2017

First off, hello! It's been a little while hasn't it? 

I think my every other year curse is finally broken. It seems like for the past few years I've been on a cycle of good year followed by bad year followed by good year and so on. Dare I say it, 2016 and 2017 were absolutely incredible!

A lot of pretty amazing things happened this year. From seeing what seemed like a thousand music shows, to climbing trips, to traveling domestically and abroad, 2017 was incredible. 

After getting back from Australia (technically that was at the end of 2016), I started working at Planet Granite again and got a semi "real person" job as PG Portland's Marketing and Events Coordinator as well as becoming a supervisor and a few other "upgrades." I absolutely love my new job and it's been going very well. Plus, the earliest I normally go to work is 11am and I set a lot of my own hours. It's pretty hard to beat that.

In March, my buddies Brandon, Logan, and I drove roughly 12.5 hours down to Bishop, California for a week long bouldering trip which ended up being probably my favorite climbing trip I've ever been on. I also got to see/climb with one of my favorite people, Kyle, who had moved to California in January but was able to meet up with us for the week.

Bishop

Bouldering is hard

A few weeks after getting back from California, I had a quite the crazy time. I went to Las Vegas and played around for a few days, including a day trip to the Grand Canyon. After that, I headed to Fort Collins and ate/drank my way through the old college town. I also made it down to Denver for a day to see a bunch of old college friends which was great. I flew back to Portland to work for a few days and then went up to Seattle with my buddy Mitch to see Deadmau5 which was hands down the best show I've ever been to. Cross that one off the bucket list. After being back in Portland, a few days later I drove back up to Seattle then bussed it to Vancouver, BC followed by flying to Los Angeles after that. Phew! Good times.

Deadmau5!

Grand Canyon

Some months later in July, I somehow ended back down in Australia! Yet again, massive thanks to Aunt Cindi for the flight hookup! It was a pretty mellow trip but great to catch up with people I hadn't seen in almost a year. As corny as it sounds, I had a bit of a realization regarding certain people after getting back which, although a bit disheartening, was needed. Hopefully I can make it back in 2018 at some point.

Fast forward to October, I achieved full on adult status by moving out of the parent's place. I'm now living in NE Portland with 2 awesome roommates and a dog and am absolutely loving it.

Also in October, Brandon, Logan, and I did a Smith trip and met up with Kyle again which, although too short, was great as always. 

At the end of October, I went up to Canada for the second time in 2017 with my friend Kara to see Deadmau5 yet again. Twice in one year? I'm perfectly okay with that. 

Come December, Kyle, Brandon, Brandon's friend Tommy, and I went down to Red Rocks just outside of Vegas for a week to climb and have all the fun. And have all the fun we did. We even got to seem some old friends that had moved to Florida earlier in the year. I love those guys so much and appreciate them like none other. Can't wait for our next trip which will hopefully happen sooner rather than later.

Love these guys

So although the world turned into a bit of a pit this past year, on a personal level, I'm doing very very well. I hope everyone learned from and enjoyed 2017 as much as I did. 

Here's to 2018! Already excited for the first few months as some of my favorite Aussies are coming to visit in January and February.

Happy New Year!

Good times with great friends

Good times with great friends

Good times with great friends

Good times with great friends

That's all for now. Bye.

Auld Lang Syne

New Years is kind of an odd holiday if you really think about it.  Nothing magical happens between December 31st and January 1st but it somehow always feels like the end of an era and the beginning of another.

For celebrations, a group of us gathered at a friend's house to bring in the new year.  There was food, drinks, games, and good times.

2015!

2014 was one of, if not the most, craziest years of my life.  There were some extreme highs and some extreme lows.  It marked a major shift in the life that I knew and forced me to start almost completely over.  I try to keep these postings light but have a feeling this one might be a bit heavier.

So what big things happened in 2014?

• Despite going borderline insane due to being enrolled in 21 credits, I had my most fun semester at CSU of the time I was there
• Was able to have a fantastic time traveling across the country from New York City to LA (where I finally got to experience Disneyland!)
• Got to see some of Canada for the first time and made some (hopefully soon) travel goals
• Graduated from university.  That still hasn't really hit me yet
• Mentored and made a noticeable impact on a 10 year old's life
• At least for me, made what I hope to be a lifelong best friend from the other side of the world who has been through an eerily similar amount of identical life experiences/situations as me
• Lost one of my oldest friends but still think about him often
• Had to say goodbye to my two best friends and all the other people I got really close with after 3.5 years living in Colorado.  I think about them everyday and miss them terribly
• Moved back to the Northwest
• Even though the process was long, I got a job that was number one on my list
• Started writing this weekly blog which is both fantastic and frustrating.  It's great to look back at something for every week and see when I had nothing to write about or when the ideas were flowing

What will 2015 bring?  I don't really do the whole resolution thing but I do like to set some goals.  What might those be?  I don't want to give away too much so those are just for me.  

Hope everyone had a memorable year and that 2015 will be just as eventful.  I've got a feeling this is going to be a good year.

Happy New Year!  

That's all for now.  Bye.

