KT Tape customer service rules!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_A3ioZAO-A&feature=youtube_gdata

This tape is awesome!

At first, I was not sold. I bought it hoping for all the things they say about this product! Well, I ran with it on my knees, and it rolled off. I couldn't get it to stick. Then, it came off in hot yoga! I know it is hot in there, but KT Tape is supposed to stay on for 7 days and supposed to be able to be worn in the shower, etc....so you would think it would hold up in hot yoga!

Well, I decided to write them on Facebook about it.

I have a condition called Patellar Maltracking. I have to tape my knees for this at times. Anyway, they responded with an awesome message. Talk about customer service! Click on the link above.

Not only am I totally sold on this product, but it held up and stuck to my knees/legs through 2 water obstacles and a mud obstacle this weekend. And I had to run in this event as well.

I like KT Tape, and I really like how KT Tape stands behind their product and their awesome customer service.

stay impeccable by always doing your best (from The Four Agreements Companion)

We all are given choices.

You can choose to be happy or you can chose to suffer.

You can choose to be a victim or you can choose to be an owner.

By choosing to be an owner, you are choosing happiness over suffering.

What you believe rules your life. You live your life the way you do, because you believe 100% in what you believe you are. If you can believe it, you can be it.

I know that whatever I do, there is going to be a reaction. I really want to strive to always do my best. In order to do that though, you have change your mind...you have to change what you believe. Change the action. Action v. apathy!

I read something the other night that kinda gave me a kick in the ass. "If there is something you don't like, and avoiding it will only cause a bigger problem for you, then you're not totally being impeccable. If you have a problem, even if you don't want to face it, it is better to face the problem, whatever it is, and do your best. Once you have done that, you don't have to worry about it anymore."

I can choose to believe in anything I want to, and that includes believing in myself. There is only one thing that guides our actions, reactions and interactions...it is our Integrity. You recover your integrity when you are impeccable with your word. Self-betrayal is what breaks our integrity. When you recover your integrity, you feel good...you feel happy. My integrity is who I really am...it is what I am...it is the totality of my authentic self.

I have the right to be happy. I have the right to be here.

I know I cannot control what is around me, but I can control how I will react...how I will perceive it. It is all a choice! It is not what is happening around me that controls whether I am happy or unhappy, it is how I choose to react to it.

If you don't like something, change it. Believe it. We are all faced with challenges. But without challenges, how would you know if you are evolving? It is the action-reaction that makes the difference. Also, go inside and listen to your body! Your body never lies to you! It is your mind that will play the tricks. The truth is the way you feel in your heart and in your guts.

I am where I am right now in my life and doing the best with what I have right now. It is what it is. I am choosing to be happy and to just always do my best.

The Four Agreements:

1. Be impeccable with your word (speak with integrity. only say what you mean. do not use te word to speak against yourself and to gossip about others)

2. Don't take anything personally (nothing others do is because of you)

3. Don't make assumptions (find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. communicate clearly to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama)

4. Always do your best (your best will change from moment to moment. under any circumstance, always do your best and you will avoid self-judgment, self abuse and regret)

Please help my friend!!!

http://info.avonfoundation.org/site/TR?px=5546365&fr_id=1980&pg=personal

She is going to be raising money to help fight the battle against breast cancer!

She will be power walking a marathon and a half in October.

Any donation would be awesome!!!

I know how difficult this event is, because I walked this same walk in 2008.

THANKS! :)

hmmm...

Sue, trust yourself.
The Universe

Sue, you know.

Fibromyalgia Awareness Day

Today is Fibromyalgia Awareness Day!

I have this disease, but it does not have me!

I'm climbing mountains, and just for the record, I did my first crossfit class tonight!

Even though I want to tell FMS where it can stick it, I also want to say that I really hope there is a cure for this weird, mysterious disease someday.

Sometimes, I don't even really believe I even have it at all. However, there are those days....where I know I definitely have it. But most of all, I feel that if I can control my mind more, I can control the way I feel... but I know each day will be different. I just have to accept it. It is what it is.

Exercise definitely helps! I figure if I am going to hurt on a couch...I might as well hurt going up a mountain. Anything that beats you up...just makes you stronger in the end.

Anyway, I love my life. I am truly blessed. There are so many other things out there that are far worse than having Fibromyalgia.

I just hope that more women out there who have this disease can get help. I hope that they can exercise, eat healthier and live a fuller life. I hope one day, they can figure out what is REALLY causing this disease and not just say "it's emotional". I wish for a cure someday.

Kauai, Hawaii

So I finally set a date! Late September it is.

My summer 2010 vacation!!!

I am beyond stoked right now :)

some change i found laying around...

I read something today that I thought was really awesome.

This comes from a book called The First 30 Days: Your Guide to Making Any Change Easier by Ariane de Bonvoisin.

"It takes 30 days to create a habit. How we relate to those first 30 days may make all the difference."

She talks about the "transition through any change, whether it is career, health, lifestyle, relocation, or personal relationship changes."

