Inverted Turtle

100 and More Things has moved to, and become The Inverted Turtle! I have updated all my social media accounts, and the Facebook page to reflect this change.

I hope you enjoy the new site, this one will be left up, however  I won't be posting here anymore.

Thank you all!

2017 Goals

For the last 30 days I've been trying to think about what to write in this post, and I haven't been able to come up with anything that seemed worth writing.

My goal for every year has been the same for the last four years in a row - make this year better than the last.  I've succeeded every year so far! While this is still my goal this year, I also have a few more specific goals I'd like to share.

Be more confident - One of the things I have marked off on my list is 1. Stop being shy.  Not being shy is not necessarily being confident however.  Being more confident is one goal that's incredibly important to me this year.  To me this goal involves being decisive, knowing what I want, being confident in myself, my strengths and abilities, and being confident in others around me.

Complete a thru-hike - In July I will hike Mount Katahdin, and that will be the beginning of my 2,200(ish) mile walk.  I'll be leaving a fantastic job, comfortable life, my super cool family, and my amazing boyfriend for a couple of months to go sleep in the woods and hike 10+ miles a day.

Do things that terrify me - "Life begins at the end of your comfort zone".  This is different from being more confident, I could be 100% confident and never leave my comfort zone.  I often try to push myself out of my comfort zone, however there are things that still terrify me, but shouldn't.  One of my goals this year is to not let things that are scary stop me from having new, amazing experiences.

These are my goals for the year, what about yours?

My tattoos and piercings, pain and experience.

In 2015 I marked two things off my list:

69. Get my bellybutton pierced
70. Get a tattoo

I completed those two things about two weeks apart from each other, which was pretty cool.  Now, over a year later I have three tattoos, two non-ear piercings, and I've stretched my ears to 4G.

My first and third tattoos were done at Fianna Studio fundraisers for the ARLGP.  I was incredibly nervous to get this done, because it was my first tattoo.  I had just gotten my belly button pierced about two weeks prior, and that hurt, so I was extra nervous for the tattoo.
As I found out, tattoos and piercings don't feel alike at all.  The most surprising thing when I got my belly button piercing was how much it hurt - everything I'd heard said I'd barely feel it.  The most surprising thing about the tattoo was how little it hurt.





My second tattoo is the only personalized piece of the three I currently have.  The artist designed it, picked the colors, and everything, all I said was I want a Betta fish.
Now, there is actually meaning behind this tattoo.  Other than my being a fish-enthusiast.
Something many people don't realize about Bettas is that even though they're small, delicate-looking, gorgeous fish they are extremely aggressive.  They can and will easily take down another fish, especially the males.
I always compare them to the black-tipped reef shark.  Which are small, but still maintain the "scary" shark look.  They are shy, have been known to live in social groups, and can actually be quite friendly towards divers; especially if the people have snacks for them.
I consider it a yin and yang kind of thing, one beautiful small freshwater fish that will kill another of it's species just for being in the same tank, and one large "scary" (personally, I find them rather adorable) shark that is gentle, shy, and will only bite humans under very rare circumstances.

I already mentioned my third tattoo being another animal shelter fundraiser tattoo.  This one is a little better hidden, it can only be seen while I'm wearing fairly short shorts.  I got it where I did thinking that it wouldn't be any more painful than my arm.  I was wrong.  It was quite a bit more painful, though still bearable.

My septum piercing is an interesting story.  I apparently don't have what is referred to as a "sweet spot".  Which basically means that if you pull the skin down on my septum there's no good place to pierce through the skin.  Generally, they want to pierce through that skin, and not through the cartilage.
My is through my cartilage.
The biggest issues with piercing through the cartilage are:

1) A longer healing time.
2) It's more painful to have done.

Current personal piercing/tattoo location pain ratings (least to most painful):

1. My first tattoo, the pawprint on my arm. Hurt less, and healed better than any piercing/tattoo I've ever had. Never had any problems except when I sunburned it (that was stupid and my fault, I know) and when the cat sunk her claws into it.
2. Septum. Didn't hurt at all, though since it went through cartilage it should have hurt more than normal. Healing time was ~2 months for me, but not too bad.
3. The betta fish tattoo. Hurt more than the first because it hits my shoulder, and pretty close to my armpit. Still not too bad.
4. Earlobe. I don't remember getting the piercing really, but I know it got infected every time I wore heavy earrings, which sucked!
5. Thigh tattoo. My most painful tattoo to date, but not bad. However, healing was weird because I got it a week before going on a backpacking trip, so it got pretty dried out and that wasn't great.
6. Stretching. I got impatient and ripped my ear once causing two days of intense pain and swelling before I took the jewelry out. Another time my ears randomly swelled and closed up a lot. And recently I stretched, and it worked fine. The next day they were sore, and a day or two later I took the jewelry out because it hurt and ended up bleeding and swollen. Otherwise stretching has been easy, and even less painful than anything else.
7. Belly button, because of how it was done. The clamps hurt, the needle going through hurt (they're not really supposed to wiggle the needle through the way he did), the jewelry going through hurt. And being the genius I am, I got it when I was wearing a harness everyday the entire time I was working. Healing took foreverrrr.

