in⋅tim⋅i⋅date – verb:

to make timid; fill with fear; the feeling of discouragement in the face of someone's superior fame or wealth or status etc.

I can't remember a time in recent years where I felt as intimidated as I did when I entered the classroom for the orientation of a 3-day Whitewater Rescue course and saw more than a dozen of middle-aged men sitting around the tables, creating a U-shape, filling the room. As much as I tried to mask the fear in my eyes it could have easily been cut with a knife it was so thick. Taking a seat and trying to avoid eye contact with anybody I learned that the majority of the men present were river guides from Solitude Float Trips in the Grand Teton National Park. The other men that made up the remainder of the group were two fire fighters and four BYU-Idaho Recreation faculty members. I was the ONLY girl and the ONLY person with basically no experience on whitewater.

I began to wonder, "Why am I here?" "Do I really need to take this course?" "Will this course really help or make a difference in my future desired profession?" "Will I even use these skills?" "Could I get a full refund if I dropped out tonight?" . . . "I don't want to be the one who impeeds everybody else's learning because of my lack of experience." "I am sure everybody already knows the basics of whitewater rescue and are looking for more advance techniques but won't be able to because of me..."

My mind was reeling. I seriously contemplated excusing myself from this course. Despite the intimidation that was weighing on my chest like a ton of bricks causing the labored pounding of my heart to echo in my ears, I held strong; 3 days strong. And I don't regret one minute of it.

Most members of my team that I worked the closest with during the course. I am on the left fully decked out in my wetsuit that amazingly kept me warm in near freezing water temperatures.

The gang rigging up a Z-Drag to pull an entrapped kayak out of the water. Note the snow in the background; we had received several inches days before the course began.

The next two days on the river were extremely educational as they were filled with an in-depth look at reading water, recognizing and avoiding hazards, quick rescue techniques, boat-based rescues, dealing with boat wraps and entrapments, technical rescue systems, and a varity of practical scenarios. Not only did I learn many valuable skill and techniques, but I gained a new confidence in myself with this additional life-saving knowledge that has allowed me to be that much more prepared in the case of a white/swift water emergency.

I am grateful for the patience of my fellow classmates as well as their desire for me to learn and succeed right along next to them. I am grateful for my instructors from Montana River Guides who were able to meet the needs and educational desires of everybody despite what level of training they previously had. And I am grateful for all the encouragement and support I received from others which gave me the additional courage to face my fears and do it anyway!

One Day of Permission

There is only ONE day a year that I have permission to pull pranks without getting in trouble. I take advantage of this day as much as I can! This year was no different; I had a hay-day. Everybody who found out about the pranks I had up my sleeve all said the same thing, "Poor Krissy." Yes, poor Krissy is right. To no fault of her own (except her choosing to live under the same roof as me) was the target of the majority of my pranks. Here's how it went down, prank by prank:

1. Vinegar in Krissy's nalgene bottle: I ended up doing this twice because I wasn't sure if my first attempt worked. In Krissy's own words to my first attempt, "I didn't drink the water, I SPIT IT OUT!" Unfortunately I got a little too vinegar happy the second time in which Krissy detected it immediately after unscrewing the top, BUT she was out of a nalgene bottle to drink from while at school all day long.

2. Food coloring in Krissy's washer fluid: I give myself a pat on the back for how smooth I was with this prank. Not knowing if we had washer fluid in the garage or not, but knowing that Krissy organized it while I was gone, I asked Krissy if we had any. We both went out to the garage and found it. I then asked, "I'm filling up the washer fluid in my truck, would you like me to put some in yours a well?" BINGO! As her back was turned out came the food coloring. Smoooooth. (She still hasn't discovered her altered washer fluid color yet).

3. Surran wrap over the toilet seat: Classic prank I know, but I've never done it before. I thought I'd give it a shot. It back-fired. After coming home from school she was quite cautious due to the two vinegar incidents - cautious enough to see the surran wrap over the toilet. She took it off, relieved herself, and then put it back in to try and get me to fall for my own prank. Not so much.

