Santa! I know him!

Christmas is over, yes.  But the holiday spirit continues to live on.  Especially with the four days of intense snow we've gotten here in Portland this week.  Perfect weather for another visit from Santa.
Before Christmas, my interprofessional team from school (made up of pharmacists, physical therapists, a psychologist, and a PA - me) did our required service activity by helping out at a holiday bazaar.  It's all the rage here in Portland.  People set up their booths and sell their handmade goodies in preparation for Christmas.  Ours even had a little visit from Santa.  We couldn't pass up an opportunity to sit on his lap and put in our requests!

And they say it never snows in Portland.

Well, look what I woke up to this morning.  And you can't tell, but it actually WAS snowing!

First Time Skiing EVER!

Oh my goodness! I've never had so much fun! A few friends and I all went skiing up at Alta 2 weeks ago Saturday. They have a free lift open from 3-5 pm. It was craziness! We rented our skiis before going up and the dude just had to scare us by asking if we knew what happened up there the day before. Apparently "BigFoot" had taken somebody out. Haha, he knew I didn't believe him so we were giving each other a hard time. It was legit, they just didn't know what took the dude out.

Anyway, I've always been SO scared of going skiing. For those of you who know me well know that I LOVE to do new and daring things. That's pretty much all I did in high school was dares. Ok not really. That's exaggerating, but I like doing new and exciting things. BUT for some reason I've always been super scared to go skiing. You are just flying down this super steep hill.......craziness! I thought wrong though! I loved it! I thought I picked it up pretty good too, although I struggled controlling my speed a bit at first.

So right after I got my skiis on and got to the tow rope, I started getting light headed and felt like I was going to pass out. I had to sit for a few minutes until I felt normal again. I guess it was the altitude. Laaaame. Haha! I went down the bunny hill 3 times and then it was off to the big ski run! Oh my gosh, the lift just kept going and going and going! But it was nothing to fear! I did pretty good for my first time skiing. But it was snowing pretty hard the whole time and we dind't have goggles so I pretty much couldn't see the whole time. Snowflakes were hitting me in the eye left and right and every other direction imaginable so my eyes were just watering the whole time not to mention my nose! Haha! Hey, I had no idea what idea was needed for skiing.....I'd never been before! That's excuse anyway :) One of the other girls and I ate it pretty hard one time going down a harder run.....right under the ski lift jam packed with people. Everyone just started laughing at us. Bahahaha! It was pretty funny. My beanie flew off and I looked like phantom hair. I've never been so wet before. BUT, like I said, I loved it!

Then the following Tuesday (week and a half ago) my brother, dad, and I all went night skiing up at Brighton. Now that was fun!! I got 8 solid runs in and even went down a couple blue hills! I'm moving up in the world! I did much better this time around and finally figured out how to turn better and even how to slow down. Yes, I finally figured it out even though I was pretty much snowplowing it the whole time :) Snowplow = sorer than imaginable muscles!

So apparently people starting out skiing have this great fear of falling down when they get off the ski lift at the end. I was not aware of this and had no problems at all. That is, until my brother got in my way.......down I went! Embarrassing, but hey, it wasn't my fault right?

My cross country skiing (all of the 2 whole times) was definitely a factor in me being able to pick it up so fast and maintain my balance. I'm glad I had that background. I plan on going downhill skiing again in the next few weeks before the season's up. Slopes, here I come!

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!!

Oh, the weather outside is frightful...
There are so many song lyrics that are so fitting right now. But, NEVER have I seen SOOO much SNOW!!! I am in disbelief and shock! I love it however, unless it prohibits me from getting home to Arizona for the Holidays.

I was joyful when the first snowfall hit, a little less than a week ago. It was a fun change, especially since I haven't seen snow in a loooong time. Then....the second snowfall hit and I had to drive to work in it. Yuck. So the snow is super fun to drive in when you have the whole road to yourself and it doesn't matter if you spin out or swerve all over the place. It's a completely different story when the roads are packed with people trying to get to work and the roads haven't been plowed yet. Let's just say I survived!!

Then the THIRD snowfall hit today after school. It's crazy I tell you, just plain crazy! I would have never imagined this much snow. Needless to say, it's been fabulous wearing my moon boots all over the place, even to school. My students got a kick out of it! One student told me, "If only we were friends Miss Anderson.....we'd have so much fun!"

The sad part is I haven't had even a second to play in it....even build a snowman, even sled down a hill, even throw a snowball at an unsuspecting person. And tomorrow I'm leaving....I have to say goodbye to this Winter Wonderland. I guess I won't miss the freezing glacial arctic frosty bitter icy cold numbness I feel every time I step outside. Even my car has icycles on it for goodness sake! Icycle....that's a very strange-looking word, don't ya think?

These are the views outside my school and apartment. I'll let you decipher which one is which...... And it IS snowing on both accounts!

First SNOW!!

Today it snowed! And it was freezing too. I didn't get around to taking any pictures, so sorry. I'll take some soon. My car was entirely covered in snow this morning though. This is the first time that I actually don't have to walk to school in the snow - that's the worst. So I must say I thoroughly enjoyed it. I was a bit disappointed on my way home from work to see that most of it had melted....

So to celebrate this fine day I had pancakes for dinner, broke out the Christmas music and listened while enjoying the warmth from my space heater, and last but not least watched Elf with my roomies, which I must say is like my favorite movie ever! Couldn't get any better....