I'm good. Let's roll.

This past week, I have been walking around in a fog. My mind has been  completely blank and I've had no type of emotion since last Tuesday (11/13). Yesterday, was the first day that I actually got mad and felt anything. For those who know me, this is unusual. Thus the question of why arises.

My uncle, Brett Hartman, has been on Death Row for the past twelve years. On Tuesday, November 13th of 2012 at 10 am on Eastern Standard Time he was executed. I know in my heart and soul that Uncle Brett was innocent. He did not commit the crime.

So, as you can imagine, it was a hard week. I've always been against the Death Penalty. It is not right. It is not our place to take someone from this world.

I hardly ever get home sick but this past week...I just wanted to be around my family. I wanted to be there to support them during this difficult time. Luckily, I have a great support system of friends and family here on the East coast. My roommate/suite-mate made life bearable this week, so I thank her.

Brett's last words: "I'm good. Let's roll."

October: This month sucked!

The title pretty much sums everything up. Do you think I'm joking? Okay, so the entire month did not suck but a lot of it did. In keeping with tradition, I will explain the month in three sections: The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly. Everything is made better by a Clint Eastwood reference.

The Good:

In the beginning of the semester, I was cast in my college's production of "The Beckett One Acts." It was a compilation piece of five one-act pieces from the end of Samuel Beckett's career. I was cast in two pieces: Come and Go and What and Where. The show ran from October 18th-21st. I had a great time! Everyone who worked on the show was fantastic!! Also, my mom was able to come out to visit over that weekend. It was great to have her at the show!

So, I have officially voted in my first Presidential Election. I was a few months too young in the last election so yeah... After a Comedy of Errors my absentee ballot finally made it to the east coast and I was able to vote!!! I think voting is an extremely important part of being an American citizen. It is a right but also a responsibility.

The Bad:

As a result of my show, I have been running on not enough sleep. It's okay. I'm in college so I'm kind of used to it by now.

Also, included in this category is Hurricane Sandy. the hurricane could be counted as ugly but isn't because it didn't highly effect my area. All that happened was classes were cancelled this past Monday.

The Ugly:

I do not know what happened but everyone started going insane. Many of my friends have had an emotional crisis of some sort this month. People who never cry were crying!!! It was bad. I have had so many friends get in fights it's been ridiculous. So, it's been a month of emotional roller coasters. Fun time!!! No, not really.

My Senior Year Begins

My senior year of college has officially started!!! When initially confronted with the idea of being a senior over the summer, I was slightly terrified…Okay, maybe slightly is the wrong word. Truth is I woke up on Convocation and started to panic but as the day continued, I started to think of everything I have accomplished and the day turned out more than okay.

While at college, I have been able to create an incredibly close group of friends—some of which have graduated but I am still close to. I have managed to do four complete years of classes in seven semesters instead of eight, and have not only grown by being academically challenged—can anyone say Organic Chemistry—but also had my foundation of dreams shaken. At times been a difficult process it has been worth every moment…Well, I could have lived without the Mono, but that is a different story.

My college likes traditions. Founded in 1837 and the being the first all women’s college we are bound to have some traditions. For instance: every class year gets a particular mascot and color. I am a green griffin! So, at Convocation—a gathering of the whole school the day before classes start—all the students dress up in their school color. I made an awesome Kermit the Frog hat and with my fellow seniors marched into the Amphitheater. There was tons of laughter, yelling, screaming, and joy. As I sat with my class, I realized I am so much strong than I will ever know and that Mount Holyoke College has been a great home for me. Well, it is time for more homework.

Back on the East Coast

This past week has been amazing in many ways. First, I have been writing a great deal about rock climbing. This will be my last post for a while about climbing in nature since I am starting my last year of college on the east coast and will not be climbing as much. I will go climbing in a gym but that is not the same as being outside. Saying that, I lead climbed a 5.9!! It blew my mind, was a mega adrenaline rush, and scarred me to death.

This is the route I climbed.

Second, my eldest sister and her family made a surprise visit from Kansas. My oldest niece is now twelve years old!!! I remember holding her as a newborn and playing with her when she was three. It blows my mind that she is now twelve and that she has two younger siblings.

            Thirdly, a good friend of mine got married. It was one of if not the best weddings I have ever attended. It was wonderful to see my friend so happy as she turned around after say her wedding vows. Her smile just lit up the entire room.

            I am officially back on the east coast. I flew in last night and will be moving into my dorm on Sunday! I am really excited about this year and apprehensive. Excited because it is my senior year, I’ll be living near some great friends, and I have a great class schedule. I’m apprehensive because some of my closest friends graduated last year and the idea of them not being here this year makes me nervous and sad. However, I will rise to the occasion. Wish me luck!!

Climbing is the BOMB!!!

In my last post, I mentioned that I was planning on going on a massive climbing/camping trip. The destination was supposed to be the Las Conchs. It is a fifteen-mile drive from Los Alamos—a four-hour drive from where I live. However, plans changed... Instead of driving so far away, we—my climbing buddies and I—stayed in the area and went to our local place: Mentmore, New Mexico.

