What Winter Reminded Me Of This Year
IMG_0092
IMG_0069
Exploring Vail
IMG_0084
IMG_0133
IMG_0134
Normally I’m all about the summer but this year I can’t get enough of the winter. Maybe it’s all the rain teases we’ve gotten (it was supposedly an El Nino year but I think it was more of an El Ni-NO season), or maybe it was it was having a fireplace to come home to every evening. More than anything, I think it was finally getting the opportunity to enjoy nature and just be outside.Snow is a precious thing when you’ve lived in a coastal community your whole life. It’s easy to take the ocean for granted when you drive past it every day.
But snow? Snow? It’s a foreign concept to me.
When I see snow my eyes still light up like a little child and I just want to jump in it. It brings me back to that wonderment that I had when I was young. I love that feeling.This year I’ve had two opportunities to revel in the snow and I felt a new sense of happiness. It’s been a hard year with applications, moving to Glendale, and preparing to graduate from my Master’s program this upcoming May.
But going to the snow made me forget all that, even if only for a little while. I left my troubles behind and the silence and stillness of a wintry day was just what I needed.I had the amazing chance to speak in Fort Collins and decided that I should bring my dad along to explore the area. We went to Breckenridge and Vail to see what was there. While I loved the Vienna style of Vail, I really loved Breckenridge. All the twinkly night lights dotting the town made me feel like I was in a Hallmark movie. It didn’t hurt there were beignets, crepes, and hot cocoa cropping up along every street corner!The best part of Breckenridge was dog sledding. It was an unbelievable experience and quite unlike anything I have ever done before. Those dogs were bursting with energy and they couldn’t wait to pull us along. I got to be the musher for part of the ride and feeling those eight dogs run full speed was surreal. And I thought Balto the movie was exciting. The best part was getting to play with the dogs, learn their names, and watching them wrestle in the snow. When I look back on my life experiences, I will always be glad that I did this.
Another fantastic experience of the winter was going skiing with my best friend, Abbie. We went skiing last year in Park City, UT and we’re now making it an annual trip to go skiing ever year. This year we went to Mammoth and we loved staying at our hotel where we could cook French dip sandwiches after a long day on the slopes. While I am no advanced skier, I still love to get out there and feel like I’m flying (even if it is on Pumpkin run). Abbie is a great skier and she challenges me to go a little faster, a little steeper—maybe even a jump or two! We laughed the entire time and sitting in the Jacuzzi while it snowed was the perfect way to take it easy on our sore muscles.Recalling these memories takes me back to those days.
Savoring these times reminds me of how thankful I am to have such loving people in my life that are willing to go on new adventures with me. I encourage you to invite people you care about to spend time trying something new with you. You don’t have to go far and it doesn’t have to be anything too wild. Get out of your comfort zone and see what there is to see. I know you won’t regret it.As you look back on this past winter, what were some of your happiest experiences?