No pictures for the weekend :(

although don't think that doesn't mean it wasn't cool. Friday was a rest day which is weird (sorry josh it is weird, who rests?) but good for general mental and physical health. Josh and I visited a bookstore he used to work at where you can exchange books. So I got 2 new ones. A young adult novel and a romance novel in spanish. Or something.
Saturday was a climbing day. Went to Malibu Creek. I kind of wanted to go bodyboarding but just dealt with it and then climbing was fun so it was ok. The water is polluted right now anyway. Josh spent 1.5hrs on his route. Hopefully he'll send it clean next time. Belaying used to be pretty easy, but with Josh its definitely a rather intense experience sometimes. This time, after a lot of route cleaning, the draw got left on the 2nd bolt. This is all well and good except the route he is working on traverses a LOT. If you go up there and unclip it, when you let go of the wall you'd swing across and slam into a rock. So Josh came down. Then, since I was less tired, I got to climb up and get it. Which I did. And then realized I was going to have to jump off the wall and onto a ledge on the wall behind me because the rope wouldn't be able to stop me. After freaking out for awhile I jumped off and it was scary but I lived. (Note: this jump was about 5ft down, not huge don't worry.) It's about a 30-45min hike in and it was completely muddy, but not to cold and actually pretty sunny. We got dominos pizza for dinner and then drove all the way down to Westies (beach) just to eat it in the dark ha ha. We took about 5min to eat and entire medium Hawaiian pizza. Overall, it was a really nice day and a good way to spend a saturday!
Sunday was an orchestra performance day where we played Christmas music at LCPC and then I drove to El Porto and surfed tiny waves, but at least i was in the water. And somehow out of nowhere a little barrel popped up...and for whatever reason I did 3/4 of a spin in the barrel! That's a first for me. Then I got axed by the lip but hey it was cool while it lasted. The waves were more fun than they looked at first. Now for my list of things to do:
- Check in online for flight tomorrow (done)
- Make reservations for shuttle to airport (done)
- Finish everything at work
- Run 3mi
- Visit friend who has a broken leg
- Pick up Josh's presents from house
- Early Christmas dinner at Josh's house, cooked by his mom (yay!)
- Finish packing (monumental task)
- Sleep I hope
- Fly home! (This year Derek and I aren't planning on a Christmas Eve bail-on-all-your-chores-and-cooking surf like last year.)

Christmas present wrapping

We went climbing all day at Malibu Creek.  Then we tried to wrap presents:

Josh: "Uh oh.  I was never very good at origami."

Julie: "Step 1.  The tape goes on the present, not on my head."

In Josh's defense, they did come out pretty good. 

On the topic of weather...

First, check this out. Seal Beach on Dec 16th. I think the photos speak for themselves.

My lack of southern-california-ness becomes extremely apparent when the topic of weather comes up. Just in case somehow the entire world hasn't noticed by now, there is SNOW in the MOUNTAINS in southern california right now. Yup. Snow. Its cool, because it doesn't snow here very much. However, it is NO WAY means that one should not run. Unless you already shouldn't be running for some other reason, or have absolutely no even remotely warm clothes - like a pair of pants, a long sleeve shirt, and a hat. The last two days, everyone bailed on running except Dave. Why? I'm still not really sure. The ground was wet. It was about 40 degrees out. The ground being wet is not the same as rain. If there is no rain falling out of the sky, it is not raining. Even if it were, you can always wear a hat. Here is where I think the confusion lies: running is not the same as sitting in the same weather. Your body keeps you warm, at least to a degree. Yes you do have to consider the weather conditions. However, this does not mean stay inside all the time. The people I know who don't like rain or snow either have a very specific reason, or they stay inside when it happens. Those who go outside often realize...its actually pretty fun. I mean some people just don't LIKE it, which is fine. But at least give it a try if you haven't? I was thinking this morning about why I like having bought a 6/5mm wetsuit. And its this: its gives me the freedom to go out and experience something new, unique, and fun. Yes its a bit more work, but LIFE is a lot of work. If you only accept the work that is forced upon you, you won't be able to change your life...help it grow into something better. If you realize that no matter what its gonna be hard work, even putting on more layers of clothes and being cold when you get back, you can put in the work doing things you like rather than only things you have to do. If you've tried it and really don't like it, then fine. Not everyone likes running in the snow. But if you haven't, please don't tell me how crazy it is.
Actually, to be fair, I am the one who moved to land of warm weather. So I guess I asked for it.

