mac attack
Climbing with Katie at the boulder fields. I've never seen a girl with painted nails be this hardcore.
I had a two second video (that won't upload) of me climbing the problem that's responsible for my pulled butt. The last move is slinging your leg up and using it to haul the rest of your body weight up and over the mantle. Thus my butt still hurts even though it's been well over a month.
Labels: climbing, xtreme fun
update
Sorry! There's nothing worse than a lazy updater, so I will take this time to update you with all kinds of fancy details.
Well, as of right now my hand feels like it's on fire. I was helping put together a tricky Camelback display at work. The cool part is that Michael actually hammered one of the components to fit the other. The gnarly part is that the chunky part of my hand got in the way when we put the two pieces together, and there was literally a piece of my hand still between the metal parts. Even after I pulled the rest of my hand away.
Okay, I just made it sound a lot worse than it was. But seriously! It was gross. Blood. I was just like, "Uhhh...", Mike was all, "Oh...my...." and Gray was foraging around for the first aid kit, which he found.
So that's my life. Working, mostly at Mountain High. For instance, tonight we had a clinic for Big Agnes and Granite Gear, which wouldn't have been worth it except for the shwag. There have been a lot of changes at the shop. We lost our fearless leader, Alex With A Unidread, to a knee-jerk trip out West. Bry-con is our new manager, The Duke is assistant managing, and I'm a key holder. As impressed as you may be with me right now, the only difference is that I can lock (and unlock) the door. Honestly this job is the best thing I could've done to prepare for the backpacking trip.
Oh yeah! I'm going backpacking through Europe with Jeanette. We have tickets to Dublin. Leaving in May. Indefinite stay. Will come back when the money runs out. Hopefully will make it through Italy. We will be taking our climbing shoes.
And on that note, The Duke has been taking this gym rat for some outdoor climbing. He helped me do my first lead climb at Sandrock. On the most recent trip I attempted my second lead climb on a 5.10b. I can't lie here, man. It was stokage. Lead climbing is fun. Besides
mind over matter, my main motto for outdoor climbing is
if you don't try, you'll never know. It's surprising what you can do when you stop thinking about how you can't do it.
Labels: climbing, life, work, xtreme fun
surfing extravaganza numero dos
Basically, one of my favorite things to do in life is surf, and I got to go yesterday. I don't have any substantial pictures, so this post is pretty much going to be story time with Haley. For the skim readers I'll just highlight the important words. It's record worthy though. Let me start from the beginning.
My roommate
Samantha 
is definitely my cohort in extreme sports. She's pretty skilled at inviting herself places, so she managed not only to snag an invite to the coast, but also a teaching session with
Kai.
He's from Hawaii, so he's nothing short of pro status.
Well, we met up with Kai,
Joey
(the body boardin pizza boy), and
Chris
(a first timer, but nonetheless a fellow quarter Jap, which automatically gives him major brownie points in coolness.)
So we headed out around 8:45 in the morning. Sam and I followed Kai in his gigantic manly truck (which for some reason has a personalized tag that says CEO WIF) all the way to
Oceanside. We stopped by this house (which I will further allude to as the Hippie Bungalow) to pick up some of the guys' stuff. One of the guys from the two families that live there
totally blessed Sam and I with two boards and the wetsuits to match!
Then
Nino showed up and helped pick out a place to surf.
He actually played a set in our campus coffee shop last semester, but it took me about 2 hours to recognize him. He's a rep for Truth brand and totally hooked us up with some sunglasses (thanks Nino!) I don't know what's weirder...that he knows another girl from Alabama, or that he asked me if I'd ever heard of
Wild Sweet Orange and I got to tell him that yes, I actually remember being on drumline with Chip and laughing at the songs he used to freestyle about Coach Newton, and being best friends with Garret's little sister, Loren, and trying to avoid the whole awkward pajamas in the hallway thing with him. Small world, huh?
Well, we finally hit the water. Sam caught some waves...
But I caught some pretty good ones myself. I cranked an ollie then did a fin throw and rode this one all the way in.
All kidding aside, I feel like I actually got better and more comfortable on a board. Can't wait to try some bigger waves. I remember thinking, "Wow, I haven't done anything today except surf...and all I have left to do today...is surf."
