Job Hunting

This job hunting thing isn't going to badly. I'm 2 for 2. 2 interviews. 2 job offers! Not too shabby. I'm pretty excited about this latest one here in Madison. It just might be the "one." Tomorrow I have another interview, so we'll see if I can keep batting 100%. It looks like I might be gainfully employed in just over a week's time! Yikes! I feel that I'm living in an alternate reality. Weird. Is this really me? Do I really command such an income? Scary, very scary.

Coveted Pics

Is this better, Kristi?



Drumroll please... Here's Johnny!!!

Homeless in WI

Does a car count as a home? If so, then I'm not homeless. If I have friends and family to bum couch and floor space from, does that make me not homeless? Well, regardless... (Irregardless for you Bean)...I feel homeless. I've been on the go, living out of my car, in other people's homes, car camping, sleeping in hotels/condos, or occasionally actually sleeping in Mr. Supersube for 7 months. Yes, folks. 7 months. Can you blame me for feeling homeless?
I'm not trying to say I didn't have a great time these past 7 months. I definitely did. (I also had some very low points too). What I'm trying to say is that I'm ready to have my own place again. With plants, my kitchen supplies, my bed, my pictures on the wall, a DRESSER!, and with an empty car. And unless it's a vacation, I don't want to pack my belongings and move anytime soon. Yes, I'm travelled out. Don't think I've changed. I haven't. I just need a break. Give me a month or two and I'll be back at it.
So where am I going to settle? I'm looking at Madison. I had a job offer in Grand Junction and some other possible prospects out there, but it's not the right time. Some day! This all could have something to do with a certain someone and it does. He's a boy and his name is John. Sigh. Silly smile. (That's for you Debbie). Sorry no picture to post yet (Kristi). Anybody know of PT openings in Madison? Let me know... Job first. Then permanent housing.
My bro and I had a great time in CO, especially after he got over his 2-day bout with food poisoning. Beware of leftover Thai apparently! In terms of snowboarding he brought honor on the Sierra name by picking it up very quickly inspite of the sickness and altitude change.
Aren't we just darling? I guess we might look a little alike...

The Switcheroo

I pulled the switcheroo today. Wendy left Grand Junction and Aaron arrived. At the exact same time! I feel very fortunate to have such great friends and family. Wendy (the good one) and I had a blast. Hitting 4 ski hills in 4 days. Wolf Creek, then Purgatory, then Telluride, then Crested Butte. For those not in the know that's a little crazy because they're all at least 2-3 hours apart. So I'm a little fatigued from all this R & R. Now Aaron is here to learn how to snowboard up on the Grand Mesa and get intro'd into fantastic mountain life. I'm hoping to talk him into going to Telluride for a day, because it's so amazingly gorgeous!

I, um, graduated again

I am proud to say that I finished my last day of school for the foreseeable future. 7 years post-secondary should suffice. Yes, I should soon be gainfully employed. A professional. I have a Master's in Physical Therapy. Wow! It hasn't set in yet. I don't have time to think about it as I prepare to go snowboarding with my friend Wendy. It's been a long time coming!

An Unusual Thanksgiving

What did you do for Thanksgiving? I went to a rustic cabin in the Sangre de Cristos near Sawauche, CO (pronouned Sah-watch) with 10 other folks, of whom I only knew 3! While there I drank amazing spring water that runs down the mountain to the cabin, regularly visited the outdoor plumbing in which you could get locked if you aren't careful, learned to knit (sorry no action shots), shot .22, .38 and .357 and M-16 bullets out of guns, summitted Cottonwood (a tall 13er in CO), explored a local deserved mine, and went on daily hikes. It was my first ever Thanksgiving away from family and I was able to spent with other members of my heavenly family. Pretty sweet!
Above: Does it look like I know what I'm doing? It's questionable.
Above: Drinking some 'Dew' before pushing it to the summit. (I forgot to bring any Nalgenes, Camelbaks, or any other water containers...very smart, I know)
Below: My fellow conquerers. I case you're wondering I'm the short one on the left. He he.
Below: The descent down.

