It's a Proven Fact: Friendships form out of food related activities.

We all know it. I love food and every aspect of it. I enjoying eating it, cooking it, reading about it, watching it, (insert any other verb in front of the word food, and honestly, it's probably true). But there's a reason as to why I'm so obsessed (too strong of a word?) about food...

Because it brings people together. I like to think loving all varieties of food as a prerequisite to becoming my friend. If I can sit down and have an hour conversation with you all about food and neither of us end up snoring by the end of the conversation, there's a pretty good chance that our friendship will be long-lasting.

But now I'm getting off topic. The reason I bring this up is because on of my roommate's friends, I found out, loves to cook. Maybe even more than me. Shocking, I know. So we decided to spend all of Saturday baking holiday presents and some cookies for each other. I think throughout the duration of the day we made, breakfast burritos, goat cheese stuffed figs wrapped in bacon topped with her homemade jam, paleo coconut chocolate bars, failed attempt at hard candy which was later remedied to be perfect, and candied nuts that are ridiculously good. It's better described as an orgasm in your mouth.....times 1000. However, it wasn't just the food that brought us together or the 1000 piece puzzle we finished. It was the 10 hours we spent together while we were doing all of that. Sometimes you don't realize how much you talk with someone until you really spend time with them. So not only do I have a new friend, but I have an insane cooking buddy who is going to give me some of her homemade naan and tikka masala to try this week. Free food is also a perk of being friends with fellow foodies.

Yes, I cook a lot but sometimes I try to do other things. Lets take yesterday for example. Before I had to go to work, my roommate and I decided to try and hike the royal arch in Boulder, again. It's a quick hike which is why I tend to lean that way when I want to go outside but don't have a lot of time. When we got there, we figured the snow would be melted because it was 55 degrees and had been at that temperature for a few days now. But I guess the mountains like to think differently and make our lives that much more difficult. We were hiking in mud, ice skating everywhere because, as you know, you don't salt or sand hiking trails, and the wind was so strong that I was literally falling backwards bursting out in spurts of laughter every minute. Although the weather, I guess I could say, sucked, we decided to push on. This was until we hit a beautiful chain and sign that sign that loudly spoke to the words: DO NOT PASS. To this day, I'm not quite sure if we were actually upset or relieved that we couldn't go any further. For the sake of this story, I will say pissed. So we decided to take revenge. Christmas is next week, we don't have a tree, I'm Jewish so I really don't need one, and I don't want to spend the money on one for one day of a holiday I'm not even brought up to celebrate. On the other hand, I love Christmas as a whole and the joyous festivus that is the holiday of Christmas (that sentence was terrible, but I'm keeping it). So my roommate and I found this pine tree that was being trimmed of it's branches, probably because it was blocking the trail. Although it  wasn't a 6 foot tree, it was a branch, with living pine needles, had branches, and smelled like sap. Henceforth, these two branches we found became our "Charlie Brown Christmas Trees" We figured, Boulder took our hiking trail away so we are stealing your branches. There may have been some odd looks on our way down but it's because they are jealous of our brilliant idea. Because now, those branches are leaned up against our wall with ornaments on them and presents underneath.

I think that this time of the year isn't about presents or money but the ways in which you cherish it. Spending time cooking with friends, listening to music, laughing, making memories; those are the ways to spend the holidays. Be happy for what you're given and take advantage of it. No One's life has a specific path you're supposed to follow. You're entire future could change in a matter of minutes. So live in the moment, don't worry about the past because it's already happened, and enjoy what your life is giving you now, because the way you utilize those minutes and seconds, that's what will determine your future.

Happy Holidays Everyone! <3

The Crag Life: Broomfield Edition?

So this blog seemed like a really good idea at the time, mostly because I was excited to live in Boulder and could tell everyone from home about all of my spectacular journeys.

Well, clearly that moment of glory was short lived because I had to move back home right after I found a good job and was starting to meet people. But life has a funny way with life and there's reasons behind everything, right? I'm starting to think that there's no such thing as bad luck, but just a detour on the way to happiness. Luckily I have some amazing friends that have taught me that I have been helping people my whole life to become happy and now it's my turn and all I have to do is sit back and watch it fall into place.

And right now, I think it's beginning to...

I have finally moved back to Colorado, with no job, no friends (with the exception of my roommates), and a lot less money (also known as anxiety). But even though I have to start from scratch, I know this was the right move for me. I live in a beautiful house with three friends, I am back in foodie heaven, and now have the ability to really figure out if I know what I want in the future. Although I can't do any sort of sports for a few more weeks, I am still trying to get out and enjoy the outdoors as much as I possibly can. Even if that means taking photos of friends enjoying the new boulder problems or just going on a short hike enjoying the beauty I am surrounded by every single day.

I don't really have much more exciting news to enlighten all of you with mostly because it's my fourth day here. But one thing I can say is the weather is by far the most incredible aspect. The last three days it's been 65 degrees and sunny and tomorrow it's supposed to be -3 during the night (okay, that part I don't enjoy so much) But after talking to multiple Coloradoans, the weather here is unpredictable. We can have a 3 foot blizzard during January and the week after, it could be 70 and sunny which would explain those photos of people skiing in nothing but their underwear. (Or those people could just be insane)

I can't wait to see where this journey takes me....as long as it's not back to the operation table. I've had enough of those in the last 2 years.

