Go big or go to bed.

another one...

2008-09-02T00:14:00.000-07:00

Sorry, another BH song that is just striking me to the core tonight....

love always,

'lilwaldo

"Corcovado parted the sky
And through the darkness
On us he shined
Crucified in stone
Still his blood is my own
Glory behold all my eyes have seen
Have seen

I am blessed
I am blessed
I am blessed
I am blessed
I am blessed to be a witness

Some have flown away
And can't be with us here today
Like the hills of my home
Some have crumbled and now are gone
Gather around for today won't come again
Won't come again

I am blessed
I am blessed
I am blessed
I am blessed
I am blessed
I am blessed
I am blessed to be a witness

So much sorrow and pain
Still I will not live in vain
Like good questions never asked
Is wisdom wasted on the past
Only by the grace of God go I
Go I

I am blessed
I am blessed
I am blessed
I am blessed
I am blessed
I am blessed
I am blessed to be a witness

I am blessed
I am blessed
I am blessed
I am blessed
I am blessed
I am blessed
I am blessed to be a witness"

reflection

2008-09-01T23:46:00.000-07:00

Of the lyrics below (ok waaaay below), the ones that sing out to me the most are:

"I don't know where you came from
And I don't know where you've gone.
Old friends become old strangers
Between the darkness and the dawn"

I'm officially unemployed, for the time being that is. And as I search to figure out what's next, there are a lot of things calling to me. But the one thing I keep reflecting upon are the people who matter most to me. For certain, there is my family. Above anyone and anything they are the ones who I can count on. They are also the ones who are unafraid to tell that which I don't want to hear. They are the ones who have picked my spirits up when noone elese could. They may not all be blood related but they are all my family. Then there are my friends. I have a lot of them, but what I am realizing some people set them selves apart. There are some people in my life who aren't technically family, but they aren't just friends. They are people who I can completely bare my soul to, and they never judge. They accept, embrace, and love who I am and I am so lucky to have them as a part of my life.

Then there is the one above all else who is set apart from the rest. My big sister. Yea, I know, she falls into the family category. But she's not just family. She's the one I aspire to be. The one who's approval I seek more than anyone else (sometimes to my own demise). The one who isn't just a sister. she's family. she's friend. at times she was an arch-rival (but that time is over). at times she's the only one in this world who knows how to console me. ok, maybe that's an understatement. Most of the time she's the only one who knows what words to say and what words don't need to be said. without her, i wouldn't be me. and i hope she knows that. Precisely at the moment I fear I've drifted too far from her, she is there, with exactly the words I need (but may not want to hear).

Now, you maybe wondering, what's with all the mushy stuff lil? Well I just spent 10 days with my boyfriend (though that doesn't seem like the right word to describe someone who is so much more to me than just a commonplace boyfriend) and with no one else. And now I have a bunch of time to figure out what is next. First, some soul searching. What is next for 'lil? Well, first and foremost, more of what I love. More mountain climbing, more skiing, more of all of that. AK has me inspired to figure out just what peak is next (s0rry mom and dad). Secondly, what is next for lil? Well there is the big outstanding non-work question, am I ready for the next big step that is inevitably coming my way? Yes, I believe I am. Are the others involved? I hope to god so. Otherwise, I've f'd up big time. But, as we all know, 'lil survives. I've dealt with much worse and somehow always manage to find a smile on my face, and I always will. That's the funny thing about being an eternal optimist. There's always something waiting on the wings, even when all you can see is night fall.

love to all.

lil'waldo

So here we go. Taking another big step forward. Back to the 'lilwaldo who does precisely what is right for her, knowing full on the consequences of her actions and always ready to accept them.

"What started as a whisper,
Slowly turned in to a scream.
Searching for an answer
Where the question is unseen.
I don't know where you came from
And I dont know where you've gone.
Old friends become old strangers
Between the darkness and the dawn

Amen omen,will I see your face again?
Amen omen,can I find the place within
To live my life without you?

I still hear you saying
"All of life is chance,
And is sweetest,is sweetest when at a glance"
But I live,
I live a hundred lifetimes in a day.
But I die a little
In every breath that I take.

Amen omen,will I see your face again?
Amen omen,can I find the place within
To live my life without you?

I listen to a whisper,
Slowly drift away.
Silence is a loudest,
Parting word you never say.
I put I put your world
Into my veins
Now a voiceless sympathy
Is all that remains.

Amen omen,will I see your face again?
Amen omen,can I find the place within
To live my life without you?

Amen omen,can i find the strength within

Curiosity...

2008-08-22T12:34:00.000-07:00

Alright, for all you wondering minds, here's my current schedule:

Tonight (8/22) through August 31 - AK
9/2 - 9/6(ish) probably heading to PDX

Post then, really not sure yet, guess I'm gonna have to figure that one out.

Couple more hours of work then I'm officially done... Weird, so so weird. I haven't had this much time off, since, well, winter break, senior year, college, 04....

Time to move on, time to get going...

2008-08-21T10:37:00.001-07:00

So I am pretty much in my last 24 hours of being currently employed. Weird. Tomorrow evening at 9ish Bill and I head out on our Alaska adventure (have we really been planning for this, for 6 months, but I still have yet to pack, ha - somethings really never do change).

Anyways, I'll blog when I can up there, we all know that I like to blog more when I travel and then I will defintetly update things here when I get back.

lib

Funny how things work out...

2008-08-20T11:23:00.000-07:00

Alright, so I haven't blogged since I started my current job, and its funny, I've quit that job and now I'm immediately drawn to blogging again. Weird. Anyways, I'm kicking this thing back up again. Headed to AK on Friday night with my Bill and I will try and blog while I'm up there. Here's the synopsis of what has gone down recently, I've done a lot of soul searching and decided some changes needed to be made, the first is leaving my current job and figuring out what's next. Second, relaxing for a while. Something I haven't done very well, since, well, I last posted here.

So here we go. Welcome back to my blog. And I'd like to welcome back myself, to well, being me.

Ok. Here we go.

2007-03-27T13:44:00.000-07:00

So the adventure of lilwaldo continues. For awhile it seemed like my life was kinda on a plateau. Sure, I went on a great family vacation. Been hanging out with great friends, going up to the cabin a ton, and things seemed to be on an even keel, then *bam* one day things got crazy again. I decided to accept a new job, working for my old boss at Marchex, and I'm pretty stoked about it. At the same time I also decided that the time has come to start investing in real estate and so the quest has begun to find lilwaldo's new condo. Exciting times.

Furthermore, and I think the biggest thing, is that I've realized something, Seattle is starting to feel like home. Now I know this is going to be hard for my family to read, and I want each of them to know home, in it's truest sense, will always be where they are. Julie, Skip, Mom, Dad, Sam, and the little bean are the most important things to me. But I guess what I hope everyone sees is that Seattle, and everything and everyone it holds is rapidly gaining in the ranks. I finally am starting to feel like I have my Seattle family. My good friends who see me threw thick and thin and love me for me. Now this has taken a while to get to this. But I am here. And I'm not going anywhere.

Life is full of challenges. Chaotic times (like I am in right now) and quieter moments. But I think what we have to all realize is that what truly makes us who we are is how we manage threw the chaotic times and that we appreciate the quieter times when they arrive. We all have our ups and our downs. But the people that truly matter in your life are there for you through it all. Beth and I were out at dinner last night and she made an interesting point. True friends are the ones who can make you laugh even in your darkest hour and will be happy for you even if they are in their darkest hour. These friends are few and far between, and the truth is, many times they are like family more than they friends. I am lucky not to just have one or two people like this but a large handful. Somehow I have been very blessed. The other day was my goodbye party for Pure and I ran into an old friend. He was like, what you all doing, I told him it was my goodbye party, he was like, woah, you sure have a lot of friends. Now, I'm not trying to blow smoke up my own ass, but I do want to make sure that all of my friends know how valuable they are to me and that I appreciate what each of them brings to my life.

Ok. I am now stepping off my soapbox, for now. As I head out on this new adventure of Marchex, owning my own place and everything else that is to come I hope I can accomplish as much as I did at Pure. I hope that I am challenged as much and that I learn as much and that when my time comes to leave from there, I part ways in the same manner that I part ways with Pure.

Bill and I will be taking off for a couple days, heading down to central oregon. Hiking and all that jazz, and hopefully escaping the rain that is on its way.

xo xo lilwaldo

yea yea yea...

2007-03-12T22:57:00.000-07:00

I know I know. Bad blogger libby. BAD Blogger. Well I'm sorry. A lot of shits been going on. Let's see. Epic ski season, got a back country setup, did some touring. Went to Key West, got a new job, quit my old job and that pretty much sums it up. I know. I should write more. Well, for now some pictures will have to suffice:

KEY WEST PHOTOS

I promise, I'll keep you up to date on the important things as they happen. For now, that's the important stuff.

Quote of the day

2007-01-06T20:50:00.000-08:00

"There's a light at each end of this tunnel,
You shout 'cause you're just as far in as you'll ever be out
And these mistakes you've made, you'll just make them again
If you only try turning around."

A very good question indeed.

2007-01-04T20:29:00.000-08:00

On my 25th birthday I was posed with a question, now that I am a quarter of a century old, what is the most influential thing I have learned thus far.

It's taken me a while to come up with an answer. A question that big deserves a thought out answer, and I think I finally have one.

Life is all about balance. The balance between work and play. Between significant others and friends, between friends and family, between truth and fiction and most importantly what we believe and what we know.

The balance of knowing what is right for you and how to achieve it.

For me, balance is something I struggle with personally. My career is very important to me. However, in order to get ahead I occasionally am unable to do the things I enjoy. When it comes to friends I often find myself balancing all of my personal relationships, finding time for friends, loved ones, family and all the in betweens. When it comes to my passions it is a struggle to balance my idealistic views of the world and the business world that I find myself wrapped up in.

Is there a right answer? No, probably not. Will I ever achieve that perfect balance for all these facets of my life? Highly unlikely. But what I do know is that working towards that balance is what will keep me going in the long run.

Something I love.

2006-12-08T10:31:00.000-08:00

There is something I love about this song. I don't know what it is or why I am always drawn to it, but its the there.

"I can' t know the hell you love
But i know you' ve had enough
Some baptize in water some in flames
In flames
In flames

Don' t you give me a reason to mourn
Don' t you give me a reason to mourn
Look into my eyes with all your hate and scorn
But don' t you give me a reason to mourn

What has life done to you
All you ever wanted was someone to run to you
There' s more to life then what makes you cry
What makes you cry
I want save you by

Don' t you give me a reason to mourn
Don' t you give me a reason to mourn
Look into my eyes with all your hate and scorn
But don' t you give me a reason to mourn
I' ll remove the crown of sorrow wich you have been adorned
But don' t you give me a reason to mourn

Don' t you give me a reason to mourn
Don' t you give me a reason to mourn
Look into my eyes with all your hate and scorn
But don' t you give me a reason to mourn"

Opening Day.

2006-12-06T13:08:00.000-08:00

It. Finally. Arrived. Opening day at Alpental. Now, I have to say, while my day wasn't quite as stellar as Shredfield's at Mountain High it was pretty stellar.

I will admit the lines first thing sucked. Oh well. The crowds were stoked to wait for Chair 2 to get crusin. And yea, it was just as I remembered. We first took a run down Edlewiess Bowl, then cut over to Powder Bowl, a run on Shot Six, a run down International (yea, that was sick.) and then the afternoon we went back to Powder, Tim and Bill did a little hiking. Our buddy Steve, from Pure, also joined us. And while I know my way around Alpental, he really knows his way around. Especially since he used to be patrol and now is a mountain host. It's nice to have someone else around who is willing to do a little extra work to get that extra bit of powder.

Now while I feel bad the boys couldn't get up to Baker for the weekend, it was great for them to see the Alpental that I truly love. And of course, hanging out and letting them finally see who the infamous and notorious Helen is, was pretty fun too.

Tim & Bill Hiking

Bill & I happily at the top of Chair 2!

This is what happens if you don't pay attention on Chair 2:

You could see clear to Rainier. I think maybe this is part of why I love Alpy so much. The views are simply incredible.