x country skiing

Hurray for Ouray

Last weekend I took a brief overnight hiatus from my current residence of Grand Junction. I've been itching to get out and see towns, parks, and forests in the near vicinity of here. Last Saturday the itching escalated and I decided to scratch the itch by heading overnight to 2 hours southeast of GJ to Ouray, CO, aka the Switzerland of America.
I was so excited as I ventured out in my car. Then as I pulled into town at 5pm, just in time for darkness, I wondered what in the world I was going to do with my time, especially since I had headed up solo. But I perked myself up again by thinking good thoughts.
I walked up and down the quaint, Victorian style town's main stream. Got some coffee (I know can you believe it). Bought a couple books. Then went to the local hotsprings for some exercise and R&R. That's where the good times really began.
I met this fellow, James, who had just moved to town a week prior. He put me up for the night and we had great conversation. We went out that night to a fantastic Sushi bar on main stream, that is closing today actually, until it finds some new owners. Sigh. We met a lively, incredibly friendly bunch of locals that night who filled us in on the Ouray scoop. The basic gist being that if you spend any extent of time there and love natural beauty and the outdoors you will never leave! That was emphatically stated.
When I arrived on Sat there was no snow on the ground. When I woke up at 7 am, there was 5-6" of beautiful powder on the ground. By the time I left mid-afternoon there was 8-9" of more beautiful powder and it was still coming down. We made the most of the conditions by snowshoeing up to a waterfall on the west side of town, before heading to the other side where the Ouray ice park and Box Canyon are. Amazingly beautiful. And we met more friendly folk at the Canyon. Maybe someone to take me out climbing! We walked the catwalk into the narrow canyon and saw the power of time and water in carving through rock. At the ice park, the ice wasn't in yet, but I'm sure by now they have some. The ice park is a canyon that they pump water over the sides to help augment the natural formation of ice on the canyon walls. It's world renowned and in Jan they hold the Ouray Ice Fest, an international competition. There's some incredible video footage at http://www.ourayicefestival.com/.
So if you want to go to Ouray or Telluride with me, I know people in Ouray who will let us crash there. I'll post pictures as soon as I find my camera!

17 1/2 & N 3/10

What do you do at the intersection of 17 1/2 and N 3/10 in the town of Fruita, CO? Why you turn right, so that you can get to 18 Road and do some mountain biking. So that's just what we did.

Matt out riding new terrain in the desert with the bike, helmet, and shoes kindly providing from 2 very friendly Grand J folks. People here are just too nice!

Hiking late afternoon at the National Monument, which turned into...

...a night hike under a full moon!

I enjoyed having a WI visitor so much that I'm ready for the next one! Who wants to come?

