Birdsboro Quarry Climbing

Once again the crew decided to get some rock climbing in at Birdsboro Quarry. And of course the forecast changed at the last minute to include rain. And super cold temps. So we all decided to go up early Saturday instead of Friday night. John and I didn't get much climbing in on Saturday as we set up camp and tried to get some dry firewood for later. That evening we got scolded by a nasty park ranger for drinking beer....won't be going back to French Creek! But Sunday was a wonderful day of climbing. Had to wear a winter coat when not climbing, as it was pretty chilly, but the day was rain free until we get ready to leave. I did the "baby" climbs, and one that was challenging. I finished them all without falling! Though Kevin really wanted to to fall on the hard one. I simply took a super long time figuring out a move before going for it. I almost did an even harder one, but was tired so I knew I would fall and opted for a good medium climb instead. It's hard going out with people who are all way more skilled, but they dealt with my newbie status well.

Week of Fail

You know how they say bad things come in threes? Yeah well, last week myself and those around me got up to 6. So watch out. There's some weird force-field of negativity going on. It can only get better now, right?

John's sister's dog died.
John's brother had his appendix taken out.
John's friend ended a 12 year relationship.
Another person ended up in the hospital.
My roommate was in the hospital for 4 days with a really bad staph infection.
I had a tooth pulled because it fractured in two places. Then I passed out and ended up in the E.R. (woo ambulance rides!) from too many pain killers and not enough food (it's hard to eat when your mouth is throbbing...liquid diets and I don't get along).

Great Falls Climbing

Saturday was the perfect day to be outside, relaxing along the water front. Of course we threw in some rock climbing as well. I did the same climb two ways, made it half way up another which was supposed to be easy, and just could not get past the first two moves on another. It's kind of frustrating climbing outdoors with people who are at such a higher skill level as it's not always time efficient to set up multiple easy climbs when only I want to do them. So most of our ropes go to the more difficult routes. Still, I had fun on the one climb (learned to crack climb) and now have a good challenge for the future in the one with the difficult start.

We mostly climbed Romeo's Ladder, which was a fun nod to Shakespeare.

Delivery Room 5.5
Romeo's Nose 5.9
Romeo' Ladder 5.6
Flaky 5.8
And I know I'm forgetting some

Kayaker on the Potomac

Just hanging out

Ass shot

My Romeo!

Rock hugs

Falling!

I swear he's not actually punching my boobs.

Lookin good...momentarily

I love his moves

The aerial view is pretty sweet.

Everyone fell on this climb at least once. A nice crack disappears half way up.

Loving the view

Waterside belay

Thankfully not face planting into the rock as feared.

Swinging for fun.

Drunk Off Cupcakes

Bailey's Irish Cream cupcakes/frosting. Happy (almost) St. Patrick's Day!

Note: Don't frost cupcakes when your house is 100 degrees (warm weather + poor ventilation + oven = HOT). The rest will get frosting as I eat them, I think.  

Sunshine and Waterfalls

I have not felt much like writing, or really much like doing anything. My job has been killer lately. Working late nearly every night and spending 4-8 hours ever weekend on work has left me somewhere along the lines of a blob. Friday was the worst, as I was at the office until 12:30. I could have left earlier and finished Saturday morning, but I wanted to preserve my weekend.

Anyway, I'm hoping the warming weather and calming workload brings me back to life. To start, John and I had a picnic at Great Falls yesterday. A really nice place to just lounge around and soak up some sun.

Ok, also, we had sushi to celebrate the (hopeful) end of over time. I love the dragon roll!

Archery

Last weekend John and I took an archery lesson. This will hopefully be something we do again. We both missed a lot, but we also had some nice shots. My favorite was shooting a fox through the eye. I broke a few arrows, which probably isn't good, but I was just glad they hit something (even if that something was a wooden poll). John's now convinced I need to shoot squirrels at his parents' house, but I don't think I'm ready for moving targets.

Only negative, the owner's "Hey, she's pretty good...what were we thinking, teaching a woman to use a weapon." Oh redneck, you shouldn't say such things as I have said weapon in my hand.

Wedding Hotness

Wedding of John's good friend on Saturday
Rehearsal dinner at my old stomping grounds in Bmore Friday night, oh nostalgia
John was a groomsman
I was getting over a cold and therefore was not 100% (not a lot of drinking, boo)
The reception was in a library!
We had a very romantic slow dance at the end of the night
I did not catch the bouquet (the bride forced me to try)
John made a weird mention of his future groomsmen (yeah, what?!)

But most importantly...we looked really good.

Happy Valentine's Day!