Lilwaldo after an amazing day on Alpental

night night alpental. i will dream about you!

See complete fotos.

Bart's bday video!

2006-11-29T22:32:00.000-08:00

Finally posted - My dad's 60th Birthday Video
grrr. i had this posted, but they didn't like my format. I will try again!

Lessons Learned

2006-11-29T22:01:00.000-08:00

2006 was a big year. When I look back on the turmoil that I called my life this time last year and all the ups and downs over the year I think 24 was the biggest learning year of my life. You learn a lot in school, more in high school and even more in college. But I don't believe you truly learn who you are until you are faced with challenges and know, deep in your heart, that you are the only one who can make the desicion, because the desicion is 100% yours. Not your parents. Not your sister's, not your friends, but yours. And while there are many things I have learned this year, the one thing that keeps coming to my mind is the fact at the end of the day we all have to make the desicion that is right for us. Whether it is in relationship to family, loved ones, friends, work, careers, passions, any or all the above we are responsibile for our own happiness. It is when we rely on others for our happiness that things begin to fall apart. Trust me on this, as I know first had. I've spent a good portion of my life letting my happiness be wrapped up in others, which only lead to dissappointment.

But now, life is different. Not better or worse, just different. Maybe a little bit better. Because I am on my way to finding happiness, first and foremost with myself. And once I started doing that, it continues to amaze me how much better off things can be. I have found a person who I care about that wants to be with me because of the person I am, not someone I am trying to be. Things that used to bother me no longer do. Things that used to scare me, like being alone, are actually sources of happiness for me now and give me time to do what I enjoy doing.

No longer will my life be dictated by other peoples' perceptions that I fear.

Why all this, do you ask? Maybe because I'll be 25 in a few short weeks. Maybe because 1 year ago my life was flipped upside down. That question I don't know. But what I do know, is I have learned a lot and I am looking forward to my new future with my new happiness.

"That you never saw the signs
That you never lost your grip
Oh, come on now
That's such a childish claim
Now I wear the brand of traitor
Don't it seem a bit absurd
When it's clear I was so obviously framed

Now you act so surprised
To hear what you already know
And all you really had to do was ask
I'd have told you straight away
All those lies were truth
And all that was false was fact"
- Lessons Learned

Tis the season!

2006-11-14T09:56:00.000-08:00

No no no, I am not talking about the Holiday season, though I'm pretty stoked for that as well. What I am really talking about is Tis the SKI season... The day I have been praying for all summer long is finally arriving. Before I know it I will be in pure white heaven, aka, snow storms and powder days. For me, powder days are like waking up as a little kid on Christmas. I have a hard time sleeping the night before and am up at the crack of dawn, the first one out the door... And while yes a coffee stop or two is necessary, pulling into the Alpental parking lot is really only something those of you who have done it with me can relate to. It's by far the most amazing feeling in the world, when you know they are still doing bombin for avies... Every loud thunderous boom makes you realize just how big the pow is up there.

Then there is waiting in the chiar2 line.

Wow. I'm stoked.

Whistler next week with Bill and his crew and possibly the Hamlin boys. I got a good feeling about this season. Martin's got an Alpy pass, gina moves here end of January, I'm gonna learn to ride the park and will complete my number one goal for the season. At least at 20 foot cliff jump...

New boots for xmas and new skis in January.

Oh yea, it's the pray for snow party on Wednesday night... Who remembers last year's pray for snow... I'm sure MKT could shed some light on that one.

adious. more blogging. i promise!

NYC!

2006-10-18T07:15:00.000-07:00

So, it's finally over. The Digital Life show of 2006 is finally complete and I couldn't be more happy. I don't think I realized how much that was sucking up my life until now that is over. Basically the days went as follows:

8 am - Get up
8:30 - Gym
10 - Head to the show
1030am to 8 pm - WORK the show
9 pm - midnight - Dinner
Midnight - SLEEP.

So yea, I barely saw anything of NYC, except for when TimA and I got out and about on Monday and got to at least go up the Empire State Building. Yea, I've been there before, but it was cool to see again.

However, I was greatly reminded of one thing.... I am becoming more and more of a PNW girl. I missed the tree, and mountains and hills and clean air without industrial buildings. So happy to be home. And that is all I have to say about that!

For pics visit: http://lilwaldo.smugmug.com/gallery/2019550

On the road, again!

2006-10-10T17:03:00.000-07:00

Headed out to Digital Life in NYC tonight! So glad that it is *finally* here. However, I will be even more happy when the day of setting up (tomorrow) is over and the show finally begins! If any of you are in NYC and want to see me, just shoot me an email!

xo

LILWALDO

Thank you.

2006-10-06T08:16:00.000-07:00

If I haven't said it enough lately, thank you just for being you. :-)

Mom is in town right now and so far so good :). She has met and hung out with Bill a couple times and that seems to be going quite well! And, tonight we are off to Leavenworth, WA for Oktoberfest and some other fun times. We'll be back tomorrow for the Liquified event and then who knows what we will do on Sunday...

Monday I leave for NYC for a week, for the Digital Life Tradeshow. I have to admit, while putting this thing together has been stressful to say the least, I am totally looking forward to it happening and (with my finger crossed) being a success!

xo

LIL

Golf update

2006-10-05T17:24:00.000-07:00

So the good news is, the golf is most likely NOT going to the VW cemetary. The bad news is that I probably won't get him back till November 2nd. Still don't have the Police Report (eta - tomorrow)... But in all seriousness... people, as I've said, don't be an arse. Don't drink and drive...

I dont want to judge. And I am not going to preach abstaining. But I am going to say, everyone should be aware, their choices and actions affect the lives of others. So think.

PSA from lilwaldo

2006-10-03T17:59:00.000-07:00

Please people. Be smart about your choices. At 5 am on 10/3/06 my very precious golf (which many of you have grown to love as well) was hit by a drunk driver. This is not a joke and I am not trying to make light of the situation. But some dude, who was wasted at 5 am smashed into my car, bounced off and went head on into a telephone pole. More details to come as well as pictures.

Thanks to everyone who has sent their best wishes to the golf. The current status is that he is at the doctors office waiting further examination. More to come tomorrow. As well as a police report that hopefully will shed some more light onto what happend.

Be smart peeps. Take a cab. Have a DD. CALL ME AT THREE AM. But don't, don't don't drunk drive.... mmmmkay!?!?!?

re-connect-ing

2006-09-30T20:25:00.000-07:00

Some people come and go from our lives, however some, the precious ones, never really leave. This week has been all about re-connecting with a few very important people in my life. BESIDES the fact that miss gina is moving here (and I'm totally stoked... and apparently im going to learn to ride the park... hmmm. guess its a perfect excuse for some park skis..) anywho! I also had dinner with my dear friend beth, who is more of a sister than friend. We had a great convo and I think we both came to the same realization this summer - that the most important thing is to surround ourselves with the positive people in life. The ones who love life. The ones who can make you smile just by giving you a funny look or stupid text message. The ones who know that I may dance like a ridiculous ass in the front of a movie theatre, but 3 hours later finally find it amusing, cause well, it's who I am.

Secondly I got to reconnect with my friend Martin, who has been a great friend for a long time. We've been living on separate planes for a while but I think we're back on the same page. He's ready to climb with me, and I'm looking forward to ripping up the Alpy backcountry with him this winter.

What else have been reconnecting with? Well - my climbing for one. I'm climbing weekly, going to start taking some climbing lessons... And have a few new climbing partners. (Finally got my first 11.a... ).

Don't get me wrong. My life isn't perfect. But isn't that what makes life so beautiful. How would we ever appreciate anything if things were perfect?! Good days are made all that much more amazing when there are a few crappy ones mixed in there. Yea, that might be a little effed up.

Oh yea. I now have a pink dresser in my bedroom. I think Bill might go on pink overload. TOO BAD!!!

Cheers to beers everyone :-)

song of the day.

2006-09-11T11:01:00.000-07:00

My Way Home, Citizen Cope.

"Sometimes I miss a step
I stumble here and there
I'm findin' my way home
If I'm lost then I'll admit
Sometimes i plain forget
I'm findin' my way home
You can try and stand in my way
You can say what you're gonna say
But I'm finding my way home"

What has lil been up to...

2006-09-11T10:50:00.000-07:00

So since the third weekend in August, here is what I have been up to :-)

The olympic mountains, for the first time with Bill :) - pics here!
Ski weekend at Baker - pics here!
Denny Creek trail (last weekend in august) - great & easy hike for anyone looking for something quick to get out on in the weekends!
Back to good 'ol MA for "Bart's Birthday" & qt w/the fam (pics on their way)
BAKER TRIP ROUND DOS! - Just this past weekend. We headed up to Mt. Baker searching for some snow, but all we found was rain. Oh well! We had a great time, go to introduce miss gina into the mix and to Mt. B. Just a little bit of St. B's was had, along with the hot tub, great dinner, great conversations, hiking, soggy clothes, Celebrity, and new friends :).

So that should pretty much catch you up. Things coming up include a trip to NYC, a trip to SF, Gina's here for two more weeks, my mom is coming to visit, Monique is coming to visit and SKI SEASON IS ON IT'S WAY!!!

Happy september everyone!

lilwaldo

Here's to...

2006-09-11T10:42:00.000-07:00

Lilwaldo getting her blog updated. To get things started, here is my horoscope today. And its interesting really, because what I think a lot of people see about me is that I am a pretty happy girl. Not much really gets me down and while I have set a high caliber for what I want out of life I realize things change, people change, and you cannot predict the future. However I also know what I want and am willing to fight for it, but I just need to get better at asking for it. And I realize that it may mean I am more than some people bargain for a long the way, and more than they can handle. I am not afraid to speak my mind and say what I am thinking and what I truly want. The only thing that sometimes scares me is your response to it. Not because I am afraid of you not liking me, but I am saddened by the fact that sometimes it may lead to the end of something. And what I am learning is that if tha tis the truth, well then I guess some people are just meant to head down different roads in life. And I am starting to see, that's ok. Scarry sometimes, but ok.

Here is my horoscope.

There's a time to stand and fight, and that time is now. This endless cycle of push-me-pull-you was fine for a while, but now you need a resolution -- and fast. State your demands and then take action.

Bad blogger lil...

2006-08-18T11:24:00.000-07:00

So I have to apologize. For not blogging more. My life has been *slammed* lately. We are super busy over at Pure getting ready for a new product launch, new messaging, Digital Life, and then of course our day to day tasks! Plus my weekends are a little packed. Last weekened bill & I headed out to the olympics. I had never been there before and am always game for camping on beaches. So we went over for saturday - sunday and had a stellar time. The beach was/is beautiful and I got to visit hurricane ridge and scope out a few more mountains to add to my to do list! :-D This weekend the Board of Badasses (from Fund the Habit) are having our first official meeting up at Mt. Baker. We are pretty stoked to finally get this thing rolling. T-Shirts should be rolled out for the SurfRider Liquified event on Oct 7 (be there or you will totally be square, and only Bill can be lame and cool at the same time)! Anyways, thats the skinny of my life. Headed back to B-town in a few weeks for some quality family time with the Waldo-clan.

And just booked trip to Key West for Feb with the family. Should be sweet.

lilwaldo

Song of the day....

2006-08-09T15:57:00.000-07:00

Just seems fitting. Light continues to be shed on my life and I think I am getting closer and closer to understanding more of what my purpose in life is. I am a truth giver. In that light, today's song is: Truth #2, Dixie Chicks:

You don't like the sound of the truth
Coming from my mouth
You say that I lack the proof
Well baby that might be so
I might get to the end of my life
Find out everyone was lying
I don't think that I'm afraid anymore say that I would rather die trying

You don't like the sound of the truth
Coming from my mouth
You say that I lack the proof
Well baby that might be so
Tell me what's wrong with having a little faith
In what you're feeling in your heart
Why must we be so afraid
And always so far apart

Woh-oh
Swing me way down south
Sing me something brave from your mouth
And I'll bring you
Pearls of water on my hips
And the love in my lips
All the love from my lips

lilwaldo

I know i know...