May the world surprise you, enlighten you, and cause you to dream <3

So this one time, in Boulder...

I actually went climbing!

Yes, I live in Colorado so I should be climbing every day. No, I don't actually do that. Yes, I regret it.

Now that we got that out of the way, I will go into a detailed description of my second outdoor, but first top roping experience in Boulder. (Don't worry, it's not going to be detailed...there was some rock, some rope, some people, and some gear. That's about as detailed as I will get)

Up in Boulder Canyon, which is down the street from me, but near the Nederlands (which is located at the top of the Canyon), there is some sweet climbing with grades ranging from 5.6+ to 5.12+, which is set up for sport or top rope, which is AWESOME! The best part about climbing in Boulder is that the majority of climbs have bolts all the way up or two rings at the top of the climb to put two quickdraws and a rope and be done with it. (The Gunks should really learn from them) However, to get to these climbs, there was quite an approach, and that included crossing a raging river. But don't worry, there was a huge log to cross, but did I mention I have HORRIBLE balance? Don't get your hopes up, I didn't fall in but I was shaking more than a chihuahua on a cold day. It took me about 5 minutes to cross this log, and it had branches to hold onto on the way across and I was on my knees crawling like I was going to die (which I didn't seeing that I'm writing this blog entry now) Once we all crossed the log, we took a 15-20 minutes approach up to some beautiful crag. There were so many people there but it was just such a positive group of people; everyone smiling and laughing with their dogs and kids. There was a woman there, who I thought was 28, was celebrating her 40th birthday (Yeah, I'm really bad at age), and everyone in her group was wearing a shirt where on the back it had numbers 1-40 and boxes under each number. When I asked her what she was doing, she explained that for her 40th birthday, she was doing 40 pitches. All of us stood there with our mouths wide open because that is SO hard to do in just one day. But she had her husband, kids, and friends, set up multiple routes and she would just climb them over and over again. She was such a badass, I hope that I am just like her when I'm 40 (And I may be stealing that idea for my 23rd birthday)

So after all of us watched her in envy, we got on our first climb, which I can't remember the name of which is slightly making me depressed. But throughout the day, we got in a 5.7, 5.8, and 5.9, and some people in my group did a 5.10b which i knew I wasn't capable of which made me sad and wanting to become more badass at climbing. At one point in the day, when my friend was letting me down, she wasn't really paying attention and let me down way too fast and I swung out and smacked my back into the rock next to me. I slightly freaked out since my biggest fear is falling but I felt bad because she was horrified so I pretended like it was no big deal (but it was).

Around 2:30, we saw clouds overcasting the mountains and we decided to bail because we didn't want to have to desend the mountain on wet rock. My roommate and I decided instead of crossing the log again, to cross the actual river. There was a rope that went across so you could hold on and walk so I thought, why not? I rolled up my pants, as high as humanly possible and started walking. The water was freezing because the water rushing down is mostly coming from the snow that's melting off the top of the mountain, but after climbing it felt amazing until I got to the middle of the stream and the rapid hit me and threw me back. Even though I was still holding onto the rope, water went halfway up my body, making the whole, rolling my pants up, pointless.

On our way back into town, which took about 10 minutes, we decided to stop for coffee and walk around a little bit. It was that moment I realized how much I love Boulder. The fact that I can go climbing, go into town, and come home all within a few hours is perfection. Everything is in such close proximity, sometimes it's just flabbergasting. Everyone says that you never leave Boulder because everything you could possibly want is here. As stupid as I thought that statement was, it's 100% true. You want to climb, kayak, go tubing, horseback ride, bike, run, shop, eat, bowl, go to a movie, watch an outdoor movie, go to carnivals, or a farmers market? Don't worry, it's all in Boulder. You want good weather? You want sun? Yeah, it's in Boulder.

I don't know. Climbing, good food, really nice people? Seems like Boulder is a pretty amazing place to me. I can't wait to have more days like these.

It was like being in a Western Movie, but in really really slow motion.

I have a tendency to procrastinate, if you haven't noticed. I think about all of the blog posts I want to write, but then my brain and hands are saying, "Screw that, I don't want to be put to use."

So, today, I'm forcing myself to update every single thing I've done over the last month in three separate posts. And this will get done, no matter how much my brain and fingers throb by the end of it.

About 3 weeks ago, I was sitting in my living room thinking about how I live in Colorado, the outdoor capital (I don't know if that's true), and that I don't take full advantage of what it has to offer. I know, I live here, I have all the time in the world and if I want to sit in my bed all day and do nothing, then lazy I shall be. But after doing some hard research (I Googled), I found a plethora of ranches in Boulder and Estes Park that offer horseback riding. I'm not a huge fan of horseback riding but I have done it once before and I didn't fall off the horse, so I like to call myself a professional. One ranch, by the name of Sombrero Ranch, offered a 4 hour horseback riding in Estes Park with a breakfast halfway through. Food? and horseback riding? I'm sold....mostly because food was involved. My roommate and I decided to go together and do something different. We quickly regretted it when we realized we needed to get up at 5am to drive 45 minutes to Estes to find out it was about 50 degrees or lower. I have never been so cold in Colorado, and yes, I know, wait until the winter. But the winter is supposed to be cold, so I'm prepared for that.

