Sissy's page

moab trip #1

2009-03-10T21:32:00.000-07:00

i went to moab last week with one of my friends, cliff. it was SO amazing. the first night we backpacked into the needles district of the canyonlands to a place called chesler park. we got into our campsite right after sunset so the rocks were silhouetted against the sky.... SOOOOOOO pretty! then we hiked to a place called druid arch. that was a really cool arch. while there, we went out to this little mound view-point thing that really wasn't easy to get on... in one of the pictures you might see how exposed the side we scrambled up was.... yes, i did it too... i'll admit, i got a little scared! then we hiked out of the canyonlands and drove to castle valley. castle valley is most known for castleton tower (castle rock). if you've seen mission impossible 2, it's the one tom cruise is "climbing" at the beginning. we climbed 2 of the 4 pitches to get to the top. we decided not to keep going because a) we were no longer on the sunny side of the tower, b) sarah was getting cold... 2 pairs of pants and three long sleeve layers were actually not enough.... c) cliff didn't have the right size cam. BUT don't you worry- we both decided we will be climbing to the top of castleton tower SOMEDAY!! that night we camped at the fisher towers area. those things are HUGE! went climbing on "lizard rock" then decided to drive back to salt lake. the best part of this trip- getting into our canyonlands campsite after dinner.... sarah was hungry and MIGHT have been a little angry about not eating... i complained that the top ramen appetizer cliff had made us was watered down and would be disgusting.... after eating that, two reeses, some granola bars, dried fruit, and two mountain house meals, i could laugh at my predictability. that was the joke the rest of the trip "IT'S WATERED DOWN!!!" the worst part of this trip- matrimoney springs found contaminants in it... the best watering hold in the world has been shut down! i cried a little...

31 reasons my sister is cooler than yours

2009-02-21T21:22:00.000-08:00

it was maria's 31st birthday on wednesday. in her honor- i've listed 31 reasons why my sister is cooler than your sister!!
1-she's beautiful
2-her kid angie is the coolest kid in the entire world
3-she's the funnest person in the world to play duets with
4-her kid emma is the coolest kid in the entire world
5-she's a great example
6-her kid keller is the coolest kid in the entire world
7-who needs cliff notes when you're got maria?
8-her mom mary is the coolest mom in the entire world
9-she's a health food nut
10-her dad roger is the coolest dad in the entire world
11-she has a cool truck
12-her brother clark is the coolest brother in the entire world
13-she's a great mom
14-her brother ned is the coolest brother in the entire world
15-she's a great teacher
16-she helps anyone in a pickle
17-she learned spanish from a friend
18-she's a rockin' karaoke QUEEN!
19-she's gonna be a lawyer
20-she's hiked borah
21-she can organize anything
22-she lets you use her garage for storage
23-she's stylish
24-she can sing
25-she composes music
26-she also plays the recorder, violin, viola, organ, and guitar (what did i miss?)
27-she's gonna bike the white rim in march
28-she's a good loser to set
29-she has impecable dental hygiene
30-she's the best pinochle partner EVER
31-SHE'S MY SISTER!!!
i hope you had an awesome birthday, maria! i love you!!

a scare...

2009-02-02T22:17:00.001-08:00

my brother, clark, called me at 3:30 in the morning last week. whenever ANYONE calls you a 3:30 in the morning, what's your first reaction? well, knowing clark and his accident prone-ness my first reaction was "oh shit, what'd he break now, and am i going to have to call in sick to work and drive to vegas to make sure he's ok? (clark was in vegas at the time)"
so after having prepped myself for bad news, and a little terrified of what might have happened (remember- 3:30AM) i hear clark, rather perky on the other line: "what was the name of the hike you went on this weekend?"

me- *awkward pause* "what?"

clark (perky)- "the name of the hike! what was it called?"

me- "the wave."

clark (perky)- "because i'm trying to find pictures online and i can't find anything. did i wake you up? some buddies and i want to go hike it today. how long was it? where is it? can you tell me how to get there?"

me- "it's in southern utah. *pause, pause as i try to find the correct words, it's still 3:30, mind you* look up pariah canyon or buckskin gulch. the trailhead starts there. but the wave breaks off from it and the cairns don't help. get a book."

clark (still perky)- "can you email me directions? i'm playing blackjack right now!"

me- "not right now. i will when i wake up"

clark (really disappointed)- "oh. ok."
so after laying in bed for about 15 minutes, my mind still hadn't slowed down from the scare i had of my accident-prone brother who was apparantly jazzed up on many a redbull... i emailed him directions to the wave and called him back

me- "clark- i emailed you directions to the wave. good luck."

clark (perky)- "hey thanks!! blah blah blah- something about vegas and blackjack"

me- "clark- i work in 3 1/2 hours. DON'T call me again."

clark (annoyingly perky)- "ok! sorry!"

*click*

an hour later (no joke) i get a text message. "sorry for waking you up. i'm a little high on pain meds and redbull. i can't hike tomorrow anyway. love you!"

aren't brothers great???

the freezing point of eggs

2009-01-10T14:22:00.000-08:00

gen and i went snowshoeing yesterday, and stayed overnight at dog lake in big cottonwood canyon. it was a blast!! we packed a tent (snow was too soft for a snow cave) and food and lots of cold-weather gear. this morning, however, we had planned a very nice breakfast of oatmeal and scrambled eggs. we pulled the eggs out of the pack and lo-and-behold they were frozen!! so it made me wonder... how cold was it in the tent last night? well, i researched the freezing point of eggs (yolk and white are different values... fyi...) and it is -.57C which is 31F. at 9:45 last night, outside the tent, i knew it was 15-20F. i could tell because when i inhaled, my nose hairs stuck together, but i didn't start coughing... we think it got in the single digits where we slept... sweet!!
our timing last night was incredible, as it was apparantly the largest full moon of the year because it's closer to the earth, blah blah blah, and the stars were properly aligned for such adventurous chics.
we woke up this morning with frost around the hoods of our sleeping bags (i used my beanie as a nose gaurd so the tip of my nose didn't freeze, as it was the only appendage allowed out of my sleeping bag...
squatting in the snow with snowpants, gloves, and snowshoes on, was an all-new adventure to me... try balancing THAT, boys!

Winter ROCKS!!!

