Date: Tuesday, December 20, 2022
I don't remember as much as I would like to from this day but I do remember the hiking seeming so much harder than the day before. Up, up and up, it felt like forever. Scrambling with three points of contact more that I ever have hiking in my life. That morning felt like a novelty as it was our first time waking up on the mountain. Everything felt new. There was so much for our sense to explore: see, hear, smell, touch, taste. Saidi, one of our trip leaders, shared that every morning we would eat breakfast together, then briefly talk through the plan for the day and then try and start hiking around 8 or 8:30am. I remember most days we left camp at least by 9am at the latest. Every day got a little harder than the one before as we were tired from hiking all day, enduring whatever elements the weather and terrain had in store and the altitude. This day was no different.
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For no good reason, I have sat on a rough draft of this post for months, while I finished up my clinical practicum for school and started my internship (final step to graduation!) Big brain energy! I was excited to finally get this posted. I hope you enjoy!
Date: Tuesday, December 19, 2022 Our first day waking up on the mountain felt surreal. Just like most places in the world, things come to life when the sun rises. It was our first day waking up on the mountain, yet it didn’t feel real. We were hiking Mt. Kilimanjaro. We were greeted each morning outside our tent with bowls of hot water to wash up with by our amazing water porter, Bautista. Next, steaming cups of delicious hot chocolate arrived, courtesy of our server and summit guide for the trip, Shiraz (he told us to call him by the nickname his mom gave him, Baboon!) We got dressed, ate a heartier breakfast than I thought I could (they said we’ll need every bite of energy for the hike, and reviewed our hiking route for the day. This would become our morning routine. Our chef for the trip, Semini, prepared amazing meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner each day and creatively attended to our dietary request for gluten-free items, which was no issue for him. On Saturday, December 17th at 9 a.m., after two days of travel, we finally landed in Arusha, Tanzania at Kilimanjaro International Airport. Only one runway for outgoing and incoming flights so there was only one plane on the tarmac when we arrived, ours!
We stepped off the plane and instantly felt welcomed by the warm sun and smiles of ground crew as they unloaded our luggage from the belly of the plane. It was large, an Airbus. With our first-class upgrade, we were well-rested and ready to start our adventure! We were greeted by our guide, Bridget, who directed us to a private waiting lounge until our friend Nick arrived an hour later on a different flight. Customs was quick and worry-free while we waited. They took us aside in a separate room with our passports and our East African Visas, verified our travel details, personal information and took digital pictures of our fingerprints, all of which was standard. Once Nick arrived we were all relieved to be together again and Bridget led us to our van to meet our driver and headed to our first lodge. It was about an hour drive but there was so much to see that it felt like hours. It was all new, to all of us. Goats roaming everywhere. People of all ages walking everywhere. Carrying everything on their backs, on their heads. Sounds and sights could keep a person busy for a lifetime! ing
I used to think I was a great writer and I realized that didn't matter. What's important is to be an effective storyteller. So here goes, the story of Jason and I and 25 days in Africa. We both love to travel and if you're reading this, it's likely not a surprise to any of you. We have so many places on our list that I won't even mention them all here. Our trip to Africa all started at a chilly Saturday night in November, 2021, at a fundraising gala with friends. I was sniffly with whatever bug was going around and a full dinner and a few glasses of wine later, my paddle went up during the live auction for a seven-day, six-night stay at Zulu Nyala Safari Lodge in South Africa. It seemed like a good deal and some of the money was going to a good cause so we did it! Due to the travel uncertainties going on with the global pandemic, the certificate said we had up to three years to use it. That sounded fine. We weren't going anywhere soon, that we knew of. We talked to a few friends about our live auction score and it stirred up conversation of other things we could do while we were halfway across the world: hike Mt. Kilimanjaro, trek mountain gorillas in Uganda and game tours of various national parks. It was settled, we decided to do it all! We started planning the details with our friend, and now travel agent, Michele (http://micheletravels.com/) and ironed out the details. We blocked off 25 days from December 15, 2022 - January 8, 2023 and got to working on our itinerary and budgeting for the trip. No time like the present. I'm not sure where that saying originated but it couldn't be more true than today. A new year. New goals, new adventure. The new unknown. All of it and more.
Charles Dickens said it best, "It was the best of times. It was the worst of times." If you feel like that describes your 2016, you are not alone. How can having expectations cause us to feel let down? Fight or Flight? Or Neither?
