..and what do you do?

I have a new job.

Well, I'd use the term job loosely.   I have a new take on life and it begins with my employment status.  See, I've started working at a rock gym and I hardly view what I do as "work".  Its more like I get to play at a gym with people who use the words double fisherman, crimp, jug, sequenced and projecting in regular conversation. The climbing community is an awesome one.  It is a very inclusive in a-kids-coming-together-on-the-playground kind of way.  Everyone is allowed to play, regardless of rank. And everyone cheers each other on in a new accomplishment. There are a few exceptions but those people aren't the rule.

For anyone who doesn't agonize over the details of my life <read no one> I left my job in November 2012 and have been floating ever since.  I have been sitting on the couch, eating bon bons watching Downton Abbey. I do stuff like laundry, pay bills, clean and take care of our new dwarf lemon tree named Bob.

Meet Bob

There has been a significant reduction of stress in my life. I had the bad sort of worldly stress. Stressing about how I spend my approx 12 days of vacation, how much I know about so-and-so's position at work, or why I wasn't invited to a meeting that obviously involved my job. I stressed over worldly stuff.  I still have stress but its manageable.

See, I'm really trying to do this thing a friend once told me about working for the Lord. That friend is named Heather and she just recently gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. Talk about doing work for God! When I worked at my old job, I was doing it for ME. For selfish reasons of feeling I had to prove myself to someone.  Last time I checked, my husband, family, close friends and certainly not God have ever asked me to prove my existence.

Anyway, back to working at the gym. One afternoon my husband very blankly told me to DO SOMETHING. An hour later I was dropping an application off at the gym. It was a surprise after a month of not hearing back I got a call for the job at the perfect moment. Mr W was just about to leave for a 2 week business trip. We (husband and I) were worried I'd sink into a couch surfing bum. But God provided for me a way fill up my days and a way to meet new friends. The killer biceps have also been a pretty nice perk ;)

That pipe dream just became a teeny bit more plausible though, I'm still intent on walkin' where the Lord leads.

-Mrs. W

Pipe dream

Mr W. and I have a pipe dream and it is climbing El Capitan.

Source

Pipe dreams are interesting creatures because they may never happen.  That's the whole point.  The dream part indicates the impossible.  But the pipe part of it is all about being on a path, a journey that could one day lead you there.   This pipe dream was born from being a child of the 90s.  [Like every kid] I too, dreamed of taking home a piece of that glowing, radical rock. As a kid growing up in a family who, once saw a rock wall in a mall in the middle of Ohio, I truly thought that Guts was representation of truth in climbing.  Then I moved to California and fell in love with the real thing. You can read a tiny recap of our climbing history in this post.

Table Scraps

Well, we are re entering the pipe simply by returning to the climbing gym.  After moving in November, our gym bags haven't seen the light of day. We are incredibly far away from this dream.

90ft wall, Tahoe

My hands are no longer covered in the dense, thick skin pads required to pinch, crimp and swing myself to become an extension of the wall.  My forearms and shoulders, while still reminiscent of muscles, have lost most of the strength they used to carry.  The flexibility to swing, stretch backwards and touch my toes to my ears has been replaced with stiff joints and an inability to get my heels flat in downward dog.

I am by definition. out. of. climbing. shape.  But there is a difference between today and yesterday.  Today, I am lacing up my shoes, tying figure 8's and getting a new belay cert.  I am making the effort to get back on the wall.

Will doing this lead to my pipe dream? Definitely not.  But stringing days like today over the course of years just might.

And that's just fine with me.  God may certainly have other plans for us; if that involves spending a crap ton of time training and immersing myself into climbing, so be it. I'm letting Him know I'm totally game.

Do do do do doooooo you have it?

-mrs dubs

24 Years ..part II

Part I * left off with us moving to Hawaii.

*This recap of 24 started to get too long so I split it into Part I: January through September and Part II October through December.

Ok, that was a bit of an exaggeration.  We wanted to move to Hawaii but settled with promising to retire in Hawaii with a long vacation instead. We spent 10 days in Kauai and stayed at the surf cottage in Hanalei Bay. This trip was prompted by ridiculously low, direct, round trip airfare from Alaska Airlines.  We dubbed this trip our Second Honeymoon (how posh of us).  Our (First) Honeymoon was spent driving from Ohio to California.  The Second Honeymoon won out for being more relaxing.

Hawaiian Style

double rainbow.

the southern coast.

on fire.

Hanalei from above.

The Na Pali Coast (with added Helicopter perspective).

Inside Kauai's originating volcano.

Hole in one!

Kayaking.

Mr. Dub's back flips.

en route to the lighthouse.

Touring Kauai's gardens.

Northern coast trail.

Rock beach.

blue water.

sunset for two.

Hanalei, the originator of rainbows.

We moved to a new city which involved a downsize. Our old apartment was a 2 bedroom, first floor unit.  It had just been updated and we were it's first tenants.  Our new place is a single story, 1 bedroom on a quiet street with a fenced in yard.  It took some effort to make our furniture fit.  I'll update with pictures once I get the Christmas decorations put away (I like to leave them up through my birthday for maximum enjoyment).

Right after we moved in and gave the walls some paint.

Our kitchen contained a whopping 4 cabinets.

We moved away from our beloved rock gym. I haven't climbed since and I'm very sad about that. Good thing we are even closer to this well known outdoor climbing haven. It's very sad the park is on the State list to be closed.

Mr. W's family visited, I cooked my first Thanksgiving and we slept 5 people in our tiny 1 bedroom apartment.

Traditional Italian Thanksgiving foods.

Thanksgiving al fresco.