2009-01-01T16:22:00.001-08:00

thanksgiving came and left- i went home and we went bowling.... bowling is perhaps the greatest white-trash "sport" out there! i love the combination of groups you get whenever you go! but it's great fun with the kids! i have very vivid memories of going as a child and having the ball knock down some pins after bouncing off the bumpers at a ridiculously SLOW pace...
december is fun since we finally got snow! i went boarding some time ago with my friends and had a great time being the first in some powder (still not good at powder, mind you)
christmas was awesome! ned and rachael flew in so we got to have christmas with them! i got a ski rack in the form of an rei giftcard from santa and some dressy leather boots! they will have their virgin outing on sunday... anyways, while in idaho falls my family went sledding. going down on the tube was my favorite! (is it inter-tube or inner-tube?)
and just now, i have gotten back from snowshoeing up to donut falls with genevieve, as she is in town for a few more weeks!
last night i celebrated the new year at a low-key party with some amazing girls. we highlighted our favorite moment from 2008 and biggest goal for 2009... mine were shocking... favorite moment from 2008- standing on top of mount whitney. biggest goal for 2009- nationals. what are yours? it's always fun to hear!!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

thank goodness for thanksgiving!!

2008-11-26T19:31:00.000-08:00

what other holiday is greater? seriously? i get to eat ALL day long! (i know... i do that anyway... but this day makes me look less strange...)

i have to work a 15h tomorrow on thanksgiving which means i go in at 1500 and stay for 8 hours. i get holiday pay. the hospital is feeding all employees thanksgiving dinner and i still get my mom's thanksgiving dinner (ultimately MUCH more important) on saturday when i go home. ooh. plus i get holiday pay for tomorrow. not too shabby!

tonight, i'm not feeling all too well (sore throat... pity me) but i've invited myself to my friend's house where i mentioned the fact that i'll be staying the night because i don't want to be alone on thanksgiving eve! so i'm off to a slumber party (really, i'm sure i'll crash in about an hour...) then i'll be having breakfast and lunch at my friend's house then off to work, then back home for a quick bite of sleep then back to work on friday then drive home to idaho!! yay devilled eggs!!!

i know... i know...

2008-11-18T20:55:00.000-08:00

ok, so i know it's been ages since i last updated you on everything... what can i say, either i've kept myself busy, or i'm lazy... i'll let you take your pick!! =o) so! let's get down to business:

1- school is going great! i have one week left in my second class. we have been discussing nursing roles as they were in the past and what we predict they will be in the future. i believe i am the youngest nurse in my class. it's really fun discussing all the issues with people i've never met, but are CLEARLY much more experienced than myself.

2- ultimate season is over. we won our section in an amazing game against missoula. but we tanked at regionals. didn't make it to nationals... IT'S SO FRUSTRATING!! missoula won nationals. we beat them at sectionals!! argh!! next year. i swear i'm going to make it to nationals if it's the last thing i do!!

3- climbing. i've been climbing a lot, though not as much as i'd like to! funny how you get a taste of something and you always want more!! last month i went climbing with lisa (a girl on my frisbee team) several times and conor (a very nice/cute boy) once. i love living so close to things i love doing!! two of these pictures are at the upper s curve in big cottonwood canyon and the other is tingey's terror in little cottonwood.

4- my nephew pearce is SO cute!! clark and chelsea came down from alaska last month to go to moab. it was regionals that weekend so i couldn't go (sorry family...) it's so great that chelsea has a blog and keeps us family in the loop so i can still be "aunt sissy" from thousands of miles away!! the more children my siblings have, the more i want one too! (don't worry... i'm not about to get myself knocked up... i'm on a three-step plan. step one: get a date. step two: marry. step 3: start family... ) while here, clark and chelsea's brother taught me the art of slack-lining. it's pretty addicting. i'm sure i was outside for at least 3 hours. my feet were bruised the next day, but as most things i partake in, well worth the pain!! clark and chelsea's brother could do a "jumpstart" on the slack-line... i could only stand up while bracing myself on clark's head. i did take about 5 steps without guiding hands and without falling though!! not bad for only three hours!! =o) what can i say... i'm a slow learner...

5- work is going great. recently i was co-in-charge-of-work-retreat. it was a fun party. (at least that's what i think...) we did team building games and as nerdy as it sounds, it was fun to watch people work together on a dumb project like "build the tallest tower out of these suppplies." we also played jeopardy, me and sandra (the other party-planner) came up with the questions. my favorite topic was "chitty butts"... it was so fun. oh and people were divided into random groups by animal stickers so to "buzz in" on jeopardy, you had to make your animal noise (that was my idea) it was HILARIOUS!! all these nurses who are so highly admirable as people and in their profession making monkey sounds, standing up to roar loudly, and cock-a-doodle-dooing... good times... also, we got our boss to jump out of a styrofoam ginormous cake and do a little dance.

6- my annual trip with scooter. every year about early novemberish, scooter and i go on a trip. 2 years ago it was moab for my first time. last year we went to zion. this year it was buckskin gulch. buckskin gulch is a 20-mile slot canyon in southern utah. it was absolutely beautiful! we did the canyon in one day. it was kinda long and my feet were very tired at the end, plus i was hungry and well... me and hunger don't get along... have i always been like that or is it just something i've been noticing more recently? anyway- here are some shots of buckskin gulch and roaming around the area the day after. who knows where we're going next year, but i know it'll be just as great if not better!!

7- my dad got a triple date. my parents, and my sister and brother-in-law came down for the transiberian orchestra concert on thursday. i went to their concert last year and the whole time i was thinking "my parent's would LOVE this!!" so as my mom's belated birthday present, i got her tickets to the show. (as a side note, she also brought me down a shopping list of goodies, including, of course, chocolate milk) sure enough, they LOVED the show! my dad was busy figuring out the engineering behind the stage design, light show and pyrotechnics. mom was busy conducting in her chair. maria and john, i believe, loved the performance as well. i took the same date i took to the concert last year. he called me several weeks ago and mentioned something about the orchestra being in town again. i mentioned that i had tickets and asked if he wanted to go. oh by the way, it'll be a date with my entire family... hope that's not too weird... =o) it was an AWESOME concert!! can't wait for next year! my parents stayed in a hotel that night and i joined them for continental breakfast in the morning. i love my family!!