2006-08-09T08:51:00.000-07:00

I know I owe everyone a post about Whistler (over a week due!) and I apologize! For now, here are some photos http://lilwaldo.smugmug.com/gallery/1738109 . It was an amazing time. The skiing, to be honest, wasn't all that great, but it was more the experience of being there, in the summer, and riding the glacier, something I have always wanted to do. So, that in itself made things more worthwhile. The condo was quite nice, the hot tub was quite hot, and the nachos were quite good.

The only thing that would have made it better is if those silly bicyclists GOT OFF MY MOUNTAIN. I understand its summer time, but I dont think they really get the meaning of go big or go to bed. They weren't even getting that great of air... And come on, riding the lift up when they just as easily could ride their bikes up? Earning your turns boys (and I think that is fair enough for us to say, given the hiking we have been doing to get turns all year).

Shopping up there normally is one of my favs. This time - not quite so good. Bummer. But I did score a sweet salamon baby blue soft shell... The perfect addition to my winter collection. Score.
All and all the Bill, Libby, & Tim show had a great time. The Beagle was hoping on Saturday night, and there may have been a few cases of bad ice on Sunday morning.... Only to be cured by burgers and milk shakes! :)

Our stoked levels are high and we are all looking forward to Round II next weekend at Mt. Baker, where hopefully some REAL turns will be had. The roads are finally open again! It's time to find me some powder - biatch!

Just a few memories to share:

"She's kind of a big deal..."
Dinner, before 10pm, ridiculous!
5 hours in the hot tub
Dude, you only ride international?
I think that guy split his head open on the rocks...
Red snow, again.
Ultimate fantasy: Pink Snow Cat on Whistler Mountain.
Guys, I'm just sayin...
Don't put nachos in your glove box...
We love the golf.

Thank god.

2006-08-04T19:31:00.000-07:00

KT has decided to get an ALPY pass for the winter. Glad we will be up to our old anctics once again. I was nervous about who I would ride with, if I didn't have miss KT.

Horoscope and this weekend...

2006-07-28T08:46:00.000-07:00

Today's horoscope: "You're an easygoing person, and you've always felt like you owed it to everyone else to do what they want with your myriad gifts. This seems like it would be easier on you, but it's actually not. Stand your ground."
You better watch out! I'm gonna be a fiesty one today!

This weekend am headed with Bill and TimA up to Whistler to ride the glacier, do some hiking and of course there will be a few cold beverages drank along the way. I've always wanted to ride the whistler glacier in the summer, so I am completely stoked on doing it!

Now I just have to get through a days work (ok, I'm bailing at 3 today) so that I can get in the golf and we can go... go... GO!

This is the strangest life, I've ever known..

2006-07-25T22:03:00.000-07:00

Ever have those days when at the end of the day you are just like, holy shit. I made it through. Today was a whirlwind, but amazingly I am suprisingly calm about it all. Truth be told I am so very happy with all the life desicions I have been making and once again, I have seen just what amazing friends I have. So thank you, to all the people who stand with me as we figure out this thing called life.

Am headed to Whistler with Bill and TimA on Friday. Totally pysched for that. Glacier skiing, here we come. Oh yea, did I mention we got a free condo upgrade... gnarly.

lilwaldo

Days like today....

2006-07-23T22:31:00.000-07:00

Congrats to miss KT. You kicked some serious Rainier ass today!

Days like today are the reason I believe I am so truly happy, all of the time. Today was another big first for KT. On this day, KT had her first Mt. Rainier "experience." Most of you know that Mt. Rainier holds an incredibly special place in my heart. It is like my home away from home. I love the sites, the sounds, the snow, the trials, and the experience of Rainier. And for the first time, miss KT took her first steps on Rainier. The first few minutes were a little rough, but then again, that paved steep part at the beginning is a bitch for us all. But eventually we got into a nice groooooove and up and up we went. Chatting our way up. Laughing at some crazy memories from the winter ("SHE TAKES MY MONEY, WHEN IM IN NEEEEEEEED".) Conversations ranged from fashions sense commentary (bike shorts? on the mountain?) to the very serious ones regarding our number one driving philosophy that we are only going to surround ourselves with people who are positive on life and who do things for no other reason than that it is what they love to do.

As we continued up I kept on running into people I knew up the mountain. Brenda W (RMI guide) was on her way back down from a killer summit climb, with some guys who brought up a nine-iron just to chip one off the summit, other random people from the gym, etc etc. After what seemed like no time, we made it to Pebble Creek at 7200. KT was still feeling great after having my favorite snikkey snack, gummy bears and a nectarine, up again we went. We were quickly on the snowfield and after figuring out her footing, KT was nipping my heels the whole way up. At this point, it was about 2 oclock, wickedly hot, and right when we were needing a brief break, what should come down over the mountain side, none other than our own personal parade of RMI guides, which are always appealing to look at. We climbed up a bit higher, hung out for a little while, rested, relaxed, had a photo shoot, and then decided it was time to slide on down (no, no riding down this time).

The downclimb. Was. Nothing. Short. Of. Amusing. Shortly after we started coming down (aka riding down the speed tracks on our asses - lil still in her skirt and kt (who changed into shorts) we ran into this group of peeps heading down as well. Their brillant idea for coming down: the Garbage bag diaper. BRILLANT!

The snow chutes (where you slide down) were quite slick and a booty shake was necessary to make sure you got all the cold ness out of your undies, but other than that. After that things calmed down quite a bit. Conversations continued. Winter memories were rehashed (God we miss being Chair2 chicks...), life plans continued to unfold, and new memories created. Dinner at Copper Creek was fab as always. Now for some more pics and quotes.

"It's like our own personalized strip club."
"I just bought my own condo. I'm pretty pysched."
"The eighties want all their shit back."
"Its pink. I must have it."
"Hands down, this is the best day."
"You might want to hold your breath."
"explitive, explitive, explitive...." to all the cars/busses/minivans/range rovers in the golfs way.
"We give new meaning to the meaning of being a "watergirl" skirt. We just use them on frozen water."
"What's with the skirts, you girls trying to prove something?" - "No, we're just smart enough to know how to stay nice and cool..."
"Don't worry, they're serving margaritas at the bar at muir..."
"I just hiked up this fucking mountain. What the hell did you do with your day." (KT to the rest of the world.)
"Dude I totally just got the once over from that Lady"KT - "The old one?"Lil - "Yup."KT
"You all been up to Lake Muir...?"
"Dude. Did you SEE HER HAIR..." "How could I miss it...It's taking up my entire rear view mirror..."
"I am not a one trick pony."

"It's always better in a skirt."

Here's to having more of these to come. I will go to bed a happy Lil' Waldo tonight.

always something...

2006-07-23T22:15:00.000-07:00

Not too much to report from the past week. Well ok, maybe some things. Jesse's little bro Josh was in town, I worked a bunch at Vertical World, went hiking on si, messed up my ankle, babysat, had a fabulous night out on the boat, and then finally made it to today, Sunday. KT's first day up to Rainier. More on that later. Here are some pics from the Si Hike. It was pretty much your standard evening, weekday hike up. Got out of Seattle later than anticipated. It was hot. We (Bill, Lil, and TimA) sweated a lot, worked on the details of Whistler, discussed the meaning of life, ok maybe not that, but still. Great times. Beautiful sunset. I slipped a couple times on the way down and that good ol' field hockey ankle injury of mine returned, and we didn't return to the car utnil about midnight, BUT it was still a hella lotta fun. Plus, for TimA and Bill, Lil's superhuman powers were brought down a notch... Bummer for me.

To the right we have the sunset shot from Haystack on Mt. SI. Beautiful.

calling all my friends.

2006-07-18T10:37:00.000-07:00

If any of you know any local Pacific North West Bands, please let me know. AND SAVE THE DATE: OCTOBER 7, 2006. EVOGear, Fremont, Seattle. It will be the place to be that night.

Funny weekend.

2006-07-17T13:10:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos from this weekends adventure!

http://lilwaldo.smugmug.com/gallery/1677331

Hope you all had a great one like I did.

Favorite moment

2006-07-13T22:38:00.000-07:00

So I've been asked time and time again what my favorite moment of the trip was. Now that I've been back to reality for about a week (and what a crazy week it's been!) I think the best thing about my trip was, well, the experience. Many of you know that I pack my days and nights full of activities. Work, climbing, skiing, hiking, running, throwing parties, babysitting... I am always doing something with or for the people I love. However. This trip was about me being with mostly me. Dinners/skiing/running/hiking by myself. Some of these things I do alone at home, but not to this extent. I think I almost forgot the sound of my own voice cause I wasn't ever really talking to anyone... So then I started talking to the car... just kidding. sort of. But that's another story. However, the experience of having to eat dinner by myself and really face solitude, well, this might be funny to some, but that was a scary thing for me. I thrive off of the energy of other people. But I finally forced myself to do all of these things and the best part, I really enjoyed it. And now I look forward to my "quiet" Lil time. And no longer does this time alone have to involved running/skiing/climbing/etc etc... But it can be doing normal things. Grabbing a bite to eat at a restaurant that I want to try. It has been a disasterous year for me. No denying that. Two relationships that failed miserably. Both doing quite a number on me. However, I am finally feeling like I am standing on my own two feet. No longer feeling codependent. No longer feeling like I have lost control over my own life for some unknown reason. No more doing things simply to please someone else. I am finally embracing my independence. Combining that with my self confidence and strength and I know I am going to be ok.

So ask me what my favorite moment and I'll probably pull something out like the skiing, the sunrise in Taranaki, the massage in Rotorua. But ask me my favorite experience and what really matters and the answer is, my newly refound independence. Something I didn't realize I was missing until I was forced to deal with it again. And now I see. Welcome back independent Libby. Glad you've returned.

Ever wake up

2006-07-13T07:42:00.000-07:00

And just feel as though today is going to be an odd day? Maybe by typing this in the morning everything will be perfectly normal. Who knows. But its starting off really kind of weird. Strange dreams, strange coincidences, just plain strange.

Summer in Seattle

2006-07-12T16:33:00.000-07:00

Sunsets In Seattle.

So this one is a little blurry, but that is how the colors looked and I still kind of like it, despite its imperfections. Story of my life.

This is just up the street from my house. Is the stereotypical Seattle shot. I figure since every other photographer takes this shot, so should I. :-)

Quote of the day.

2006-07-11T13:14:00.000-07:00

Today's quote of the day is from the boys at Comet Skateboards...

"We're working to stop clear cutting of our forests. Now we've got to stop clear cutting our youth."

Couldn't have said it better myself!

http://www.treehuggertv.com/thtv_sustainable_skateboards.php
Just another way to be part of a sustainable life.

Song of the day....

2006-07-10T17:22:00.000-07:00

Today's song is Gravity by Alison Krauss... Given many recent events this song seems very fitting. And this song is dedicated to all my supporters back east.

"I left home when I was seventeen
I just grew tired of falling down
And I'm sure I was told
The allure of the road
Would be all I found

And all the answers that I started with
Turned out questions in the end
So years roll on by
And just like the sky
The road never ends

And the people who love me still ask me
When are you coming back to town
And I answer quite frankly
When they stop building roads
And all God needs is gravity to hold me down"

Confusion.

2006-07-10T17:17:00.000-07:00

For some crazy reason my life can never stay on the straight and narrow. It is in a constant state of confusion. And I think that used to scare me. And I would constantly try and "fix it." And now, I'm finding I quite enjoy the ride. Nothing in my life has ever been simple. Seemingly normal every day experiences always have something a little different about them with my life. And maybe I cause some of that (I'm certain I do). But now I'm seeing, that is what makes my life, well mine. And that is what makes things exciting, challenging, but it also makes me a better person (I believe) at the end of it all. While I sometimes wish things were different, I really wouldn't change my life for someone elses.

horoscope.

2006-07-06T15:01:00.000-07:00

Very interesting today:

"Just imagine: The thing that you've been seeking has actually been searching for you this entire time. This applies to a new career opportunity or a bright spark on the love front. Be open to all the possibilities."

What a smiley girl I am these days. Life continues to make me smile.

Picture time!