Next Saturday I have my next tattoo appointment, and hopefully within the next month or so I'll be getting my industrial piercing, which will knock another thing off the list!

The Appalachian Trials

As you may know I really enjoy the Appalachian Trials website, I even have a link to it at the bottom of my blog! It's been incredibly helpful while planning for my thru-hike, and just a lot of fun to read other people's experiences on the trail.

Now, I get to blog for them!

I've already put up one post there because we didn't finish the 100 Mile Wilderness.  We did, however, learn a lot.

So, you can go to that link and subscribe to my posts there.  I highly recommend just subscribing and reading as many of the posts on the website as you can.

Today I did weigh what food I had left, and it was... 17.5lbs! Since I'm going ultralite I'm trying to get my whole pack under 15lbs.  I'll be posting my whole gear list on both blogs eventually, but it'll be up there first!

100 and More Miles Preparation

It's time to get my ass in gear - both literally and figuratively.  My Dad, Cheyenne, and I are setting out to do the 100 mile wilderness of the Appalachian Trail at the end of this month.  It's time to finalize my gear list and acquire everything I'll need.  So here it is:

Gear I have:
Tent - Tarptent Rainbow (2.25lbs)
Pack - Deuter ACT Lite 70+10 SL (4.5lbs)
Stove - BioLite Campstove (2.5lbs)
Headlamp - Petzl Tikka RXP
Camera - Canon EOS Rebel T5
Water Filter(s) - Sawer Mini Squeeze filter, and LifeStraw
Sleeping Bag - Enlightened Equipment Revelation 
Sleeping Pad - Therm-a-Rest NeoAir Xlite
Boots - Saloman Ultra X mid 2 GTX

With all the gear I have so far (with the exception of my camera, but including my boots and some other random little things) my pack weighs a little over 17lbs.

Gear Cheyenne has:
Pack - Wolfpack Banzai
Sleeping bag/bed - Noble Camper
Bowls - Generic collapsable bowls
Treats - TurboPUP Superfood Snacks

I did get some more gear tonight, so I'll post an updated gear list soon.

My dad's gear list and other information about our hike can be found on his blog.  He's just as (maybe even more!) excited as I am for this trip.

I'm definitely in shape, I walk, climb, bike, and dance as much as I can.  Cheyenne with her fairly recent knee surgery is my bigger concern.  We'll be going on long gentle hikes these next couple weeks to get her ready.  We only have two more weeks until we leave.

We leave around the 27th for 10-14 days, it'll be my first real backpacking trip.  I'm definitely nervous, but also very excited.

My First International Travel

27. Travel in a Foreign county with a friend.

I spent a week at the beginning of this month my first time abroad, in Dubai.  I would have posted more while we were there, but I decided it was a vacation from everything, including blogging.

My boyfriend (Who I will refer to as "IT" at his request) is working out of the country right now, and has been for the last couple of months, so we decided to take a vacation in Dubai.  After a hassle trying to get my passport, and a long first flight by myself, I arrived.  Then proceeded to sit in the airport for three hours until IT got there and we found each other.

June 30th
My first time flying alone, and I go across the ocean.  I don't sleep on planes, sleeping while in transit makes me motion sick, and one a plane ride of 12+ hours would be extra miserable if sick.  Instead I watched the following movies:
Sinister 2 - Which I'd seen most of before, and this version was "edited for content".  There was only one major scene that I noticed was missing, but a few other things in the movie made more sense with it in.
The Boy - I enjoyed the twist ending!
The Otherside of the Door - most of it.  The dog died and I turned it off.
Everest - I joked afterwards that the scariest movie I watched on that flight was Everest, being a aspiring climber of the mountain, and a rock climber, I know a bit about it.  I knew about the event, too, but couldn't remember who survived, which made the movie that much more stressful.

Also during the flight we were told that we were hitting some turbulence, my first thought was of the second Sharknado movie...

July 1st-3rd 

Because we were both pretty tired, and hadn't seen each other in over three months, the first few days we spend mostly sleeping, watching animal planet, and just wandering around the stores and water near our hotel.  

My first impression was that everyone was very friendly, there were a lot of people who would talk to me, and ask me questions - mostly things like “where are you coming from?!”  Others would just smile and/or wave.  I mean, I did stand out quite a bit, plus I was wearing jeans, a flannel and a beanie.

The whole city was fairly relaxed and welcoming, as long as you were respectful.  It was Ramadan for the first five days of the trip, which meant during the day everywhere selling food was either closed, or at least had curtains closed so you couldn't see inside, and here were signs in the grocery stores asking people to refrain from eating in public places.

