Back in July, my friend Melissa posted the blog post “Martha Stewart” describing how she had made a custom dog collar for her pit bull, Honey. I was completely impressed with my friend’s creativity and the finished product, inquiring if she would teach me how to make a custom collar for CB.
So, Melissa and I got together, hit up the leather store to buy the leather, stain and jewelry, then crafted away while drinking beers at her house.
The starting leather for Honey’s collar. CB’s starting leather was LOTS smaller. Picture by Melissa.
While I worked on CB’s collar, Melissa made one for Tiggs. Here is the finished collar. Picture by Melissa.
I really loved the deep purple stain on Honey’s collar and went with this for CB’s, adding in some large green bling and silver rivets. I absolutely love it! Picture by Melissa.
We also bought supplies for leashes, but ran out of time that evening. So far I have stained the leash deep purple, but still need to add in the jewels.
Interested in making your own collar?
Get to know Melissa through reading this fabulous blog or using this service.
Go out and buy some M&Ms and Beer and deliver to the 1822.
Beg her to teach you.
CB wearing her beautiful new collar. Thanks, Melissa!
One of the last blog comments on the Please Help a Climber in Need post inquired about a medical update on Tacos. I emailed two of Tacos’s friends who would be best in the know, but unfortunately they have heard very little (most likely due to Tacos’s inability to check emails without help).
The only update is Tacos has flown back to Japan (her flight was on July 7) and was taken to a Tokyo hospital. There is a chance she might be transferred to a hospital in Osaka soon. When I spoke with her (about a week and a half ago) her medical condition was the same with feeling in her toes but the inability to use her hands. She was real cheerful and thanked everyone for the support.
As mentioned in the previous post, her insurance has kicked in now that she is in Japan, but the cost of her flight home was not covered. If interested in chipping in, you can do so below with all proceeds going directly to her paypal account.
Thanks for your support. It is great to see the climbing community pulling together for one of its fellow climbers.
I met Tacos Satoko in Rocktown as she was one of the few climbers camping at the Sawmill Campground. We climbed together on two days and she spent a handful of evenings hanging out around the camp fire.
Tacos, a very kind, quiet girl, was planning on traveling for a bit through the US prior to heading back up to Canada, where she had been working. But this past week, en route to Alberta, she was in a horrible car accident, resulting in a broken neck. She was flown to Casper Medical Center in Wyoming where she underwent surgery for the broken neck, but currently has little movement from the shoulders down. She has regained some feeling in her toes and fingers and her breathing has become easier over the last few days. She has also gotten help to sit in a chair for a few minutes per day and is remaining positive that she will recover and be able to rock climb again in the future.
Her home is in Japan and though she has health insurance, it does not cover the cost to fly her home. In her current situation she will need help covering the cost of the 3 first class flights (necessary due to the 2 caregivers who must accompany her) plus the wages and expenses for these caregivers. Also, her insurance does not cover physiotherapy, which if not started soon can impact her chance of full recovery.
The exact cost is unknown at this time, but it is estimated that she will need approximately $10,000. Please consider helping out a fellow climber and making a donation to the cause.
To donate, click on the “ChipIn” button above. All donations are directly deposited to her paypal account.
It would also be great if any of you readers could help spread the word. If you are a blogger and want to add this widget to your blog, there is a copy button on the widget or feel free to email me at wasatchgirl at gmail.com for the appropriate code.
Life has been rocky as of late, but often that means I need to simply break the tunnel vision, allowing myself to see all the many great things in life. On my road trip I had a handful of people who were truly fabulous friends, so thought today I would give an online thanks to show my appreciation for these people.
Rob (also referenced as Shaft)
Rob is one of my dearest friends and helped me out a bunch while on this trip. Not only was he always supportive and encouraged my decision to travel, he was kind enough to store some of my belongings, gathered my mail, and provided me a place to crash whenever I stopped back in SLC. He was always there to drop or pick me up from the airport and would give me advice when car troubles arose. I truly don’t know what I would do without him in my life.
Enjoying martinis at the Red Door.