2006-07-06T11:53:00.000-07:00

Finally. I've selected my favorite photos and have them posted up at:

http://lilwaldo.smugmug.com/gallery/1633875

A few more might be added but these should give you all the jist of the trip!

Enjoy.

what time is it? what planet am i on? am i home?

2006-07-05T00:42:00.000-07:00

so i finally made it. more on the last leg of travel to come. however, shortly after i landed i was whisked off to 4th of july bbq's and fireworks. now, i have been up for 30+ hours and though i should be absolutely slammed. i can't quite fall asleep. maybe its because my body has no idea what it should be doing now.. (running, sleeping, eating dinner, napping?!?!?!) or maybe it is because I am on an incredible natural/adrenaline high from the amazing trip i just took. i think i like the second option better.

lilwaldo

final thoughts.

2006-07-03T22:05:00.000-07:00

Ok. so I bored the long flight back to SAN FRAN in just overa n hour. The new passport did me good getting through customs... so that is good. Final presents have been bought... Though i was very sad that security wouldn't let my knitting needles through. Oh well. can't knit anything on this flight *BUMMER* butt hat's ok. Anyways, i can't believe my 12 days in paradise are over. It's been an amazing trip and I will work up a final blog post on the flight.

cheers everyone and HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY! a beer and burger better be waiting for me.

lilwaldo

Time for some pictures.

2006-07-02T16:00:00.000-07:00

Now that I have good internet (NO MORE DIAL UP!) I can actually post some pictures. So this blog posting is going to be heaps of pictures and limited text. ENJOY!

This one to the right is of the trees I planted four years ago on the Buckley's farm. I was really hoping they'd have grown a little bit more (and was kind of hoping for sequoia sized trees) but oh well. Slowly but surely they are growing!

This one is the sunset from Taranaki. An absolutely stunning spot on the western coast of the north island.

Its truly an amazing spot where the mountain meets the sea. Quite breath taking and actually kind of reminds me of seattle.

Next, to the left, we have the taranaki waterfalls. Funnily, these are not actually in Taranaki, but rather they are in Whakapapa Village, at Mt. Ruapehu. (By the way, the "wh" is pronounced with a "ph" sound, just a little Maori instruction for you all).

To the right, below, is the Whakapapa ski field. Technically you can ski most any where. The one "weird" thing most of you americans will see how there are NO TREES. I found this strangely suprising.

This one to the left shows the "pinnacles" which normally is open. However, you couldn't quite traverse far enough to get over there. Down below the pinnacle is the "valley" where the infamous t-bar from my previous post is located.

Below, to the right we have Mt. Ruapehu National park & the second volcano. This one is just a bit shorter than Rupauhu itself but is quite amazing in its own right. It's interesting to me how it looks like a stereotypical "cone shaped" volcano.

And I believe this to be the most appropriate final picture. The moon over Whakapapa village on my final night in the mountains. Hope you all enjoyed the pics!

smiles. all smiles.

2006-06-30T20:44:00.000-07:00

The title should pretty much sum it up. I was on the slopes from 8am until 330 pm. They opened up the "upper valley..." at about 9. For those of you who are Alp'y riders, this would be comparable to chair 2. However, it is not a chair but rather a t-bar. And I'm sorry to say, I do NOT miss riding tbars. Riding a chair with strangers is fun. Riding a t-bar with strangers - a little close even for my comfort. Oh well. If people would learn etiquitee for tbars we'd be in better shap (like GET OFF THE TRACK when you fall of. and NEVEr ski back down the track...) Anyways.. couple other notes from today. The joys of an mp3 player. IT used to be that if you were alone people might feel bad for you. However, if you have the ear phones in, its almost like now you are "aloof" and just to cool. Ah well, it was just amusing to see how many people were riding with them (myself includeed).

And another joyous moment. I am a powder girl. I love powder. We all know this. Nothing new, its how I got my PB nickname. But this morning I was brought back to my roots (east coast skiing) when first tracks was a glorious run down smooth crisp chorduroy... Cruising along on that stuff is always a good time. :-),.

Another funny moment. There was this little girl, who was on the side of the tbar. Her mum was tending to her older sister and the little o ne was just sitting there chucking snow/ice chunks at her siste.r Reminded me, of well me! Good times.

Anywho, I am utterly exhausted and need a shower. Good thing I can wash some of my clothes tomorrow. They are no longer so fresh and so clean ;-)

lilwaldo

quote of the day

2006-06-30T12:03:00.000-07:00

Today's quote of the day was sent to me by none other than my sister julie.

"Its better to be hated for who you are then beloved for who you are not" - Van Zant

And I very much have to agree!

lilwaldo

Ski ski ski

2006-06-29T19:46:00.000-07:00

Well, after 5 hours of skiing today one would assume that I am knackered. Well, you'd be assuming wrong! Little tired, yes, but ready for some evening hiking to hopefully get some sunset shots of the mountain. I really wish I could post photos for all to see but alas, this internet conneciton I'm using it not condusive to doing so. I promise I will do tons when I am in Auckland on Monday.

Anywho, someone else has a pair of the big girl skis on the mountain. Though I found rather amusing that this someone is a 6ft2in male from sweden. ANd he's on the exact same ski as 5ft 4in me. :-) and I could still keep up.

Snow report today. No freshies, but in true PB fashion, I found the power, biatch ;-) You just have to look for it but its always there. It might be under guise of ice but its not.... Gotta hunt out the best pow pow, but if you are willing you can find it! In all seriousness it truly was a lovely day. The skis rode like a dream. The boys at www.edgetoedge.co.nz did an incredible job. They are still trying to get me to work there. And are interested in home networking software... ha ha ha...

Anywho, things are pretty uneventful. I am hoping that the group of 35 ten year old boys has checked out. That wouldbe quite lovely. And that noone has cases of bad ice otnight. It was not me, that I can assure you, but it was not a pleasant thing to hear down the hall at 2 in the morning last night.

So I am off for some hiking. More skiing tomorrow. Looking forward to it. THey are going to open up the very top of themountain so it should be a good time.

lilwaldo

The mountains make me smile.

2006-06-28T18:45:00.000-07:00

So after an uneventful evening last night, I got up early this morning and headed off for Mt. Ruapehu - http://www.skotel.co.nz. The drive was stunning. First it was pretty flat as I drove along the southern coastal way. Then I took a turn in towards the mountains (that were teasing me in the distance the entire time) and spend about 2 hours driving through some of the most amazing farms and country side I have ever seen. It is absolutely gorgeous. Huge rolling hills, sheep and cows everywhere, and the occasional waterfall. In some ways it slightly reminded me of West Virginia.

Ok. I have to take a break in my post. this is the SECOND time in 2 hours that vanilla ice has come on the radio. What in gods name is up with this place. I think they are obsessed with this dude... Or just stuck in the 90s. Don't know which is worse..

Ok back to my post. Upon arrival at my hotel (which sits half way up ruapehu...) I quickly checked in, dropped my stuff off and headed down to the ski shop to get the skis ready to go. And once again the big girl skis were called into question (are these yours, your brothers... someone elses?) to which i firmly said, NO! I have riden them for 2 years, and don't plan on quitting them now... I have to admit I had a bit of a smirk on whilesaying this simply because I love the expression people have. It's all about breaking down the stereotypes...

Anyways, I have limited internet access (and no way of uploading photos) so no pictures yet. I promise that on Monday I will get heaps and heaps of photos up for every one see.

For now, just picture me and three very large mountains behind me. Good enough eh?

lilwaldo

Song of the day....

2006-06-27T18:39:00.000-07:00

Today's song of the day, is "Cheap sunglasses" by ZZTop. Many of you had what would be considered a "normal" childhood. Listening to Raffi and being quite happy to do so. Well, let's just say mine was a little, umm, different. Given that Pink Floyd, the Doors, and of course ZZTop are what I remember coming through the radio. So today, when driving around the back roads of Mt. Taranaki, I could do nothing but laugh and sign at the top of my lungs (in true waldo fashion) when ZZTop's "cheap sunglasses came on.. Not only was I reminded of driving around in my dad's truck listening to said song, but also, every Easter morning quickly came to mind, as my mom always gave us cheap plastic sunglasses on easter. One easter in particular up at hobart these I'm sure came in handy when it is highly possible that Julie & myself had a case of bad ice the night before. If you do not know what having a case of bad ice is, I am sorry to say, but you have not lived the waldo way.

Anyways, cheers, grow your beards long and crank up the zztop!

lilwaldo.

Another day..

2006-06-27T18:03:00.000-07:00

So after an incredible sunset last evening, I headed homne for a relaxing "spa" (ok it was just a bath, but just imagine if you will..) had some pizza and not suprisingly was fast asleep. I know I should be out partying, but in all honestly, this is the most relaxed I have felt in years. I have never been able to let things "just go" the way I have on this vacation. I used to freak out all the time, and would have let the passport issue just destroy me with worry. Now, Im just kind of relaxed. Everything is so not intense on this trip.

Anyways, today I was up at 645 and up the hill (behind my hotel) to shoot the mountain and city at sunrise. It was incredible> Then I took off for some hiking on mt. taranaki. And let tell you, these kiwi skiiers are tough. Now I know I do a lot of hiking for a little bit of skiing, but these KIDS (yes kids) who are on holiday, will drive up 40 min, park their cars, hike another 40 min, just to get to a dinky little ski field. I found the hike quite enjoyable (and wished I had known the ski field would be open cause then the big girl skis would have come with me..) Oh well. It was a nice indeed at 9am in the morning - great way to start the day.

Now I am back in New Plymouth, in a great restaurant (with wifi) over looking the water, sipping a glass of NZ chardonnay (yes, i know I am turning into my mothers daughter)and just relaxing.

Ok. here are some photos!

This is Mt. Taranaki at sunris
e (7am) this morning!

This one is where I went hiking today!!

Driving miss libby...

2006-06-26T20:19:00.000-07:00

So today included a whole lot of driving. Thank goodness for talk radio! Ha! Cause that was all that I could hear. However, it did remind me of a couple of things. First and foremost, NZ is supposed to be the land of tolerance where the indigenous and the "others" live in harmony. Recently there was a situation where twin baby boys were murdered, most likely by family. This situation has caused quite a stir because no one in the family will talk to police, thus stonewalling the investigation and thus causing a lot of commotion between the Pakeha (whites) and Maori. I think the truth of the inter-racial relations is that it is just more in the for-front. The issues and problems that arise between the two cultures are much more out in the open, rather than pretending like they don't exist.

Anyways, off of my "soapbox" and back to my regular rantings. And I should probably share, there are few certainties in lil's life and here is another set of them. I tend to be a smiley person with a bubbly (albeit sometimes obnoxious) personality, but there are a few things that will always ensure a big smile on my face and they are:

pink roses - yes, even I am that much of girly girl at times
coffee with long time friends that I haven't seen for a while
the smell of the sea in the morning
snow covered mountains.

It is this last one that I would like to speak of now. Taranaki, where I currently am, is the home of mt. taranaki, which stands behind me now. This gorgeous and large snow covered mountain, reminds me a bit of rainier. However, it is far pointier (though not quite as tall). This evening I am off to take some sunet shots of it.

Tomorrow should involve some great hikes and more sunrise photos.

Am having uploading issues... this whole stealin wifi thing isn't really condusive to uploading photos... hahaha... I don't think NZ has heard too much about war driving before!

Ok, im out before the internet police catch me!

lilwaldo

Men detterant, advice to men, and a new found addiction?

2006-06-26T00:19:00.000-07:00

So. There are a few things you quickly figure out when you are a 24 year old female, from the states, traveling in a different land. How to ward off men. The simplest way possible - take a seemingly normal silver band, throw it on your left ring finger and voila! Instant men repellent! Some might be freakishly attracted to you, but for the most part, when you don't feel like having men in speedos hit on you, while you are trying to chill out in the spa, it will help keep them away. Which leads me to the second point. Men. Do not, and I repeat, DO NOT, wear speedos. Don't teach your children to do it, and don't set a bad example! Some things should go the way of the Apple IIE and that is one of them.