We thought doing this would be a fun way to meet new people from Colorado. There was only one other woman in our group, and where was she from? Manhattan. Seriously? You couldn't even give us a woman from a different region of the country? So the whole meeting new people didn't really work out. But she was fun to listen to because we got a piece of that Northeast attitude and it made us both smile the whole time.

Stephanie, our guide for the trip took us to meet our horses. My horse's name was Cheech (Chong was there but didn't come along). I can confidently say that my horse was by far the best behaved, thank god because if you didn't know, horses don't have seatbelts so the safety issue was quite scary for me. Me, my roommate, and Manhattan lady (my nickname for her), were ready to do some trotting until Stephanie told us that unfortunately we could only have our horses walk, at a Very. Slow. Pace. Honestly, it was kind of painful to go that slow.

About an hour and a half in, we went to these benches and outdoor kitchen where we were given pancakes, sausage, eggs, juice, and coffee. COFFEE!!! It was the most magical part of the day. But this is where the entire trip got exciting. We had to tie up our horses and Stephanie's horse, Mango, had issues and it got caught in the rope and starting bucking and got loose. Yes, a huge horse got loose in the woods. The next thing I know, the horse is running towards our table where we were eating. We all didn't move because we didn't think it was real until Mango ran into another table (luckily it was empty), then we bolted from ours and watched the horse run around the kitchen and all over the place. I swear, that horse was on some sort of drug. As scary as it was, it was definitely the most entertaining part of the ride.

After breakfast, we continued on the trail for another 3 hours, seeing the beautiful view of one of the famous 14ers (14,000' mountain), Longs Peak and other scenic views of Estes Park. Towards the end of the ride, clouds were hovering over us and they weren't the most pleasant looking clouds. They were more like, if you don't get back soon, hell is about to break loose on you and your horse clouds. Luckily, we made it back to the ranch right before the rain started. But let me tell you, as soon as I got off that horse, my legs felt like I was still on it. I couldn't bend them, my butt hurt so much that I could barely sit down for the next three days.

Even though we couldn't trot and the ride was kind of boring, I loved my horse, I loved the people I was with and I loved the fact that I tried something new. I probably wouldn't do it again but it was a learning experience, and what did I learn? Four things:

1. Never ride Mango
2. Horses are sweet animals if you get a good horse.
3. You won't feel your ass for days after you ride a horse
4. I love breakfast

Cheech and I. We became best friends.

Well this post is going to be a whole lot of miscellaneous crap...

Every single day that something exciting or different happens, I say to myself, "I really can't foget to post this on my blog, otherwise I'm going to have to write an extensive post in a few full of everything I've done over the last few weeks."

A few weeks later

So here I am, about to write as much as I can remember because I was so incredibly lazy and dull that I didn't feel like posting anything because it took effort.

Instead of posting about what I've done, I'm just going to tal about whatever I feel like and whatever I bring up is what this post will be about. So here we go:

The last few weeks of living in Colorado have been an experience. I celebrated my first 1 month of being here last week by paying over $800 in bills. Yay for celebratory funds!! (not) I got a job and quit within a week because as much as I know money is a key component of being able to stay out here, my happiness with my job comes first to me. I promised myself that the one thing I wouldn't allow myself to do while living in Boulder is accept a job that makes me miserable and as much as I liked the people I worked with, the job was definitely not for me and it wasn't enough money for me to survive. That being said, I am keeping my head up and continuing the search with a lot of optimism.

I wish the rest of this post was going to be about me being outside and be the wilderness girl I've always wanted to be but I'm sad to say that is not the case. This is mostly due to the fact that I have been incredibly lazy. I did finally have my first outdoor bouldering experience with a new person I met! I surpassed my biggest fear of topping out by actually topping out 4 problems between 8 and 15 feet up. I was shaking like a cold chihuahua but I did it and was so proud. Can I do it again? Oh God, I hope so. But we shall see. Tomorrow I am finally going rope climbing again outdoors since the last time was the second week I got here haha.

However, I have gone hiking a little bit at Flagstaff Mountain which I didn't even know was 10 minutes from my apartment and it's absolutely amazing! I referred to it as a little kid on a jungle gym because there's so many boulder problem and so many just random rock formations that you can climb on and see an incredible 360 degree view. I could probably be up there for days on end (if only camping were allowed there. What a let down) But you should see how steep this mountain is and watching the bikers go all the way up every single day is incredible and truly inspiring so see women and men of all ages making it up this cliff. I see their struggle and I have the same face when I'm just walking up a steep flight of stairs. Some people really just amaze me at their constant effort in achieving a goal. It really puts some things into perspective. I will be on Flagstaff probably every weekend exploring until I get sick of it, which I will tell you now, is never going to happen.

Colorado really is an incredible place and if you love being outside, exploring the unknown, getting a taste of different ethnic foods, beers, and coffees. It's the place to be if you want to see smiles all around. Boulder is a land that is separate from the rest of the world. I honestly don't think you will ever experience anything like Boulder. If you really want my honest opinion, I don't think I fit in here. Yet. I still am not used to everything and how different it is from the east coast. When I am fully infused into the whole Boulder experience, I am confident I will never be leaving ever again.

So many memories already, and so many more adventures to come.

Bring it on, Colorado. Bring it on.

(Photos to come in next post)

Running into the Unknown

I have a strong disliking for running.

