Damn! I fel off the wagon again... just can't seem to come up with much to say that's interesting. Off season's approaching and it's time to starting thinking about this years vacation(s)!

In March we're going to Baja with Josh's family, so I think we'll follow off-season tradition and spend some time in (you guessed it) the DESERT! Tossing around the idea of going and getting jobs for a month- taking Elu, stuff like that. Or maybe we'll just chill out...

127 Hours: A movie review

Josh loves scary-situation/"I shouldn't be alive" entertainment. He made me watch Frozen, which I couldn't even watch most of. But when we heard they were making a movie based on the book Between a Rock and A Hard Place, written by Aron Ralston, we wanted see it. 127 Hours was actually being filmed this spring when we were in Robber's Roost/Hanskville area.

As avid canyoneers and lovers of the desert, we had to go see this movie.

The premise: Aaron is a bad-boy outdoor enthusiast who takes a solo (first mistake) trip to the outer area of Canyonlands, Utah to descend Blue John Canyon. He triggers a choke stone to fall on top of him, pinning his arm between the stone and the rock wall of the canyon. There he sits, stands actually, for six days until he finally frees himself by cutting off his arm with a cheap and dull pocket knife. All this we knew going into the movie. So I knew it was going to be somewhat painful to watch and was bracing myself for an hour and a half of being stressed out.

Before seeing this movie, I held ZERO respect for Aron Ralston. He was stupid and careless in his quest for adventure, and I do not approve of his selfish and self-righteous attitude. And to top it off, he made millions by doing what you're not supposed to do.

There are simple rules that Josh and I always follow when going into the backcountry.

1- Never go alone

There is safety in numbers. Had Aron been with another person, that person could have left him with water and food and gone for help, he would have only had to sit in that canyon scared and worried for a day at most!

2- Be prepared for the worst

Always carry more water than you'll need, and an extra layer and some extra food

Aron kind of followed this, no one is ever prepared for a week-long stay when setting out for a day trip- but he could have had more water.

3- Tell at least TWO people where you are going and when you plan to be back.

Everytime Josh and I go anywhere away from home, we tell someone in Jackson, usually a friend who knows the area in which we are headed and then Josh's mom, or my mom... they are most likely to worry if they don't hear from us and call SAR (search and rescue). Now make sure the first people you call when returning to civilization are those two people so tax dollars are not unnecessarily spent. And stick to your schedule! don't take side trips too far off your plan! No one will find you if you're not where you said you'll be. Aron didn't answer the phone when his mom called and told no one where he was- even remotely!

4- Check the Weather!

Especially when decending into canyons, once the walls are high, you can't see the sky anymore and rain in the desert=flash floods. Of course, mountaineering and climbing and even just backpacking can be very dangerous if the weather turns on you. SO check the weather and check it again before you leave for any kind of backcountry trip. Aaron, luckily did not get caught in a flash flood, otherwise most likely would have drown.

Okay- so all that being said about why I did not respect of like this man, the movie was fabulous!

James Franco is very nice to look at and more importantly is a phenomenal actor!

The movie kept close-up pain staking footage to a minimum and used a lot of flash backs and hallucination scenes to break up the monotony of "Aron" being pinned by a rock. He had lots of revelations about how is actions have lead up to this time in his life. He realized he should call his mother and sister more often. He realizes that he is alone figuratively and physically because of the choices he has made in his life. Walking away from the movie, I almost liked the guy again. But still hold no respect for his foolish actions.

My only real problem with the movie is that it showed my favorite place in the world and truly captured it's essence- bad for us, it may send lots of gorpers to the canyons of Utah we hold so dear...

Our first canyon, only a mile or two from Blue John where Aron was trapped.

I swear this tree was in the movie

Pine Creek in Zion, UT. The most technical of canyons we have descended thus far.

It's like a cave-but cooler!

Antelope Canyon, totally non technical that if you're interested in Canyons, you should start here, in Page AZ.

Overall I recommend you see the movie. But (Mom, Barb) if you do go see it, know that Josh and I are safer than this-don't let it scare you. You cannot control nature, and we know that! We are always prepared for the worst, and we never descend a canyon that we can't get out of. We never pull a rope until we know that we are in the right place, and we always tell you where we are going!

Happy Birthday Bob Marley!

I was commissioned from my boss to make a poster for

"Super Bob Sunday"

which is a double-themed party for this Sunday's bar specials. We're having 24 oz Red Stripe bottles and tall boy cans and Jamaican Jerk Chicken wraps and slices. Boss had an idea, but it came at the last minute, so he needed a quick and easy poster and someone who was willing to do it really quickly. My boss not only owns the bar I work for, be he also owns a production/booking company. Dom is responsible for bringing the best music to this valley. But I digress... When I interviewed with him, I mentioned that I was experienced in PhotoShop and HTML and social media marketing.

So my time came on Wednesday, I got the chance to prove what I could do.

