Life, Love, and the Pursuit of Core Strength

Balance

2012-02-03T11:07:00.000-08:00

When I first sat down with Andrew Kornylak to talk about making a profile video for prAna, I wanted it to be about aspirations and coming back to climbing after going through the journey of becoming a mother. And while we did talk about aspirations and dreams, we kept coming back to the concept of balance. I hope you enjoy this very personal video! My hope is that is resonates other parents, climbers, and people on a similar journey.

Kate Reese McGinnis: Holding On from Prana Living on Vimeo.

2012-01-12T10:13:00.000-08:00

It has been some time since my last post. And while one of my resolutions is to blog more, I was thankful for the downtime of the last couple months. A lot happened in December and we allowed ourselves to pull in tight, hunker down, and get cozy for some quiet winter days. Annie Quinn turned one and we celebrated her first year on my 30th birthday. . . a completely joyous day for our family. Kenneth and I, in absolute awe, looked through all of the pictures and video of Annie's incredible first year. Annie is growing into such a beautiful, intelligent, fiercely independent, strong, excited, hilarious little girl.

I met my 30 year old milestone with gratitude and happiness. In the past few weeks, I've come back to training after having very limited time to climb in December. My inspiration is kindled and I can't wait to see what will come of it. More to come on that soon.

Still Got It

2011-11-11T12:25:00.000-08:00

So- all in all, the Horse Pens comp was a huge success. We all headed out to Alabama Friday afternoon and stayed with the Traylors. Annie had a great time running around their lakefront lawn and terrorizing their poor dog. Saturday morning started very early but Amie saw to it that our bellies were all filled with blueberry pancakes before sending us on our way to the boulderfield. Annie looked like the kid from the Christmas Story, wearing so many layers that locomotion was impossible. Luckily the day warmed up quickly and we were all able to shed some layers. It was great to greet the usual faces and introduce our daughter to this 'Triple Crown' community that we've been a part of for so long.

I was psyched to see Angie Payne and Kasia Pietras there: those two are always strong and inspiring so it was great to have some strong female energy around. Last year I went around the boulders with them during the comp, being entirely too pregnant to climb, to point out problems and beta. This year, I was back on the boulders. I started out strong- hoping to finish as many problems as I could before Annie's naptime. By my 7th completed problem, I took a break to feed Annie lunch and try and get her down for a nap. (This is when the day started getting a lot more difficult). Until that point, Annie (now 11 months) was having a great day playing with rocks, sticks, leaves and acorns and watching the crowds. Still, this was not the normal day at the crag and she would not take a nap for the life of me or my husband! She ended up taking a brief nap in the car but nothing substantial. As for me, the guns were empty and completing the final 3 problems was ROUGH. After spending some time in the prAna tent after the comp was over, we left before the awards ceremony with a very sleepy baby.

For having had very limited time to train and for it being my first competition back, I was proud of my performance (placing 2nd in women's open). The experience reaffirmed that I can be an athlete AND a mother- with balance, as with all things. Don't count me out yet, I believe I still have my best climbing days ahead of me! I don't have many photos from the comp, but Brett May was kind enough to send me these and video is coming- stay tuned ; )

Competition Comeback

2011-11-04T10:11:00.000-07:00

So I'm staging a competition comeback. Who knows how far it will go, but I've got the bug again and I'll be going to Horse Pens 40 tomorrow to compete in the last leg of the Triple Crown. I route climbed throughout my pregnancy and started back not too long after delivery, but bouldering was something that was on pause for a LONG time. I started bouldering again a couple months ago and took Annie for her first bouldering trip the first cool day this fall. I really thought that after Annie competition climbing would be a thing of my past. I knew that finding the time to train would be difficult and when given the choice I will always choose playing and hanging out with the coolest little girl around over training. The crag, though, offers a perfect venue for both. Annie couldn't be any happier than she is when she’s outside. She’s earned the nickname ‘Acorn Annie’ for her affinity with anything that comes off a tree (leaves, sticks, and of course acorns).

Preparing for this competition has been a series of failures. For example, having the car packed & running warm ready to leave for a day of bouldering, only to realize when moving the sleeping baby from crib to carseat that she was coming down with croup. Or the many nights that I meant to go to the gym, but Kenneth had to work late or Annie wouldn’t go back to sleep for him. Or even the few times that I braved the climbing gym with Annie in tow who would have the time of her life tearing around the gym while little to no training was accomplished.

So this will certainly make things interesting tomorrow. I can honestly say I have no idea how I will climb. The last time I climbed at Horse Pens was two years ago and the last time I walked through the boulders was when I was 9 months pregnant with Annie. I do believe that 90% of climbing success is mental and I’m certainly going to rally some serious psych! Having a little lady along will certainly be inspiration and at least I know she’ll be happy that Horse Pens has plenty of acorns : )

Bonus Day

2011-09-12T18:18:00.001-07:00

Last friday, I convinced Kenneth to take off work and steal away for a beautiful day in the canyon. High temps were in the mid 70s and we had a great day. After all the rain from the past week, Annie had her first opportunity to get covered in mud and thoroughly enjoyed playing with tiny rocks and trying to scale the talus piles. I sent 3 cave routes- repeating Hooligans which made me feel like my body is almost back to my pre-pregnancy strength. Here's some photos from our sweet family crag day:

Craggin' Baby

2011-09-07T10:36:00.001-07:00

I haven’t blogged for quite some time, but I feel like things are coming back to a balance where there is more time for things like climbing. When Annie was about 6 months (right when she started crawling well), I started taking her with me to the gym once or twice a week. She thinks it’s great fun to crawl all over and chew on the ropes and hang from the holds. And for the first time since her delivery, I can say that my strength is returning. I started bouldering again for the first time in well over a year (only route climbing during my pregnancy). My body is starting to remember the faster, more powerful movement- and I notice big strides each week. While I spend the vast majority of my time at the crag/gym chasing Annie around, I am starting to send 13s again. Still a ways away from my pre-pregnancy level of performance, I feel healthy, strong, and psyched.

Annie is now 9 months old and makes me so fundamentally happy. I am in awe of her everyday as I watch her discover the world around her. I am so in love that I feel like my heart is going to explode any day now. Pure adoration. So many of my parenting worries have lulled and there are moments when I could not feel any more whole. I look forward to the evening hours every day when I read her bedtime stories, watch her eyes flutter as I nurse her to sleep, and then just rock for a while in the serenity of the moment. I feel incredibly connected to her and we have so much understanding between the two of us. There is nothing more magical.

And what I couldn’t be more happy about is how much Annie likes to be outside. It will be easier when she’s a little older and beyond the ‘I-must-shove-all-the-dirt/rocks/sticks-I-can-find-into-my-mouth-stage’, but it is still wonderful to see her hanging out at the crag as if nothing could be more normal. One of the key beta points I’ll offer to other parents trying to bring baby out to the crag is the hammock. Annie’s like most babies- when she’s tired, you have a short window to get her to sleep and beyond that it’s living with an over-tired baby (think honey badger). She’s never been one to nap easily (forget stroller, carseat, etc). Enter: hammock. I picked up one of those easily-packed, stuffs down to the size of a raincoat- hammocks at REI a couple of weeks ago and it is the ticket to napping outdoors. The downside/upside is that I have to nap with her. That’s a win-win if you ask me.

Here’s some photos of family craggin over the past couple months:

Just woke up from our nap

Cheering on Papa

Baby sign for 'Allez!'

River Ready

The best toys in life are free

We even travel with our own lifeguard

First Canyon Day

2011-04-09T18:59:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was quite possibly one of the happiest days of my life. Annie, now 4 months old, is in love with the outdoors. In the evenings when she gets fussy and preoccupied with teething at home, I have learned that taking her out for a walk or to watch the rain or even just looking at the growing garden soothes her like nothing else. Earlier in the week we decided that if the weather looked good that we would try and take her out to the canyon to see how she would do. Our expectations were that we probably would not get to climb and that she may only last a couple of hours, but it seemed like it was time to start normalizing the wilderness experience. All week I mulled over the details. . . ‘maybe we should buy a little kid tent so we could have a place if the bugs were bad? . . . ‘what if she won’t be able to nap- she has a really hard time sleeping anywhere except her room? . . . ‘will she be hot, bored,scared? Should we bring toys for her? . . . ‘maybe she’s too little- are we being crazy parents for taking a baby in the woods? ‘. I packed and repacked, watched the forecast, tried to plan our travel times with her naptimes, etc.

And so yesterday, exactly a year after we first heard our baby’s heartbeat, we packed up the car and strapped our little girl in her car seat canyon-bound. She tolerated the drive alright for someone who likes to sit still about as much as she likes her immunizations. I rode in the back with her and entertained her with songs and bubbles and books- with my husband more amused than her by my antics to keep her happy. As soon as we got her out of the car and into her carrier for the hike in, she started this sweet cooing/singing that she started doing this past week. She sang happily all the way to the crag and had her happiest day yet.

After hanging out- touching trees and leaves and the rock, she nursed and fell asleep for one of her best naps to the lull of the nearby waterfall. She woke up in time to watch her mommy climb a few pitches and then had her toes dipped in the cool water coming off the falls. It was pretty warm, but she gladly hung out in just a diaper and stayed in the well shaded parts of the crag. She watched the bugs buzzing around and the leaves blowing and wiggled her toes in the dirt. We left around 5 when we ran out of shade.

As I sat at the base of the cliff, I started to realize how my worries were unfounded. Where better to sleep soundly? Watching her find calm and peace in our canyon, hallowed grounds for my husband and I, was beyond words. There is nothing crazy about bringing baby outside. And I savored the canyon like I never had. A year ago I would’ve been frustrated by the conditions (too hot, too muggy, all the hard routes were wet), too concerned about the numbers/the upcoming comp/getting a workout in. I would have missed the new leaves rolling out of their buds and the smell of the cool breeze. I enjoyed my old warm-up routes like they were new. Having been away from climbing for the better part of 6 months, I’m having to rely on technique and experience over strength. Climbing feels so good- and it’s peaceful and calm. No projects, no agenda, no expectations. I know I will get back in shape and get to the point where I’m ready for projecting or comps or pushing my limit, but for now I’m just going to look forward all week to our quiet, laid-back Saturdays at the crag. There’s that familiar cliché that we learn more from our children than the other way around, but I’m actually starting to believe it.

Namesake

2011-03-24T16:23:00.001-07:00

Sometimes the journey of a lifetime is not the exotic adventure that you once thought it might be, but rather a watching your daughter meet her great grandma whose mother is her namesake. . . .

Four Generations

Happy Valentines!

