A New Year

After a long hiatus from blogging I have decided to start writing again. Sometimes when personal things are going on I chose not to blog because writing allows me to express things that are not easily said, and honestly sometimes those things should not be said because they are too personal. Therefore the best way to close that door is to not write at all. But I feel that I'm in a good place once more and I am ready to go.

I have a lot of hope for 2012! Even writing it down looks good, don't you thing? 2-0-1-2
Ironically, this has already been a very difficult year and I have learned a lot of things that hopefully will help me be a better person. Here are some of the lessons I have learned:

1. I feel more compassion than I have ever felt for the "survivors" of traumatic experiences. Meaning the wife who saw her husband having a heart attack, the little boy who saw his sibling fall and pass out, the person walking by who saw a car accident and was the first to call for help, etc. I never knew how those experiences affect the people who may not have been the victim until I became someone who was not a victim but experienced the trauma in my own way. I had a lot of symptoms I recognized from post traumatic stress and it gave me a glimpse into a lot of people's lives.

2. Truly forgiving those who break your heart is possible. It takes time and a lot of prayer and soul searching but it is possible. I think I finally understood that to forgive something who has hurt you so badly you have to come to terms with the fact that it was the person's choice and you could not have done anything to change it. I think forgiveness is a lot more difficult to achieve if you believe that you have control over another person's actions and you can change them. You don't and you have to accept it.

3. When people make mistakes I will definitely think twice about how I react to it. As humans we all make mistakes and it is hurtful when those things are made into big issues because of anger and because people feel better when tell everyone about it. That is how rumors start and how stories keep growing every time they are told.  It hurts when people lie about you so we should all do our best to protect each other from such things and stop rumors before they start.

4.  It feels good to give even when people don't appreciate the gift. And if for some reason they do appreciate it, it feels good times two.

5. If you find the right person to spend the rest of your life with, getting old doesn't look so bad.

Here's to an amazing 2012!!!!

Lemonade Stands

I am several dollars poorer thanks to all the cute children in my neighborhood who have had lemonade stands this summer. When will parents teach them about eBay? 

Well anyway, it is fun to see how each child's face fills up with excitement (some times their uncontrollable jumping up and down reflects their excitement also) when you stop to give them a few cents for a cold, sometimes not-so-cold and somewhat diluted...ahem...lemon drink. 

Who doesn't remember having a lemonade stand as a kid? It seems like every childhood was in need of the citrus drink to get a few dollars for something special. 

I will always stop when I see a lemonade stand because it represents the right children have to dream.

And The Countdown Begins

Happy birthday to me...in 3 months!

I decided to give myself a few cool presents for my next birthday. Why? Because I'm turning 30. Yeah, I know I should not worry about it, I will live, it is just the beginning of my life, blah blah blah. No matter how you put it, it is a little depressing because your 20's are considered some of the best times of your life. When you were a kid, didn't you want to be in your 20's? I remember I always had crushes on college guys because I thought they were so cool.

Either way, because I was afraid that it is going to be more of an un-happy day than a happy day, I have started giving myself presents to prevent any depression that may accompany the event.

Present #1
A fabulous bed!!!!!! It is twice as big as my old one and 50 times more comfortable!! I hate to say it but if anyone ever wants to marry me they will have to take the both us or neither...

Present #2
I wanted to remember what I was like in my 20's, so I decided to have professional pics taken. It was a little scary; most of the time I am messing around and my pics show me camping, etc. But I found a fantastic photographer who made me feel at home and I literally had some of the best time of my life!

Here's a sample

If you would like to see a few more go to Stephanie's blog.

The problem now? Since I already gave myself 2 amazing gifts before the dreaded event, I now have to find something to do on the actual day of my birthday.

When I turned 28, I decided to celebrate by doing 28 acts of service. It was pretty fun! So now I need ideas of what to do, times 30. If anybody reads this, please leave any thoughts you may have (you know who you are!).

Here are a few of mine:
-Buy 30 items of clothing
-Taste 30 different flavors of ice cream
-Read 30 pages of a book I would never read other wise (not so sure about this one)
-Watch 30 episodes of my favorite shows (but that would take a lot of time)
-Do a different activity every 30 minutes
-Get a 30 minute massage
-Kiss 30 guys (hope my parents aren't reading this one). Just kidding mom and dad!!!!
-Write 30 attributes that I would like to have
-Disappear for 30 hours (likey likey)

OK, that's about all I can think of. Any suggestions?

