Personal

Learning to Write, Post and Be Consistent

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Admit it

They say the first thing to do when overcoming a personal problem is admitting it. Well, I have a problem with writing. The biggest struggles I have found so far writing is creating time to write in a creative atmosphere, being confident enough to post my writing and being consistent.  Actually, consistency is the main problem with lots of little reasons. Life gets in the way even though it’s life which I want to write about.

If an experience isn’t recorded did it really happen?

Recently, I have had a lot of issues with relationships. There has been issues with work. I have done two classes for work where I was one of two women at the entire school for that period of time. Spent a weekend in Baltimore. Getting my first male roommate. Looking at some master’s programs. Witnessed a horrific car accident. Did a Tough Mudder.

So many things that I have happened that I should have been writing about. Just to help me work through issues to have a greater perspective and share my experiences. Some of my insecurities with writing is because I haven’t had a formal writing class for over five years. Also, expressing my emotions is in a way being vulnerable to an audience that is not always accepting. It takes a lot of confidence in yourself, which is one of the reasons why I started this blog.

Prioritizing your priorities. 

I have been sporadically writing in this blog over the last year. I want to keep it up and continue building confidence in my writing and myself to keep voicing my ideas. I need the negative criticism so I can work through it and learn that it’s okay. Part of me being independent is not being dependent on what others think of me.

 

Ireland 2016

Ireland 2016 Photo Gallery

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General Posts

Oslo 2016 Photo Gallery

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Though I was only there for three days the city of Oslo was beautiful. Besides going on an amazing hash with the Oslo H3, we toured the Kon Tiki Museum, Viking Maritime Museum, walked up to the top of the Opera house and tried to cover as much ground as possible.

 

General Posts

Pictures from Iceland

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Personal

Identity: Who you keep in your life.

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I once heard that you are the average of 5 closest people in your life. Your success, motivation, will power and habits are affected by the people who you are keeping around you. I am very affected by the emotions of those around me. My insecure side will sometimes adopt similar traits to those around me while conversing with them. I’m not even a salesman.

In fact, I was once bargained up 100% for a conch shell in St. Kitts. So yeah, bargaining powers aren’t that great either. I’m just grateful I don’t have be selling conch shells to tourists to feed my family.

I really believe that who you choose to keep around you will affect you deeply. If you have people in your life with different priorities than you and are big parts of your life they will then affect your priorities. It could be unconsciously or not. They could have a positive impact or a negative one.

Maybe because I am an only child and seem to constantly need other’s approval. In the past (and unfortunately now) I would change my behavior to receive people’s approval. Not all the time, but enough of the time that I found a hard time figuring out what was important to me. To this day I am still figuring out what that completely entails. I don’t expect I will ever stop as life occurs.

It feels like it took me until I was 23 to be able to start figuring out what was important to me and start fighting for my own identity. It took me a long time to create my own sass, say ‘no’ and set my own boundaries. Not only set my boundaries, but stand by them.

As a women its assumed by society that we will generally give up our main priorities to make the significant others in our lives happy. Women do it so easily make sacrifices and concessions to give their others a step up. I have bent over backwards for others only to be put down or patronized when voicing my ambitions. I did put up with this behavior.

Setting a baseline for how I live my life has become a lifeline. If I waver from that baseline, from that commitment, than I know that something is wrong. Emotions and attitudes change daily based on your situation and the situation of those around you.

I am the decisions I make every day. My past, my experiences and my choices are big parts of my personal identity. Keeping my baseline and staying true to myself isn’t selfish. Staying strong and true to  yourself is you keeping your own identity.

General Posts

My 5 Favorite Things about Living in South Lake Tahoe

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  1. The Views- Living in a basin you are surrounded by mountains. Driving around the lake offers amazing views, but you don’t need to drive around the lake to see amazing views. Just around anywhere within the basin is way better than driving in any city.   image
  2. The People- South Lake Tahoe is pretty transient in the way that most people don’t stay for very long. Since most major hotel and Casino chains have facilities here a majority of the people work in the tourism industry. There is a special love and respect that locals have for each other.
  3. Activities- There are about five ski resorts within an hour of driving for snow sports. If you aren’t interested in skiing or snowboarding than there is hills for sledding and the Heavenly Gondola area has a ski rink. If you’re not into winter, there is also many water-sports on the lake as well as hiking, mountain biking or just enjoying nature.image
  4. Amount of hiking trails- The Pacific Crest Trail winds its way on the east side of the lake. The Tahoe Rim Trail, which is 77 miles long, can be done in sections and offers some great hiking. Besides Lake Tahoe there are many high alpine lakes that are beautiful. There are also many peaks to ascend like: Freel Peak, Mt. Tallac, Ralston Peak, etc. The list is immense.
  5. Slower paced life- Since I don’t work in South Lake Tahoe where the main industry is  predominantly service related. Whether it’s hotels, timeshares, ski resorts and casinos. This is coming from the viewpoint of someone who lives here between working contracts. I love coming back because to me this place does have a relaxing feel… With the exception of a holiday weekend of course.
Peru 2015

