Anasazi Foundation - The Making of a Walking

"Within every child is a seed of greatness." -Ezekiel C. Sanchez

Created by: Seth Adam Smith, former Anasazi Trail Walker

Photo of the Day

Harvest Sunset

Photo by: Rachel Gillmore
Date: October 23, 2008
Note: Please disregard the power lines

The Closest I've Come

I hesitate writing this post in concern for those out there who are playing with the idea of donating plasma or blood. I don't want to scare them. So, I add a disclaimer to this post. In my many, many, many times of donating plasma, situations - that you will soon read about - of the like have only happened a hand full of times.

Read on.

Each time I plan on donating plasma I take the proper measures beforehand in order to be accepted to donate. That includes drinking enough water and eating the right kinds of food to have enough protein in my system as well as to produce good, useful plasma. There are occasions where I have been declined to donate because I haven't had enough water to drink. There was even one instance where they declined me because I was too hydrated! Imagine that. Anyway, I took the proper measures before going into donate this afternoon. Drank plenty of water (but not too much) and ate a good meal before going. I was accepted!

I always have a little bit of fear, nervousness, or anxiety (take your pick) when my name is called to start the whole process of donating after I've gone through the screening process. This fear, nervousness, or anxiety comes because the person who has the needle only has one chance with me to get it in my arm right, without fishing around for my vein, or I start to get nauseous, lose color in my face, go lightheaded, and start to sweat - in other words, start to pass out.

Today's experience was a little different than the ones I've had in the past where they failed to make contact with my vein on their first attempt. The guy who stuck me got the needle into my vein but how ever he did it was very painful (I don't watch when they stab me). I knew that something wasn't right, but everything ran just fine as the machine began sucking the blood out of me, even though I was still in pain. I tried to brush my anxiety away telling myself that the pain will go away and everything will run smoothly.

I was able to do that as I got caught up in the novel I had brought with me to read. The pain eventually did fade for the most part after a cycle or two had passed. Once I thought I was in the clear I began feeling quite uncomfortable again. I could feel my vein begin to pulse back and forth in my where the arm cuff was inflated tightly around my upper arm. It felt like the ticking of a second-hand on a clock - tick...tick...tick. I did my best to remain calm, but when my whole arm quickly went from a tingling sensation to numbness and I began to feel the onset of nauseousness set in I knew I was in trouble.

Luckily, rather a tender mercy and blessing, there was an phlebotomist chatting with the girl in the bed next to me. I quickly got her attention. As soon as she looked at me she knew something was wrong because my face had gone completely white. The nauseating feeling got worse by the second. First light headedness, to feeling like I was going to throw up, then to a quick rise in my temperature causing me to sweat all over, and then to a tingling sensation in both my arms, legs, and lips. They quickly put a trash can next to me in case I lost the tasty sandwich I had before going into the plasma center. (I plead that I wouldn't!). Then they stopped the machine from drawing blood and started putting blood back into my body. In the process of blood returning to my body, which felt like an eternity, I did my best to deal with my body's reaction. I closed my eyes in an attempt to stop the dizziness and nauseating feeling, but was told I needed to keep them open so they could tell if I fainted. When I opened my eyes I soon found that the room was getting darker and my hearing was fading. I had never experienced this before. Finding it quite alarming I informed the now two phlebotomists that were at my side of my condition. The girl kindly informed me that that is what happens right before you are about to pass out or faint. WHAT!?! The girl quickly turned the speed up on the machine in order to return the blood back to my body faster, while the other phlebotomist put an ice pack under my neck. That ice pack was so blessed!

Slowly but surely and one at a time the symptoms began to disappear. The tingling in my lips, arms, and legs diminished, my temperature began to decrease with aid from the ice pack, color returned to my face, and ever so slowly the nauseating feeling reduced to only a slight lingering. I was so grateful I didn't faint! But that was by far the closest I have ever come to fainting.

When I felt well enough and after drinking 8oz. of water they started the machine up again to finish the last one and a half cycles I had left. Despite the lingering nauseous feeling the rest of the donating process went smoothly. When finished I took my time to stand up and slowly walk to the waiting area to get paid. While waiting to get paid I watched others who were donating nearby. As my eyes crossed over one of the exit doors it swung open and I saw a group of phlebotomist huddled together. Before the door closed I saw through the spaces between their legs somebody lying on the floor. It was quickly apparent that this person had fainted. I walked through those doors to exit and sure enough a girl who had donated for her first time had fainted and was being cared for. As I passed the room she was in and peered in I could tell she was scared as she wiped tears from her eyes. I was grateful that I wasn't her and then I said of prayer for her as I continued to carefully exit the building.

After arriving home I made sure to replenish my body of water and nutrience, but the lingering nauseous feeling continued to stay with me. I could really feel the weakness in my body when only after being at work for an hour I was exhausted and dragging my feet. Continuing to drink lots of water I eventually was reengergized and back to my normal self. What a great feeling that is!

Now even though this is a very descriptive account of what happened to me the worst of it only lasted a short amount of time. I am ok. I didn't die. I hope I didn't scare any of you off!

Additional Photos!

A while ago I said that I would upload the pictures that I didn't post on my blog onto Photobucket for all of you who would like to see additional pictures. I have finally done so. Below is the link to my Photobucket. After opening up the page you will see on the left hand side of the page a list of albums. Those are where you will find the additional pictures. Browse all you want! The most recent albums added are, Utah Adventures and Table Rock.

