Every Day

So here I am, living in the Red River Gorge, some of the best climbing in the world and it being winter and all, I didn't think I'd actually be able to climb. But the weather got pretty nice and with some luck, the guys here were able to take me out TWICE this week! Sunday we did a night climb. It was my first night climb and it was pretty bad ass. It was a long route but not being able to see the ground was pretty interesting. I couldn't see how high I was! At one point on the wall, I turned off my headlamp, let my eyes adjust to the night sky and sat in the beautiful darkness. Darkness has a certain feel to it, its more dense and fresh. It has a texture of deepness and intensity. Being alone at night, hanging from a rock was pretty cool. I watched a plane in the distance move for a little bit before I got back on the wall and finished the 5.9 route. I was pretty impressed with myself that I finished it because: A)  I haven't climbed in a few weeks and climbing stre

Im about a week into my Kentucky experience. Im still alive. Im very much in the middle of nowhere. Having Ty here helps SO much. The first week we were staying in a lodge about 20 minutes from the Kentucky Reptile Zoo. It was beautiful there. It was a log cabin style hotel and we mostly had the place to ourselves. There was a full kitchen that we were able to use and breakfast was included. It was so nice to be able to leave the Zoo and go there every night.  Now we are staying in a cabin about 15 minutes from the Zoo. Its inside the Red River Gorge Geological Area, Daniel Boone National Forest, at a place called Red River Gorgeous. Someone who is working with the Reptile Zoo was able to hook us up (one benefit of being here in the off season) so we have a two bedroom, two floor place with a kitchen. Tyler and I like to cook a lot. Because Ive been working, Ty has been doing a lot of the cooking and its great. He makes some pretty delicious food! (pasta last night, tacos tonight)

So Tyler and I have been driving for two days to get me to Kentucky tonight for my internship at the Reptile Zoo! (Which Im pretty excited for by the way) Its dark out and we are excited to almost be in Kentucky after passing through so many other states the whole day. We drive over this hill and this is what we see: The sky is all lit up orange and its kind of flickering and both Ty and I go “oh F***” Something is on fire and we think theres a horrible exploding accident on the highway. As we come down this hill, we notice that there is no horrible accident but theres fire from a factory. The orange lights are lighting up the foggy night sky and its glaring. Orange lights, smoke stacks and fires from the factory are all over and we are disgusted. It is the ugliest thing I have ever seen. There is a billboard with an american flag (‘MERICA!) and we find out its an oil factory. On the other part of the highway is a sign as we come over the bridge: Welcome to Kentucky.  Not a v

Hey all! While I was having the time of my life in Guatemala, I wrote blogs in my journal. So Im going to catch up on those blogs soon enough. BUT I wanted to give y'all a brief overview of what happened and get you excited for the upcoming blogs. Amazing. That really sums up all of my trip. Its a beautiful country with wonderful people and very inexpensive for American tourists, like me. The first thing I notice when I step onto States soil is that my brain is slowly turning to mush. I had to constantly think in another language, try to translate and think of words and conversations in Spanish. When I got back my brain didn't have to work so hard and at first I was still thinking in Spanish but it soon slowed down. Now its almost gone already. It really made me want to transition to a spanish speaking country for longer than a few weeks and maybe even take a Spanish course. I learned so much in only those 11 days! Also, being disconnected is the best feeling ever. I

7:09 am Its been a habit of waking up early. A lot of the people here are up already too. I like how I feel when I go to bed early and wake up early. I feel like I have so much more time to get things done or to just relax in the morning and not feel like Ive wasted so much time. Its hard to keep up this schedule in the States though because I need to use the evening hours to get stuff done and thats the lifestyle there. The sun is out today and I dont see any clouds, how exciting! But, its our last few hours here so we can't enjoy it fully... Im excited to get home, traveling can get exhausting but I also dont want to leave Guatemala. Its so beautiful here, everyone is so friendly and I love exploring new places. I forgot to talk about the heat lightning! Last night we had some which created a cool atmosphere as we walked around the city at night. There was a lot of it at the Yoga Forest too. Especially the last night that one of the girls from our retreat taught yoga. It w

