so for those of you in CA, if it's 10pm over there, head outside.
tonight there will be a meteor shower (the Perseids) and its supposed to be the second best shower to watch... it's even better because the new moon happens to fall on the same night as the peak of the meteor shower.
1AM is a bit late for me, but hey, i've never seen a meteor shower, so i am going to try and stay up.
here's whats been keeping me up:
http://www.addictinggames.com/theimpossiblequiz.html
Sunday, August 12
Friday, August 10
nailed it
just another day in michigan... made some muffins, unicycled, played tennis...
shot a 9mm pistol.
haha, so today as i was downstairs in my "appartment", all of the sudden mr. brand comes down... "hey cristina, wanna learn how to shoot a pistol?"
i think my jumping up and putting shoes on with a big grin was answer enough. so we headed outside and showed me how to shoot a gun. my first time ever shooting a gun. the closest i have ever gotten to shooting a gun before this was
probably a water gun.
this thing is powerful... i showed that bucket who's boss.
he says next is a rifle.
good day, good day.
shot a 9mm pistol.
haha, so today as i was downstairs in my "appartment", all of the sudden mr. brand comes down... "hey cristina, wanna learn how to shoot a pistol?"
i think my jumping up and putting shoes on with a big grin was answer enough. so we headed outside and showed me how to shoot a gun. my first time ever shooting a gun. the closest i have ever gotten to shooting a gun before this was
probably a water gun.this thing is powerful... i showed that bucket who's boss.
he says next is a rifle.
good day, good day.
Thursday, August 9
this, is lake michigan
before you get in to the pics, here is your dose of current world events (and this is real... not made up, really:
New Zealand blocked a couple's bid to officially name their infant son 4Real, saying numerals are not allowed in names. Now his parents plan to name him Superman.
New Zealand blocked a couple's bid to officially name their infant son 4Real, saying numerals are not allowed in names. Now his parents plan to name him Superman.
B day
today's a day for the Bs.
i woke up and had Breakfast. after Breakfast, and a little hesitation because of wether not looking so good, i finally decided to go for it and went to go pick some Blueberries. i have been out for a few days now and have been wanting to get more Berries. i scored pretty good today. i picked a good 4 pounds, and boy are they delicious!!!
after that, i Biked downtown (it rained on me on the way there) and found a sweet Bowling alley and Bowled. its a fun little 8 lane bowling alley. so i got lane 4, and there was only one other group of girls with their gramma on lane 1. those little girls were awesome. you know how next to the lanes against the wall, there's a carpeted walkway so employees can get to the back? one girl tried bowling but actually threw her ball down that carpeted walkway instead and it bowled all the way back and through the door.
hilarious.
another girl was in absolute tears after they were done bowling... so sad, but it was kind of cute.
so thanksgiving feast came a little early this year... that's right, i Bowled a turkey!!! and i came close to two other turkeys (two double strikes!) of course this wasn't all in one game, cause that would be a near perfect game. i got a ton of frames where i got 9 pins on the first bowl, and missed the single pin. bowling was only $1.50 per game! pretty sweet! and the Bowling shoes are awesome! i loved them.walked around a bit, and then headed back home.
the monks were playing volleyball today... they seem to like to do that on cloudy days.
wait, i dont think i have told you guys about the monks! on the corner of quincy and 120th, is this place, i cant tell if its a home or what, but a bunch of monks live there, and they play volleyball in their orange toga things. unfortunately, i left my camera at home.
i'll catch it some other day.
Blessings to your days!
Wednesday, August 8
you're a cinnamon bun... how "yummy" are you?
well, it's kind of been a few days. i've been up to some good stuff, so i'll fill you in.
i went to go see the musical "Godspell" on monday night at the Knickerbocker theatre on 8th street. i went about a halfhour early, and went up to buy a ticket... which actually, most people had got theirs ahead of time. so the gals first response to my inquiry of a ticket was "sold out". but then she looked at me and realized i wasn't with anyone and asked if i only needed one. yup yup. so she showed me the seating chart on her computer screen. "all the checks are filled seats, and the dots are the open seats." one dot... right in the middle of it all. smiling and pointing, "i guess i'll take that one."
the musical was hilarious. i actually enjoyed myself more than i expected. and at intermission, one lady turned to me and, in refrence to my jacket, "are you a calvin grad?" just a few years off... "no ma'am, just starting this year."
by the way, everybody withing a 10 seat radius was over the age of 60. as a friend pointed out to me the other night, i am having fun with the senior citizens... gotta love em.
tuesday... great day for one big reason... noordeweir!!! haha, i realized after posting that anyone not familiar with calvin would have thought i was speaking gibberish. so, heres the down-low. all the residince halls at calving are each composed of two dutch names... one for the guy wing, one for the gals wing. so, i am in noordeweir vanderwerp (NVW), the dorm i wanted most!!! i also have two other friends that are coming from CA that are in that dorm too!!!! yay rebekah and kristen. funny thing is, last year NVW had the reputation of the party dorm. rebekah, kristen... lets make it happen! haha
today was a productive day. i finally found my bank where i can make withdrawels and what not, and it turned out to be in this really sweet market called D&W Fresh something... theres a starbucks too. anyway, i made my way to the comerica atm which was right next to the counter. and it was going to be my first time making a withdrawel through this account, so the first time i'd need to use my card and pin (which we actually got to choose!) anyway, put in the card, punch in the pin. hmm, incorrect pin... so i tried again... incorrect. how can it be incorrect, i chose it!! *sidenote... while this was going on, a mom and her son, probably 10 or 11 years old, were at the counter. and this is what the boy said: "are you putting in money or taking out" mom replied, "putting in." boy:"how much are you putting in?" mom "shhhh" "are you putting in $100?" mom:"quiet!" boy:"i bet you don't even have $100."
have you seen the Chewy granola bar commercial where the parents give their kids chewy bars to shut them up??? i bet this kids mom wanted to run to aisle 5 and grab a whole box to shove in his mouth.
anyway. after 5 attempts on the pin, i called my dad, and he confirmed the pin i thought. so i said i would try it one more time with him on the phone. okay, put in card, enter pin ****... incorrect again, but a different "incorrect screen" showed up this time. instead of asking me to try again, it told me that my attempts had reached its limit and my card would be retained.
in other words, atm got hungry and ate my card!
so i got off the phone with my dad and shuffled over a few steps to the lady at the counter. "um, you see, i just got this account and this is my first time using the atm and i tried my pin too many times and the atm ate my card." she laughed, i laughed. long story short, she got her manager to get the key and opened up the machine to give me my card back. (if the manager weren't there, i'd have to come back the next day). i have to say, that the two ladies i worked with at the counter to make a withdrawel and try and make a pin change were the nicest and funniest bankers i have ever dealt with. they were happy people, and with most bankers, they dont look happy to be there.
anyway, that was fun.