Underrated

Simplicity is so underrated in our culture. Most attempts to make our lives easier, only make them more complicated. Why don't we seek out a simple life? Why do we strive to get more and more, better and better, and sometimes just newer and newer. Keeping up with the Jones is the push and it takes it's toll.
What do we lose? I think we lose direction. We miss the opportunity to live lives of signficance - lives of substance that can impact and benefit others. We lose joy that comes from being content with having our needs met. Suddenly our 'needs' grow and the line with 'wants' becomes blurred. 'Want' becomes equated with 'need.' Not surprisingly the list of things we need to attain that next level of 'happiness' never seems to end or even plateau. Credit cards come to be; credit cards get maxed out. The new things we acquire that excite us momentarily and/or make us feel good about ourselves rapidly become the old things that bore us and weigh us down.
I wish I were above all this Jones business, but I'm not. I'm in the thick of it. I guess I'm at least concerned about it, thinking, and praying what to do about it. What does that look like for me? If my education culminates in where it's supposed to, I'll soon be in a very different income bracket. This excites and disturbs me.
Money begets power. Not that I'm going to be a millionaire or anything near it, but that doesn't make me exempt. This new earning potential will allow me many new opportunities. It's up to me what I do with it. So this excites me, because it increases my giving potential. I can no longer claim 'poor student - have pity on me' status. All the good causes and charities that I've wanted to support, but haven't been able to will have another able donor.
On the other hand, I've been told that when people experience income boosts they don't end up with bonus money. Instead their standard of living increased proportionately with the additional revenue. So I'm scared that I'm too weak to swim upstream, to go against the grain, and to successfully fight the consumeristic, materialistic culture I live in that screams at me that the only way to happiness is to have this latest, newest, best item. This item, more likely items, will make me happier, sexier, more relaxed, and more fulfilled. Maybe I will even live longer!
From what I've seen in my few 27 years is that the happiest people I know aren't the people with the most, or the best, or the most expensive, or the newest, but rather those that are content - content with what they have, content with who they are. Instead of hoarding things, these odd folks look for opportunities to give things away. Somehow it doesn't seem like a struggle either. They seem to view their things not as their own. They don't identify with their possessions, that is, the possessions don't define them. Possessions, in their minds, are merely to be used and whoever can get the best use out of them should have them.
God is good. God provides. He makes the lilies of the field look beautiful and meets the need of the sparrow. How much less does He care for me?
I want to hold things loosely. Won't you join me in this crusade to be a rebel? To be someone who puts people above things. I've heard it said: People are meant to be loved and things used, not the other way around. But our society is so backwards that the latter occurs more prevelantly than the former. Sigh... Let's band together! We can effect change!
I'll leave you with some burning words from James about what God thinks of a culture and attitude like we have...
"Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. You gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter." --James 5:1-5
This passage brings up the issue not simply of hoarding things, but that we can hoard money in an attempt to give us security in an uncertain world. However, no amount of money will give us the security we seek, only God can give us that security. God didn't give us money to store it up and see how much wealth we can accumulate, but instead He wants us to use it for His glory, His purposes, to benefit others. God, help us!!!

Making it happen

Do you ever have tension in your life? A little internal conflict or struggle perhaps? I do. Right now there's probably a lot of it in my life, but who said that life is simple or makes sense? The questions could just keep coming and coming...

I suppose tension is a natural and maybe even healthy part of life that reminds us that we need to find balance, avoiding the extremes.

So that's all vague enough. One specific area that's on my mind frequently, if not constantly, is this tension I feel between the call of the wild, the mountain, the great outdoors, and adventure of God's beautiful creation contrasted with my desire to have close, meaningful relationships with friends and family. I'm nearing that crossroads where I decide to move away or decide to stay (I guess go back since I'm currently in CO). And I'm feeling it. Really feeling it. I wonder if there's a right decision. Does God really care? Doesn't he care about us learning to love Him more? Does it really matter where I do that from, or where I work? Does he really care if I work in a hospital, a clinic, people's homes, a gym, a school? Does he care if I'm in Washington or WI or CO or Idaho or Canada or in an inner city somewhere? Can't I represent Him anywhere?

So being away has me lonely. It's not a constant feeling, but it's certainly far more present than when I'm in WI. I guess I have a lot more free time here. The freedom to do what I want, sort of. I can do what I want, but most of the time I'll have to do it alone. I can't be with people anytime I want, which I can often do in Madison.

I've had to fight that inertia of once I get home from work, just sitting around, eating, turning on the TV (darn cable TV!), and incessantly checking email (darn wireless internet at home). Just sitting around gets me feeling down pretty fast, especially watching TV. Other people don't seem to share that drain from the Tube, but I do. So I'm trying to get out and do things and make those first awkward attempts to get connected, to get plugged in, to make a difference in my life and the lives of others. So I've been doing some form of exercise each day. I called Habitat for Humanity to see if I can volunteer there a time or two before I leave. I went (ALONE) to the "Door" which was an amazing young adult service at Canyonview Vineyard Church here in Grand Junction...and I was blessed for going. God's speaking to me. I guess God requires us to do a little in order for Him to move. The faith of a mustard seed. Faith is evident by action, so I'm trying to step out and get outside of myself somewhat.

