generations

My grandpa's version of hiking...

...and mine.

I got lost... and then an eight year old named Libby became my tour guide

So the last time I went "hiking" at horsetail falls was with three other girls who wussed out after we hit the Desolation Wilderness so we turned back. This time, I went with my cousin, Robby, a fitness/wilderness man, who decided he wanted to run to the top on the waterfall.

He made it to the top of the falls in 46 minutes. Me, however, hiking by myself in a place where trails lead to nowhere and there is no apparent path to the top of the waterfall, took two and a half to three hours to make it to the top.

Apparently I took the long way. And made several wrong turns. And did A LOT of backtracking.

As much as I LOVE nature, I spent a lot of time yesterday cursing at it.

I was so lost.

But then Libby and her parents found me. She's eight years old. We discussed Robin Hood and how fourth grade is way better than third.

And we made it to the base of the falls. Which was as far as they were going. So I took off on my own again. Up the rocky cliffs. With no trail.

Awesome.

I just love defying death by myself. When no one is around to witness you plummet to your death. Real safe.

Then. I made it to a rock wall. The only way around it was a smooth rock around the edge of the rock wall with the falls tumbling below it. I started up and started to slip down, so I decided there must be another way around. There was one. Up a super steep ravine.

So I sulked for a few minutes. Called Robby (who had been at the top for quite some time by this point) and told him I was stuck. Then ran into some people with an extremely small dog who were just as perplexed as I, and we found another way around by climbing up a log. This man though, looked like a slightly older, less rugged version of Gerard Butler.

Mmhmm. Not too shabby.

By then I found Robby and he helped me up the rocky cliffs, making paths where I would have NEVER made paths.

All this to say, I felt like Tom Cruise in the opening of Mission Impossible. You know, when he's hanging off that huge rock? Except I wasn't hanging off a huge rock. But it was as close to that experience as I ever want to get. Pretty sure my mom would've been cringing the whole time if she knew what I was doing.

Like when we went the Grand Canyon as kids and my brother and I crawled off the edge onto a ledge just below and pretended like we were hanging onto the edge for our lives.

Now that I look back I realize that probably wasn't a very smart move.

But seeing my mom freak out, totally worth it.

Anyways, once we made it to the top, it was amazing. There were all these lakes that connected to each other. One of which I jumped it. Let's just say that water was a wee bit chilly. I decided to make one of the mini waterfalls into a slide. That was so much fun. The algae was super slippery so I zipped down. The only uncool part was when I sliced one of my toes on a rock. Other than that, it was a total worthwhile experience.

Sunburn and everything.


[Lake on top of the mountain]

[Where we went swimming. And my mini slide.]

[Reflection]

[Robby and a disheveled me]

s'more

"Hey, Smalls, you wanna s'more? "

"Some more of what?"

"No, do you wanna s'more? "

"I haven't had anything yet, so how can I have some more of nothing?"

"You're killing me Smalls! These are s'more's stuff! Alright now pay attention. First you take the graham. You stick the chocolate on the graham. Then you roast the 'mallow. When the 'mallows flaming, you stick it on the chocolate. Then cover with the other end. Then you scarf. Kind of messy, but good! "

•••••

Well, I haven't had any s'mores lately, but I do have some more photos from yesterday!







Oh what the heck, here's a few more state fair photos like I promised!

downtown walk

This afternoon/night my friend Paul and I walked around downtown Sacramento taking pictures. I looked like a total photo nerd with two different cameras hanging around my neck (and sometimes strangling me). Anyways, here's a couple shots from my digital camera, I have lots more and hopefully I'll post them later. But then again, I said that with the state fair pictures and that never happened, did it?

And then tomorrow I will march into the store and pick up my film to see how those pictures turned out! I have a feeling they're way better. There's just something about film that is infinitely better.




P.S.- Why is it that when I post my photos they always lose their saturation? It shows up when I click on them. It boggles my brain.

P.P.S.- Who came up with that phrase? Boggles my brain.
Boggles. What a strange word.

oh friend, I wish I could heal your hurt

I feel terrible when a friend comes to me with a problem and I can't offer up any good advice. Which happens quite often. Especially the past few weeks. I'm in uncharted waters with some of my friends problems lately, and the best I can do is just be there for them and listen.

