Food Rulz

Many of my dedicated readers (all 2 of them) and friends and family know I like to eat. I just love sweets especially, but I really like to eat just about anything. I just saw a new bakery has opened near where I work at Black Diamond. I can't wait to check it out. It's called So Cupcake, and they have a heartwarming story.

Check it out:

http://www.socupcake.com/cupcakes.php

While we are on the topic, other SLC hotspots for treats include:

Hatch Family Chocolates- the BEST chocolate..try the dipped pretzel, my favorite-http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,635201855,00.html

Les Madeleines- you have to try their Quoing Aman (I know I butchered the spelling)-http://www.les-madeleines.com/

Crumb Brothers- the most delicious seeded baguettes EVER-http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/1814/crumb-brothers-bakery

Pierre's Country French- the BEST almond croissants- huge and buttery with tons of almonds
http://www.pierrecountrybakery.com/

Injured Reserve

I'm sad to say that I may have royally F**KED myself today in a pre-work bouldering session. Remember that post where I said climbing was all about fun?! Why didn't I listen to myself. Within 24 hours of writing that post, which I sincerely meant, I fell in love with a difficult project. After spending 2 days on it, I felt ready to send. Only problem, was that my work schedule sucked for the time, so I decided to get up early, rush through my warm up, and try to send before work.

One tenuous heel hook and tweaky undercling later, I feel as though I have probably partially tore my left ring finger tendon down into my forearm.

I can't tell how serious it is, but right now it hurts to close my hand and type this entry, so it can't be good. Bad timing, as I really wanted to finish the proj, and we are heading to Ft. Collins to climb this weekend. Hopefully the damage isn't as bad as I fear, and I can get back to action soon. As for now, I will be resting and trying to stay psyched!

In Mourning

Well, it is both with great pride, and great anguish that I have to report my beloved Utes took 2nd place in the NCAA championships. They had a phenominal season, and under the most difficult of circumstances competing at a raucous enemy arena (Georgia), they took the runner up spot for the third year in row. Georgia once again dominated, this time on their own home turf.

In addition to that, Ashley Postell, the most successful, decorated college gymnast in NCAA history, couldn't pull off the All Around competition that she was favored to win, taking second to former olympian and UCLA standout Tascha Schwikert.

The Utes and Ashley are still #1 in my book, and they deserve all of the credit for having an inspiring and successful season, being the only team in NCAA history to not count one fall all season, and going 17-1 during the regular season.

GO UTES!

Fun with the gals (and our special male guest star!)

Well, I wanted to post some really cute pics of Jaima and Rachel, but these are the only ones that Jaima emailed me, so you will have to link to Jaima's blog to see the rest. Here a couple really fun problems in LCC. The first one is a great "easy" slab, it always gives you a little flutter at the top because it feels kind of high and scary (it really isn't, it just feels like it when you are standing on a crystal the size of a pin head!).
This is a pic of a super fun, technical problem called Seams Easy. Jaima has a pic on her blog that shows her pressing it out, and that is the essence of the problem- pressing in a dihedral while you are basically horizontal, very yoga-like! Check it out. It has really meant a lot to me lately to have fun women to climb with around here. On this day, Rachel, Jaima, Cerre and I (with Kevin as our special male guest star) worked on this problem. It has been awesome to train in the gym with Rach, climb routes at Echo with Jaima, and also my friend Tarris, and then have a chance to get out with them for a couple of hours in LCC. I'm looking forward to climbing more this summer with all of these gals!

a personal post regarding climbing

lately i've been thinking alot about climbing. this really isn't a surprise to most, but it's not what you might think.

it's not uncommon for my (and others) motivations to wane when it comes to climbing. there is definitely frenzy lately surrounding women's bouldering, with several strong and capable women sending inspiring problems all across the globe.

recently i got an email from an old friend, who posed the question to me why wasn't i one of the ones climbing v12.

the last year for me hasn't been completely void of good climbing, and i've done at least a couple of problems that i can say i'm proud of, however, overall, sometimes i just feel like going out and having fun. lately i like mixing it up with a few routes here and there, or just getting out to enjoy the day with friends and dogs.

it's not that i don't want to climb hard, or am no longer trying, but i just don't always feel the need to try the hardest problems all of the time. certainly there was a time when these were my motivations, and there is nothing wrong with that thinking- it certainly moves the sport forward. But, the downside is that it 'feeds the ego' as my friend Justin says, and wear down on the pure joys of what i love about climbing.

at times the pressures of maintaining ones 'position' in the climbing community or keeping sponsors happy can chip away at the simple pleasures found in a day wandering through the boulders. others' expectations, and your own at times, for what you "should" be able to do eventually can lead to frustration and depression if you don't always 'perform.' these expectations also come from within, and can be paralyzing at times.

i write this post mainly for myself, to verbalize some of my thoughts about this lifestyle that i love so much, but also to remind other climbers (if any read this blog anymore) to just go out and enjoy yourself sometimes.

House pics

Projects on a shoestring!

I really like doing projects. Even now that I live in a house that really doesn't require projects, I still think it's fun to reinvent your spaces to make them more enjoyable and livable. Today we put a new track light in the laundry room to brighten it up. We also put a white laminate table top over the washer and dryer to create more useable space. It had a side benefit of lightening up the room, defintely in conjunction with the new light.

Total cost for this pj:

$25 for track light (IKEA)
$15 for white laminate counter top (as-is room at IKEA).

Add it up, and you have a cool laundry update for 40 bucks...

While we're on the bargain subject, I LOVE Craigslist. I sell everything on there you can imagine, and I'm always on the hunt for a good find. Last week I sold some nice maple blinds that we removed while painting, and no longer had a use for. I sold 6 of them for $50- hopefully they were psyched on their bargain...

That same day, I hit the jackpot and fount a gorgeous balau wood and stainless patio table for $50! Actually, it was $65, but the guy accepted my offer of 50...So, the revolving door of Craigslist keeps spinning, and I am so happy with my transactions.

Enjoy the pics of my happy home makeovers.

Upcoming movies

My dad just visited last weekend, and it went like this: Eat, drink, nap, repeat...We took a lot of video footage so we can make a tutorial on making homeade spaghetti and meat sauce, we just have to figure out how to edit it.

As for climbing, finally things are looking good weather wise- hit up Echo Canyon yesterday to climb routes with my friend Tarris. We froze, and my cold got really bad today. This weekend looks good for Joe's, and I am excited to climb in a tank top. I've trained really hard in the gym this winter, and I'd really like it to payoff outside now that the Spring is here.

Hopefully we'll have cool pics/vid to post soon!