So apart from going to the Door tonight, I also drove up to the Grand Mesa, the flat top mountain here, to see if I could find some snow. I heard rumors that it was snowshoe-able. Is that a word. Sure enough it was. It was a further step to trying to get out of the funk I've been in. It was beautiful, pristine, quiet, so quiet. God and I had a good chat. Of course, I wanted to share some photos with you.

Above: Blue, dry skies giving way to clouds half way through my trouncing.

Below: A solitary "flower" in the snow

Above: Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow. It started snowing and blowing pretty good as I headed back. My green fleece was not so green anymore. I can't believe that I got to play in all this snow in October and then drive back down to non-snow life in Grand J. Pretty sweet.

Exploring the Neighboring Monument

So I haven't gotten out much yet, but I have made it 2x to Colorado National Monument which borders Grand Junction on the south. I took a drive midway through this week near sunset.

Below: The view north at sunset from the Monument overlooking Grand J towards the Bookcliff Mtns. The cliffs turn red each night from the setting sun.

Yesterday I went to the Monument again. This time hiking with my 2 classmates who are also here - Bekah and Becky.

Hopefully I will get off my duff in the next few minutes and head out mtn biking for the first time here. And almost 1st time all year!

Headed West

So I left wonderful Madison, WI, again. Well, I guess I haven't lived in Madison for 5 months, but I lived there every other weekend the last 2 months. Where else could I take in the amazing talents as the individual picture below. He was awesome. I don't know if he's a staple on State St now, but this Brit was a fantastic 1 man band playing Dylan and the Beatles. And I've got video to prove it.

So I headed West solo loaded down in the Supersube. I overnighted in KC and got to stay with my cousin, Jeremiah and his family and visit with other cousins and my aunt and uncle. Very nice! Then I crossed the line. I'm in CO! I overnighted 2 nights with my good 'ol friend Anne in Denver, did some hiking, and experienced some city night life. I love the live music and the price was right $6!

Ever driven across Kansas? Well...don't. One word...BORING! It looks something like below, although eastern CO looks remarkably similar.

My parting shot for this entry will be the view through my windshield as I made the descent down the Western slope of the Rockies to Grand J. It's pretty pretty in it's deserty, canyony kind of way!

The Goods Are ODD!

Before I even made it to Alaska, I heard it. People couldn't help it...a single, female going to Alaska. Of course! This was my chance to find a mate-my mountain man. On numerous occasions, I heard it.
"Liz, the odds are good, but the goods are odd." They say the ratio of men:women is 10:1.
Nowhere is this more celebrated than in the town of Talkeetna which has its share of bachelors, and understandibly so. Talkeetna is where those bold and crazy enough to tackle the tallest mountain in North American, pack their wares, prep for the trip, and take off in a plane to get dropped off at the base of the mountain. You can imagine that men that choose this lifestyle are often also single. This doesn't phase those in Talkeetna. In fact, Talkeetna celebrates its bachelors, as evidenced below.


I understand they even have an auction where you can purchase a date with one of these fine specimens. Can you imagine? "Yes, $100 for bachelor #39!" Be sure you read the bottom line of his profile "What are you looking for in a woman?" Can you believe I didn't find my mate there? Oh, Alaska!

An aunt x 2!

My nephew was born 2 weeks ago. It's amazing to hold a human so fragile and tiny. Life truly is such a miracle!

I babysat my niece and nephew today. When my bro and sis-in-law returned, they found me struggling to quiet the hungry new born while scraping together dinner for my 2-year old niece, who also happened to be hungry. Did I mention that I was hungry too? My sister asked if babysitting them at the same time was effective birth control. We laughed. I don't know how parents do it!

Below: Here I am with my new nephew...

Or is that my niece? Turns out I wore exactly the same shirt...and glasses!

