WOw! Its been a long time since ive posted! And, since my counterpart in this blog thing has been rotating around the southeast helping sick people, and saving lives pretending to be a doctor , ive been left with the task of continuing this amazing blog piece solo.
Without further rambling, let me introduce the newest member of my household, Apollo!
In that photo she is about 25 lbs. Today, she is about 45 pounds, and just as cute! Apollo loves chasing bugs, belly scratches, jeep rides, and playing with other doggies. She does not like yellow jackets, vacuum cleaners, lawn mowers, or the dishwasher. Check out this cool video I made for my friend Kim that highlights Apollo’s favorite trick:
http://www.youtube.com/user/rachelmelville?feature=mhee#p/a/u/0/9Y9wyb2n3iA
We are on the market for learning new tricks, so if anyone has any fun dog trick suggestions, leave ‘em in the comment section.
Apollo and her BFF Bella Brackett:
Bella is Apollo’s BFF, and Sparky is Apollo’s BF. Yes, she has a boyfriend. And they are in puppy love. Sparky lives upstairs, and they have doggie playdates. This is one of their favorite things to do on their dates:
Apollo’s favorite weekend activity: going climbing! (Just like her mommy!) She loves jeep rides, and backpack rides (down the cirque ladders)!
Besides having a new pup in the house, ive been crushing it at work. I am now continuing my career at a new engineering firm known as “Environmental Resources Management”, or “ERM”.
To my climber friends, this means I went from a 5.11 engineering firm to a 5.14 engineering firm. Needless to say, Im psyched. It’s a great feeling to kill it on the rocks all spring, and then kill it off the rocks all summer. Im getting restless again, working LOTS, and anxious to regain some of the fitness I had this spring. Luckily, some friends of mine (David and Julia Statler) have come to the rescue.
David is a full-time PhD Chemical Engineer who has decided to add another full time job to his life: building a sick bouldering gym ground up!
And this is happening RIGHT here in Charleston, WV. I couldn’t be more psyched! David has been totally crushing it round the clock, putting in full days at work being a super smarty pants doing cool stuff with polymers, and coming home to rest and watch climbing videos full on manual labor of constructing and designing a climbing gym !
David has been working so hard that he is actually just a shell of man. As noted by the hallow eyeballs. That is what giving 200% looks like: BOOM!
Check out this engineering masterpiece:
David’s wife Julia is no slacker either. She also helps out with the construction, but some of the real sickness of the gym comes in the details. Tetris wall: her idea. It doesn’t end there… Check out some of these rad photos of Julia’s painting of the climbing walls that David designed:
VERY COOL!
Wow, with this gym on the brink of opening, and the good temps rolling in… i have to ask myself…
Is it possible to start training for fall now? Do I still have time to send all of Elaina’s projects in her face complete my goals? Guess i should start running…
BRING ON FALL!