First of all,we're going to jump backwards to Christmas. Where I was surprised with a diamond necklace. Long story short, I finally REALLY received my present and Valentine's was the perfect day to wear it for the first time. (But note how hard it is to take a picture of a necklace without it being a total boob shot...!) If you know me at all, you'll know I'm not a big diamond freak like a lot of women are. (I'm looking at you person who insisted upon diamond earrings and nothing else for a first xmas together gift.) I never thought a guy should buy you jewelery unless he wanted to. I have a problem with someone being told they HAVE to buy me something to prove their love. Anyway, I've been saving to get myself some diamond jewels because I felt it a very grown-up thing to do...and I really needed a nice necklace for fancy occasions. Then the boy surprised me, which was awesome. And I'm getting earrings for V-day! Super surprise! (Really, I was expecting flowers and a new pair of hiking/climbing pants, which is what I asked for.) So, he could have gotten me a chocolate cake and I would have been thrilled. It's more how unexpected these gifts were that made them special, not so much the diamond part. But really, diamonds are cool. Ok, my bragging now ends.

Diamonds - Not my best friend, but still very pretty.

Since we wouldn't be together today, we celebrated Valentine's Day all weekend. On Friday we went rock climbing and then ate ravioli and watched Grey's Anatomy. Surprisingly awesome as it sparked some conversation on relationships. Well, and climbing is always god.

Saturday we were very lazy and didn't do stuff we meant to accomplish in the morning.  But we went to Woo at the Zoo later on. We were back to our college days learning about animal sex...good times. Then we wandered around the zoo in the freezing cold.  Of course, since we got there late the indoor exhibits had closed and the animals were all inside due to the cold. Us and our laziness! So, we just wandered around the cold, darkening zoo and talked and were really cheesy romantic. (you can gag, it's ok) And we did actually see cheetahs! Then, as I said, it was getting dark. And the winds were completely out of control. Now imagine us walking through "Asia" where there's all this bamboo. It's blowing everywhere and even though bamboo is strong, you're pretty certain it's going to break. As the sun sets it's more and more difficult to find your way in the maze that is really tall bamboo. And it's freakin scary. Yes, we were lost in the zoo.

We then braved the metro (which was overrun with scary Republicans who were in town for CPAC) and went downtown for dinner. We had a lovely meal at 901DC. I had chocolate chipotle creme brulee! And at home we curled with with the super romantic Seven...woo severed heads! Yep, we're awesome.

Sunday was fun times with the Cooksey fam. More later on the wedding plans that happened!

Basically what I'm trying to say is it was a ridiculously awesome weekend and I felt crazy loved. And I'm happy to say it was more to do with being lost at the zoo than the diamond earrings. Romance is often in the smallest things. 

Porcupines are good at wooing

Flowers when they arrived on Monday....better pics later when the bloom.

Nothing says romance like protesting the Republicans.

On Birth Control

Everyone else is talking about it so I'm going to as well.

In case you haven't noticed, I'm a liberal. I was raised Catholic and am often surrounded by Republicans both in my family, some friends, and 95% of my current coworkers. But they haven't been able to convert me. So let's just say that all this talk about Obama's healthcare plan has me kind of riled up. Mostly because I believe that the birth control thing is just one more thing the GOP can use to fight against Obama. Most of them probably could care less...but all we do is fight!

But if I go off that tangent all this post will be is a rant.

What's got me going right now is the hypocrites. I know someone who is on birth control (though legitimately for health reasons, not to prevent pregnancy) and I'm sure having it come free because an employer is paying would be more than welcome. And yet this person signed a petition to get Obama's plan banned. I get that some people are against birth control. THEN DON'T USE IT! We're not trying to force you too. But if someone wants to take it, they should have the option...and I do think it should be free. (and not just because mine is really expensive!)

I tried really hard to see the other side's point. If an employer is Catholic and against BC, then they shouldn't be forced to pay for that. Still, I should be able to work for a Catholic organization and still practice my beliefs that I can take BC. Where's the line of discrimination? If I tell a Catholic elementary school that they have to pay for a teacher's BC, they feel shit upon. But the teacher, an atheist, feels shit upon if it's not covered. So should she be forced to work at a public school just to get BC? Will such employers start going so far as to not hire non-Catholics in the hopes that they won't want BC? I felt my head was in a never-ending cycle of trying to justify my beliefs so I just stopped.

Really, back to the point. Don't be half against something because you think that's what your party wants from you if you really would benefit greatly from it.

Ok, this was a much more thought-out post when I was ranting on Saturday....sorry. Give me birth control or give me death?!