then i went for a run on lakeshore drive to tunnel park. my first time going in the park, but i still dont understand why it's called tunnel park... if anything, it should be "hill park" because of this sweet sand hill that you can run up. and when i reached the top, incredible view. its about 15 yards of land, and then there are stairs to go down onto the beach at lake michigan. but up top was incredible... okay, so although sunday and monday were cloudy with sporadic rains, yesterday and today were extremely hot... and today, absolutely no wind, mucho humid, and 93 degrees. however on top of this hill, the wind was blowing and it was incredible. there are a bunch of benches up there too, and i have to say that i found "my spot." its hard to explain what is included in one of "my spots", but i'll just say that i had one in manhattan beach on the pier that i went to all the time... but i found "my spot" out here... it's awesome, and i will most definitely being going back multiple times, and i will bring my camera so that you guys can see how awesome it is... sunset is probably amazing from there.
so i sat there for a long time, just hanging out there, watched a guy with a metal detector for a little while, lots of jet skiers out there. then after a bit, i went back down and ran back to my car.
i like lakeshore dr... very shady, good for running and biking... and maybe unicycling!
quick little story lesson... i'll try to make this very quick.
i had a conversation with someone today who explained to me that they once recieved a very dry and stale cinnamon bun at panera, and because of that they've stopped buying the baked goods there. sounds kind of extreme, but we do it all the time with all sorts of situations.
and, unfortunately, it happens all the time with church and christians. somebody has a bad experience involving a dry stale cinnamon-christian and then decides to steer clear from the religion.
so to make it quick, we need to be aware that those kinds of things happen, and that we are representing what we believe through how we act and how we are around others... yes? we dont want to be dry stale buns because that could push people away... we need to be sticky yummy buns that spread the love.
and when i heard of the abstaining from this bakery because of one bad bun, i thought to myself, i would surely go back and try something else...so, on the other side of the spectrum, for those that have experienced the "dry bun," i beg of you, dont stay away, but open to the other buns that are around.
a cinnamon bun metaphor... makes me hungry...
anyone else want to go eat a bun?
blessings to your week..
and welcome back to the USA steven!!!
i went to go see the musical "Godspell" on monday night at the Knickerbocker theatre on 8th street. i went about a halfhour early, and went up to buy a ticket... which actually, most people had got theirs ahead of time. so the gals first response to my inquiry of a ticket was "sold out". but then she looked at me and realized i wasn't with anyone and asked if i only needed one. yup yup. so she showed me the seating chart on her computer screen. "all the checks are filled seats, and the dots are the open seats." one dot... right in the middle of it all. smiling and pointing, "i guess i'll take that one."
the musical was hilarious. i actually enjoyed myself more than i expected. and at intermission, one lady turned to me and, in refrence to my jacket, "are you a calvin grad?" just a few years off... "no ma'am, just starting this year."
by the way, everybody withing a 10 seat radius was over the age of 60. as a friend pointed out to me the other night, i am having fun with the senior citizens... gotta love em.
tuesday... great day for one big reason... noordeweir!!! haha, i realized after posting that anyone not familiar with calvin would have thought i was speaking gibberish. so, heres the down-low. all the residince halls at calving are each composed of two dutch names... one for the guy wing, one for the gals wing. so, i am in noordeweir vanderwerp (NVW), the dorm i wanted most!!! i also have two other friends that are coming from CA that are in that dorm too!!!! yay rebekah and kristen. funny thing is, last year NVW had the reputation of the party dorm. rebekah, kristen... lets make it happen! haha
today was a productive day. i finally found my bank where i can make withdrawels and what not, and it turned out to be in this really sweet market called D&W Fresh something... theres a starbucks too. anyway, i made my way to the comerica atm which was right next to the counter. and it was going to be my first time making a withdrawel through this account, so the first time i'd need to use my card and pin (which we actually got to choose!) anyway, put in the card, punch in the pin. hmm, incorrect pin... so i tried again... incorrect. how can it be incorrect, i chose it!! *sidenote... while this was going on, a mom and her son, probably 10 or 11 years old, were at the counter. and this is what the boy said: "are you putting in money or taking out" mom replied, "putting in." boy:"how much are you putting in?" mom "shhhh" "are you putting in $100?" mom:"quiet!" boy:"i bet you don't even have $100."
have you seen the Chewy granola bar commercial where the parents give their kids chewy bars to shut them up??? i bet this kids mom wanted to run to aisle 5 and grab a whole box to shove in his mouth.
anyway. after 5 attempts on the pin, i called my dad, and he confirmed the pin i thought. so i said i would try it one more time with him on the phone. okay, put in card, enter pin ****... incorrect again, but a different "incorrect screen" showed up this time. instead of asking me to try again, it told me that my attempts had reached its limit and my card would be retained.
in other words, atm got hungry and ate my card!
so i got off the phone with my dad and shuffled over a few steps to the lady at the counter. "um, you see, i just got this account and this is my first time using the atm and i tried my pin too many times and the atm ate my card." she laughed, i laughed. long story short, she got her manager to get the key and opened up the machine to give me my card back. (if the manager weren't there, i'd have to come back the next day). i have to say, that the two ladies i worked with at the counter to make a withdrawel and try and make a pin change were the nicest and funniest bankers i have ever dealt with. they were happy people, and with most bankers, they dont look happy to be there.
anyway, that was fun.
then i went for a run on lakeshore drive to tunnel park. my first time going in the park, but i still dont understand why it's called tunnel park... if anything, it should be "hill park" because of this sweet sand hill that you can run up. and when i reached the top, incredible view. its about 15 yards of land, and then there are stairs to go down onto the beach at lake michigan. but up top was incredible... okay, so although sunday and monday were cloudy with sporadic rains, yesterday and today were extremely hot... and today, absolutely no wind, mucho humid, and 93 degrees. however on top of this hill, the wind was blowing and it was incredible. there are a bunch of benches up there too, and i have to say that i found "my spot." its hard to explain what is included in one of "my spots", but i'll just say that i had one in manhattan beach on the pier that i went to all the time... but i found "my spot" out here... it's awesome, and i will most definitely being going back multiple times, and i will bring my camera so that you guys can see how awesome it is... sunset is probably amazing from there.
so i sat there for a long time, just hanging out there, watched a guy with a metal detector for a little while, lots of jet skiers out there. then after a bit, i went back down and ran back to my car.
i like lakeshore dr... very shady, good for running and biking... and maybe unicycling!
quick little story lesson... i'll try to make this very quick.
i had a conversation with someone today who explained to me that they once recieved a very dry and stale cinnamon bun at panera, and because of that they've stopped buying the baked goods there. sounds kind of extreme, but we do it all the time with all sorts of situations.
and, unfortunately, it happens all the time with church and christians. somebody has a bad experience involving a dry stale cinnamon-christian and then decides to steer clear from the religion.
so to make it quick, we need to be aware that those kinds of things happen, and that we are representing what we believe through how we act and how we are around others... yes? we dont want to be dry stale buns because that could push people away... we need to be sticky yummy buns that spread the love.
and when i heard of the abstaining from this bakery because of one bad bun, i thought to myself, i would surely go back and try something else...so, on the other side of the spectrum, for those that have experienced the "dry bun," i beg of you, dont stay away, but open to the other buns that are around.
a cinnamon bun metaphor... makes me hungry...
anyone else want to go eat a bun?
blessings to your week..
and welcome back to the USA steven!!!
