Outsiders unite!

An outsider is a kid who likes to do activities outside. I am fortunate that my parents introduced me to the lifestyle at a young age. The unfortunate thing is that in America today, there are a lot of parents who aren't introducing their kids. The barriers are vast, but the thing is, many of the kids in my generation who are the lucky minority and who's parents introduced them want to make a difference. That is the aim of Outdoor Nation. The ambassadors of ON, me included, have decided that we cannot wait for government, or whatever other powers might be able to introduce our peers; we need to take action and do it... now. We plan to help finance outdoor clubs, as long as they reach into other communities and bring their peers outside. This isn't a program created by adults to give inner city kids a taste of the outdoors. This is a youth lead movement - peer to peer, kid to kid - that will foster a new lifestyle for America. The outsider lifestyle.

Check out and friend Outdoor Nation on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/OutdoorNation

Wow

That's all I had to say too, when I went to unpack today and realized how many water bottles had ended up in my bag. The thing about being part of media at the show, is that everyone wants you to go home and be reminded of their company so that when you sit down to write, you might feature them more heavily. Thus, even though I am covering stories on travel, jackets, and product naming, I still end up with countless water bottles. I wonder what would happen if I covered water bottles at the show? Maybe next time, I'll find out!

The demo day

It was a tad chilly and my knee was KILLING by the time I had to do some (three) turns, but overall a ton of fun! The new NTN compatible bindings look very interesting!

Connecting with my inner zen

Before the complete chaos of materialism

So tomorrow I head to the Outdoor Retailer show in Salt Lake City. With the culmination of every manufacturer of outdoor equipment you could think of, the coolness of seeing all the new gear before it hits shelves is a bit overpowering. Like any extract (learned this one with vanilla), it smells nice, but the full taste is strong. My job at the show is twofold. I am there both as an Outdoor Nation Ambassador and a youth team SNEWS writer, so I get to try to swallow a mouthful!

Outdoor Nation is a youth driven organization that gives seed money to outdoor clubs in return for them taking out kids who would otherwise not get out. For example, if money is given to a high school, the kids in the club need to take out middle school inner city kids twice a month. The goal is to reconnect the next generation with the outdoors.

SNEWS is the industry newsletter. As a youth reporter, I do articles from a youth opinion (yes, I know the opinion of all youth:) ). This summer, I did an overview of energy bars in the industry and what it feels like as a newbie to be in the midst of 300 something manufacturer's booths all showing you new products.

Needless to say, for the next four days, I will be a busy girl!

Got bone spurs?

Rolfing will help!

Today, I visited Thomas Walker, the best Rolfer in the area because I had a nasty bone spur forming on the top of my foot. Rolfing moves the adhesions between muscles and bones, allowing everything to move the way it is supposed to. Since my bone spur was new, it hadn't calcified yet, so Thomas was able to move it and reduce the size. That and a trip to Ski and Bike Care's boot fitters had my feet pain free again!

Trestle table day 1

Starting up the big project of the year. Since my surgery is coming up pretty soon, I don't know when I'll be able to finish it, but I have been teaching my dad how to use the table saw and such (a little backwards, I know), so hopefully he can finish the cuts, then I can finish it. The plan is to give it the same feel as a big bench-table in an old German ale-house, except it is going behind the couch as a buffet table.

Back to the salt mines

Upon my return from my grand adventure in europa, it was straight back to being Ms handyman around the house. This morning, we ground elk meat from the elk that my parent had hunted in October. Using a meat grinder is a skill that requires trial and error, elbow grease and some seriously frozen hands! The meat has to be pretty close to completely frozen in order to not "gunk" up the blades of the grinder. Therefore, the person wielding the cutting knife gets a really good workout. About halfway through, my dad goes "I need a chainsaw!" From there you force the frozen chunks through the grinder and voila! - ground elk for burgers, meatballs and tacos galore! Next up on the kiddy-do-list... trestle table! So stay tuned folks!