From the beginning:
I have always had bad eye sight. I was the little blonde girl in second grade that had the big pink plastic rimmed glasses. The things practically took up half of my face. However, as a child glasses weren't a big deal to me. I actually remember thinking to myself as a child, "It would be so cool to have both braces AND glasses at the same time" - a thought that now makes me laugh at myself. Thank God I never got the braces.
When I was in 7th grade I decided to give contacts a try. I remember trying to get them in my eye in the middle school bathroom, it was much easier than I expected. I started wearing contacts very regularly from that time forward. I wore my glasses only between taking my contacts out at night and getting to bed. I almost never wore my contacts over night - maybe twice on accident throughout my entire life. However, I did wear them for the entire day usually.
I remember going to the eye doctor when I was in high school and he told me that I needed to wear my contacts fewer hours during the day. While I appreciated his advise, I still continued to wear them all the time - I felt like most other teenagers do - invincible - his advise was for someone else with bad eyes. I have always been very outdoor oriented, and would wear my glasses at nighttime when I was backpacking. I also tried to extend the use of my contacts - wearing 2 weekly contacts for more than their recommended wearing period.
My prescription continued to climb throughout high school and into college. I had horrible vision, which only made me want to wear my contacts more. After I graduated college I moved to Portland, Oregon for a bit. One day while I was getting ready for work I put my contact in, it felt like there was dust or sand underneath the contact, so I did what I usually did and took it out, flushed my eye with solution, and put the contact in. However, after 30 minutes of trying, the dust feeling would not go away. I had to go to work in my glasses -eek! While at work I continued to feel this feeling of something in my eye and asked my boyfriend at the time to bring me some eye wash solution from the store. He brought it, I washed my eye out several times, and nothing happened. After a few days of not being able to put my contacts in, and still feeling this dust in my eye, I went to the eye Doc. I didn't have any insurance, and the doctor was nice enough to see me for free (thank you!). He looked at my eye and told me I had a air bubbles that had formed in my eyes from overuse of my contacts. I had more in my left eye than my right. He told me I would not be able to wear my contacts for a long time - he guessed about a year. I was horrified. So, I got use to just wearing my glasses, which reduced my outdoor activities to hiking and some road biking. After a few months in Portland I moved back to Colorado for a job in the small town I came from.
My eyes started to heal very well, my eye doc in my new town kept me up to date on the progress of my air bubbles. My right eye healed before my left eye. I remember trying to go mountain biking with one contact in, bursting into tears halfway through as I thought about this terrible loss of my eyesight. I felt like I would never again be able to fly down the trails like I use to. After awhile my left eye healed. However, because I was so timid about ruining my eyesight I always wore my glasses, and only put in my contacts when I was doing an outdoor activity or at a special event. Even then, my eyes would get irritated and red after wearing my contacts for what used to be "normal" wear. I remember being a maid of honor for my best friend's wedding. I asked the makeup lady to put light makeup on my eyes because I had to put my contacts in right before I walked down the aisle. Even after only wearing my contacts for the wedding and reception, my eyes were red the next day. At another wedding I knew my left eye was going to be irritated, so as a bridesmaid I walked down the aisle with one contact in. When you have vision as bad as mine, this is troublesome. I told the groomsman that I was walking with that I would be holding on to him for dear life.
I had several events like these. One contact in, unable to really see what was going on. I "acted" like I could see everything, smiling when I knew it was appropriate and usually holding on to someone for dear life when I was walking anywhere. Wearing heals became even more dangerous - remember, i'm a tomboy mountain biker - anything above flats is like walking on stilts. Yet, I was able to do it with the help from my friends.
Right after I graduated college I purchased my first (and only) pair of prescription sunglasses. It literally took forever to find them. My prescription is so bad that the sunglasses I wear cannot have any curvature to them - the glass/plastic is too thick to bend. They were extremely expensive, but did the trick. This gave me the ability to be outside, and participate in "low impact" outdoor activities (hiking, kayaking, backpacking, xc skiing, etc.) without the "picture" bouncing around. However, I found it impossible to wear these sunglasses when mountain biking, snowboarding, or doing any other "high impact" sports where the picture (my sunglasses) literally bounced around and I couldn't see anything. So, i only wore my contacts during these high impact sports and at special events, a good way to reduce the time in my contacts.
At this point I must tell you that I am more than just an outdoor enthusiast, being outdoors is my life, my career, my everything. I got my undergraduate degree in Recreation and Business, and my masters degree in Psychology and Adventure Education. My passion in life is to help individuals grow psychologically through adventure based programs; ropes courses, kayaking, rock climbing, backpacking, skiing, you name it. I am also a member of the Mountain Search and Rescue Team where a group of volunteers work many, many hours training and going on missions to help individuals who may be lost, hurt or compromised in the outdoors. I also help to plan mountain bike races in my community to raise money for the local trails organization. So, saying I'm an "outdoorsey type" is literally just the tip of the iceberg. I am also an adjunct faculty member at the local public college in the Recreation and Outdoor Leadership department where I share my skills in facilitation, program planning and the psychology of recreation experiences with students. In the wintertime I am also a snowboard instructor at Crested Butte - a good way to get a ski pass, have some extra money, and work in the industry at the same time.
The last thing you should know about me for my background is that I am a 28 year old female. I am extremely independent and strive to make a difference in this world, whether it is talking with my students at the college, going on a rescue mission, or planning a race that brings more trails to our community. I also recently started a distance PhD program with Colorado State University. I'm in an interdisciplinary studies program studying education, psychology and recreation. My goal is to someday have a full time faculty job at the local college. So, that is where i'm at for my background/history. I'm young, in great health, in shape, dedicated, and my life revolves around the outdoors.
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