Ariane says, "Change is always an opportunity to pause, go inside, listen to our 'inner microphone' and be in the present. When change does happen, either by courageous choice or from life circumstances, it is asking us to be honest with what is, and also what is not working for us and our lives."

"Mindfulness is about being totally aware of what our mind is feeding us during change. Usually it's one of a few dominant disempowering programs: disapproval, comparison and perfection...these are the main ones. The mind is going to feed us the usual 'change demons', the classic emotions that show up as well to the 'change party'...fear, doubt, blame, shame, guilt and impatience. Being mindful during change is started by being aware. Aware of what emotion is getting your attention, welcoming it up, asking for its message and letting it be rather than resisting or escaping it."

"Moments of change also happen to help us let go of the need for control. Control of knowing an outcome, of how we can speed things up, get out of the void, or this period of uncertainty, the unknown. Being mindful during change is simply about staying with the shakiness. From all change, something good happens. Life is on our side if we just let it be and surrender to it. It knows the way."

"There are all sorts of changes. From forgiving someone to buying a home, to having a baby, to moving, the loss of a loved one to starting a new job, losing weight and handling a health diagnosis. We all go through changes!"

"Most of us are so focused on our professional resume when really who we are is a combination of all the changes we have ever made, faced and witnessed."

"Take a blank piece of paper and start writing down these changes. Then write down all the good that came from these changes. You will bring back into your mind the connection between life changes and good things emerging, despite the difficulty at that time. Finally make a list of what the main thing was that helped them through. Was it a person? A belief or faith? Getting healthy? Time? Doing things for others, etc.? This exercise will help you get your power back. Even though this change may be something new you are going through, you are not showing up w/o 'tools' or experiences, etc. You know what helped you."

"People aren't changed or helped by information, but by inspiration. You need to ask yourself WHY you want to make a change. The WHY is the fuel, not the HOW or BY WHEN."

"Why is this important to you? Why do you enjoy doing this? Why do you want to lose the weight? Why do you want to leave a job or pursue that dream?" (Why do you climb?)

Something that this author talks about that I really agree with her on is the SEED of all change. I have been looking for something larger than myself. I have been searching for new inspiration.
Lately, I am in need of change. I have been in a funk. A stupid funk. It's just dumb.

"The first step towards any positive sustained change is to take care of yourself...your health. It is the SEED of all change. Sleep, Eating well, Exercising and Drinking water. When you feel healthy, in your body, you get out of your head. Your self esteem rises, your power returns, you are moving these emotions through your body, you feel strong. Change happens through the body, the heart...not in the head."

I remember how good I felt a few years ago, when I made a lifestyle change. I'm not sure how I've gotten off the path. The bushwhacking has already started though. I'll find my way back soon enough. :)

Five awesome quotes to go with this blog:

"The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off." - Gloria Steinem

"Hidden in any misfortune is good fortune." - Tao Te Ching

"The single most important decision any of us ever have to make is whether to believe we live in a friendly universe." - Albert Einstein

"Be patient towards all that is unsolved within your heart, and try to love the questions themselves." - Rainer Maria Rilke

"When you argue with reality, you lose, but only 100% of the time." - Byron Katie

live out loud

Since 2007, I have been on the quest to search for something large...larger than life...larger than myself. "Nothing happens without personal transformation." I wasn't happy with certain things in my life, and I wanted a change.

Some folks find comfort in themselves...and in things...external achievements. Success to them is how much money they make, that fancy car in their garage....their "title"...their status quo revolves around material things. Or it also can revolve around how greater at things they are over others. Some folks even go outside of themselves to learn instead of going inside. Inside is where it begins. Hiding behind all of those external achievements, in the long term, isn't going to get you anywhere. It only lasts short term. You can't hide for too long.

Lately, I've been in a funk. :(
I've been anxious, sad, down, moody, etc.

The only way to get out of it is to find something larger than myself.

I remember that feeling back in April of 2008 when I sky dived. I jumped out of an airplane, and even though I was falling so fast, it felt like time had stopped. I felt so small up there. I was nothing up there. It was as if nothing mattered anymore...none of my problems existed. Completely vanished. As i looked around and my breath was taken away, it felt magical. I was completely humbled that day! Beauty is around us...great things are amongst us.

I also remember my 2nd time out on the rock. My friend, Mark, took me climbing at Looking Glass in October 2007...he took me traditional climbing, multi-pitch up the Nose. It was hard. It was scary. It was beautiful up there. At the same time that I wanted to cry and come down, I wanted to laugh and scream out at the top of my lungs and jump for joy! I had never been so emotional (except for when it was that time of the month). Just like when I felt so small flying in the sky that day in 2008, I was utterly and completely humbled this day on The Nose at Looking Glass. I was so high up. The wind was whipping around me...the beautiful colors of the fall leaves...that feeling of accomplishment. I was high. High on life. I had found something way larger than myself.

I want to find that feeling again. I want to be humbled and moved. I want to surround myself with more positivity and less negative, unhealthy energy. I want more humbling experiences. I want simple.

