March Madness

March has been a great month. Spring weather makes everyone feel a little more chipper, except for the fact that it means no more skiing. i am so excited that i started to learn to telemark ski- in fact i can't wait for next season!

i got great news this month- i am going on a medical mission trip to El Salvador this may. Through the university of utah and a charity organization named Operation Walk we are taking a team of about 25 medical professionals. the other half of our team will come from the los angelos chapter of operation walk. we plan on replacing about 50+ joints for the locals in a town called sonsonate. this is an incredible opportunity as i have always wanted to be invovled in these types of things and have been looking for opportunities ever since i started nursing. i heard about operation walk about 2 months ago and tried to get on the team but they told me they were all full. i think it's b/c of my spanish that they decided to take me. they let me know about a week ago that they opened one more spot on the team for a nurse and i got in. i am by far the youngest team member, all the other nurses being some sort of manager. i am so happy that i am able to start this pattern as a young nurse, and not wait 15 years before finding experiences like this one. working at this orthopedic clinic has really opened a lot of doors for me to make connections and learn different things- like the ski clinic i have been working at since february. i've never had so much fun before and it's work!

i've had the itch to travel too for the past several months. one absolute plus of this trip is that it is completely paid for. i will be working with the patients after their surgeries and making sure they recover well. not only will i be practicing REAL nursing- not just paperwork, but i will get to use my spanish, experience a new culture, and visit a place i've never been. the only bad part is that i will be gone during the week of my birthday. it's a small price to pay.

there is also a new dynamic in this group that i have never traveled under before- we are not a christian organization. we are out there simply to help and there is no religious obligation. i felt it already in one of our meetings- no prayers, no mention of a religious reason why we are going, no mention of a strict dress code so that we always appear to be christians. we are simply helping. i love that. not that christians don't also simply help, but that there seems to be a driving force to also explain the gospel and have a number at the end of the day. i have no doubt of how to answer why i live the way i do or why i help. it's just that this time i am going alone with only God. yet another example of living life outside of arkansas and the known bible belt.

in other news- we just returned from a great Indian Creek climbing trip. it's eric's spring break and we went down to our favorite desert spot outside Moab and met up with a few friends for several days. it was really hard! i haven't climbed in over 2 months and i had a very hard time struggling up the rock faces. but i think it was also one of the most fun trips we've had- so many good friends and good conversations. it didn't matter that i couldn't climb, it only mattered that i had friendship to offer.


Eric and I playing with headlamps and open shutters


me on a climb called Spaghetti Western, 5.11


the group trying to catch some shade- it was hot already down there!


Liz and I at the belay


Katie and I enjoying our turkey burgers after climbing


Tracy and I with a desert feature called Six Shooter Peak in the background


Example of a splitter hand crack in Indian Creek. Mark leading Pente, 5.11