I'm still unrecognizable, but the swelling has gone down enough for me to see. As the swelling lessens, the itching is becoming unbearable. It's been a rough day.

It's worse now

So, typing is very difficult with one tiny slit to see out of--sorry if there are many tyops. My face is even worse this morning, so I going to stay home and /kisten to music all day?? I can't read at all. My whole face is swollen!! Argh! Call me if you're bored today because I will be!

Bee sting

I learned today that I have a pretty bad reaction to bee stings. I was stung on my right eyebrow about 5 hours ago and this is what I look like now!! I took some benadryl and have been icing, but that's all I can do. I did go to the doctor and he called it "an impressive reaction" to stings. Anyway, I thought I'd share this freakishness with all of you.

My folksies

This weekend was my mom's 56th birthday, so they of course celebrated with a punishing hike in Death Canyon, the Tetons. She emailed me these cute pics that I thought I would share.

Looks like they made a friend on the hike!

Belly Shot #2

Here are our September 1st shots, about 8 weeks. I swear I feel way bigger than these pictures make me look!

A New Adventure

As most of you know, this has been a great summer of adventures for Mike and me. We started off with a 50 mile trail race in Utah, then headed to California where my friend Sarah and I climbed The Nose of El Capitan (in 5 days, 4 nights) and Mike climbed the same route (in 14 hours 52 minutes) with his friend Steve. Those two single things kinda tired me out and the rest of the trip was quite a bit more mellow. We stayed and played in the Valley (that's Yosemite Valley) for a few weeks, then headed to San Diego for a Schneiter family reunion. We visited the Zoo and Sea World, which I originally saw about 18 years ago--(What cool places!) and 12 hours at each one felt rushed. We also had a lot of quality time with Mike's family. Somehow, I have a total of zero photos from San Diego (send me some, Marge, and I'll post 'em!). From SD, we headed North into the Sierras, then to Wyoming for some Womack time. While in WY, my mom and I took a detour to Montana for celebrations of two new babes and a wedding (Hannah is 37 weeks, Lane is 39 weeks and married!). To see many pics of our climbs, go to mikeandjoy.net

After Mike and I both completed our respective El Cap ascents, we realized that although we knew we wanted to do more ascents like that, we were ready for something new. And bold. Basically the biggest adventure we could possibly imagine. . .


And, it turns out we are quite fertile, as we conceived precisely two weeks after stopping birth control. A funny side note: we happened to conceive in our tent on the day we climbed a route called "Positive Vibrations" on the Incredible Hulk :)

My first ultrasound last week, which showed a heartbeat, moving limbs, and a baby! The babe has acquired the nickname "the blueberry" because of my tendency to compare its size to common fruits.

Our first belly shot, taken August 1st, only about 4 weeks along. Not looking prego yet, but this month's shot will show more belly. We'll do one on the 1st of each month, with Mike as well to make sure he's not gaining a sympathy belly.

I found out I was pregnant while in Montana--without Mike. I went for a hike and brunch with my mom and her friend, Terry, and kept feeling nauseated during the meal. The night before, during Lane's rehearsal dinner, I had gotten up to pee about 15 times in 3 hours. And I was definitely feeling a bit more buxom than usual. I expressed these things to mom and Terry, and they got all wide eyed and excited and we drove straight to Target for a test. Back at Terry's house, those two waited like little kids outside the bathroom door while I peed, and we all started jumping and screaming in typical Womack woman fashion as the second pink line appeared. I tried calling Mike, but he was out climbing with my Dad in Jackson, so I ended up telling pretty much my entire extended Montana family before my sweet husband. I absolutely could NOT keep news like that inside! I called my grandma Claire to tell her and she was able to relay the message to my grandfather, who died the next morning 10 days after his cancer diagnosis. The circle of life continues...

Pregnancy is definitely more difficult than I thought it would be. I have learned quickly to NEVER judge a prego lady on her exercise and eating habits, because it is different for everyone. It has been difficult going from an ultrarunning big wall tough girl to a pregnant woman who is not only hungry constantly but can barely muster enough energy to do a daily 4 mile run. Sometimes I have to walk home from my run, sometimes I just don't have the energy to go at all. I have found that getting outside moving at least sometimes eases the nausea. And why on earth do they call it morning sickness? The blueberry insists this is an all day affair. I am a girl that is used to surviving mostly on fresh veggies and all I want to eat is thick chewy noodles with cheesy sauce. And crusty bread. And spicy coconut curry, which gets expensive when you're too tired to cook and order takeout!

I am trying to relish this time as I realize how quickly it will pass, but I am SO looking forward to my second trimester! Below are some pics from the summer that Mike didn't put on the other website.

The NOSE pics:

Finally Done! This is the two of us after hiking out--we were so tired and so proud! (And so stinky and dirty!)