8- my most recent adventure was climbing in joshua tree, california over the weekend. it was amazingly fun. my friend cliff called me a while ago and asked if i was up for a long drive. i said "of course. where to and when?" we decided on joshua tree and went climbing all weekend! i've concluded that i need to get more into shape before climbing for an entire weekend. my muscles are incredibly sore, my legs, especially knees look like they were mauled by about 20 cats and my nose is a little red, but as mentioned earlier- well worth the pain!! i was fortunate enough to have several of my friends drive down with me! it was me, scooter, lisa, baker, conor, and his friend max. we piled into my dad's red truck (don't worry dad... i'll post another red truck adventure for ya) and drove 9-10 hours there. camped all three nights, had campfires, music around the campfire, smores, climbing, hide-and-seeking, friendshipping... honestly, it couldn't have been any better! it was great to see cliff again (both he and gen moved around the same time. stupid people... moving away and whatnot... who cares about advancing your career or education... honestly... people these days) there was a free climber soloing on the multi-pitch route we were on... not sure i understand the stupidness behind THAT plan... but to each his own... he was about 100 feet up with about 80 feet left to go. on the way back from joshua tree we stopped at in-n-out burger in las vegas. conor came up with this great idea of an eating competition. me and him against lisa and max. lisa and max won... word of advice- when participating in SPEED competitions of the food nature, have someone on your team who doesn't meticulously chew their food... he still had hamburger in his cheeks 2 minutes after the competition had ended! but we have it all on video somewhere... oh, and we got 2 other tables in on the cheering action.

9- congratulations. you have successfully caught up to the last month and a half of my life... it's been fun!!

climbing on tuesdays

2008-10-05T12:57:00.000-07:00

what with school starting, work being really busy and frisbee in full swing... i've been climbing almost every tuesday with my friend/teammate lisa and some of her friends. it's a lot of pictures, but i like showing off my muscles, so i hope you enjoy! there are some pretty cool sequences in here too...
may i just add, i love where i live! this is all my backyard!

i didn't die!

2008-09-16T21:54:00.000-07:00

i went horseback riding on friday! i didn't die!! i'm still alive and i didn't break anything! so i had this really big fear i would get bucked off and break my butt, much like what happened to my friend a few years ago... but i didnt! a nurse at my work has a few horses so i invited myself to go horseback riding with her. we went up american fork canyon (by provo) to silver lake. there was a great view of mount timpanogos along the trail. it was so fun! i rode chico the mule first, then jim, a horse that didn't do a thing i wanted it to, then charlie, a horse with a.d.d.. we got along splendidly! here are a few pictures from this adventure:

making mom and dad proud

2008-09-14T08:09:00.001-07:00

i believe it all started on monday. i had the day off and had kept myself busy in the usual ways: hiking, cleaning, taking a long shower, watching a movie and driving around with no particular destination. so by noon, when i had already done all that, (seriously, my life is like that guy in rocketman who does everything to keep himself entertained and the elapsed time is 1 day) i started looking at schools. just one of those random thoughts that linger... and linger.... and linger... well, this one had been lingering since my dad put it there 2 1/2 years ago. thanks dad. so anyway, i looked up a bunch of schools, then checked out the university of phoenix where my mom graduated from. about 1/2 hour later, i had applied to the school and had submitted my fafsa. about 2 days later, i got the call confirming i'd been accepted and i'm registered to start sept 30 to get my bachelor's degree! it's a 2 year program, i'm doing it all on-line, i take one class at a time, i don't have to do clinicals and my work will pay back a total of $6000 if i contract to work with them full-time for 2 years... big deal!
so what is the lesson learned here? boredom does not suit the harshbarger children...

city of rocks

2008-09-08T10:25:00.000-07:00

i went to city of rocks last week! it was SO much fun!!! we had just played a frisbee tournament in boise and went climbing on monday on the way home. it was SO great!! i'm definitely going back! i kept thinking to myself how dumb it was that i lived an hour away for 3 years and never made it there... better late than never! this is my first time using the "slide" application, so hopefully it works!

as for today, i slept in, showered, and made myself a ham and cheese sandwich... later i will be going to the bank and grocery store... i'd rather be climbing!!!

who is jack schitt?

2008-08-27T17:21:00.000-07:00

Here's a laugh for the day...

For some time many of us have wondered just who is Jack Schitt? We find ourselves at a loss when someone says, 'You don't know Jack Schitt'! Well, thanks to my genealogy efforts, you can now respond in an intellectual way.

Jack Schitt is the only son of Awe Schitt. Awe Schitt, the fertilizer magnate, who married O. Schitt, the owner of Needeep N. Schitt, Inc. They had one son, Jack.

In turn, Jack Schitt married Noe Schitt. The deeply religious couple produced six children: Holie Schitt, Giva Schitt, Fulla Schitt, Bull Schitt, and the twins Deep Schitt and Dip Schitt. Against her parents' objections, Deep Schitt married Dumb Schitt, a high school dropout.

After being married 15 years, Jack and Noe Schitt divorced. Noe Schitt later married Ted Sherlock , and because her kids were living with them, she wanted to keep her previous name. She was then known as Noe Schitt Sherlock.

Meanwhile, Dip Schitt married Loda Schitt , and they produced a son with a rather nervous disposition named Chicken Schitt.

Two of the other six children, Fulla Schitt and Giva Schitt, were inseparable throughout childhood and subsequently married the Happens brothers in a dual ceremony. The wedding announcement in the newspaper announced the Schitt-Happens nuptials. The Schitt-Happens children were Dawg, Byrd , and Horse.

Bull Schitt, the prodigal son, left home to tour the world. He recently returned from Italy with his new Italian bride, Pisa Schitt.

Now when someone says, 'You don't know Jack Schitt ', you can correct them.

Sincerely,

Crock O. Schitt

day 3

2008-08-26T10:34:00.001-07:00

this is what happened on day 3 of the very long car ride...

HOLY CRAP!!!! either crap is getting to be holy, or i'm just plum crazy

2008-08-22T20:42:00.000-07:00

so i've been busy! the last thing i remember is waking up to my alarm clock sometime in june... it's all been a flutter since then! i'm pretty sure i went hiking with genevieve one, maybe two weeks ago... i have some pictures to prove it. we went to donut falls, played in the water, played around, then went to twin lake. twin lake was nice as it was reminscent of our first hike where i "opened up" to gen... that was the start of our friendship and it was all a big adventure after that! here are some pics of our hiking:

Then i'm pretty sure i went to a tournament in jackson hole... we didn't play that great on saturday, but we stepped it up on sunday and lost to missoula in the finals 11-15. i skied skyla, their wnba super athlete woman, to catch the disc in our endzone and score!! i also laid out (going for a defensive block) ONTO her one time... what can i say, she got in my way! the drunk sidelines loved it... i'm a crowd pleaser, apparantly! it was a way fun tournament! mom fed me and several of my teammates on the drive back through IF. which reminds me, i'm supposed to thank you a million more times mom. a million... hopefully this'll do!!