2011-02-14T16:56:00.001-08:00

Best Valentine's Day ever:

Annie's First Eight

2011-01-28T07:40:00.000-08:00

In some ways, I cannot believe it’s already been eight weeks and in others, I feel like it has been a lifetime of emotion, growth, and introspection. For all of you that have been asking for more posts, I apologize. My hands and heart are fuller than I could have imagined. For my family and long-distance friends, I’m posting a video that I put together of Annie’s first eight weeks and some photos as well.

December was the best and the worst month of my life. Shortly after we got Annie home, I had to be re-hospitalized for a uterine infection. Laying in the ER that night, I hurt much worse than when I was in labor and felt like my heart had been ripped out of my chest, having to leave my little girl at home where she was safe. That 48 hours without her was a dark time for me. I couldn’t make milk unless Kenneth brought clothes/blankets that smelled like her from home. This mother-daughter bond is so intense. The reunion with her despite the relatively short separation is something I will never forget.

Lately the crying has been very challenging: I am used to soothing babies as part of my work, so it’s hard to struggle at times with my own child. Annie is definitely her mother’s daughter (poor Kenneth). She has the hardest time being still and is often too busy to sleep so I’ve recruited one of my dear friends who is a professional baby whisperer, Kathi, to inspire some calm in the two of us.

I started climbing again last week and it feels so good. My level of strength is humbling, but it is starting to come back. The first time I went, my mind was full of Annie and worries of leaving her for a couple hours, but this past week, I was able to climb and use it to clear my mind and re-center. I am so relieved to know that climbing still works that way for me. I’ve always needed climbing or something physical (running, swimming) to cope with my stress, but I’m trying to learn new ways as well. Annie and I are doing some mommy-baby yoga & I’ve made a mommy-baby climbing workout that is downright hilarious (think pull-ups with baby in moby wrap, kissy push-ups, itsy-bitsy spider stretches . . .whatever works, right?).

Annie Quinn McGinnis

2010-12-05T18:59:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the world, Anna Quinn McGinnis born 12/1/10 at 10:51 am. For all you NICU folk, she weighed in at 7lb. 10.78oz. with APGARs of 8 & 9. We are calling her Annie and she has already changed me to my core. I know so many people have been calling/texting/facebooking and I want you all to know we are so grateful for your words of encouragement and love- things have been pretty crazy (full stories to follow) so I figured a blogpost to catch everyone up is the easiest way to catch everyone up and give you all the details of Annie’s amazing life. We all are still in the falling in love and healing from the delivery phase, but will be ready for visitors soon.

Annie’s Birth Story

After weeks of thinking that I would be pregnant forever and feeling like I would probably go post-term (having had no early labor changes), I was shocked on Tuesday’s appointment to learn that my amniotic fluid level was dangerously low and she needed to be delivered quickly. I was worried, but she still looked very stable and still was the feisty little mover she’s been my entire pregnancy. My doctor gave me the option of going straight for a c-section because my cervix had not really started to make any changes and induction would be very difficult. I felt that because the baby was so stable, induction with a cervical ripening agent was worth a try so we went across the street and checked into Kennestone.

When they put me on the monitors as I was being admitted, I was very surprised to learn that I was already contracting every 1-2minutes because I wasn’t feeling anything yet. The trouble was that obviously with their strength, these contractions were not being productive, but they couldn’t augment my labor with anything because I was contracting too close together. Their solution was a very rough exam that ramped up my contractions to the ouch zone so that they could get my cervix open enough to break my water. After laboring for the rest of the afternoon, I was 2cm by the evening and was gaining hope for a natural delivery.

Dr. Street came over to the hospital when her office hours and tried to break my water, but it was extremely painful with the contractions and my cervix still very posterior. I accepted a dose of IV pain meds to try and that relaxed me enough that they were able to break my water after several attempts, and my contractions slowed enough to allow them to start some pitocin to get things really going. I’ve heard from so many people that pitocin contractions are significantly worse than natural contractions, but wow. I was coping with the pain pretty well, but not getting much breaks in between contractions. Those hours all blur together now, but time seemed to move very slowly and I was all over the place just trying to cope with the pain. I labored without meds until Dr. Street came back around midnight to check my progress. I was still contracting every minute despite them lowering the pitocin and had made it to 6cm. I really wanted to go without an epidural, but I knew it was time. Holding still through mind-rocking contractions while it was being inserted was THE hardest thing I have ever done. After it was in, I could relax and cope with the contractions until about 3am when I had pain just as bad if not worse than before the epidural was placed. I had made a lot of progress, but was back-laboring. No sleep for the weary.

By 7am I had spiked a fever but was 9 and ½ cm. Dr. Street had spent the night at the hospital checking in on me regularly. I cannot say enough good things about this doctor- she went above and beyond to give us great care and keep our baby girl safe. They started amp & gent and gave me a couple hours and by 9am, I still could not push the baby out because she was positioned face up and my cervix was too swollen from interventions to dilate any further. It was hard to accept after so many painful hours of laboring that this delivery would end in a c-section, but I knew it was the right thing for the baby. Her heart rate was still normal despite my increasing fever as they wheeled us to the OR. Regardless, I was very fearful that she would be born septic or depressed, but not my Annie girl.

As I’m told by Dr. Street, when they made the incision, out came her hand reaching for help. She knew it was time. Unfortunately, the incision had to be made a little larger than what is normal because the baby was so low already after a couple hours of pushing. I guess I never expected to feel near as much during the section than I did. Not pain, just immense pressure as my whole body rocked back and forth behind the drapes as I prayed my baby girl would be okay. Her cry erupted immediately after she was pulled from my belly as we cried tears of joy. She only required some suctioning, labs were drawn due to my fever, and then she came over in Kenneth’s arms. I just cried and cried and kissed her head while they were closing me. I don’t know the details, but I had some bleeding that was difficult to stop. I could hear them working and started to get worried- about Kenneth and the baby: its ironic how that concern for self changes so quickly to concern for your child immediately. I kissed them both over and over. The bleeding was soon under control but I did lose over a liter.

Holding her as they wheeled me back to the room was the most amazing thing I’ve ever felt. I had no pain. She latched quickly after several attempts and I could not have been happier. Later when they wheeled me up a floor to postpartum, they were surprised that I did not react to the bumps in the elevator and said that most c-sections get very nauseas during transport. Baby love IS the best medicine. While I continued to have some fevers after delivery, the baby was fine and beautiful and vigorous- never any fears of sepsis, thank God!

One proud new grandma (more photos to come of Annie's many admirers)

The First of Many Firsts

That first night with her proved to be very challenging. After all the visitors had left, Kenneth and I throbbed with love over this perfect baby girl we had been given. We decided on her name: Anna Quinn McGinnis (Anna Quinn was my great grandma who went by Annie). One of the sweetest moments was getting to call my grandma in the morning to let her know what we had named the baby and hearing the joy and surprise in her voice. Annie comes from a line of pretty incredible, strong, and feisty women. To prove her namesake, she passed her pediatrician exam with flying colors. Dr. Strauss was amazed at her alertness, tone, and strength. He had turned his back to her bassinette with her unwrapped and jumped as she kicked against the wall of it with a resounding thunk. Yes, I told him, I was well aware of just how strong she was after months of similar antics while I was carrying her.

During the night, she had some trouble latching and I couldn’t get her or myself positioned right because of my pain and movement limitations. Poor Kenneth was so tired he could not be roused so Annie and I both wept tears of frustration. Her cry hurts me so deep and after hours of no sleep, no food, and still only ice chips, I found it very difficult to cope. I take care of hundreds of babies and consider myself very good at soothing babies, but it felt like I was failing her as a mother. This was the first of several meltdowns. That seems like a distant memory now- just four days later- as I have developed such an intense trusting bond with my baby. It’s a deeper connection already than I could have ever imagined. We survived the first night.

May the Circle Be Unbroken

Mom brought a picture from when I was born- check out these photos:

On Love

I loved this baby more than words before she was born, but I cannot even explain the crazy love now. I spend my every hour feeding/gazing/adoring her and she looks back at me with that same power. I have been with Kenneth for ten years now and didn’t think I could love him anymore, but to see him with our daughter has brought so much love I could have never imagined. I don’t even know why I’m trying to explain any of it, because I know that I can’t- but I now understand. Annie was born knowing her father. Even in utero, he had an amazing ability to calm her and she responds to his voice as soon as he enters into the room. Seeing their bond develop is one of the most beautiful things I have ever witnessed.

Eileen told me that having a child is like leaving your heart out in the open walking around where someone could hurt it- it is extremely scary. I felt like this immediately and then unfortunately had to come to terms with the reality of the fact that there are people in this world that would try and harm my precious little baby, my heart.

I had just finished nursing her and my mom was sitting in the postpartum room with me- there was some talk about possible discharge but I still had to finish my course of IV antibiotics. We heard a knock at the door and I said to come in (expecting the pediatrician/OB/tech/nurse/lactation consultant or any of the various visitors that were constantly knocking at the door). The door opened and a strange woman in street clothes pulled the curtain to the side and said she was here to see the baby. My heart started pounding and I told her she had the wrong room (my mom was not sure if this was Kenneth’s family or a friend she did not know). The woman continued into our room saying that there was no nursery and she was here to see the baby. I was not even covered and my mom got up to guide her out as I pushed the call button frantically. My mom had pushed her out the door, but I had already given the nursing station a description of her and security apprehended her as she and the woman she was with got on the elevators.

While she certainly had mental health issues, it seemed as though she and her friend were in the hospital for a husband’s surgery and genuinely just wanted to see the babies in the nursery and after learning that there was not one, did not see what was wrong with just knocking on a random door. Her story, however, was not consistent with what happened: she told security that someone had pointed to my room and told her it was okay to go inside (which would have never happened) and that we never told her to leave the room. She was not arrested, but guarded by security in the day surgery area and forbidden to go anywhere else in the hospital. I felt as though she should have at least be detained for a psych eval.

After the immediate panic, I broke down big time. ‘What if I had been asleep and alone?’ ‘What if she wants my baby and knows where we live?’ There is a world full of bad people and bad things and the thought of any harm to my child tore at my heart with a pain I have never known. Nothing like this had happened in the past 20 years at Kennestone, but by the end of the month, the unit will be on lockdown where visitation can be more tightly controlled. We were visited by endless nursing supervisors/hospital administrators/security directors/etc to check in on us and apologize for what had happened. It was all a bit much and I finally had our amazing nurse, Sara (who cared for us the whole time we were in postpartum), fend off any more visitors. It was Sara that called our doctors and arranged for early discharge knowing that I would follow up with any issues that might develop at home. My sympathies to everyone with children- the fear that we live with and the deepest love that is so vulnerable. I cannot even imagine the depth of pain our families at Egleston must feel.