Let me elaborate on this hatred.

I would prefer to sit with shorts and a tshirt in -20 degree weather than go running. I would prefer to get stung by a jellyfish than go running. I would rather lift 190 pound deadlifts than go running for five minutes. Moral of the story? Running SUCKS. Who wants to be panting and sweating and feel like they're on their final minutes of life?

Well....apparently a lot of people.

However, today was a day where I am going to comletely contradict every single word I said above. Today, I actually enjoyed running. A lot. (No this is not a typo)

Yesterday, when I was on my usual adventure of driving around pretending I know where I'm going when I'm really just wasting all of my gas, I drove too far down Baseline Drive and ended up near 55th Ave and passed a sign that said Bobolink Trailhead. Since I have this uncanny infatuation with hiking and new trails, I made a sharp turn into the parking lot and realized there is a 3.8 mile trail that goes to South Boulder Creek. From what I could see from the trailhead, it was like the trail went into the unknown, which of course, intrigued me. So I made a promise to myself that I would run that trail today, which I did (And I am damn proud if I do say so myself)

First, let me explain that today's weather forcast is 82 degrees and sunny. Not one cloud in the sky. And knowing this, what did I wear? Black yoga pants and a black tshirt. No, I'm not emo. I'm just stupid. So talk about sweat. Okay, we won't talk about it, but I did...a lot.

The trail, was alluring; angelic. Wetlands to my left, the Flatirons to my right, bridges, small fast-moving rapids, plethora of colors from the grass, flowers, and trees all around me. It's as if  I just never wanted to stop running. Every single person I passed on the path smiled at me or waved. There were women riding their bikes with their dogs running alongside. There were couples riding their bikes together. In a way, it was like experiencing a moving phototgraph. If I didn't stop a million times to take photographs, I honestly don't know if I would've ever stopped running (until I reached the end of the trail, that is). As a whole, I ran about 3.5 miles, which is quite peculiar since running here should be harder than back home in NJ because of the altitude, but at home, I could barely run 3 miles. I guess when you are distracted by views that are mesmerizing, the distance is just a number.

There are just days that completely put me in a state of awe. I drove down the street to find an art store and end up finding a trailhead that gives me the push to get up every morning and run. I think when surprises like that happen, it's the world throwing a curveball your way. Every day is a new surprise if you go out and allow yourself to find it. Happiness, to me, is a scavenger hunt. You know what you're looking for, but you're not going to get anywhere if you don't go and actually look for it. So when you have those days where you are bored and hate that you have nothing to do, you can only blame yourself. Go out. Drive. Anywhere. Just go and find a new surprise. Who knows? It could be right out your back door.

That being said...I challenge you. I challenge you to go out one day with no intentions, no plans, no work to do. Go to the mountains, a park, your driveway, I don't care. And just do something. Explore, bring a book, bring music. Go running, write, play music, enjoy the view. I highly doubt you'll be disappointed.

The Royal Arch: It had a crown and everything!

Well this post is ridiculously overdue.

Go ahead, hate on me for not updating.

No, but really. Honestly, nothing all that exciting has happened these last few days. I had an amazing opportunity to work an event so I have been doing tha the past 2 days and tomorrow, I've joined a gym, gone there, applied for jobs, and, well, that's about it. Climbing has been nonexistant mainly because I think I pulled a tendon in my left ring finger so I have it taped up and decided to actually try and stay off of it for a week. Clearly I don't think things through first, because I always get hurt.

BUT! What I can talk about is me and Paul's first hike. It was a 3.6 mile roundtrip hike up to the Royal Arch which is this insane rock formation that is just a huge arch that overlooks the entire city. It kind of reminds me of the arch from The Giant Rope Swing youtube video (which, if you haven't seen it yet, I suggest you watch it...NOW. Pause reading my blog, go to Youtube, crank up the volume and watch.)

The hike, located in Chautauqua Park, also where you find the infamous Flatirons, was about 1200 feet up in elevation but at the top we were at a total of about 6,800 feet. Here's the kicker. Again, I totally forgot about the altitutde. Well, I didn't forget, but for some reason, I didn't think it would affect me. Welp, I was wrong. Typically I can hike 15 miles in a day with tons of hills, heat, humidity, and a pack on my back, and really not have any major issues. Well about 1 mile up this hike, I was dying! I mean, stopping to catch my breath every few hundred feet, chugging water, no humidity, and a lot of steep stairs. It's crazy what the altitutde will do to you. Again, like everything I did in Boulder, the hike was absolutely beautiful, despite the ridiculous amount of stairs, heat, and ridiculous scrambles we had to go through.

 Flatirons

 

Stairs to Hell

Once we got up to the top of the mountain and finally reached the Royal Arch (there is actually another summit that is called the "false summit" because everything  gets there all excited to be done and you find out you have another huge hill to actually climb before you can see anything) So after our quick, yet necessary, moaning and groaning about the fact that it was scorching hot and we weren't done was over, we continued on and finally, after about 15 more minutes, we saw the Royal Arch, and holy shit was it incredible. The view was surreal, the arch was as if it were a frameand the view of Boulder was the art that was placed in the middle of it. Kind of like stepping into a painting. There were perfect sitting rocks everywhere so Paul and I sat down (I found  this perfect little spot for my butt. I never wanted to leave), and enjoyed the view for a while amongst a ton of chipmunks. It was truly unbelievable, even if it was a short but brutal hike.

