hygienically unequivalent

i discovered that i shower exactly 4 times less than my girlfriends.
this is not to say one way is better, simply that i am not as clean. it is something i grew use to on my trip, and it has continued into my daily life. i haven't realized it before now. i work at a climbing gym, everyone there is a hippie, i am the most hygienic.
i am the least when it come to my friends.
different spaces i guess.







we went to zion.
it rained.
awesome anyway.







i love this trip, every year all of my friends get together for an entire weekend. it is laughter and happiness, and it rejuvenates our relationships.
it is becoming harder and harder to reconnect with my friends, we lead very different lives. all of us with our own ideas, and priorities. but, this trip, zion, brings us back together, and the year apart doesn't seem so long.
so, even with the freezing rain, and our suitcases full of shorts, we still managed to hike, play card games, giggle, laugh and smile the weekend away.









then, the sun peeked out, and we ran to the cracks. climbing, basking in the sun, and wearing flip-flops, there are few things that make me happier.
the weather drove home three quarters of the group, and all that remained were adrienne, andrew, and us.
sorry friends, you really missed the best part.
adri and andrew really have become quite the crack connoisseurs. moving with ease and beauty up overhanging fist cracks. k, as usual, was amazing. and my love of climbing has once again been restored. i am ready to pack the trailer, and begin again.
when our house closes, i think that is exactly what i am going to do.

2 a.m wake-ups

my wonderful and darling elder sister is here. and she brought her 3 children.

they don't like me.

normally i'm pretty good with kids, i teach a climbing class to kids, i have other nieces that think i'm the greatest (they think kaleb is greater, but that's another story).

these particular children, however, just scream when i come near. a task that happens oft as we are all staying in the same abode. and with the logistics of this housing situation, we are very close. let me give you an idea.

i live in the basement. the babes room is also in the basement. the other room (in which my sister sleeps) is upstairs. the babes like to wake-up, in the throughs of a fit, at 2 a.m. i am the nearest adult. i pick them up. they scream louder. i take them up to my sisters room, and drop them like hot potatoes on her bed.

fun filled nights for auntie bonnie.

then, it happens again. (remember 3)

so, as a person without children, and one who is use to getting an uninterrupted 10 hours of sleep, these middle of the night wake-up calls are rough. very rough. and when i come up for coffee, i am in zombie state until the pot is empty. unfortunately the little kiddies wake up full of zest and energy, and little hooves are stomping the floor above my head.

how this happens after a scream filled night is a mystery. how they are not completely horse is another mystery. but the biggest mystery of all is how my sister manages to remain sane. i would be on a cocktail of drugs, doused in a cocktail.

so, for now, i think this will remain my only child. he likes sleeping in.

let me tell you a little story

once there was a girl, and she lived in a very big house, and it was filled with lots of furniture. she had a big yard, and fruit trees and a goat that sometimes lived with her. she lived in the country, and everything looked like it was just fine.

then she had an epiphany, and she decided that living in the country with furniture and goats and trees was not what she wanted. so she sold her big house, and with it all of her pretty things, and she moved with her handsome husband into a trailer. then they traveled. and everything really was good.


but, then a couple of things happened. and now that girl is back, and looking for a house. however this time around they've downsized, and the house they are looking at is in the city, and it's connected to other houses, and where once she had a big kitchen, there is now just a little kitchen.

thing one

thing two

here is the kicker,

i'm again thinking about dressers (lord help us all) and beds, and chairs to put around tables. because boys and girls, that girl is I. and I have thrown myself back into the dungeon of domesticity.

so, in an effort to remain sane, and not get caught up in the horrid fact that my mom refuses to let me have the antique dresser (mean) i am here to remind myself that as people who travel, we do not need much.

i never thought about dressers in tahoe, while i was hanging a shower in the trees, and the semi-warm water and cold wind hit my skin simultaneously. instead i got the giggles at the idea of someone driving down the road, to see me hanging a shower in the trees. (note: next time hang shower, then get nekkid)

and beds (or lack of them) didn't worry me in the desert, while red-rock towers and stars decorated the landscape.





curtains, chairs, and furniture arrangements, are not happiness. happiness is listening to fall thunderstorms and music, while k cooks in the (very very small) trailer kitchen.

sometimes it's good to remind yourself (myself) of what is important. and if we ever get to move into this house, i'll just pile my clothes on the floor.

how often can i say i love idaho

before it becomes redundant?


it hit 40 degrees, technically above freezing, so we climbed in idaho.
castle rocks.
how i love thee. (invoking words like thee: it is love)


the first multi-pitch of the season, my rope handling is a bit rusty. good thing mr. k is a talented climber, and the fall was a few hundred feet. i'm confident i could catch him sometime before he landed in the junipers below.




i love idaho climbing. the gym as softened my once calloused hands, and the granite tore through the soft backsides of them.
but, standing on top, looking over the endless valleys, and the sun, turns a little pain into a moment of perfection.


i've traveled through the entirety of the state, and idaho is simply amazing.
i could picture myself as a frontier woman,
or rancher, living in those wide open spaces.

i could have cows.

for now, i will just climb, and be in love, and leave the hardships to the cowboys.

my man who wears flannel

it has been a long week here in the russell/nelson household, and come sunday we are expecting a third family the kurtz's. the house will be filled, and may burst at the seams.

but, all is beautiful and warm. spring is coming. i can feel it, and i am happy. the winters are always long, and even with major winter activities they still drag on. no; maybe drag is the wrong word, i do like the winter, so maybe linger longer then invited. yes. better. i am just ready for the sun on my skin, and to feel real and actual rock under my fingers again. hopefully training in the gym all winter gave me strength, and did not ruin my natural instincts.

i've never trained so hard in the gym before. being there wasn't a gym in ogden in which to train hard. so once a week or so, we'd drive down to the bustling city of salt lake, and train there. though mostly, we would climb outside. even in freezing temps. this year they opened a huge and amazing gym just down the street, complete with climate control and treadmills. everything needed to fain an actual experience. so, there i have been, climbing on brightly colored holds, with brightly colored tape, and clips approximately 3 feet apart.

i don't pretend it is real.

in truth the gym is amazing, and they have so kindly given me employment, so there is little to complain about. i do miss spring/summer/fall, and large mountains with large walls.

now, it is time to go outside, today i will begin.

whilst reading pride and prejudice

I realized I will never be a great writer.

I think I'm ok with that.

At one point in my life I think I wanted to be a great writer, be inspiring to others, be read over again, only getting better each time. Currently I am not in at that stage, never will I be. Somethings come in hard truths don't they? I just need to remind myself that this is JANE AUSTIN we are talking about, I mean really, Austin, Hemingway, Thoreau, Eyre, these people are writers, (sorry Stephanie Meyer, you are in fact not) So, here is my new goal, make you, my friends, smile, I conclude it is a pretty good one.

In other news, yesterday I got my very first piece of climbing equipment for free. That's right kiddies, I'm a movin' up. Also, it came from the petzel man himself. Pretty sweet. So, I am an owner of a shiny new harness. It looks like I'll have to amp up my climbing, I'm heading toward the big leagues.

Pretty fancy, no?

Also, I have put yet another offer in on a house, wish me luck.