Adventures of 2012!

2012 was quite the year! Here is a highlight of my favorite adventures of the past year.

~ Chattanooga trips ~

We took two climbing trips to Chattanooga this year. We stayed at the Crash Pad and did our climbing at LRC (or Little Rock City). The LRC boulder field is actually located on a golf course property. You pay the clubhouse for entrance to LRC and right to climb on their property. It was our first experience climbing outside and we are truly hooked! Also, we ate some amazing food in Chattanooga, including a feast at the Meeting Place and mounds of inch-tall pancakes at Aretha Frankenstein's. 

~ Corey's high school reunion ~

Our age finally caught up to us! It was time for Corey's 10 year high school reunion. It was a great night catching up with over 100 River Ridge alums.

~ Starting my Etsy shop ~

Even though I technically started my Etsy shop adventure in 2011, this year was definitely the year it began to thrive. I'm ending this year with over 400 sales.

~ Six year wedding anniversary ~

We explored St. Pete this year for our wedding anniversary, the weekend before tropical storm Debbie hit. This made for a rainy, windy weekend getaway that we made the most of.

~ My first visit to Fenway ~

We were lucky enough to have been gifted tickets to a Red Sox game by some wonderful friends and I attended my first game at Fenway!

~ Sailing ~

An impulse purchase on Living Social became a wonderful evening adventure.

~ Welcoming Reagan! ~

Our biggest adventure came at the end of the year. Our family of two became a family of three in 2012!

Reagan Love is Here!

After 2 1/2 years of prayer, 9 months of pregnancy, and about 4 hours of labor, Reagan Love is here!

Here are a few shots from her week one photo shoot. Photos were taken by my father-in-law and styling and assistance from my mother-in-law, husband, and me. Enjoy!

How Rock Climbing Helped My Pregnancy

As I’m nearing the end of my third trimester, I’m truly realizing how blessed I have been to have such a smooth pregnancy. First, I can’t continue without thanking God for this amazing miracle that we have been praying for and the blessing to have such a worry-free 9 months!

After escaping the first trimester yuckies of complete exhaustion and all-day nausea, I’ve really had a wonderful experience. I keep joking that currently my “worst” symptom is this little girl moving so much!

I’ve read a lot online about remaining active during your pregnancy. The general consensus is to continue with the physical activities you were doing on a regular basis before you became pregnant, with the exception of combative sports or anything with a risk of falling. For instance, if you went to a weekly yoga class, you should continue to do so while listening to your body and learning about what positions to avoid, such as twisting, especially as your belly grows.

Working out at 5 months pregnant. 

If you have never been indoor rock climbing, it probably seems impossible to continue this during pregnancy. However, I’ve made many adjustments to keep it safe and healthy, including:

·        Remaining low to the ground during bouldering

·        Switching from small, difficult holds to larger jug holds (similar to handles) while completing routes

·        Avoiding moves that stretch my torso

·        Not top-roping, which requires a harness (This is only safe if a pregnant climber invests in a full body harness, which distributes the weight.)

·        Focusing on traverse routes (side to side, rather than vertical)

Me climbing in Chattanooga. Around 2-3 months pregnant.  

Since Corey and I had been climbing weekly for almost a year and a half before I became pregnant, we felt comfortable for me to keep a regular climbing routine. For the past few months, I’ve been climbing about once a month and here’s how it has helped my pregnancy:

·        A challenge with pregnancy is remaining active. My center of gravity has shifted and my body’s job changed from burning calories and staying fit to, ya know, building a person! So coping with physical limitations was definitely difficult. Climbing has definitely helped me fulfill a physical need while I’m otherwise limited.

·        This may sound silly, but even before pregnancy, climbing technique has made me realize more things about my physical limits in my everyday life. Since I’m on the short side, things often seemed out of reach. But after learning climbing technique, my body knows how to distribute weight better. For instance, hiking myself onto a counter is quite graceful now! While my center of gravity is definitely getting messed with as this belly continues to grow, I believe my body is far more capable then if I wasn’t a climber.

·        Climbing requires small, specific muscles. As I was advancing into V2 and V3s (I know, I know, I’m talking climber speak. V2 and V3s are intermediate routes at my gym), I was finding that curling my toe on a hold and engaging my calf muscle helped. I found that learning to grip a hold with one finger on top of another gave me added strength on some routes. I found that my core muscles were extremely important, especially because of my height and the techniques I needed to use to complete routes. FitPregnancy suggests having a strong core will prevent back pain during pregnancy and help control contractions during labor.

Corey rocking some routes I wish I could tackle! V2/3 above V4/5 below. 

·        Finally, loving to climb has allowed me to think about getting back into shape once our little girl arrives. While a climber is training he/she might put on a weighted vest for added resistance during a climbing session. Now I jokingly say when I climb at my gym, it’s like I have 3 vests on! However, all that weight is not baby and I’ll be responsible to eat healthy and workout once I’m a new mom. Looking ahead now, climbing is definitely a motivation to get to my pre-pregnancy weight.

My recommendation for those newly pregnant ladies out there is keep doing what you are doing. Keep dancing, keep running, keep Zumba-ing. But, do your research about what restrictions you should place on yourself and talk to your doctor. One caution I have for you, is don’t start something new. If you don’t have a physical activity you enjoy, talk to your doctor first, but walking or yoga might be a perfect fit.

For more information on climbing while pregnant, check out this video of Carrie Cooper climbing at 39 weeks pregnant!

It's a Girl!

So, I Went to Brazil

My husband got the honor of being ordained into ministry this November. We took a trip to Brazil for the occasion and I pointed my camera at a few things.


This is Asher. A friendly pup that was outside our window.

One of the days we spent at a wonderful family's home! We had Italian lasagna and chicken for lunch. Then  we finished the meal off with dark, sweet coffee and homemade lime gelato. Everything was so delicious!

Since, I'm always bugging my husband about expanding his palate. I tried expanding mine. You'll see a tiny chicken heart next to my fork below. Very cliche to say, I know, but it really did taste like chicken.

These next two photos are taken from inside the largest mall in Latin America. It was so crowded and apparently Brazilians walk slower than Americans, which was very strange for me because in the United States I walk slow and I was speedy there. One image is a piece of a tree root that was uprooted to build the mall. I'm not sure what they did to it, but it looked shiny, sculpted, and awesome. You might be able to tell the size by the people to the side of the photo. The other is a cute bird sculpture we found.

The sidewalks of Mogi Mirim, Brazil looked like this. This was taken in a centralized park area after an afternoon shower.

Butterfly on my Doorstep

I found this little guy on my front doormat this week. And no, he isn't dead. He flew off a few minutes later.

ATL Road Trip

I did some exploring in Atlanta this weekend.

Packed up and ready to go. I'm very fond of this pin. It went on my jacket when I was in elementary school. Now it's on my long-living JanSport. They really do fix bags for free! Mine had 'zipper disease' (JanSport coined term for zippers that will unzip unannounced), a torn side, and ripping strap. Great read: The Hippie Guide to Climbing the Corporate Ladder.

As expected, we found a rock climbing gym.

This vegetable disaster held up some traffic on 275. Tomatoes we all over the roadway. This is only about 10 percent of the spill.

The next batch are from an excellent pizza place we found.

This amazing sink was in the guy's restroom. My husband took the photo. Ha!