It really does blow my mind every time how absolutely beautiful nature is. The simplicity of the mountains, and the serenity of all the nature surrounding. Boulder is truly an amazing place. I haven't had to to really explore outside the city yet, but I do have a list, and I will accomplish that list no matter what.

"It's the Moments that make the Journey"

Estes Park Explored like Lewis and Clark

Before I even post about my last two days of inexplicable adventures, I just want to say something that I think everyone should think about:  

There is someone out there that has helped me realize what I need to do in life and has shown me that you venture on journeys because there is a reason behind it. There is a meaning for the decisions that you make, and even if you don’t recognize them now, you will. “You have to measure yourself at least once.” – Into the Wild

I know I’m no expert in moving or figuring out where you should go in life, but I think the one piece of advice I can say confidently is; explore your options, take risks, and make mistakes, because those are the factors in determining where your life will take you. You can come up with every excuse in the world as to why you can’t live your dream, but the only real thing stopping you is yourself. Every problem can be worked around. A plethora of opportunities are waiting and the only thing you really have to do is go and dive in head first.

So, sincerely, thank you (you know who you are), for helping me realize this and allowing me to share it with everyone that I know is at a phase in their life where they are just as stuck as I am.

*** Two Days Later ***

About 5 minutes ago, I reread the piece above so I could remember where to continue on my blog, and for some god forsaken reason, my memory has been obstructed by the views of the mountains and the delicious food I have been constantly consuming (I really just don’t want to admit that I can’t remember what I did 3 days ago). So I’m going to eliminate one of those days and talk about the only thing I can remember: My trip to Estes Park.

Paul (my roommate), my friend, and I had the intention of going to Estes Park to venture into the mountains in search of the boulders that the Estes is famous for. What we didn’t account for was the weather; but let’s back up to the beginning of the day. The drive up there was about an hour, taking Route 36 up to Rocky Mountain National Park. But here’s the thing about Colorado that always makes me end up in a state of awe. Boulder is a busy city. Not a New York City, I’m going to get hit by a cab while attempting to hold my cell phone, beeper (do those even exist anymore?), ipad, ipod, and laptop while jay walking across one of the busiest streets, busy. It’s busy in the sense that there’s always something going on. It’s almost as if Boulder is never at a stand-still. Every day you will see bikers in groups of 20 riding along Pine Street or musicians and jugglers occupying the areas on Pearl Street, entertaining the children that are holding their ice cream cones in one hand and holding the hand of their parent in the other. Food carts and farmer’s market filled with people from as early as 8am. You can’t turn a corner here and not find something going on. It’s consistent movement, in a mellow way, 24/7/365. So here is my sales pitch to you on Boulder: *said in a Mr. Moviefone tone of voice* “If you love the outdoors and want to get away from the rambunctious noise of the city but still want liveliness in your everyday life, Boulder is the perfect place for you! Climb a mountain, grab some food at a local coffee shop, and listen to street musicians all in one day!” (Did I convince you to move?)

Do you love to deviate away from a topic? Well, obviously I do. So let me get back to my original purpose of that whole paragraph. Boulder may be a busy city, but if you drive on Route 36 or any highway for that matter, within 10 minutes, you are in the middle of nowhere. You have zero cell phone service; you see no form of civilization. It’s just mountains. Pure beauty for miles and miles. Something you can’t find in New Jersey. As we drove, we saw ranches, elk, and mountains. The temperature dropped by the minute and you could start to see snow at the peak of the mountains in the distance. No matter how long I live here, I know that the landscape in Colorado will never not take my breath away.

We finally arrived to the Estes Park welcome rock, which is, of course, where we stopped to take our obligatory touristy photo in front of it so we (or maybe just I) could post it on every possible social networking site available.

Our original plan was to go to Lumpy Ridge where there was supposed to be some easy and harder climbs so all of us could be satisfied. We were told by a worker at the outdoor store that just look for the twin owl rocks and that’s where we have to go. Strangely enough, there are these two huge rock formations that look EXACTLY like two owls looking at each other. We were all in shock that we actually noticed them because we aren’t the most observant people. But when we saw the owls we clearly stopped to be tourists again, took pictures, and continued on to the entrance where we saw a sign that gave us the depressing news that the area was closed due to raptors (Yes, I immediately thought Jurassic Park and wanted to make a raptor sound so badly but I really need to keep my friends, so I withheld). We then decided to turn around and go back to the guy from the store and ask for the next best option, which was Endo Valley. We headed down the main street of Estes Park to a gate where we paid to enter a dirt path that took us to a campsite where we could park and hike a path to what would be the bouldering area. What we didn’t realize was that even though it was 70 degrees in Boulder, that doesn’t mean it’s 70 degrees an hour away. That being said, it was 55 degrees and the rock was still wet from the snow that melted from the day before. And as we continued walking up the mountain, our breathing became a lot heavier due to the altitude and exactly what we feared happened: snow started to trickle down. I’m pretty sure that within that 3 hour period from being in Boulder and getting to that point, we had experienced all 4 seasons in one day. About 20 minutes later, my Sanuks were soaked along with my socks and as my breathing was becoming heavier and heavier, we hit a foot of snow with more coming down. That’s when we realized that bouldering may be out of the question. I decided to back out of any bouldering that day, even if rock was dry, because I really don’t want to reinjure myself trying to climb something I’m not capable of. So my friend and Paul tried two climbs but with the rock being wet and the weather just not doing it for us, we decided to bail and just explore town for a little bit. We realized we have all the time in the world to go back, so it’s just going to have to be an adventure we take on another day.