Chontachaka Butterfly Trail

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Since it was sunny one morning during breakfast and the weather looked like it would hold out for a while a group of us decided to head out on the longest trail. The Butterfly or Mariposa Trail is known to be a must for volunteers staying at Chontachaka.

The trail was about one hour and forty-five minutes uphill from the lodge. The ground going up was very soft and not to be trusted. At one point my right leg broke through a hole up to my hip. I had to scramble out of it. Mostly, it was best to step on tree roots.

Once at the top the view was amazing. We could even possibly see into Bolivia. Though I saw a lot of ants on the trail I didn’t see any butterflies. Not sure why it got it’s name. The trail was a bit rough since there is a lack of people using it. At some points we had to do some trail clearing. Otherwise, it was a great trail and would highly recommend it to other volunteers.

General Posts, Peru 2015

10 Things I learned after Spending Two Weeks in the Amazon

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  1. The Religion is Bug Spray. You may be catholic, christian, agnostic, hindu, buddhist or aethiest. You still cover your body with a religious frequency.  I really liked Ben’s Bug Spray which can be found here.784606
  2. A machete may not be the right tool for the job, but it’s the only tool for the job. Even if there is a shovel or a pick axe handy everyone still goes straight for the machete.
  3. It’s okay if you’re not the leader of the pack… or the runner up. Let someone else walk into those spider webs. If you are the leader walking on trail then you better be waving that machete around.
  4. Oh, so you think you’re walking on solid ground? Oops, sorry that’s a humongous gaping hole. Tree roots are best for walking.
  5. Everything has fleas.
  6. Jungle time is a lot like Island time just expect everything to happen at least 20 minutes behind schedule.
  7. Even after washing your clothes with soap they will still smell dank.
  8. Also, if you don’t hang your clothes to dry in the sun they will stay wet for days.
  9. You will see some of the most beautiful insects you could imagine.
  10. There are beautiful streams and rivers everywhere. Most of them all have some kind of amazing waterfall. It’s amazing bathing in a waterfall. The clear water will give you the most refreshing shower you’ve ever had.
Peru 2015

Chontachaka: Reforestation Clearing

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On the third day of volunteering I went with the Monitor and the Monitor-to- be to the reforestation lines. Along the “Cock  of the Rock” trail (that I have written about previously) are about 20 different smaller trails that have been cleared for native plants to be re-introduced. These smaller trails have between 2-6 saplings planted at 10 foot intervals.

Several kinds of native trees had been cut from the area for it’s use in furniture making. This has become a problem as these trees are disappearing from the local environment other plants have taken over. The most prevalent aggressive plant species is bamboo.

Since it’s now getting into the rainy season there have been a great number of branches and leaves that are hindering the saplings growth. Our job today was clearing the area where the saplings were trying to go so hopefully they will continue to grow. Along the way the Monitor also took inventory to see which ones were thriving and which ones needed to be replaced.

General Posts, Peru 2015

Chontachaka: Giant Waterfall Hike

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One morning after breakfast we started hiking east and above the lodge. The first part of the trail was a steep path, but then as we met a large stream the trail ran parallel to it. Eventually, the trail was the stream.

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The stream was surrounded by tall trees that created a canopy. Letting us hike in the comfort of the shade. The stream was very rocky. At first I was worried about getting water in my boots, but eventually I was just stomping through. Towards the end of the trail there are several large rocks you have to climb. Previous hikers had tied ropes at the top of the rocks to help you climb.

The waterfall was about 35 to 40 feet high and rained down into a shallow pool. The force of the water made it almost windy and the plants that surrounded it seemed to pulsate with the force of the water.

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Paula, the monkey, came on the hike with us. Though she obviously didn’t like water. Being a lazy monkey, every so often she would hitch a ride on someone’s shoulder. It was like having a 15 lb sweaty scarf that can’t balance very well on you. She made it all the way to the waterfall with us, but hung out on a tree that overlooked the waterfall.

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The hike took about three hours and was amazing. I don’t think I have ever felt like such a bad ass. Hiking around the jungle with a machete and a monkey on my shoulder.

Life is Happening!