"Virtually" Living My Life Away

Sometimes I feel like the internet/facebook/texting/anything done with some kind of technical equipment have taken over my life.

When I wake up in the morning, the first thing I do is read the news online, then I check emails from work, check facebook and my day seems to cycle around all these things. I shop/window shop online (or would it be called screen shopping?), I read online, I learn online, I get recipes online, I keep track of my exercising online, well... you get the point.

When I was a little girl, my family moved to a little German town in the southern part of Chile. Technically, we weren't in the town, we were actually several miles from town. As a matter of fact in the area that we lived, we were the first house to be built. And it wasn't just any house, it was a log house. We were surrounded by nature as far as the eye could see and this is what I saw every day from home:

Needless to say, our life was simple and somewhat isolated. We did have a TV, which was black and white but we probably got 3 to 4 channels at the most. I think we had a phone but I don't really remember using it. The simplicity of our life was a most wonderful thing.

All the time I wish that I could go back to those simple days, when we could go for a boysenberry-picking-trip and would come back with buckets full of the wonderful dark fruit which my mother would turn in to jam. It would then in turn accompany her homemade bread. I wish I could still ride my bike any time of the day without being afraid. I wish I could go play on the hills next to our home where little calves would lay and where we found the first bird's nest full of eggs I had even seen.

I was surrounded by white daisy's and blue skies

Thinking about what my life used to be has helped me remember I still love "the simple life." I'm not into traveling the world (even though I have lived in different countries but it was all work related), I'd rather play in my own backyard. When it comes to homes, I'd rather have a small house in a large piece of land. I'd rather only check my email at work because I have to (I wish I didn't have to). I'd rather have a pic-nic than go to a nationally acclaimed restaurant that serves fancy food. I'd rather read a book than watch a movie. I'd rather make my food from scratch. I'd rather have few possessions and peace of mind than have credit card debt and so many things I don't even know where to put them.

It is difficult finding that balance. There are some things which are necessary to live in this world. But I will always prefer the simple life.

Havasupai: Before and After the Flood of 2008

2011 UPDATED DISCLAIMER: I have been told by several people who went to Havasupai in 2010 that the water in my pictures doesn't reflect its true color. In theirs it was as blue as before. I think this has to do with the fact that in 2010 we got there right after they had a mini flood so there was still stuff in the water. Please read on!

I decided to write a review on how Havasupai (a.k.a The Garden of Eden) has changed since the August of 2008 flood. It was one of the biggest floods they have ever had. The water rose up to 8 feet. All 400 members of the tribe had to be evacuated. All tourists were also evacuated and flown by helicopter to the top of the Grand Canyon.  You can imagine what that did to the tribe who's sole form of income is tourism.

2008 months before the flood

2008 during the flood

I was one of the lucky people who got to go to Havasupai before this great flood. I have so many memories of that place!!! Because of my wonderful past experiences I was a little hesitant to go back and see what damage had been caused to this beautiful place. In case you are curios, this is my review and comparison of the before and after.

1. THE HIKE IN: although the way to get to Havasupai is pretty much the same, it did seem to me that there was more gravel on the trails. This made the hike more difficult but not terribly. I found a couple of spots looked different. There was also a mini flood the week before we went.

2. TOWN: the town is pretty much the same. The same buildings, same houses, etc. Something that I liked is that they have a new little store which is one of the first houses when you get into town. So if you really feel you are dying by the time you reach town, you can go there. They also serve pot roast meals every day at dinner time (not that I ever ate there but it's an option). I also liked that there are more signs, or at least they seem to have made them more clear on how to get there.  They no longer charge you the environmental fee (which was only like $5 bucks anyway). People are as nice as always and the kids as as cute as ever. The new Dr. and RN in the clinic are super great and all buildings have extra great AC. And just so you know, the grocery store is not totally over-priced. I always recommend that you either buy fresh fruit in town or have some money for at least one meal. It saves you weight on what you carry in and it helps you not get completely sick of your carb/protein packed food.

2008

2010

2008

2010

2008

2010 This is a little bit of a different angle. Still the same.

2010 Better directions.

2010

3. HIKE TO THE FALLS: first major change: the river looks like there was a flood and Navajo Falls, totally gone. But!!! There are some new falls which are actually really fun and beautiful.  You can tell they have had to clean up a lot. There were lots of piles of dead trees but they are small and they do not get in the way of the beauty of the hike.

