What I'll Miss About The Bridge Refresher

What I'll Miss About The Bridge Refresher Course 2014:

Em's happy voice in the morning

Martie's weighted vest and subsequent jokes

The big, white van

The big, white van rattling like it was about to fall to pieces

Em's crazy driving of the big, white van (solving the mystery of why the van was falling apart)

Krista's laugh

Krista's loving mothering of us all

All of us complaining about the "teach one another" and video projects

The video projects, which ended up ROCKING

BJ's companionship

The wide open spaces

The red rocks

Dr. Granger and her legitness

The social aspect of sharing a condo/chilling space with three other fantastic women

Massages

Reiki and other "out-there" therapies that I was uncomfortable with, because it felt good to have make an opinion about something that was all my own

The enthusiasm

Having healthy lunch and dinner simply appear every day

The people

Em being "Mom" for the week

Jokes about Em being "Mom" for the week

The excellent (and not-excellent-but-still-good) lectures

Having a safe place designed solely for the purpose of improving ourselves

Feeling so comfortable in my own skin

My Week in Facebook Statuses: Bridge Edition

More Bridge! It's over, and I'm home, and I finally have time to write about it. I had to catch up on homework this weekend and it took up, like, every spare second I had while staying at my Grandma's in St. George.

So! I thought I'd do an ever-so-popular "My Week In Facebook Statuses (Statusi?)" + some Bridge highlights, because I seriously could never write about ALL of it. It's take too much time, and no one would ever read it, including myself.

Day Two:
8:30 AM: Krista just said that her friend "Aubrie" was coming for the day. Could it? No, it could possibly be...

8:31 AM: IT IS! IT'S MY AUBRIE, TOO! WE HAVE THE SAME AUBRIE! AND SHE'S COMING DOWN FOR THE DAY!!

(Most Excellent Lecture-- my favorite of the week-- on being emotional beings and how to not let our emotions overtake us. And waiting for Aubrie to come)

9:45 AM: You know, one thing I never thought I'd get from the Bridge was parenting tips. But I now know how to successfully get my child to stay out of the street. Too bad I don't have a child, BECAUSE I HAVE KNOWLEDGE.

10:15 AM: Whoa. Squeal fest. Guess who just got here? Yes, that would be our Criminal, Aubrie! Eeeeee!

(Creative Writing Class)
(Just kidding. That would be asking too much. It was "Emotional Writing." But whatever. Talking about how we all have different meanings for the same words, and so we have to be specific when expressing ourselves. Included driving to beautiful campground and "free-writing," where I pouted. Things were a lot different from my first time at the Bridge, and even though I hadn't thought I had many expectations, I was finding myself disappointed in many ways.)

Group Pool Class with the most excellent trainer Pete! Who is 70% crazy enthusiasm, 27% kindness, and 3% energy drink.

3:13 PM: I really want to take Pete home with me. I want like a Pocket Pete. Just pull him out when I need to encouragement.

5:17 PM: Trying to take a much needed nap, but the insanely loud washing machine across the hall from my bed sounds like a mermaid being strangled.

5:48 PM: Realizing I compared the insanely loud washing machine across the hall from my bed to "a mermaid being strangled." Yeah, that's why we let me FINISH my naps, because then I start spouting out that sort of morbid nonsense.

10:12 PM: Just had Skype date with Darren, CEO of the Bridge. My mind is a blur.

Day Three (Wednesday)
7:27 AM: You know, Michelle once compared me to Cinderella, because apparently I'm uber happy in the morning. I'm beginning to realize she was right.

8:12 AM: GOING TO SNOW CANYON. GOING TO SNOW CANYON. I FEEL LIKE A DOG ON THE WAY TO THE DOG PARK, BECAUSE WE'RE GOING TO SNOW CANYON!

9:30 AM: GOING TO DR. GRANGER'S. GOING TO DR. GRANGER'S. I THINK I'M GOING TO FLIP OUT BECAUSE WE'RE GOING TO DR. GRANGER'S!

Lecture at Dr. Granger's. She's sort of the coolest person ever. She just turned 70, but none of us believed it until we saw a "70" balloon wedged into her ceiling where she couldn't get it down. She's legit, she does all sorts of "singles" stuff-- and encouraged me to do the same, and she makes ridiculous art out of GOURDS. Yeah, gourds. The hallow cousins of pumpkins. So crazy legit.

11:11 AM: Remembering that yesterday while talking one-on-one, Dr. Granger said, "I don't mean to sound trite, but you go girl." Dang. If ever that expression was to sound legit, it would be coming from Dr. Granger's mouth.