5:11 pm Today was really fun. We hiked Volcan Pacaya! We took the longest bus/shuttle ride there. It ended up being 2.5 hours instead of the supposed 1.5 hours. It was along twisty turn roads too. There was a lot of traffic and the gas got to me but I was able to take a short nap. When we got there I was so happy to get out of the car! Once we got out of the car we had to pay our entrance fee and I tried to get to know some of the other people on our tour. Then we got introduced to our guide who was awesome! He spoke clear, slow Spanish that I could actually understand. Too bad no one else could speak Spanish because it would have been cool to do the whole tour in Spanish and see how much I could actually understand. Then we started the long hike to the top! It was all uphill but not too bad as we made frequent stops at the beautiful outlooks along the way. I was chatting with the other people on the trip who were pretty cool. Some from Spain, New Zealand, UK and Australia! The a

9:21 A We got a little turned around on our way to breakfast but glad we stuck with it and found it! At Fernando's Kaffe I ate crepes with fruit and chocolate. It was lovely and delicious! Such a cute place. 12:09pm We just checked into El Hostel and its so nice. People, young people, hanging out in the common space which has an open air courtyard. Melanie and I splurged on a double room for some privacy an its super cute! Theres a tree painted on the wall and its very colonial themed. It is a lot cleaner than out previous hostel, Hostel Capitan Tom. The woman was so nice and it was ok for the price but I feel much more at home here at this place. Its colorful, clean, decorated and lively. Its also in a cooler part of town with bars and young people. Granted the whole city is only like a mile by a mile... Its perfect though. 3:51pm Im back at El Hostel. Its nice to come back to a clean, relaxing place. This afternoon we were getting ready to do some exploring when a girl als

6:44pm Today Melanie and I packed up at the beautiful Earth Lodge. It was a little bit drizzly in the morning . We had to was up the steep hill with all of our things. I was pretty warm at the tom! Then we waited for the shuttle with some guy whose name starts with an M from Australia. He was an interesting fellow and we chatted about travel and life. It is always fun meeting cool travelers because they always have the best stories. Once we got to antigua I helped us all figure out how much the shuttle was because I was the one who spoke the most spanish. M-guy took off as soon as we got the money figured out, solo traveler. It took a bit to find our hostel. I had to ask for directions. Our Hostel Capitan Tom isn't fancy at all but the woman at the front desk is very nice. When we came in from the rain she told us to grab tea or coffee to stay warm (I won't mention that the sugar had bugs crawling in it...) We spent most of the afternoon walking around the city. We found t

4:04pm Its friday the thirteenth and I didn't even realize! So, today I slept in until 7 am and took an hour and a half nap mid-day. Ive had an annoying headache all day. I drank, ate and took a nap but it was still there. I think my sleep schedule is just weird... Melanie and I ate lunch (an avocado, pesto and grilled cheese sandwich. as good as it sounds) at the lodge and then went on a little adventure hike. There are little trails all over this mountain because of the locals. Thats how they get around. On the way to el mirador, the lookout, we were unsure if we were on the right path. We had a map but it wasn't very good. I asked almost everyone we passed of we were going the right direction. This little boy we first met was so cute. He asked in spanish if we were looking for el mirador. I said "si" and he pointed up the steep path and said "ariba!" up! So we continued up this horribly steep hill... I just spilled delicious popsicle all over myse

7:35am Im sitting next to a tree trunk in my tree house, looking at an amazing view of Antigua below, mountains and volcanoes surrounding. So lush and green. I didnt sleep very well because the light from the city shone so bright into where my bed was in the top portion of the tree house, where my bed is but it was ok. I miss the Yoga Forest and my friends from there. Yesterday we got to Antigua and had to say goodbye to another woman who had to get to the airport for her flight. The rest of us had some time to explore Antigua for a bit. First, We went to this awesome Mayan textile store that our retreat leader told us about. There were so many beautiful things! Thats where I bought an awesome tie for my Ty, haha.  Then it was time for lunch. We ate at some place that was close and convenient. The food was alright but the company was better :) After lunch we had to say goodbye to another woman from our group. I walked her to her shuttle so she wouldn't get lost be