Tuesday, August 7
NOORDEWEIR!!!!
NOORDEWEIR!!!!
NOORDEWEIR!!!!
NOORDEWEIR!!!!
NOORDEWEIR!!!!
NOORDEWEIR!!!!
NOORDEWEIR!!!!
can you guess that i got my housing assignement this mornign!!!!!!!!!!
NOORDEWEIR!!!!NOORDEWEIR!!!!NOORDEWEIR!!!!NOORDEWEIR!!!!NOORDEWEIR!!!!
yup yup
NOORDEWEIR!!!!
NOORDEWEIR!!!!
NOORDEWEIR!!!!
NOORDEWEIR!!!!
NOORDEWEIR!!!!
can you guess that i got my housing assignement this mornign!!!!!!!!!!
NOORDEWEIR!!!!NOORDEWEIR!!!!NOORDEWEIR!!!!NOORDEWEIR!!!!NOORDEWEIR!!!!
yup yup
Saturday, August 4
___cycle
i have just been in the right place at the right time lately.
you know how when i biked to grand haven i happened to show up on a day that the coast guard festival was going on? well, today i biked to 8th street (which i finally remembered to figure out the distance... just 5 miles there) and after parking my bike, i saw a bunch of people walking to this one area two streets away from 8th (if you can do math, that would make 10th) street. i had actually not been to this area yet, and as i started to follow the flow of people, turns out there's this thing called "art in the park" today. i was like, sweet, i love looking at this stuff. there were tons of tents set up in this park and people were selling all sorts of things. and within two minutes of me starting to walk around, i ran in to allison, her mom, and tessa... so that was fun.
i walked around, and although there was a lot of neat stuff, i ended up not getting anything... they had these food booths there too, and one of the things was selling "elephant ears." anyone know that those are? i was trying to see what they were making, but i couldn't quite figure it out. then i walked downtown a bit and then headed home, making a few pitstops along the way... i love biking.
so instead of walking my bike on the side of the road all the way from the house to the bike path, i just park in this always empty parking lot and ride my bike across the grass about 50 yards straight to the bike path. this time, i also stashed my unicycle in my car since the lot was nice and big and empty. after getting back, i unicycled a bit (i'm getting better at right turns) and built up my "endurance". i went around the lot, following no particular path, but i am sure that i looked funny to the people driving by. here are two little videos i took really quick to show how i've come along...
you know how when i biked to grand haven i happened to show up on a day that the coast guard festival was going on? well, today i biked to 8th street (which i finally remembered to figure out the distance... just 5 miles there) and after parking my bike, i saw a bunch of people walking to this one area two streets away from 8th (if you can do math, that would make 10th) street. i had actually not been to this area yet, and as i started to follow the flow of people, turns out there's this thing called "art in the park" today. i was like, sweet, i love looking at this stuff. there were tons of tents set up in this park and people were selling all sorts of things. and within two minutes of me starting to walk around, i ran in to allison, her mom, and tessa... so that was fun.
i walked around, and although there was a lot of neat stuff, i ended up not getting anything... they had these food booths there too, and one of the things was selling "elephant ears." anyone know that those are? i was trying to see what they were making, but i couldn't quite figure it out. then i walked downtown a bit and then headed home, making a few pitstops along the way... i love biking.
so instead of walking my bike on the side of the road all the way from the house to the bike path, i just park in this always empty parking lot and ride my bike across the grass about 50 yards straight to the bike path. this time, i also stashed my unicycle in my car since the lot was nice and big and empty. after getting back, i unicycled a bit (i'm getting better at right turns) and built up my "endurance". i went around the lot, following no particular path, but i am sure that i looked funny to the people driving by. here are two little videos i took really quick to show how i've come along...
i hope your weekends are finding you well... i am off to go read.
ciao ciao
4:30 am
i woke up randomly in the middle of the night last night, and just as i was about to see what time it was, my phone rang. as i reached for my phone i caught a glance of the clock showing 4:30 am. when i saw it wasn't one of my saved numbers, but it was a 562 number, i was curious. so with a tired grunt, i answered the phone: "hello?"
"yessica?"
i laid back in my bead, thinking, you've got to be kidding me. i thought i settled these "yessica" calls last year!
"no, you've got the wrong number."
and so began an argument with somebody i didn't even know at 4:30 am.
"no, yessica, it's [some understandable name]..."
"i am not yessica... wrong number"
"yes you are [long sentence in spanish which i didn't care to try and understand]"
what followed was a couple rounds of me saying "you've got the wrong number, i am not yessica" and them saying "yessica, stop it, its blah blah blah, *rambles on in spanish*"
i became very angry, as i was not happy to have my sleeping time disturbed.
"listen, i don't know who the heck you are, but it's 4:30 in the morning, and yessica needs to sleep, okay?"
"yessica, it's 1:30 en la manana, no 4:30"
"well you know what, yessica has moved to michigan, so here it is 4:30!"
silence.
"porque estas en michigan?"
you have got to be kidding me!!!
"I... am not... YESSICA"
as more spanish ramblings occured, i was just done with it. so i interrupted and explained...
"you've got the wrong number, i am not yessica, and don't you ever call this number again!"
and i hung up.
i looked over at the clock, now 4:40am.
i wasted 10 minutes arguing that i was not yessica with a complete stranger who was obviously on something.
and i could not get back to sleep... something was up with my stomach--i couldnt tell whether i was really hungry or whether i was ready to be sick. for the next 45 minutes i tried to fall back asleep... and finally i started to drift off... finally...
not so fast...
my phone rings again.
i dont think i have ever been so angry to hear my phone ring. i looked at the clock, 5:30am. i looked at the number, same 562 number.
i answered the phone with a very loud, very clear "you've got, the wrong, number!"
silence...
"yessica?"
i took a deep breath.
"what in the world are you doing at 5... at 2:30 in the morning that you need to get a hold of yessica? have you ever thought that yessica likes to sleep, and that maybe she gave you my number, the WRONG number, on purpose?!"
silence.
"yessica?"
"NO!"
"yessica, it's [same un-understandable name]"
"leave me alone."
and i hung up.
so, if it's one of my friends playing a prank, you can tell that i am rather angry.
and if it's not, i am even angrier.
i considered calling them this morning and waking them up saying, "hola, es yessica!" but i didn't. they'd probably believe me.
however, now that that's over, i get go out and enjoy my day.
ta-ta
"yessica?"
i laid back in my bead, thinking, you've got to be kidding me. i thought i settled these "yessica" calls last year!