11:15 AM: I want a pocket Dr. Granger, in addition to a pocket Pete.

Communication Lecture.
8:03 PM: Communication Class. What NOT to say to people expressing emotions to you: 3 PAGES. Acceptable things to say: 3. As in, 1, 2, 3. As in, "Wow!" "Yes." and "Um hmmm." Literally.

8:52 PM: Randomly had chance to use these communications skills in real-life setting. Hard to not use the "invalidating" things, but was able to validate her feelings, but express where I thought she was being too hard on herself. Think it really improved our relationship, if not her overall experience.

Day Four (Thursday)
8:02 AM: I think I finally feel totally chill with these ladies. And it's a wonderful feeling.

8:12 AM: GOING TO THE LAKE! Gonna kayak and paddle board and swim and all that jazz! So much jazzy goodness!

8:13 AM: Martie not coming to lake. Super, super bummed.

8:22 AM: Krista just embarked on a ten minute hilarious tirade on why Martie should come to lake, and the things we were willing to do-- and put up with-- if only she would come to the lake with us. Seeing as Martie was having tummy issues, this was both gut-busting funny and disgusting. I think I need a pocket Krista, too.

Sand Hollow uber awesome greatness.

10:28 AM: After kayaking out to the island out in Sand Hollow to explore, we find a pair of shorts on the beach. Seriously? Who leaves their shorts behind? I mean, how do you forget your shorts?

10:45 AM: Water. So cold. Must. Swim. To make point. Californians. Are hardcore.

11:12 AM: Kayaking out to cliff-jumping spot. Realized I forgot my shorts on the island. Karma.

12:04 PM: Drinking Gatorade after a week of sugar-deprivation: "Holy crap! It's like CANDY!" So I chugged the whole thing. People laughed. I'm serious about my sugar, people. I'm SERIOUS.

12:45 PM: After many, many pitiful attempts, I have finally managed to stand up on the paddleboard! And then I fell on my butt, and flipped back into the water. The cheering of everyone on the sand turned into uncontrollable laughter. I sucked water up my nose laughing, too.

12:50 PM: Paddleboard yoga may sound like the most pretentious thing ever, but really it's just an excuse to mess around and play gymnastics on giant surf boards.

1:00 PM: Krista, EmmaLeigh, and Whitney are now doing head-stands on the paddle boards. On the water. I'm pretty sure once you can do that, things stop mattering in life. You have nothing left to have ambition for.

2:12 PM: Em, Whit, Krista and I take a detour in the van to go get frozen yogurt. Oh, sugar. You truly are my dearest friend.

Campfire at the campsite down the road for our last activity together. Snatched another Gatorade.

5:34 PM: Martie's been wearing a weighted vest to try to get strong enough to scuba dive in Hawaii in two weeks. She thinks it's ugly, but I'm pretty sure her street cred just sky-rocketed.

7:08 PM: Today's Sugar Diary: Gatorade. Frozen Yogurt. Another Gatorade. S'MORES. Oh, S'MORES. I don't know what happened to the original Bridge menu, but S'mores were definitely not a part of the program last time. I'm quite alright with the deviation.

7:42 PM: Sugar Remorse: "If you could have one wish right now, what would it be?" Me: "Not to crave sugar." Sigh.

Day 5 (Friday)
8:45 AM: Sitting in bed, not wanting to get up, because it means we have to go home: BJ: "You know, I keep wanting to call you Joy, because you're so joyous." That's kind of the best compliment I've received. Thank you, BJ. I'll try to live up to being your Joy.

10:00 AM: Parting is such sweet sorrow. I'm excited to go home, because I grew a lot this week. But I'll miss you ladies a lot.

The Bridge: The Players

Before I continue with Bridge stories, introductions must be made:

Whitney: Staff Member

EmmaLeigh: Staff Member and Happy Person Extraordinare

Krista: Sweet Mother of Three and All of Us, Too

(Aka Woman with Unhuman Balance)

BJ (with Em): My Roomate, the Bravest Woman There

Martie (with BJ and Me): Mischevious Grandma With Intense Street Cred

Aubrie: My Friend from my Last Bridge Experience, Who Visited for the Day and Inspired Us All

And Nerdy Little Me :)

Me, Whitney, EmmaLeigh, BJ, Krista: Selfie in Snow Canyon (Missing Martie)

The Bridge, Day One

I've officially been at the Bridge for, like, 6 hours. 6 slow-going hours. And since I didn't really write much when I was at the official, 19-day session of the Bridge, I'm determined to document! Also, I didn't have anything near the level of technology I have now back then, even though it was like, 2 years  ago. So it's much easier to whip out my kindle and blog. So I will!