So today was a travel day/ saying goodbye to my six women friends. Im pretty ok with goodbyes like that because Ive had to say goodbye a lot in the past. We took so many pictures together and then had coffee before our shuttle. Luckily we were all able to get in the same shuttle to Antigua. Saying goodbye to our retreat leader was hard. She ran after our shuttle for a minute and it was so cute that I almost started to tear up a little. The ride up the mountain was so beautiful and I was glad I got to see it during the day. The volcanoes/mountains over the lake were so stunning from up higher. I felt like I could see for forever! Then came the switchbacks... I dont know why we all felt ok on the way down (maybe not being able to see helped?) but most of us felt at least a little car sick cruising on those roads. We all chatted a lot about our adventure and our new blog on health and wellness. These girls are such an interesting bunch and I feel so close to them. I want to get to

11/11/15 10:15 pm Today was the last day of our retreat. Its a hard thing to say goodbye to these ladies who Ive gotten so close to. We are all going to Antigua together so I feel like its not exactly saying goodbye yet. This evening we did a dancing ceremony which was SO fun! This woman came and led it who was such a beautiful young spirit. She started out the night by handing out Glitter!!! I was so happy; it was the best thing ever. All of us had glitter everywhere so we sparkled as we moved. This woman played this tribal, EDM, irish infused shit that was so bad ass and the speakers even had colorful lights. It made us all want to move. We all just frolicked around this candle-lit open space without any judgement or care in the world! It was the best movement/dancing of my life because I felt like I could be myself, completely myself, without worrying about what others thought or feeling that I should "look cool". Each woman there had her own style of dancing and compl

9:22 pm Tonight we had our cacao/new moon ceremony and I left early. Ive been really tired lately and so I took my chance to leave when I could to come write and sleep early. It started out with a ton of us sitting around a fire. Id say close to 30 or more. The people leading the cacao ceremony prepared our cacao and then sent around mugs which we sweetened with honey. They were wearing these tall pointy brimmed hats, not like a witches hat like suuuuuper pointed. Apparently it takes a lot to make cacao. We started out with the new moon ceremony where we chanted songs and banged on drums. The woman who led this had a beautiful voice and so I didn't do much chant/singing but listened to her. Im also not much of a chanter... We then invited the four directions (NSEW) to join us by shaking our gourds in each direction after their invite. As we were doing this, I noticed that the stars were so bright and beautiful in the sky. At this point our fire started to die and I wanted s

Today was another one of our free days in San Marcos. I just did an energy massage which was really interesting. It was color therapy, reiki, chakra balancing and regular massage. So basically, I chose some colors that "called" to me and they meant something. The gist of what she said was that I need to talk about my feelings or they get bottled up inside, Im very in tune with the logical/rational part of my brain. Also, I am good at explaining things in different ways to different types of people and am my best when I am outdoors and surrounded by nature. Thats why Im an outdoor educator! Then she gave me a shoulder/face massage and some reiki on my head and Ive never gotten that before but it was nice. Then came the chakra balancing which was bizarre. She tapped on the part of my body that corresponded with the chakra and then tried to separate my hands which were together above my head. My third and fifth chakras were out of balance because my hands separated so easily

11/9/2015 10:03pm I just had a very magical experience, but let me give you the events leading up to this magical experience.  All us girls went into the sauna together which was this little adobe/rock-like hut which one of the men stocked with fire to keep it hot. It was a Mayan sauna. It was pretty hot in there with all of us but it felt great. We all sang some songs because it had a nice echo inside. We were all talking girl talk which I haven’t done in forever and I talked about how awesome science is and Bill Nye. Nerd status.  Anyway, so we are all deciding to leave and our retreat leader accidentally grabs onto the hot pole which heats the building. She puts some cold water on it right away and some try to assist her. A few of us decide to get moving and B decides she's gonna stay for a bit but a second later she comes out holding her hand and says “I just did the exact same thing!” So, B joins the group tending to the other burned hand. For a minute Im thinking I