"no, you've got the wrong number."
and so began an argument with somebody i didn't even know at 4:30 am.
"no, yessica, it's [some understandable name]..."
"i am not yessica... wrong number"
"yes you are [long sentence in spanish which i didn't care to try and understand]"
what followed was a couple rounds of me saying "you've got the wrong number, i am not yessica" and them saying "yessica, stop it, its blah blah blah, *rambles on in spanish*"
i became very angry, as i was not happy to have my sleeping time disturbed.
"listen, i don't know who the heck you are, but it's 4:30 in the morning, and yessica needs to sleep, okay?"
"yessica, it's 1:30 en la manana, no 4:30"
"well you know what, yessica has moved to michigan, so here it is 4:30!"
silence.
"porque estas en michigan?"
you have got to be kidding me!!!
"I... am not... YESSICA"
as more spanish ramblings occured, i was just done with it. so i interrupted and explained...
"you've got the wrong number, i am not yessica, and don't you ever call this number again!"
and i hung up.
i looked over at the clock, now 4:40am.
i wasted 10 minutes arguing that i was not yessica with a complete stranger who was obviously on something.
and i could not get back to sleep... something was up with my stomach--i couldnt tell whether i was really hungry or whether i was ready to be sick. for the next 45 minutes i tried to fall back asleep... and finally i started to drift off... finally...
not so fast...
my phone rings again.
i dont think i have ever been so angry to hear my phone ring. i looked at the clock, 5:30am. i looked at the number, same 562 number.
i answered the phone with a very loud, very clear "you've got, the wrong, number!"
silence...
"yessica?"
i took a deep breath.
"what in the world are you doing at 5... at 2:30 in the morning that you need to get a hold of yessica? have you ever thought that yessica likes to sleep, and that maybe she gave you my number, the WRONG number, on purpose?!"
silence.
"yessica?"
"NO!"
"yessica, it's [same un-understandable name]"
"leave me alone."
and i hung up.
so, if it's one of my friends playing a prank, you can tell that i am rather angry.
and if it's not, i am even angrier.
i considered calling them this morning and waking them up saying, "hola, es yessica!" but i didn't. they'd probably believe me.
however, now that that's over, i get go out and enjoy my day.
ta-ta
Friday, August 3
howdy howdy
today, was an awesome day...
how can you go wrong when your day consists of bike riding in the morning to go run a few errands, kayaking in the afternoon with some friends, and some good tennis at night (and handfulls of blueberries throughout the day). this is what i call summer :)
kayaking was awesome... seriously, chilling down kalamazoo river (i still absolutely love the word "kalamazoo"... can't say it without smiling) in a kayak is pretty much the greatest. it was good times, lots of laughing... and the weather was awesome... and the water felt great. oh, and it's mating season for dragon flys... which i didn't mind until they decided to start landing on my legs and, well... that's just crossing the line... gross. we even caught a glimpse of a bald eagle.
and, alas, another "see ya later" had to be said today after we got back from kayaking... with the fieldhouses headed back to CA, i think this will be the first time i won't have any CA friends here... which let me say has been a HUGE blessing the past month... first my family and jenny were here when we first arrived... then the verwys were here that week after my fam left, then i went on the trip, beth was here for two days, and then the fieldhouses have been here... it was good stuff, and even if i wasn't necesarily hanging out with people, it was still really nice knowing that somebody was here.
so, although i had to say "see ya later" today :( i spent some time thinking, and in that time of thinking, i found that it's my last "see ya later" until christmas! it's all "howdy howdy" from here on out.
i think i can handle that. :)
in the meantime, i've got some 20-odd days til i move in at calvin, and i am going to enjoy them... starting with biking to 8th street tomorrow... haven't done that in a few days... i'll have lunch or something... no, i'll pack my lunch! yes.. this is good... and i'll bring a book... even better!
oh, we found a deer skull in our backyard... i'll put a pic up tomorrow...
and 17.5 is the unicycle lap count now...
AND
for all the people that have seen my uncicyle with elk picture and have thought it real... and trust me, there's quite a few of y'all out there... i love you guys! you make me smile!
i think if i really did that, i would be banned from national parks... i think a permit is required to unicycle with the elks.
how can you go wrong when your day consists of bike riding in the morning to go run a few errands, kayaking in the afternoon with some friends, and some good tennis at night (and handfulls of blueberries throughout the day). this is what i call summer :)
kayaking was awesome... seriously, chilling down kalamazoo river (i still absolutely love the word "kalamazoo"... can't say it without smiling) in a kayak is pretty much the greatest. it was good times, lots of laughing... and the weather was awesome... and the water felt great. oh, and it's mating season for dragon flys... which i didn't mind until they decided to start landing on my legs and, well... that's just crossing the line... gross. we even caught a glimpse of a bald eagle.
and, alas, another "see ya later" had to be said today after we got back from kayaking... with the fieldhouses headed back to CA, i think this will be the first time i won't have any CA friends here... which let me say has been a HUGE blessing the past month... first my family and jenny were here when we first arrived... then the verwys were here that week after my fam left, then i went on the trip, beth was here for two days, and then the fieldhouses have been here... it was good stuff, and even if i wasn't necesarily hanging out with people, it was still really nice knowing that somebody was here.
so, although i had to say "see ya later" today :( i spent some time thinking, and in that time of thinking, i found that it's my last "see ya later" until christmas! it's all "howdy howdy" from here on out.
i think i can handle that. :)
in the meantime, i've got some 20-odd days til i move in at calvin, and i am going to enjoy them... starting with biking to 8th street tomorrow... haven't done that in a few days... i'll have lunch or something... no, i'll pack my lunch! yes.. this is good... and i'll bring a book... even better!
oh, we found a deer skull in our backyard... i'll put a pic up tomorrow...
and 17.5 is the unicycle lap count now...
AND
for all the people that have seen my uncicyle with elk picture and have thought it real... and trust me, there's quite a few of y'all out there... i love you guys! you make me smile!
i think if i really did that, i would be banned from national parks... i think a permit is required to unicycle with the elks.
Thursday, August 2
blogger just got WAY cooler
forget the middle-man youtube... takes way too much time... now you can upload videos straight through blogger without the complicated html mess!!! this is from the first night in the tents and we were in the middle of a rather large storm... i like how you can hear one of my tent mates offer to pray out loud at the very end of the video...
it was awesome...
it was awesome...
gone picking
mmm, look at that fine bucket of blueberries picked by none other than myself!
the fun times (and first-times) just keep coming in michigan. today i went with allison to go blue berry picking at this place on quincy called gold barn. they have rows and rows of blueberry bushes, and you grab a bucket, tie it around your waste (as i am fashioning in the picture), and then set off down the rows picking blueberries... and seeing how you yourself are the one doing the picking, you end up with a bucket of blueberries picked to your liking.
it was a good time out there, picking, eating a few, talking, eating a few, picking some more,
and of course, eating a few. ever had blueberries straight off the bush? quite the treat!
so, about 2 pounds of blueberries managed to escape the wrath of my eating them right away and made it into my bucket... however my bucket looked rather feeble compared to allisons full bucket and even more so compared to the two buckets per-picker that the group paying ahead of us had. in fact, one of the guys stopped to look inside my bucket, looked at me, and told me i should be back in the bushes and picking more... then he gave me a green blueberry, which i haven't quite figured out yet.
so it was a good time! i'm definitely planning on making my way back there after i go through my blueberries that i picked today :)
another acomplishment...