However, if you find yourself around one, I highly recommend you take my advice and therapy and get a 1/2 hour water massage... mmmm I am completely hooked. It was the most relaxing 1/2 hour of my love. Ahhhh.....

So, for those of you wondering how my adve nture at the american consulate went, everything is a ok. It took a little bit to get into auckland (and i found that they put a HUGE stadium up next to where i used to live) but once i found a car park and the building the consulate was quite easy. new passport on its way!

the drive down here, to rotorua was quite beautiful. and while it is early (not even quite 8pm) i think i will grab a bit to eat and relax for the evening!

Arrival, Mon, & silly memories

2006-06-25T23:59:00.000-07:00

So. After finally making it through customs/immigration and finally getting my car (and quickly briefing myself on driving on the "left" side of the road, I finally was on my way to Moniques farm. I was quickly greeted by her mum and dad, served a cuppa (for those of you in Seattle that would be a latte, for those of you in Boston, that would be a cup 'o caafeee.) Monique shortly returned home from the gym and it really was like no time has passed at all. I have a few friends like this, around the world actually. Where I may not see them for days, weeks, months, and with Mon, YEARS, but its like we haven't missed a beat. We quickly caught up and found out a couple things...

25 year old women throughout the world deal with the same problems when it comes to men and we all feel the same frusterations
the universal truth - men don't want to be married until they *finally* find the right one
it doesn't get better as we get older...
ha. i had a date with kiwi bloke at this place on the right... couldn't remember at first why it was so familar.. ha ha ha...

Anyways, after revisiting some of my old fav. locations (and seeing some crazy changes have taken place.) was quickly reminded how much I love NZ hot chocolate (and that I must bring some of the marshmallows home..) Dinner was had with Mon and her girlfriends (the three of them could quite easily be living mirror lives to KT and lil, I told them of some of the adventures we had, and had them roaring with laughter...KT wait till I tell you some of their stories...)

Anyways, on Sunday I headed down to the Buckleys farm in Te Kwata. When I arrived I found out that Peter and Jud were off picking up their little grandson Zach. Once they arrived home, Tam and I had a nice walk around the farm. I really wanted to see those 51 trees I planted three years ago. While I was hoping they'd be quite large by this point. Oh well. Jud, my kiwi "mum", cooked an amazing roast with kumras, potatoes, parsnip, mashies, peas, and pavlova for dessert. I was a very happy girl and couldn't stay up for very long at all. Apparently dancing with the stars is all the rage here - but yet I couldn't make it through it.

quick post

2006-06-25T17:59:00.000-07:00

So, real quick. Passport situation is a-ok. My new one will be waiting for me at the end of the week! FABULOUS. Thanks to all those who helped out. Mum, no need for the birth certificate. I should be good to go! Am having a lovely lunch in the town of cambridge. Yummy paninis! There is so much great stuff that I forgot I loved!!! The people, of course, are as nice as always.

More later and pics I promise are coming.

Time for me and the RAV to get on our way to rotorua and the polynesian spa!

lilwaldo

Ah the life of little waldo

2006-06-23T12:26:00.000-07:00

So... As I've stated before (and will state many times in the future) seemingly normal every day things (like passing through customs) are always an adventure for lilwaldo. I have arrived in NZ, my second homeland. After a glorious flight on a 777 (where I was once again reminded why I love Air New Zealand so much) I arrived at customs. I should probably interject that my passport has some water damage. Now, I had been told by a number of officials that it would be a-ok. That I had nothing to worry about. Yea well tell that to the large Maori customs lady. She was none to amused and sent me, down to immigration. Yikes. That was scary enough!Immigration is the place for derelics. Not sweet little girls like me! HA! After a stern talking to by the customs official (he was a bit harsh) I was told that I was allowed in but needed to get a new passport with American consulate before I left. Ok, two weeks to do so. Shouldn't be too bad? Right? Well, being the tech savy child that I am, I immediately hopped onto some WIFI found all the right documents and you can bet at 830 am Monday morning the Auckland consulate will be seeing my bright and shinning little face.

ALWAYS an adventure. That's what I love about my life. The initial stress is over. I've got a plan and will have it all taken care of. And hey, I'm cleared to stay for 3 months, worst case scenario, I'm stuck here, in a land that I absolutely love.

So its a beautfiul day, albeit its 730 am and I'm utterly exhausted, but its gorgeous outside, my shuttle to pick up my car will be here in no time, and I will be on my way to hanging with friends, seeing new sites, and chillin on the mountain!

Cheers everyone!

lilwaldo

Song of the day....

2006-06-22T19:48:00.000-07:00

Song of the day goes to Gnarls Barkley, "Crazy." Check it out if you haven't. Going to let the lyrics speak for themselves today:

"I remember when, I remember, I remember when I lost my mind
There was something so pleasant about that place.
Even your emotions had an echo
In so much space

And when you're out there
Without care,
Yeah, I was out of touch
But it wasn't because I didn't know enough
I just knew too much

Does that make me crazy
Probably

And I hope that you are having the time of your life
But think twice, that's my only advice

Come on now, who do you, who do you, who do you, who do you think you are,
Ha ha ha bless your soul
You really think you're in control

Well, I think you're crazy
I think you're crazy
I think you're crazy
Just like me

My heroes had the heart to Lose their lives out on a limb
And all I remember is thinking, I want to be like them
Ever since I was little, ever since I was little it looked like fun
And it's no coincidence I've come
And I can die when I'm done"

Maybe I'm crazy
Maybe you're crazy
Maybe we're crazy
Possibly

lilwaldo

On the road again...

2006-06-22T19:19:00.000-07:00

Actually this posting should be called "in the air again." So far I have successfully made it to San Fran. Ok. I know not as exciting as the "real thing." AKA NZ, but still, I'm on step closer. Though something occured to me this evening, why is that when something is named "International" it instantaneously becomes exotic? For example, I'm walking through the Alaska Airlines terminal at SFO and everything is fine and dandy, however, in order to catch an international flight, obviously you've got to go through the international terminal. There is just something different about being in an international terminal. On one hand everything seems "sophisticated..." Yet in the same regard it also seems so sterile. I've flown quite a bit. Boston, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, New Zealand, Australia, etc... And yet it seems weird to me that when you go to all these amazingly unique and beautiful countries - the "international" terminal is always so bland. Which, the more I think about it seems like a contradiction in itself. When I think about the international district of Seattle, I think of the center of all things ethnic. New foods to try, brightly colored buildings... Or if I think of travelling internationally I think of that weird feeling where you are in a completely foreign environment and are 100% out of your element. For me this feeling, that I think freaks people out a lot, is strangely comforting. Anyways, back to my topic. It just seems strange to me that in the gateway to all things international you feel as though you are in a hospital, rather than enterance to foreign experiences.

Well. I will be headed off here pretty soon. Yea for 13 hours on a flight.... WOOO HOOO.... mmm I hope they serve me hokie pokie ice cream and kiwi wine... :-) This is gonna be one helluva trip.

lilwaldo

pics from the weekend

2006-06-21T17:51:00.000-07:00

If you'd like to see pic's from the weekend please visit:

http://www.samanthafarbman.com/Journals/2006/2006-2.html

Gotta love the tiara shot. Truth is, sometimes these hardcore sports I do, just aren't girly enough. I'm sorry. I am not a girly girl. I don't care if I break a nail. However, I am proud to be a chic so sometimes wearing a tiara (or lots of pink) is necessary to show those boys that I can rip it up just like they can but I can also do it while maintaining my femininity.

Ok. So things have been a bit crazy.

2006-06-21T17:45:00.000-07:00

Ok. So. In a matter of a week all of the following happened:

Camped at Rainier one more time before heading out of town
Had an amazing day on the mtn with some great friends
Got hysterical looks from the RMI guides when they first saw the tiara on my head (hey, it was princess day on the mtn, well in my world it was) and it was even funnier when they saw the big girl skis (aka my blizzards).
Killer turns had coming down from Rainier
MADE it all the way to paradise without having to hike the skis (sorry bill and Tim - found a much better way down!)
Had a little blister turn into a monster.
Got a tetnus shot
Went on one type of antibiotics
Almost had my trip cancelled by my doctor
Found out I have a kick ass immune system
trip was back on, again
On new meds

Still haven't packed, shopped or done most anything.
Still have a few things to wrap up for work.
Oh yea, and did I mention I get on the plane in less than 24 hours.
HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA

Life is fun as lilwaldo. :-)

Dear lord.

2006-06-19T16:10:00.000-07:00

So a full trip report from this weekend is on its way, but to give you all a little snapshot it did involve me wearing a tiara on Rainier and getting a tetnus shot today! :-) And while it might look like it, I did NOT have my appendix removed!

hahaha... great times.

lilwaldo

Song of the day....

2006-06-16T09:02:00.000-07:00

Today's song of the day is "Taking the long way around" by the Dixie Chicks. I was very much raised on the belief that if you don't stand for something you'll fall for anything (cliche I know) and well 2 years ago these women took a stand on something they believe in. And that just raised them up in my book...

Lyric samplin'

"Well, I fought with a stranger and I met myself
I opened my mouth and I heard myself
It can get pretty lonely when you show yourself
Guess I could have made it easier on myself

But I, I could never follow
No I, I could never follow

Well, I never seem to do it like anybody else
Maybe someday, someday I'm gonna settle down
If you ever want to find me I can still be found

Taking the long way
Taking the long way around"

Truth be told many of can probably relate to her. Lord knows I can. The path of least resistance has never been my preferred method of traveling. But once again, the hardest struggles and the biggest risks, end up with the most amazing rewards.

lilwaldo

One week until....

2006-06-16T07:25:00.000-07:00

The day that never exists for me! I have NO June 23rd as I will be flying to NZ! I leave on the 22nd and 14 hours later I will be in Auckland! WOO HOO!

Shout out

2006-06-14T16:46:00.000-07:00

I just want to give a big shout out to all my friends who are there for me. For the ridiculousness of lives we all live - I love each and every one of you for it. And the fact that you all love me including the insanity that I might cause in your lives. To all my "true bum" friends who have gone to pursue something "different," I am terribly proud of you. Samantha - you are going to be amazing on your own. Katie - Costa Rica will be incredible. Xan - keep fighting the good fight. Jesse - shoot on man.

Anyways. I just was very emotionally moved and you all inspire me. I hope you know that. You have such passion and conviction and continue to give me strength when I am lacking. The fact is, some people claim they live the life you guys do. But the truth is, at the end of the day it is very hard to be as true to yourselves as you guys are. It may not be easy and you all fight against some very hard odds all the time. But I wouldn't trade any of you for anything.

people are not right in the head.

2006-06-14T07:06:00.000-07:00

CNN Headline today, "$200 bottle of champagne from Hooters and $300 worth of "Girls Gone Wild" videos were among items bought with debit cards handed out by FEMA to help hurricane victims, auditors probing $1 billion in potential waste and fraud have found."

Is anyone else as outraged by this as I am? I mean, the largest at-home disaster for the US in YEARS takes place. Isn't it bad enough how our government handled the situation, couldn't humanity at least pick up some of the slack? Now I'm sure many of you are thinking, lil, stop being so naive. This is reality. Well I'm sorry, I won't take that for an excuse. I never have and I never will. People say that "idealists" like myself paint a pretty picture in our heads that will never come true. I'm sorry, but I just don't agree. I think there is some really messed up shit in this world right now. No doubt about it. However, I also believe that there is a better way. And if we don't at least strive for something better - a unified human race, then what is the point? Crappy things happen to us all. But that is no reason to be cynical about the future. We need to learn from the bad experiences and push for the good ones.

Now, I should say, I do not believe that we will all hold hands and skip around like at a hippie fest. In fact, I'm starting to realize that that attiude drives me crazy, because the truth is, we will not all just get along. However, what we can do is exist on this planet together. Some groups will never get along and be all lovey dovey "living in perfect harmony." However - I do believe that at some point we can all co-exist. Otherwise, what's the point in getting up everyday if you don't believe things have the power to change?

Ok. There lilwaldo's world view post.

lilwaldo

"Our past makes us who we are today but it does not determine who we will be in the future...that is up to us alone."