Photobucket, click here.

For future reference, I have also added a link on the ride hand side of my blog under the category Outside Links. This is the same link as above. Enjoy!

Skipped Right On By

This past year has been a very different year weather wise for Idaho. We had a very cold and very long winter. It felt like it went on forever. Finally there was a break in the winter weather in June where we had one week of spring weather before it jumped right into the summer. I didn't mind that too much because I love summertime!

The summer was short and went by quickly. I was not looking forward to the colder temperatures, but when seeing the color of the leaves changing I began to soften my heart towards fall weather - not too cold and beautiful! But fall has mirrored it's opposite season of spring and has only last a very short amount of time, thus throwing us into the bitter cold of winter weather. Winter for Idaho means snow and freezing temperatures and we have already received our first blanket of snow. I am still in shock and disbelief.

Since I don't see much of the day during the weekends because I'm usually sleeping, this shot of my truck was taken after the first fall of snow after getting off work before coming home. It is now dark when I arrive at work at 7pm and it is dark leaving work at 7am.

Each year I have noticed an increase in my dislike and discomfort of cold weather. (Maybe being stuck in Idaho is a way for the Lord to humble me). I do think that the snow is beautiful! I especially love snow on branches of pine trees or fields of untouched snow. In my own perfect world I would love to have all the seasons, each with their own splendid qualities and attributes, but without the cold. Only in my dreams...

Utah Adventures!

I had the great opportunity to spend five wonderful days in Utah with my family last week. We were able to spend some quality time together before dropping my brother Ben off at the Missionary Training Center where he would embark on his new journey as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints serving in the Guadalajara South, Mexico mission.

The week was full of wonderful and fun adventures. Instead of making one huge long post I have broken up the week highlighting the main and exciting things that we did. Looking back there isn’t one thing that I would change. It was just so great to be with my family and spend such quality time with them. I really needed it and am grateful that my schedule permitted me to spend as much time with them as I did! I love my family!

Boarding the Canyon

Several years ago, when my family still lived in Washington, my older brother DJ took Ben and me out one day to teach us how to long board. We drove down the street to a new housing development that was being created. The pavement was new, clean, and smooth – perfect for long boarding. After a quick set of instructions we were ready to jump on our boards. None of us ever having long boarded the street we were on we weren’t completely familiar with its course. But Ben having ridden his bike on it several times assured us that there was turn with an ever so slight downhill – nothing to be concerned about. With that we hopped on our boards and began the cruise.

After gaining some speed and then making the turn we all realized that the ever so slight downhill was in fact quite the down hill – a hill FAR more advanced for Ben and me to ride on for our very first ride. DJ was trailing behind us and yelled encouraging words to us to keep going and that we could make it. I had the wobbles like crazy and my fear was increasing by the second. Ben was ahead of me and shortly after our decent down the hill he wiped out. When I saw him go down I knew I was a gonner too. I took a hard crash just seconds later. I still have scars from it. I haven’t had much interest in long boarding since then. I always admired the people I would see doing it, but had accepted the fact that it wasn’t my thing and I was perfectly content.

A long board happened to fall into my care by a trail walker friend of mine who joined the army. Knowing that DJ & Adria are really into long boarding and hearing that Ben was bringing his long board to Utah I decided to bring the one I have as well. When my family discovered that I had brought my long board with me we decided to drive to Provo and board down Provo Canyon. I had a bit of anxiety about boarding to begin with, not to mention down a canyon. My mind began envisioning how steep Provo Canyon (even though I had never been there) was and then I began to visualize what my funeral was going to be like. I was scared.

The drive up the canyon only deepened my fear. I couldn’t imagine riding down something that steep. It wasn’t until we reached the starting point of our ride when I realized that the pathway wasn’t as steep as the freeway we drove up to get to that point. Phew! I was still quite nervous though. Adria gave me a few pieces of advice and after a slow ride to begin our way down the canyon DJ stopped me to give me a few more helpful pointers and some encouragement. My confidence in riding was greater and I began to become excited for the ride.


Left: Ben, DJ, & Adria riding the canyon.

Right: Me trailing behind...













Stunning!


Left: Adria & I below Bridal Veil Falls

Right: DJ & Ben below Bridal Veil Falls











Left: DJ working the board!

Right: I got this shot of Adria as I passed her while both riding our long boards









Right: Bridal Veil Falls!
















There were only a couple places in the canyon where I stopped to walk, but other than that the ride was AMAZING! Not only was I able to ride the majority of the canyon, but the pathway was absolutely gorgeous! It was lined with trees that were changing color and the pathway was also littered with fallen leaves that made it really fun to ride through. I learned that Bridal Veil Falls was along this pathway – a place I have heard so much about and have always wanted to visit. It was awesome! Everything about the ride was amazing! DJ, Ben and I had our cameras with us and took pictures of one another and the scenery as we rode down the canyon. It was an absolute blast. When we got done I wanted to go back to the top and do it all over again. My view/opinion of long boarding has thus changed. I love it! I’m bummed that the weather has turned bad preventing me to take any rides myself, but I look forward to when I can get on a long board again and enjoy a nice ride while tuning and improving my proficiency of riding. Thanks DJ & Adria for your pointers and encouragement and for believing in me!

The Four of Us!
(Ben, Rachel, Adria, & DJ)

Wee on the Wii!