Home is where the heart is

Above: Wendy, Zach and I in the Canadian Rockies at my favorite lake of all time: Moraine Lake!
Greetings everyone. I'm back in WI and loving it. I can't say that I'm not looking forward to my upcoming adventures as I head out to Colorado for my next internship next month, but I can say I'm quite content at the moment. It's great being with family. It's great being with friends. It's great doing familiar things in familiar places. Ah the Midwest. And even more specific I treasure each visit back to Madison. Above: My family and I in Appleton reunited after my time in Alaska

Is my biological clock starting to tick? As we are all aware, I AM getting up there in years (my tongue is in my cheek) and I really enjoy all my time I'm getting to spend with my little niece. I'm looking forward to welcoming my nephew in to the world in a few weeks. I suppose I'm also looking forward to the time that I have kids of my own. Tick...tick...tick

Heading Home

Life doesn't always turn out like I plan it. Maybe that's a fortunate things; maybe it's unfortunate. Unfortunately, I ended my internship 1 week early, because the working environment just became to unhealthy for me. It's a hard pill to swallow, but I know there's much to be gleaned from this time. It casts a cloud over my Alaska experience, but I'm going to do my best to bounce back. I have the whole adventure of the roadtrip back to look forward to.

Well, Wendy is here. We pick up Zach at the airport today. The weather is cool and cloudy here, so we won't make the sidetrip north as planned because Denali will be hiding today. It's luck of the draw. Zach drew a bad card. Me? Well, I've had 7 days that I could have viewed Denali and it was only willing to play with me 1 of those days. Wendy, however, has had great weather everywhere she goes, so she saw Denali and had sun even while on wet, wet Kodiak island!

We'll start the trek east today already. The photo option is not cooperating right now, but I'll try to add them as my circumstances allow.

Above: The bull moose we saw in the park, right after Zach arrived! We were pretty stinkin' close!

Below: The beautiful Anchorage coastline.

Above: Our 1st campsite!

Below: Zach and Wendy at the "beginning" of the AK Highway in Dawson Creek, B.C.

Denali National Park: Oh! the sights, the flora and the fauna

Pictures from my first Denali NP trip over 1 month ago now.

Day #1:The sled dogs. The coloring on this one was so intriguing.

Above: They really love to run, so much, in fact that they pulled this park employee over gravel. There's nothing louder than the dogs before they start running and nothing quieter than when they begin running.
Below: I went for a hike near the entrance to the park up Healy Mtn.

Before I even got to the trailhead, I encountered this female.

So I followed her from a distance, because she was going my way.

Below: The only other wildlife I encountered on that hike...

Above: Don't confuse that critter with a rabbit. Alaskans will adamantly tell you it's a 'snowshoe hare.'
Below: The view from up top.

Day 2: I took a bus the 90 miles out to Wonder Lake and back. You can only drive 20 miles or so into the park after that it's by foot, bike, or tour bus. The trip was 11 hours long!

Below: A glacier. The snow and ice is covered by debri, i.e. the glacier is the black stuff in the middle and upper 1/3 of the picture.

Below: Dall sheep

Below: Area known as Polychromatic because of all the colors. It's less pronounced because of the clouds, but beautiful. The clouds/rain gave us a rainbow.

Above: We had the good fortune of seeing a wolf, right along the roadside. FYI - that's very rare.
Below: The craziness trying to get pictures when the viewing was a really popular target, as in said wolf.

Above: Me at cool, mosquitoey Wonder Lake. Denali is in the background. Unfortunately, the clouds hide that fact.
Below: The skies cleared up in the afternoon on the drive back, but we still couldn't see Denali. Over a years time Denali is only visible 1 out of every 3 days. I have had 5 days to see it. It's only been 'out' one of those opportunities. At least I've seen it and I'll have more chances in the next week.

Below: A sign warning hikers/backpackers to avoid this particular area. The sign happens to have been chewed on the bottom by bears. Yikes.

Below: A cow and calf moose.We saw the big 5: bear, moose, wolf, caribou, and dall sheep, so it was a good day. The caribou and bear were too far and I didn't have a telephoto lenses, so I decided not to post pictures with dots in the middle of them.