Melissa (also referenced as Lil Chicka)
I met my friend Melissa right before my road trip and she became one of my dearest friends while traveling. Sometimes life on the road can be rough …. I know that sounds silly, but sometimes it truly can get bumpy. It was nice to have a friend who understood “road living life” and who always had a store of advice when needed. She seemed to always have the ability to pull my perspective back around and realize my fortunate way of life. Now that I am home, she is such a fabulous climbing partner with amazing stick clipping abilities. =)
I didn’t know Guillaume when I rolled into Fontainebleau, yet he still opened up his home to me for 3 weeks. It was such a kind gesture and he quickly became a good friend and an excellent bouldering partner. He even introduced me to the movie “Out of Africa” and would sing countless rounds of “Girl from Ipanema”. I really can’t think of how my time in Fontainebleau could have been any better, thanks to Guillaume.
Showing me how to operate the grocery carts in France.
Ed
I met Ed days before my trip, but he became a friend during my travels, sending me pics of his latest adventures and giving me advice on injuries. When I wanted to head overseas for 6 weeks he generously offered to watch my little pup. He was only supposed to watch her for 3 of the weeks, but asked to keep her the entire 6 weeks. He then took her to the vet when necessary and continually sent me pictures and movies to let me know my little one was well. CB is of the utmost importance to me, and having someone be so kind to her while I was away was so incredibly nice.
I don’t have a pic of Ed, but this is one of the pics he sent me while I was away. His dog Cleo and CB became good friends.
Steve (also known as the King of Caley)
I met Steve in Bishop, where we had a lot of time to get to know one another due to our concurrent injuries. When he learned I had booked my ticket to Europe, he offered to show me around the grit stone if I wanted to swing through England. I, of course, took him up on the offer and had two splendid weeks in England visiting the Yorkshire and Peak crags. Not only is Steve a fellow climber and extremely witty, but he truly is the only person I have ever met who can fully understand my family situation. Our family situations are so similar we can honestly complete each other’s sentences. I can’t tell you how nice it is to have someone understand me in this area. On top of all that, he won the Twitter climber pickup contest with the line, “Do you mind spotting me as I am about to fall for you.” Classic! =)
This is one of the few “smiles” he let slip by on camera. =)
Pang
I met Pang on my very last days in Bishop, which were also my last days of the US portion of my trip. He became a great sounding board, listening and giving me good advice about a wide range of subjects. He continues to be a dear friend and is kind enough to be my continual grammar pro, reviewing my resumes, cover letters and blog posts. Plus, he is one of my favorite Scrabble partners, though I am pretty sure he lets me win just to keep me smiling … =)
Pang letting me win at yet another Scrabble match in the Tetons.
Warren Acuncius is an independent artist and great friend who I met on my 2003 European backpacking trip. He has continued to impress me with his musical abilities over the years and always being kind enough to share his latest works with me. During my stay in Bleau he sent me an email with a couple of his new songs, one of them (“Down The Road”) really resonating with me and where I was in life at that time. Ironically, when we met he had introduced me to another song (“Reverie”) that was also perfect for that trip, making me now always associate his music with European vacations. =) Both songs are posted here. To listen to a wider sample, visit his website.
“Down The Road”
I like these two songs for different reasons. I love “Down The Road” for it’s lyrics, with the whole song being a description of my time in Bleau. My favorite line is, “Every turn has it’s day and every day it has it’s way. Of being the one that changes your life, of being the one that gets away.”
“Reverie”
I love this song as the guitar and rhythm make me truly happy, taking me back to the Cinque Terre in Italy.
My first climbing partner was my neighbor, Kathryn, who I reference on this blog as The Route Slayer. We somehow did not know each other, though neighbors, until a mutual friend of mine saw me on the street and made mention of a fellow climber living two houses down from me. Me (being the social gal I am) instantly walked to the house and introduced myself. We made plans to go out climbing, but ended up completely epic’ing on our first day on the rock. I thought for sure this girl would never call me back, as she was much more experienced than my newbie self, but amazingly she did … and we have been climbing partners ever since.
Kathryn completely impresses me by her climbing abilities, peak ascents, marathon times and her continued friendship. Once again she hit a new goal by finishing her first Ironman this past August. Her goal was to finish under 14 hours; a goal she crushed when she came in at 12 hours and 30m (note the clock in the pic is delayed due to the first wave of athletes). She ended up placing 10th overall and 1st in her age group.
Congrats my friend! I look forward to the feats you accomplish next year!!!
Prior to traveling through Ireland in 2006 I posted up on the Irish climbing forums in search of climbing partners, hoping to hit up a couple of the crags on my visit. Dave (who I reference as H.I.P. #2) was living in Wales but had seen the post and inquired why none of his friends had yet to respond. A couple of them then reached out to me and we arranged a way to meet up and climb in the Burren over one weekend, that just happened to be a weekend when Dave was visiting from Wales.