No serious injuries. Besides injesting at least three gallons of salt water, the only other slightly not-fun thing that happened was the almost-concussion. Kai's like, "Haley, catch this wave." So I did, only to tumble over the front of the board and totally
eat it, which was normal. Except in the mean time my board was flipping 100 feet in the air (not exaggerating), and as I came out of the water completely drilled and still gagging up salt water, it landed straight on my head and knocked me back down into the water, very much like the
gopher bash game, where you mallet the rodent back in its hole. You know it's not good when everyone else is giving the "OOooh" face. I later found out from Nino that that move is called "pearl".
Sadly, Sam got her worst owie just putting on her wetsuit. I won't lie, those suits were dang small, especially when your hips are wider than Texas. Plus, you already feel vulnerable because you're having to change
commando in a car. With windows. And one small towel. Taking them off was probably worse. I vocalized how I hoped the restaurant didn't mind wetsuits, because I
wasn't going to peal mine off. And Kai goes, "Yes you will."
Amazing. Can I just say, that I haven't had anyone tell me what to do as many times as that guy did since Jeanette's been gone. After that it was like, I wanted to take my wetsuit off...
Then we went to eat at Mexico Viejo, near where Joey used to serve pizza. Mistake number one - ordering fish and chips. Mistake number two - ordering fish and chips at a Mexican restaurant. Mistake number three - ordering fish and chips at a Mexican restaurant when I already had a fat headache from board bash.
Queeziness sets in. Not sure if the fish and chips were worth it. Decided later that they weren't.
Then we headed back to the Hippie Bungalow and pulled up right behind
Paul
and
Cody
and
Eric
who Sam and I have been calling "barefoot Eric" and "same shirt Eric", because we're pretty sure he only brought two shirts to school and wears them interchangably, and was actually the inspiration behind my decision to wear my Chargers shirt
five days in a row. The best part is that they thought Sam and I randomly followed them all the way from campus, probably because we were the most random people to show up that day. But anyways.
It was tyte hanging out at the Hippie Bungalow for a spell. Kai found a Sock'em Bopper and was nonchalantly bopping whatever random thing Cody threw at him. Cody and Kai have this special relationship where Kai just makes fun of Cody, and Cody rips out Kai's chest hair, and they both
grease their armpits to avoid chaffing. The rest of the guys just skated around, while Roxy the weenie dog stayed occupied with this turtle that apparently sometimes comes over to play.
Well, time came to put the wetsuits back on. Sam and I went in to change...I looked at the wetsuit...looked at Sam...looked back at the wetsuit...had to pee...looked at Sam...looked at the wetsuit again...and just couldn't do it. I knew if I put that thing back on and got back in the water I was going to have a gnarly blow out. Even though Eric said he throws up in the water all the time, I still wasn't convinced that it was a good idea.
So, lamely, we said our farewells and went back home. Thus was the end to one of the
sweetest times I've had at Bible college yet. Kid you not, I had such a blast. Like one of the guys said, even though the sessions might not be tops, the
fellowship always is.
Labels: beach, california, fellowship, friends, xtreme fun
dorm trip spring 07!
Good news. And bad news.
The good news is that my girls and I went on a surfing x-travaganza this Saturday, and it was
really really fun. They are my pride and joy, and I love being their dorm mom. :)
The bad news it that Sam lost her camera with her debit card in the case, leaving her with no money and leaving you without any of the wonderful pictures from our big day out. BUMMER.
However, I pulled out my camera to document us shoving our faces with icecream.
Janece had an invisible scoop (she just wanted a cone).
Sam's new line of lip gloss.
Cathrin, Courtney, and Gary.
Janece's minicone. She kept having issues with hers.
Dogs!!!!
Anyway, the surfing was so much fun. I got pretty much thrashed a few times, but it's all good. My arms and my right thigh are toast, and my bum is pretty sore thanks to Sam's board going airborn. Knocked me right off my stick, yo. As lame as this may sound, something about surfing makes me feel a lot closer to God. Maybe because it's so easy to talk to Him when I'm just hanging out in the waves.
Anyhow, my "profound realization" is this - that God really does care about the "dumb things". When I was out there, almost without thinking I asked Him to help me catch a wave. Then I kind of rebuked myself for asking such a picky thing. Then I caught a wave. It's like He was letting me know that, yes, He cares about those small things too. Pretty cool, to me at least.