A lot of people were really nervous about me going because it's a Middle Eastern country.  I can tell you I felt just as safe there as I do in my home town.  One of the biggest questions I was asked was "will you have to cover yourself and everything? and "are you sure it's safe there?".  While they are a muslim country Dubai is also tourist-centric city, so they rely on tourism heavily, which means they would never get away with having a dress code that strict.  Even the dress code I'd read about online - and was very nervous about breaking - wasn't really enforced, and there were a lot of people in clothes I'd read would be deemed inappropriate.  And again, I felt just as safe there as I do at home, because they are a tourist city and if it was as dangerous as people I've talked to seem to think it is then no one would visit! So if that's a concern of yours, and a reason you don't want to visit you have nothing to worry about.

July 4th

We visited the Dubai Mall, one of the largest malls in the world.  It was really cool, we didn't actually buy anything, or go into many stores, but just walking around was exciting.  They had some cool art around, a lot of people from all over the world, weird but awesome stuff like a full dinosaur skeleton, and my personal favorite, the Dubai Aquarium. 

The food court situation was actually pretty interesting.  They didn't shut down the food court during Ramadan, but so as not to be disrespectful towards those that were fasting they had it blocked off.  I'd never thought about that as a possibility, I honestly expected anywhere that served food to be closed completely during the day.

The bigger thing we did was go to the observation of the Burj Khalifa, AKA the world's tallest building.  Looking down at the city, and watching the sunset from 1,821' up in the air was pretty incredible. Unfortunately, I forgot my nice camera this day, and was left with only my iPhone to take pictures with.  

We did laugh at the plush version of the Burj that they gave each of us.

July 5th

This was the day of our aquarium visit, so obviously I made sure I had my nice camera on this day so I could take tons of pictures of fish, and other aquatic creatures.

We signed up for one of their special experiences, so after wandering through and looking at all the animals for well over an hour and a half, we got to hand feed rays! I was really excited, and I'm actually half tempted to cross number 76 (Swim with stingrays) off my list, because we were actually standing in the water with them, even if we didn't technically swim.  Much to my parents' dismay, no pictures were taken of us feeding the rays.  There was a pretty decent sized Nurse Shark swam up to us trying to get us to feed it, but our "guide" scared him away.  The big leopard whipray wanted some treats really badly, too, however he also wasn't allowed to have any.

Some quick Dubai Aquarium fun facts:

• In 2010 there was actually had a huge leak that caused an evacuation in the mall.  
• It is the second largest aquarium in the world, 
• It houses the over 1,650lbs "King Croc" and his mate "Queen Croc", they are Australian Saltwater Crocodiles.  He was originally captured because he was causing problems in a small town!

July 6th

We got to explore a little more, and walked from our hotel to the beach.  Despite the heat it was a nice walk.


Because it was so hot during the day we opted to go back to the hotel, and then visited the beach after dark.  It was really cool at night, there were a lot more people there, and the water was so nice and warm.  The water was significantly nicer temperature, in my opinion, than my home near the beach in Maine is.

July 7th

For our last day of vacation we spent a lot of time in the pool in our hotel, and playing the new most popular mobile game - Pokemon Go.

I wouldn't have started playing the game while on vacation abroad, except IT and I wanted to play it together.  So we did join the trend and went on a walk just to catch new Pokemon.

July 8th

Unfortunately every vacation has to come to an end, and IT's plane was over three hours before mine.  So I got to wander around my terminal in Dubai for a couple hours.  I try to collect postcards, and snow globes because they're usually fairly inexpensive, and easy to find.

After doing a few laps around the airport out of boredom I bought a donut and sat to wait for my plane.

The plane ride back would have been much longer, there's only so many movie franchises I can watch in a row, but we got to stop in Milan for about an hour.  Italy is somewhere I've wanted to visit for a while, I'm even learning and teaching Cheyenne commands in Italian, so it was pretty cool that I got to stop there of all places on my way home.

The rest of the trip was very uneventful, other than my confusion about going through customs in the USA (it was ridiculously easy) because it was different than when we landed in Dubai, and a three hour layover in JFK where I played a lot of Geometry Dash and Piano Tiles while trying really hard not to fall asleep.

Firsts:

Other than being the first time I've left the USA there were quite a few other "firsts" for me on this trip.

• June 30th: Flying by myself - it was pretty terrifying, let me tell you.
• June 30th: Having a meal on a plane - it really wasn't that exciting, but it was a first.
• July 1st: Visit to the Asian continent - while this is implied with it being the first time I've left the US, I decided to include it anyway, then someday I'll have the dates of the first time I visited each continent!
• July 1st: Stay in a 5-star hotel - we didn't even realize it was a 5-star hotel until we'd been there a few days and googled it.
• July 6th: Having a Krispy Kreme donut - life changing ;)
• July 8th: Visit to the European continent - not a very exciting first time in Europe.  I stayed in the airport the entire time.  I still technically have been, though.

Laser Tag, Trips, and Electronics

Finally I post about my trip to play laser tag, one of the things on my list that I finally got to cross off!