Homecoming

It is wonderful to be home. It was a little difficult at first because I was already starting to worry about Annie’s bili levels (jaundice) in the hospital starting Friday morning, but the pediatrician was not concerned. She was nursing well and still having good diapers. After the drama and we learned about early discharge, I wanted her bili level checked prior to discharge. The skin check was 12 and we headed home, but based on her appearance, I was already planning on doing some supplemental feeds when we got home. She had a really rough night that first night with gas after offering her some formula, did not have any wet diapers, and no sign of my milk coming in (probably delayed from all of the exhaustion and emotion from the previous days). In the morning, I demanded an appointment at our pediatrician and they were able to get her in. Sure enough, her bili was 16 and she needed phototherapy. They ordered a bili-bed through home health so she would not have to be admitted and it was delivered almost immediately. Thank you to all of my Egleston family for helping with that- particularly Myra : ) My milk was starting to come in so I was confident it would be short-lived, but it was still hard to have my baby in bed and not in my arms on my birthday after all we had been through. Kenneth and I took turns sitting with her to make sure she was alright under the lights and she fed great throughout the night.

My little glowworm

The worried momma's watch with Jack on duty

This morning we were back at the peds office for a bili check and she is off of phototherapy and back to breastfeeding exclusively. We couldn’t be happier. Things today were smooth sailing: no tears except for the love kind.

Thank you everyone for all of your well wishes and welcomings to our little girl. I will never take her for granted. I will never be the same.

Ready & Waiting

2010-11-21T10:50:00.000-08:00

The room is ready, the bags are packed, and the baby is in position, ready for the outside world. The excitement is building and I'm focusing on replacing all anxiety & worry with calm & trust. Even my work has wrapped up nicely for me to take a little break as I was able to discharge two of my long-term primary patients home with their loving families just in time for Thanksgiving. Last night, Kenneth & I went out with friends to Scalini's- an Atlanta restaurant famed for inducing labor with its eggplant parmesan. There were at least 10 other very pregnant women there all eating the eggplant. Our waiter said that both of his girls were born the day after his wife ate the eggplant parm. And tonight is the full moon. . . .

Here are some pictures of the baby room that I've been obsessing over for the past several months:

The More She Grows. . .

2010-10-29T19:30:00.000-07:00

Just another month. I love this baby more than I ever thought possible- and I can't even imagine the love I'll feel when she is born. Our photographer friend, Curtis Baker, took these shots on Thursday.

Hound Ears 2010

2010-10-04T18:41:00.001-07:00

This weekend marked the 17th Hound Ears Bouldering Competition (now part of the well-known Triple Crown Bouldering Season). Hound Ears is such a special place and a special event- as climbers pour into the forbidden boulderfield for one day a year to try their finger strength (and skin) at some of NC's finest problems. I went to my first Hound Ears competition nine years ago when I had just started bouldering and have been back most years- now with several wins under my belt. I've always thought that Hound Ears is like Christmas and the problems are the presents. This year was a little different, though, because I did not climb.

A couple of weeks ago after working some pretty intense shifts at work, I had some warning signs of preterm labor. While I'm fine now and the baby's fine, I decided then to stop climbing until after her birth for fear that something would happen and I would always then wonder if it was something I did. It's strange not to climb, but I know that it is temporary and the cause could not be more important. Still, it was strange to be on the other side: spending the day up at Hound Ears enjoying watching climbing, offering beta to the younger climbers, and hanging out with old friends. The weather was fall-in-Boone perfect, the attitude was fairly laid back, and the company was great.

I spent my evenings at the Prana tent brewing up some tea for the chilly, serving cookies, and listening to folks' tall tales about their climbing adventures. I realized that next time I make the pilgrimage to an October Hound Ears, I'll have my daughter in tow and that has left a smile on my face.

A view from above: everywhere you look there's pads & spotters- that's my kind of climbing comp!

I brought my personal electrician/husband to help me set up the tent this year

serving up some tea at the Prana booth

The two baddest judges in town: Meesh & Kim!

Summer Growing Season

2010-09-10T05:34:00.000-07:00

I realize it's been quite some time since I've posted, so here's a photo/video essay of how I spent my summer:

Growing a Baby

Growing a Belly

Growing Food

Growing Skills

Growing Strength

She's a GIRL!

2010-07-10T16:49:00.000-07:00

Can't even put into words how excited we have been since we found out that our baby is a girl. Just when I started to get used to the words "I'm going to have a baby", my mind has had to start all over with "we're going to have a daughter". No longer do my thoughts focus only on baby, but now an entire lifetime of hopes and dreams.

My belly is growing by the day, but I've still been climbing a good bit and pretty good! Still climbing 12+/13- with all this extra weight gives me hope that I'll continue to climb strong after pregnancy. . . we'll see! I had to upsize my harness last week, but I'm still going strong. All of our climbing friends have shown us amazing support and all expect this little girl to be a climber like her parents. I am now sitting as an athlete representative on the USA Climbing Board of Directors and went to my first meeting earlier in the week. It was so interesting to learn about the behind-the-scenes work that goes into growing a sport. Watching the kids compete at nationals, I kept envisioning my daughter at their age and all of the opportunity she will have available to her as the sport continues to grow.

Who knows if she'll love to climb or not, but our friends feel pretty strongly that she will. I just had to post a couple of the gifts we received from them. Allison & Jonathan gave us our first baby gift over a month ago: none other than hand-knit 5.10 booties. And then last week, James & Laurel showered us with love when they met up with us at IKEA and surprised us with a card announcing that they were buying her crib. We (including the little girl on the way) are so lucky to have such amazing friends.

Before her first five tennies will be her 5.10 booties!

James actually thinks the baby will be born boasting a six-pack & anasazi velcros

If You Build It. . .

2010-06-20T18:50:00.000-07:00

Saturday marked a monumental day for climbers in Atlanta: the opening of Stone Summit (now the nation's largest climbing gym). Never before has a climbing gym brought together the climbing community like it did on Saturday. Old schoolers (who I have not seen in a gym as long as I've known them) and new schoolers roped up together and explored the new air-conditioned crag in downtown. The canyon has been wet for weeks and the temp reached 93 degrees with 90% humidity: the result- hundreds of native climbers showing up as the doors opened to the public for the first time. It was Christmas for climbers.

Prana was there for the occasion with a table of posters, hats, chalkbags, etc- and a raffle for a $200 shopping spree. The hats went to adoring Prana fans, the chalkbags to newbies and kiddos that did not already have one, and the posters to EVERYONE. I even had a couple of grandmas come by the table and grab a couple of Sharma posters for their walls: classic!

All in all- the opening could not have gone any better. I was even able to rope up for an hour to show that pregnant ladies can still crush. And all the fears that lead up to the event (the intimidation factor of the enormous walls would keep people from climbing, the giant monster-mega gym would turn away the old schoolers, the gym would be too packed to climb) were all diffused within hours of the doors opening. Over the course of the day, at least a hundred people topped the main wall, all the crowds diffused throughout the facility and I never saw anyone even waiting for a route, and it was a total reunion for the climbing community. I am so excited for this gym and what it means for the future of our up-and-coming youth climbers. With any luck, Atlanta will be seeing some World Cup action in the next couple of years!

Lonely walls await their adoring fans

Moments before doors opening

This gym eats crowds for breakfast!

BIG NEWS!

2010-06-07T18:47:00.000-07:00

I have been waiting for months to share this news with the world- and now it's time! At only 15 weeks pregnant, I can't even begin to explain how much my life has changed and I can only imagine how much more it will change with the months ahead. I need to start at the beginning of this amazing story because I think it's certainly one worth telling.

I've always known I wanted to have children and part of the reason I fell in love with Kenneth was because I knew how great of a father he would be one day. The 'if' I wanted to have kids was always a given, but the 'when' was a whole lot trickier. I work in a neonatal intensive care unit and constantly have very real reminders of what can go wrong during childbirth and during fetal growth/development. I knew that I didn't want to wait long enough to be considered high risk just because of my age. At 28 years old, with a solid marriage and a home that we've finished remodeling, it was time to think about the 'when. I stopped taking birth control pills in December (having been on them for the past 10 years) to get regular again so that we could start trying for a family later in 2010.

By April I was terribly worried because I had not had a period after 4 months off the pill so I went to see my primary care doctor. I had talked to other female athletes and they warned me that conception would probably take a long time. My doctor seemed more concerned than I expected. She was concerned about my body weight (even though my BMI is right in the middle of what it's supposed to be) and ordered a bunch of lab work, letting me know that she would call with the results in a week.

The next Monday while I was working, I got the worst call I could imagine. It was my doctor calling to tell me that the labwork was strongly suggestive of ovarian failure- translation: you can never have children. I was devastated and had to find some other nurses to watch my patients while I went in the hallway to continue my phone conversation with my doctor. "Are you sure?" "What could have caused this?" "What do I do now?" She said that my hormone levels were undetectable- below what even a man's should be- and she wanted me to see a specialist as soon as possible. Anorexia and cancer were possible causes that she suggested. My diet is great and my calorie intake maybe a little too good- 'could I be dying'? She also let me know that ovarian failure was irreversible and even if everything else checked out, I would probably have to go on hormone replacement therapy.

I was pretty hysterical that day and did all the irrational bargaining in my mind: I would give my right arm to have a baby with Kenneth. Maybe I would rather it be cancer if the ovarian failure might then be reversible with treatment. Would my marriage survive this? All these years, that deep love that I feel for my husband has included our unborn children- would it just hurt too bad if that could not be? Could I continue to work in the NICU?

I made an appointment at an OBGYN office that was willing to take the 'ovarian failure' referral for that Friday. It was the longest week ever. I still had to go to work and get through my shifts because I didn't know what the future would bring and knew I had to save my time off in case I required hospitalization. I couldn't look at Kenneth without tearing up and when I went in to work I would request the sickest patient so that I would be too busy to think about what was going on inside my own body. I did have one day off before the appointment which I spent scavenging the internet and picking up the labwork results from my doctor's office. There was a glimmer of hope as I combed through my medical file. Not all hormone levels were measured- only the brain hormones that are responsible for sending the signal to the ovaries to ovulate. To me, the labwork did not seem consistent with ovarian failure from my research, but something did seem very off.

Kenneth and I were waiting in the parking lot that Friday when the doctor's office opened- wounded and scared of what the day would bring, but still holding on to some hope that somehow my doctor had just made a mistake and that we would be able to have a baby someday. We met Dr. Street and she asked us a lot of questions and read through all the referral paperwork. She could not believe that the doctor had not done a pregnancy test. I didn't think there was anyway that I could be pregnant because I had taken a test to rule that out a month or so earlier. She seemed unconcerned that my FSH/LH were so suppressed and wanted to do an ultrasound. That ultrasound was the first time we saw our baby's heartbeat. "Not only can you have children, but you're going to soon!" The doctor measured the head to rump and estimated the due date. "How does December 4th sound to you?" Kenneth and I (already in stunned joy) stared at each other in amazement. December 4th is my birthday. With tears of joy, I promised myself that I would never take this for granted and would give this baby all the love in the world. As far as I'm concerned, this baby is a miracle.

