Last Saturday I was able to be apart of an epic adventure with some great friends!(Nicole, Broc, Gabe and Josh).

The warrior dash is a 5K obstacle course that contains climbing over walls, crawling under barbed wire, sledging through mud pits and jumping over fire!

The course was at Lake Elsinore which is a two-hour drive from Los Angeles. Our particular excursion was very appropriate for pre-warrior dash contestants. We stopped every half hour or so for the bathroom and thought Chik-fil-a was a decent meal before hurdling through obstacles…waffle fries included.

When we arrived, it was very cold, so we wore our jackets which immediately became unnecessary after our ten minute walk to the festival tents. Our race began at 3 PM. The sun was embracing our bodies like they were in an oven.

The first mile was easy peasy; the tire hurdle was the first obstacle.

Then we had to crawl under barbed wire and jump over hurdles. I had met a few people on the trail at this time, and the conversations while running this course were friendly. No competitive angry runners here.

The climbing obstacles came next…rope walls, rock walls, rope quilted walls, teetering obstacles, jumping and pole sliding etc. It was all great fun.

Then a loooong run going up and around creek beds and trees…I thought it would never end and then, a slide. It went all the way into the lake. The slide was fast and slick.

Then, BAAM!
I hit a very cold lake! I thought I was going to go into shock! There was an obstacle in the lake. You must crawl over these floating blocks (4 I believe). Due to my height, (lack thereof) I had to become fully submerged in the freezing lake in order to jump onto the blocks. As soon as I made it over those blocks I RAN out of that water, up the hill and hurdled over flames of fire! From this I immediately face planted into the mud pit.

I crawled through the warmest and what seemed like the cleanest mud I have ever had the pleasure to swim in. This was the last obstacle. It’s harder than I thought, crawling through mud that has barbed wire over it. I finished just over 30 minutes.

Turns out I placed 30 in my division out of 10,000 contestants. Pretty fun for the first try. I hope to beat my time before next year!

I love hiking. Anyone who knows me knows how passionate I am about it.

I Also love a challenge. When someone says I can’t do something I will usually conquer the obstacle out of stubbornness. This can be a deadly disaster when mixed with the great outdoors.

Let me start at the beginning:

A good friend, Rachel, and I decided to go on a nice hike to La Tuna Canyon. Rachel was a girl scout, so she was well prepared with a first aid kit. I laughed. I never bring materials for safety precautions. I go out there and see what happens. Not safe.

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After reaching the top, I climbed the majestic tree overlooking the valley. This tree was also the shade for a homeless man named Bill. He gave us really good advice on a trail heading back down (in the opposite direction of where we needed to go) towards really awesome pine trees. They were nice, but weren’t giving me and Rachel the challenge we were seeking.

Rachel and I went on his recommended “trail”and began our misadventure…

We then went our own route off the path thinking we were going to make it back to our main route. After about a quarter-mile off the main trail, our footing started to get, how shall I say, more untrusting. We were resilient, however, and kept trudging forward. We were caught by more plant-life right before our “ground” became a cliff. I was skipping ahead too fast to realize I was skidding. Naturally, I caught myself with my leg…that was not a good idea.

I looked down,and brushed the gravel off.

“You okay, Tara?” “Oh, ya. Fine.” Then the blood ran…. Fast. It was awesome.

Thank God Rachel brought her “First Aid Kit” that I had made fun of earlier. Without it, I would have probably passed out hiking down the mountain with blood gushing.

She bandaged me with our headbands and hand towel (she just happened to have) after using alcohol swabs and gauze on my gash.

We turned back, obviously, and proceeded to run down the hill in order to clean the wound as soon as possible.

It was a wonderful hiking adventure even with my first hardcore wound. We had a blast! I am healing fast and look forward to another adventure on Saturday.

See ya on the trail!

I have been visiting a Hospice in Los Angeles for over 6 months now. If you don’t know what a hospice is…well here is a little summary:

Hospice: a type of  care and philosophy of care that focuses on relieving the pain and suffering from Terminally ill patients.

This means that every patient in a hospice is dying. They have decided to stop the “fight”, if you will, and go gently into that dark night. The hospice provides that without the agonizing pain that most illnesses and diseases cause.

If you have never been to a hospice, go! It will change your perspective on a lot of different subjects; the main one pertaining to death.

What a scary subject, death. No one talks about it and it IS the one and only thing we all have to look forward to. Nothing can stop it. It will happen.

The hospice has definitely changed my view of death. Actually, I never even truly thought of my death before.

The woman I have been visiting there is a fireball! She is one of the most amazing ladies I have met.

She has a fatal disease that is eating at her memory. It is terrible to see. She, however, is still incredibly funny and makes the most epic faces that would have contortionists befuddled.

This woman has taught me that the most important thing in life is love. That when you find it, you cherish it! She loves her children and family. She talks about them all the time.

What she doesn’t talk about is her years of suffering through war, money, and the worrisome chores and obstacles that tend to get in everyone’s way when we are younger. There is no talk of gossip or drama. No one harps on hurt feelings. All anyone talks about is the love of their lives and their immense longing to see their children.

I am fairly young, and to see this every week keeps me in check with where I am putting my focus. Especially when I am stuck on the 405 traffic.

I believe everyone should step inside a hospice, and see what really matters in life before you yourself are a patient.

I promise it will change your life, so the sooner the better.

 The Notebook (2004)

“So it’s not gonna be easy. It’s gonna be really hard. We’re gonna have to work at this every day, but I want to do that because I want you. I want all of you, for ever, you and me, every day. Will you do something for me, please? Just picture your life for me? 30 years from now, 40 years from now? What’s it look like? If it’s with him, go. Go! I lost you once, I think I can do it again. If I thought that’s what you really wanted. But don’t you take the easy way out.”

This quote and film always gets me into that hopeless romantic mood. For more hopeless romantic quotes check this out:

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/64E1Sv/extratv.warnerbros.com/2011/02/25_most_romantic_movie_quotes.php/