On Valentine's day this year my boyfriend decided to take me to play laser tag.  He read my list and saw it, so that's what we did! We visited Hilltop Arcade in Somersworth, played some arcade games, and then played laser tag.  I had a lot of fun, and I will definitely play laser tag again.  It was the perfect Valentine's date.  

As the title says I have a couple of trips planned that are coming up pretty fast.  First, my friend Amy, and I are going to be taking a train down to Boston for a weekend in April.  I won't post too much about it not, but some of the trip highlights will be visiting the aquarium, getting piercings, my first visit to the cheesecake factory, and much more! It's going to be a let's do as much as we can in Boston in a weekend as possible type trip.  I'll post a detail plan soon.

And the last subject of this post, electronics.  My boyfriend bought a new laptop and gave me his old Macbook, and today I ordered a Canon Rebel T5 off Amazon.  The camera should be here before our Boston trip, and hopefully I'll have a couple days to play around with it and figure it out beforehand.  Definitely look forward to those pictures, and keep an eye on my Instagram, and Flickr to see them all.  I've got three lenses, and a couple filter sets coming with it, so I'll be able to do some cool stuff.

My First Mountaineering Trip

Willey's Slide

Yesterday I went mountaineering for the first time with a class through Salt Pump.  It was a lot of fun, I definitely learned a lot of new stuff, and when I got to the top of where we were climbing and looked down I wasn't even a little nervous either.

I packed for the trip on Friday night, knowing myself enough to know that I wasn't going to be able to wake up enough to make sure I wasn't missing anything the next morning.

After a quick meeting at Salt Pump me and my climbing partners headed out to North Conway in New Hampshire, to meet our guide, Jimmy, and borrow gear from Cathedral Mountain Guides.  Quickly we were back on the road, on our way to Willey's Slide.

Our view of surrounding mountains!

First part of the day we learned the basic stuff, like how to use crampons, how to use the mountaineering axe, self-arrest, ice tools, etc.  We had beautifully calm weather, with next to no wind, and cloud cover, it was perfect for a first time mountaineering.  Considering all the snow the rest of the east coast has gotten in the last few days we were very lucky.

We did get to do some low-angle ice climbing, as well as learn a bit about running belays (AKA Simul Climbing), and eventually went almost all the way up what you saw on the left side, in the first picture.  It was an all around amazing experience.  With proper layering I wasn't cold most of the climb, except my fingers because I was wearing the fingerless gloves convertible mittens for my gloves.  Let me tell you, swinging an ice tool with numb, tingly fingers is extremely difficult, I do recommend better gloves.  I think I will probably leave my down jacket on while climbing next time, and maybe lose a top base layer instead.  In just my base layers, fleece, and shell I was a bit chilly, even when climbing.

Me, super psyched to be outside climbing for the first time!

We went up, and then hiked down a trail through the woods instead of going down on the mixed ice and snow, it was the easier way to get down.  Walking through the deep snow made me appreciate being so active normally, because though it was a bit tiring on the legs I ended up being the only one, other than our, guide who wasn't sore afterwards.

It was a fantastic trip, and now I'm just really psyched to get back onto the ice.  I'm planning on going Thursday morning back to Willey's Slide to tackle the middle section of just low-angle ice with my co-worker, Zack.


No matter what I know I'm going to be getting outside more this winter.  Usually I avoid the snow and cold like the plague, this year I think I will be able to enjoy it more.  Today I even went on a short winter hike to a waterfall near my house.  As amazing as it is to go out and find big adventures there are also small ones close to home, that is something I need to remember when the "wanderlust" sets in.

Rock Climbing, Getting Stronger

Those of you who have read my blog may know that I've only really been climbing since July.   July 23rd was the day I learned how to belay and actually started technical (with safety gear, ropes, harness, etc) rock climbing, it hasn't even been quite six months, yet.

If you know the grading scale for rock climbing you'll know a 5.10 is a fairly difficult climb, one that definitely takes quite a bit of technique and strength.  While I've done a couple of 5.10a's and a 5.10b or two in the past tonight I topped out on my first 5.10c.*

Back in August or September I was shadowing an Intro to Climbing class, the teacher was having the lone student belay me for practice, he suggested I get on a 5.10b or c, saying it was his favorite climb in the whole gym.  Not knowing the grading scale very well still I hesitantly agreed.  After a dozen or more falls getting under half way up the wall I quit.  Had I known then that climbs only stay up for 12 weeks or so I would've made more effort to get up that one.  On the other hand, I'm glad I didn't spend a lot of time on that.  I bouldered a lot in my first couple months, which helped build up strength that I need for all rock climbing, I'm not sure I'd be where I am if I hadn't spend so much time bouldering.

I do believe that working at Monkey Trunks help me get over my heights fear enough to get me rock climbing successfully.  Plus the autobelay I tried once or twice while setting up the rock wall there gave me a little taste.  Another thing that made it easier for me was dance.  Movement-wise I make more interesting moves with more high feet, and pressing off lower holds with my hand rather than pulling myself up ever if possible.  The flexibility I earned from dancing all these years definitely helped me progress faster than I would have otherwise.