Me connecting on the King Swing, a massive pendulum needed to connect two cracks on the route. We climbed about 80 feet up above where I am, Sarah lowered me down so the rope was free, and then I started running as fast as I could back and forth across the face to reach the next crack. The picture above is when I finally made it. It took me about 45 minutes and was very difficult.

Me leading the bolt ladder on the way to the Boot Flake.

Sarah on morning #2, on top of El Cap Tower. The edge of the photo is the edge of the ledge--that bivy was a little scary!

Me pointing to the topo a single pitch from the top. The route was 31 pitches and about 3000 feet long.


A close up of the topo. The advice was perfect--don't bail--and was given to Sarah and I in El Cap Meadows while asking some locals for information on the route.

One of many picture perfect summer campsites.

The mosquitoes were awful at the base of the Incredible Hulk, so we spent lots of time in the tent ;)

My folks in Jackson on a hike to Delta Lake.

Dad and I on top of Disappointment Peak, which is poorly named considering the fantastic view from the top. Mike, mom, dad, their friends Cary and Randy, and I all did the peak together.

Mama moose and baby at Lupine Meadows trailhead.

Our latest investment! Super Fun!

News

A few days ago, I took my final board exam to become a Registered Nurse and I passed!! Yeah! I am now official :) You can call me Joy Schneiter, RN.

Mike and I are in Jackson staying at my parents' house for what will probably be the rest of our trip. It is truly wonderful to be here--peaceful, homey, the food's great, the company is even better, and I love the daily showers. My mom is on her way home from Prescott, AZ today. She has been there for the last 4 days supporting her mom and dad. My grandfather was just diagnosed with Stage IV lung, liver, and brain cancer and is spending his days relaxing at home with the help of my grandmother and some hospice nurses. He is 82 and has led a fantastic life, has been married 60 years, and has left a legacy of children, grandchildren, and (almost) great-grandchildren that all follow Christ. He and my grandmother traveled the world (and I mean traveled!!) together until very recently, he built and flew his own airplanes, and he made great efforts to involve the rest of his family (us) in his many worldly adventures. I have been trying to keep everything about his situation in perspective. While it is, of course, sad to be one left behind, we have to find comfort in the fact that he is just beginning. With someone like my grandfather, there must be a celebration of life (both his new life and the one he will leave behind) instead of lasting sorrow of death. So, thank you, Granddad, for the many ways you have taken part in my life.

On the Road Again

Mike and I are on our annual summer road trip until August 8th. If you want to keep current on our adventures, go to our shared website, mikeandjoy.net.

I hope you all are well!

Spring Training

My favorite running partner, Sari, has a 10 month old daughter, Juniper. Sari and her husband Ian, with hopes of Juniper following in her racing footsteps, have started Juniper early on her training. This video is a hilarious little snippet of that:

Fun stuff!

So, I know I've been a slacker of a blogger lately, but here is finally an update of the past month or so, which has been very full of neat things. Check out mikeandjoy.net for photos and stories from Spring break. Upon returning from Spring break, I took my last finals and completed my last clinical hours for nursing school--I am officially DONE!! Yeah!! The day after my last clinical, Mike and I drove to Fruita for a trail marathon, the desert RATS race. Unfortunately, we did not take a single picture. It was a great time (I say that now...) and a beautiful sunny day. Another big piece of news: In the midst of all these things, I squeezed in an interview and accepted a new job at a local boarding school, CRMS. I will be the school nurse and will have a schedule basically identical to Mike's--none of the nights, weekends, holidays, or summers that I was dreading. Also, I will be forming relationships with 150 high school kids, participating in their outdoor education program, and even teaching a freshman seminar class. Needless to say, Mike and I are both very excited about this positive change.

Tuesday after the marathon, it was back to the desert for another Zion trip, this time with a girlfriend from Salt Lake City. Polly and I had been planning on climbing a big wall (a big wall is a climb too long for a single day that requires sleeping on the cliff face) for quite a while and this was our opportunity. She had done just one other wall, and hadn't led a single pitch. I had never done a wall without Mike there to take over if things got hard or scary. But, we really wanted try one on our own, so we perused many topos and decided on Prodigal Sun, Grade V, 5.8, C2. Here are some photos and a bit of our story:

This is the north face of Angel's Landing and our route pretty much follows the shadow line up the right side of the face. This photo was taken from Big Bend, where Mike and I were married 3 years ago (I actually spent our anniversary on the wall). There is a popular hiking trail along the ridge to the top of Angel's Landing.

Me in my "resting stance" carrying the haul bag to the base. In the haul bag goes water (4 gallons for 2 people, 2 days). food, sleeping bags, stove, extra gear, wag bags (for pooping on the wall)...you get the picture. It weighed about 80 pounds. Polly and I hiked our stuff to the base of the route the night before we started.