Then i wasn't even home for 8 hours from this jackson tournament before i needed to repack up and move genevieve to virginia! i took my camera with me on this trip, but i did not take any photos... go me... suffice it to say: wyoming is boring, nebraska is long and smelly, missouri is hot but more entertaining than nebraska, plus they have st louis, yes we stopped at the arch, kentucky is pretty and green, oh, indiana was fun, virginia is gorgeous but has NO mountains... day 1: 13 hours drive time. we listened to all of my ipod turned up really loud because we had the windows down most of the day so as to drown out the very whiny cat... that was fun... day 2: 12 hours drive time. fyi- 4 pringles, terrible duck impersonations and random people passed can keep 2 girls entertained for 2 hours. we thought we were hilarious! day 3: 7 hours drive time. sarah's starting to go crazy... i braided my hair... all of it... for 3 hours... i may post a picture later... day 4: 3 hours drive time. i meowed back at the cat for about an hour... that was fun... helped gen move in to her cute little house! day 5: 45 minutes drive time, 7 hour flight time, 2 hour layover time. left gen in virginia, flew home. bye gen!! it's been fun! good luck in school!
coached my highschool frisbee team. they call me coach! it's so cool!! came home, sat down on my bed and haven't moved since.
so that's my life up to date! hope you kept up!

I'm Amazing

2008-08-11T09:24:00.000-07:00

Here's why:
well, besides the usual lovable, adorable, totally incredible reasons...
1- i rapelled a waterfall on friday with genevieve. it wasn't anything grand, dangerous, high or technical. it was just fun! you rapel off a tree then someone has set up anchors around a boulder a little more than halfway down. the first part, your feet are just in the water... well, unless you're me and your feet keep slipping and you butt plant into the rocks and water... then your butt gets wet too... the second part is more verticle so your legs are completely submerged and the rest of you gets splashed on. it was quite exhilerating and refreshing at the same time!

my rope is finally dry!
2- this past saturday and sunday was the park city ski town classic (frisbee tournament). out of five games played on saturday (pool play) we lost one... to missoula... they were the toughest team there, granted they only showed up with 6 players, they picked up a couple of random players while at the tournament... they're still a good team! anyway... we lost to them on saturday. so we went 4-1 saturday. on sunday, we finished the pool play, won that game and advanced straight to semis. we beat them 11-5ish and were up to play missoula again in the finals. missoula took halftime with a score of 7-4. and it was a little breezy... remember, we suck in the wind... but not yesterday!!! holy crap! practically everyone had amazing plays (my favorite plays to be described in #3)... it was a game to 13 win by 2. missoula had us at 12-9. trevor had an amazing layout d, phil had an unbelievable rundown catch in the endzone, damen had an amazing grab, simon skied someone in the endzone... just to name a few!! so anyway, to make a long story short, we went on a five point run and beat missoula in the finals 14-12. several of our women got injured (ankles and such) so we only had 4 women the second half... being uninjured, i played a lot...
3- i got the john neil award! the john neil award is this way ghetto "trophy" that has been with the team for years. it gets passed around every tournament to whoever the previous winner deems worthy... it's named after john neil because he ALWAYS got the trophy and other people wanted it so they named it after him so others could share in the glory. i won it once my second full year with the team, and just got it again from phil, mr amazing in human form. at jackson next weekend, i will have to give it up to someone more worthy, but until then... it has a nice home on my dresser!
4- my favorite plays (involving me, of course). in the finals game- i stalled sarah, the best woman on their team. granted, it's a team effort, everyone on my team by now was playing shutdown defense, but i stalled her!! i think i caught 3 discs in the endzone... 2 of them were me being wide open and they were fairly easy catches... but one was up wind, john neil and i were the hot pair. he got it about half field and i took off so i could actually cut back under, but while i was thinking about cutting back under, i heard "UP!" i turn around and promptly see the disc directly above me... i down shift, box out, get the disc in both hands, plant my feet inside the line and hit the ground. that one felt good!! it was in bounds and amazing!
not in the finals, i also had a left handed layout grab that had me feeling pretty cool too... molly put that one up to me... i'm still astonished that my left hand held onto it! i LOVE ultimate!!!!!!!

Angie's eyes

2008-08-04T11:55:00.001-07:00

angie is my neice. i was there when she was born 8 whole years ago! holy crap!! i got the day off of work so i could go to idaho to watch her baptism. my mom made her dress. it was absolutely adorable! in all honesty though, i only drove up to idaho falls for the chocolate milk and waffles... seeing my family was just a perk... i love going home!! i was sent home with leftover luncheon food and wonderful photos on my camera from angie's eyes...
after the luncheon i drove back to salt lake to make it to my friend's wedding reception. i can't think of two people more made for each other! it was a busy day, but i was fed and got my chocolate milk!!

busy day

2008-07-28T22:39:00.000-07:00

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!!

GRUB

2008-07-21T09:04:00.001-07:00

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!!!!!

king's peak

2008-07-14T21:21:00.001-07:00

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)

june's last two weeks

2008-07-01T20:41:00.000-07:00

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!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!

2008-06-12T21:17:00.000-07:00

so i'm totally copying clark and chelsea on posting their happy birthday to grandpa roger, but i'm a terrible daughter, and forgot it was the 12th today, and didn't remember to call and wish dad a happy birthday today! sorry dad! but happy birthday!! i got you your first birthday present though! so i'm not THAT bad of a daughter!
so here are some reasons why you're my favorite dad, and some of my favorite memories of my favorite dad:
you always brought home porcelain dolls from your business trips.
i remember when you were living in florida and me and mom flew out to visit. you helped me collect all my seashells. you built a box car with me that months later you brought home to idaho. i still have a little porcelain bear figurine that you sent me while you were living there. oh, and lots of letters. i remember lots of letters.
when you moved back home to idaho, you let me take you on a tour of the house, i distinctly remember HAVING to show you the drawers in the kitchen, and each of their purpose... you pretended to be interested in the drawers, even though now i know you were just glad to be home!
you built our porch and even let me "help"
planting flowers
coming home for lunch
hiking tablerock on that REALLY windy day... you got knocked off balance and i was thrown to the ground in that dust devil!
you came to all my concerts
you nag me about school
i don't have to explain my jokes
mom rolls her eyes at both of us
you take care of your family
you love mom
you love us
you have comfy shoulders to lean on in church
you're a ham
you're a nerd
blessings every school year
dancing at my wedding (don't worry... it'll happen again!!)
and last but not least: your prime rib!!