The climbing was great! I tend to climb a 5.7 or 5.8 wall and 5.8 crack. Although crack and wall are rated the same, crack is considerable harder. It is a very different mental challenge and type of climbing. Well, yesterday, I did not climb a crack even though I wanted to however I went for challenging climbs. I climbed a 5.9 and a 5.10a. The 5.9 felt good and there were plenty of good hand and foot holes. The 5.10a had a great start but towards the end, there was barely anything to climb. There was hardly anything to step on and nothing to hold onto, but I made it to the top! HECK YEAH!!!! To end the day, I climbed a 5.8 that I done previously. 

This is a trailer for an amazing climbing documentary. It blew my mind and I love it!!

It is called: The Sharp End

Also, I feel I should briefly mention that Google's celebration of the Olympics has been making me super happy! How is this game not addictive?

The Last Days of Summer...

Last week, I went camping at Mesa Verde. I haven’t been there since I was twelve so I didn’t remember very much of the trip. What I did remember though was the wild fire earlier that year. I remember being in the car and seeing the side of the mesa look like a charcoal forest. This time, there was greenery but I could see where the fire had done its damage.   

In other news, my cat is ridiculous! So, the year I went off to college my mom brought home a *rez-dog. My cat and I did not take well to the new creature. My feelings mostly revolved around being replaced by a dog. The cat was just annoyed that she had to share her space with a dog. As a result, the cat and dog have spats. As a side note, the dog and I are starting to be friends. Back to the topic at hand, tonight hits the top of the list. I looked over to see that my cat had kicked the dog off its bed.

Dog=Arlo, Cat=Chloe

*Note: Rez-dog: a dog that is a mutt but specifically a mutt of the reservation. Traits include: being off odd/unlikely mixes, being afraid to enter houses, and being odd in general-my mom’s dog does a snarl grin.

This weekend I am planning on going on a massive climbing/camping trip. The plan so far, is to go this place called Las Conchs. It is a fifteen-mile drive from Los Alamos—a four-hour drive from where I live. As soon as I have photos, I will post them.

Hiking and Climbing

I woke up this morning sore. The reason being that yesterday I climbed my first tower. For those of you who do not know, this past Christmas I got into rock climbing. It was something I always wanted to do but never had the opportunity. I finally found some people who climb and convinced them to teach me. Slowly, I have been getting better, thus the tower. 

This is Church Rock, Red Rock State Park, Gallup, NM. The tallest tower (aka to the left) is the one I climbed.

Photo of the base/back view.

You can see the route we took up the back. See where the crack is, that is what I climbed up. It took us about an hour and a half to hike from the parking lot to the base of the tower. The climb took about 2 hours. At the top, my climbing buddy and I signed and dropped off a summit book (basically a ledger) before propelling down. 

I have been doing a lot of hiking and climbing lately. Some places I’ve been are: Chaco Canyon, El Morro, El Malpais, Canyon De Chelly, and the Grand Canyon. Yes, my family is into National Parks.

There are about 18 Humming birds living by my house. Here are a few.

To be small

If you ever want to feel small and really know how minute your existence is, I recommend going to the Redwoods in California. It’s incredible how an entire forest is made up of majestic trees that you can drive your car through. Yes, I was in a truck and the truck drove through the trunk of a living tree (Chandelier Tree)!!! I was taking a picture later and while leaning against the tree, I ended up getting tree sap on my hand.

To give you an idea of how massive the Redwoods here are some pictures:

The day after the Redwoods, we went down to San Francisco. The first time I went to San Francisco, I was a senior in high school and I fell in love with how open and freeing the city felt. I loved the diversity, which is different from New York and any other city I’ve ever visited.

            Being a tourist, I went to the San Francisco Bridge and Pier 39. For those who don’t know, Pier 39 is a the tourist place to see. It has the aquarium, which was a ton of fun to visit. My niece was adorable when watching the stingrays swim above her in the tunnel. There were also Sea Lions on the pier.

California and Wine

 Here is my theory: when flying time is suspended. Think about it. Right now, I am flying across the country from Massachusetts to California. I left at 5:20 pm; but in the air, that time doesn’t exist because instead of gaining time, I’m losing it. Clearly, I’ve been reading Pattie Smith’s biography Just Kids—a story of lost and searching souls who struggle with discovering themselves in New York City.

Anyways, what I’m trying to say is that sometimes life just brings you bizarre journeys and paradoxes. But somehow, you just have to go with it. Stuck somewhere in this odd paradox of traveling I arrived in California late at night. I decided to wait outside because it was a warm evening and the airport was just too stuffy—in Massachusetts the weather has been in the 50’s and raining. My sister and her family picked me up and then we drove two hours to her house.

Today, we went wine tasting. Until to today, I had never been. It was a different but cool experience. I felt very grownup about the whole thing. I discovered that I liked sweet desert wines and modern red wine.

Wines I liked:

Ceago: 2010 Muscar Canelli, 2009 Sauvignon Blanc, 2007 Late Harvest Semillon

Brassfield: 2010 Eruption, 2005 Zinfandel, and Late Harvest Desert wine.