Alaska....

I was offered a job on Friday to work at a company called Alaska Crossings in Wrangell, AK and I accepted it.  I will be doing wilderness therapy on 49 day expeditions.  I will be doing backpacking, canoeing, and mountaineering, which will be awesome.  I am way psyched and feel this is going to be a great learning experience for me.  Staff training begins Feb. 1st so that means I will be in Richmond for most of Jan.  Check out the website for more info.

PS.  My birthday is tomorrow.  :-)

I came to Santa Fe in September for an internship and it has been an awesome experience.  I have been able to work with many unique populations, traveled throughout New Mexico, and met some awesome people.  I have loved the ocean blue skys, the mountains, the food, the unique cultures, and the laid back atmosphere of the Southwest.  I am sorry to say that even though I have loved Santa Fe and my job, I am going to be leaving Santa Fe in a little over a week.  There is not enough programming for me to stay and work at the mountain center after my internship.  My co-workers and my supervisors all want me to stay, and they have been trying to figure out a way for my to stay.  As of right now though, there it not a place for me.  I am overall very thankful for my experience in Santa Fe.  I feel that I have grown both personally an professtionally.

After Santa Fe, I am going to drive up to Larmie, WY to visit my friend Rachel.  Rachel and I worked together at Peak Experiences Climbing Center and she is now working up there at Solid Rock Outdoor Ministry.  After we spend a few days together, we will be going to Ouray, CO to try out some ice climbing.  I am interested to see how I do or if I even enjoy it.  I have never done it, so it should be an experience.  After that, I will be driving home and probably stopping in Denver after Ouray.  After I drive home, I will spend Christmas with my family and eat a bunch of Lebanese food.  After Christmas on December 28th, I will be flying to St. Louis, Missouri to attend a conference.

After all of that traveling, I will be around Richmond.  I will be working at Peak Experiences Climbing Center until I find another job elsewhere.  I will keep you posted on exactly where and what I will be doing.  I have been applying to different places and have been getting some call backs, which is an awesome blessing in this economy. 

Thanks for reading my blog.... 

Here is a little surprise update.  I got two of my wisdom teeth out yesterday.  I started to feel pain in my left mouth, ear, and lymph nodes last Mon or Tues.  I was hoping that it would go away, but the pain got worse.  I finally decided that I needed to see a dentist in Santa Fe, instead of waiting until I was back in Richmond.  I went yesterday and they wanted to take out all four wisdom teeth.  Since I am by myself in Santa Fe, I decided to just get the two wisdom teeth that were bothering me out (My parents also really wanted me to just get two teeth extracted instead of four).  I am at home this week recovering from the surgery and from the infection that had occurred in my mouth.

I am very thankful that the company I am working for allowed me to take off until Sat.  I have been entertaining my time with sleep and watching television, specifically Top Chef, The Office, and documentaries.  It has been hard staying home since the weather has been beautiful here, but it is all good.

Furthermore, I will be home in about two weeks (Wed-Mon during Thanksgiving).  I am looking forward to seeing my friends and family.

That is my update. 

Enjoy.

Here are a few pictures of the snow that fell a week ago.  Even though it snowed a week or so ago, today's weather was in the high 60's. 

My goal was to try to write in this blog once a week, but it seems like I am little more sporadic with my posts. Oh well…

I went for another hike yesterday. I did the Aspen Vista hike again (pictures from last time below), but this time the trees were bare with little to no yellow leaves. No pictures this time of the hike, because sometimes I just want to focus on the task at hand.

The hike was a different type of beauty than before. The trees looked old and sleek.  The mountains looked like someone carved them from a stone block because of the greyish, polished feel of them. While on the hike yesterday, I was reminded of a nature metaphor that I mentioned to clients during a hike at work.  I told the clients that the changing of leaves reminded me of the cycle of dealing with problems or issues in ones own life. I told clients that Fall is when you begin to realize you have a problem and then you begin to deal with the problem. After dealing with the problem, the problem can sometimes go away or die, like the leaves and plants dying in the Winter.  Then the leaves grow back and life is good for awhile (Spring, Summer). Then sooner or later though problems arise and you have to deal with new issues ( the cycle of seasons).  I told this metaphor to clients who have addiction issues in their lives. Some of these clients are truly trying to better their lives, while others continue the cycle of bad choices. Just thought I would share that.  Hope it makes sense…  Tell me if it does not and I will try to reword it.