i love you dad!! happy birthday!!

mom rocks

2008-06-09T22:48:00.001-07:00

several months ago my mom made me and a coworker/friend named sarah matching scrub tops that say "sarah rocks" across the chest. they have random zippers and pockets strewn about. to sum up, the scrub tops rock! one of my friends/coworkers, eric saw me in my scrub top, as i was at the front desk doing charge nurse stuff, and commented on its general splendor... then he headed into a patient room, where the other sarah was walking out... apparantly he did a few double takes, had a very confused look on his face, and sarah just laughed. i can't count how many comments we got on them from both employees and patients! we finally worked together so we decided to wear them and sport the "sarah rocks" attitude... another coworker/friend thought the top was so amazing, we switched tops so she could sport the "sarah rocks" attitude as well! it was a great day at work!

my funny friends and me

2008-06-05T22:17:00.000-07:00

i went to one of my friend's/teammate's bachelorette party tonight... we dressed up in the 80s garb that is ever so fantastic, went out to dinner then went to a bar where they had imitation 80s rockers... i left before the rockers came out because i have to work early in the morning, but i just wanted to show you what my life would be like had i been born a decade or two earlier... it was great getting a double-take look from a car driving by as i was walking out to my car!! oh, and it took me about 30 minutes to do my hair!

this is scooter... the moon boots were amazing...

this is me... the print boots were painful... thanks, angela, for your tights, as they made killer leg warmers!

this is everyone who dressed up... we got a lot of heads turned when we walked into the restaurant... christy, who i'm standing next to, is the bachelorette...

renee came straight from work, so she was excused for not dressing up. i'm doing a "beast" pose, as that was my nickname for the evening... in honor of my cropped fur vest... good times! good friends! renee, me christy, scooter, schwing and baker

glacier

2008-05-27T11:58:00.000-07:00

just thought i'd post a few photos of my amazing, enlightening trip to glacier! our view from camp was quite beautiful and we had an almost full moon. we followed deer #41, 42 and 43 into a car camp-site before we got to the park. we had about 25 pound packs and a flat trail... it's amazing what a difference that makes. we stopped for lunch thinking we were only about halfway there... 10 minutes later we were setting up camp!

don't you worry, we did go for a swim in the glacial melt... read a conference talk over the campfire, went to bed, slept in late (we didn't have to summit a peak!!) hung out at the camp site and meandered five miles back to the car.

on the road to and from our trailhead, i realized more than ever just how badly i want a truck...

thanks mom for feeding us along the way! and as always, for your support and filling of my need for chocolate milk.

random thoughts (thanks dad)

2008-05-20T20:52:00.000-07:00

so while driving to glacier (don't worry... i'll post you some scenery later... i'm tired... this one's going to be quick...) the sun was blaring at me from the west as it was setting, and i was heading north. i thought to myself, "self, if i was travelling west into the sunset, how fast would i have to drive in order for the sun to never set?" so i thought of the 2 smartest people i knew, my dad and my brother, and i called them. dad didn't answer, so i left a desparate message saying "dad, call me back! i have to ask you something VERY important!" i called chelsea's phone hoping to get ahold of clark, and explained to her why i needed to get ahold of clark... she immediately gave me his new work cell phone, told me to call him at work, then call her back when i had the answer. it took clark 12 minutes to solve my random thought. he figured the sin and cosin of the inverse trajectory of the rate of speed verses the speed of sound at sea level minus the ratio to the n'th degree of pi... or something like that... plus he just happened to know off-hand the circumference of the earth at the equator (clark, you're a nerd), so he did some math and rattled off 1084 mph at the equator in order for the sun to never set... BUT at salt lake city's latitude, you'd only after to travel 768 mph... just slightly past the speed of sound at sea level... but this speed is only valid when the sun is directly perpendicular to the point of origin which only happens on march 21 and sept 21... thank you clark for solving my random thought!
dad called me back and estimated approximately 800 mph in less than 3 minutes...
so, clark wins for being the closest without going over
but, dad wins for being the quicker, less accurate solver...

my mother's daughter

2008-05-19T21:58:00.000-07:00

so apparantly i get bored really easily... when i'm not working, i have to be doing something, and this past weekend, i had friday saturday sunday and monday off! so what did i do during my four days off? well, friday morning i went on another multi-pitch climb with cliff. where he took a nap at the top before we did our 4 pitch rappel down. the route we took is straight up the middle. it was amazingly fun as usual! then immediately after climbing, i hopped in a car with genevieve and began a very long car ride to glacier national park. i needed a week away. i know i get away all the time, but this was an easy away. while driving, the scenery was breathtaking and the hike in was superbly easy! it's amazing what a difference it makes when you only have 25 pound packs and no elevation gain, and no altitude problems! we covered five miles in less than 2 hours! i will show glacier pictures later, when i get geneveive's pics as well.

it was very nice to be able to clear my head and feel the peace that only comes with enjoying the beautiful world in which we live.

worst day ever! (said with a hint of sarcasm)

2008-05-12T19:39:00.000-07:00

so last tuesday was terrible! i had gone to bed early the night before so i could wake up early tuesday morning and get a good multi-pitch climb in before i had to go to a work meeting. cliff, my very good doctor friend, wanted to climb this huge arete in big cottonwood canyon, and i, having the day off and all, not too enthusiastically agreed. the weather was absolutely terrible, the views sucked, the workout was less than mediocre and i was in fear for my life the whole time.

so in all honesty, i highly do not support the sport of rock-climbing one bit.

my birthday!