The H.I.P. nickname came about because as we were climbing in the Burren the weather included the usual drizzle and cloudy skies. The rain would have definitely stopped me from climbing back home in Utah, but the whole Irish crew was somehow super psyched on the wet holds. That evening the rain and wind really picked up and I quickly hopped into my down sleeping bag as the Irish team happily sipped tea in the torrential weather. Whew… so much more hardcore than I. So from there on out I started to call them the Hardcore Irish People (or H.I.P.’s for short).
My friends Neal (H.I.P. #1… the number difference being solely because I am able to chat with Neal more regularly) and Dave (H.I.P. #2) continue to impress me. I joined H.I.P. #1 in Thailand where he just kept on sending project after project, redpointing his first 8a and continuing to be super psyched the whole time. Then this week on H.I.P. #2’s blog he posts up this entry on his first E7 (8a) . What the hell is he even holding onto on this climb?! And how in the hell is he placing gear?! You really must check out the whole post .
I seriously have no idea how he is staying on the wall with that foot and hand hold. And I love this line, "Ignore the crap ropework… was more concerned with staying on!"
The first mono in a sequence of mono pockets. Whew… hardcore Irish people! If I read his post correctly, I believe he hit the redpoint on this climb. Congrats, my friend!
The other day I came home from work to see a postal package sitting on my doorstep. I couldn’t remember ordering anything online so assumed it must be for Shaft. I picked it up and saw the name of a long time friend written in my hand writing, yet hadn’t been in touch with this friend for many years for the sole reason of simply losing touch due to geographical location changes. I took a closer look at the package and noticed that the postal stamp said August 3, 2005!!!! I continued to examine the box and saw that it was sent from my old apartment, where I had lived the past three years, and that the return address was correct. Yet somehow it had just never quite made its way home until now.
That evening I called my dear friend and chatted with him. We laughed at the postal package and figured it truly had been approximately three years since we had last spoken. We quickly exchanged our past couple year life summaries and made plans to catch up for dinner for the full update after I returned from my Squamish vacation. On the way home from Squamish we exchanged some texts confirming our dinner appointment in a week’s time. And when the night of the dinner rolled around I thought I should confirm again and sent two text messages, only to not hear back from him this time. His lack of response was a little out of the ordinary as he usually was quick to respond, but I figured his plans must have changed and that we needed to reschedule.
The next day one of his siblings surprisingly called me at work to inform me that my friend had been missing for the past week and that the family had shown up to our dinner meeting place in hopes that he would appear, to only be sorely disappointed.
Over three weeks have now passed since my friend’s disappearance. The family has filled out the missing persons report, pulled his financial and cell phone records and yet have been unable to discover any trace of him. I have called him daily since I was informed of the news only to repeatedly hear the message that his voice mail box is full.
Dear friend, if you happen to see this, I sure do wish you would come home. Your postal package continues to patiently await.
Last year I received the best postal package from my friend H.I.P #1 that included his own personal boomerang that had accompanied him in his travels. The Boom then accompanied me through my climbing adventures (for instance in Joes Valley ) and was of course included in my recent trip to Squamish. Here she is smiling across the Canadian border. This pic is for you H.I.P. #1.
A fellow SLC climber and friend, Lauren Yant, has started her own business, Ruthie Pearl , selling fashionable, earth-friendly shopping bags and gift bags. Lauren is highly earth conscience and taken her activism to the next level by creating quality products with low impact, while offsetting all business energy consumption through wind power credits, reducing and recycling wastes, and educating others on global impact and how they can have a positive influence.
She was recently quoted:
"A lot of people think that environmentalism is a political movement, but it really isn’t -climate change is something that affects us all. People in my generation look at our grandparents who thought nothing was wrong with smoking and think they were crazy. I think that’s the same way that our grandchildren will look at us."
"They’ll wonder, ‘What were they thinking?’ If there’s anything that I hope people learn from what I’m doing, it’s that anyone can make small changes to help the world become a better place – and you can even look cute doing it. I simply hope that people start taking small steps to make smarter decisions for a better tomorrow."
The current selection of bags can be seen on the site and at the upcoming Farmer’s Market . Lauren has offered a 20% discount for any of the CragBaby readers. Just enter CRAGBABY as the discount code at the time of checkout. And then of course let me know which bag you purchased, as I am still trying to decide…. =)
Picture by Melissa.