Not-Good Waves, so we climbed and ate

This weekend could almost have been a surf weekend if the swell direction wasn't too north and the winds weren't onshore. I'm sure somewhere was working but...oh well I didn't go surf. We climbed at Malibu on Saturday and tried to climb at Echo on Sunday instead. I still got to see the ocean. Oh and I missed a race on Saturday in Manhattan Beach but food became a priority fast. Here's some pictures from the hike to Echo and back:

We managed some climbing on Saturday where Josh did "the climb on the wall that we don't know what it is because its not in the guidebook." It turned out to be called Drifter. I lead something called Powder Puff Girls. Getting to this area was exciting because we didn't know how. One climbed fence, one climbed wall, and an interesting trail later we found it. Post climbing we had a really good meal at IHOP near LAX. The food was gone in about 10 minutes. I tried to get to the race but once we reached LAX we realized food was more important and we were gonna miss the race anyway.

The view from Neptune's Net

Echo ended up being more hiking than climbing. Some days are just not climbing days. Yesterday was one of those. We did get to go on a nice walk and then ate at Neptune's Net. The waves at County Line were...not really there. I suppose that is part of bodyboarding.

Nicaragua

Just a quick post, here is a link to the Jubliee House Community in Nicaragua's newsletter. The first couple of pages are specific updates, but the last page, "reflection," always makes me think. Also, here is a link to three people who are the finalists of the Opus Prize. Mike Woodard is from the JHC (one of the finalists).

Not Death Valley

I did NOT run the Death Valley 10k this weekend. Mostly because I didn't plan it far enough ahead of time. It would have been amazing and beautiful but some things just don't work out. Instead I did some bodyboarding on Friday. As much as California likes to be onshore, sometimes it isn't. Even in the afternoon. And these photos aren't even set waves. The set waves had me staring with my mouth open, not taking pictures.

So, I got in some great, fun bodyboarding. Now I have a sinus infection, but whatever. There doesn't seem to be anything I can do about it here. :( I'll just be happy with sunny barrels.

Josh and I went climbing at Keller Peak. I don't have any photos because we were sport climbing, not bouldering, this time and belaying Josh requires paying a lot of attention. We didn't have a guidebook, only knew one climb on the wall, and were attempting to lead climbs we didn't know anything about. It was fun but we didn't exactly climb very well. Had pizza up in Crestline with one of our friends who used to live in Pasadena.

The waves didn't hold up on Sunday and the onshore winds killed most spots, so it became a rest/getting sick day. I guess those happen sometimes too.

Hawaii, Indo, etc

Now the "not going to Hawaii because I am still resting" thing is starting to be not so cool. My friend from Chile is leaving on December 10th, and she is super fun to surf with. One of the Chilean bodyboarder guys is there now and messaged me to find out when I am coming. One of my friends from Peru who is living here is going in December too (I think she is already gone to Peru). Maybe, just maybe, Hawaii will have to happen anyway. Since Senegal didn't. :( My doctor is "very strongly opposed" to giving me the vaccinations in order to go - she thinks I should wait a year for my body to fix itself.

So. I had the opportunity to go to Nicaragua. It would be too soon. Plus there are rebels in Managua and Leon with machetes and guns. We'd be going from Managua...to Leon. Due to all my failed travel plans so far, the next idea is to go to Indonesia next May. $3000, 2 weeks. Who knows? Right now I want to go home and sleep. So I'm going to work for another 3.5hr then go to the climbing gym (?!).

Yay going home!

(Note: All photos by Mom except for the sunset one by Sasha - thanks!)

I went to the east coast for Thanksgiving and it was great. :) That's the short version. I had to leave Josh in Los Angeles though. :(

We had lots of food with lots of family. What more can you ask for on Thanksgiving? Dad, Mom and I ran the Manchester Road Race (I ran it with Mom and Derek had a sprained ankle so skipped it this year). I love that race. It gets more and more fun the more years in a row we've done it. Its so cool to be able to go with the whole family (even if every once in awhile someone doesn't run). Hopefully photos will be up on the Manchester Road Race website soon. I was kind of hoping to race hard this year and try to break 30min, which I think I could have done, but rest intervened and no hard racing for me. Still, we had a good time and got to see running friends. The MRR is quite the tradition for a lot of people, which is why we keep going back!

We went to see Quantum of Solace because Paranal is in it. It was interesting to see Paranal on the big screen but the movie wasn't very good. I think they forgot the plot.

Saturday Dad, Mom and I drove to RI to visit Derek. I got a 6mm Oneill wetsuit on sale, and Derek and I went bodyboarding. It was super fun, even the waves were only okay. I don't care. Its clean water, its New England, and it made me happy.

Actually, being at home just made me happy. I guess I'm a New England girl at heart.