So with that said,
pray for Sam's camera. She already cancelled out her debit card, so that's a thing of the past. But that camera was sweet, and it has all our fun memories on it. She needs it back!
Labels: california, fellowship, friends, special occasion, xtreme fun
anaheim climbing
I finally got to hit up a climbing gym! My friend Shane knew of this cool one in his home town of Anaheim. The one at Evolution Fitness is nice for practice, but this was a real deal gym. I guess I'd better start practicing harder if I ever want to make it on an outdoor climbing trip. Although, I'll admit, I'm a gym rat. Outdoor climbing freaks me out.
I would've taken more pictures, but I was too busy falling off the 5.8. Prior to that I was feeling pretty good about almost making it up a 5.10, but after further consideration I realized it was probably mis-rated. Doh! Anyhow, yay for Anaheim!
Labels: climbing, xtreme fun
oceanside
Way too many play days. Saturday was supposed to be climbing, but due to thunder storms in the mountains I went to the beach instead. Lunch? Mmmmm....IN-N-OUT.
Biggest gnarliest bite contest. Sam wins!
Poor Jesse was the sixth wheel, so he was stuck getting crammed (pun intended) into every open space of the car. Crazy kid, totally reminds me of Matt from Extreme Days.
After pizza we went to the jetties and had some bonfire worship.
Jesse, Joey, Fin, me, Sam, JaNece, and Joe.
highlights:* Our football game was interrupted when I got full on body tackled by a half naked grandpa man kicking a soccer ball down the beach. It's one of those things where everybody just stares and nobody comes to my aid because the situation is too bizarre. Thanks guys. There was also a crazy lady named Sunshine who wanted to sing us a song, but ended up harassing everybody instead. Only in Socal.
* Pinched my nose too hard trying to pass through a wave. When I came up my nose pretty much exploded all over my face, down my hand, in the water. And you know how water makes blood look a lot messier than it really even is. It was a horror show.
* Long boards, skateboards, skim boards, hanging out, good times.
Labels: beach, california, college, food, friends, xtreme fun
the huntsville farm
Yes, it is time for me to admit and recognize my heritage as a born and raised southerner.
Pictures from Mama Lucas's place. Mama Lucas isn't biologically my mom, but she treats me like I really am her kid. She's awesome.
Picked up an extra four wheeler from Pat's horse farm. Almost flew off the back of this one zippin down the main road.
Sarah.
I was literally eating her dust. The kickback was pretty intense. I'm pretty sure there was dirt embedded in every orifice of my face.
Nicky the dog.
Esther the cat
Faith. We used to be on unfriendly terms, but we've since worked things out and enjoyed a very open and loving relationship.
Sarah is fifteen and has really high energy levels
Unlike myself who is old and almost died doing these things.
Another thing about Mama Lucas and Peter, her son, is that they have a heart and soul passion for Israel and anything Jewish. Peter studied Hebrew in Jerusalem and worked in a kibbutz, and Mama Lucas visited him a couple of times. Now he teaches the Hebrew language and is really involved with their Messianic Jewish church.
Mama Lucas herself.
Mama Lucas and me.True dialogue of the weekend:
Mama Lucas: Well, I was watching the pretty blue birds out the window when they all just scattered...then I see Sarah crashing through on the four wheeler and Haley right behind her, and I'm going "Oh my gosh, Haley's eyes are closed!"
Me: Hahah!...wait my eyes were open. Dangit I am just Chinese!!
Mama Lucas: Let's take the picture again, your eyes were closed.
Me: ...they were open.
Labels: friends, mama lucas, the south, xtreme fun
airsoft
So...my confession is this. I like going out into with the woods with a bunch of guys and pretend like I'm in the army and we shoot each other with fake guns. Doh.......BUT DUDE IT'S SO MUCH FUN!!!!!
Jeanette shooting me in the butt. I was trying to gauge how bad it was going to hurt.
stolen from Ryan's airsoft blog:
Airsoft Fellowship Lake ElsinoreIt's like paintball. Except with little plastic pellets. And way more fun.
Labels: xtreme fun
