As all good stories go, my decision to go to Peru started in a bar. 

"Hold my beer, I'm gonna go to South America."

I've been dying to leave the country for quite some time now, but being in grad school put a hold on most of my adventure plans. Last year was particularly tough, with 30 hours of internship, 30 hours of work, and 4 classes to attend to each week. I had ambitious plans to open a practice immediately after graduation in December, but found myself needing space to explore what it meant to be out of grad school and on my own again, instead. 

Bonus Monday morning pick me up!

Rock and Sky presents: The alternative fashions of the #OmniGames. 

We may have worn Columbia gear, but we didn't let that define us...

This whole #TryingStuff experience, recapping the adventures with Columbia, and making such amazing friends has made me a bit antsy... 

After all, what good is life changing if you don't change your life?

The challenge in recapping any trip is in capturing the things you will want to remember later on, the things that made you smile and the moments that made you feel close and connected, or brave and daring, or in awe of where you are. 

Here are some tips for documenting the things worth remembering:

It happened!! The event I've been clueless about, yet talking about constantly, happened!

The Columbia Omnigames in Park City Utah brought together the crews from Omniten Seasons 1, 2, 3 and 4 to compete in Olympic-style (more like Hunger Games style) events, see first hand the US, Russian and Canadian Olympic Ski uniforms, and do some all-in #TryingStuff with brand new Columbia technology. 

There is so much to tell - so it's going to come in waves. The most important thing, however, is that this trip was COMPLETELY successful due to the amazing people that crafted it and that attended it as well. Here is a little bit of the mayhem... 

Normally I get really irritated when people (TSA) try to look through my luggage, and now I've gone and posted a photo of the inside for all the internet to see. Today I pack for Park City, Utah, and the epic #Omnigames. Here are a few of my favorite pieces of winter weather gear - and some aren't even by Columbia! (GASP!)

*note, most links are to women's products, but that doesn't mean the technology isn't there in the men's stuff too. 

In less than 24 hours I'll be boarding a plane to Park City, Utah, to join Omniten seasons 1-4 at the very first (and maybe last) Omnigames. What are the Omnigames? What a great question...

Every December I reflect on the year in the way that makes the most sense to me: to write. This is officially the longest running tradition I have. I started posting them online in 2002, and I have the journals with lists from 2001 and 2000. In preparation to write my reflections on this past year, I re-read my post from 2013. I was incredibly eloquent. Unfortunately I don't feel that way right now. I'm not sure what I am going to say about this past year, because I think I'm still working through it all. So if you don't mind, I'll just start to spill and see what kind of picture it paints...

Every so often something pops up in my life, and when it reaches critical mass I feel compelled to write about it. This is one of those things. Thanks to Upworthy, I've been seeing a lot more social justice-related things in my FB feed, in particular, videos and articles about women. 

As a climber and general lover of all things outdoors, and as an adventure therapist, I'm interested in both women's experience in the outdoors and in women in outdoor leadership positions. The videos in this article reminded me that as a society we still have a long way to go...

Columbia responded to our (very loud) requests for a multi-season gathering with the creation of the Columbia OmniTen OmniGames! The games will take place in Park City, UT this January, right around the time of the Olympic Games. On January 8th, seasons 1-4 will descend, locked and loaded to participate in a variety of games we can only guess about. Let the training begin...