There is a song out now by Rob Thomas. (I love him) I love the lyrics. I wanted to share them.
As I look inside to embrace learning, I want to reach for something larger than myself. I want to live my life out loud!

"You can go, you can start all over again
You could try to find a way to make another day go by
You can hide, hold all your feelings inside
You could try to carry on when all you wanna do is cry

And maybe someday we'll figure all this out
Try to put an end to all our doubt
And try to find a way to make things better now that
Maybe someday we'll live our lives out loud
We'll be better off somehow, someday

Now we wait and try to find another mistake
If you throw it all away then maybe you could change your mind
You can run, oh, and when everything is over and done
You could shine a little light on everything around you
Man, it's good to be someone

And maybe someday we'll figure all this out
Try to put an end to all our doubt
Try to find a way to make things better now that
Maybe someday we'll live our lives out loud
We'll be better off somehow, someday

And I don't wanna wait, I just wanna know
I just wanna hear you tell me so
Give it to me straight, tell it to me slow'

Cause maybe someday we'll figure all this out
We'll put an end to all our doubt
Try to find a way to just feel better now that
Maybe someday we'll live our lives out loud
We'll be better off somehow, someday'

Cause sometimes we don't really notice
Just how good it can get
So maybe we should start all over
Start all over again'

Cause sometimes we don't really notice
Just how good it can get
So maybe we should start all over
Start all over again

is it weird?

...that i actually LIKE mowing the grass?

I mean, I HATE house-work. I hate dusting, doing dishes, cleaning the bathrooms, mopping, etc.

(I do like vacuuming though)

For some reason, I love mowing my yard and trimming hedges. I would rather do that type of work than clean a bathroom or wash dishes or dust or just straighten up.

Hmmm...

focus on the big picture...

Dare not wish to change even the slightest thing about a loved one, Sue, without first understanding how it might change the rest of them.

Keep your eye on the ball,
The Universe

Besides, if the big picture is rocking you, Sue, why make a fuss over a few splots?
Splots is now a word. Literally, as in now now.

the subtle fashions of fear

The subtle fashions of fear include:

• Boredom
• Restlessness
• Procrastination
• Compulsively being involved with some activity
• Insomnia
• Stress-related physical symptoms such as stomach aches, headaches, or other body pain.

“We all live with and cannot escape from uncertainties, difficulties, illness, aging, death, and an inability to fully control life events.”

It’s important to expose these subtle fears to gain more freedom over our days and to make sure that we don’t look back as Mark Twain did saying: “I am a very old man and have suffered a great many misfortunes, most of which never happened.”

Better Kinds of Wild

Those who are needy of attention, Sue, hide from themselves their greatness.

Those who are needy of opportunity, Sue, hide from themselves their power to create.

And those who are needy of love, Sue, hide from themselves what's already there.

But boy, oh boy, are they in for a wild ride.

The Universe

Sue, there are better kinds of wild. Trust me.

Patellar Maltracking

So the MRI showed that I have some blistering going on under my patella.

It is caused by patellar maltracking. My knee cap is off-track. It rubs and grinds in the wrong places when I am bending my knees. It comes from the quads being weak. Not all of my quad muscles are weak...the quads encompass a huge muscle group on their own.

http://www.aafp.org/afp/991101ap/2012.html

http://www.mooreclinic.com/client_resources/patient-ed/Patella%20Maltracking.pdf

Basically, I have to start physical therapy. I have to retrain my patella to track properly.

I will be going twice a week for 4 weeks for PT.

Well, I'm just glad it's nothing major! But this shit still hurts though. It's a very common problem according to my ortho.

Wish me luck!!!

Stoked!!!

I leave work early today to go up to Cashier's, NC.

I am climbing with a new crew this weekend. We are climbing at Laurel Knob, and I am really super stoked.

We are climbing Laurel Knob on Saturday and at Big Green on Sunday. So far, I know we are getting on Central Pillar and escaping to Seconds if we have to. Then Sunday, it's Hypocrite's Corner.

It's all trad and multi-pitch...and granite slab!

It should be stellar! Perfect weather too.

I will take tons of pics and write a blog when i return. Wish me luck! :)

falling...

The only way to learn sometimes is to fall down and pick yourself back up.

I am deathly afraid of falling while on lead. I will either bail the route completely or hang on every bolt.

Last year, I did my first lead ever in the gym (I've led outdoors before though), and I fell. My first fall too. It didn't feel too good. My belayer was bigger than me and did not know how (obviously) to give me a soft catch. It was a horrible jolt and i banged into the wall hard! It hurt. Ever since, I have been deathly afraid to fall.

Tuesday night, in the gym, i practiced falling on lead.

I would climb a few holds above my bolt and just let go on purpose. I had to do this to see what falling would be like again. I had a different partner this time and I had some experienced leaders in there that night to coach me on lead and coach my partner in lead belaying for me. It really helped. It made me more comfy to be on lead. I think next Tuesday, I will be able to lead that route clean.

I lead 2 route this past weekend at The New. I am tired of hanging on bolts.