10 is the number today! i made it around the circle 10 times!!i went from 4 on tuesday, 6.5 yesterday, 10 today. i am loving this. however there is something i realized... i don't think i know how to turn right. you see, i go counter-clockwise areound the circle... and i tried to go the otherway, and it wasn't working so well... hmm, i'll need to work that one out.
well, i am almost done with the 5th harry potter (only 150 pages left... i think i can do that tonight). while not picking berries or riding the unicylce, i've literally been on the porch all day and reading...
i love porches.
welp, that's it...
hooroo!
the fun times (and first-times) just keep coming in michigan. today i went with allison to go blue berry picking at this place on quincy called gold barn. they have rows and rows of blueberry bushes, and you grab a bucket, tie it around your waste (as i am fashioning in the picture), and then set off down the rows picking blueberries... and seeing how you yourself are the one doing the picking, you end up with a bucket of blueberries picked to your liking. it was a good time out there, picking, eating a few, talking, eating a few, picking some more,
and of course, eating a few. ever had blueberries straight off the bush? quite the treat!so, about 2 pounds of blueberries managed to escape the wrath of my eating them right away and made it into my bucket... however my bucket looked rather feeble compared to allisons full bucket and even more so compared to the two buckets per-picker that the group paying ahead of us had. in fact, one of the guys stopped to look inside my bucket, looked at me, and told me i should be back in the bushes and picking more... then he gave me a green blueberry, which i haven't quite figured out yet.
so it was a good time! i'm definitely planning on making my way back there after i go through my blueberries that i picked today :)
another acomplishment...
10 is the number today! i made it around the circle 10 times!!i went from 4 on tuesday, 6.5 yesterday, 10 today. i am loving this. however there is something i realized... i don't think i know how to turn right. you see, i go counter-clockwise areound the circle... and i tried to go the otherway, and it wasn't working so well... hmm, i'll need to work that one out.
well, i am almost done with the 5th harry potter (only 150 pages left... i think i can do that tonight). while not picking berries or riding the unicylce, i've literally been on the porch all day and reading...
i love porches.
welp, that's it...
hooroo!
Wednesday, August 1
this is the month.
August.
this is the month that pretty much everything comes together...
this is the month that:
-my fellow calvin friends make their way out here from CA to MI.
-i meet my room mate (who will be visiting MI in a week or so).
-i find out which dorm i am livng in at calvin.
-i move in to that dorm at calvin.
-my life as a college student begins.
oh, and this is also the month that DirecTV starts carrying the Tennis Channel (24 hours a day of tennis!!!) one of the many things i look forward to about visiting home for christmas!
in other news, i have now sucessfully circled the driveway 4 times, and am capable of unicylcing around the driveway and talking on the cell phone at the same time.
speaking of talking on the cell phone.
i used to hate talking on the phone... i'm absolutely terrible at it... and messages... i can't stand leaving messages... i try to avoid leaving messages at all costs! it's probably my least favorite task in the world.
now, althought i believe i am still not so great at talking on the phone , i actually enjoy it now ( i still dont like leaving messages!). it's fun talking to people and catching up and stuff... i talked to a friend for over 45 minutes yesterday! phones are cool.
moving away does that to ya i guess.
well, that's all folks... see ya
this is the month that pretty much everything comes together...
this is the month that:
-my fellow calvin friends make their way out here from CA to MI.
-i meet my room mate (who will be visiting MI in a week or so).
-i find out which dorm i am livng in at calvin.
-i move in to that dorm at calvin.
-my life as a college student begins.
oh, and this is also the month that DirecTV starts carrying the Tennis Channel (24 hours a day of tennis!!!) one of the many things i look forward to about visiting home for christmas!
in other news, i have now sucessfully circled the driveway 4 times, and am capable of unicylcing around the driveway and talking on the cell phone at the same time.
speaking of talking on the cell phone.
i used to hate talking on the phone... i'm absolutely terrible at it... and messages... i can't stand leaving messages... i try to avoid leaving messages at all costs! it's probably my least favorite task in the world.
now, althought i believe i am still not so great at talking on the phone , i actually enjoy it now ( i still dont like leaving messages!). it's fun talking to people and catching up and stuff... i talked to a friend for over 45 minutes yesterday! phones are cool.
moving away does that to ya i guess.
well, that's all folks... see ya
Monday, July 30
where's dan kim when ya need him?
i'll get to the reason for the title in a second... so dan kim, sit tight.
so, today was the day i picked to have my bike ride from holland to grand haven. so i drove down to holland, almost all the way to the state park, and then i parked off to the side of the road at one of the beaches (at one 168th)... then i pulled my bike off the back of my car, put my helmet on (of course) and headed down lakeshore ave (which runs all the way to downtown grand haven).
the weather was amazing today... i think i need to say it one more time... it was amazing! not a cloud in sight, but it wasn't really humid or anything, and there was a very nice breeze going on.
the bike path (the pic is part of it that goes over pigeon lake and is really neat) is really nice as well. nice and wide, not attached to the road, and it goes through some incredible neighborhoods... some of these house, well, most of these houses on lakeshore are pretty sweet, and not only do they have lake view, some of them even have tennis courts.
lake view AND tennis court.... deadly combination.
one of the houses was so nice, that i stared at it for a little too long and i went off the path into a large patch of shrubbery... i freaked out but remembered what correcting my mistake did to me last time (remember my good fall in front of my chem teach) so instead, i just rode it out. and thankfully, no one was driving by, although it would have made them chuckle... this girl on a bike knee-high in shrubbery.
and the path has a good variety of little hills, a few long hills, and there is this one really short and steep hill... i pumped and pumped, and about 4/5ths up the hill, i couldn't do it. so i stopped. but to cover up my wimp-out, i happened to conveniently wimp-out right at a for-sale sign. so i pretended to be interested for a second, and then biked off.
so after i arrived in downtown grand haven, i parked my bike in central park and walked on down washington to my favorite little bakery, great harvest company... half a sandwhich and a big cookie... you can't go wrong!
then i decided to walk down to the water, and to my surprise, there were a ton of people. turns out that the coast guard festival is going on! and the BIG coast guard boat was coming in... it's big. so i sat on the grass, and waited for the boat to pass by (which it never did, since it parked about 300 yards down the channel) but as i was just sitting there, two things happened:
first. there were three little boys, about the age of 5 (triplets) and they were playing baseball with a plastic ball... and minus the baseball bat... don't ask.