 

(Please excuse how awful i look in this photo. I swear I'm much better looking)

When we got back to Boulder, and after the hour long nap I took in the car (Those winding roads and quiet mountains sure can put a girl to sleep), my friend and I decided to grab our crash pads and head into Boulder Canyon to see what we could get in last minute because everything was mostly dry. We first headed to this hiking trail that had these angelic red rock cliffs. They weren’t really boulder(able), but we still put on our shoes because they stick better and climbed up some 30-40 foot rocks. The view was what made the easy climb worth it and being outside at any point in the day overlooking the city is just inexplicable. We then moved on to a boulder that was on the side of Boulder Canyon Road that we saw in a guidebook. The climbs would’ve been good, but the landing spot wasn’t the safest and the beginning footholds were wet which we didn’t consider. And to top it off, it started raining, so we just decided this wasn’t our day and went home.

 

 

Some may say that day was a complete bust and some may say it was a waste of time. But I saw it as another travel experience. Another day to explore what surrounds me. I may have not been able to climb, but I saw 4 seasons in one day, I sat on a 40-60 foot rock formation that overlooked the entire city from a 360 degree view, I was able to spend the whole day outside with great people, and I can cross Estes Park off my bucket list (not for climbing of course).

 

I like to see the glass half full. If one day isn’t the way you expected it to be, that just gives you the opportunity to make another day that much better. You have your whole life to do the things you want, but if something doesn’t turn out the way you wanted, then turn it into something even better.

Jumping Jehosaphat!!

I bet you read this title and were so curious as to why I would name this post "Jumping Jehosaphat." Well, there is no reason. Actually, I'm not even sure myself as to why I chose it. But it was going through my mind at the moment and I thought, "why not!?"

But now I feel obligated to give you a lesson as to what the origin of this phrase is; so here we go:

In Jerusalem, there was a wealthy king that went by the name of, you guessed it! Jehosaphat. One day, an army from the land of Koopastan, came to take away his princess and mountain of gold coins. But Jehosahat wouldn't stand for that! So he challenged the most fearless man of the Koopastan army to a one-on-one combat. Right before the battle, Jehosaphat took down some powerful mushrooms (yeah, we are all thinking the same thing). Legend has it, that when he consumed the mushrooms, he doubled in size and leaped onto the Koopastanian man and crushed him. Apparently, the mushrooms had some sort of chemical property that made is muscles grow and made him have a powerful strength. From then on, songs were created by the townspeople about him being "Jumping Jehosaphat"

The End.

As much as I'm sure you thoroughly enjoyed that educational lesson about something you never actually cared about, I will continue on to talk about my adventures in Boulder (which i'm sure you also don't really care for). Which, for the last 2 days, have kind of been non-existant.

Here's the problem. When you are someone that enjoys doing things outside, especially if they involve rock, and it's not sunny or dry, you really can't do much. So for the last two days, that has pretty much been my life.

Tuesday: So tuesday was actually a beautiful day. Sun was shining, rock was dry, and it was warm out. Problem: Everyone in my apartment went to Denver that day, which left me in Boulder with no one to climb with (I haven't gotten to the point where I have made friends yet) So I used my day to run errands. You know, get my oil changed, pick up household items. Every possible thing you don't want to do because it's boring, I got done for the most part. But I realized how nice it was out and that I couldn't waste it inside. So I grabbed my Osprey pack, water, a journal, and some music and headed off to Boulder Canyon for a walk. I went to the exact location where I went climbing the day before and there was a paved path where pretty much everyone goes running or biking. I'm sure the trail goes for miles on end, but I decided to go about 4 miles just to get an idea of the area and I knew it was going to rain later on in the day. But it was beautiful. Even with cars on my left zooming by on the Boulder Canyon Highway, it still felt like I was out in the wilderness with nothing around. Birds were chirping, wind blowing, climbers everywhere, sun brightly shining giving me the lovely sunburn that I have today. To this day, it just blows my mind that something this scenic still exists and there are people that don't even want to get out of their house to explore it. They would rather explore the inside of a mall (Something I will never understand).

 

 



Wednesday: So yesterday sucked. Not in a, "I hate boulder, I want to leave" way. But a, it's raining all day and thundering and lightning and I can't bike anywhere nor do I feel like moving.
My original plan was to go with our friend to Estes Park and get in some climbing or even just check out the place because it's supposed to be an incredible spot for crag and just outdoor activities. But time got the best of us, because I got a dresser on Craigslist (best. buy. ever) and was applying for jobs that we just decided to lay off Estes and go another day if we had time. So the way in which I occupied the rest of my day was kind of ridiculous. I chilled in my room for a few hours and then got bored but it was downpouring so I returned a book of mine to REI and then came back and my friend decided to take me to the outside of my apartment building and we used the facade to learn how to place gear, set anchors, and belay from the anchor (The things rock climbers do when they're bored). By the time all of that ended, it was about 3pm and decided to go climbing a little bit later on at The Spot. The Spot is a rock gym that is strictly bouldering. There are high ball problems and low ball, top outs and some that were not, and even a crack that was really sick. The grading system was a little bit off to me but I actually had a pretty good time. I have a feeling a lot of my friends will be made there. However, I am beyond sore because I don't know the last time I actually attempted to boulder. The remainder of my night consisted of me, a book, almond milk ice cream, and Netflix. Be jealous of my overly-thrilling night.

