Back on the Mountain



Anybody seen Lindsey?

 After a three week break, we finally made it snowboarding again.  The one good thing about the snowy Idaho winters is that snowboarding season goes all the way through March.  In Washington it's pretty much over after February.  It was really cold up on the mountain so I was completely covered but the snow was wonderful! The night before they had gotten eight inches of powder.

My baby has skills

 I had to take pictures standing still but Thomas was able to snowboard while snapping pictures. He is a professional.  We were talking to some ski patrol guys and they said to be ski patrol you just have to take a 12 week course.  I think that would be an ideal job for Thomas.

Improvement

Yesterday we escaped to Alta, Wyoming for a full day of snowboarding at Targhee school resort.  We started out on the smaller hill and I got warmed up going toeside and heelside.  For lunch we used our little propane stove to heat up some soup.  My dad gave the stove to Thomas for his birthday and it is perfect for taking snowboarding so we don't have to spend a ton of money on lodge food. 

After lunch we tried out some bigger hills.  Thomas suggested we try out one of the hills that has a bunch of cat tracks.  We tried this one before when we went with our friends Karlee and Will and I had a really hard time.  I wouldn't get enough speed to go up the hill and then I'd end up having to unstrap and walk or crawl up it.  This time was awesome and I was able to make it all the way without falling.  It was nice to be able to compare the two times and really see improvement.  Here is a picture of my hotty husband http://www.powderdayphotography.com/p642476387/h135cd44e#h135cd44e

We saw the craziest thing. There was a couple with there 18 month old little girl who was on skis!!! She was so tiny her gloves went up to her armpits.  She couldn't even talk but there she was skiing in between her dad's legs.  http://www.powderdayphotography.com/p642476387/h1f42669f#h1a1c1dd9 This is the link to see a picture of the little cutie.
That night we had our friends Kelsey and Brandon over to play Guitar Hero and card games. 
Awesome day.

Three day weekend

I have a lesson plan overload! I think about the lessons I'm working on all day and then when I go to bed at night I dream about them.  Thank goodness for a long weekend to try and get everything done before classes start again.
This Saturday we spent another day snowboarding at Kelly Canyon. More improvement on my toeside heelside skills.  Actually right as we were leaving we were going down a little decline and I started to be able to switch from one side to the other without making a huge turn beforehand.  We saw the cutest little guy who had to have been 3-4 years old and about 3 1/2 feet tall just cruisin down the hill on his snowboard.  He was so little that even if he would have crashed he wouldn't have had very far to fall.  Adorable.

Saturday night we watched nephew Alex while his parents went an a date and got to catch up on Grey's Anatomy on Netflix.  Last year we rented some of the seasons and got to about season 6 but stopped there, so now we are watching the current season plus catching up. 
One of my friends I met in class last semester, Kelsey and her husband Brandon came over for dinner and games Sunday evening.  We had yummy cajun chicken pasta, salad, and asiago sourdough bread (courtesy of Great Harvest, we got a card for a free loaf in our goody bags from the 5K we ran on New Years Eve). We all played some Guitar Hero (Kelsey was on medium level! The rest of us were all on easy) and we played monopoly deal and phase 10.  Kelsey and her husband are really fun to hang out with and we are excited to spend more time with them.  Thomas slipped up a bit on Friday and offered to take somebody's shift Sunday night.  Then he realized that we had made plans to have friends over and tried to switch back but it was too late.  Luckily he was able to go in a little later so that he could hang with us some. He has assured me that before switching any shifts he will check with me first now :)