anyway, they were throwing the ball around, and i just laughed. i looked away to see if the boat was making any progress, when all of the sudden i hear this absolutely devastated cry, and i look to see one of the triplets (named brayden according to those around him) standing at the edge of the boardwalk, looking down into the chanel, and yelling as tears stream down, "IT WENT IN THE WATER!!!! *scream* IT WENT IN THE WATER!" and as his mom consoled him with a meager "we'll buy you another one" he replied with "IT'S NOT THE SAME!! I WANT THAT ONE!! IT'S MY FAVORITE ONE!!!! IT WENT IN THE WATER!!!"
and that's when i thought to myself, where's dan kim when ya need him... had i had his number, i would have called him up and told him the emergency... he's proven successful in the event of a ball going in the water... do the words "catalina" and "volleyball" ring a bell??
poor brayden could have used dan's skills, and poor brayden cried for 10 minutes after that, still uttering in disgust "it won't be the same."
this is a pic of the parked coast guard boat...
second: a boy named jared. as i was sitting on the grass, still waiting for the coast guard boat (which was still parked) i observed how this little boy (maybe 7 years old)kept on trying to tip over this stroller with a little girl in it. he wore all blue, had big glasses (a lot like my bro steven had in his younger years) and a blue denim hat on (matching to the one that his mom was sporting). the little girl was not his little sister, but the daughter of his mom's friend (amazing what you can figure out just by people-watching). jared kept on trying to push the stroller, his mom kept saying no, and eventually the mom's friend put on the brakes on the wheels. then i watched this little boy (who by then i figured out was named "jared" by the constant "no jared"s coming from his mom) try to push the stroller, realize something was different, and then un-brake one of the wheels, try to push again, but not figure out that he had to un-brake both wheels. he tired of this after a couple of minutes, looked up, and saw me sitting on the grass. i smiled, he smiled, then he ran over and sat down right next to me... smiling and squiniting through his big glasses: "hi!" i laughed and responed "hello there." he then points to my backpack... "what's this?"
"that's just my backpack, it carries my stuff."
he points to my empty cup which formerly held my smoothie... "what's this?"
"well, that's my cup."
a momentary pause.
he puts his feet out in front of him, and points: "feet! i have feet."
"why yes you do."
"feet feet feet feet feet."
"uh, yup."
he ran off to go investigate the triplets, but his mom grabbed him and tried to bring him back to the bench... as he passed me and pulled on his mom's arm and sat right down next to me again.
"i want to sit here!"
his mom laughed and said, "okay, go ahead and sit there with your new friend."
all i could do was laugh... it was so much fun.
he sat next to me for the next five minutes, but he didn't say a word... instead he sat cross-legged with his elbows on his knees and his hands propping his head up, and stared at me.
and then he left.
what a charming little boy.
after i realized that the boat was parked, i decided to head back to my bike and get on my way back to holland.
on the way back, there was a different hill that i couldn't get up, but no for-sale sign that i could use as a cover up. but that first hill on the way to grand haven, going down hill on that thing, without pedalling at all, i cruised down and hit a top speed of 27mph.
SWEET!
so, from holland to grand haven and back???
42.5 miles!
the most i've ever done in one day... pretty stinkin sweet!
and i am going to be SO sore tomorrow.
ciao for now my friends!
so, today was the day i picked to have my bike ride from holland to grand haven. so i drove down to holland, almost all the way to the state park, and then i parked off to the side of the road at one of the beaches (at one 168th)... then i pulled my bike off the back of my car, put my helmet on (of course) and headed down lakeshore ave (which runs all the way to downtown grand haven).
the weather was amazing today... i think i need to say it one more time... it was amazing! not a cloud in sight, but it wasn't really humid or anything, and there was a very nice breeze going on.
the bike path (the pic is part of it that goes over pigeon lake and is really neat) is really nice as well. nice and wide, not attached to the road, and it goes through some incredible neighborhoods... some of these house, well, most of these houses on lakeshore are pretty sweet, and not only do they have lake view, some of them even have tennis courts.lake view AND tennis court.... deadly combination.
one of the houses was so nice, that i stared at it for a little too long and i went off the path into a large patch of shrubbery... i freaked out but remembered what correcting my mistake did to me last time (remember my good fall in front of my chem teach) so instead, i just rode it out. and thankfully, no one was driving by, although it would have made them chuckle... this girl on a bike knee-high in shrubbery.
and the path has a good variety of little hills, a few long hills, and there is this one really short and steep hill... i pumped and pumped, and about 4/5ths up the hill, i couldn't do it. so i stopped. but to cover up my wimp-out, i happened to conveniently wimp-out right at a for-sale sign. so i pretended to be interested for a second, and then biked off.
so after i arrived in downtown grand haven, i parked my bike in central park and walked on down washington to my favorite little bakery, great harvest company... half a sandwhich and a big cookie... you can't go wrong!
then i decided to walk down to the water, and to my surprise, there were a ton of people. turns out that the coast guard festival is going on! and the BIG coast guard boat was coming in... it's big. so i sat on the grass, and waited for the boat to pass by (which it never did, since it parked about 300 yards down the channel) but as i was just sitting there, two things happened:
first. there were three little boys, about the age of 5 (triplets) and they were playing baseball with a plastic ball... and minus the baseball bat... don't ask.
anyway, they were throwing the ball around, and i just laughed. i looked away to see if the boat was making any progress, when all of the sudden i hear this absolutely devastated cry, and i look to see one of the triplets (named brayden according to those around him) standing at the edge of the boardwalk, looking down into the chanel, and yelling as tears stream down, "IT WENT IN THE WATER!!!! *scream* IT WENT IN THE WATER!" and as his mom consoled him with a meager "we'll buy you another one" he replied with "IT'S NOT THE SAME!! I WANT THAT ONE!! IT'S MY FAVORITE ONE!!!! IT WENT IN THE WATER!!!"
and that's when i thought to myself, where's dan kim when ya need him... had i had his number, i would have called him up and told him the emergency... he's proven successful in the event of a ball going in the water... do the words "catalina" and "volleyball" ring a bell??
poor brayden could have used dan's skills, and poor brayden cried for 10 minutes after that, still uttering in disgust "it won't be the same."
this is a pic of the parked coast guard boat...
second: a boy named jared. as i was sitting on the grass, still waiting for the coast guard boat (which was still parked) i observed how this little boy (maybe 7 years old)kept on trying to tip over this stroller with a little girl in it. he wore all blue, had big glasses (a lot like my bro steven had in his younger years) and a blue denim hat on (matching to the one that his mom was sporting). the little girl was not his little sister, but the daughter of his mom's friend (amazing what you can figure out just by people-watching). jared kept on trying to push the stroller, his mom kept saying no, and eventually the mom's friend put on the brakes on the wheels. then i watched this little boy (who by then i figured out was named "jared" by the constant "no jared"s coming from his mom) try to push the stroller, realize something was different, and then un-brake one of the wheels, try to push again, but not figure out that he had to un-brake both wheels. he tired of this after a couple of minutes, looked up, and saw me sitting on the grass. i smiled, he smiled, then he ran over and sat down right next to me... smiling and squiniting through his big glasses: "hi!" i laughed and responed "hello there." he then points to my backpack... "what's this?""that's just my backpack, it carries my stuff."
he points to my empty cup which formerly held my smoothie... "what's this?"