Snow is a dumpin!

2006-06-13T08:27:00.000-07:00

The snow is dumpin at Mt. Ruapehu. :-)

I, of course, have nothing ready to go, and am leaving one week from Thursday and I am sure, will not be ready to go until before I head out the door Thursday afternoon.

But hey, its snowin in NZ and I will be there soon. So, right now, that's all I pretty much care about!

Question of the day....

2006-06-13T08:21:00.000-07:00

If you could change one thing about your past, or know one thing about your future which would you choose?

Life is rough when your lil'waldo....

2006-06-12T12:10:00.000-07:00

Many of you know, I love Mt. Rainier... It borders on a slight obsession. Ok. I'll admit it I am addicted to that mountain. So, this past Saturday, after working an 8 hour day at the climbing gym (screaming 7 year olds and all) I loaded up into the golf and headed down to Rainier. My friends Bill and Tim were already down there (and nicely had a campfire and beer waiting for me on my arrival...) Bills "two match" fire (that really should be a one match) was just what I needed to decompress after a rather insane week - and to get ready for the next days activities...

At this point an "attempt" was made at no-bake cheesecake - which really just turned into vanilla pudding pie. The challenge has been thrown down and now Bill is in charge of fires and I am in charge of desserts... Anyways.

An early start, was not had on Sunday morning. We had been a little optimistic, however sleeping in took over. Ok, so to many of you 845 is not really sleeping in, but considering I was up at 4am last weekend when I was camping, this was quite nice. At about 1030 we got up to paradise, got the skis ready and we were off, like a bat out of hell. Ok, so maybe we weren't moving *that fast* but we were cruising along. There were quite a few others on the trail and the sun was shinning so in my opinion it was a great way to get the day started. The three of us stuck together pretty much all the way up to Pebble creek. (Which is still pretty much snowed in except for one spot - what a difference from this time last year!)

If any of you have been on the hike to Muir, there is one thing you know to be true. It is a very long slog. Now, I'm not really sure how to best phrase the rest of the this. Truth be told, lilwaldo was at a pace, which, according to Tim was 2x faster than Tim's pace. (And according to Bill I am in 25% better shape). In my mind, this is an exageration. These two kicked some serious ass as they had never done anything like this before. However, I did end up at camp muir a little bit ahead of them. I think it is due to the fact that when I'm on Rainier, I just get into the zone - with an eclectic mix on the mp3 players (that yes, does range from David Gray to Kanye to even a little Britney) it just pushes me up the mountain. of them and since the weather turned quite rapidly after I got there. So, I decided the best thing to do, would be to ski down to the two and see what their thoughts were. Worst case scenario, I would hang out while they continued on up. The group consensus was that we should all turn around and head back down. And we did.

and some nice june turns on mt. rainier were had by all

There were a couple short stints where skis had to be carried over rocks. However, all in all, The 45 min ski down was certainly worth the 3.5 hours up. There were a few moments when we weren't 100% sure of the best way down, and potentially almost skiied into rocks. But that's the point of having one person "scout it out" right... So that only one pair of skis get ripped up, not all.... :-) I will note, next time, I'm going to due a better job of mentally noting which ways are potentially the best to be skiied down.

Anyways, now I know you all (Mom and Dad in particular) think this is just plain ridiculous. Me carrying my skis all the way up just for 45 min of turns. Well, maybe it is. But I think it was worth every moment. Our journey is not what but who we are. And this is a perfect example of that. I would take the hike up any day. NOt only is it putting me in killer shape, but the rewards are incredible. Plus, sitting around in the parking lot, drinking a beer and shooting the shit with my friends afterwards truly is priceless (not to get all mastercard on you).

yes. my outfit is ridiculous. im ok with it.

On a side note, the home made bread, pie, and beef stew is still top shelf at the copper creek inn. Once again, I recommend it to anyone who may just happen to be passing through Ashland this summer.

-lilwaldo

the happy crew - bill/tim/lilwaldo

Song of the day....

2006-06-12T11:09:00.000-07:00

Song of the day: Jack Johnson - Breakdown. Some of you may have received these lyrics in the past from me. At certain stages in my life this song always just seems to make sense. I'll let the following samplin' of lyrics take it from here!

"But you cant stop nothing
If you got no control
Of the thoughts in your mind
That you kept in, you know
You don't know nothing
But you don't need to know
The wisdoms in the trees
Not the glass windows
You cant stop wishing
If you don't let go
But things that you find
And you lose, and you know
You keep on rolling
Put the moment on hold
The frames too bright
So put the blinds down low

I promise a TR from yesterday is on its way. "bluebird" day as eastlaker put it. Abso-lu-te-ly amazing day on rainier!

sometimes....

2006-06-10T10:50:00.000-07:00

Today's horoscope. "Sure, you're silly -- but your silliness has a purpose. Stand behind your frivolity with confidence. Even when it has no point, it helps you enjoy life a lot more than some overly serious types do. Who needs more? "

Interesting this would come precisely today. Last evening was my good friends birthday/house warming party. And at one point, for some reason, I felt completely out of place. Which really was absurd. It was my best friends house, her boyfriend is a great friend of mine, I knew about 99% of the people there, but for some reason, something didn't quite fit. And I think what I now realize is that people really don't know what to do with me sometimes. I mean, I know I am a lot to handle. I have a hella lot of energy. And I'm not afraid to make an arse out of myself when necessary (sometimes when its not necessary). But what I'm left wondering - does this turn people away from me? And if it does, that kinda sucks. But, on the flip side, I'm not putting on a mask and I'm not pretending to be something I am not. I am what I am. And I enjoy it. You may think I'm a little crazy but I wouldn't trade my spunk for the world. Maybe that's arrogant of me. Maybe I'm being a little selfish - but maybe I am finally becoming comfortable with who I am. And maybe, I am done of trying to pretend because I might rub people the wrong way. There is a certain need for people to be appropriate at times. I would not run through a black tie wedding doing the chicken dance. However, I will try and see if I can skip an entire evening instead of walking, just for the challenge. Or, I might happen to wear obnoxiously bright pink pants, just because I love the color pink. There are many people who do things just to get attention, but I think its important to realize, some of us do these things because it is who we are. We're an eclectic bunch, but we will definitely add a little spice to your life.

lilwaldo

what would you do...

2006-06-08T22:30:00.000-07:00

If you were handed a million dollars? A friend of mine asked me that recently. And I've decided, I really have no idea what I would do. Suggestions?

Song of the day....

2006-06-08T15:01:00.001-07:00

Today's song of the day is wings for marie (part 1) and 10,000 days by Tool... These two songs really shouldn't be listened to seperately so both receive today's honor. As always, if you don't have it, let me know.

Lyrics:
Daylight dims leaving cold fluorescence
Difficult to see you in this light
Please forgive this selfish question, but
What am I to say to all these ghouls tonight
She never told a lie,
... well might have told a lie,
But never lived one.
..................................
Daylight dims leaving cold fluorescence.
Difficult to see you in this light.
Please forgive this bold suggestion:
Should you see your Maker's face tonight,
Look Him in the eye, look Him in the eye, and tell Him:
I never lived a lie, never took a life, but surely saved one.
Hallelujah, it's time for you to bring me home."

While I'm not a practicing person of any religion, as a friend of mine said recently, Tool is the thinking man's white Zombie... and I very much agree. His lyrics are as full of emotion as his songs. And I am always impressed by those musicians who push their personal limits. Rather than always being "heavy rock," Tool continues to incorporate sounds from a multitude of sources. Making Tool a-ok in my book!

How can you not...

2006-06-06T22:43:00.000-07:00

Love a kid as cute as this. I swear he gets all his good loooks from his auntie tt... too bad i dont have red hair or a round face, but still. Obviously he takes after me :-)

To all you mass-holes...

2006-06-06T22:27:00.000-07:00

If you're gonna be around at the end of August, let me know, KT and I are coming for a visit and as always I will pack a bazillion things to do into my very short time period home. :-) Love to see all of you! And party to be had in honor of the big man's 60th. Rumour has it there will be a band, and of course, in true waldo fasion, plenty of booze and good times had by all!!!!

Song of the day....

2006-06-06T13:54:00.000-07:00

My song recommendation of the day is The Man Comes Around Lyrics by none other than Johnny Cash. If you don't have this song then that is sad. Just kidding, let me know, I'd be happy to share.

Best quote:

"There's a man going around taking names and he decides
Who to free and who to blame every body won't be treated
Quite the same there will be a golden ladder reaching down
When the man comes around

The hairs on your arm will stand up at the terror in each
Sip and each sup will you partake of that last offered cup
Or disappear into the potter's ground
When the man comes around"

Hard nights work......

2006-06-05T21:12:00.000-07:00

Kt and lil were quite hard at work tonight :-).

"shits messed kt, shits messed.... we shouldn't even try and figure it out...."

Apparently in Seattle we have these spit bugs.. they make my rosemary bush look like its foaming... (see colin, im not crazy! well, at least not this once)

Yet another weekend adventure....

2006-06-04T20:25:00.000-07:00

Ok. So this weekend wasn't quite the same as the one before. I didn't ski down any big mountains, I didn't have any adventures involving men, however, I am coming away from this weekend once again with a reassurance about a few things in my life:

I am fiercely indepdent.
Hood river rocks my world
Lost lake, should really be called hidden because when you put the sign in the middle of the intersection it makes it really hard to find the stinkin' thing
The dude at the general store in lost lake is darling - he gave me a plastic fork "on the house"
If you see a car with tires taller than you - you will loose the bet- if you make the claim that they are hot based on the fact that they are wearing baseball caps
It is impossible to overcome OCD systematically because you get stuck on step two and keep repeating it over and over and over and over
Samantha is a true friend.
I have a tendency to get over-involved and it is my new goal to over come this
I love to spend every single night that I can in a tent with my friends, laughing over stupid shit, getting up at 4 am to take pictures of sunrises that don't happen, having coffee - sitting on a wall - overlooking some of the most amazing mountains I know - and being tired for the rest of the day, but not taking a nap
driving relaxes me until people from seattle cut me off.
RMI guides will always be hot. No matter what.
Mt. Hood, Mt. St. Helens, and Mt. Rainier like to play "peek-a-boo" with one another
When a national park road says closed ten miles a head, its probably for a good reason and you probably shouldn't try and push your luck because you might just "happen" to end up with a car making funny noises... that would never happen in real life of course
After a few waterfalls - they do all start to look the same.
Getting a way every weekend - my number one goal for the summer.

That pretty much sums up my weekend, now I must get all these pesky pictures up online. Thank god I finally learned all the ins and outs of my camera... Till the next adventure!

-lilwaldo

May 28, 2006

2006-06-04T20:09:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I know its a week later (sorry!!!) but I am finally ready to finalize this posting about the weekend in J. Hole. Sunday went something a little like this: wake up (well some of us did, someone who wasn't feeling all that great slept till three) breakfast, nap, hike, dinner, movie, sleep! ha ha ha.. Little bit more than that, ok ok ok. The weather went something like this though: sun, rain, sleet, hail, sun, snow, sun snow, clouds.... Craziness. After Alex, Colin, and I had some breakfast the weather turned pretty sour and we all headed back to the house... We lounged a bit Ben finally overcame his bad ice, Colin and I fell asleep on the couch and woke up promptly at 430, pm. At this point, I started to get a little stir crazy (and since I think everyone would have really thought I was insane if I had run around outside banging on pots and pans - like I normally do when cabin fever strikes) I did start dancing in the driveway. Alex I think recognized those signs and Ben Alex and I decided to take a nice little hike in Grand Teton National Park. Once again, I was amazed and loved the peaceful beauty of our nations National Parks. There is just something different about a National Park that you can't quite explain unless you've been in one when no one else is around. Most of you know my most favorite place on earth is Rainier Mt. There are a million reasons as to why but it is due in no small part to the beauty I see and the peace I feel on that mountain. There is an inner calm that takes over. I once again was struck by this feeling in GTNP. Anyways, Ben Alex and I took a nice couple mile hike up to some over-looks and promptly were snowed upon... Oh well. After which we headed home for an amazing dinner, (who knew a Hamlin boy could cook!), chilled out, watched a movie... Sadly at 8am the next morning the boys (Alex and Colin) headed back to the mountain for some more runs and Ben and I loaded up the mom mobile, I mean volvo and headed back to the fair city of seattle. Sad to leave Jackson, yes. But I came away with precisly what I was looking for, though I didn't even know I was looking for it. The truth is, when I headed out on this trip I was not in the best place. I was getting out of a seemingly good relationship, that turned horribly sour (which I still don't get) and feeling a bit over-whelmed with life. After this mini-break I found I had a restored sense of who I am. More to come.