Toeside

I used to always blog about running and now it seems like I always blog about snowboarding.  But trust me running outside in the winter in southern Idaho is danger.  Yesterday it was -1 degrees out! So freezing.  Luckily while snowboarding you stay pretty warm.  The coldest part of boarding is going up on the lift.  We went to Wyoming again to Grand Targhee.  Last time we went there wasn't the best experience because we went on so many runs that were too advanced for my ability level.  Yesterday we found a perfect run for me and I was really getting the hang of going from heelside to toeside! Finally!
Today is my last day of vacation before winter semester starts.  Yikes! One of my professors already sent us an assignment.  Grrrr, that kind of drives me nuts.  Just let us enjoy our last days of freedom.  It's the same professor who made me cry last semester and who I swore I would never take another class from.  Really that is the only class that I'm really stressed about because I dreaded his class last semester so much.  Isn't it interesting how a good teacher can make an uninteresting subject fun while a bad teacher can make any subject horrible? That class is my senior practicum, where I will be in an elementary class two days a week teaching all day and then have a seminar for two hours one night a week.  I've decided that what I am going to focus on is not this mean teacher but focus on myself as a teacher and the students I am teaching.  I just want to help the students to learn and enjoy school and be inspiried.  I'm not going to stress about busy work or a mean professor I am going to focus on what really is important and that is that my students learn and that I am becoming the kind of teacher that I am supposed to be. 

Snow Hiking

Today we were all ready to go snowboarding.  I put a meal in the crockpot so it would be all ready when we got home tired and hungry. We were all bundled up and about 30 minutes away from home when Thomas says "Oh dang! Kelly Canyon is closed on Mondays!".  Haha I even remember him commenting about that last week when we went up there snowboarding but it didn't even cross my mind that we had plans to go on a Monday. I think I would have normally been pretty bummed but we have plans to go snowboarding tomorrow as well. Rather than turn back home we decided to go and see if we could find a trail to hike.  We found a cross country/ snowshoe trail that was an excellent hiking trail.  It was so steep I was breathing like I was running rather than walking.   

 I love going on hikes with my lover cause it's a great way to get exercise while chatting away.  One of the first times we really had a deep conversation was on a hike in Washington on nasty creek road (I'm not joking, it's actually called that). 

Thomas had the great idea to make snow angels when we were taking a breather.  I can't remember the last time I made a snow angel.  They turned out pretty darn good.

We made it to the top after about 45 minutes or so and we realized we were at the top of the ski hill! We ended up right next to lift #1.  The view was worth the hilly climb and it was really fun taking pictures.

 We even got to pretend we were ski patrol.  Kelly Canyon ski lifts are really scary.  They don't slow down at all when you get on our off of them.  When you get on it you have to lift your board up parallel to the ground because there is a slope upwards, I don't know why. 

So today we totally made lemonade out of lemons.  We had a very fun unplanned day hiking in the snow and taking fun pictures.

Let's try this snowboarding thing again

Thomas has had a cold the last couple days so we weren't sure if we would be going snowboarding today but we did! Last night he told me that he still wanted me to go so if he didn't feel well he'd just sit in the lodge while I boarded. There is no way that I would go snowboarding by myself.  I know my husband has before and other guys have but I would never. I like to have somebody to talk to and share the experience with. I wonder if it's a male/female thing. 

We went to a place that's about 30 minutes away called Kelly Canyon.  We weren't sure it would be that great because it doesn't seem like there are high enough mountains that close to us.  But it was a great mountain with four lifts and plenty of different runs to go down. 
I was a much happier camper this time.  I just let myself have fun and didn't worry about not being as good as Thomas and as a result I think I naturally improved a bit.  I felt more comfortable going down flat without breaking on my heels and I was able to get some speed and didn't have many falls at all.  Last time I was extremely sore pretty much immediatly afterwards, like more sore than having just ran a marathon.  This time I feel great! We went for the half day which is 12:30-4:30pm and that was just perfect with a little lodge/hot chocolate break somewhere in between.
It was 12 degrees today! Freezing! I wore an earwarmer headband and a beanie to keep my ears warm and a thin pair of gloves plus my snowboarding gloves to keep my hands warm. Luckily my new snowboarding outfit rocks and kept me warm.  My face was the coldest thing but once I zipped the coat up all the way it covered up to my nose.
I'm starting to see little improvements so I am excited to see how much I can improve by the end of the snowboarding season.

Snowboarding: Season 2

I had been looking forward to Saturday all week, it's what got me through what seemed like the longest week of the semester.  The reason why was because Thomas and I had plans to go to Grand Targhee Ski Resort in Alta, Wyoming for our first snowboarding day of this season.  Last year I went like three times and so I was excited to see what I could do this year.