"well, that's my cup."
a momentary pause.
he puts his feet out in front of him, and points: "feet! i have feet."
"why yes you do."
"feet feet feet feet feet."
"uh, yup."
he ran off to go investigate the triplets, but his mom grabbed him and tried to bring him back to the bench... as he passed me and pulled on his mom's arm and sat right down next to me again.
"i want to sit here!"
his mom laughed and said, "okay, go ahead and sit there with your new friend."
all i could do was laugh... it was so much fun.
he sat next to me for the next five minutes, but he didn't say a word... instead he sat cross-legged with his elbows on his knees and his hands propping his head up, and stared at me.
and then he left.
what a charming little boy.
after i realized that the boat was parked, i decided to head back to my bike and get on my way back to holland.
on the way back, there was a different hill that i couldn't get up, but no for-sale sign that i could use as a cover up. but that first hill on the way to grand haven, going down hill on that thing, without pedalling at all, i cruised down and hit a top speed of 27mph.
SWEET!
so, from holland to grand haven and back???
42.5 miles!
the most i've ever done in one day... pretty stinkin sweet!
and i am going to be SO sore tomorrow.
ciao for now my friends!
Sunday, July 29
is it weird...
is it weird that i talk to myself?
is it weird that when i talk to myself, i actually hold both sides of the conversation?
is it weird, that i use a different voice for one side of the conversation?
is it weird that the different voice is a lower, huskier voice with a slight british accent?
:)
is it weird that when i talk to myself, i actually hold both sides of the conversation?
is it weird, that i use a different voice for one side of the conversation?
is it weird that the different voice is a lower, huskier voice with a slight british accent?
:)
as simple as that
it's the simple and unexpeted blessings that make my day...
i went to mars hill church this morning, and i must say that i think church is the area in which i am making a rather large change. so, anyway, i don't really know anyone at mars hill, so i am still trying to meet some people (however, the 5 second greeting time has been making it a little tough). this morning, i was a little, eh, and during the 5 second greeting i got a hand shake in and was about to sit down, when someone grabs my shoulder and says, "cristina!"
i was SO shocked to hear my name... and so i eagerly turned around to see who in the world it was.
turns out it was one of the teachers from valley! excited to see a familiar face, i practically exclaimed, "oh my goodness!! how's it going?" but then our 5 seconds were up so we agreed to talk after the service.
my mood went WAY up, just like that... it's kind of hard to explain, but ya.
by the way, the chances of sitting in the same vicinity of eachother is very slim at this church (big church)... so ya, pretty cool.
so we talked a bit after the service... she'll be out here for a few more weekends, so i'll have someone to sit next to next service :)
i'm surprised she knew my name though, cause i never had her as a teacher... but it was really cool.
i went to panera after church... i must say i am loving that place.
then i got home, unicycled a bit... i am loving the unicycle (if i hadn't said so already).
i'm going to figure out dinner now...
ta ta
i went to mars hill church this morning, and i must say that i think church is the area in which i am making a rather large change. so, anyway, i don't really know anyone at mars hill, so i am still trying to meet some people (however, the 5 second greeting time has been making it a little tough). this morning, i was a little, eh, and during the 5 second greeting i got a hand shake in and was about to sit down, when someone grabs my shoulder and says, "cristina!"
i was SO shocked to hear my name... and so i eagerly turned around to see who in the world it was.
turns out it was one of the teachers from valley! excited to see a familiar face, i practically exclaimed, "oh my goodness!! how's it going?" but then our 5 seconds were up so we agreed to talk after the service.
my mood went WAY up, just like that... it's kind of hard to explain, but ya.
by the way, the chances of sitting in the same vicinity of eachother is very slim at this church (big church)... so ya, pretty cool.
so we talked a bit after the service... she'll be out here for a few more weekends, so i'll have someone to sit next to next service :)
i'm surprised she knew my name though, cause i never had her as a teacher... but it was really cool.
i went to panera after church... i must say i am loving that place.
then i got home, unicycled a bit... i am loving the unicycle (if i hadn't said so already).
i'm going to figure out dinner now...
ta ta
Saturday, July 28
million dollar idea...
as i was out front this afternoon, unicycling around the circle driveway (i went three in a row!!! crazy!!!) i thought about my blog.
in the past, my pop has pointed out that a lot is in this blog... over two years of stuff... pictures, stories, random words... there should be a way to back it up in case blogger should ever shut down and my blog *gasp* should ever cease to be. although it's not a pretty thought, i've opened up to the fact that this one day might be true.
so, back to the unicycling and thinking (which is a hard thing to do at the same time)...
as i was going down the driveway part, it hit me... the million dollar idea.
there should be a program that converts your blog, into a book!!!
people would totally pay for that!
think about it, the blog is preserved and it's put into a really cool book...
so that was my million dollar idea... i was so proud of myself, and i was sure that people would pay for that.
so after that unicycle session, i headed in and hopped on the internet (actually, i hopped on the sofa and went on the internet).
well, i know for a fact that people would pay for that...
cause there's a program already out there.
so, instead of being bummed that i wasn't the first to think of that idea and would not be the one proffiting from it, i downloaded the program and became an author.
i cristina, have authored my first book entitled ":) 2006".
since my blog (obviously called ":)" )is rather large with almost 600 posts, i've decided to break up the books in to years. 2006 is my only complete year so far (i started in february of 2005), and 2007, quite obviously, isn't over yet.
it took me a long long long time to get the book done, but i must say that it looks SWEET. 208 pages, all custom formatted to look like my blog... i took 30 minute unicycle breaks every once in a while. {sidenote about my unicycling: i am getting very comfortable on this thing... it's is so INCREDIBLE! i am having so much fun just hopping on and going around... i can just go and go and go... makes me happy :)
i am really proud of it.
and this site that you do it through, its a site that people use to make books in general, so actually, after you make, it's sold in their bookstore. so technically, some random person could buy my blook (blog book). it's not too bad a price (since i baught paperback, or "soft back" as they call it) but i wouldn't buy some random person's blook for that price.
here's my cover... it's a square book, so here, it looks like a cd cover, but it's cool.feels good to be an author.
i am almost done with 2005, so by the end of tonight, i will have authored two books :)
did a lot today, uncicycled, wrote two books, got to play tennis..
speaking of tennis, the lights don't work at the park, so at aroun 9:30pm, when it started to get dark, they mentioned how they couldn't see a thing. i just laughed and thought, this is nothing compared to a few of our last matches last year in high school.
in that one match, where we were pretty much playing by the little light connected to the pe house... but otherwise, we were better off closing our eyes and playing by echolocation.
good times, good times.
good night y'all
(oh ya, and this post will be in my 2007 book!)