2008 Navajo Falls

2010 Navajo Falls from a distance

2010 New falls called Rock Falls from a distance.

4. HAVASU FALLS: these are the first major falls you come to right before you get to the camp ground. They have changed a lot. But at least they are still there! The area where the water begins to fall literary lost about 6 feet of height and the water now comes out on the right side only (right side when you're looking at it) and the area is a lot smaller.  The pool that used to be below it lost several yards of area and it is not as deep. Before you could swim up to the trees and it got deep pretty fast. Now you have to walk down to it quite a bit. But the locals have done a great job at putting sand bags to try to help it recover and they really have cleaned up debris.

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

2010 Still beautiful and fun.

5. THE CAMP GROUND: well, what can I say? It is completely different. the river used to split it in two almost evenly and there were more campgrounds to the left side (when hiking in). Now the river goes to the left and there are more campgrounds to the right. This is the area that looks the most like there was a flood. I can't even imagine what the locals have had to clean up!!! And they are still working on it!!!! There are lots of piles of trees that are getting burned, and there are lots of areas that needed a boardwalk or big log to get through. They have also build a couple of bridges to get to the left side trail to get to Mooney Falls. There are still lots of trees for those who want to tie a hammock and there is still vegetation. So it's not all bad. In all honesty, people who had never been there never even noticed. To spring of drinkable water (and no, we did not filter at all) looks different but it is still in the same place. It is a little harder to get to because you have to cross several arms of the stream to get to it but there are boards to walk on. There used to be a wood building in front of it... gone.

2008. That little stream is now the river.

2008

2008

2008. This river is now re-routed. See video.

2010. Old campsite from afar. You where the earth brakes a little, that is where the river is.

2010 New river path.

6. POTTIES: Honestly, the most improved thing is that now they do not have portasoooo much better. They have 3 large compost stations. They are pretty high end porta-potties that do not smell are pretty clean, give you enough room to not have to touch anything, always have enough TP,  you can change in them if you want, and they are not full of bugs. This made my trip so happy!

2008-definitely the best improvement

Yay for clean potties!

No more of these!

7. MOONEY FALLS: I think that this is the fall that has changed the least. It is maybe 1 or 2 feet lower than it used to be, but it really does look the same.  The way down has not changed at all.  It is the same chains you have to hold on to. The pool at the bottom does have sand bags but it is just a little smaller and definitely not as deep. The little water falls that are right after it also look pretty much the same. So much fun!

2008 Mooney Falls during the day

2010 Mooney falls

2008 Going down.

2010 Going down.

8. THE RIVER/TRAIL DOWN BELOW: the river has a new waterfall that seems to come from the gully. It is this cool rock that is actually quite beautiful. Also most of the river is not as deep so you can pretty much walk it almost all the way to Beaver Falls. I wouldn't recommend it though because it takes 3 times longer to get there. The trail is pretty much the same. You still find yourself completely surrounded by green. It is like being in a the jungle. The rope swing and the small water hole? I am not sure because I couldn't find it. The giant water hole where you could jump from really high? I am  also not sure.

2010 new waterfall

Before

After

Before

After

2008 Old rope swing (don't know if it's still there)

2008 Looking down at the big water hole.

2008 Jumping into the big water hole.

2010 New place to jump in.

9. BEAVER FALLS: On the way to these falls I was happy to see the famous Palm Tree. It is still there! To get to the falls, you still have to climb up the log with the ropes. That trail pretty much looks the same. The actual falls looked much the same to me but the areas surrounding them were a little different.The way to get down to the falls is different. There is an easy trail a little past the lower one, right before you get to the sign that says you are leaving the reservation. They did not seem as deep. I am not sure if there is still the under-water cave because I didn't check but the rock walls looked different enough that I didn't feel comfortable checking it out. Plus I was scared to go in them before anyway.

2010 The famous palm tree!

2008 ("after" pictures coming soon)

10. WAY TO THE COLORADO RIVER: honestly, I don't know if that changed at all because we didn't go that far. But since it was higher ground I'm guessing it is pretty much the same.

Final thoughts: In all reality, I was sad the first day I got there. Things seemed to be so different and it was sad to think that they will never be the same. Then I got over that, and I started enjoying the beauties of one of the most unusual places in the world. It is still beautiful, the water is still as blue as Gatorade, and the adventures are innumerable. I did notice that people that had not been there did not seem to mind the changes at all and their experience was as magical as my first one was.

So would I got back again???  

HECK YES!!!!

But since I always tell myself I'm an idiot for hiking out (especially when I get to the switchbacks), next time I'm getting a mule. Or maybe I'll take a little flight!