Overtime I accomplish something new while climbing I think one step closer to my goals.  I climb a slightly harder route than I've done before, and I become more and more inspired to get better and go to the next step.  The next step for me is ice climbing.  Which I will post more about when it happens!

Now I am able to do every type of climbing Salt Pump offers; Bouldering, Top Roping, and Lead climbing, all within six months of climbing.  My fingers, and forearms still get sore after a couple days in a row of climbing, but I feel stronger after every session.  I have a couple of friends who I climb with often now, I'll be moving outside soon for some winter climbing, and then outdoor rock climbing this spring.  I've got a wonderful support group of people who want to get better, and want me to get better.  The rock climbing community remain some of the most supportive, friendly people I've met, possibly the most supportive and friendly community I've ever been involved in.  If it's available to you, I highly recommend climbing, even if you don't have the strongest upper body, or if you're scared of heights, or any other reason you might have for not climbing.  There are rocks pretty much everywhere, go climb some.


*For those of you who don't know: 5. means fifth class, it's part of the "Yosemite Decimal System" the grading scale we use in the USA.  The second number tells you how hard it is.  Once you get to 5.10 they add letters, just to make it way more confusing.  5.11a is harder than 5.10d but easier than 5.11b.  Once it gets to d it goes to the next number grade.

Thru-Hike Update December 2015

About a year and a half left until my AT departure date, only 6 months away from my original date.  I got a bit of gear for Christmas, but there's still quite a bit to go.

Leaving either May 31st, or sometime in June of 2016 I plan to hike the 100 mile wilderness, which of course I planned to do this past summer.  This time I'm making sure I plan a date so I can get off work ahead of time.

As for the gear list.  Not only have I been checking things off, I've also weighed all the gear I have so far that I will be carrying.

Gear I Have:
Enlightened Equipment Revelation  - 1.25lbs.
Tarptent Rainbow - 2.5lbs.
NobleCamper 2-in-1 Dog Bed and Sleeping Bag - 2lbs.
BioLite Campstove - 2.5lbs. (Christmas gift from my super cool, super supportive parents!)
Deuter ACT Lite 70+10 - 4.5lbs.
LifeStraw - <.25lbs (Another great gift from my parents!)
Basic First Aid Kit - .25lbs (Another gift, I'm going to alter it from just bandaids and alcohol wipes)
Bugspray, Sunscreen, Hand Sanitizer - <.5lbs
TOTAL - ~13.5 lbs.

• Because I'm a n00b when it comes to backpacking gear (I really just started researching gear, I haven't even done a real backpack trip, yet, be nice!) I bought a camping quilt instead of a sleeping bag, not realizing they aren't the same thing.  I have been sleeping in it as a normal sleeping bag though, and I think it'll work just fine.
• I still need to seal the seems on the tent, but I'm still really excited about it.  Everything about it, it's weight, how easy it is to pitch, even how much space inside (more than enough for me and Cheyenne), it's amazing!
• The NobleCamper is another thing I'm stilled psyched about, and it's not even for me! Cheyenne sleeps in hers pretty much every night, she does get nervous if I unzip it though, so that's something we're working on.
• The BioLite Campstove is actually way cooler than just any camp stove.  First of all, it's only 2.5lbs.  Second, it uses twigs, leaves, cardboard, and stuff like that as fuel so I don't have to carry around a heavy stove PLUS heavy fuel.  Third, it has a USB port on it so I can charge things like my phone, and when I order them, my camera, headlamp, and GPS.
• Dexter ACT Lite is pretty neat, I've been packing all my gear as I get it, for practice.  I'm still learning all the compartments and such.  It's a super comfortable backpack, and I'd highly recommend it.
• Ahh LifeStraw, it's a really cool thing for sure.  The only downside I've found to this filter (in weight, and convenience it wins against most other filters) is that I won't be able to save filtered water, and I won't be able to filter water for Cheyenne.  Unless I use my Dad's suggestion of spitting the filtered water into a container to carry with me, or give to the dog.  Sorry Dad, I'm not sure about that...
• The first aid kit I carry around on a day-to-day basis is more full than the one I have for the trail so far.  My eventually kit will include: My Emergency Inhaler, Bandaids, Ace Bandages, My Knee Brace, Tweezers, Alcohol Wipes, Gauze, Medical Tape, Q-Tips, Arnica/Icy Hot or similar Pain Relieving Gel, Athletic Tape (possible overkill, but better safe than sorry), Tick Key, and probably more once I think of it.  
• Bugspray is definitely a must, however I'm considering getting permethrin also.  I don't use sunscreen often, only to cover tattoos really, but I figure I should bring some along just in case. Besides, Cheyenne might need it, too.  Hand Sanitizer I use a lot of.  I've used like 1oz in under a month before, I don't get sick as often since I started this habit though!

