Best...

I'VE HAD THE BEST WEEK EVER!!!

Let's recap:

Tuesday:  Went to South Broadway for library books, Famous pizza, thrifting at Goodwill and then watched Misty and Kerri dominate the beach volleyball semi-finals.

Wednesday:  Drove to the Golden Cliffs to sport climb with some Iowa dudes (Filippo, Matt, JJ, Cho), led and top-roped some routes, ate some cherries, sped back to Denver to watch M&K win the gold, happy-cried a bit.

 Thursday:  Cleaned room, worked on school stuff, enjoyed Moscow Mules with my long lost friend Kyle and then went to the Skylark with my new roomies and Aaron.  Laughed a lot and got scared of a bug.

Friday:  Lunched with Ashley at Vine St., went to Boulder with J, and then birthday partied (Fidi and Morgan) with Westy and the visiting Iowa City climb crew.  Shit got real cray-cray.

Saturday:  Struggled to get up, drove a couple hours to get to Mt. Evans, hiked six miles to get to boulders, actually had fun bouldering, night hiked back, and enjoyed some delish impromptu guacamole (avocado, hummus, cherry tomatoes, and tex-mex snack mix).  

Sunday:  Went to the Douglas County Fair to watch J's dad preach and ate free pancakes.

HOLLER!

And that's not even a full week!

UH...

I was being a bit whiny in my last post.

Go figure.

I have a ton of friends here.  And they're awesome.  It's my own problem that I haven't reached out to them lately.

Sometimes a girl just needs a moment to wallow in her own non-problems.

WALLOW WALLOW WALLOW.

Good and bad...

Coming back to Denver has been both positive and negative.

I've had trouble breaking out of old routines and I still feel in somewhat of a slump with my friend scene in Denver.

I mean, what does one do when her best friend is her ex-boyfriend?

The answers are obvious but 

CRAP.

How much easier was it to avoid avoid avoid in Iowa City?

Anyway,

  I also haven't climbed or worked out since being here.

Because I live in a new neighborhood and didn't take much time to explore before my trip to Iowa, I know I must start the arduous process of finding my "spots."

Although I generally find this to be daunting, I'm trying to keep an upbeat attitude and remember,
"THIS IS AN ADVENTURE, SONJA!!!!"

Step one was taken today when I found a local coffee shop down the street.  This may seem miniscule but, shoot, being here has put me back in the writing mood and I'm now more excited than ever to return to school.

The next step will be to find a climbing gym and in the process, perhaps find some new climber friends?

Time will tell.

Ow Ow...

I love climbing, but damn...  I've been getting tore up!

Which means I must get better, so I can stop knocking knees with the wall.

OUCH.

Climb on...

It has only just dawned on me that I will be leaving Iowa City soon.

Though I am more than ready to get back to reality in some ways, I will be leaving behind a whole new group of friends I made while being here.

The climbers at the Rec Center in Iowa City have been the most welcoming and killer group of people to get to know and their energy will be the most sorely missed aspect of my time here in Iowa.

I will climb on, of course, but dangit! I wish I could pack everyone in my suitcase and bring them home with me to Denver.

This is Ellen and me, derpin' around at the gym.

I will especially miss Ellen.  My belay-boo and the fasted BFF I ever made.

TEARS.

Quick list of peeps I met through climbing this time so I won't forget:  ELLEN, Fidi, Filippoooo, Matteo, Mani, Rohith, Stacey, Amy, Jon, Katie, Jacob+Nick+Tony=America, Swathi, Matt, other Matt,  Carter, Tyler, William, Liz, James, Adam and holy mother, countless others.    

Rustic...

My friend Andy has been inviting me to his family's cabin for years.  I have no idea why things have never worked out but the short and sweet trip I took to his cabin yesterday was more than fabulous.  These pictures are not the most accurate portrayal of the trip. There were ten of us who made it to the cabin and for most of the day we lounged on floaties and tubes, rode jetskis and paddle-boated to neighboring docks with offerings of Busch Light and witty remarks.

At night we sat around the fire, roasted 'mallows for s'mores and battled the neighbors in a fireworks contest.  They won.  But since we almost caught the house across the lake on fire, I think we were a close second.

I got the MOST heinous sunburn.  My nose might fall right off but it was totally worth it!!

Sparklers!!!

These two are special.

Such an amazing getaway.

The rest of the pics will go on Facebook when I'm feeling motivated!!

Liar...

Over at my fashion blog, snow me white, I alleged to have worn a certain outfit to pub quiz at Deadwood last night.  I lied.  I wore this variation and of course, kept the cowgirl boots in the mix.

After a couple dances at Yacht Club dance party, after hours led my comrades and me to Pancheros.  After some hardcore nom-nom, I spent the night on a friend's couch.  Because there were somehow no blankets in the house, I got creative and covered myself in coats from the closet.  HA!  It was great.  I slept like a baby and felt totally brilliant in the process.  I may be horrible at trivia, but I proved to be quite clever in a pinch.