2008-05-03T19:35:00.000-07:00

so it was my birthday yesterday... it was great! i cleaned in the morning... a much needed clean, mind you, then maria and her kiddos came down to spend the weekend with me! thus far, it's been great! as soon as they arrived, we threw my birthday roast in the oven then ran up big cottonwood canyon for some climbing with aunt sissy! angie was so funny. she got scared on the rope about halfway up (a good 25 feet). so we lowered her down, then she scrambled up and walked back and forth on a precarious rock ledge without a rope, without fear (a good 15 feet up). i don't pretend to try to understand children. then emma climbed all the way up! she's fearless... i think she gets it from me... i'll let maria post those pictures on her page. she was so proud of them!

after climbing, i had a bunch of my friends over for some pot roast and potatoes... while dinner was cooking, we had to entertain the kids... well, the "adults" were more entertained by the legos than keller... good times

my friend made me an amazing frog cake.

my presents- many happy birthday wishes from family (i'm sure grandma's five dollars is in the mail), frog plates with food dividers in them! they're pretty incredible... a hand made fabric square with a frog drawn on it from angie, a frog stuffed animal from one of my friends... i also got a food dehydrater, a merino wool base layer, and gift cards to rei, tsunami (amazing sushi place), and a yarn store here in town. then some of us ladies went to see made of honor. i wanted a chic flick... it was an amazing birthday! and just for the record, i'm going to say that 25 will kick 24's ass!!

mount whitney

2008-04-26T18:30:00.000-07:00

mount whitney was amazing! upon returning from new york, i had a 36 hour turn-around before leaving for mount whitney... it was ridiculous considering i still had to pick up rented gear, go to a work meeting, go to work, sleep, and pack all before leaving again... (pity party, please... thanks) so for those of you who may not know, mount whitney is the tallest peak in the continental united states. second tallest peak in america... it tops out at 14,492 feet. it's located in southern california, ironically, right next to the lowest point in america, death valley (-280 ft). it is the farther away peak that's taller than the 2 poinky peaks in the center. it's hard to see, but our route went up the small (very steep) snow field on the right side of whitney. then it went slightly behind the peak out of view of this shot, where we had a class-3 scramble (relatively exposed and needing to use hands to get up rocks) followed by an even more relatively exposed (i'm using delicate words here, mom and dad, so as not to frighten you) and slightly steeper snow field. i will try to give you a play-by-play in my hike... all in all, it was SO amazing. very physically demanding (even for me... wow).

sunday night-get home from new york

monday-work meeting. nap. laundry. nap. lay things out for packing. work night shift.

tuesday-get off work. pick up rented tent. pick up rented mountaineering boots. pack. sleep for 2 hours. transfer stuff into genevieve's car half asleep. leave for mount whitney. sleep 3 more hours in car. dinner in ely. change drivers (me). get lost in ely. find our way in ely. get pulled over between tonopah and bishop (i set cruise control at 82. speed limit 70. cop comes up to the window and says he clocked me going 79. he asked, "is there a reason you were going so fast?" -pause, think- "no." gave him my license and gen's registration. he comes back a few minutes later, "i'm going to give you a warning." -"i'll slow down.") i slow down to 75. drive to lone pine california. stay in hotel. this picture is how i pack... lay everything out so i can see how it has to fit in...

wednesday-wake up refreshed. go to breakfast. start driving to trailhead. turn around in drive to trailhead because boys locked keys in their car. this picture is boy trying to break into the locked car... luckily, gen had aaa... they were there within 60 minutes... so we got to the trailhead about 2 hours after originally planned because of this little fiasco...

getting to the trailhead was another fiasco... the road leading to the trailhead was closed because they were blasting rock (yeah, it didn't make much sense to me either). so we hiked straight down a ravine and straight up the other side to a trail 3 miles long leading to the actual trail... it was all very complex. here are some photos of the first day...

me and gen at the start before going down the steep ravine. this is a stream crossing at the bottom of the ravine. there were rocks to step on, and this lovely log to use for balance, but things are much more difficult with 50 lbs packs on.

this is the actual trailhead and the whole crew of us that went on the mountain. and some of the beautiful scenery. also, another stream crossing made difficult by the pack weight... also, scrambling up rocks we could normally hop up is very difficult with heavy packs. in this particular maneuver, i had great hand holds and great foot holds but nothing inbetween, so i reached as high as i could, jumped, held onto the rock, belly-flopped myself onto the rock and sorta swam up the rock until i could put my knee on the higher ledge and stand up. our elbows, knees, and shins are currently very banged up. gen had an unfortunate boob-smashing incident while attempting this maneuver as well... moral: backpacking is hard. we camped at lower boyscout lake. it was only fairly windy and not as cold (only about 10-20 degrees at night) as it would have been had we camped higher. lower boyscout lake is 10,300 ft high.

thursday- wake up sore. talk amongst campers our plans for the day. we have 2 choices: 1-we can leave this as base camp, pack lunches, crampons and extra clothes and make a long hard push for the summit today and return to base camp. or 2-we can pack up base camp, hike straight up 2 miles to iceberg lake with our 50 lbs packs, and have an easy summit day tomorrow then hike out either tomorrow or saturday after summitting. we decided to make a hard push for the summit. we threw in our headlamps, extra warm clothes, sunscreen, lunches, lots of snacks and headed up for the summit. as i said, lower boyscout is 10,300 ft. we had to gain 4,192 ft in elevation over almost 3 miles... if that gives you an idea of steepness...

in this photo: there is a small lake down there situated between the base of the mountain and the snow field, in front of the clump of trees. that is lower boyscout where we set up base camp.

in this photo, the frozen lake in the back-ground is upper boyscout lake. this is 11,300 ft.

we thought this was steep... the photo doesn't do it justice. look at the climber's left foot. turn the picture so his foot is parallel to the ground... that gives a more accurate view of the grade of this stretch of the climb... still not the steepest, nor the longest, by far. this is just past iceberg lake (12,600 ft). by the way- we had crampons on all day. it's like chains on your tires or 4wd, but for feet. amazing the traction they give...

the peak on the left of this one is mount whitney. if you look at the snowfield going up the right that disappears behind the peak... that is called a couloir. that was our route. again, the photo doesn't really do it justice for steepness, but as you can see, it wasn't flat, by any means.

this is at the start of the couloir. gen and jason coming up.

because we got started so late, the couloir was mostly in the shade. this was one of the few sunny spots we found to rest.

fortunately, and unfortunately, the altitude didn't effect me too badly, so when waiting for others to catch up, i froze. this is me, trying to stay warm. thanks, ned, for my wonderful shirt... it goes with me everywhere! and, i might add, looks amazing when pulled over my helmet.

part of the relatively exposed class-3 scramble...

looking up at the even more relatively exposed, steepest part of our climb. the last snowfield. it was about 40-50 yards long. i slipped here on the way down, but i had my ice axe driven in, so when my feet kept going, my axe stopped me... but that wasn't what scared me! the worst part of the trip was hiking out on friday, we had to hike out on the snowfields we had come up on with 50 lbs packs! but back to thursday...

this is the last snowfield. the steepest part of our climb. about 150 ft left to go!