That was at 6wks and now I am well in to my second trimester. I'm still climbing, but my harness is getting pretty snug. I'm sticking to routes only and will start bouldering again after this baby is safely on the outside. More to come soon!

I'm on a Boat!

2010-05-11T13:30:00.000-07:00

While I didn't think anything could top Tunnels beach- the boat tour was AMAZING! We got to see everything we hoped to and more. The whale season here is usually over this time of the year, but a group of humpbacks have stayed here longer- one with her baby calf. While we saw the whale spouts in the distance one morning at Polihale, we could never have guessed that we would get to be close enough to hear them breathing which is exactly what happened this afternoon.

The boat was a large catamaran that was motored the whole time because the winds were not good for sailing. We left Port Allen and after rounding the edge of the naval base and approaching Polihale, we were able to watch several pods of spinner dolphins come play in front of the boat, flirting with the rudder and giving us a show of jumps and spins. We continued out to the Napali coast and snorkeled in a calmer cove where we again got to swim with enormous sea turtles. After turning around at Kalalou, we turned back towards the port and were gifted by two rare sightings. The first was a bottle nosed dolphin that is rarely seen off of Kauai because they are more private and don't like the boats. This one, however, was very large and impressed us with jumps and flops. Next we saw a monk seal out in the water that was timid, but we got a good look before it swam away. The captain of the boat was very judicious in his proximity to the wildlife and was not overly aggressive to get too close.

As we were headed back to port he spotted whale spouts in the distance and we veered off course to try and get "the last treat of this whale season". It was difficult to catch up to the group of whales. His thought that it was most likely a group of males vying for the female's attention. When we finally caught up with whales, the motor was turned off so all we could hear was the deep in & out breaths the whales took as they surfaced, arched, and dove down displaying their footprint black & white tail fins. We were in absolute awe.

The boat tour made us all VERY happy

Laurel & I watching humpback whales spout from the front of the boat

happiest captain of the boat

i'm on a boat-don't you ever forget

Laurel & sea turtle

I'm just lucky to know these guys

After the snorkeling comes the booze

hawaiian monk seal out swimming

large pod of spinner dolphins

Hiking in Koke'e & Polihale Beach

2010-05-09T20:05:00.000-07:00

Last night we celebrated Laurel's brother, Woody's, birthday by a big cookout at Ke'e beach (the last one on the road/trailhead to Kalalou). We got to watch the sea turtles swim as the sun set and eat fire-cooked fish, and of course, more elixer. Today, Woody took us on a hike in Koke'e (the highest part of the island & the wettest place on earth). Kauai is a very cool island because it has desert, swamps, canyons, beaches, and rainforest-like places. We took the winding drive up Waimea Canyon and started our hike at about 4000 elevation.

The hike was fun and not quite as long as the one that we took to Hanakaupiai Falls. As we approached the sea cliffs, the vegetation laid off of us and we were able to walk a thin ridgeline and see down the thousands of feet at the beaches that we've been to: Ke'e, Kalalau, Hanakaupiai. . . a bird's eye view of the Napali coast. After the hike we headed to Polihale beach to set up camp. There are many legends and history surrounding Polihale and it is tradition in Laurel's family to take camping trips there and sleep under the stars.

Woody leading the way for his birthday hike

mountain goat perched on a ledge

Kenneth & I on top of Kauai

The Graefe siblings reunited- this photoshoot was for Isa's mother's day gift

Now an honorary Graefe

Hike to Hanakapi'ai Falls

2010-05-05T14:10:00.000-07:00

James turned 30 today and it was an all day birthday celebration! We started out at Ono Family Restaurant for strawberry french toast and pancakes. Isa has a tradition for birthdays and special occasions where she makes a magic elixer and it is passed around as wishes are made for the person of honor. This was the first of many elixer experiences this trip as James' birthday was followed by Woody's, then Doug's, then Annie's. So before our pancakes, the elixer was passed around and wishes were given to James.

After breakfast, we quickly packed lunch and our hiking stuff and headed to the Kalalou trail where the road ends on the north shore. We hiked the first two miles of the trail to Hanakapiai Beach and then broke off into the mountain to hike another couple of miles to the Hanakapiai waterfall. It was later in the afternoon by the time we made it to the falls and had the place to ourselves. We had a very invigorating swim in the mountain water and a delicious lunch before we hiked the steep terrain back. It was a perfect 8 mile hike and we were all tired and happy by the end of the day having seen so many beautiful sights. Not a bad way to turn 30.

James' Birthday Breakfast at Ono Family Restaurant

Just a little ways on the trail to Kalalou

Great view of the Napali Coast

Hanakapiai Falls

Cold water

Tunnels Beach

2010-05-04T13:56:00.000-07:00

Today has been the greatest day yet. Tunnels is the most magical beach with the mountains in the distance, surf beyond the reef, and an entire colorful underwater world inside the reef. One of my great hopes for this trip was getting to swim with a sea turtle and it came true today. After spending the morning snorkeling the reef- seeing almost every fish on the 'fish card' and lobsters, sea cucumbers, urchins, etc- we had an amazing lunch of ono fish salad. Shortly after we finished eating, I spotted some turtles swimming up the reef towards the deeper water. After scrambling to get there in time, we had almost a full half hour swimming with a couple of turtles and I was in heaven. They were timid at first, but became more curious as we just hung out and watched them swim. Our day finished by watching the sun set over Hanalei Bay while eating ice cream. I love vacation.

the reefs are full of technicolor fish like this one

I heart snorkeling

who knew turtles can fly?

Kenneth & I chillin with some sea turtles

sunset at hanalei bay

Poipu/Waimea

2010-05-03T13:42:00.000-07:00

James, Kenneth, and I went on an exploration adventure of southside/westside Kauai today. We drove west until we found sun and found it at Waimea where we walked the beach and got wrecked trying to body surf some rougher waves. After getting pretty crispy we headed back home by way of Poipu to see the Spouting Horn rocks- which are pseudo-geysers. These long holes in the rock spout and spray water as the waves crash in. Visually, it was very cool, but the auditory experience was more so: it sounded like the rock was very old taking large belly breaths.

spouting horn in poipu

checking out the tidepools

Larson's

2010-05-02T19:47:00.000-07:00

Sunday started out rainy so our morning had a nice Sunday pace to it. Laurel learned how to make the world's best granola from her mom, the boys played scrabble, and Doug & I played some bluegrass music. Isa, after learning that snorkeling was my latest calling, let me borrow her wetsuit because I'm such a thermowuss and my coldness was cutting my snorkeling sessions short. When the rain finally cleared, we decided to head to Larson's beach- famous for the endangered hawiian monk seals that like to rest on that beach. Larson's also has the healthiest coral on the island. Unfortunately the fate of the beach is in jeopardy right now because the adjacent land may be sold to a rancher which would put a lot of wildlife at risk and people would lose access to this amazing beach.

When we hiked up to the beach there was yellow rope protecting an area of the beach and at a closer look we saw why. A momma monk seal and her baby were resting in the sand (see pics below). There is a monk seal response team on the island that ropes off areas and tries to make sure that the seals are not disturbed by people. These seals spend a lot of energy evading predators and they come to the beach to rest and restore. When people get too close and scare them back into the water too soon, they are at risk to be too tired to flea. We snorkeled for a while and enjoyed looking at the reefs and headed home when the rain started up again.

Laurel & Isa making granola

diva mask party dance

sandman

hawaiian monk seals

Aloha Kauai

2010-05-01T15:18:00.000-07:00

Welcome to vacation! Shortly after our trip to Greece, our great friends and travel partners (James & Laurel) invited us on this trip to Kauai to visit Laurel's mom, Isa, who lives here on the island. We arrived late in the day and were greeted by Isa, Doug (Isa's friend), and Woody (Laurel's brother) in true aloha spirit with a meal of coconut water, fresh pineapple, fresh ahi, and sweet potatoes and settled in. We could not have felt more welcomed or more relaxed as everyone's shoes kicked off and we breathed deep vacation breaths. This trip is particularly unique because it does not involve climbing- a first for Kenneth & I. While climbing trips are still our favorite climb, it limits us from visiting other places in the world with amazing things other than great rock.

For our first full day on the island, we went to Tunnels Beach- best beach I have ever been to! I have never really snorkeled- or I guess I just never had much to look at when I've tried to go snorkeling in the past. In just one day, snorkeling is now on my top 10 list. We saw all kinds of colorful fish, coral, etc- a whole underwater world just waiting below the surface. One of my big hopes is that I will get to swim with a sea turtle this trip so I've been on the lookout. Tunnels is on the north shore of the island- known for its mountainous beauty and little development. Just a couple miles north of Tunnels, the road ends and the rest of the north shore is accessible only by hiking the Napali coast on the trail to Kalalou which we plan of hiking this trip. After a little rain and lunch, we walked at Hanalei Bay and then went to Kealia beach to watch the surfers before calling it a day.

My first taste of Kauai

Kenneth taking a break from snorkeling

Plumeria

Hanalei Bay

April at Little River

2010-04-28T14:59:00.000-07:00

April has been the month of return to Little River Canyon. It's been nice to switch to longer climbs and fluid movement after a long winter of bouldering. Route climbing is where my heart is. We spent most of mid-April at the Concave repeating all of our favorite routes and venturing onto some of the more obscure lines. This week we took a jaunt over to Unshackled where I finally took down one of those nemesis climbs that has always given me trouble (mostly due to the large and awkward dyno). Below is some pics of Movie Star- a classic canyon 12 that will no longer get the best of me. Also, I was really psyched to onsight Zamfir, 13a- a good sign that route season is off to a good start.

I defy dynos

secret, stealthy movie star beta

2,249 Clips

2010-04-11T18:51:00.001-07:00

I spent this weekend attending a route setting clinic with Chris Danielson, hosted by Stone Summit Climbing Gym. The clinic provided a lot of insight into the art of setting commercial and competition routes and boulder problems. I had a blast putting routes and problems up on virgin walls with the input and critique of one of USA Climbing's best setters. The experience certainly got me more inspired to pursue setting.