Well this is the most mundane post of all time if I've ever seen one. But the next week is supposed to be in the high 70s and sunny every single day. So be prepared for hopefully many pictures of rocks, the mountains, and me on my awesome new bike which i haven't even had a chance to ride yet (bummed)

NOTHING to do with Boulder but I may have just died laughing.

 

That awkward moment when you've fallen down on a trampoline and bitches won't stop jumping so you can't get up       

 

 

 

*cough cough* Nancy, Joe, Mandi, Marc, and Roy

This is technically my backyard. Perfection. Pictures from Climbing, Day 1

Boulder Balderdash at it's Finest

The pain. The horrible pain that I am enduring right now is actually soreness throughout my entire body that I am classifying as an incredibly uncomfortable pain because that’s what it feels like.

Why, you may ask? Well, if you know me well enough, you already know the answer:

Rough sex.

And if you REALLY know me, then you know that’s the biggest lie ever.

It’s actually from taking on my first Boulder, Colorado outdoor climbing experience. Which was an incredible day to say the least, but this uncomforting feeling is really starting to bother me as I enjoy my morning protein overnight oats that I made.

Let me start from the beginning. So, Sunday a friend came to visit us for about 10-15 days (we don’t really know yet) and the plan was to spend the next week or so climbing outside and such but the weather forecast is one that is enjoyed by no one: rain on top of rain with a chance of rain. But it hasn’t rained the last three days so I’m starting to think that the weather is lying and wants us to be lazy, which I refuse to do since that was my life the last 3 weeks. So after I registered my bike at the police station (yes, you actually have to register your bike) I decided to take our friend on a drive through Boulder Canyon and show him one of the main reasons I moved here: the beer. No, but really, the incredible mountains the endless climbing opportunities. About ¾ up the mountain, it’s about 12:45 at the time, we look at each other and realize it’s not raining and we are staring at the mountains thinking, “Why in the world aren’t we on those mountains right now!?” That being said, I turned the car around, almost drove off a cliff (Seriously, but that’s another story), and headed back down into town to grab our stuff. We bought a guide book (a TERRIBLE guidebook, which I will be returning today), grabbed our rope, rack, gear, and food, and headed out the door all within 20 minutes. The best thing about living here compared to Jersey is that I had to wake up at 6:30am to meet people to drive an hour to the Gunks to climb maybe 2 or 3 routes if I was lucky and pay money that I didn’t have to climb rock! ROCK! It’s nature! Why am I paying money to climb something that no one actually had to create. The things that blow my mind. Here, it’s nothing like that. I woke up at 8am on my own, no alarm, ate, ran errands, went for a drive, ate, got to the mountain by 1:45pm (because I live 8 minutes away…yep, be jealous), got a huge climb in, waited no line, and had to pay NOTHING. The way it SHOULD be.

Before I even get to the climb, let me just say, this was probably the worst day of climbing personally I’ve EVER had. I was such a disaster and couldn’t climb anything and even hiking down the mountain took me double the amount of time. Because everyone else is doing this…I’m blaming the altitude.

We get to the mountain and do our approach hike which wasn’t very long and are trying to look at this terrible guide book and we decide to do a route that was marked as a 5.7 just to pretty much get acquainted with the area. We thought it was one pitch and would take us about 45 minutes. Yeah, no. It was 3 pitches, slab climbing, and took us almost 3 hours. Oh, did I mention I’ve NEVER done slab climbing? Reason #1 I’m in so much pain.

Pitch #1: The first half of this pitch was pretty much a scramble so I felt like a pro when I sped right up it. (Don’t judge…small things make me happy). The second half was when I realized that it was slab. I have no sense of balance….NONE! So to attempt slab was a challenge in itself and then trying to reach a move that was not in my arm span was another lovely challenge I had to endure. And the piece of protection that I needed to clean was all the way to my right so I knew that if I fell, I would have lovely scratches across my body and would get a nice swing in. Luckily after learning to breathe and take my time, I fixed my footwork and got up to the first anchor. As I lay back on the three pieces of equipment with nothing underneath me but about 100 feet of rock, I may have started freaking out in my head. I mean, who wouldn’t!? You have these three cams placed in rock and they are holding your life by a clove hitch. Safe? Absolutely. Scary as hell? Oh, you don’t even know. But then I realized that I was getting a tan up there so I just laid back, belayed my partner on the next pitch and took in the sun while singing and screaming from the pain my shoes were giving me.