When I was a kid my family owned the original Nintendo system. After many years of mastering the original Mario Brothers games and the famous Duck Hunt game my parents bought us kids the Nintendo 64, which challenged our Nintendo playing skills. We eventually mastered those games as well. By that time the three older kids had moved on from playing the Nintendo while Ben was still young and addicted as we once were.

Over the years I have looked back at our Nintendo playing years and realized how addicting the Nintendo really is and how much of a waste of time it was. In college I studied as well as wrote a few reports on the effect of video games on children, which only furthered my resolve to never own a Nintendo system. There was a lot of hype when the Nintendo Wii came out, but it never even once perked my interest in the least degree. I had no desire whatsoever to play or even be associated with the Nintendo Wii.

One of the first things that I did upon arriving at my brother and sister-in-law’s house (DJ & Adria) was play the Nintendo Wii. I must admit that I was not too thrilled or had the desire to play at all. I was looking forward to going to bed somewhat early that night because I had just finished my three-day 12-hour work weekend. I was tired. Four hours later I finally made it to bed. But those four hours were filled with side-aching, tear-streaming laughter as my family played one another in several different games. We got the most laughter while playing against each other in Mario Kart, especially when my parents were playing.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the Nintendo Wii, it is different than other Nintendo systems in that it is an active inter-active Nintendo system. Sounds kind of redundant, but all Nintendo games are inter-active. The Wii is more than just plain inter-active. You are actually acting as if you were actually playing those games in real life. For instance, the first game I played was Tennis.















As you can see from the picture my dad and I acted as if we were playing tennis – having to stand up, serve, and swing at the ball like in real life. Other games like these included bowling, baseball, soccer, hoola-hoop, tight rope walking (which was a personal favorite) to name a few. All of these games we physically active games. Even Mario Kart is inter-active as you act like you are driving the go-kart with a steering wheel. Playing the Nintendo Wii was a whole new experience for me as it was completely different than any other Nintendo system I had ever played before. Although I am still set on not ever purchasing one myself, I did thoroughly enjoy playing the Wii with my family.

Getting my mom to participate in activities like this is always a treat. She has become a lot more open and willing to join in these types of activities in recent years which have provided lots of entertainment and great lasting fun memories. As my mom sat down and took one of the steering wheels in her hands to play Mario-Kart against me I took advantage of her ignorance in knowing how to play the game. In addition to explaining to her that Mario-Kart was just like driving, I mentioned that when a jump came in the course you had to jump as well – just using your arms. The following video shows it all…

What this video clip doesn’t show is me being unable to continue to race because I was rolling on the floor in laughter with tears streaming down my face from seeing my mom jump. It also doesn’t show my mom slugging me in the arm when I told her that you really didn’t have to jump to make your go-kart jump. It was hilarious!

We played quite a bit of Wii over the course of the week and each time was so much fun and filled with tons of laughter, but nothing beats that first night when my mom and dad played. That was pure entertainment. Thanks Mom and Dad!! :o)

Full-time Servant of the Lord

Dropping Ben off at the Missionary Training Center (MTC) seemed to come and go too fast and it all felt surreal. It still does. As I think about Ben throughout the day and imagine him in the MTC I still find it hard to believe he’s there, but then a smile grows on my face and warmth fills my heart because I know that he is dedicating every moment of his time to the Lord’s work.

The day Ben entered the MTC – October 8th – began with me getting a running start and jumping on Ben to wake him up early that morning. It was the last time I could do that for quite a while and so I took full advantage of the opportunity to wake him up and have one last“annoying hour” with him. What are big sisters for? :o) The morning was busy with everybody getting ready for the big day. We left for the MTC at 9:45am in order to give us enough time to arrive on time for Ben’s setting apart 11:00am. After Ben officially became a missionary we had about and hour before he had to report to the front desk to check in.

Being at the MTC brought back floods of memories for my older brother DJ and my dad when they had been there. We walked around and both DJ and my dad took all of us down memory lane as they showed us what buildings they had stayed in, special places they would sit to write in the their journal or read their scriptures, or different experiences they had had while there. It was fun to listen to them and then having the excitement of soon hearing Ben’s stories and experiences as he is there now.

We were also able to have some time to take a few family pictures as well as individual pictures with Ben. I was grateful for this because it has been a long time since our last family picture and it will be a long time before another family picture will be taken. I love my family!


At noon Ben checked in at the front desk of the MTC, along with many other arriving missionaries, and received his “dork dot” – a bright orange sticker they place on the new missionaries’ name tag to signify that they are brand new missionaries (as well as a way to say “help me! I’m lost!”). We took a few pictures of him with his official name tag on before we went into the chapel where we would hear from the MTC Presidency, watch the famous missionary movie, and then say our goodbyes. The MTC President proposed a good theory about saying goodbye. My sister in law quoted him well on her blog, “As the time grows near to the final goodbye I would like to propose the Band-Aid Theory...The quicker it is the less painful it will be for you and your Missionary.”

When it came time to say goodbye we all stood up and Ben gave each of us a hug one by one. Emotion filled each of us as we watched one another embrace Ben and as we ourselves were embraced by Ben one last time. We all watched as he walked away before we turned and walked out the opposite door. It wasn’t as hard as anticipated because the Comforter filled our hearts with love and peace as we gave him to the Lord for the next two years.

I couldn’t be happier and more proud of Ben for the life he has lead and the decisions he has made, especially the one to dedicate two years of his life to the Lord. He is an example to me and one of my greatest heroes!

City of Parks!

