Six Weeks in the Gem State

When I start to think back on the time I have spent at home, I start to think about how this is the first time in a really long time that I have truly settled back in. Its has taken a bit,  but the last six weeks have been a time to find my place back to where I am solely focusing on just myself.

The training for the mountaineering season hasn't been intense but it has been something I have tried to take seriously. Thinking back to our Baker attempt last summer and remembering feeling so weak in my fitness, has really lit a fire this time around to try to put myself in a place physically where success can be an option. Granted, there are so many other things that can cause a climb to not unfold the way you would like it to. I figured that there are so many variables that you as a human cannot control, but one you have the possibility to control is your fitness. So if I can build myself up for success, I will.

The fact that I have always been a fairly goal driven person has quite a big roll to play in this as well. In the last six weeks I have been hiking, climbing, running, eating healthy and tossing work on top of all that. All of those things have really helped me feel incredibly productive and have made time fly.

One thing that I have done for myself, is get a second job. After spending between 3-5 days a week at the climbing gym between job weeks, I thought to myself that it wouldn't hurt anyone to apply and with any luck I would start to get paid for my time there. Though, in the back in my head I started to think about my schedule and immediately thought there was no way that I could be hired on with being out of town so much. From working in the horse world, and having such big climbing goals this summer (that will have me out of town from mid May through July) made it really hard to imagine any job would hire me.

I took the leap though and it paid off. After meeting with the manager at Urban Ascent here in Boise, I was hired part time to basically work whenever I was in town. After a week in California working at Twin Rivers, I came home to start working here at Urban.

My first week working at Urban was filled with prepping the gym for "Urban Legends", the climbing competition that was to be held that weekend. For more than half of my life I have been completely involved in the horse world and international competitions and after helping prep for the climbing competition, I soon learned that there turns out to be a lot of similarities between the two but just on a much smaller scale. The week prior everyone pitches in, works long days and the excitement builds and ultimately leads to a day filled with bringing people together to enjoy a killer sport.

It seems like just yesterday I was saying goodbye to Joe. That I was trying to think of all the things I could do to try to fill my time and pass by the days so it would go by quicker and I could get to Washington as fast as I could. Now its six weeks later and I am so busy with running, hiking, climbing, working and just enjoying my time in general that its hard to believe that in two weeks tomorrow I will be driving myself, and every ounce of climbing gear Joe and I own up to Aspen.

So far its been so bittersweet. The feeling of finding my independence and feeling whole but also wishing Joe was here to be sharing this feeling with me. I am looking forward to taking a refreshed me on the next adventure back up to Washington.