Cheap airline tickets (do you sense a theme to our travel) brought me back to Ohio for roughly 2 weeks leading up to Christmas.  I helped my parents watch my nieces and nephew while my sister and her husband vacationed.  I love being an auntie to these kiddos.  I also reunited with my puppies, Sammie, Lucy and my sister's dog Bailey.  I spent many nights covered in dogs.

Sammie.

Lucy.

Bailey

The Bean.

CareBear

Baby J.

My sister with The Puff.

Skyline as far as the eye could see.

Goetta + dippy egg every morning.

Some where in between my travels to Ohio and Christmas, Mr. W's company holiday party happened. It was 20s themed.  I scored my vintage dress for $30 while shopping at a thrift store with my cousin.  Mr. W. borrowed my dad's slacks and suspenders for the evening.  What is that saying about if you don't purge your closet keep something long enough it comes back in style?

the 20-somethings are roaring.

playing El Cap-i-tan of the ship.

I surprised Mr. Dub's for his birthday and took him to Yosemite.  We stayed here and went snow shoeing in Yosemite National Park.  It was the most gorgeous way to spend the weekend leading up to Christmas.

I wear pink boots snowshoeing. 

Lovely wooded walk.

Mr. W says Merry Christmas!

We celebrated Christmas deathly ill.  Mr. W and I experienced stomach flu that lasted All. Day.

Right before ringing in 2013, Mr. W had knee surgery.  My goal has been to be a good wife and nurse him back to health.  But I am human and I've lost my temper.  We've had some very insightful and comical arguments.  The comical-ness was exploited by the pain killers he was on.  I've recapped some of our conversations with him and in his words he "doesn't " recall ever saying that". Further proof of the Lord's sense of humor.

Mr. Dubs claiming the couch.

I'm sure I missed capturing some of the adventures we've taken but I hope looking back at this list prompts more of those memories.

Dear 25,  

I hope you're just as full of life as 24. I also wouldn't mind if you decided to take me on another Hawaiian vacation on an entirely new adventure. 

Love,Mrs. W

24 years ..part I

Having a birthday right after the New Year, I equate new year to new age.

A brief recap of how I spent 24:

Josh rang in my 24th birthday with a surprise trip to Tiffany's.  He brought me into the store and told me to pick out whatever I wanted. Probably every girl's dream.  Well, a sales woman heard him exclaim this she promptly lead me to the platinum and diamonds counter.  After lots of trying on, we left the store with these gorgeous silver bow earrings.  Which, actually turned into a hilarious story that I'll need to explain in more detail because Mr. W realized such an open ended statement could have lead to trouble!  I really did marry the most wonderful man in the world.

bows

My mom and sister visited; we went to wine country and ate wonderful food here.

Mr. W's dad, sister and best man visited our little 2 bedroom apartment.  We hiked at Angel Island, Ano Nuevo and had hours of glorious family time.

Mr. W. Sister (in law). Mr. W's Best Man.

Family.

Angel Island

Sausalito

Ano Nuevo.

elephant seals!

We spent Easter weekend hiking in Point Reyes and vowed to fight each other less and hike more.

through the woods.

the coast.

I planned a last minute backpacking trip through the Ventana Wilderness just south of Big Sur.  I remember this trip as the time we learned to really depend the Lord's plan for our marriage.  There was no nagging, no yelling, no you suck because. We worked as a TEAM thanks to the Lord for answering our prayers to strengthen our marriage. #winningformarriage! Afterwards we stopped at Barb's Fish Trap, a must go to if traveling any where near Half Moon Bay.

Ventana Wilderness

Refueling.

Mr. W finally convinced me to try out a nearby rock gym. I couldn't get enough.  We climbed 4 days in a row.  My hands were shredded and I had knots from my knuckles to my eye balls but I was in heaven on earth.

We walked in the Bay To Breaker's Parade.  I dub this my first city experience.  It was memorable enough that I've retired from participating ;)

Willy Wonka and his crew.

My dad came to visit for the US Open in the city.  We use any visit from family or friends as an excuse to explore like tourists :)

my dad's visit.

We took 2 days off for a last minute trip to Tahoe with family friends. I climbed outside for the first time at 90 ft wall.

90 ft wall near Eagle Falls.

Angora Lake.

We planned a backpacking trip in Yosemite with a group of co-workers. I conquered my fear of heights and hiked Half Dome. We also hiked to the Cascades near Little Yosemite Valley and spent a day riding a natural water slide.

half dome.

Stretching out for the climb.

water slide.

At Mr. W's prompting, I participated in our rock gym's top rope series and I some how walked out with 2nd place in women's beginner level. Rock climbing became our thing.

We climbed more. This time near Table Scraps in Sonoma County.

Table Scraps

I competed in our rock gym's grip challenge.  This was my first time dead lifting on a fat bar any bar.  I went out at 155.

I look like I'm about to die.  Photo credit.

We took a trip back to the Midwest.  Saw family, friends, had rest and recuperated in hammocks.  I spent every morning near the water talking with the Lord and He healed my soul of many earthly things I had been holding on to since we moved.

Family. Photo Credit.

Sister (in law) and I at the grandparents lake house.

Mr. W can fly.

I completed the Tough Mudder in Tahoe and was dubbed hard core by our mostly male team.  For anyone who is curious, the electric shock obstacles really do pack a punch.  If any one has ever told you it was no big deal, here's a secret, there is actually a power on/off switch.  I assure you it was on when I ran through.  My heart does not normally jump like that for kicks ;)

Before the race.

Mr. W tore his acl playing Ultimate Frisbee and I planned less intense hiking trips for the fall. Our criteria for less intense meant the trail had to be flat with ample parking close by.  We felt like posers.

Mr. W got a new job.  I quit my job.  And then we moved to Hawaii..

Hawaiian roller coaster ride.

Tune in for part II
-Mrs W

update: here is Part II