Racking up for the first pitch.

Me trying to clip the first bolt, which was about 8 feet off the ground. I stood on a pile of rocks for a boost and fashioned a "cheater stick" to improve my reach. A cheater stick is a 2 foot section of tent pole with a carabiner duct taped to it and a sling through the biner. It allows you to reach up and hook an out of reach bolt or piton, but is pretty insecure and only used if absolutely necessary.

Here is Polly on the 3rd pitch. Usually, the leader places removable protection into the crack, and if there is no crack, there are bolts or pitons for protection. On this pitch, there was a missing bolt and Polly had to stand on a hook (very insecure!) while stretching to her absolute limits with the cheater stick to the next piton. It was a very exciting move for her, especially after she fell while stretching out and the hook held!

Polly ascending the ropes, or "jugging". This type of climbing is called aid climbing, which means you use artificial means of getting up the rock instead of just depending on your hands and feet to hold on. The leader stands in webbing ladders while going up and the second uses ascenders to follow. Aid climbing is used to climb aesthetic lines that would be too difficult to free climb. (To clarify a common term mixup: Free climbing is climbing that still uses ropes and protection, but the rock is ascended using only the body and no artificial help. Free soloing is climbing without ropes or protection of any kind.)

Polly on the portaledge (what most people like to call a "cot") where we slept. Our stove is hanging in the foreground.

Yummy! Spanish rice, italian sausage, red peppers, and cheese all topped off with hunger sauce.

Polly in the beautiful morning light.

Polly figures out her C2 section on the steep headwall.

A view of Zion Canyon. You can see Moonlight buttress, Spaceshot, and the Temple of Sinewava in the photo.

Happy proud girls!! We did it! We were incredibly excited and exhausted.

Hiking down. Our route ended on top of Angel's Landing, where there is a popular hiking trail. We topped out just as it got dark and hiked the 2.5 miles to the trailhead. We barely caught the last bus out of the canyon and (thank goodness!) there was still an open restaurant in town. What a great adventure!

The latest

Check out Mike's updates of the last couple weeks at mikeandjoy.net.

We are now back in Zion for 10 days, taking advantage of our coinciding Spring breaks. Wes and Steph were here until this morning, at the tail end of their Spring break. It was great to hang with them for a day. We'll keep updates coming along this trip.

The 24 Hours of Sunlight

So, finally an update on how the race went! It was definitely a learning experience, overall very positive, and something I hope to do again. A big thanks to BJ, Sari, Jen and Jes for dealing with my skins, my demands, and my exhaustion!

I started the day out pretty fast, probably too fast, (a common rookie mistake) and was actually in first place for the initial 4 laps. As the day lingered on, I found a steady rhythm and a more reasonable pace. Darkness settled around 6:00, and gnawing fatigue and a hacking cough forced some much needed rest. After a couple of hours, a few fellow racers relayed the news that my place standing was slipping, so I braved the cold for some more. The early morning hours were, in a word, tortuous. It was cold, I was getting tired, I battled frequent waves of nausea, and was having a very difficult time breathing. Sari has experience with 24 hour races and knew the 4-6am window would be the worst, so she drove up to ski a couple laps with me during that time. Soon after she left, the sun came up and the race energy rose with it. Slowly but surely, I continued to plod along for the final hours. Around 9:30 (the race ended at 11), I finished my 16th lap a few seconds behind another woman, Liz, also vying for third place. At the beginning of our lap, I proposed to her that we just agree to tie for third. We were solidly out of second and ahead of fourth, and neither of us felt like pushing the pace at that point in the race. So, we took our time, chatted the entire lap, and snowplowed across the finish line together. It was a very special ending to an amazing race! We completed 17 laps for a total of 25,500 feet of elevation gain and loss--the equivalent of skiing almost all the way up Everest from sea level in a day.

The inaugural "24 Hours" was two years ago, and Polly McLean was the only solo woman. Amazingly, she completed 20 laps with no competition pushing her. Last year, she returned to win again with just 11 laps, but was 4 months pregnant. There were 4 other women last year, none of whom did more than 10 laps. This year, the women came out in full force! There were 11 women--the winner broke a world record with 22 laps, Polly took second with 20, Liz and I tied with 17, fourth had 16, fifth and sixth had 15, and so on. I was absolutely spent after 17 laps and wanted to recognize how well each woman did out there.

Here are some photos:

This was the tent that each racer had to use to check in and out of each lap. My jacket is stuffed with my skins, which I rip off of my skis at the top and then ski down. I didn't carry a pack at all, but had a 6oz water bottle in my pocket.

Jen helping me at the start of a night lap.

High fives between me and Liz at the end of our last lap.

The podium. Molly Zurn in first, Polly in second, and Liz and I in third.