Pitch #2: This is where the back pain started to come in. Belaying my partner for that second pitch was fine but because I was laying back for so long, my back just started to kill me and I kept moving around trying to fix it but I knew it was a lost cause. That and I realized I got sunburned #problemsofapalegirl. This pitch was by far the hardest for me. I thought being tiny it would help but it definitely didn’t. As soon as my rope was taken up, I tried to clean the anchor but I have actually never done that so trying to put a huge cordelette onto my harness was pretty much a joke. And it took me way too long, so by that time, my feet were killing and numb and I was exhausted and  I hadn’t even started climbing yet. But the beginning was hard for me. Some of the rock was wet from melted snow which didn’t help, especially on my feet. But the first couple of moves were tight and there was a slab of rock above my head so I pretty much had to crawl underneath it, but that’s where I got stuck. I couldn’t get my left foot high enough (attempted a heel hook) to get my body in that crack so I could stand up and continue. It took me about 7 minutes to figure it out and I was pushing off rocks with my bad shoulder and contorting my body in ways I didn’t even know I could do. I found a small undercling which I grabbed and I guess I almost beach whaled it up onto the rock, took out the gear and continued on. Now is when I fell. My partner couldn’t hear me at all because he was way above me. There were two huge slabs that I had my feet up and my hand was on a decent crimp and I had to try and drag my feet up a crack and a slab to try and grab a piece that was jutting out and I knew was a really good hold if I could get to it. However my left foot started slipping and I knew I couldn’t catch myself. So screaming, “Take take take take take!!” the rope got looser and I was freaking out so I screamed falling and luckily last minute he took and I did a slight swing and a few scratches and bruises. I was fine so I waited a minute and continued and made it up to the next pitch.

Pitch #3: Helloooo bloody knuckles. The best thing about this pitch was that I could sit back on a rock and belay and I took off my shoes to give my toes some feeling again. This was the last pitch so as soon as my partner made it, I cleaned the gear a lot smoother and headed out. I had to grab some gear at times because there was no way I could reach a certain hold (cheating if you think but I say it was improv). There were these two huge rock right to the top and the only way to get up it was climbing in this vertical crack  that had some good holds. I couldn’t reach the first one (of course) so I pulled the draw to give myself a boost and finished it. But I realized I left a cam below me and so I tried leaning over the side to grab it but with I tried to pull the gear, I accidentally jammed in way into the rock and couldn’t get it out at all. My knuckles were bleeding like crazy as I was trying to squeeze the gear and pull it out. But no luck. Luckily my partner offered to climb down when I was done and grab it. So I agreed. (and felt really bad that I messed up his gear.

The climb was over and it was a general consensus that this climb SUCKED. We have no idea what grade it was, it was painful, and stupid, but it was a climb completed so we high fived and headed down the mountain. I walked down barefoot which I thought was a good idea until I realized how much longer it took me. Also, sliding down some slabs, some nuts and cams that I was holding were getting stuck in the crack of the rock and I was just laughing at the fact of how unlucky I was that day with rock. When I got back to the base, I didn’t know who he was, but Cedar Wright was there. Apparently, he’s one of those “famous” climbers…meaning he is on YouTube and if you watch enough climbing videos, you know who he is. He was really awesome to talk to. He told us about amazing climbs, and good guide books as well as things to do around Boulder. It was definitely a good ending to the day.

We finished up the day drinking free local beer we got from someone in our apartment complex because we helped him carry cases to his apartment. This beer was enjoyed overlooking the mountains at sunset on the Boulder Canyon Road. It was one of those moments you look at what’s around you and think, “I can’t believe this exists and I get to enjoy it.”

If this is what my life is going to be like here, aside from working, I really don’t think I’m going to have many complaints.

But Seriously....What the Hell is Going On!?

Do you ever wonder what’s out there? What’s waiting for you? What is outside the walls you are within right now that’s just waiting for you to discover it?

Have you discovered yourself? Think about it. Do you really know who you are? Freeze the moment you are in right now. Are you actually happy with where you are? Do you love where you’re living, your job, your life, or your hobbies? Or do you wish that somehow, magically, all of that could change? Or maybe just some of it? Or maybe you’re truly happy. And if that’s the case, then you should be proud that you are perfectly happy and want no changes with where you are right now.

 

But is that me?

 

Hell No.

 

Was I happy? Yes. Did I love my job? Well, okay, no, but I was happy with where I was. Did I have friends? More than anyone could count. Did I have a love life? That’s debatable but I think one could’ve occurred. Did I love where I lived? As much as I would complain, it was an incredible place and always will be. It was my first home and will be my hometown for the rest of my life. But if you asked if I knew who I was, go ahead, ask me. Could I define myself? My answer? Ask me in 5 years and I still probably won’t know. Who the hell knows who they are anymore. I have seen too many unhappy people living lives that they know they shouldn’t be a part of. Lives where they say, “I never saw myself doing this for the rest of my life, and yet, here I am.”

 

THAT. That quote right there, is something that I never want to have to encounter; which is why I decided to take a journey to discover myself. Where? Boulder, Colorado.

 

5 years ago, Boulder would’ve been NYC to be a fashion designer, 3 years ago, it would’ve been Italy to be a pastry artist (which is still a possibility) But now? I’m in the outdoor capital of the world and have a dream of going into holistic cooking. Life changes constantly. I like to think of myself as a variable or (x) if you will. Add different components to the equation and my value changes. Give me a new location, different friends, strange hobbies, and my value changes instantly. I’m now changing every possible component of my life to see where I will end up. This change is, as of now, permanent.

 

This decision is like doing the New York Times Crossword in pen: dangerous and risky, but it’s incredibly rewarding if you know what you’re doing.  

I’ve never been good at crossword puzzles…

…..I may need some white out