Friday, July 27
Thursday, July 26
for the sake of chronology...
skip the posts below and go to "postponed" and then work your way up... thanks!!!
LEADING AT VEDAUWOO
so, this is it, probably one of my favorite things on the trip... i got to sport lead!!!let me explain a bit about sport leading, and it's differences from top roping. first of all, the leaders had to sport lead in order to set up the top rope which everyone else climbed on.
top roping is when you have a system set at the top and the rope is threaded through the system and the two ends of the rope go down to the bottom... the climber ties in to one end, and the belayer the other... so when climbing, the rope you are climbing on is always above you, and if you are tired or if you fall, you can just sit on the rope, and you won't go anywhere...
sport leading, however, is different. on a lot of rock sites, there are bolts bolted in to the rock. in sport climbing, you equip yourself with a bunch of quickdraws, tie the rope to yourself, and then climb, bringing the rope up with you. as you come across bolts, you put in the quickdraw, and then put the rope through quickdraw, and then climb on to the next bolt. there are specifics and details about doing this
process, so it requires a lot of quick thinking and practice. but as you see in the pics, the rope is not above, so you can't take breaks, and falls are twice as far as your last bolt. so ryan pulled me aside and gave me a private lesson on how to lead climb, and then after much practicing on te ground, it was off to the first climb... which is the first three pics.
(by the way, the black rope you see in the pics is just a fixed line sitting there... has nothing to do with my leading :)
in the first pic you see me grabbing a quick draw, and in this pic you can see me grabbing the rope to pull it up and put it in the quickdraw...
then it was off to a bit harder of a climb... about a 5.8... this one was so awesome... more diffictuly and more technical on this climb. you see in the pic where i am making my knot all the quickdraws on my harness... i also had 6 more on the side too... i felt so cool with all the gear on me :) and you can see tara in the background (one of the leaders) who belayed me on this one... lead belaying is also really cool (i learned that at our first time at vedauwoo)... requires much more interaction, and the giving and taking of rope.
climbing on lead!!! sweet!
nice mantle action right there!!!
sweet pic... that's ryan at the top... he told me that my first two leads were flawless!
he told me i looked comfortable and confident, which is needed for leading... it is just so much stinkin fun!
nice mantle action right there!!!
sweet pic... that's ryan at the top... he told me that my first two leads were flawless!
he told me i looked comfortable and confident, which is needed for leading... it is just so much stinkin fun!this is a good pic to explain leading... you see i put the quickdraw in, then i yell "clipping" and my belayer gives me slack, and then i clip in and yell "clipped" and she takes... and then i climb higher... so awesome!
i am SO addicted to sport leading now... love it!
and then after a day of climbing, we ate dinner and then took off to drive through the night back 
to michigan... 18 hours!!! crazy... so here's a picture of the group, and that's it for my wilderness trip! thanks for reading!
to michigan... 18 hours!!! crazy... so here's a picture of the group, and that's it for my wilderness trip! thanks for reading!SOLO (and on the way out, and two pics from jackson)
so this was my solo spot (where i spent 8 hours on my own doing some good stuff like reading, writing, praying, reading, more writing, a nice little nap...) my spot was this little peninsula that jutted out in to the lake... pretty sweet!
i spent a lot of time in my sleeping bag for the cold at first, but then eventually to just stay away from the mosquitos. but what an amazing place, huh? imagine waking up to that after a nice little cat nap!
plus, i could see freemont peak from where i was... crazy to see how big it is the day after climbin it. there is a little mountain right in front of it, but between the two mountains is where the saddle is (this isn't a really good pic of it)... but basically the mountain in the dead center of the pic is it... i think.
this was the next night, and the clouds looked amazing, as usual!
this is me giving a thumbs up in celebration of wearing a new outfit! haha
cool
this is me giving a thumbs up in celebration of wearing a new outfit! haha
cool
after getting out of the winds, and stopping in 
pinedale
(all the civilization you need) we headed 45 minutes west to jackson where we would stay for a night in this free camp site that was in the middle of the buffalo reservation... so these last two pics are 1) breakfast in the tetons and 2)buffalo in the tetons. as we were driving in, there was a buffalo 10 feet from my window... AMAZING!
pinedale
(all the civilization you need) we headed 45 minutes west to jackson where we would stay for a night in this free camp site that was in the middle of the buffalo reservation... so these last two pics are 1) breakfast in the tetons and 2)buffalo in the tetons. as we were driving in, there was a buffalo 10 feet from my window... AMAZING!after jackson, we headed back for vedauwoo, which i had been waiting for all trip long becuse at vedauwoo, where we would be climbing again, is where i would have one of the best firsts ever...
that comes next!
SUMMIT DAY (fremont peak-- 13,745 feet)
wow, we look fairly awake for it being 4:30 in the morning!!! it's not really safe to be on a summit past noon, so you need to get an early (really early) start in order to get up and off by noon.
a few benefits for waking up that early... 1, it's cooler temps, and 2, you get to watch an incredible sunrise as you hike up!!!
fremont peak, looming ahead of us.
this is the group of us on the saddle... the saddle was a hard place to get to, but we had NO idea how physically demanding the last 2000 feet we had remaining would be...
amazing view... you can see i have a jacket around my waist: layers were constantly going on, coming off, and going back on again because we'd get hot hiking, and then stop for a break, like at the saddle, and the temps would be really cold and the wind would be blowing... shortly after this pic, i put my jacket, hat and gloves back on (which came off about 200 feet up the summit)
that is summerice lake... we were going to pack about 3 miles from our camp to this lake after our summit, but we were so exhausted, so we just stayed put for the night.
now the next few are summit pictures... after a full morning with over 3000 feet in elevation gain, we made it to the summit... it took some crazy scrambling to get to the top... hand over feet hiking, or 4th class stuff... 5th class is climbing with ropes, if that gives you an idea of what 4th class is. however, once we got to the summit, the other side of the peak was a sheer overhanging rock face, dropping down to one of the largest glaciers... fremont glacier. it's huge!
here's the group of us, stinkin cold, but so amazed at the fact that we were at the top... incredible view, incredible feeling being that high... you could see well over 400 miles in each direction.
this is my "normal" summit pic... you guys already saw my fun thumbs-up one... ins't that glacier awesome!
another cool shot from the top!
isn't that amazing?!?!?!
getting down was a whole deal... as we said, the summit was only halfway, we still had to get back down and back to camp... no elevators or anything :)
this is one of the less steep spots, but you could imagine going up that...
so yes, those are the summit pictures... one of the coolest things i've ever experienced... definietly an acomplishment on the group's part. and when we all got to the top, there was this metal tube (which you see to the right in this epic picture) that has a bunch of summit journals that you get to sign. so, each of us signed, and all our names are now sitting at the top of fremont peak, 13,745 feet above the world.:)
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