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Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Tuesday's on the Inside

It was another spectacular Tuesday in the rainy town of Tallahassee where I found myself with the longest list of to-do's and errands. It was so overwhelming that even after I finished a few, I discovered it had only made a small dent in the flowing list I call my life.

The day started off with rolling around in bed for an hour, giving the slightest effort at an early jump start to the events that awaited me. After a lecture of the Middle East with the infamous John Fradel, I adventured off to meet Katie Boue for lunch at Moes. After half of the meal had been devoured and a few, healthy laughs about funny boyfriends and the non-average days that surround us, I headed home to knock out a few more things.

At five o'clock, I headed into the Bee's to serve the hungry, middle class folks of Tallahassee. Work has been consuming nearly half of every week, leaving me drained and a tad frustrated. With hard work comes great reward, as the increased work load has given opportunity to some annual events that require some heavy dough. Besides the numerous climbing trips and competitions coming up in the next few months, another favorite event of mine has finally arrived. The fresh bucks from my recent nights serving will go towards this weekends Warrior Dash!




Looks like fun, right? 
More like a mud splatterin', fire burnin', heart pumpin', sweat pourin' race of a lifetime! 
Warrior Dash started back in 2009, and now its popularity is spreading like the plague....but in a good way. Other lunatics much like yourself will run like the wind to a finish line of music, food, and tasty, tasty beer. The fun doesn't stop there, though, as a Best Beard Competition and a Costume Contest follows the last heat of the glorious day. Making friends is easy as the beer begins to settle and the music moves your feet. You won't leave the battle ground without taking note to do it again, year after year after year. As a veteran of the Dash, I will embark with Carden and Caleigh this weekend to the outskirts of Orlando to break some bones and shatter some skulls once again.

Another Tuesday leaves me in wait for this soon-to-be memorable weekend. 
It's a Race from Hell and I'm coming back victorious.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Tuesday's on the Inside

It's the New Year! So much excitement fills each corner of this small college town of Tallahassee. New shows, new rock gyms, new travels, new friends. The list will never end with new beginnings and fresh starts. But one can not look too far ahead and into the future, for "each moment matters, so stay present."(1)

And here we are.

Another semester has begun as the hundreds of swarming cars patrol the over-crowded parking lots that scarcely surround the Florida Sate campus. It's a rush-hour of sorts, with the hormonal young adults vying for a spot before the first day of class. The everyday event of finding a parking spot has become a constant contest that I must no longer be a part of : time to break out the old mountain bike and trek the three miles to and from campus. It'll save me precious time spent preying on students walking towards their cars, hoping that they in fact are leaving and not just dropping off books...

Before the start of this year, I found myself amazed at how much I enjoy traveling, sightseeing, climbing, writing, and photography. Why limit myself to only a few times a year? This leads me to a eventful New Year's resolution: every week, I will write, photograph, and document my adventures. May it be across the US or just to the familiar Railroad Square, it will be left here for all to see.

One of my first events of the New Year was hitting up the clean, renewed rock gym. Time after time, the Tallahassee Rock gym never fails me. I was reunited with my friends, who I now call 'old' friends. Not due to age, no, but due to the fact that "old" friends are the very best.
The glorious new routes gave me such an intense eagerness to send everything as quickly as possible. But as I've learned, it's not about how long it takes you to do, but how strong, fluid, and flexible each problem trains you to be. Carden and I decided to start the new year reevaluating our top-roping status and right off the bat, I sent Baby Bird; a fun little 5.8. We did a few easier routes on the lead wall, and I tried out some beginner bouldering routes in the cave and the trap. All in all, I'm ready to start off my new problems with a more energetic, positive attitude.

What's the plan for this week? Get adjusted to my new school and work schedule, climb a little, and help my parents move into their home in Destin, FL. Maybe the new boyfriend will get to tag along for this little expedition to the coast and meet my hilariously-odd parents? Count on pictures for this one.

My little gift to this blog and to whoever gives me the time of day....a few pictures from Bryan and I crack climbing at the Tunnel. But do better than us, and bring crash pads to this fabulous local spot!









(1) Katie Boue from The Morning Fresh http://themorningfresh.com/2011/01/03/monday-motivation-first-of-2011/
Photos taken by C.Godwin and B.Cox

The First Chapter


-- Edith Lovejoy Pierce, Poet