What I've Learned At The Bridge So Far:

1. I forgot to tell Grandma that I got Nutella on her comforter last night. Crap. I'll wash it for her on Friday.

2. I am the youngest out of the 4 of us attending by at least 20 years.

3. Well, except for maybe Krista. She came late, and I only saw her for a sec, and I had somehow gotten essential oil (it's called "beloved") on my contact, so everything was super blurry. Must estimate her approximate seniority over me.

4. Daren did NOT sell the Bridge (Michelle!!) but has been more distant due to attending medical school.

5. The massage therapist told me in the middle of a most heavenly massage that I have a gift of intuition, and that I should "step into it."

6. She also told me at the end that I would be fantastic at Reiki, and would be a great Reiki instructor and encouraged me to look into it.

7. The acupuncturist thinks I have small capillaries and arteries, thus giving me a flood flow issue, which explains a lot of the fatigue situations. It makes a lot of sense. I just have to shove Dr. Bong and his botched acupuncture out of my mind, because he's giving me acupuncture trust issues.

8. Red Mountain Resort is the shiz and I really, really miss it. But I already knew that.

9. I think the people you experience the Bridge with have a lot to do with your experience, and I'm starting to get the idea that our original group something really special.

10. I really miss our group.

11. But I miss Michelle most of all. Rooming with someone else is going to be so weird. TBI, WHERE ARE YOU?!

Why I'm Feeling Like A Nerd

Tomorrow, I'm making the (45 minute) trek back to my lovely hometown of Temecula (yay!) for a framing-supply buy at the crafting Mecca that is Hobby Lobby. Oh, Hobby Lobby, how I love thee.

The problem? I'm so stoked that for the past two nights I've not been able to get to sleep. It's like Christmas Eve up in here. All I can think about is colors and specific beads I need to replenish and themes and coupons and how much money I can possibly squeeze into this purchase, dreaming of those SALE flags all down the jewelry making isles. 

Mannnnnnnnnn. I'm a nerd.

In other news, I've made quite a few frames (and non-frame items) recently, many of which you can find on my Facebook page. Also, I hope to make some "glamor shots" (oh la-la!) of them up on my Instagram, but I've been having technical issues, so we'll see. I've got a crazy week coming up, and then I'll be gone the week following at the Bridge.

Oh, right! Did I mention that yet? I have the AMAZING opportunity to go back to St. George, Utah and attend a four day "refresher" course of the Bridge! I don't know if I ever spoke of the Bridge on here or not-- I probably wasn't blogging at the time-- but the Bridge was a 19 day retreat for people with chronic pain disorders like myself. We had the wonderful opportunity to have a plethora of more wholistic type treatments to try in a peaceful, healing  environment with peers who struggle with the same issues as ourselves. It was three weeks of hikes, massages, acupuncture, gluten-free detox diet (well, halfway. I couldn't do it full on-- it was too much!), personal and group therapies, physical therapy, personal trainers, yoga, and various outings for unique experiences I wouldn't ever have had otherwise. Like the sweat lodge. It was the first time and place that I truly felt understood by others. I'd always had sympathy, but felt extremely isolated in the fact that no one knew. But at the Bridge, people knew the minuscule nuances of having an invisible pain disease, and I didn't know how much I needed that comraderee and understanding until I had it.

I met my best friend Michelle at the Bridge. She was my roommate. I haven't seen her since those 19 days since she lives on the other side of the campus, but she means the world to me.

So! Next week I'll be getting a super-condensed version of all that (without my original group, which is a super bummer. It's going to be such a different experience without them!) and I'm incredibly excited. However, it means I have to get two weeks worth of homework done before Saturday (yikes), get Mothers Day and Steph's birthday stuff together and sent off (to their new house! Woot woot!), and get all the typical before-leaving miscellaneous errands done and PACK. Why does packing take so much energy?

Um. Yeah. Got way off topic there. See? I'm excited, and it's late at night, and I can't sleep, so I'm babbling.

Babble babble babble babble.

Remind next time to tell you about me excellent beyond excellent birthday. And the singing to my cat while half-asleep, okay? And I never got around to telling you about my theory about the Girl Scouts really being secret drug cartel, selling their wares disguised as cookies, getting the general public hooked on their sugary, calorie rich, product, dying for cookie season to come around so we can gorge ourselves silly, and making serious bank on our--unbeknownst to us-- drug addiction. The world at large thinks Americans are fat because of fast food, but no, it's actually the Girl Scout Cookie Scandal. Open your eyes, people.

I'm on to you, "little girls." Menacing look.