I spent the last day and a half of my Utah trip with my old roommate and wonderful friend Marliett. She lives in the Avenues in downtown Salt Lake City, just a few blocks away from Temple Square. We didn’t have a whole lot of time with each other because I had to be back for work on Friday night, but we spent every moment to the max!

Thursday evening upon meeting up we went to her Enrichment meeting. (That’s what happens when your friend is in the Relief Society Presidency). It was an enjoyable Enrichment to say the least. Afterwards, we hit up Marly’s favorite Thai restaurant for a late dinner. With full bellies we went back to Marly’s house and then got all bundled up to walk a few blocks down the street to a little chocolate shop. I wasn’t too thrilled about walking in the cold but it ended up being WELL worth it. The chocolate shop didn’t have what Marly was looking for so we each settled on a truffle instead. I got dark chocolate filled with caramel (yes, I really did get dark chocolate) and Marly got milk chocolate filled with caramel with a pecan on top. They were SO delicious! Being really full we decided to go home and ‘fat dog’ it – meaning sprawling out and vegging because you are too full to do anything else. We put in the movie ‘Cool Runnings’ to entertain us in our fat dogging. It was wonderful.

Thursday night I had a very strange dream. I dreamt that I was with a group of people and we had to decide what we were going to make this really important person for breakfast the next day. (I don’t remember the people in my dream or who the important person was). We were in the grocery store trying to decide when I got the genius idea to make pancakes! I pointed my finger down the isle we were standing in to where the pancake mix was for somebody to run down and retrieve it. Then the idea came into my mind, that I expressed with the others, “We won’t just make pancakes…we’ll make chocolate chip pancakes!” With that I was off running around the store looking for a bag of miniature chocolate chips.

Not long after this dream I was awaken by Marly coming into the bedroom to let me know that breakfast was ready. I crawled out of bed and walked into the kitchen where I saw a plate of stacked chocolate chip pancakes. I turned to Marly with disbelieve written all over my face and exclaimed how I had just had a dream about having chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast. Dreams do come true, even if they are completely random.

After Marly’s chiropractor’s appointment – where I took full advantage of the massage chair they had in the office – we started our adventures for the day. Surprisingly with the short amount of time we had before my departure we did quite a bit. Our first stop was Ensign Peak.

Ensign Peak is where Brigham Young looked over the Salt Lake valley and decided that this was where they were going to build up an “Ensign.” The jaunt up to the memorial at the top of Ensign Peak took about 20 minutes. The wind was blowing making it quite chilly. After sitting and overlooking the valley – noting its beauty and amazed by its transformation from desert to richness – we headed back down so we could be off on our next adventure. It really was amazing to look over the valley and imagine what it must have been like when the pioneers first arrived and settled there compared to the sky-rise buildings, freeways, and roads that now cover the valley.

Marliett and I at the beginning of Ensign Peak trail and park

The plaque about the historical significance of Ensign Peak

Ensign Peak memorial

Overlooking the Salt Lake City valley (North view)
Look at those clouds!

The thing that amazed me the most about being in Salt Lake City is that they have parks everywhere! The first park that I saw in Utah was when my family was driving back to SLC from Provo. I recognized something out of the corner of my eye was we drove passed it on the freeway. I quickly glanced back and discovered that what I recognized was a park that I had played at a little over a year ago with my best friend and her niece and nephews. A flood of good memories came back to me as I remembered the fun adventures we had and the great laughs we shared. She has super fun nieces and nephews! I spent a little bit of time at Liberty Park Thursday evening and was amazed by how huge it was (a whole city block) and all the things that were in the park! My favorite part of that park was the duck pond.

Marly took me to her favorite park in downtown Salt Lake City for our next adventure – Memory Park. In the back end of the park there is a trail that takes you up a small little canyon that has a stream running down it. This trail is engulfed by trees that were changing colors and the path was littered with fallen leaves. It was absolutely gorgeous! There were a few man-made waterfalls that I played and climbed around on. The water was freezing and my feet and toes went numb, but my sense of adventure exceeded my discomfort with the cold. (That says a lot!). I loved this park because walking on this trail made you feel like you were a world away from any city, but in fact you were right in the middle of one. I thought to myself, “If I could change something about this world it would be to put in parks like this in every city.”

Memory Park

The waterfall that I played around on. It was quite the slippery adventure getting to those rocks I am squatting on. I spared you those pictures...

Here I am standing on the flat cement slab where the water shoots out onto at the base of the man-made waterfall. The water was sooo cold, but it was sooo fun to play in!

Marly sitting on the edge watching me play in the water

This picture doesn't do the beauty of the trail justice...

One of the memorials at the Park - this memorial was dedicated to all those from Utah who served in one of the wars

A rose from one of the rose gardens they had planted in front of the memorials. The smell of these roses were intoxicating!

After walking up this trail for about a mile or so we decided to head back in order to get back in time for me to pack up and head home. There was a cement pathway on the other side of the stream that we crossed over to and ran most of the way back to the main area of the park. We took a quick tour of the many memorials they have there as we headed back to the car. Hiking Ensign Peak and Memory Park was really filling for me – it was what my spirit needed!

We tried our luck again at the chocolate shop on the way back to Marly’s apartment to see if they had the chocolates that are Marly’s favorite (I’m sorry I don’t remember the name of it). They hadn’t made them yet so we settled on a Wild Huckleberry shake instead, which was very delicious. What a great way to finish up a fun-filled week in Utah!

Marly enjoying her delicious Wild Huckleberry shake!

