The little things

Sorry for the poor photo quality today guys...it's raining/thunderstorming outside, and it's supposed to carry on all day, so no dice on outdoor photos. Oh, well. This outfit isn't anything spectacular, anyway ;)

On the bright side, I got to lie in bed and listen to thunderstorms all morning. I really do love that. It's the little things.

items: 6, 15, 28
necklace: Banana Republic...I think the latter
bangles: H&M

Man, I need to make a trip to F21 and H&M as soon as this challenge is over. And the thrift store. The thing is, my 30 items are about 1/3 of my closet, and they're some of the items I wear most often anyway. So I definitely feel like I need a little wardrobe refresh. Just a few things here and there.

Speaking of "the little things" (well, I was earlier anyway), I had a great one yesterday too. See, most of this week has been one disappointment or annoyance after another, and I've been really, really stressed out. So after work yesterday, Matt and I met up with a friend from OU (the same one from "guy time" yesterday, haha) and we went down to the climbing wall at the Scioto Audubon park. I love that park more than any other place in the city, I think. So I got a good route in, then I decided to be really gutsy and try lead climbing for the first time ever.

For those who are rusty on your climbing terminology, lead climbing is far more difficult from top-rope climbing. In top-rope, your rope is looped through an anchor at the top of the route, so it goes from your harness, up to the anchor, then down to the person who is belaying you. (The belayer is the one who keeps the rope taut so if you fall, you don't fall far.) In lead climbing, there is no top anchor. Instead, the rope goes from your harness straight to the belayer. You climb up the wall and hook into several bolts that are placed on the face of the wall itself as you go. This means, if you fall, you will probably fall much farther, and harder. Lead climbing forces you to rely on your skill alone, instead of relying on the rope to hold you up.

It's terrifying.

But it's also incredibly rewarding. There were several points where I honestly didn't think I'd make it to the top. And I even took a fall (albeit a small one--just a few feet). But somehow, I made it. Every muscle in my arms and my legs was kind of twitching by the time I got lowered to the ground, haha. But it was an amazing feeling to know that even if I think I can't do something, I can somehow find the strength to push on. And that doesn't have to be physical; it can be a mental strength as well.

Sorry for the rant. I am just super excited about my climb. And about the boost it gave me :) Do you have anything that gets you pumped up like that?