Gear I've Ordered:
Banzai Dog Pack
LupinePet ECO Collar and Matching Leash

• I've heard great things about "wolf packs" so I'm pretty excited to try it out.  Cheyenne is just about old enough to start training her with weight in the pack (She's about 9mos right now).  I'm definitely going to make her wear an empty pack for a couple of short hikes, and then she can start carrying things like her favorite snacks, and a light toy.
• I'd never heard of LupinePet before I order the leash and collar.  The main reason I chose to go with their company is because of their lifetime "even if chewed" guarantee.  I also really love that they have a recycled option for collars and leashes! Maybe all of my family's dogs will get things here :) Plus, they're a New England company.  Personally, I can't see a reason not to purchase their gear.

Gear I Totally Want But Will Definitely Be Made Fun of For:
Pocket Shower, come on, it's so cool.  Plus, one of the biggest problems for some people on the AT is going without showering for a while!
Scrubba Portable Washing Machine, it's only 6oz, I could totally do that.  I mean, clean clothes is another tough thing on the AT.  I won't have to pay for laundromats, I won't have to be scared about polluting water sources by dipping dirty clothes in, and it's just as good as a washing machine apparently.  Win, win, win!

Other than all that I'm pricing out the rest of my gear before I purchase it.  That way I'll be able to see exactly how much more I'm going to spend on prep (not including food!).

Thru-hike Update, October 2015

I have ordered my sleeping bag, and received my sleeping pad, and Cheyenne's dog bed!

Also, I am considering waiting a year.  I didn't get to do any camping, or difficult hikes over the summer.  My puppy is still young, I can't start backpack training her until she's a year old, and I don't know how big she is going to be, so I can't purchase the correct size backpack.

I'm going to set dates for camping, hiking, and backpacking trips to do next year.  Instead of starting the whole trail maybe I'll do the 100 Mile Wilderness on my departure date.

My biggest fear with putting it off a year is if I put it off one year what is stopping me from putting it off another year?  Then another?  This is my biggest concern with waiting.  My biggest concern with not waiting is that I won't finish it.

This decision is not 100% final, but it is most likely.  I will, of course, continue blogging and preparing for other adventures!

Thru-hike update, September 2015

I have been getting my gear ready for my AT thru-hike!

Yesterday I received my backpack in the mail.  A Deuter act lite 70 + 10 pack.  I may have gotten a slightly larger pack than necessary, but I'd rather it be too big than too small.  I jokingly said I'll just put Cheyenne in it, then she won't need her own pack! I'll be getting hers when she gets a little bigger so I'll be able to size it properly.


The other piece of gear I just got is my tent! I purchased the tarptent rainbow instead of the double rainbow, because I was afraid the double rainbow would be too big.  I set up my tent as soon as it came this morning, and I'm really glad I went with the smaller of the two.  There will be plenty of room for me, and Cheyenne, and all of our gear.


Now I have my dog, my backpack, and my tent.  Just a couple more big items to go and I'm all set with that part of getting ready!

Cheyenne, Not the Mountain!

Today I crossed off another thing on my list, and added to my family!
80. Adopt a dog from the animal shelter.

I officially adopted my 5 month old, Golden Retriever/Australian Shepherd(?) foster puppy.  Her name is Cheyenne.


Honestly, out of all the foster dogs I've tried to convince my parents to let me adopt (there have been probably five or six by now), she is the most perfect.  She has medium-length fur, but it doesn't seem to mat or get dirty too fast, and while she is probably going to be a little smaller than I wanted for my thru-hiking partner her intelligence and agility makes up for her lack of size.  I've been taking her hiking pretty much everyday, and she's a wonderful hiking partner.  She walks well on leash (for a 5 month old puppy it's better than "well"!), she enjoys walking through the woods, likes jumping over things, or crawling under them, and it's pretty easy to regain her attention after she sees a squirrel or chipmunk!

I have a long plan for her training.  It starts now, with daily hikes, very basic obedience (sit, stay, down, her name, etc), socializing her with other dogs and people, and - as soon as I get my tent - sleeping outdoors.  That's all we'll be working on for the next month at least.  She isn't going to need a ton of training.  My beagle required a lot of training sessions just to be able to "sit" on command, and he still rarely does without getting a treat for it! Cheyenne already will sit for no treat, and I don't need to work with her on "heel" because she already does, without being told.

This is a picture of my puppy on her first hike!

Appalachian Thru-hike Update 8/21

I figured I'd update you all on my AT Thru-hike details.

First of all, I've chosen a tent, the Tarptent Double Rainbow.  I actually have had this tent in mind for a while.  It's lightweight, fast to pitch, and not too expensive, as far as good tents go.  Plus, there's plenty of room for me and my dog! Outdoorgearlab's price for the tent is off by a couple dollars according to the tarptent website, but it's still not a bad deal.

Next things on the list are sleeping bags, sleeping pads, a backpack (I know, that maybe should have been first?), and doggy backpack.

