The last two months have been a rollercoaster, and it has been hard to stay focused on preparing for my upcoming Rainier trip. Working three jobs has left little time for anything else, and it has definitely taken its toll.

In addition, my full-time position at the Forest Service ends in October and my cowbird job ends beginning of July, so I have been desperately looking for work, as my part-time position working as a Outdoor Excursions leader for the university will not be enough to support me.

I have hope that something will work out. I spent a great deal of time these last six months doing volunteer work, and perhaps it will pay-off in the career growth sense as much as it did with my spiritual growth.

Since I've been so stressed and pre-occupied, I have really slacked in both fundraising and work-out efforts. I am determined to become focused again, and remind myself of why I am doing this climb, and how much good focusing on preparing has done for me these past six months - both physically and spiritually.

I did start reserving one day a week to hike after work with some friends who will be climbing with me in August. Every Tuesday or Thursday, we meet up after work and hike in the local hills. I also did two climbs out of town, one in the Sierras in the snow, the other, a desert peak outside of Ridgecrest. It's not much for two months, and I aim to change that in the next few weeks.

I've also noticed I've slacked off on spending time with friends and family - my support group. I've been so wrapped up with job stuff, I've been rather anti-social. Definitely another thing to work on.

I arranged a luncheon in honor of Nicole at work, which turned out really well. It was great to see so many people want to help out with bringing in food, clean up the garden, and supporting me on my climb. I also had a chance to reconnect with friends and family of Nicole, and though it brought on some tears, it was truly wonderful to reminisce and talk. Nicole was definitely worth remembering, and I can only hope and work hard so that I could have the same remembered of me one day. She did so much in her life, and I know that I can only achieve that much through careful organization and dedicated work.

So the next few weeks, I'm going to make a better effort to re-align and carry out my priorities. I only have a little over a month to get into the best shape I can for the climb - and three months at work to make myself a valuable employee. I'm also going to make more of an effort to reconnect with everyone who has helped me so much in this past year.

So, the weekdays will be focused on work and brief work-out sessions (even if only one evening a week). Now that my weekend job is ending, I will spend that time with those most important to me (perhaps concurrently doing more exercise).