I made it back into Rexburg half an hour before I needed to be at work – just enough time to unload my truck and change into my work clothes. There was a huge difference in temperature between SLC and Rexburg! When I hopped out of my truck after arriving in Rexburg winter hit me full force! The air felt and smelled like winter. I realized again how sorely I am not ready for cold weather again.

I had a fantastic week in Utah and am so grateful I was able to spend some good quality time with people I love! It wouldn’t have been so incredible without them.

Missionary Gift Suggestions!

This is kind of a late call for help, but I am looking for some suggestions. My brother Ben is going into the MTC this coming Wednesday and I would like to give him a gift. I don't want to give him something that he is just going to have to haul around his mission or eventually send home. I would like to give him something that is practical and that he will find great use in throughout his mission, but not having been on a mission I don't know what missionaries are in need of. He is going to Guadalajara Mexico if that makes a difference in the suggestions.

I am leaving tomorrow, Monday between 12:00-2:00pm, but will have internet connection in Utah for late coming suggestions. If you could give any suggestions or ideas I would GREATLY GREATLY appreciate it!! Thanks so much!

Buckling Down....

...or Slave Drivers?

Pardon me, but I am going to take a moment to vent a little bit. You have my permission to skip right on by this post if you so desire. Reader’s discretion is advised.

I have, over the last couple of weeks, come to develop quite the sour taste in my mouth towards the style of managing at the Homestead. Don’t get me wrong, I am not trying to make this a bashing session, there are just a couple of things about work that rub me wrong way (as well as several other co-workers that I have talked to). I am also not trying to gather allies or seek justification. Just simply vent.

In all of the jobs that I have ever had in the past I have received some sort of break, whether that be an extended lunch break or two small breaks with a smaller lunch – the kind of break doesn’t matter, but the fact that I was given breaks does. The Homestead doesn’t provide or even encourage its employees to take breaks. With the majority of their employees working 10-12 hour shifts (being on their feet the entire time) it is unreal to me that they condone breaks saying, “Well, if you really need to take a break then take 5 or 10 minutes to sit with one of the residents but make sure that when visitors/families come in you get back to work. And if you’re not happy with that then maybe this job isn’t for you.” Did they really say that? I understand that this business is to serve and assist others in their daily life activities and daily life never takes a break, but a 5 or 10 minute break for 10-12 hours of working? Come on! There’s something wrong with that.

What about the night shift people – like me? How are we supposed to go “sit with a resident” on a break when they are all in bed sleeping? This is was even more unreal to me. We were told that we didn’t need breaks but that the list of duties required of us to accomplish at night should take up the entire night. Well, what if we get done early? Their response, “There is always something that you can find to do or we can make the duty list longer.” Oh yes! Please make the list longer! Pretty please!?! Right. In talking with a friend about this we concluded that in any other job working the same 10-12 hour shift one would be provided with a total of about an hour and fifteen minute break – split various ways over the shift depending. And it is up to the employee what they want to do on their break – that is their time.

I don’t know how many of you have worked 12-hour night shifts before, but they are quite difficult at times (almost every night) to stay awake the entire time because simply you’re body naturally isn’t programmed like that. And even when altered it is still difficult. Combine the natural body’s tendency to want to sleep at night with the exhausting duties of work and you have one extremely difficult battle of staying awake. Did I emphasize extremely difficult? Yes, it is possible but fighting against nature is never an easy feat. It’s bound to happen. And are we cut any slack? You tell me.

That brings me to my next point. You might be thinking, “Well, how do they know if you accidentally fall asleep for a short period of time?” The Homestead has what they like to call ‘Big Brother’. Yup, you guessed it – a camera. Don’t get me wrong, I am not against cameras especially when it’s for the protection of both the residents and the employees. I have heard horror stories of things some people do to the elderly when nobody’s watching. It is the manner in which they use the cameras that make the difference. The employees at the Homestead have on more than one occasion received memos with nice little comforting reminders that read, “Remember Big Brother is watching you!” Oh, how comforting! They are watching my every move. I feel so trusted! How did they know I like threats? They must have read the fine print on my resume. They’re good.

I can take positive criticism. I grew up with it. No biggie…until that is the only thing you hear without any recognition of the good you are doing. “You need to do this better…You’re not doing that right…You messed up doing that…How did that happen?...Make sure you do this….Don’t do that…” The Managers have learned to call the building phone when I am working because they know I’ll answer it – I have to. (It doesn’t have caller ID). I have learned not to answer their calls on my cell phone because I always need a little prep time to be in the right state of mind to take what they have to dish out. It’s hard coming to a job when your every move is being watched, you’ve been threatened, and you feel like you’re not trusted and a crappy employee. OH, Pick me! Pick me! Where do I sign up? Ooh, wait…I already did.

The Managers aren’t the only ones that help me to love my job so much, but some of the co-workers jumped on the band wagon as well and started tooting their horn. Literally. This type of job attracts women. (I think there is one male employee, not including the owner and his son-in-law, who is the head Manager). And following the stereotypical women, the majority enjoy gossiping or tattle-telling. Another perk of this job! I bet you’re dying to apply. Maybe working with the elderly has some kind of age-defying effect because I thought tattle-telling was an elementary school phase. Correct me if I’m wrong on that. In addition to the “positive criticism” phone calls, my favorites are the calls that begin like, “So-and-so told me she saw you doing this…” Who does that? I guess they are taking the counsel to become child-like to the extreme.

