Workin and Travelin

After the fam left Vegas, I went to work on the research piece of my job. I also found some time to play and catch up with old friends.


Ian and Camille are dear friends from Eagle Lake Camp. Ian grew up near St. George and they were down for visit. We went to see A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Shakespeare Festival in Cedar City.


Finally getting some more ladies on the rocks!






I came home to Alabama last week. It's been great to be home, play a little more with the nephews, and kayak with my brother.




It's now time to make my way up to my old stomping grounds of WV and NC!!

An inspiring week

My past shift in the field was inspiring, despite my lack of inspiration going into the week. I had worked with the adolescent girls group for 6 straight shifts, and I was ready for a change from their catty ways. Something changed this past week though and the group found footing. Emotional safety rose and with that came a flood of openness and vulnerability. It was heartbreaking to hear of the offenses acted upon them, as well as those that they had acted upon others. It was also beautiful seeing them step a little closer to reconciliation, peace and freedom.

Below are some pictures from the field, not necessarily from my last shift.

The family comes to Vegas

I came out of field last week to greet my family in Las Vegas. That's right, the whole crew came out!! It was super fun and meant the world to me.


A family friend road in a race in honor of dad. The biking shirts we are wearing are from the race and has the names, including dad's, of all those who are remembered. Matt and I wore them while biking the loop at Red Rocks.

On crack in Moab

Moab was full of good food, old and new friends, cold swimming holes, and cracks. I liked ALL of it, even the cracks.


The car ride. Deidre, Paul, and Anthony rocked it. I tried to work ;)


This is Mark. He is a good friend from NC and recently moved to Moab. Mark has walked me through a few climbing milestones. He taught me how to clean an anchor and he was my climbing partner on my first trad lead at Looking Glass. It was great to catch up Mark!!


After a decent hike in the heat of the day, we arrived at a small swimming hole that wasn't too overcrowded. Don't worry mom, I let lots of other people jump first.


This is the full crew at the Brewery.


Julia and I have worked the last three shifts together. She rocks!


Wall Street Cracks. You can belay from your car, seriously.


Getting excited for my first 5.9 trad lead. It was terrific! A definite highlight of the weekend.

Shift 10 and more

My past week in the field had some epic moments. Well, mostly it was just a mammoth hike that involved finding ourselves on someone’s private ranch, being chased by horses, crossing 3 deep streams, one student vomiting, another refusing to hike on a steep rocky hill with only a half hour of daylight, hiking till 11pm, and then having to finish the hike the next day. Oh, and we lost a Nugget, my friend’s blood hound who doesn’t stop running when she catches a good wiff of anything. Thankfully she was found a week later.

This week I didn’t go into the field, and instead began my new role as the “Research Coordinator”. It is very exciting and I am more thrilled than I should be to reacquaint myself with statistics, consent forms, excel, databases, etc.

Pictures below are from a day of boating and cliff jumping on the Colorado River and climbing at Red Rocks.




I took Lisa forever to convince me that this was a good idea, and it was a good idea!







The AZ hot springs are hot!!


Top of Physical Graffiti in Red Rocks.

A New Position

The company I am with now has a research initiative to better understand when change happens and what the outcomes are for individuals in the program. With my background in research and program evaluation, I expressed interest in learning more about it. It turns out that my timing was great. They are scaling up the project and asked me to join the team. For now, the tentative plan is for me to be part time in the field and part time on research.

I love interacting with people on a micro level and working through intense emotional issues. This is why I studied social work and enjoy working directly with clients. However, my brain likes to think on a macro level, to try and figure out what is going on and why, and how to make changes. This is why I studied public health, did my undergraduate internship at a research department, and worked at a research organization for almost two years. While it’s not completely clear how it will all work out, I am psyched to incorporate another passion here.

Sundry reflections...

Crack Climbing



This is a picture of the Headache, a three pitch 5.9/10 crack climb in Zion. It solidified this belief: I hate desert splitters!

Climbers in the desert talk about desert splitters like they are the sexiest thing they have ever laid eyes and hands on. These people...they are dillusional.

After two pitches of my moaning and groaning, Anthony and I rapped down and rented bikes. It was ridiculously fun, and proved to be the perfect fix for my demoralized soul. And then, I bought a bike!!

Diversifying

I bought a bike!!!




Dad



Dad has been in my thoughts and dreams more often than usual lately. Maybe it’s because of the recent Easter holiday or working with a student who lost her father and brother in a tragic plane crash. My mom recently went to an awards ceremony in Citronelle, AL where they gave a scholarship in Dad’s name. A lady approached her and told her a story about her sister who was a cheerleader when mom and dad were there. Her sister decided to drop out her junior year. My dad went to her house and simply told her that she wasn’t going to drop out. She was going to come back to school and finish high school. She went on to become a guidance counselor and now repeatedly tells the story about how a teacher/coach (not even hers) cared enough to come to her house to keep her in school. I knew my dad did such things with his football players all the time. It has been touching to hear such stories about him having such an impact on those with whom his outcome or winning or losing was not attached.

Running

Running and I are like star crossed lovers. There is something about it that settles my soul and heart and brings peace to my racing mind. However, it proved to be an incongruent activity with my body.

In college I was as obsessed with running as I am now with climbing. I have described my break from running like the end of a very serious and involved relationship (pre-climbing). There was grieving involved and I tried to make it work for several years. After being medically separated from the Peace Corps, due to my back, I decided it was time to really give it up. I started climbing and haven’t looked back for the past 2+ years.

There are beautiful trails here. I decided it wouldn’t be so bad to try running out again. I have run 3 times for no more than 20 to 30 minutes. It’s amazing and I still love it. However, now I can peacefully accept that my relationship with running will not be as it was.

Hanging out and gila monsters ....the things you do and see around St. George.