summitted what i named "jester peak" as it was laughing at us the whole time we spent scrambling up it. when we got to the top to gloat in our triumph, i looked around and said, "hey gen... that peak's taller!" her response "ah... yes... THAT looks more familiar!" after hitting the top of the ACTUAL king's peak, we went back to our base camp at a lake (i'm currently brain-farting and can't remember it's name). oh, and while at the top, other random hikers had brought up fireworks and lit them off, so i did get to see some fireworks! sunday, we hiked around a 9-ish mile loop-ish... all these ish's are important... we wandered off trail to a waterfall, and also took a wrong turn a little later. well, it wasn't so much of "making a wrong turn" as it was "not turning onto the right trail." about a mile past our last sign, and halfway up a REALLY long hill, i complaining said, "genevieve, are you SURE this is the right trail?" (we were getting farther from the valley wall we were supposed to be getting closer to) her response, "have i done this part of the trail before?" as she turns around to not-so-sarcastically ridicule me for complaining she says, "i don't know, but look at that view!" it was indeed a magnificent view of the whole valley we had hiked including king's peak the day before. had i not complained, we would have completely overlooked the view, and we would be somewhere on the highline trail still... good thing i complained about the long uphill! we did indeed turn around and eventually found the sign that had fallen over down the hill from where we were hiking... we didn't get lost.
lunch time was fun on sunday, as we were hiking in the valley that the thunder clouds were surrounding... hiking with gen is great. we both get hungry at the same time (which is always, i'll admit). we decided on an abandoned camp-site to sit on some rocks under a tree for lunch. we thought it would be wise to sit a few minutes and assess the bug situation. about 30 seconds after sitting under the tree, a rather rash hailstorm blew through. and the bugs completely disappeared so we could eat in peace! well, as peaceful as you can eat while crouching under a pine tree in a hailstorm.
another momentous occasion this trip was a simple stream-ish crossing. genevieve is a swimmer. a really good swimmer. swimming to her is ultimate frisbee to me (not to brag... ahem) anyway... so the stream crossing... we were about 4 miles in on the loop-ish trail and came to this relatively deep and wide stream. prior to this we could hop rocks, leap across, wobble across a log, or find some other way around having to take off our shoes and ford. after looking for a few minutes both upstream and down, i said, "well, i know how i'm getting across!" and promptly removed my hiking boots and socks and waded into the cold rushing "stream". sure, my feet hurt by now, and stepping on rocks in icy water that was waste high (not exaggerating) was painful, but i crossed, no problem. as soon as i get to the other side, i hear "ow!!!" *pause* "OW!!" *pause* a small thud and rustling of the bushes which would be genevieve's shoes hitting the shore. in her struggle, she thought it wise to toss her shoes, so she would have SOMETHING dry to look forward to. you would think that such a good swimmer would be able to handle some rushing water... you would think... she's about halfway across, arms flailing, feet slipping... it takes all that i have in me not to laugh hysterically, but being the good friend that i am ask, "do you need help?" *no answer* me- "i'm coming..." i wade back in and give her two arms to brace against as she finishes crossing... her only reponse "i'm a SWIMMER... i never said anything about WALKING in water." the main lesson learned: goretex is great for keeping you dry in a rainstorm, snow storm and hailstorm, but if you try to go swimming, well... it doesn't keep you dry.
on monday, we slept in, packed up and hiked out... i was extremely fond of my mad bear-bag setting up skills. tied a rock to a rope, threw it over a tree branch, fed it down, hooked the food to the bag and hoisted it back up. that's pure talent right there! it was quite entertaining watching a squirrel's brain process how he was going to get the the food that was hanging in the bag... i WISH animals came with thought bubbles! though, it's entertainment enough just thinking what they're thinking.
king's peak 13,524ft. it's a good one!!
memorable quotes from this trip:
me-"i wonder how that commando guy's doing?" (in reference to the man wearing cammoflauge... commando... camo... same thing...)
gen-"is that your fart or mine?"
me, a few moments later-"holy shit!! light a match or something!"
gen-"no! i don't want to blow up the tent!" (it doesn't take a genius to figure out what this is in reference to)

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

june's last two weeks


holy crap june flew by!! i'm so happy for my brother, ned! he's finally hitched! and what's even better, he has a great catch!! (sorry rachael, if you're reading this, i just referred to you as a fish, but don't worry... ned's a goober...) their wedding was busy but amazing! i totally bawled.
then my nephew was blessed. he's SO cute! i must say, i do indeed have the cutest neices and nephews!
then i went to yellowstone with my big brother, that was amazing! having never lived with him it was fun to get to know him a little better! my favorite part, among many, was the thunder and lightning storm the first night. we had hiked up a plateau and i saw big clouds rolling in. i then thought it would be a good idea to put the rain fly on the tent (it had been bright and sunny and hot all day long) and voiced my concern to clark. his reply "i really don't think we need it." typical sibling banter hiking down the plateau... me: "i think i'm gonna put the rainfly on, just in case!" clark: "i don't think we need it". we get back to camp, it was a beautiful sunset, we had dinner, the mosquitos got nasty, i go in the tent, clark hangs the bear bag and shortly follows, just as trickle, trickle, DOWNPOUR! we have to shout in the tent just to hear each other. a flash of lightning... 14 one thousand. another flash... 12 one thousand. another flash. 8 one thousand. another flash. breathe, BOOM! it was a little terrifying. the storm lasted about an hour, then blew over. another fun memory was clark throwing rocks at a snake and missing... a lot... big tough brother afraid of a huge ass snake... it was funny... the scenery was beautiful! i loved every second of the trip (except the "squeaky weeds" and "leaky air mattress" that seemed to follow clark everywhere)
2008 is halfway over! yeesh!!