Dom wanted to have a Rasta-ed out flyer with the head of Bob Marley on the body of a quarterback. We chose the Packers, because two-thirds of the colors were already represented. I will admit, it took me longer than a professional would have taken to super impose Bob's head on #12's body (I do not know my pro football), but I think I nailed it.

Then I put the rest of the flyer together with lots of red and green and the text that Dom had specified along with the Village Cafe logo he emailed me. 12 hours after I was assigned the project, after a couple of "change this here" emails, I delivered this to my boss.

He loved it, so I printed several flyers and posted them up on the walls in the cafe and the bar and felt really proud of myself.

All Business...

Okay, so not too long ago I decided that the only way I'm really going to be truly happy is WORK.

I want to find a career that I love and pursue it and put my heart and soul into it. Unfortunately I'm here in this town that doesn't value work. In fact, it values the lack of work. It values play.

Don't get me wrong, I love to play, but I want to work. So, I've dived head first into working. I've lost the need and desire to go snowboarding (maybe because I hit a plateau and get really frustrated with how badly I suck- but that's another story) so I spend my times when I'm not working my paying-job at the VC working on "small business" ideas and expanding my knowledge and whatnot.

I have a few requirements for my business:

1- I would like to be able to conduct business from anywhere, home-bases are nice, but not really my style. I'm a nomadic and antsy person, being in one place for too long doesn't work out. Although I do like to have a (couple) of place(s) to call home.

2-Creative CONTROL. I don't work well with others because, simply put, my way is better! So if I do partner up, I would have to choose very wisely.

3-Interesting media. I like to be challenged and I like to learn constantly. I want a business that will help me grow as a person along with my growing business.

That's about it. Obviously I want to make money, but that's not where my need to work comes from. I ENJOY being responsible for something, and since it's not looking like I'm going to be a mommy anytime soon, might as well become a career woman!

I'm going to take this jewelry design thing as far as I can, but I've found out in the meantime that I'm actually pretty good at simple graphic design and website building. So maybe some schoolin' is in my future again.

Wanna see my bad-ass bio I made?!?!

check out this link. I can't convert it to a blogger-friendly document type, as they will not accept PDFs

Okay, so that's about it for today's rambling. I'll leave you with some photos of my off season, just for aesthetics's sake...

Pheonix Rising

I've decided to resurrect the blog. Grateful Adventures is still there, and soon will be featuring a lot of Josh's edits with his GoPro and music and stuff. But I need a (cyber) place to call my own, so I'm back here.

It's been forever since I've posted so there's lots and lots of things to discuss. Then we will get into the purpose for this blog spot: to tell stories!

Josh and I are back in Teton Village, this year living in a hotel room for the winter. We are two of about 10 long term residents in the Inn at Jackson Hole, and it's kinda like Melrose Place meets Salute Your Shorts. I promise, there will be lots to tell you about our drama-filled little ski world.

I am working at the Village Cafe as a barista/server and hope that maybe if I'm a good girl, next year I'll get a bar tending shift! I would make the best bartender! I LOVE my job. I get to see cool people all day and make good money doing it.

I have been officially published! In Jackson Hole Snowboarder Magazine, page 66. I will be scanning and posting my page for the masses to read.

I'm selling my hand crafted jewelry in a real-live store: Brenda's Gifts in Teton Village.

Feather earrings like this for $30

And wire wrapped goods like this for $18-30.

I just got that all set up so (fingers crossed) I'll be making some cash flow. I'm working on my website for the jewelry set to launch before my 29th birthday (March) so stay tuned... I'm currently accepting jobs for custom work, so if you're gearing up for Valentine's Day, email me at irelandpatricia@me.com

Josh is good, skis a lot. We finally got him his very own computer so that I don't have to share anymore, and we're getting super geeked out and networking them together with a single hard drive we can share wirelessly!

so yeah, there's the quick update and I look forward to reconnecting with all of you out there and getting back into the swing of writing at least twice a week. It's good for all of us- catharsis.

Cheers!

Trish

Changing Directions...

Josh and I have decided to take our trip to another level- we've created a webpage. You'll be able to see photos that we have taken in a full format, slide show form, I will still be blogging about the adventures on this site, and maybe Josh will contribute his two cents...

I can't figure out how to transfer this blog over... or if I even can. But one way or the other, it's going to be a way cooler way to follow our trip. The best part is I can work on it when I'm not around the Internet, and then just post it when I am, thus making the updates and pictures come much more frequently. Check it out, email me with feedback and/or tips and subscribe to my blog over there via the RSS feed. www.gratefuladventures.com

We're about to shift gears on our trip as well. We're now in the east at my mother's house. It's lush and green and we have cable and swimming pool access and a full kitchen and my friends from this era of my life and I get to share it all with my boyfriend. It's nostalgic and awesome to be here in Birmingham! From here, we're heading north through the Appalachian Mountains to do some hiking and swimming hole finding, maybe some more music festivals, etc. Then on to Michigan to do some chill-axing at Josh's folks' place on the lake.

I will probably still use this blog for ranting and raving about sill things... I will still need an outlet.