Pink is the color for flirts.....

2006-06-01T14:37:00.000-07:00

I was recently informed that pink is the color for flirts. For this reason, this will be the summer of pink, or if you care to translate, summer of flirts. Which has lead KT and myself to come up with a credo, on this first day of June, for the summer of 2006. It currently includes the following items:

Pink must be worn by all participants at least 3x a week
Friday night happy hours are to take place on the road to camping/hiking/surfing for the weekend
We will not spending weekend evenings at the Red Door/Nickerson/Norms, etc.
Pedicures will take place at least once a month
All men selections must be pre-approved by other members of Summer of Pink (herewithin SOP)
By pink for KT we mean green (and we all know what green means ;-)
All road trips must include a customized SOP cd
Only "girly" drinks allowed in our SOP flasks
Catch phrase: "You curse the day I decided to stay true to myself."

Feel free to add more!

lilwaldo

Rainier, anyone?

2006-06-01T08:24:00.000-07:00

June 11th, anyone interested in heading up to Muir, skiing down? If the weather is good maybe some camping in RNP on Saturday night? If interested, inquire within. :-)

Saturday May 27th, 2006

2006-05-31T21:10:00.000-07:00

So alas, we all "awoke" saturday morning, and I use the "awoke" lightly because it was more that we all stubled out of our respective sleeping locations and eventually got all of our gear together. A split board had to be dealt with (damn snowboarders - always slowing up the process) skiis quickly adjusted, the subaru was loaded up and we took off on a grey morning to Jackson Hole ski area. After a quick bite to eat (for the boys - seriously, I don't think I can fit a fourth of the food they eat on an hourly basis in an entire day) we headed off to the tram. Unfortunately we missed the first tram (due to a large troop of asian tourists... oh my. i just realized something, i will have to prep myself for the asian tourists in NZ again... oh boy... if any of you knew me when I lived there before you know precisely what I am talking about). So, we had to wait around a little bit longer, but finally we were on the tram headed up to some glorious (ok maybe not January at Alpental, pass closing, 12-18 inches of NW freshies) but hey, its memorial day and i was going skiing. Who is this girl to complain!

After getting to the top, gearing up, we headed out of bounds. For those of you who might be a little confused the actual ski resort is "closed" to skiiers at this time. You have to head out of bounds to be able to actually ski. So off we took passing a few skiiers who claimed it was all a sheet off ice, this attempted to damper our spirits, but hell - that's pretty damn hard to do to me! So we kept on keepin on and eventually made it to the snow hill. Where we then had to sk down to the location where we then put on the skins and went back up. Now let me stop here for a moment because I am sure there are many of you are thinking, lil, that just seems a little bit ridiculous, you have driven a car, taken a tram, hiked, skiied, skiined and then you finally get to take some real runs?! And all I can say is, well, yea.

[Caption to this photo- I think Colin was frusterated with me ;-)]

It's a whole lot of work and sometimes the rewards are only two one minute runs before you have to put the skins back on and head back up and out of the bowl, but that is the joy of the "activities" I do. Sometimes it takes a lot of work ;-) but the natural high you can get from it is just oh so amazing.

After hiking up we "rested" for a few moments, had some goodies from our sponsors and right when we clicked into the skis, the sun came out and a beautiful run was had. Still waiting on some photos from that run because Alex was in charge that time through. And I promise the video footage is in the works! Anyways, we were all feelin' pretty good (I swear it has nothing to do with the help from our sponsor, my friend, JackD.) and we decided to hit that run again. Amazingly the boot up seemed to go even faster, can't ever imagine why! This time around we only stayed at the top briefly - just enough time to realize things were turning and our sun was very being chased away but some dark clouds and strong winds. After another few great turns, we headed back towards the Tram. Put our skins back on and headed out. However, quickly there was a bit bigger of a problem. No, a hot guy didn't ski by and I didn't run into a tree or fall down (I swear, I've never done that before - KT I can hear you roaring with laughter we are both sharing the same vision right now). The problem was the winds kept picking up. At first it seemed like it would blow over, but it didn't and before we all knew this 125lb girl was blown over, again, and again, and again. And it only got worse when I was hiking with my skis on my pack. We all got a little nervous, wondering whether or not the TRAM would be open, but apparently Karma was on our side and a whole bunch of tourists were stuck up in the lodge. We only had to wait around about 45 minutes before the winds had died down enough (they got up to about 75mph). Finally we made it back car, back to the condo, showered had some great mexican, watched x3, had a few beers, and was umm in bed by 1130pm. (Yikes, I'm exhausted just writing this. ha!) Ok, some of us were in bed by that point a certain pair of boys who are brothers had another mission and let's just say I think there was quite a bit of bad ice in some of those drinks.

One final quote from Saturday, "Don't you know who I am... I 'm the juggernaut bi+ch!!!"

wow. that turned into a long post and it took quite a while due to certain distractions. but as we all know, lil loves to be distracted. So alas, I sign out for now!!!

ha ha ha...

2006-05-30T22:04:00.000-07:00

Sometimes when you are right, you are right.

Friday May 26th,

2006-05-30T20:53:00.000-07:00

So alas, we arrived in Jackson... To find Alex standing on his office's balcony laughing at the clown show that Ben and I had turned into. By the time we both bailed out of the car we were arguing like an old married couple...actually more like siblings. The bickering hadn't stopped in about 2 hours (prior to which Ben was asleep so wasn't really an issue). Anyways, after visiting Alex's abode, grabbing some lunch, and resting for a few Alex headed back to work. It is at this point that I should introduce you to Colin, Alex's roomate as he will be an integral part to this story. Colin is a nice chap, originally from Duxbury, MA. Went to Milton with Ben and Dartmouth with Alex.

So Ben, Colin, and I headed off to the liquor, no... I did not have that great of an influence on everyone (hell it was only 2pm, that's early even for me!) Anyways, we headed off to the liqour store to pick up the necessary tickets for the evenings activities - Jackson Hole Wine Tasting. After which we had a relaxing hike (for some - a bit rough on someone else *coughbencough* though I won't mention any names here) that included discussions on everything from biodisel, tuna fishing (yes, dad, I even talked about tuna fishing) amongst many other things. Our short hike (that should have had us back around 5) ended up taking a bit longer and we were all pleasantly suprised to see Alex pull up in the subie in the parking lot :-). After a couple quick showers and clean clothes we were all ready to head to the Jackson Hole wine tasting. A pleasantly suprising event! Picture this: me, lilwaldo - miss east coast (just to give you a mental pic (don't have any real ones) in a pink and green polo, pink belt, jeans, and flip-flops, with three nicely dressed gentlemen arriving in what seemed to be the gathering of the entire town. And I have to admit, while it was nice at first to see how many people Alex and Colin knew, I quickly realized & remembered why I now live in a "big" city and haven't lived in a super small town since I was 18. everyone knew everyone. And everyone knows everything about all the others. Now you may say, lil, what's the big deal with that - your life is an open book, you should practice what you preach. And while this is 100% true, sometimes it's nice not to have to think, am I going to run into my ex? Sometimes, its just really hard to keep up appearances, just to keep everyone happy. Yes, I love it when people get along and yes, I am quite good at getting over crappy things in my life. But the problem is, I can't control anyone else and if they are still hung up on things, try as you may, it can really get in the way of you trying to move on with your life if no one else is moving on.

Also. I once again realized something that I have been thinking about for quite a while. The effect of drama on people's lives. For some reason while at this event, my intuition was telling me that something wasn't quite right with this group of "friends." Later on I would learn the long and tangled story of what was going on, which is completely unimportant to this post. What I realized is how perfectly sane and normal people when paired up with certain other people will just cause drama. This actually was a huge realization for me as it has caused me to reflect on my own life. Why is that when I am around a particular ex of mine there is all this unnecessary drama? I know I have a dramatic streak to me, but what goes on between us is like a catastrophic explosion. And what I see now, is sometimes people, without meaning to do so, end up constantly having friction for whatever reason. And there isn't much you can do it. Personalities clash and while you may really like the person, hell you may even love them, you life, just isn't better with them as your signficant other because there is all this unnecessary stress. And as sad as it is, maybe it is just time to move on and start over fresh. If a relationship is born out of chaos it is very hard to pull it back to some semblance of normalcy.

Anyways, all in all the wine tasting was quite fun. Colin and I found some good Kiwi wine (which obviously I would have loved regardless if it was any good) and also had some amazing champagne. Too bad Colin threw out the tasting book (just kidding - I threw it out). After the wine tasting we grabbed a bite to eat - consisting of elk sausages which were quite yummy! Anywho, after grabbing a beer we entered in to the "upper stage" of the venue where the improv comedy show was taking place. And let me tell you, Improv comedy in Jackson, WY is not all that bad, quite funny actually. I know, that totally sounds like a snobby city girl thing to say, but when you come from the city of endless entertainment (with great shows most nights) its hard to live up to that. But these guys (one of whom was a friend of Alex's) were really good. Some of the jokes most certainly flew over my head but oh well.

After a quick stop at Wendy's we all headed home to bed for a good nights rest. Knowing that before us, on Saturday, lay the next big adventure. The TRAM at Jackson Hole was going to be opening back up again and skiing was to be done!

-lilwaldo

Thursday May 25th 2006

2006-05-29T23:12:00.000-07:00

So. I have finally made it back to seattle, but before I get to that bit of the journey I should probably back step about 5 days. back to where it began. On Thursday evening, around 7pm, Ben and I finally made it out of Seattle. After fighting city traffic, a pitstop at bens house and few other random things, we were on our way and saying adious to this fair city.

This first evening was not all that exciting. Other than the fact that we picked up "new friend." Everyone, meet JC - or Jesus Coconut, our coconut travelling buddy that we found in the Safeway in Cle Elum. While he is not the most talkative individual he most certianly has a mean stare. Anyways, that first evening we drove all they way through UMATILLA and into central/eastern oregon. At about 1:45am we could not drive an longer and slept in a rest stop. I however, was awake at a lovely 5am and couldn't stand it any longer. Told ben to get ready cause we were hitting the road, again.

The views were pretty incredible during the day. The mountains were looming in the distance every where you looked. Nevanda and Utah to the south, Idaho to the north and then, eventually, of course the amazing tetons to the east. If you have never seen the Tetons, I can certainly tell you, you are missing out on something pretty amazing. While they resemble the north cascades there is something unique about them that made me strangely feel very distant from my home mountains, the cascades.

Around 12:30pm mountain time we arrived in "downtown" jackson, called up alex and gave him very chipper "we're here." And alas, we had arrived in Jackson, Wyoming.

If you had pulled me aside right then and there and told me the adventures that were forthcoming, I honestly don't know what my thoughts would have been. As I've stated before, on of my favorite things in life is the anticipation of the unexpected. And well, this weekend was full of excactly that. Completely unexpected events that have left me in an amazingly good mood, confident with some of my recent life choices, and even more self aware and self understanding than before. All that in only four days, I can only imagine what is going to come out of the two weeks in NZ.

So for now, it is very late, I have driven a ton today, and I'd like to get some sleep. So I will sign out, but know, there is a whole lot more coming at you!

lilwaldo

we should all...