To make working conditions a little bit more pleasant I would bring my laptop so I could listen to a variety of my own music while accomplishing the many duties of work. Music has the powerful effect of making you work faster – maybe it’s the beat of the music, I don’t know. Music also helps things to be less stressful; it has a calming effect. Singing along to the music distracts the mind from what you are doing, not hindering your performance by any means, but helps the mind get off the one-track focus of the task at hand. All in all, it helps. After accomplishing all my duties at work I also would use my computer to work on any homework that I didn’t finish during the week or work on work stuff for the Internet Marketing job I have. I always put my Homestead duties first and foremost and when called upon throughout the night from the residents I immediately responded without hesitating or taking those few extra seconds or minutes to finish up what I was doing. But the day came where I got that call from the manager telling me they were watching me on the camera and saw me “messing around on my computer” and told me that I am no longer allowed to bring my laptop to work. (I let this call go to voicemail and so I didn’t get the opportunity to explain that I wasn’t “messing” or playing around on my computer). So now I bring my iPod to listen to my music on and bring my text books to read from after all my duties are completed. I wouldn’t be surprised if I got another call from the managers prohibiting me from bringing those things to work as well. After that it’ll probably be my Chaco sandals and fleece jacket.

Ok, I know you can cut my sarcasm with a knife it is so thick and you probably think this is the worst job on the face of the earth and wondering why I am still working there. Every job has its downside and I probably overly embellished them a little. I have been tempted to quit a couple of times recently, but have resisted that unwise temptation. The job is rewarding and it is the residents that keep me coming back. If it weren’t for them I would have been long gone. Working with the elderly or just being around them was a very scary and intimidating thing for me before this job. By having this job I have stepped outside of my comfort zone and truly grown in many ways, but mostly grown to greatly love the elderly. In a frustrating moment a week ago I mentioned to one of the residents that I was tempted to quit. Tears swelled up in her eyes and she said, “Oh, please don’t quit! We need you. You help us so much and bring us so much happiness.” Her husband standing nearby also gave a similar plea. My heart melted! Who could resist such a cry? Or when getting up another resident each morning she always tells me, “I still like you a lot.” And even though I am not there for any of the meals the residents eat during the weekend they still take a moment to compliment me on how good a dish or meal was that I cooked the previous night. The residents make up and exceed what the manager’s lack in compliments and small recognitions which are important to have in any type of job.

So, despite the disagreements and frustrations I may have or the nit-pickiness and threats of management I still enjoy my job. It’s not an easy job for sure, but seeing the smiles and hearing the laughter of the residents is what it is all about. That makes it all worth it. I just needed to take a moment to release some built up tension. Thanks for listening. Phew! I feel much better now. Now I’m ready to go back to work tonight with a big smile on my face and seek to help the residents have big smiles and some good laughs too.

A Real Garage...

This is what a REAL garage looks like. Period.

City of Rocks

I had the opportunity to go rock climbing at City of Rocks with Chad and a few of his friends. City of Rocks is a National Park located between Pocatello and Twin Fall Idaho - out in the middle of nowhere. This National Park is filled with large rocks that provide countless great rock climbing routes for beginner to advanced rock climbers. Rock climbing was our main objective, but we enjoyed so many more aspects of the park.

Chad and I left on our adventure late Tuesday night after my Fire Fighting class ended. It was already dark by that time and so we were unable to view any of the scenery along the way. As we neared City of Rocks Chad assured me that we were basically out in the middle of nowhere and from the absence of any kind of city or house lights and the rare occurrence of a passing car I believed him. Once we entered City of Rocks National Park just after midnight and made our way through the winding dirt roads I was able to see some vegetation as my headlights cut through the darkness of the night. And as we made our way further into the park huge black massive rocks would appear in front of us out of the dark. With the little vegetation that I was able to capture in the night I was taken back to the long drives off the trail at Anasazi – the bumpy, pit-hole, and washboard filled dirt roads, tall grass and sagebrush mingled together, and juniper trees sporadically dotting the side of the road and land. It brought back a lot of memories and I was excited to see the landscape in the light of the day.

Chad's friends had left quite a bit earlier in the day on Tuesday and were already at City of Rocks by the time we left Rexburg. Instead of hunting them down in the middle of the night we found our own campsite to crash at. Our campsite was great! It was tucked away from the road and was surrounded by juniper trees and large boulders. It had a great spot for us to roll out our sleeping bags and gaze up into the night sky. And that is exactly what we did when we got there. And WOW the night sky was amazing! There was absolutely no other source of light anywhere, except for the stars. They glowed and shimmered so bright against the pitch black sky! The stars were like the sand on a seashore there were so many of them! It was so beautiful! And of course, I couldn't tuck my head into my sleeping bag until I saw a shooting star....or two. And that I did. :o)

I didn't sleep very well at all Monday night and so I was pretty tired by the time we crawled into our sleeping bags Tuesday night. But despite my daytime naps to catch up on sleep from work over the weekend on Monday and Tuesday and despite how tired I was Tuesday night I still ended up sleeping horrible that night for some reason. I had one of those night where you toss and turn all night and you have vivid dreams but all the while you feel like you are still awake. I was quite disappointed because I have had many a nights of better sleeping on trail under the same conditions.