me on top... apparantly, i own a lot of green things...

view of the sierra range from the top. it was breathtaking. (not a pun to intend the lack of oxygen at 14,492 ft)... we were at the summit by 4:00 in the afternoon. it had taken us 8 hours to summit from base camp. we still had to hike down. we stayed at the top long enough to snap a few photos, steal my summit rock, and off we were. we wanted to be out of the couloir before dark. we were. we threw on our head lamps about half a mile below the couloir and hiked back to base camp with our headlamps on. we were eating dinner by 9:30 in our tents. we had a mostly full moon, but it didn't rise until 10 or 11, so that was of no use to us. the stars were plentiful and the air was clear and crisp so we could actually see them. lone pine is too small of a city to let light pollute the night sky. statistics show that only 33% of those who attempt mount whitney actually summit. of the 6 of us attempting, 5 made it to the top.

friday- sleep in. wake up sore. eat breakfast late. gen and i's breakfast: mountain home raspberry crumble (actually a dessert), hot chocoloate, trail mix, chicken broth, gatorade. we were very dehydrated from the previous day's activities, and apparantly, very sugar-deprived. pack up camp. hike out. did i mention that we had to pack out our poop? crapbags are fun...

our breakfast... mmmm!!

base camp. right next to a babbling brook. we filtered our water. look across the lake at the snow... that was our route yesterday.

a zoomed-in version of our route yesterday. pretty much, we went straight up the snow in the middle, around the rock peak in the center of the picture, over to the couloir which you can't see, then straight up to whitney which you can see just the tip of here. this was our view from base camp... looking back on what we did... it's amazing what your mind can tell your body to do when you want something bad enough!

scrambling down the ebersbacher ledges... which is very difficult to do with packs on. jason went down first then would spot me as i came down.

sean-paul helping gen down. again, easy hop up and down, but with packs, everything is difficult.

off the mountaineer's route and back onto the whitney portal trail.

one last picture. same as first picture... but now you appreciate it a bit more, don't you? we hitched a ride from the whitney trailhead back to our car, seeing as how the road to the trail head had opened on thursday. that saved us another 6 miles of walking on the road, or going back down the miserable scree in the ravine. i will definitely hike this mountain again. i would like to do it in one day though, just to say i can. but to sum up from the actual trailhead we gained 6,200 ft in 4.7 miles. from our car to the trailhead, i'm guessing we gained 2000 ft in 2-3 miles, which isn't as steep, but we had to go down one steep ravine and up to the other side, so it was a dramatic fall and rise in elevation from the get-go.

from base camp, i could see the peak and think "man! that's a long way up. that's straight up. we've got a long way to go." then after summitting, and getting back to base camp, i looked up at the peak and thought "man! that was a long way up, but HA! take that! silly mountain... 14,492 feet. pshaw. i could do that in my sleep."

start spreading the news...

2008-04-26T17:55:00.000-07:00

dah dah dah-da dah... i'm gonna be a part of it, new york, new york! it's hard to sing the song and type at the same time, so i thought i'd just type the song... and now, you're singing it too! what a busy couple of weeks (when you're through reading this, you'll pity me, i know)!! i went to new york city last weekend and had a great time! i traveled with my dear friend genevieve. we stayed with her grandparents (of sorts) who are serving a mission there. we arrived on friday afternoon, after working a night shift, and we wandered the streets. we went to time square, she took me to gucci and i was attacked by the security guard for touching a $4000 dress. ok, not really, but i'm sure i would've been if i touched anything! i definitely was out of place in my cargo pants, hoodie, and rei bag... then we went into abercrombie and fitch because it just smells fantastic in there and i met a wonderful young man... didn't catch is name, but i did manage to snap this photo of him and me together... we decided to date other people, but it could have been something wonderful!! his loss...

we made it to the natural history museum 45 minutes before they closed, so we didn't have to pay to get in. by then i was absolutely exhausted, having only slept on the plane for a few interrupted hours, so we went to bed early.

saturday was fun! we went to the statue of liberty viewing area, opted NOT to wait in the 3 hour line to GO to the statue, and went to ground zero instead. that was highly disappointing due to all the construction going on, but it was amazing to see, being as how i was once on top of buildings that are no longer there. then we went to the eiffel tower (really the empire state building, but i kept calling it the eiffel tower) where i met up with one of my favorite people in the entire world, sam. he drove all across 2 states just to see me! then we went to central park and threw a frisbee... gen watched... the "where's waldo" scene was a saturday afternoon in the park... crazy! i nearly forgot to mention that we got lost in the subway, but found again... i felt like a mouse in a maze... i was either going to get cheese or zapped at the end! i saw the lion king on broadway which was absolutely AMAZING! the costumes, dance, songs... everything, was just phenomenal. i'm so glad we drew that one out of the hat! (we couldn't decide between chicago, wicked, and the lion king. threw them in a hat...)

by sunday, we were kinda tired of walking, so we went to stake conference in new york in the bottom of the manhattan temple, where again, i felt a little out of place in my attire... but whatever... then we were able to visit the metropolitan museum of art... gen got to see her modern art (i don't appreciate that at all) and the older art (i forget the name) like picasso, degas, and such, and i got to see the roman and greek statues...

i had cheesecake everywhere we ate, and had some AMAZING pizza... why can't the west coast figure out pizza? i also had several hot dogs from the multiple hot dog stands on the corners... good food=happy sarah. this last photo was something we walked by... i thought it was hilarious...

DAYS!!

2008-04-15T04:04:00.000-07:00

i just wanted to infor you all that it is official... i'm going to days starting may 5! MARIA- heads up... that means i will still be sleeping during the day until MAY FIFTH... =o) i'll be charging on days! go me!

work

2008-04-08T09:35:00.000-07:00

the lady who makes my schedule at work had me fill out my master schedule for day shift! i'm going back to days in may! i will still be charging, and i will be sleeping at night! oh yeah!! does it get any better? hopefully i don't hate charging on days... it's been fine on nights because the people are amazing. on day shift, there are a few... oh, how do you say it... STRONGER personalities, if you will. we'll see... but who cares?! i'll be on day shift! i may still have to work a few nights here and there, but there are worse things in the world...