11/9/2015 9:43am I pooped! haha I ate SO much food at breakfast in the hopes that it would push something through and it did. I also didn't mind hanging out in the bathroom with the amazing views for a little longer than normal. Im getting eaten alive by sand flies. My ankles are soooooo itchy but not as bad as my bites in the VI and the other girls are worse… I havent seen myself in a mirror since the airport and its weird but also liberating. I dont judge myself as much and mostly focus on my inner beauty and how I feel I look (which is awesomesause!). I do like to see what I look like though cause Im not bad looking and I like to confirm that sometimes. lol I am lounging on the hammock in the sun outside my bungalow, cabin, whatever. Its pretty perfect. And now I feel like I want to take a nap…

11/7/2015 11:56 am The bathroom views are amazing! I took a poo yesterday looking out at the lake and volcanoes in the distance. Absolutely stunning. I dont mind taking my time in the bathroom with views like that! 11/8/2015 3:36pm We had a day of exploration in San Marcos today. First the group of girls went to hang out by the lake, Lago Atitlan. It was very rocky, like a cliff-side almost. Not like a beach at all. But we climbed down the rocks to check out the water and it was cool, but not cold like lake Michigan. I put my feet in the water and soaked in the morning sun.  Its SO fun to chat with all the ladies here. I feel like Im a part of something and they all have such interesting things to say. I want to know all about them! 9:45pm This morning’s yoga was taught by one of the girls in my group, K. I love taking classes by people I know because it brings a whole new level to the experience. She came around and did excellent adjustments and it was so calming.

11:44am I just got through some writing exercises and the girls in my retreat are wonderful! I feel like I can be myself around them. The property is so beautiful. Its very one-with-nature. Compost toilets, biodegradable products, farm animals, gardens and all of us hardly produce any trash. Nothing is disposable, lots of reusables and everyone is thinking about how they can make a smaller footprint. But its not hard, its just how it is. They make it really easy to be more connected to nature. 5:52pm Its that time of night, dusk, where people turn on lights but its still just light enough to see. I LOVE this time, only when I can really appreciate it. Like camping, or glamping like I feel like I'm doing now. Its so peaceful and quiet. The night animals start to come out and the daytime animals get sleepy. Like me now, been a long few days with not a whole lot of sleep. Ive been relaxing on the hammock outside the cabana after dinner and could probably fall asleep but we have a

The following is a conglomeration of journal writings that I made about my travel day to San Marcos, Guatemala and some additions to make it all run together smoothly: 11/5/15 6:60am Chicago I JUST made my first flight. It helped that the dude behind me in the security line was on my flight. We chatted a bit about travel and it eased my mind a little. I get so stressed out when Im not early... I had to take the earliest bus from Milwaukee at 4:30 am. I slept three hours. 10:55am ATL I think I smell... I didn't do that deodorant thing this morning. Whatever. I had less than an hour layover and had to run through the huge ATL airport to get to my gate. I got there with a bit of time though which is nice. Im between two not so fun humans. One is a very large man who thinks he can have half of my seat (though at least he seems nice) and an older woman who I don't think speaks good spanish or engligh. Also, when she's passed out its fine but as soon as she wakes up, the

Few weird things have happened to me today (and this month). Kinda spooky things. Its Halloween season after all. More strange things may happen before the weekend is out, so stay tuned. I was just scrolling through old emails, came across a resume and cover letter for one of my career classes that had me fake an application for a "future" job I potentially wanted someday. The date on the cover letter was today. I was cuddling with Alex, scrolling through  Facebook  or something and out of NOWHERE he  flips  out, flies out of my arms, hits the wall and is standing on my bed, back arched and  staring at a spot just to the right of me. He has never done anything like that before. I tried to pet him and see what scared him but he just kept staring at that same spot. Something unseen to me which was also right next to me. He hasn't come back in my room for an hour. Earlier this month I had the house to myself all night. I slept roughly and had weird dreams/n