For sleeping pads I'm thinking the Therm-a-Rest RidgeRest SOlite.  One regular sized one for me, and possibly a small one for my dog

Sleeping bags I've been looking at are the Enlightened Equipment Revelation Bags, the short(5'6")/Slim option for me, and The 2-in-1 NobleCamper for my dog. If I go with the NobleCamper I won't have to get a sleeping pad for my dog either, because it's a bed and sleeping bag in one!

The backpack I'm looking at for myself currently is the Deuter ACT Lite 70 + 10 pack

A great article about hiking with dogs, which is certainly a good thing to be reading up on.  I should be getting my dog very soon, so be watching for a post about that! It will be knocking something off my list, too!
80. Adopt a Dog from the Animal Shelter.

As soon as I get my dog I will start purchasing things for it, such as

• A dog pack
• Food/Water dishes
• A coat
• Booties
• Leash/Collar/Harness
• Flea/Tick collars or medication
• First aid supplies!

Doggy supplies is a whole other post!

Paw Print Tattoo + Animal Shelter Fundraisers

Today, as promised, I got my first tattoo!

For those of you who haven't read my last post I'll give you a brief backstory to the tattoo.

Today (August 15th, 2015) was the "#clearthesheltercampaign", and the fundraiser at Fianna tattoo in Portland for the Animal Refuge League of Greater Portland.
   The Clear the Shelter part went well, 84 animals were adopted today! I was going to get my Appalachian trail dog, but the puppy I'd been looking at yesterday got adopted by someone ahead of me in line.  Unfortunately, there was not another dog that would work for me.  My parents have agreed to allow me to adopt a puppy as soon as I find another perfect one, though!
   The tattoo fundraiser went really well also.  Apparently, there were some people lined up before the shop even opened! They also had so many people that I went and signed up (to guarantee my spot) and went back two+ hours later and still had to wait over an hour to get my tattoo! I didn't mind, of course, it was for a good cause, I was expecting a wait, and the artists were amazing.  That event was supposed to end at 7PM, but now (almost 10PM) my Mom just got done with hers, and I know a couple of people had signed up after her.  The dedication of the artists for this cause was amazing, one of them said he'd be there until 2AM if he had to be, though he didn't want to be.  I honestly hope he isn't!

So, the tattoo I got is just a small dog paw print on my upper left arm just below my shoulder.  It was $60, as I mentioned in the other post, all of the money from everyone's tattoos is going to the shelter!

A bunch of the shelter staff and volunteers came in to get tattoos.  Quite a few of them, including myself, first timers.  Many of them even brought in their dog's paw prints to be tattoo'd on them.  A wonderful reason to get a meaningful tattoo.

If you're planning on getting a tattoo I highly recommend the amazing artists at Fianna Studio in Portland, Maine.  They're friendly, they know what they're doing, it's a welcoming environment, and the art is beautiful.  Definitely worth the visit.

I got to support an awesome organization, found a great tattoo studio, and got to cross something off of my list, truly a win-win.  Hopefully I'll find the perfect puppy within the next couple of weeks, too!

What this blog is about

I want to make this clear, my blog isn't just about what I'm doing, or what I want to do. Yes, it's about me completing my list, but I'm trying to make it about much more. I want it to be about me enjoying life in every way possible, and not doing things just because people say I need to, or because I have to have money, or whatever.

I also want to be encouraging others to do the same.

I just read a fantastic blog post from a wonderful actress whom I know in real life.  The blog post is "Professional" theater vs. "Community" theater: a reflection.  She does a lot of shows at the community theater where I volunteer (keep an eye out for that spotlight if you're interested!), and because it is just a community theater none of the actors/actresses get paid.  They don't mind though, they're doing it because they just love being onstage singing, dancing, and acting!

One of the last lines in the post is "So, the next time you go to see a community theater show, please, remember that we’re all up there LOVING what we’re doing." I love that line.

People choose to follow their passions in different ways. The people at the theater choose to follow their passion without getting paid. Some follow their passion in other ways in order to get paid to do what they love. In my opinion, the only wrong way to follow your passion? Is not to follow it at all. Personally, I choose to write about it on this blog. Will I ever get paid for it? Maybe. But even if I don't I'll be following my dreams and sharing them with the world.

Full Week of "Adulting", + Crossing Things off the List!

You may not know what "adulting" means, so before I dive into this post I'm going to give you a brief definition.

Adulting: the term for when a young adult (usually 18-24, or so), does something by themselves that is something that's basically required of adults in this day and age.  Such as, making an appointment, going to a job interview, buying a car, renting an apartment, etc.  An "Adulting win" is when they do something successfully, usually for the first time, I.E. getting their first job.  An "Adulting Fail" is when they attempt to do something "adulty" and screw up, such as microwaving tin foil.

Last week, my week of adulting was:
Sunday: I Ordered several things off of ebay, including a refurbed 2009 MacBook, without a charger.  I had to be very careful and research the seller before I bought the computer, to make sure the under $200 laptop was worth it.  It definitely ending up being worth it! I received it two days before I was supposed to, and only two days after it shipped.