California Dreamin

Part two of spring break found Vlad and I on the other side of the country: Los Angeles, California!

After a 6+ hour flight from New York on Thursday, we got to LA around 10AM pacific time and were exhausted!  The plane ride felt short because we were in and out of consciousness the whole time.  When we arrived, we made the last minute decision to rent a car instead of relying on public transportation.  For the things we wanted to do, we figured spending the money on a car would be worth the time and hassle the car would save (which it did).  The most annoying part was even though I have a clean driving record, because I'm not 25+, rental companies jack up the car prices.

Once we picked up the car, we were leaving the area and noticed an In-N-Out around the corner.  Obviously a lunch break was in order. 

Not the Last Time we Made a Stop Here

From there, we made our way to Hollywood Boulevard in, you probably guessed it, Hollywood, and checked into our hostel.  Yes, the US does have hostels.  I was worried a bit because I had looked up the hostel in the JFK airport and on one website it said you had to have an international passport with you to be able to stay there.  Luckily when we checked in, we found out you just needed to have an out of state license.  Crisis averted.  We stayed in a 6 bed room but were the only ones there (until later that night) and decided to take a much needed nap.  Afterwards, we walked down Hollywood Blvd taking in the sights.

Let's have a little chat about hostels.  I'm not claiming to be an expert on hostel life but I have stayed in a fair few within the last year.  If there is a TV in the room, do not turn it up all the way and fall asleep with the remote hidden.  Do not wake up everyone else in the room because your sheet fell off the bed.  Do not complain about anything related to the room...you're in a hostel!  Talking to yourself is also something that should be done when there are not other people around.

While on a tangent, let's also talk about drivers in the LA area.  The majority of them either drive insanely fast or way too slow, there is no in-between.  No matter the speed, they were all just terrible drivers!  On the plus side, I only got honked at once which was in the parking lot returning the car.  Also, traffic was terrible.

Anyways on Friday, I got to finally have a proper childhood.  

We...
went...
to.... 
Disneyland!  

My only mental images of Disneyland are from this old VHS tape I watched all the time as a kid.  Although the park has changed a lot, it was fun to see some of the places I remember watching on the tape.  Since there was no line, we started off on Splash Mountain followed by the Haunted Mansion.  Some rides later, we rode California Screamin' at California Adventures which was our favorite of the day.  Being Friday of spring break, the park was quite crowded and the lines long but we made it work.

Dreams Do Come True...for $137

#NoFilter

We only had time for one day in the Magic Kingdom which meant we went all out.  Come hour 6, our legs were burning.  Add on all the walking we had done in New York and you have two very tired people.  We powered through and made it to the fireworks show over the castle (which is much smaller in real life) and then finally got to use our 10:30 PM fast passes for Space Mountain.  All in all, an exhausting but great day (with, of course, a stop at In-N-Out on the way back to Hollywood).

On Saturday, Vlad and I decided we deserved a sleep in.  When we were well rested and awake, we headed out to torture our legs again by hiking up the backside of the Hollywood sign.  The hike had a fair incline but wasn't too bad.  The top rewarded us with a complete, although hazy, view of the LA skyline and the backside of the Hollywood sign letters.

Behind the Letters

For lunch we went to a food cart the internet told me had good, authentic, Mexican food.  The internet never lies.  It was delicious!

That night, Vlad and I went to the Staples Center to watch the Clippers play the Pistons.  The Clippers won.  I hadn't been to an NBA game in a long time so that was fun!  Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis were there as well and we got to see them on the "kiss cam."

Basketball

On Sunday, the two of us got up and checked out of the hostel.  From there we headed down Hollywood Blvd again for a bit and then made our way to swanky Beverly Hills.  We both felt out of place and underdressed.  It was like being on 5th Ave in New York but even more uptight.  Sometimes I'm glad I'm not rich.

Vlad needed to film some for the Los Angeles portion of his YouTube video so we made our way back to Hollywood Blvd.  When shooting was done, we drove out west to the Santa Monica Pier.  It was dark by the time we got there which made the lights from the rides stand out more.  After hearing a restaurant owner yell at a patron for not paying, we got seafood at a place on the pier and then headed to LAX for our last airport overnighter. 

So Hollywood.  It was an interesting place to visit but I think a day is all I could take. Hollywood Blvd was the epitome of a tourist destination.  Every five steps you got aggressively asked if you wanted to go on a tour bus, massive crowds of people stood in the middle of the sidewalk unaware of their surroundings, and souvenir shops are as far as the eye can see.  Although we were only in Santa Monica briefly, it had more of the laid back California vibe I like.

Walk of Fame

TCL Chinese Theater

And that was unfortunately the end of spring break 2014.  I had such a great time hanging out with Vlad and seeing sites I may not have had the motivation to see otherwise.  I had forgotten how much I love being in the traveling state of mind and it's depressing to go back to school.  I always get some post travel depression when I get back from traveling.  It's been 5 days since getting back and I'm just now adjusting to normal mode.  On the plus side, only 2ish more months until graduation which hopefully means more traveling!   

Watch Vlad's video of us recapping spring break here.

That's all for now. Bye.