But sometimes I wish I could do more.

words of wisdom

The world bursts at the seams with people ready to tell you you're not good enough. On occasion, some might be correct. But do not do their work for them. Seek any job; ask anyone out; pursue any goal. Don't take it personally when they say "no"- they may not be smart enough to say "yes".
-Keith Olbermann

umm. Yes.

In a perfect world, she and I would be best friends.

Ha. She and I. She and Him.

I'm a total dork.

Speaking of She and Him, this is my favorite song of hers. And his.

take me back

to this place. And I'll stay forever.


Care to join me?

I've been having a hankering to return to Italy. And, you know, Europe in general.

red red wine

I seem to remember singing this song to myself in the bathtub/shower-without-a-curtain the morning after an incredibly long night on my last trip to Paris. The waitress just kept bringing the bottles to our table, and of course, I didn't want to be rude so I drank up. And Christian, the best man, kept filling up my glass whenever I wasn't looking. Sneaky. But enough about then, let's talk about now.

Last weekend was my friend Erin's 22nd, so we rented a party bus and headed to wine country. We had a marvelous time.

But, as you might guess, working later that evening was not so pleasant. When I finally got home that night I fell asleep on the couch to Saturday Night Live playing in the background.

And even though I woke the next morning to an aching back and a sore neck it was all worth it.

Thanks for being born Erin!


Erin, Tereza, Court and Robin



Erin and Donnie


Brittany, Danielle and Court

I did some digging around...

and check out what I found in an old box. These are my grandparents. How cute is this?!

I found a whole bunch more cool old family photographs, I can't wait to scan them in and fix them up! I'll share them with you as I fix them.

Why oh why

Is it, that the days you look terrible (and in my case today, the days you don't have time to take showers) you run into past crushes?

That look great, by the way.

Is it just me? Is anyone else afflicted with this terrible curse?

The days that I look good and I'm out running errands or going to class I never see anyone I know. But somehow, the days when I'm wearing no make-up, it's hotter than hell, and I just throw on whatever clothes are on my way to the door, are the days when hot guys from the past just appear out of nowhere.

What kind of mean joke is this?

good morning... I guess

Dear Self,
Why did you sign up for a morning class? I mean, come on, you know you don't function before 11am.

Dear Snooze Button,
Why do you only snooze for 5 minutes? That's not okay. You should extend your minutes.

Dear Eyelash,
Why are you poking me in my eye? And why can't I locate you so I can make you stop?

Dear Golden Grahams,
You taste marvelous.

Our state fair is a great state fair...

I hope you know that song, otherwise you'd actually believe that I think California has a great state fair. Sure, once you get past spending an absurd amount of money, the jumbled crowds, and the smell of greasy food, it's not that bad.

Yesterday I went for a bit to snap some photos. I'm pretty pleased with my results. Here's a taste, I'll post more later!

tweeting twits

I have narrowly mindedly avoided getting myself involved in twitter, seeing as how I feel like there is no possible way anyone cares what I'm thinking 24/7 (not low self-esteem, just reality. I'm just not that interesting).

However, THIS twitter-er (I have no clue what the technical name is, and I'm quite proud of that), could quite possibly turn me into a twitter fan.

I mean, this stuff is good.

Although if my mother ever finds my blog I am deleting this post immediately, I don't think she would find it very funny.


You know, it's funny. I'm 22 years old. I should have my own opinions and be my own person. But I am deathly afraid of letting my mom down. So there's some things I find funny that I just don't let on to. I've become pretty good at not laughing during inappropriate dialogues on television.

I'm still a very good, incredibly innocent girl by everyone else's standards. But I guess by mine I've turned a bit.


I still think that old man is hilarious though.

My dad, who I've never heard curse (except for that one time when my brother was in BIG trouble).


Speaking of cursing parents, here's a little tidbit for you:
My mom only curses one day a year. Christmas eve when my dad's side of the family comes over to our house for dinner. It's usually a barely audible shit! and it fills me with much glee. And then she's perfect for the other 364 days of the year.

friends

are pretty wonderful. Aren't they?

Wish I knew what this fella was up to. It's a little harder to stay in touch when you don't live down the hall from each other anymore.

The things you want are always possible; it is just that the way to get them is not always apparent. The only real obstacle in your path to a fulfilling life is you, and that can be a considerable obstacle because you carry the baggage of insecurities and past experience.
-Les Brown