The most exciting part of the weekend was to finally step inside the new gym. The awe factor cannot be conveyed. This gym will completely transform climbing in the southeast as it brings in international world cup events and get kids inspired that may not have otherwise found climbing. This is the largest climbing gym in the U.S. and the name of this blog post is real: there are literally 2,249 bolt hangers in the gym! To climb the entire length of the route will wind up being over 100 ft of climbing from ground to anchors. I just can't wait for what's to come- it's an entire indoor crag with unlimited training potential.

Chris giving some constructive criticism on my first attempt at setting on these new walls

The HUGE roof

The Motherlode. . . at the gym

nothing like some giant machinery to make me look smaller

Daniel, one of Stone Summit's owners, and Fernando with buckets of holds

Hotness

Resilience

2010-04-04T17:02:00.000-07:00

-(of a substance or object) able to recoil or spring back into shape after bending, stretching, or being compressed

-(of a person or animal) able to withstand or recover quickly from difficult conditions

This word has been my mantra for the past couple months and I feel as though, just now, I have finally regained my original shape after having being bent, stretched, and broken at times. The definition almost completely fits except for the part about recoil or springing back as it gives an image of immediate recovery. I’m in the car with my husband and my dog- on our way to the canyon for a spring day of climbing (no matter the rain). This is the second time this week that I’ve made it outside to climb after over a month of not being able to. Its been a long time since my last blog post- and a hard couple months.

The thing is that, as a nurse, I am constantly surrounded by illness and death and these past couple months have been a little more so than usual. While my work has been particularly stressful, I had a very unnerving experience in early March with my best friend who had one two many close calls during the childbirth of her first baby. She's just fine now, but it only reinforced that constant presence in my life of: Go LIVE Now While You Still Can. People’s lives change on a dime every day. Having this constant reminder in my life is usually a blessing: the perspective it provides me with, and the understanding that comes from being with people in their most difficult moments. Sometimes, though, you can get to feeling a little broken from it all. And while some things are going on in my life that still have me filled with worry, it is amazing how a day at the crag can relax whatever tightness was filling my head.

Much like the Taoist teaching that it is a whole lot easier to go with the bends of the stream than try to redirect its flow, climbing requires a certain yielding or cooperation with the way things are. At the same time it gives the most freedom that I know. Give and take. Resilience.

ABS Nationals Finals

2010-02-15T17:20:00.000-08:00

Sorry for no post since Friday- just got back in Atlanta and got the ol' laptop charged back up. For me, the finals on Saturday night were a bit of a disappointment- winding up in 11th place. I was not very excited about the problems set, but that is how comps go: sometimes the problems suit you/inspire you. . . and sometimes they don't. I did well on the first two problems only to get completely shut down by the slab problem, unable to reach a hold statically and unable to control the swing. Then I tapped out on the fourth problem when the start required my left hip (my bad hip) to be in a position that felt like I was risking injury. I still had a lot of fun at the event, but my friends that came to spectate were disappointed not so much by the route-setting, but by the lack of beer (what kind of climbing comp is this?). The disappointment faded quickly afterwords thanks to good times with friends and diner food, and my thoughts moved on to plans for the spring. I'm feeling pretty strong and capable of competing well, so I'm strongly considering competing in the Earthtreks Roc Comp in April, hopefully having some more time to prepare for that event than I had to train for this one.

Snowtorious

2010-02-12T15:52:00.000-08:00

ABS Nationals prelims today: so nice to have this event on the east coast! The weather has made it very difficult for people to get here as DC was filled with dump-trucks full of snow going out of town today to try and relocate it. I am staying with my best friend, Jess Culpepper, and her husband and we had some trouble of our own making it to the comp. The plan was for them to drop me off at the metro station so they could get to work, but maneuvering around the slush streets was gripping and the traffic was gridlocked. I was beginning to think that I would surely miss my climb time, but we changed the plans and decided to drive to Alexandria instead and traffic permitted in this direction. I later learned that the red line train that I was supposed to ride to the gym had de-railed. Another bullet dodged in my book: good thing I was already wearing my lucky underwear!

The comp was super-fun with gymnastic, but technical problems: an power/enduro-fest of six problems 4min on/4min off. I am in eighth place going into finals: not too bad for an old lady (believe it or not, I am by far the oldest female competitor making it to finals). It was good as always to see all the familiar faces and friends.

After competing, I went out to lunch with Charlotte, Sarah, and Alex J. and we decided to celebrate the record snowfall:

(ABS Nationals or traversing Mt Ranier: you decide)

Climbing pictures to come tomorrow- I promiss!

Valentine's Day

2010-02-11T03:38:00.000-08:00

Getting ready to leave for a quick meeting at work this morning and then it's on the ATL airport to fly out for ABS Nationals. I'm as ready as I'm going to be (given my current schedule) and pretty excited to compete in a nationals event on the east coast, at least I was until the double blizzards dumped on DC. As of this minute, Reagan International is still not open and only the underground portions of the metro are running (which doesn't help you if you're at the airport).

National weather service is claiming 4ft of snow with wind gusts up to 60 mph. As of now, the flights before mine today have already been cancelled, but my flight is claiming to still be on time. This is going to be a very long and blustery weekend with no guarantees that I'll actually make it to the gym in time to compete. No matter what, it will be an adventure. I'll keep posting on that situation, but in the meantime, I wanted to talk about Valentine's Day.

Nationals has always fallen on this weekend, and so, for the past 4+ years, I have not been with my husband on valentine's day. While many people hate valentine's day for the hallmark holiday that it is, I love it for all the reasons I love every movie that has Tom Hanks & Meg Ryan together. I don't know how much longer I'll be competing at events like this, but I'm really looking forward to the day I get to celebrate a Valentine's Day in the same state as my husband (like New York on top of the empire state building). Happy Valentines Day, Kenneth: I love our life together!

Boulderpalooza 2010

2010-01-10T19:38:00.000-08:00

Kenneth and I drove down to central Florida this weekend to escape the frigid temps in Atlanta, visit his parents, and to compete in the Boulderpalooza (annual bouldering competition) at the Gainesville Rock Gym. After a 7+ hour drive that included hour long conversations over seinfield-esque topics like how long the stripes between lanes are on the highway (10ft!) and the logistics of pecan farming, we arrived in Gainesville only to find the temperatures were not much better than in Atlanta. The fruit is in trouble.

Saturday, I made my way to the Gainesville Rock Gym to compete, double-fisting coffee. I was met by a lot of familiar faces and excited youth for a really fun day of pulling down on some plastic. Chattanooga showed up in force with Jimmy Webb and Kasia Peietras, plenty of strong Floridians, and myself representing the peach state. More competitors turned up for the competition this year due to the $5000 cash purse put up by the GRG and an impressive list of sponsors. This event is always a blast- and I would recommend it to everyone: the positivity and enthusiasm is a welcome change in a comp scene that is too often dominated by entitled athletes and psychotic parents. The Gaineville Rock Gym is a small gym with a whole lot of spirit: at a glance, you wouldn’t understand how it has churned out so many strong climbers, but after having attended an event there, it becomes evident. While this small gym in central Florida may not have the biggest facility, newest walls, etc, they have heart and have inspired a community of climbers in an area where the closest rock to climb is at least six hours away. Pretty cool.

I climbed with Kasia for the majority of the day and it felt much more like a session than a competition. In between prelims and finals, there was about an hour and a half that we had to sit in isolation: possibly the highlight of my day because I spent the entire time holding Jimmy & Kasia’s 11 wk-old husky puppy while he napped. Awake, he is a rambunctious, sharp, little beast when awake, asleep he is the cuddliest, floppy-pawed thing ever. I think that if comp-organizers would like to make their events more attractive, they should offer puppy holding in every iso: I will be there.

At the end of the day, I went home happy having placed first (by not a very big margin), having had a great workout, and having caught up with old friends- oh, and made some $$$$!!!!

Best of 2009

2010-01-05T20:11:00.000-08:00

New FiveTen assignment: blog entry on ‘best of 2009’: while several days late, I’ve been mulling the topic over in my mind. In relation to my climbing life, was the ‘best of 2009’ the comp victories, the personal bests, or the new places? The truth is that the best moments of any year come in the same unsuspecting package: moments in time where all things quiet to the simplicity of being outside focusing on the rock above. It’s not the comp days that we’ll dream about when our bodies give out, it is the moments up on a route where all you can hear is the wind and witnesses look on from the ground with their necks craned and their fingers twitching for their turn. This is why I climb: I can leave everything else on the ground.

A couple of days ago, my husband and I went to see Avatar- a lovely movie for anyone who has not yet seen it. In it, the aliens who inhabit the planet Pandora have nervous systems that extend out of the ends of their hair and they use it to physically connect with the forest that they live in. They plug into the trees to hear their ancestors’ voices and into the mane of the horse they ride to establish their connection. In the movie, the physical connection lets them understand the inter-connectedness of all things. While I don’t have a neural tube that comes out of my ponytail that I can just click to the things I want to connect to, I go climbing: my way of ‘plugging-in’ to the natural world that we are all a part of.

So the highlight of my year was not the Triple Crown. It was not onsighting 8a or sending my projects. It was not the sticky rubber on my shoes (although I still whole-heartedly think FiveTen makes the best shoes). The best part of 2009 was a Tuesday afternoon in Little River Canyon when my mind quieted and I could just climb.

Triple Crown Birthday Weekend

2009-12-07T07:39:00.000-08:00

This past Friday I turned 28 and I am proud to say that despite cranking out some serious boulder problems yesterday, I am not in a world of hurt today (just my hips- ha!) This Triple Crown event, like all the years past, did not disappoint and included a bonus SNOW DAY on Saturday. Kenneth and I headed up to Chattanooga Friday afternoon with Jack-the-Dog in tow and went straight to the pre-registration party and set up the Prana tent. It was when my hands turned to icicles during the tent set-up that I first began to wonder if I was going to have any hope of climbing well. I had on more layers than the kids in the Christmas Story as I handed out Prana beanies to all the crazy climbers (mostly Floridians) who had not brought any head-coverings to the event and whose ears were disturbing shades of crimson. From there we met up with Michelle and went to Mudpie for some beans, rice, cake, and karaoke.

We stayed with our good friend Michelle in St. Elmo at her new kick-ass abode. Hotel Michelle was also the headquarters for the boonies (Pat Goodman & Jessa Goebel) and for fellow Prana/FiveTen athlete, Alex Johnson. Michelle’s dog, Oliver the fluffy-white-talking-dog, was joined by my dog, Jack (an old friend of Ollie’s), and Fritz (A.J.’s 4lb. chihuahua). Oliver (a huge husky) and Fritz became the star-crossed lovers of the weekend with an unfortunate mutual attraction thwarted by dimensions.