4. Surran wrap on her Conditioner and Shampoo bottles: I unscrewed the tops of her conditioner and shampoo bottles and put a double layer of surran wrap over the hole, then screwed the tops back on. She hasn't discovered this yet because....well....she hasn't showered since that morning.

5. Frozen toothbrushes: I took her toothbrushes (yes, that is plural because she has several) and put them in a cup full of water and stuck it in the freezer. I was not home when she went to bed and so I sent her a text telling her to look in the freezer before going to bed. She apparently had tried to go into my room to search for her toothbrushes (but I had locked it) and then remembered that she had one more toothbrush that I happened to miss.

6. Short sheeted her bed: Another successful prank. Her only comment on this prank the next morning was, "Good thing I'm already short!"

7. Exhaust pipe: This is one of my all-time favorite pranks. It works everytime! Krissy was nervous about me doing something else to her car and so she made sure she locked it. Right after I asked if she had a potato. She willingly and without question gave one to me. I cut a hole in the middle, stuck a whistle into the hole, went into the garage and shoved the potato into her exhaust pipe. She didn't use her car until the next morning when she left for class. I was in the kitchen when she left and as she drove off I could hear the sweet music of that whistle blowing. I was on the floor laughing! Later I asked her how her car was and her reply, "What did you do to it!?! It makes a weird whistling sound now!"

8. Squirter: I put a rubber band around the squirter in the kitchen sink and aimed it just right so when Krissy turned on the water it would be a direct hit, no fail. She still won't admit that she was tagged by the water, but there is no way around it. She kept the rubber band on the squirter to try to get me to fall for this prank as well, but again...not so much.

Other pranks to another person:

1. Exhaust pipe: I put a balloon over my friend's exhaust pipe. In effect the balloon was to fill up with exhaust and then pop to simulate a tire popping. It failed miserably.

2. Shredded paper: I was going to put shredded paper into the vents of the car, but the vents were doubled layered - vents horizontal and then vents vertical. I couldn't get the vents off or put the shredded paper into the vents. I ended up stuffing the shredded paper between the ceiling of the car and the visor, so when the visor was pulled down all the shredded paper would fall out. This was a success!

3. Vinegar in the water bottles that were in the car

4. Food coloring in the washer fluid

I had a lot more ideas written down on a piece of paper that I wanted to do but I didn't have enough prep time the day before to get everything ready to go through with them. All in all I had a great time with the pranks that I did. It is still fun because some of them haven't been discovered yet and so it has been an ongoing thing, which makes it all the more entertaining.

Whoever created and established April 1st and April Fools Day....THANKS!

Rays of Light

There were a number of different things that I had on my list of things to do before leaving Washington. Going on a hike was one of them. The trail that we hiked on is called Mount Storm King Trail, but this hike could be called by a number of different names. Peace. Rejuvenation. Solemnity. Oneness. Refuge. These things and more were experienced as Stephanie and I made the climb.

Mount Storm King Trail is located in the Olympic National Forest by the pristine Crescent Lake. Crescent Lake submerges approximately 625 feet in depth and stretches over 8 miles in length. Rising 2,100 feet from Crescent Lake in only 1.7 miles is the top of Mount Storm King Trail at 4,534 ft. in elevation. Due to this unmotorized lake the water remains crystal blue making the view of this lake from the top of Mount Storm King Trail breath-taking.

I took many pictures as we hiked, but here a few that tell the story of our hike pretty well.

We were greeted with rain as we arrived at Crescent Lake

Geared up and ready to hit the trail!

Beautiful moss covered foliage

As we climbed higher the rain turned into snow

While exploring off the beaten path I came upon this doe,
which allowed me to come within 5 ft of her.

The view of Crescent Lake from the top! Beautiful!

The rain stopped, the clouds broke, and the sun came out! Gorgeous!

This is where we ended our hike

Stephanie and I at the top!

The pack was drenched!