Moab revisited

2008-03-30T16:54:00.000-07:00

so i went to moab again this weekend! it was great fun. eric (my boyfriend?) wanted a random road trip, and i wanted an excuse to get away again, so i suddenly fell sick and had to leave town. the weather was beautiful we went to the san rafeal swell the first day, hiked little wild horse canyon (well, it wasn't so much a hike as it was a walk with a few rocks you had to climb over). then we went to moab and decided to go climbing. we tried one route and got royally trashed on it, so went to another one where i proceeded to completely dislodge my shoulder from its socket (yet again). so we were done climbing after that but we ate lunch then went hiking (well, walking with SOME uphill) to morning glory arch. then we had dinner in moab and drove home. it was lots of fun! except for the whole dislocation of my shoulder bit...

i heard chelsea's in labor... YAY!!!!! and i can't wait for the talent show on wednesday... someone will have to record it so i can see just how ridiculous we are... dad, i'm leaving that to you, as i'm sure you will be able to capture the whole effect.

white rim!

2008-03-22T23:06:00.000-07:00

so i just got back from the white rim trail in moab. that was the best time i've had since i kayaked in alaska last year. i really do have sores on my bum from the stupid seat and 100ish miles of riding on non-soft trails... thanks maria for lending me your bike (with no granny gear!!! have you ever tried biking up steep things without granny gear? it's fun... i HIGHLY recommend it) and thanks dad for lending your truck. i couldn't have done this without either of them!

the views were absolutely amazing. the personal battle was an unexpected challenge... seeing everyone in the group walk their bikes up certain hills (granted, i walked up hogback and hard scrabble) and me making it up all the way (without granny gear... just to remind you). the most scared i've ever been in my entire life (and i've done some crazy shit in my life) was riding down hogback, and then again coming down hard scrabble. i was pissed at myself for being so scared, but i rode the entire way! didn't walk on the switchbacks out of the canyon, and thoroughly enjoyed myself. the worst pain was getting back on the bike after lunch the second day, but after a half an hour and lots of screaming the butt goest numb again.

there is something truly majestic about being able to do things you love in beautiful places. i didn't know i loved biking so much!! i am most at peace when i am outside with good friends and beautiful surroundings... then again, who wouldn't be?

2008-03-11T00:17:00.000-07:00

karaoke night, formal night and hiking in catalina. of all the highlights, these are my favorites!

cruise highlights

2008-03-10T23:56:00.000-07:00

my favorite memories from the cruise:
1-genevieve's game show antics... knowing all the answers to the disney and sesame street showtunes
2-hiking in catalina with maria and gen
3-cruise food- buffet, dinner, etc
4-karaoke
5-hiking in catalina with maria and gen
6-meeting new people
7-karaoke
8-getting ready for formal night. 5 girls, one tiny bathroom and no hot water.
9-hiking in catalina with maria and gen
10-kayaking in catalina
11-playing ping-pong on the boat
12-karaoke
13-going up the stairs on the rocking boat
14-nighttime shows on the boat
15-karaoke
16-hanging out with my favorite roommate
17-hiking in catalina
18-battle of the sexes-maria not cheating in the spoon portion, and me running with some lady's dentures
19-spending time with my favorite sister
20-around the world ping-pong
21-massage on the cruise
22-karaoke
23-bartering taxi price to la bufadora in ensenada
24-REAL MEXICAN FOOD!
25-karaoke
it was lots of fun! i loved spending time with some of my favorite people in the world!

work... work... work...

2008-03-05T09:18:00.000-08:00

so i am working straight nights, which would be great, except for the fact that it's not. i love the people i work with on nights (lets face it, it takes special people to be able to pull off 12 hour shifts overnight) and the job is really good. even on busy nights... i just hate the night shift! i've lost 10 pounds and holding. -i know what you're thinking: she doesn't have 10 pounds to lose!- but miraculously, i've shed all my muscle mass! grrrrr... i took the night shift because there was a charge nurse position open that i wanted because it's the next step in my career. which brings me to my next point.
what is a 'charge nurse' you might ask. as a charge nurse i take only 2 really easy patients (as opposed to 5-6 hard ones) and i am basically everyone's go to person. if a nurse is behind with meds, blood, iv's, anything, i help them out. if there is an argument between cna's and rn's i have to sort it out (good thing i haven't had to employ my subtle but effective: "well, you're being a jack-ass and she's right, so deal with it or quit") but mostly i deal with the great influx of patients that happens at night. day shift discharges 7-12 patients/day and admits only 4-6. night shift fills that void and we admit 5-10 patients/night with fewer nurses which makes giving patients to nurses who are already behind loads of fun... i also have to be able to answer or find answers for everyone's questions about meds, procedures, "what would you do's" and so on. i don't charge every night i work. only 4-6 times a month. but it included a pay raise, and it looks good on my resume should i ever quit or move. also, it makes you sounds really cool when you say, "yeah, my sister/daughter/friend is a CHARGE nurse." it's good for your reputation. people might even kiss your feet!
i also recently accepted the safety council chair person position which would include a 5% pay raise if i had my bachelor's degree (i know dad, i can hear your thoughts from here). but this basically means i'm still in charge of the disaster preparedness (should a disaster ever hit the ever-so-righteous salt lake city) and i'm also in charge of organizing work parties. whoever thought of putting me in this position was WAY off! it also means i go to more meetings and do some jcaho-paperwork stuff, but i get a committee! a whole committee under me that i get to choose!
we have 2 charge nurses leaving from day shift. i've already spoken to my manager and shoved my foot in that door. if they are to be replaced, he knows he better put me there first otherwise i can be very annoying. he's awesome. he's going to try to work with me to get me off of night shift, but a lot depends on staffing needs, which i understand. i told him i'd do what he needs me to do, but i REALLY want to go back to days!!

Joining the bandwagon...

2008-02-20T02:48:00.000-08:00

so i've decided that i love chelsea's blog page, and maria's... might as well make a sissy page! i feel i keep up to date well enough with those of you i want to keep up to date with, but since i'm now working the night shift, and tonight happens to be INSANELY slow, i thought i'd write up a thing or two.
i'm incredibly excited for both of my brothers! the one i used to fight with all the time is engaged! woohoo! go ned! and the other one is having his first kid. i'm going to be an aunt again! let's not forget my favorite sister who just finished a five day cruise with me! then, of course, there's mom and dad who made me who i am today...
winter is a great season! i went snowshoeing last saturday to lake blanche with some great friends. we made good time and enjoyed this beautiful thing called "nature." i had a 74 year old patient the other night who hikes that trail 4-5 times a year. i hope i'm still doing things i love when i'm that age. if i'm not, i hope i'm crazy and streaking down the halls of the nursing home.