So, it is official, Im going to Guatemala in November!! How'd this happen in less than a week you ask? Heres how. One day last week I was wallowing in self-adventure-less-pitty while looking through the clymb website. They specialize in discounted adventure tours all over the world. Maybe someday Ill hike in Peru and go to the galapagos. One day... Then I stumble on a buzzed article that lists ten of the cheapest places to travel. Also, mind you, Im freezing. We had been going through a cold streak in MKE and I was wearing wool socks and my toes were STILL cold... I hate being cold almost as much as I hate being wet and cold. So anyway, Im reading through this article and because Im cold Im drawn to the warmer places. Guatemala stood out so I clicked on some of the links that were listed under it. One was to a blog for  woman traveler who traveled through Guatemala. Sounded like she had a great time and highly suggested it to others. I check out some more stuff and then BAM I

I made quinoa with veggies for dinner tonight and it was pretty damn good. I ate at the high top table while watching youtube videos. Alex, the cat, climbed up onto the table was was just sitting watching me eat. Just staring at me (the usual). He hardly ever sits on the table so it was a bit strange but I enjoyed the company. So Im just chillin' eating my dinner, I take a bite and then I notice a tickle in my nose. The tickle gets stronger so I try to swallow my bite before I have to sneeze. I couldn't get it all down but I think a hand over the mouth will suffice because its going to haaaaaapeeeeeen!! I turn towards Alex (away from my precious computer) and sneeze! Out of my mouth comes an explosion of quinoa and half chewed veggies and my hand did not block much. It all comes raining down around Alex and sounds like a mix between a splat and a sandy rain noise. Alex doesn't move. Just keeps staring at me. I remove my hand which is covered in a quinoa slobber and I st

Today when I walked into the climbing gym, I felt like I belonged. The dude at the counter knew my name, signed me in, we joked around and then my friend and I jumped up on the wall after saying "hi" to some other fellow climbers. I was feeling a little fatigued today but my buddy still told me to try a 5.10 with an overhang. (climbing with a top rope starts at 5.6 and goes up to like 5.13) It was my first 5.10 of the year and after some resting, I DID it! I didn't think I could but I got lots of encouragement and support. It was awesome and I felt so bad ass. I started climbing... well... Im not exactly sure. I've been climbing since before I can remember. I dont remember learning how to climb. Its like walking or talking, I couldn't tell you the moment it happened, Ive just always been doing it. Climbing is a part of me and while I may not be the best at it, it feels almost second nature. I thank my family. Without my dad getting us out to Devils Lake on wee

You know its a perfect day when: You walk outside and you're neither hot nor cold. Its like you're skin doesn't even know that you're in the elements because the air is the perfect temperature. You could wear almost anything and be comfortable; a tank, jeans, dress, bathing suit, t-shirt. Its the type of weather that you pray for to wear your favorite outfit. The sun just slightly kisses your skin. Its so gentle that you don't feel its burning heat and you're not craving its warmth through a black sweatshirt. Its bright enough to make you smile but not so bright that your face is contorted into a squinty mess. The wind is so soft as it licks the small hairs that cover your body. It makes the leaves rustle ever so slightly to make that sound that reminds you of summer. That sound that you crave on cold, winter nights. It blows through your open windows making your house smell fresh and clean. The birds chirp their happy songs and there is no way that you

F**k it. I need an adventure. Im so sick of all the babies. Im so sick of all the engagements, marriages and mortgages. Im so sick of the desk jobs and 40 hour work weeks. Is that all that there is? Really? I need an adventure. I want to hike in the mountains and swim in the ocean. I want to climb rocks and trees. I want to wear my swimsuit all day on a beach. I want to sit quietly for hours in a beautiful international place. Is that too much to ask? Is it? I need an adventure. Im so sick of losing close friends to the "grind". Im so sick of time passing without doing anything. Im so sick of always having to stay "connected". Do we have to live like this? Really? I need an adventure. I want to have stories to tell. I want to re-connect with old friends and never lose contact. I want to come and go as I please without ties. Why can't it be that easy? Why not? I need an adventure. Maybe the reason I take adventures is to disconnect