My work is people. I’m fascinated by the way people act, interact and react. And how so much of it does not serve them well. Or, how so much of it is NOT useful or helpful to their greater goal or mission; not helpful to being positive, productive, maintaining healthy relationships... Why as human beings are we addicted to drama? Or why do we think we are or have to be? Addicted to the speed at which we think things have to move? To the need to solution and fix things? Beginnings and ends always make me feel nostalgic. And you can find one just about anywhere.
Last Friday was the last day of September, the last weekday of that week. That Saturday was the first day of October, the first day of the weekend. This coming weekend, three years ago, was also the date that Jason and I packed up our lives in Minnesota and hit the open road for Denver. In that three years, we've lived in three apartments and one condo, which is where we currently are. Lots of beginnings and ends. "All the leaves are brown and the sky is grey
I've been for a walk on a winters' day I'd be safe and warm if I was in..." Colorado in FALL! {The Mamas and the Papas} Each season has it's own special place in my heart but fall...fall has it's own EXTRA special, EXTRA large space. Other than being the season of my birth, it's home to so many familiar sights, smells and tastes! I'm originally from the Midwest (Saint Paul, Minnesota to be exact) so fall, defined first by the weather change, typically starts the day after the Labor Day. The days get cooler with each passing sunset. The smells are different. From sun block and bug spray to pumpkin spice lattes and school bus exhaust, you always know it's fall. In Colorado, fall seems to come in a little slower but just as familiar. The main difference is the days aren't as cool. Yet. Whether it's date night out, foodie fun or fashion finds, you can find 'your fall' in Colorado. And with the recent transition (well, since January) from corporate paycheck to business owner, I'm managing my finances a little closer for now with this Personal Capital handy app I found. Here are a few of my favorite things that won't break the bank as you head into prime-time holiday season. My boyfriend and I spent 27 hours hiking and camping in the back country of central Colorado this past June.
27 hours may not seem like a lot of time, especially if you've done it before but it was my FIRST time, and definitely not my last. And I realized that every part of those trips, each of those trips, is different for it's own reason. And you won't know until you go. The hike in was different from the hike out... A bit has happened since we last met. Late June, I was in week nine (but what felt more like week 72) of an interview process for a job I was recruited to apply for through a local agency. I'm big on intuition and instinct. And culture. And vibe. It says so much more than a job description or interview guide ever can. I started in the process because the job sounded interesting. I stayed in the process because I was waiting for something. Something. Anything. A sign. A sign that if I were to be offered the job, that I should take it.
I don't exactly remember the date. Or when I really "started." There was a point in my life about five years ago that I decided I wanted to live different health and wellness habits (for good!) So it began.
I was a pretty active person up until about my senior year in high school. And for context to now, that was about 19 years ago. Woah. Yeah. Woah. Almost two decades. And then I spent 19 years living it up like I thought I could. Partying, drinking, eating out, eating late at night. I was having a blast! Until the day I looked in the mirror years later and just didn't like who or what I saw. I had to change. Originally drafted to publish the Friday before Memorial Weekend.
A week? Wow, um well, it’s been about a month. Clearly I’ve had nothing going on. (insert witty light sarcasm here) Welcome back to the third of five in the “I quit” series. Let's pick up where we left off... Welcome back. Where did we leave off...?
Oh, right. I resigned from my job. Notice I didn't say quit. Yes, I realize that it's in the title. That was intentional. Officially, this blog post has been in the making for about four months. I felt it was time to share. Unofficially, it's been in the making for about a year but we won't start there.
As Benjamin Franklin may have once said, "A watched pot never boils."
So, sausage ragu...A quick weeknight meal? Perhaps... My reality? Not so much... "You don't need a map where you're going.
Just stop and taste what the locals are eating. You will know where you are then." ~ Jolene Clark "Meals are similar to a smile in that
you don’t have to speak the same language to understand or fully enjoy them." ~ Jolene Clark I got divorced when I was 33.
It's not something you envision when you get married. I, I mean, we made it almost seven years. I attributed it to "The Seven Year Itch." Okay, not really. Actually. It's not something you envision yourself saying EVER. If you do, you become the unpopular kid. Why you might ask? Well, that’s what this post is all about. I may not have fancy formatting or cool widgets or crazy edited pictures but my post is real. Very real. |
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