I heard Chad get up from his sleeping bag and so I poked my head out of my sleeping bag and was surprised to see that it was light. It is usually the opposite, especially during a night like I had, where you peak out of your sleeping bag and think, "It's not morning...yet?" As I sat up in my sleeping bag Chad was just making his way back into camp. He told me the sun was just coming up over the rocks in the distance and hurried me to jump out of my sleeping bag so we could watch the rising of the sun. This is when I was able to see the beauty of land that I was so anxious to see the night before. Not only was the land covered in grass and sagebrush, but also aspen trees that stood tall and were bright and full of color as the leaves have begun to change.

The bright sun coming up painted the blue sky with all different shades of yellow and orange which seemed to match the colors of the aspen trees perfectly. It also changed the color of the gray rocks into a rich copper. The picture to the right is my shadow against a sun painted boulder that has been has somehow been hallowed or dug out by nature. If you look closely I am doing the "I love you" sign with my hand.

The rock formations never ceased to fascinate me throughout the day as we hiked to the different areas of the Park!

This is the area of our camp site where Chad and I slept. The ground was sand, which makes sleeping a bit more comfortable than the ground as it contours to your body. In our planning discussions Chad asked me if I wanted him to bring his tent. I kindly suggested we sleep under the stars, but in my mind I was thinking, "A tent? Who needs a tent!?! Tents are for sissies..." Need I say more? Chad actually mocked me a little bit for my style of sleeping. All I had was my bivy sack (or burrito in Anasazi lingo), my sleeping bag, and a little fleece blanket (just in case it got cold). On the other hand Chad had a foam pad, a camping air pad, and his -10 degree sleeping bag. To me, any kind of man-made camping pad is luxury. Some people can't go or live without it when it comes to camping (and that is perfectly fine), but to me it is just "extra" stuff that I am perfectly fine without. And so I go without. Even though I didn't sleep that great at all, I was still comfortable and warm the entire night.


Here is the "kitchen" area of the campsite. Our campsite was situated slightly around the side of a large hill and was surrounded by trees, so the sun didn't hit our campsite for quite awhile, making it a bit chilly with the morning breeze. We had a nutritious breakfast of instant oatmeal, hot chocolate, and bananas. In this picture I am patiently waiting for the hot water to boil so I could get some hot oatmeal in me to help warm me up a bit.

The juniper trees were full of juniper berries! Juniper trees have a significant meaning to me because of Anasazi. It was the first tree that I was introduced to and learned when I began working at Anasazi. Not only are they beautiful, but they are very resourceful trees offering a number of purposes from trunk to sprig. Each time I see a juniper tree I think back on all the times they have aided me in my walking out in the wilderness, especially in difficult situations where they became the only source of hope for a warm fire on a cold or rainy day. It is a tree of many uses; a tree of wealth.

Once the sun hit our campsite we were sure to bask in its warmth! Here is Chad relaxing and warming up in the sun on his two sleeping pads. The warmth of the sun in our campsite was a very welcomed gift!

The next several pictures are shots of either the scenery or of interesting and awesome rock formations that I came upon.

The groups of aspen trees across the Park were sporadic, but I loved seeing them bring color to the area around them. They were bursts of color and life against the brown grass and sagebrush and the gray of the big rocks.

This is an overshot view of basically what City of Rocks looks like. What an appropriate name, huh? It is scattered with huge rocks and boulders amongst various vegetation. There is no rhyme or reason to their placing and it is mind boggling trying to imagine just how it was created. God is quite the architect, designer, landscaper, and artist!

I came across these holes in the side of a huge boulder that was stacked on top of another large boulder. I took a geology class in college but we never learned exactly how holes like these are created. I know it is through different elements of weathering, but just how the holes and other random formations on the rocks are created I do not know.

This boulder was not too far distant from the previous boulder. The pine tree in the background hid this large hole that I discovered in my exploring. This shot was taken laying down, looking up through the hole. Standing up inside the hole the rock was further carved out leaving perfect seating areas for two to three people.

I don't know what kind of berries or bush this is, but I spotted it as I was exploring and ended up being the only one I saw the entire time I was there. The berries looked very tempting to try and looking back I wish I would have taken the opportunity to taste one or two. Maybe it was a blessing in disguise that I didn't?

A lot of the exploring I did happened when Chad and I were waiting for his friends to get situated. His friends included a husband, wife, and their little baby and the wife's immediate family - mom, dad, and three or four younger brothers. So, with that many people to shuffle around and get situated I had a little bit of exploring time to myself before we hit the rocks.

Finally after waiting a couple hours for everybody to get ready Chad and I decided to head out ourselves and meet up with them later. We drove to the trail head and then hiked for about ten minutes on a beautiful trail part way down a canyon until we came upon the first rock climbing area called Tribal Boundaries. There were some rock climbers just finishing up their climb on Tribal as we arrived. As we waited for them I did a little more exploring.

The picture on the right is a 'window' in the rock. This was the first thing that caught my eye as we approached Tribal Boundaries because of light that was shining through onto the shaded rock. I put my stuff down and immediately climbed up to the window to look out the other side. The view was awesome! It dropped straight down just on the other side of the window into a aspen filled canyon and then huge boulders rising up the other side, as you can see in the picture. I studied the rock in the surrounding area of this window and was again left completely bewildered at it's formation and creation!

This rock formation was at the very top of the Tribal Boundaries climb. I was able to get a closer look at all the intricacies of this particular formation when I rock climbed up to it. I was even able to climb into one of the hallowed out sections. In the section that I climbed into the ceiling of it had a swirl type design in the rock. It was amazing to see all the different designs throughout and in the rock.