We all hunkered down for the night and I was the first to wake up Saturday morning (comp day) and look out the window. Chattanooga was covered with an inch of snow and it was still snowing! Still in my sleeping bag, I grabbed my laptop and hopped into Alex’s room playing “White Christmas” on my iTunes. For those of you who don’t already know, Alex lives the life. She climbs and hangs out with Fritz and sleeps. That being said, the girl does NOT wake up early or easily. I turned up the music and started to dance in my sleeping bag until Fritz woke up and decided that attacking me was the only option. Poor Alex finally opened her eyes and in a very confused tone looked right at me and inquired, “what ARE you?” That was how the snow day began.

Our entire snow day events: coffee, Waffle House, coffee, Bluegrass show downtown (Gerle Haggard rocked it), hot chocolate, hike with the dogs, tea, dyno comp at the gym, served tea at the tent, and then went to bed with hand-warmers in my sleeping bag. Hot beverages were definitely the theme. Before the dyno comp started, they had a pad-stacking contest where you had to stand on top of bouldering pads and add pad by pad until you eventually toppled over. Hailey (bad-ass local climber) tore it up and beat all the boys with an impressive thirteen-pad tower with her teetering at the top. Zach Walker brought the pain in the massage corner helping climbers loosen up and work out the knots.

Sunday=comp day. With temps in only the 20s to begin, we filed into the frozen boulderfield. When it gets that cold outside, I usually tap out and stay home and knit next to our space heater. I do not function well in freezing temperatures. I had on more layers than I care to admit (notice there are no climbing pics of myself below in part because there was no time and in part because I resembled the Michelin man). I had hand-warmers in my pockets and in my down slippers that I wore to get from problem to problem- all while having my climbing shoes tucked in my long underwear to keep them warm. The day got better and better and my climbing got better and better as the sun graced us and I ended up having my best bouldering day ever- and managed to win the entire comp! It was unexpected, but a great birthday gift. My ticklist:

Man Hands (V8)
Odyssey (V9)
Grimace (V8)
Spanky (V8)
Cleopatra (V8)
Bedwetters (V9/10)
Dr. Atkinson (V8)
The Brotherhood (V8)
I Think I Can (V9)
Fatigue Syndrome (V8)

Jack & Ollie enjoying the cold

Chattanooga's Gerle Haggard Band

John Hur on Odyssey-V9

John on Space-V8

Slider

2009-11-09T18:54:00.000-08:00

Slider is one of my favorite boulder problems of all time (#1. The Orb, #2. Mighty Mouse, #3. Slider). Alex Hooks was photographing the Triple Crown event this past weekend and sent me these shots from Slider & Beta Boy. Thanks, Alex!

Triple Crown at Horse Pens

2009-11-08T17:19:00.000-08:00

This weekend was the 7th year of Triple Crown at Horse Pens, AL. I have been there every year for the past seven and it is starting to make me feel very old. I can still hang with the big guns though, placing a very close second to Alex Puccio. Go Team Five Ten! The weather was beautiful with temps a little on the warm side for the ancient sandstone slopers that characterize this amazing little boulderfield. The comp was full of the usual sending energy that brings people back, year after year, to try their hardest. Having just returned from the Greece trip, my endurance is there, but my bouldering power is still not back at full force. Highlight sends of the day included Slider (V9), Ghetto Superstar (V9), and repeating some of my favorites in the boulderfield (Consumption, Chevy, Stepchild, and Great White). Kenneth and I had a great time hanging out with old friends and getting back to bouldering. We headed out to the ranch Friday afternoon to set up the prana tent, climbed all day Saturday, and stayed up making tea and giving away clothes to a bunch of really psyched folks throughout the night. The booth was a huge success: the Prana presence at the event was definitely strong! Here's a few pics from the event. . . more to come

Consumption- V7

Hailey on Stepchild-V8

The Prana tent

I make a mean green tea

Jimmy's Prana Tee has seen more climbing days than most climbers have

Jimmy Webb - winner of Mens' Open- enjoying his new (and old) Prana garb

Poor Max, this year's lead athletic supporter

My friend, Leonard

Closing Time

2009-10-23T03:45:00.000-07:00

Today was our last climbing day on the island. There have been a lot of people leaving everyday for the past week. The winds are picking up and the air is cooler and some of the restaurants are gearing down. We are all feeling pretty thrashed with this being third day on. We hiked back to Spartacus this morning to wrap up some climbing there and then took a long afternoon siesta. When we woke up, we went back to Arhi for some photos in the setting sun. Kenneth took these of me on Angelica (8a):

While we were hanging out it the sun, this guy caught our eye and we were able to get some good photos of him

Prehistoric Kalymnos Lizard alive and hungry for rock climbers!

Sikati Cave

2009-10-22T03:24:00.000-07:00

Today we ventured (and it absolutely was an adventure) to the Sikati Cave . . . a sector on the most remote part of the island not often traveled to except for crazy climbers and goats. It was as if we had entered another world cresting the top of the tail peak of Kalymnos: the terrain was like something out of Lord of the Rings and the ocean, now unimpeded by Telendos, went for as far as we could see. In the far distance, we could barely make out the lines of the Turkish mountains.

The hike in was about an hour: not too grueling, but longer than we thought it would be. There is a beautiful, secluded beach ~200m down from the cave which was where James & Laurel decided to spend most of their day. The descent into the Sikati cave was an easily managed series of bolts with a fixed rope and we were then greeted by more Kalymnian three dimensional rock climbing with alienish features made more dramatic by the rock sculptures climbers had built on the ground along with the occasional goat bones/carcasses from the poor goat that had misstepped along the rim of the cave.

I wish I could say that the climbing was as good as the surroundings: it was just not on par with some of the more stunning sectors we had already been to this trip. The climbing was impressively steep and long (which I love), but the rock quality was not quite as good and the grades seemed a little off. I was psyched to get the credit for flashing two 8a’s (Morgan/Adam Extension & Super Lolita), but both felt quite soft for the grade and the rope drag made for some VERY challenging upper clips on both routes but particularly Super Lolita. It felt like climbing with a 50lb goat on your back. Absolutely glad we ventured to see it and experience it, but I don’t think we’ll be making it back to the Sikati cave this trip.

An amazing approach. . .the Sikati cave looks like a meteor hit the hillside

Flashing Morgan/Adam (8a)

Kenneth & James looking at Turkey on the horizon

I thought this guy was particularly adorable as he blended with the surrounding shrubs

Dan Mirsky pondering the moves to come

Send Train

2009-10-21T02:33:00.000-07:00

The winds have changed again in Kalymnos and the temps this morning were cool. We decided to return to the Grande Grotta one last time this trip as the boys wanted to get back on Aegalis. It was cool enough that we hiked with an outer layer on, but by the time we reached the olive tree a quarter way up the Grotta hillside, we were sans shirts. The sun does not hit the Grotta until 1400-1500, so I took advantage of the cool breeze and decided to go for the onsight of Fun de Chechunne (8a). This route includes a 40m roof and 28 bolts: quite intimidating!

Despite all of the draw weight, I felt surprisingly good and before I knew it I was half-way out the route on a pretty good rest. It is hard when you are onsighting to not constantly worry about blowing the onsight and instead focus on the climbing immediately in front of you- a skill that I am definitely still developing. The route was incredibly fun and adventuresome as I navigated through some of the largest stalagtites I had encountered yet. For the last quarter of the route, I knew that I had it and would not let go for anything. It was a day for sending and the rest of the group soon got aboard: Kenneth redpointed the stunning Aegelis (7c) that you can’t stop photographing if you try, Laurel redpointed her second 7b (Ivi), and James flashed 7b. A good day for all.

By the time our gear was all cleaned, the sun was in full blaze and we hiked back down to Massouri for showers and a delicious dinner at the Gecko. Tomorrow this sick hottie is going to the Sikati.

I love Kalymnos

Kenneth sending Aegelis

James flashing Ivi

Onsighting Fun de Chechunne (8a)

Laurel sending Ivi (7b)

Rocking the Kalymnian fetal position rest

Rest Day

2009-10-20T08:07:00.001-07:00

Finally a truly restful rest day. All I have done is go on walks and washed a lot of clothes in our studio's sink. Here's a couple of pics that I have not yet posted from earlier in the trip:

Knackered, Blinkered, and Spent

2009-10-19T07:33:00.000-07:00

Today was a marathon day of rock climbing. Now with the kitten worries gone, my focus returned to sending. Our scooters needed to be returned at 1:00, so Kenneth and I went for a morning session at Arhi so that I could try and redpoint Angelica (8a). The route had felt the most challenging yet and I did not know if I would be able to do it this trip. While we were warming up on Kastor (7a), some funny folks from Scotland got on Angelica to see if it was a route they wanted to work on this trip. After they found out that I was on it the previous day, they asked me if it was desperate or do-able: I quickly answered “both”.

Those blokes were a good time and used all sorts of hilarious Brittish/Scottish vernacular that we had never heard. After the first had made it to the upper crux of the non-holds, he exclaimed many “bloody hell”s and “I’m way to blinkered” before he came down deciding this route was not for him. The second Scott decided to see the non-holds for himself and also came down from there. All the talk of this route being so difficult and not easy to redpoint in a short trip was not exactly encouraging. I tried to block out the negativity and believe that I was about to send the route. My first go, I gave it my best fight through all the sections of difficult climbing. I felt strong going into the upper crux but blew off the eventual target at the end of the non-holds: a jagged right handed crimper. I lowered off quite discouraged thinking that this route was probably too hard for this trip, but I wanted to do it so badly. The line was so beautiful and the climbing perfectly challenging.

After Kenneth had a couple of goes on Eros, I decided to give the route one last go before we had to return the scooters. I felt desperate through the bottom moves and was trying my absolute hardest to get to the upper crux: my arms and shoulders felt like rocks and I knew I would fall as soon as I got on the crimps. I looked up at the rest that I had dismissed as unreachable, but I had no choice. I did a huge move and was so relieved that the rest hold was good enough to recover. I was rejuvenated going into the crux and stuck the crimp with two fingers. Unable to close it down, I high stepped and deadpointed to the bottom of the upper tufa. I knew I would not let go after that and the climbers on the ground yelled “a la muerte” (to the death). [Mom sidenote: to the death is not a literal translation. . .it just means try as IF your life depended on it]. I have not been this psyched about a send for a long time.

We returned the scooters and hiked out to Odyssey to meet up with James & Laurel. I got on Marci Marc (13a) and was very excited to pull it off second go despite feeling so knackered and blinkered. Odyssey is a really cool crag and there was a cute French family there with their little four-year-old boy. We were all amazed how self-entertained he was playing with rocks and dirt and water paints while his parents climbed. To get him interested in climbing routes his dad would place little matchbox cars at various places up a climb and then send him up to retrieve them. Very cute!