This past week my intern and I taught a Photography Camp and it was AMAZING! The prep for this camp made me so stressed out and it took a lot of time to put together and make happen but it all came together and it ended today with me being a bit sad. Our 6 middle school kids were so cool. They were all a bit weird but mostly introverted (like myself) so when it was time to "chill and draw/hang" they hung out and enjoyed themselves. I had so much fun with them that I looked forward to getting in to work each day and preparing everything for them. They also took some beautiful photos! I dont want to add their photos here but I will add some of mine so you can get an example of some of the things we did. Day one was kind of stressful as we were at a branch that I hadn't been at much before so finding everything and making it all work was rough (but day two it all worked out well). Day one was just figuring out how to use our cameras and we hung out around Washington Pa

So My last day at summerfest started with me really not wanting to go. I wanted to see the bands but I was having a lame day, focused on writing a cover letter and being tired. But the fest waits for no one and Sarah was meeting me there! I got to summerfest and noticed that it wasn't too busy like last weekend, plus number one. I walked over to Big Data who were pretty cool. They had some good energy on stage and the music was danceable! Then as I was sitting listening to Big Data, I got completely taken out on my left side.  It was so fast that I didn't even see it coming and then I look in the direction of the impact and notice a smiling brown haired girl. SARAH!! I was so happy to see this crazy lady! And this is why I missed her. First, she made me get my face painted, which I wasn't too upset about cause I love stuff like that. So we had awesome neon, tribal paint on our faces. Then, we are over at the small KNE stage listening to a local band when Sarah suggest

Amazing. I was just going tonight to hang and  see some bands, no expectations, but SFest delivered on its first day. My friend Alex and I got there a bit early so we walked around the shops and the smaller stages. We stumbled upon Five Knives which were like a hip-hop-y Ke$ha. If you know me at all you'd know that I probably loved it. They were pretty fun. Then a bit later when we were sitting watching a local sax band play, the fireworks started. I never NEED to see the big bang but its always a pleasure when I see it. I got great seats by accident sitting on a table. I always have a smile on my face when I watch colorful explosions in the sky. Then, the white out, massive explosion that is the epic finale. I couldn't see anything for at least a minute afterwards. I love when the loudness is felt in your heart and there is so much going on that its just a colorful mess. Most excellent. Then we went to find Bastille. As soon as they came on I was extremely impressed. H

The coolest part of our trip to Puerto Rico was definitely the Bioluminescent Bay in Vieques [side note, bioluminescence is a big word, mostly it just means stuff that lights up but scientifically it means 'bio'-life, 'lumin'-light, 'escence'-to put forth. So, life that puts forth light!] It was an experience that I cannot easily put into words. The night started out a bit strange. We got picked up at our hostel at 9pm, along with 5 other girls, by a thirty-something, long-haired gentleman. He walked us about a block to the van that would transport us to the bio-bay. The van was, well, to put it nicely, a fixer-upper. It had bench seats which were collapsing, the roof fabric was falling down, it puttered around and squeaked during turns. Ty and I joked that we were paying 40 bucks to get murdered in this van especially when we turned down a dirt, side street that was full of pot holes. We slowly lumbered along this road for a few minutes until we made it to our

I suck at this blog thing now that Im in Milwaukee! Ive moved in to my new place, LOVE it! My roomie is great, the things to do are great, my friends are great, my family is great, my job is great, My life is great. Ill write my positives of PR blog soon enough! There was so much awesomeness that happened that I must write it down. And then maybe ill start updating on my life in MKE, cause theres also been a lot going on! I love being active and busy :) Talk soon world!

A lot of good things and a lot of not so good things happened to us on our trip to Puerto Rico and Id like to start with the bad news and end with the good news. So here are some things that did not turn out so well for us. We took the ferry over to Vieques on Wednesday and we ended up being on that ferry for two and a half hours. Its normally about an hour trip but when we went on the ferry, they were doing some maintenance and we didn't even leave the dock for like 45 minutes. What was worse was we were in the bottom of the boat which was very crowded with only very tiny windows. I started feeling a little tiny bit claustrophobic and I never feel that way... When we were leaving the boat, It was a struggle to get off. The organization of the boat was not very smart making the only three entrances exit through the same narrow hallway... and I hate when people need to stand so close to me. One man was standing so close to me (and I even had a suitcase) that I could almost feel