This picture, shown on the right, is a good shot of Tribal Boundaries. And if you look closely you can see me nearing the top. For those of you who are familiar with ratings on climbs, Tribal Boundaries is a 5.10a. This is right at my level. Chad lead climbed this route first to set up the ropes and made it up in a breeze. He made it look easy, and he did the harder side of the wall. I took the slightly easier side and still found it challenging at times. I got stuck in the middle where hand holds were small and scarce. I slipped off a number of times in my attempts to reach onto a higher hand hold.

I hurt my wrist Tuesday night in my fire fighting class. We learned how to use the hose and actually got to practice a couple of techniques with the hose. I don't know how I hurt my wrist, but did somehow in the process of practicing. It was at the point in my climb where I was stuck that I had to use the hand with my hurt wrist to bare most of my weight. With the combination of pain from my wrist, the small handhold, and the weight put on my wrist I couldn't stay on the rock. I ended up finding a better route and making it to the top, but after falling several times I was close to calling it quits for that route. I am glad that I didn't allow myself to give up and that I kept trying until I succeeded.

There I am at the top! Woohoo! I was surprised by how well I did on my first climb, especially it being rated a 5.10a - considering that I haven't rock climbed in about a year, I am afraid of heights, and I hate falling off the rock when climbing because I don't trust the rope completely. During this climb the fear of heights didn't get to me like it usually does and I wasn't afraid to fall off the rock as I have been in the past; I trusted the rope a lot more. I don't know what changed this or why my fear wasn't as great as it has been in the past, especially since I haven't climbed in a long time, but I was quite grateful. It made the climb a lot more relaxing and enjoyable. Tribal Boundaries was my favorite climb of the day because it was challenging, yet I was still able to succeed.

After finishing Tribal Boundaries we made our way down to the bottom of the canyon to meet up with Chad's friends who had already started climbing on the Bumblie Rock, which has four climbs rating between a 5.8 to a 5.11a. This was a good rock for the younger kids to climb and have fun on. Three of the four route were already set up (the easier of the climbs) to climb when we arrived and they were all being climbed on. So in the meantime Chad and I went around the corner onto another rock face called Transformer Corridor. There Chad climbed a 5.11a that began with an overhang. I didn't even make the attempt to climb this route. It was way too advanced for me, but was quite impressed with Chad's ability to climb it with what appeared to be ease and finesse. After getting over the overhand, it is almost like climbing a latter the rest of the way to the top. It was a quick climb and rappel.

This is Chad climbing on the Transformer Corridor, after making it above the overhang. I would have loved to get a picture of him working the overhang, but wanted to make sure I was ready to hold him in case he fell. The overhang isn't shown in this picture, but is right below the lowest bolt.

We enjoyed a tasty lunch of Angie wraps after his climb and then layed on the rock and relaxed. The weather was perfect that day! Not too hot and not too cold; very pleasant in the shade too. The day started out with bright blue clear skies, but as the day progress clouds began to fill the sky and offer some cooler weather and added beauty. It was so relaxing laying on the cool rock and gazing up into the sky. If we had laid there much longer after eating lunch we both would have drifted off to sleep. We we re pretty tired and were in perfect conditions for a nice pleasant little afternoon nap.

After finding some motivation to get up again after lunch we headed back to Bumblie Rock to do another climb or two. The picture to the right is the next and last climb that Chad and I did for the day. This climb is rated as a 5.8 climb. The hardest part is getting up the first 10 feet or so, where it is completely smooth rock. The rest is a cake walk to the top. I took this climb a little slower because my left big toe was in a lot of pain. Neither my climbing shoes or Chad's climbing shoes liked my big left toe for some reason. Climbing shoes are meant to be small and quite snug, but they were a bit too snug on that one toe and it made it painful to climb. It was always a wonderful feeling to take off the climbing shoes at the end of each climb. I am grateful for the climbing shoes that were given to me by my good friends, Matt and Julee, but a good pair of shoes that fit just right is worth the expense and effort.

One of these days I'll make that expense and put forth that effort, but until then the shoes will just have to do.

Chad climbed after me and cleaned up the route (took everything down). It was just after four o'clock by then and everybody had pretty much gotten their fill of rock climbing in for the day and were ready to head back to camp for a nice big meal.

Originally our stay at City of Rocks would have lasted til Thursday night, but I had an appointment early on Thursday morning that I had to be back for and so we weren't able to stay the extra day for addition rock climbing fun. If felt bad for leaving early and was totally fine driving home alone, but Chad insisted on driving back with me on Wednesday because he didn't want me to have to drive all the way back alone, especially being tired from not sleeping well and from being tired from rock climbing all day.

So we loaded up all of the ropes and rock climbing gear and made our way through the beautiful canyon back to my truck. We waited for the rest of the gang to catch up so we could say goodbyes and then we were off. I was glad that we left before nightfall because I was able to see the scenery of City of Rock that I had missed on our drive in the previous night. Without fail, it was just as gorgeous as everything I had seen throughout the day!

We stopped at a little hamburger joint on the way out for a quick and satisfying bite to eat for dinner and then we hit the road. Enya, U2, and Coldplay accompanied us on our drive home. We were able to watch the sun set behind us through the review mirrors and see it's reflection on the snake river that paralleled the freeway. It was awesome to have been able to watch the sun rise before our eyes that morning and then have it set behind us that night. The day felt full, complete, and satisfying. It was wonderful break away from the mundane of everyday life, even if it was just for a day. Thanks Chad!!