2006-05-25T13:28:00.000-07:00

Take a moment and think about how lucky we are. Most of you who read this blog are much like myself, though we don't think its true, many people see us as outdoor extremists. Even my own family thinks I'm a bit insane at time (they are probably true). Another climber has passed on while trying to attempt to summit Mt. Everest, a challenge that is no joke. In the same light, a friend of mine from the climbing gym, Brenda Walsh, summitted and says she didn't think it was all that hard. She, however, is one of RMI's most accomplished guides and is borderline superhuman with her abilties. So what is my point? In regards to the climber who died just a mere 1,000 feet from the summit of everest, Sir Edmund Hilary (my hero) says, "I think the whole attitude toward climbing Mount Everest has become rather horrifying. The people just want to get to the top," he told a Kiwi newspaper. And it is true. If you set out to do some of the things that "we" the outdoor community do, just to conquer a mountain or feel more superior then you are not doing it for the right reasons. The mountains, ocean, and mother earth are always going to be more powerful. Now I'm not saying that we don't get satisfaction from skinning up a new route, or sending that 5.11 we've been working on for so long, but there has to be a sense of humilty that goes along with it. I have seen enough crazy things in my 24 short years to know that none of us are invincible. There are always factors that we can never account for, situations that even in our wildest dreams or scariest nightmares could we scheme up. And the fact of the matter is, at the end of the day, the mountain/ocean/rock/trail/piste/couloir will be there. However, if we don't take care of our brothers and sisters, they might not. And is summiting a mountain really worth a human beings life? I honestly do not believe so.

Sorry for the somber commentary, but I had to share.

lilwaldo

Oh crap.

2006-05-25T12:56:00.000-07:00

Every time I leave for a trip I swear that next time I am going to be more prepared earlier on. I really tried this time, honestly I did. But, alas, I failed. I still have laundry going at home (that has to be packed) still haven't finished cleaning up the apartment (those dishes really can't stay in the sink all weekend, yuck) but its time to just realize and accept, while I am always ready and raring to go, right on time, I love pushing things till the last minute. I'm always throwing one last thing into my bag before I head out the door, just in case. So why should this time be any different? And its not like next weeks trip to Idaho is going to be any different. I'm sure at 545 Samantha will be waiting at my door and I will be throwing that last item into my bag. :-). It's just the joys of being someone who likes to live her life at 5,000 miles per hour and never wants to slow down. Sorry, I just can't, I get way too bored way to easily. I like to have packed weekend because I love doing stuff. Just "sitting tight" has always been my arch nemesis. Go ahead, ask my mom. Asking me to sit still as a little child was probably the hardest thing to do. While my older sister could sit contently and quietly, I would be itching and raring to go at any moment. Funny how that has had such a great affect on my life. Anyways, this post has taken a completely different turn than it started off as. Sorry!. So, I will be leaving in 5.5, oh wait, no, make that 4.5 hours. So much to do, to do!!!!

-lilwaldo

T - 36 hours.

2006-05-24T09:28:00.000-07:00

Road trip begins in less than 36 hours. Still need to:

pack
get a new back pack - INCOMPLETE - everything is sold out.
climb at the gym (ok this is for my own sanity)
work today and tomorrow - 1/2 way done.
laundry
find someone to check up on boston
make brownies (because i have never been on a road trip with out them)
clean my apartment (this one is falling lower on the list)
find all my ski gear
burn loads of road trip cds

I think that's about it. :)

Photo.

2006-05-23T16:54:00.000-07:00

Sam and TT (aka lilwaldo).

Deal has been made.

2006-05-23T16:47:00.000-07:00

Deal has been made. I conceeded to taking Ben's car if and only if we leave on Thursday night. Contest is no longer necessary and the Golf's reputation is still upheld. All is well!

Check this out: Alex's approach in a canoe.

Alex has definitely taken life to a new high.

Super excited to be heading there in just 48 hours - then the games will truly begin. Ultimate road trip songs are highly welcomed. Am composing cds for our adventures!

-lilwaldo

Check out

2006-05-23T12:23:00.000-07:00

Check out this band: Silversun Pickups.

Travelin spirit callin me back...

2006-05-23T11:49:00.000-07:00

So, J.Hole is on thursday and I can't wait. However, I have just added another trip to the roster. Samantha and I will be heading over to Idaho for some camping and chick time the following weekend. The theme of that weekend, "sorry boys.... you're not allowed." The problem being - we spend too much time doing what the dudes want to do and never have time for what we want to do. Why is that all my girls (and myself included) end up feeling like we sacrifice our selves for these relationships, but don't get what we need in return? The problem is when we ask for it - we feel guilty. Because we, being the "cool girls" don't want to force anyone to do what they really dont want to, but yet we will just go along with it and do what we really don't want to.

Hmmm.

Once again....

2006-05-22T08:54:00.000-07:00

Once again, it really is time for me to start listening to my horoscope:

This tug-of-war is getting the two of you exactly nowhere. Can you even remember just what it is you were tussling over? Chances are you can't. Go ahead and drop this rope. It's time to walk away.

Time to walk away is right. Also, I just realized that I never explained the "anticipation of the unexpected" that is the title to my last post. That line has come from something that I am very rapidly learning about myself. I am not someone who likes to plan just because they freak out about the future and have to have everythign lined up and ready to go. It's actually quite the opposite. I plan so that I have something to be excited about in the future. 99.9% of the time what I plan isn't even what takes place, and that is perfectly wonderful with me. It just i love that feeling when you are anticipating that something new and exciting is going to happen - though you don't quite know what it is yet. I'm sure to most of you this is very confusing. Howeve, to me, it makes 110% perfect sense! For example, I am very very excited about my upcoming trip to NZ (which I've been planning for a few months now). However, I don't have every moment of the trip planned. Not even close. I have a few places I will be staying booked and know that I want to ski. But what REALLY is exciting to me, is all the adventures (that I can dream about) that I really don't have any clue will happen. Maybe I will meet a future business partner or find a new friend to add to my amazing network of people I care for. Who knows, but what's the fun if you can't dream and hope about it?

lilwaldo

Alternative energy & the anticipation of the unexpected.

2006-05-20T11:18:00.000-07:00

Check out this site: www.novisenergy.com. Some of you may recognize a familiar name on there, xan. Yes, this is the same xan as my best friends xan and the part i find extremely funny (sorry hon im not laughing at you) is how is the chief technology officer - when did my friends grow up!? Ah the joys of being a 20 something. At least most of us are still living it up. :)

Hmmmmm.

2006-05-19T08:38:00.000-07:00

So I, like many people, get my horoscope sent to me every day. Normally I think its a whole load of garbage, but today it was so frighteningly dead on I had to share it here to remind myself. No I know this could apply to a lot of people but right now it 100% speaks to a situation in my life, so here it is:

You must have respect, you must have freedom and you must have affection.

It's really quite funny. And slightly suprising how much of a challenge it is for me to get all three of those things.

Happy Friday!

-lilwaldo

Dating outside your sport.

2006-05-17T21:28:00.000-07:00

There are many different theories on dating.... Opposites attract, birds of a feather flock together, etc etc etc... Today, while boulding at VW (the climbing gym - not in my car, silly people) I was reading urban climber and came across an interesting "ask the editor" article. This dude was complaining because his chick wasn't into climbing so he was seeking advice on how to get her into it. The editor gave some good tips, but also noted that if she really isn't into it, well it could be a great cause of strife. Which got me thinking - should we date outside our sports? My friend Samantha commented the other day how as we grow up sports become more of your lifestyle, rather than just something you do for fun. For example, most of my close friends are pretty hardcore climbers and skiiers - not only is it what we do for fun - but it is more that this. It is the passion in our life. It is what we do with our vacation. It is what we do after work, on the weekends, any free moment we have is dedicated to it. So what happens when we date outside our sports. What happens if you date someone who isnt into the same sport as you.... And what if they have no interest in joining the sport you love? Now I'm not saying you have to do everything together, everyone needs their own space, but as I am involved in more relationships I am starting to realize how important it is to have someone who shares some of the same interests as you. Someone who, if you want to go away for the weekend will be just as jazzed as you to get on a new sport route, or do some spring skinning to get that last bit of pow before its gone for good. The sport itself isn't what is truly important, but rather having someone who enjoys getting out there and being a part of what you love.

just testing

2006-05-14T20:18:00.000-07:00

Look, it's me!

J.Hole here I come!

2006-05-14T17:18:00.000-07:00

So! New development have decided to bail on Sasquatch for memorial day and am going to Jackson Hole instead. Why J. hole, may you ask? (Which really is a silly question in of itself, but alas I digress) J.Hole provides a couple of things for me. One - to try out my new digital camera/ video recorder - so that I am well acquainted with it before the big trip across the pond, two - am in desperate need of a road trip, and three - to visit someone who has known me all too long and even though we didn't see eachother for ten years (yes, Beth I am old enough to have been very close with someone and not have seen them for that long) he still knows how to push my buttons. Oh and his little bro is driving out there with me - which will be an adventure itself. --> Here's an example of why this trip is going to be oh so very entertaining. Ben and I got into a discussion as to who's car should be taken - and the only qualifying characteristic is (not gas mileage, not comfort, not room) but coolness. OBVIOUSLY my vw golf is cooler than his mom-mobile, I mean volvo. However, the only true way to solve this is by competition. Now you might think we would race our cars or something normal like that. But no - the only true way to decide who's car is cooler is by having a three-legged race (we each have to bring a partner) around Queen Anne. Oh yea, both ben and I have to balance an egg on a spoon with one hand the entire time. How this competition will decide which car is cooler I have no clue. But the fact is , it goes to show how absolutely asinine our trip is going to be. And I, for one, cannot wait for the adventures to begin.

libby

Next move....

2006-04-20T18:06:00.000-07:00

Since this blog is all about "where is lil waldo" i should probably let everyone know where I will be next! Next weekend Beth (The older version of me) and I are going to the coachella music festival in indio cali! I am uber excited about this as everyone will be there from Madonna to Tool, and lots in between. Plus, if all goes according to plan it will be hot HOT hot there and I will come back with a nice tan for bringing in the summer.

Plans for the NZ trip are coming along nice. Three days of skiing scheduled ! YEA!

Men & Women. Do we really speak a different language?

2006-04-20T15:05:00.000-07:00

I think my title says it all. But i think the true problem is perception. I am starting to realize that a/i over analyze, b/i over think, c/i over analyze, d/i care a bit too much. I think what it really boils down to is the fact that everything is all about perception. I mean someone can say something jokingly to me, but my PERCEPTION on the situation could take it to mean something completely different. Which is what I am learning more and more. If men and women and women and women want to have truly functioning relationships we have to learn to seperate our perceptions from what things really mean. Lord knows I struggle with it, but here's to trying.

-lil'waldo

Work Blogs.

2006-04-20T14:58:00.000-07:00

So, I am also a contributing writer to the Network Magic blog, Network Garage. And there seems to be an on-going debate. Do blogs and the workplace mesh... Can you really be as open and "liberal" as you want to be when you are writing a company blog, or do you have to hold your tongue a little bit to prevent upsetting partners, co-workers, competition, etc etc. We've struggled with it at Network Magic, and I still struggle with it as I write this article. If my co-workers come across my personal blog, will they quickly find out too much about me? What if they read the huntress and make the correlation (quite easily) that I am also that lil'waldo... As a girl in her mid-twenties with a business degree, and thinks she is a pretty progressive businesswoman, I think that blogs are a great way to connect and build relationships with your community/customers. But do some go to far in one extreme or another? Will we hold back for fear of people knowing who we truly are? Or are we *finally* turning into a more accepting society where we can recognize that people have unique and amazing talents, but that on a personal level our views may differ greatly? Who knows, but here's to hoping for the best!

-lil' waldo

Off to NZ

2006-04-17T21:52:00.000-07:00

Yea!!! I booked a ticket to NZ today! WHOOO HOOO!!!! I am so very excited and I cannot wait. I will be flying into Auckland - spending time with the Buckley's (my very good friends) going to Queenstown to do some skiing, then up to Taranaki, Ruapehue (more skiing, of course) back to the Buckley's more time in Auckland and then back to the US! It's going to be a bit of a whirl-wind tour but as we all know, Libby isn't happy unless she is running her life at 50 million miles an hour :).

That being said, I have built in a day (or maybe even two) of relaxation while I'm over there. And lots of skiing, which is the best therapy that I know of.

So here's to NZ!