It was the most perfect day for snowboarding.  Clear and the snow wasn't too hard, perfect.  We bought a 4 day pass that lets us go full day for the price of a half day.  We got there around 9am and headed right up the mountain.  I was nervous about the lift because I hadn't quite perfected getting off it last year.  I'm happy to report that this time I had no troubles at all.  Didn't knock myself or anybody down :) We stayed pretty much on the same part of the mountain the first part of the day and I was feeling pretty good about the improvements I was making.  I have a hard time going from heelside to toeside and tend to stay on my heels the whole way down.  But that first half of the day I had some good transitions from heel to toeside.  We went down a different side of the mountain after a couple times down our preferred side but it had a lot of cat tracks and up and downs.  I wouldn't get enough speed going down and then didn't have enough momentum to go up the hill.  So I'd either have to akwardly crawl or bounce up.  Eventually Thomas just told me to take one of my feet out of the bindings.  That helped. 
For lunch we had planned brilliantly and brought a little propane stove and a pot to make chili dogs.  It was wonderful to not have to pay a bunch of money to eat at the lodge but still get a hot meal.  We'll definetly keep that little tradition going. 
After lunch we met up with our friends Karlee and Will who came for the half day.  We started going down that same cat trail that was hard for me before but cut off through some powder.  Powder is hard! You are in a lot of trouble if you biff it cause then when you try to get up you sink like three feet and it takes a lot of energy to get out.  This really tired me out.  Then we tried some more trails that were really to advanced for me.  I felt horrible because everybody had to keep waiting for me to get unstuck.  I really just wanted them to go ahead cause I felt like I was slowing them down and that made me feel guilty and I was embarrassed for my lack of skills.  The confidence I had at the beginning of the day was totally zapped.  Finally, Thomas and I just decided to call it a day and ended up walking a half mile out of the cat tracks with our boards.  I was really upset at myself and swore that I hated snowboarding and was done doing it. 

This is my sad snowboarding face.

Thomas was so patient with me.  He knows that I am very hard on myself and explained that I am a beginner and can't expect to be able to do everything right when I want to.  I told him I know but this is like my 4th or 5th time going and I swear there is something wrong with me cause I still have to stay on my heels most of the time.  And I let him know that I felt bad holding him back.  He explained to me that he just wants snowboarding to be something that we enjoy doing together and doesn't care if he has to wait, if he wants to he'll do his thing and then wait for me.  His explanation totally made sense to me when I put it into context.  If I were teaching him to play volleyball I wouldn't care if he shanked the ball a ton of times and wasn't as good as I was.  I'd just be happy that he was playing with me and willing to learn.  I love that guy!!!
So after a little pep talk I felt a lot better.  It totally reminded me of having a bad volleyball game and being so mad at myself.  On the car ride home my mom would make me repeat out loud over and over "I will not be so hard on myself! I will not be so hard on myself!"

My sexy snowboarding lova'

So I will be snowboarding again :) After I recover though.  I am so sore in the weirdest places.  My knees, ankles, wrists, and most of all my kneck.  I had a really bad spill where I flipped over a couple times and my head flopped all around, luckily I was wearing a helmet.  I would never ever go snowboarding without a helmet! As we were getting on the lift one time, we saw this kid with blood running down his face and on his head.  He obviously wasn't wearing a helmet when he crashed and he was totally out of it.  His ski had split in two it was crazy! I don't care how good you are you should always wear a helmet. (I'll get off my soap box now).
I love seeing the little kids skiing and snowboarding.  I seriously saw a little three year old learning to snowboard on the bunny hill.  His mom would be at the top and push him down and his dad would be a few feet down the hill to catch him.  Adorable!

Snowboarding Digs

Today I got my first snowboarding outfit.  Last season was my first season snowboarding and I would just use Thomas' extra snowboard pants and my regular coat.  So I decided to look on Craigslist and Ebay and see if I could find some low prices on snowboarding clothes.  Luckily, I found a girl who was selling her snowboard jacket on Craigslist.  So we went there today to check it out.  Turns out she had TONS of snowboarding stuff for sale.  She is sponsored by Ride and spends all winter in Utah training on a snowboard team.  When she first answered the door I was thinking  "oh crap, she's tiny! I'm not going to fit into her stuff."  But I guess the fad is for the boarders to wear really baggy clothes, so they were even baggy on me.  I tried on a ton of her pants and jackets and found the cutest one! I love that it is all matchy.  So I'm ready for winter now! Can't wait to go snowboarding!
Got the whole outfit for $100! The pants are normally $160 and the jacket is normally about $200!