Rays of light from the sun streaming through the forest

Making it back down to the trail head

A HUGE tree along the path to/from the trail head

Crescent Lake from the dock after our hike

Stephanie and I on the water taking in the beauty and feeling rejuvenated!

A small waterfall coming down the side of the mountain

The sun setting over Crescent Lake as we drove away

As always, it was so great to be out in nature and take in the beautiful creation of Mother Earth. It really brings peace to the soul. I am grateful that the time was set aside and the sacrifices made for Stephanie and I to make this hike together. It was worth every bit of it!

Little Ryan

I came to truly feel like an aunt this past Saturday when I had the great opportunity of meeting my first nephew, Ryan. After taking one look at Ryan from a distance I immediately recognized him even before officially meeting him; he is a mini-Daniel. He's is as cute as can be too!

Ryan's mother, Vanessa, was very willing and kind to allow Daniel, Stephanie, and I to spend the day together with her and Ryan. We met up at Chuck E. Cheese's - a memorable place our Grandma Nelson often took us when we were little; it's a child's never ending playground! With 140 tokens to use on games and rides we didn't waste a minute and Ryan made sure of that! This little hyper-active 3 year old would run to a game or ride, wait until one of us put a token in for him, enjoy it for about half it's duration, and then jump off and run to another game or ride. It was non-stop fun for 3 solid hours with this little guy!









After having as much fun as little Ryan could possibly take at Chuck E. Cheese's we headed out to see the animal life at the zoo. Getting there just shortly before it closed we opted out for that adventure and spent the remainder of our time on the beach.






Saturday was SOOO much fun! I absolutely loved meeting, playing with, and getting to know Ryan as well as seeing Ryan and Daniel interact as father and son. I like to think that I have one of the cutest nephews in the world!

Too see more pictures of our adventures check them out on Photobucket!

Watch Out World, Here I Come!

I feel like I'm on top of the world! If you saw me right now, you'd find me with a perma-smile across my face. I have successfully completed and passed all of my tests, practicals, and skills to become certified as a EMT-B, Wilderness EMT, and a Medical Person in Charge. What is more exciting to me than just passing these tests is that I feel confident in my newly learned and developed skills if I were called upon to use them. There's a huge difference!

I put together a video of pictures that I took over the course of my WEMT class. It gives you a good idea of the things that we learned/did in this class. I had an awesome class with amazing instructors!

Watch out world, because here I come!

To see more pictures check out the WEMT folder on my Photobucket page (link on right).

March Challenge: Amazing Success

The Kid in Me

I recently watched a movie entitled, Three Faces of Eve, which is about the first recorded case of a woman with multiple personality disorder. In the beginning of this dated black and white movie the narrator compares having multiple personality disorder to a fat man with a skinny man inside trying to get out. In a twisted and far-stretched comparative way I have a little kid inside of me that comes out more often then it probably should. The result? A lot of FUN!

The camera ran out of memory space just moments before higher intervention was called upon to get me out of the pot. Stephanie couldn't muster up enough strength (as you could probably tell from her grunting, pulling, and twisting) so we called in Mr. Dad. After that didn't work BOTH he and Stephanie tried, but again, to no avail. Some heavy duty equipment was much needed. And who better than the Gig Harbor Fire Department? They pulled up in their big fire truck with the ambulance trailing behind to make sure I didn't sustain any injuries from the extraction of the pot. After being drug out to the front lawn where the neighbors gathered around to see what the commotion was and with a few good tools, that I don't know the names of or could pronounce, the firemen (4 of 'em) were successfully able to pry the pot off. With a good exam from a paramedic I walked away without a scratch or bruise!

Pretty good story, huh? Only if it were true.....

Stephanie was able to pull off the pot shortly after the camera cut off - it really did run out of memory. All the yanking and pulling before got me far enough out of the pot in order for me to release the suction effect it had, which then allowed me to be pot free. It was quite the trip to squeeze into that pot, get stuck in it, and then try to get out of it. Still laughing about it!

Note: Rachel, Stephanie or the pot were NOT harmed during the events of this film