Laurel was very psyched to send her first 7b (Luci Luca). James gave Marci Marc a good go and then the poor guy broke his front tooth repair (the result of a Buckhead driver vs. James’ bicycle). He is now missing half of one of his front teeth and we have been trying to decide if superglue would be a valid option. It has made for a good number of jokes- especially after the 1.5L of red wine that was consumed at dinner tonight. Rest day tomorrow: my arms are thrashed!

(Marci Marc 7c+)

James taking it in stride

Laurel sending her first 7b

Kenneth giving the locker room pep talk

Hunting for matchbox cars (I think I see one out left)

Arhi

2009-10-18T07:07:00.000-07:00

We didn’t get much sleep last night because of those crazy kittens. We tried to wake them every three hours to dropper feed them, but they all cry at the same time and we had to use strategies like running the shower and playing music so that the owner of these studios would not catch on to our kitten scheme. After we got the kittens fed early this morning and finally back to sleep, we took them to Birgit. They will be going to a wonderful home: an American woman who knows kittens and knows how to care for them. We left a donation to the animal welfare group and felt a huge weight off of our shoulders with trouble, troublesome, and much trouble now out of our hands.

We headed to a crag called Arhi which looked amazing in the guidebook, but was deceivingly mostly very slabby. There was one steep, clean-looking wall that had some phenomenal routes on it and was well worth the scooter ride out to it. I warmed up on an amazing route called Eros (7b+) and very classic. And then I got on Angelica (8a)- was planning on getting on some other routes, but after seeing this line, it was definitely the one I wanted to do. I made a very valiant (and close) onsight attempt, but was thwarted by the upper crux. Again, an hour later, I fell going to the last clip. There is an upper rest on the route which is too far for me to go to so I am trying the very direct line and it feels pretty stout for the grade.

By the time I had a couple of goes and finished up some of the 12s at the crag, the sun was in full blast and we headed to the sea for an afternoon swim. Yesterday while we were eating very eggy pancakes, we watched as a woman from a nearby hotel threw a perfectly good float into the dumpster. We snagged that quickly and reaped its benefits today. I could lay on top of the float and watch the ocean beneath with goggles and I saw all sorts of flounder, sea bass, and kelp. We took an evening scooter ride to Pothias and ate a delicious dinner of dolmades, feta-stuffed calamari, swordfish, and wine at the Aegean Taverna. Not a bad day. Not a bad day at all.

Orion (7c+)

Ever wondered what to do with your banana peels at the crag?

Sunset over the Massouri Village

Warming up on Eros (7b+)

The Trouble with Kittens

2009-10-17T06:44:00.000-07:00

This morning we woke up to an aptly rainy rest day. Our plan was to rent scooters and explore the island and we decided to not let the rain deter us. After a strange, but delicious breakfast, we rented some scooters from Sakis and I decided to go make sure the kittens were not still where we left them to put my mind at ease. We pulled up beside the abandoned building where we had thought we saw the momma cat and Kenneth went to check where we had left him (if it was gory, he promised to spare me the details). He came back from around the corner with a long face. They’re dead? Not sure, but they’re still there.

Again, what to do? It was raining and still a little windy. I went to look and they were in a pile soaking wet and breathing quickly. With a long sigh, I picked up each one, dried them off, and put them in my camera case determined not to leave these kittens again until I knew they would not suffer unnecessarily. We rode the scooters back into Massouri where we stopped at Antonis Grocery to see if he knew of a local vet. He knew of one and showed us a general direction on a map- we knew it was somewhere behind the stadium several villages away. Amazingly (with the help of several helpful English-speaking Kalymnians), we found the vet and they were actually there at 1:00pm on a Saturday. While they couldn’t help with the kittens, they gave us several numbers for animal welfare group liasons in the area.

After hours of stress and scooter scavenger hunts, we have found a woman who takes in baby kittens and can take them in the morning. In the meanwhile, the vet kindly gave us a syringe and we found some baby formula that we have been heating & doing our best to dropper feed every three hours to these very troublesome (and loud- we are sneaking them in and out of our studio) kittens. If you are ever in Kalymnos, give your business to the Climber’s Nest at the upper edge of Massouri. The owner, Birgit, is a friend to all animals in need and is an angel on this island! Not much rest in this rest day, but the kittens are hopefully going to be okay.

Returning to check on the kittens, realizing we were in over our heads

Outside the vet office in Pothia, trying to reach the animal welfare representatives on our cell

(all three kittens were in the camera case)

(trying to convince Trouble to eat)

James' best scooter helmet pose

Laurel

Little did they know the kitten drama that was about to ensue

Odyssey

2009-10-16T07:44:00.000-07:00

Today we hiked to the Odysee crag, past all the walls we’ve already been to and further towards the little town of Kasteli. It sprinkled on us off and on and the wind has really picked up since previous days. There was a spectacular thunderstorm out at sea last night that we could watch from our balcony like fireworks. Since then the air is warmer, but the wind has been impressive. We stopped at this information center in Kasteli to pick up the free insert for the guidebook. Despite our guidebook being published in 2008, there has been such rampant route development, it is already outdated.

When I came back out of the info center, everyone was huddled around one of the roadside dumpsters. The woman from inside and I went out to see what James, Laurel, and Kenneth were all looking at under the dumpster and there they were: three kittens no older than a couple of days- only one trying to walk and he kept moving in the direction of the road. There was broken glass all around them and as the woman threw some of the bigger glass shards into the dumpster she tsked her tongue and said people throw away kittens often here.

We had definitely already noticed that there was a problem on the island with stray cats. Many restaurants have cats that sneak under tables for hopeful scraps. Now what was I to do? It was raining and blowing dirt and these kittens couldn’t even walk yet. Taking Greek kittens through customs obviously wouldn’t fly and it seemed cruel to try and take care of them and then leave eight days later. But I couldn’t just leave them by the road like that in the glass. Kenneth looked around for the off chance that there was a momma kitten nearby. I decided that I would at least take them with me for the day, keep them dry & warm, and if they died then at least they would be more comfortable then in their current condition.

Hiking up to the crag with three tiny kittens folded up in your shift is tricky because you don’t want to misstep and jostle the little things. They really liked the hike and quickly fell asleep in a fuzzy pile. We built them a nest at the crag (hello. . .NICU nurse. . .I think I can build a developmentally supportive nest) and fed them a couple drops of cream when they would wake up with a dismantled pen made dropper feeder.

Meanwhile, while the kittens were sleeping, I warmed up on some 11s and got on Orion (7c+)- used to be 8a and the crux felt quite difficult taking four tries to redpoint (twice as many goes on this route than any other this trip)! The route was alright, but not the quality of the ones from the previous days. I decided to give Gaia (8b) a go and got shut down by a long move that I simply couldn’t reach no matter what feet I tried. I did all of the other moves, but I don’t think I’ll be getting back on that one.

Okay, so back to the kittens. We hiked down from the crag with the plan to try and find a vet/shelter in Pothias in the morning (probably non-existent, but worth a try). As we reached the road, we decided to look around one last time for momma cats. We saw several cats this time and one slender cat that looked like she was interested in the kittens when I sat them down!!! She watched us from a distance until we were sure that she would not come to them while we were anywhere near. We decided that these kittens (island vet or not) were not going to survive without their mother and their best chance was to stay there. We left them in a sheltered spot with enough protection to keep them warm and dry and parted ways.

And now I’ve done nothing but worry about them all night. I fear that I did wrong taking them in the first place, but I was led to believe they were dumped. I fear that I did the wrong thing leaving them last night. Sigh. Kittens are so stressful!

Laurel dreaming of sending Luci Luca

Trouble

Wild Thyme

(it grows at many of the crags and smells so good-

it is also used on all the Greek salads we've had here on top of the feta. . .delicious!)

Kissing Kittens

Thunderstorm in the distance with Telendos in the forefront

Spartacus

2009-10-15T07:09:00.000-07:00

Today we hiked past the Grande Grotta and on to the Spartacus Wall: phenomenal pocket pulling with very unique rock. I warmed up and got on Spartacus (7b+)- very cruxy with great pocket & tufa moves on either side of the crux. The route Daniboy (8a) was recommended to me and I gave the onsight a respectable go, but missed several of the tufa sweet spots. I was happy to send second go and incidentally pissed off some of the Euros that had been working the route. The route has got to be one of my favorites. It has friendly holds with a wide variety of flowing moves. For every difficult cross-through there were feet exactly where I wanted them. Definitely felt a tad soft for the grade, but absolutely stunning route climbing.

The ground crew

Moments before mono

Building confidence for the send

Kenneth on Daniboy (8a)

Kenneth looking cute & alpine-like

Happy Birthday Laurel!

2009-10-14T06:49:00.000-07:00

Well, if you’re gonna turn 24, I suppose Kalymnos is the place to do it. Since we were all feeling pretty thrashed from the previous enduro-days, a rest day definitely seemed in order. We spent our time kicking around Massouri & Myrties beaches and exploring. We wound up at Babis Bar where Babis entertained the boys with alcohol and a very thorough Greek history lesson with maps/video/photos/etc. I love Kalymnos and the pride the locals take in their island. Everyone has greeted us with such kindness and interest. For example, we have been frequenting Antonio & Nikis’ Grocery where we’ll buy things we realize we need like soap or cereal after we’ve finished our dinners. Antonio has bestowed all kinds of life lessons & stories upon us with every checkout. Tonight Antonio talked about the importance of taking adventures like the one we are on and remembering it with photos. When it started pouring rain (a rarity in Kalymnos), he gave us cardboard boxes to make a rush for our studios and insisted on taking a photo. . .” that way it will be history”.

We celebrated Laurel’s birthday with a big Greek meal at Panos’ restaurant. We tried our tastes at a lot of traditional Greek foods: mousaka, stuffed vine leaves, tzasziki, Greek lasangia, fresh kalamari, stuffed tomato, olives, and more! Red wine and laughter- we must have stayed at our table for 3 hours! Most of the restaurants are a portion of people’s homes and they are in no rush for you to leave. Unlike at home where you are being shuffled out the door, in Kalymnos you are lucky to leave a restaurant in a couple of hours.

Laurel blowing out her imaginary flame. (If someone would photoshop a candle into this and email it back to me. . .that would be great!)