I'm ready to go boardin!

Valentines Weekend!

Thomas and both agree that it is awesome having V-day on  the weekend cause then the whole weekend turns into a big V-day celebration.  It all started on Friday night.  We went to another wards valentines day dinner/dance because my Dad's band was performing.  They did such a good job.  It was fun because they played a variety of music, country, oldies, rock, soft rock, even some Adam Sandler.  I told my Dad I want them to perform at my birthday party this summer.  When we got home there was a bouquet of flowers for me and some balloons from my honey!! He's so sweet!

Saturday morning I went on a nice long 8 mile run.  That's the most milage I've gotten in one run in awhile.  Hailey and I have been training for 4.15 mile run that was last Saturday.  It was the Frosty Four Miler in Terrace Heights.  The race was supposed to start at noon but there were too many same day registration people (GRRR!!!)  so it didn't start till like 12:45pm.  Just let me vent on this one.  Okay those people who actually sign up ahead of time and are expecting the race to start on time have warmed up and are ready and then they find out it won't start till however much longer, that isn't fair to them.  But of course the race directors want to make money.  But still they should just make those people who sign up late start after all of the on time people have finished, rather then make the on time people wait.  I guess that is the nice thing about running longer races like half marathons cause nobody is going to sign up day of the race.  Anyways it was a little windy but the race went well.  Thomas ran with me the whole way and pushed me along (isn't he the best!).  I ended up finishing in 33:50. I was satisfied with that.  Hailey and her husband got first in their age groups!! They are amazing. And I got fourth place in mine! That was a surprise.  We are doing a 6K in March and have also started training for our half marathon in April in Wenatchee.

Saturday evening Thomas and I went to the Taj Indian restaurant for dinner.  That was where we went for our first day last year on V-day.  The food we even yummier then I remember.  I love love love Indian food!! We tried the homemade mango ice cream for dessert and it was divine!!

After dinner we went and chaperoned a stake dance.  That was really fun.  We danced a couple slow ones.  Even though Thomas said he use to think it awkward  when the old chaperones would dance lol.  We were mainly in charge of blocking the hallways so that no couples snuck back to the empty classrooms to do.... whatever.  So to entertain ourselves we took some jelly beans and would eat one and then have the other one guess what flavor it was by kissing. Hehe It's okay we are married.

Today has just been a nice relaxing Sunday spending time with my honey.  We had lunch together after church of BBQ Korean Ribs and rice, salad, and strawberries and pineapple dipped in chocolate.
Tomorrow we are planning on snowboarding! Hurrah!!
Oh ya and we got a new curtain for our shower and it looks super cute!  We already had navy blue towels and a rug and so the curtain was a perfect addition.

Snowboarding

So I've always wanted to learn how to snowboard. This past summer I really started loving wakeboarding. We went out quite a few times with friends who had boats and with the young single adults and I was starting to improve and be able to cross the wake and stay up for a chunk of time. So now that it's winter it is time to do the other kind of boarding!

I borrowed some boots and board from a friend and Thomas had all his own gear. Luckily he had extra pants and gloves and goggles for me to wear. We drove up to White Pass (using my new GPS that he got me for Christmas) and went on the beginner hill. Thomas is such a great teacher. I know that if I were really good I would have just wanted to go to the top of the hill and said "see ya at the bottom". Plus, the snowboard I borrowed wasn't really working out for me the way the bindings were set up so Thomas let me use his board. He is such a nicey. So first he taught me how to go down on my heels and then he taught me to go down on my toes (that was a little trickier since you are going down a hill backwards). Then he taught me to turn and then how to get off the lift. I fell quite a bit and today, the day after, my butt and arms are sore. But it was so much fun!! I loved it. So we are already thinking about getting season passes for next year when we are in Idaho. We have plans to go up again this Friday while we are still on break! So much fun.

On the way home there was an elk feeding station. We stopped for a couple minutes and watched a ton of elk stand around. It was a pretty awesome sight to see like 50+ elk all in one area.