Monday: I went to work? (Um, I did that four days this week though...) That was the most adult thing I did on Monday, I believe,

Tuesday: I made my own appointment to get my haircut, in person. I also made an appointment to get my belly button pierced over the phone.

Wednesday: First potluck I've been to by myself, I even made a cake to bring.  It was at my new job, we had an employee potluck.  It was certainly a lot of fun!

Thursday: Just my normal music lessons and volunteering... Though volunteering at the animal shelter could almost be considered an adult thing.

Friday: Payed for my own belly button piercing, and for my haircut.  I even tipped both places! I didn't try to figure out the correct tip amount, though, I just gave them extra money.  I was shocked, I had most of my hair cut off, I got it shampoo'd, and styled, and the whole thing only cost $27 before the tip!

So, with my full week of adulting, I also knocked something off of my list: getting my belly button pierced.

I'm going to be honest, it hurt more than I was expecting.  I've read a lot of people say that they barely felt it at all, or that they didn't feel it.  I definitely felt it.  I didn't bleed, but it felt like he had pierced too much of my skin, and was having a hard time getting the needle through.  Maybe it was just me, but it seemed to take a long time to poke all the way through.
It's doing better now, except for when I accidentally pull on it, or brush it wrong.  I'm sure it will be sore for a few days. The piercer I went to was pretty bad, too, from research and talking to people, so that could have been part of it.

Adding to my List

I'm adding new things to my list today!

• Travel to a foreign country with a friend
• Travel to a foreign country by myself
• Travel to a foreign country with a family member

I have recently discovered that a friend of mine has actually done quite a bit of traveling, and she gave me and another friend some tips on traveling cheaply.  I haved asked her if I can interview her for this blog, so definitely keep an eye out for that!

Some things

I've been panicking about not completing my "Before I Turn 18" list in time, my 18th birthday is today, when I realized something, when I made the list it was only things I could do before I turned 18, not things that I had to do before then.  I didn't want to have to wait until I was an adult to begin my list, I was afraid that I'd lose my enthusiasm about it, so I broke them into smaller bits so I could start right away.

Working towards my goals, I am currently learning Italian (still), and I am working at a climbing park near where I  live! Getting over my fear of heights is an important step to a lot of my goals, including sky diving, climbing the Seven Summits, and BASE jumping, among other things.

Another exciting thing, I recently acquired a Canon Powershot G5 for free, all I had to buy was an extra battery, and a charger.  It's an older camera, but it takes decent pictures, and it's a good "training camera" so when/if I get a better one I'll be more familiar with how to use it.  I realized today that I don't actually have a way to get my pictures onto my laptop though... That, however, is a problem for another day! Like, when all my memory cards are full.

Before I Turn 18 List

As you may know, I broke my 100 things list down into sections.  It's an easy way to get everything done.  Anyone who creates a list of things they want or need to do, whether it's for a day, or for their life, should break it down into sections.  It's helpful for organization.

Now, on the "Before I Turn 18" list I have:

1. Stop being shy
2. Dye my hair
3. Play laser tag
4. Play Paintball
5. Watch a full Season of "24" in 24 hours
6. Collect hard copies of all of Fall Out Boy's albums
7. Start a FOB cover band
8. Volunteer at an Animal Shelter

As of today, I have completed two of those things.  I'm also well on my way towards a third, and fourth.  What about the other four?  As with most people I procrastinated, thinking I had quite a while before I need to finish them, and now time is running out for me to complete them before I turn eighteen.  

I currently volunteer at an animal shelter once a week walking dogs.  I dyed my hair for the first time in summer 2013 with kool aid, and in April 2014 with boxed dye.  I have made a lot of progress to not being as shy, little things like dying my hair, and wearing unusual outfits, things to make me stand out so I can't be shy.  I also have three of Fall Out Boy's albums on CD (I have more of them electronically).

So the list is now: 

1. Stop Being Shy
2. Dye my Hair
3. Play Laser Tag
4. Play Paintball
5. Watch a Full Season of "24" in 24 Hours
6. Collect Hard Copies of All of Fall Out Boy's Albums
7. Start a FOB Cover Band
8. Volunteer at an Animal Shelter

There are three on the list that I'm not sure I'll be able to finish.  Numbers 3, 4, and 7.  Though for number 7 I've considered doing a solo project, and performing at open-mic nights nearby.  

My problem is time, and, in some cases, money.  Mainly time.  Time is the thing that none of us ever seem to have enough of, but if we don't make time for the things we love to do then what's the point?  If we're not enjoying what we're doing why are we doing it?  I, personally, enjoying being busy.  Unfortunately, that doesn't often doesn't give me time outside my schedule for things like Paintball.

Unless online Paintball counts, I'm going to have to get busy planning! Hopefully, I'll be able to finish this section of my list, soon.  It's only eight items, how hard can it be?  (Famous last words)