Enjoying our traditional Greek meal

One of the many moth-sized hummingbirds they have all over the island

Kenneth's too cool for school on the Myrties beach

Sunrise, Sunset

2009-10-13T03:08:00.000-07:00

Eat (the most amazing meal of your life with a Greek salad & red wine), Sleep (on a very hard bed with a blanket that smells kind of like wet dog), Climb (the most amazing routes of your life), Repeat

The sounds and smells of Kalymnos are so much of the experience and while I can bring you the sights (at least an attempt via photo), I can only describe what it FEELS like to be here. The first night here we had the windows open and had a salty cool breeze that blew in throughout the night. On weekend nights, the Greek music (always with at least a violin and some percussion and tinging bells) comes in with the sea breeze and goes until about 2am- while you are sleeping, you are very aware of it, but it is not at all disturbing. The rooster down the street is very honorable and only starts crowing at exactly 6am every morning. There are a lot of sheep and goats on the island and you can hear their bells chiming around- especially up at the cliffs when the wind dies down. At the top of the very long routes, all you can hear is the wind and it is a very peaceful place to be. The village of Massouri smells mostly like the sea, but also has the occasional soapy water & goat smell mixed in.

It is interesting to see how the island has found a niche with climbing. From what I understand, the island had only a slim to moderate amount of tourism as there are many Greek islands that are more known to Europeans on holiday. Climbing has brought the island a longer business season and supports the local restaurants & studios without any change in lifestyle. Climbers and islanders lifestyle meld together nicely: as groups of people we love the outdoors and like to take time to savor life.

Today, with James & Laurel in tow, we returned to the Grande Grotta with more steep tufa action to be had. I warmed up and then strapped on 22 draws, and started up Priapos for the onsight attempt. It went . . .not so great- I got lost in a couple of the sections, then really pumped, then really scared. Even though the climbing is ridiculously steep, it is hard to convince yourself that you will not impale your body on the tufas below you. Belayers are required to dish out a lot of extra slack so that the falls will be very long, but safe from the jagged cliff. I did the route fairly easily, though, second go! Definitely the longest route I have ever done and it felt like a journey. Some Slovenians were excited to try the route and offered to clean my gear. . .sweet, right? Well, not so sweet after >1h and they still hadn’t made it to the top and then were having a very difficult time getting the draws down. So I ended up having to do it a third time. I guess I’m just getting into Kalymnian shape, but I’m feeling pretty thrashed and will probably take a rest day tomorrow. The climbing is so three dimensional and there are instances when you are full on mantling mid-route so I have scrapes and cuts all over my arms, legs, torso. Don’t worry, mom- I put some sporin on them (although I should have probably opted for windex. . .I mean I AM in Greece after all). . . .

I'm the little black dot in the upper right- these routes are crazy long!

Laurel climbing on DNA (7a+)

James learning limestone, thankful for his sticky rubber!

Kendo tickling tufas

Being lowered from the send of Priapos: it was a long way up there!

Silouette shot from the rest mid-route on Priapos

Sweet Kenneth was on belay for a very long time. . .once again I'm the little black dot.

Grande Grotta

2009-10-12T02:57:00.000-07:00

First full day on the island and first day of climbing: amazing. I can completely understand why people come back here year after year. We even met a family from Squamish that are here for 3months with their 3 year old daughter. It’s lovely to see so many families on climbing trips in addition to the usual crew that I would expect to see at one of my more typical crags. For our first day, we decided to see what all the Grande Grotto rage was about and it definitely did not disappoint. I climbed 40m+ routes with huge overhangs and can’t remember grabbing a single bad hold- certainly no small holds encountered yet. The crag had a definite international feel with many languages being spoken, but cheers and encouragements being understood across the nationalities.

We warmed up on a tufa-ridden 6c & 7a and while Kenneth was on belay with me trying to navigate through the foreign 3-dimensional climbing- a goat sauntered up and started nosing through my pack and chose my brand new 35 euro guide book to start nibbling on. Not much we could do about it at the time, but some French guys threw their cigarettes at him and he stopped. (actually it was a shoe, but they WERE smoking cigarettes). The other side of the Grotto (with all the routes I wanted to get on) was so packed we didn’t even think about trying to be the one American group negotiating a place in line for the most popular routes. But come ~1400, the sun starts to creep on the wall and the Euros scatter.

We have been climbing in 90 degree, 100% humidity for the better part of four months now in the southeast and it felt like heaven to us in the sun with the ocean breeze. I was psyched to hang on long enough for the onsight of Aegialis (7c) and DNA (7a+)- in fact they felt pretty easy and I’m psyched to get on some harder routes after warming up to this style of climbing. Tomorrow I’m thinking about trying to onsight Priapos- a 35m 7c that will require some creative cleaning strategies as I only have a 70m rope with me and a longer one would be helpful.

After the afternoon sun got to be a little too intense, Kenneth & I invested in a kid’s pair of face mask and snorkels and went for a swim in the Aegean. The sea is so clear here that I could see all sorts of things (lots of scary fish), which made me make high-pitched whale noises through my snorkel drawing attention to myself from all the European sunbathers. Fish are scary – I have always thought this and I still maintain that, but this trip I’m going to TRY and get a little more comfortable to swimming near them and not freaking out about it. After drying off from our swim, we met James & Laurel who just got to the island and have perma-grins from the sights of the cliffs, the proximity of it all, the delicious dinner we had, and the wine that we all drank (yes, even James). I love Greece. I love this trip. And I can’t wait for tomorrow.

Welcome to the Island

2009-10-11T02:27:00.000-07:00

Today we arrived on the island of Kalymnos and we’re already in love with the place. We had to spend 24h in Athens as Olympic Airlines cancelled our originally scheduled flight to the next day. After going through security in the Athens airport, a group of travelers with forearms twice as large as the typical European had all gathered around gate B24. After a very expensive 24h in Athens around very up tight French vacationers, we were finally among brethren despite the various languages spoken on the airplane (French, German, Dutch, Italian, Slovene, and Greek). As we descended upon the island of glimmering clifflines, everyone had smiles on their faces. This is going to be a very good trip. There is one main road around the island and we are staying in the town of Massouri- close to a majority of the climbing on Kalymnos. The road is full of lamp-lit restaurants, scooter rentals, studio apartments, and climbing shops. We arrived to late to climb, but wandered the streets and watched the sun set over the island of Telendos (across the bay). We ate an amazing dinner of greek salad, pizza, and wine at Café Prego and will call it a night, perusing the headlamp-lit pages of our new guidebook to plan for the days ahead. This is MY kind of vacation!

Sunset over Athens

View from Hotel Roof in Athens

Flight from Athens to Kalymnos

View from balcony of our studio in Kalymnos of Grande Grotta

View from studio balcony

Pimp My Wall

2009-09-01T13:52:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday a crew from ATL staged a stealth operation to Augusta (temporary home of our friend, Greg Kottkamp, a very talented climber who is in med school at MCG). "Pimp Greg's Wall" was the brainchild of Andrew Kornylak, taking months of planning to get the materials, help, etc. We rolled out early Sunday morning with a huge rental truck full of tools, wood, and beer. Greg's wife, Katy, was in on the mission and was responsible for keeping Greg distracted in Atlanta while we stormed his Augusta office room. While Kornylak photographed the day's efforts, Josh Fowler (between drilling and pounding t-nuts) filmed the construction from start to finish to reveal. Even with the saw dust in my eyes, a gnarly bruise from dropping a 2x10 on my ankle, and <3 hours of sleep that night, it was SO MUCH FUN!!! After finishing the wall and getting the room put back together, we had a very giddy hour of waiting for Greg to get home. We were all like 13 year old girls giggling in the dark every time head lights came by the windows. Hopefully the wall will help Greg's sanity throughout the grueling coursework ahead of him and constantly remind him that he's got a team of friends who's always there for him (even in Augusta-yuck!). I'll be sure to post links to the video when Josh is done with it. Thanks to So Ill, Bluewater, Escaladea, and everyone who came. Way to go team!

My Love

2009-08-25T10:00:00.000-07:00

Today is Kenneth and I's two-year anniversary. And not to be cliche, but our wedding day was the happiest day of my life. Over the past couple of years as a married couple, we've seen each other through some tough times, made our house a home, and have dreamed about what our future together will look like. I love Kenneth for his ability to see beauty and potential where others do not. He can transform the things and people that he touches. The wedding still feels like it was just a couple of months ago and feels even more so when I look at our pictures. Here are a few from that evening taken by Andrew Kornylak:

Concave Shoot

2009-08-22T12:23:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday, we had the crag to ourselves (probably due to the 90+ degree temps). James, Laurel, Kenneth, & I showed up for an afternoon canyon session and Curtis Baker took pics from up on an elaborate swing seat. Here's a couple of the shots:

How Fast They Grow

2009-08-19T15:23:00.000-07:00

Cute Little Green Things

2009-08-13T19:06:00.000-07:00

My corn is the cutest. And it's growing.

Look who I found at my front door.

Canyon Style

2009-08-09T18:46:00.000-07:00

Couldn't wait to get outside after a long work week, so (despite the 95+ degree temps) decided to head to Little River Canyon. It was a sweat-fest, but surprisingly successful. While most of the day was spent goofing around, I sent the extension to 'The Word'- (13b) with a very reachy crux. Psyched from the send, we decided to go for an evening dip with the dogs in our favorite swimming hole. Alby, Jack's best friend in the world, is staying with us for the weekend and had a great time and even did some swimming (with assistance).

(teaching Alby my ninja tricks)

Just got a flip camera- so here's my first attempt at using it -

Being Human

2009-08-05T19:01:00.000-07:00

There is something so grounding and good in growing vegetables. This weekend, Kenneth & I planted the rest of our vegetable garden and harvested tomatoes, peppers, & squash. Why is it so satisfying? I realized, with my hands in the dirt, that I tend to gravitate towards things that make me feel human: growing food, climbing rocks, caring for babies. Connecting to the wild, to the natural world, to the REAL, has such a strong pull- it influences so much of what I choose to do. Hands on. It is why I chose nursing over medicine: the mundanity of simple actions such as feeding and bathing is to be revered. Just like plucking a tomato from the vine.

All this got me thinking about those who are deprived of nature. When I was out in Salt Lake City for the O.R. show, FiveTen held an athlete seminar where Sally Jewell (CEO of REI) spoke about the nature-deficit disorder facing American children, very echoic of a great book a friend gave me: The Last Child in the Woods.

Not even a week after hearing this talk, I was volunteering at My House playing with an ex-patient of mine. He had been hospitalized for the first eight months of his life (at least five of which in my NICU) and quite frequently after that. I took him outside for an adventure and he panicked when I put his feet in the grass or dirt. He refused to touch leaves, flowers, sticks, trees, butterflies, etc. (and this is a boy who can usually not keep his hands off anything)! The only object he felt comfortable with was the iron gate fencing (reminiscent of his hospital crib I presumed). It took a lot of work just to get him to stand barefoot on the ground. Granted, this is a case of extremes, but what a tragedy to have a tree be so foreign that it is frightening! All this reinforced Sally's message: let's get kids back in the woods or at least the garden : )