So it seems that my "Fresh Cut Flower Fridays" have kind of morphed lately...I guess it turns out that they aren't just about fresh cut flowers. Maybe it's more about intentionally looking around my life at least once a week to notice what is bringing me joy...right now it is the light dusting of snow on the foothills that I can see from my back porch, it is the beautiful warm shades of yellow and red that the leaves have turned to, it is the fact that TODAY IS THE FIRST DAY I GET TO RIDE MY SNOWBOARD THIS SEASON!!! (Okay, I'm actually writing this on Thursday evening so I should really be saying "tomorrow", but you get the idea, I'm stoked!) The Jeepster is making her maiden treck up to a ski resort - Mt. Baker specifically - she is all ready to go with the Thule mounted. As soon as that Thule was on her, she became an infinately cooler vehicle, now she's not just a "run errands around town" kind of SUV, she's a mountain bound, snow sport serving kind of car.
Am I being dramatic?! Let me just explain that I love to snowboard. This will be my 6th season of riding, and every year I appreciate the sport more and more. I didn't grow up in a skiing family, we didn't have money for that kind of thing. So when I got out of college and was in my second year at my first teaching job, I decided that I wanted to learn. It was one of the first investments I made as an adult for myself that was purely for fun...everything else had always had a sense of responsibility tied to it, car purchases, pursuing degrees, paying student loans, it all was tied up in what I "should do". With snowboarding there really was no obligatory "should", it was pure, joyful "want". Well, maybe joyful is a stretch when describing some of what I went through, I had a hard time learning initially, I feel alot and bruised my tail bone (very painful by the way!), but I had a dear friend learning with me. She and I committed to learning together and we have both continued to ride every year since. When I moved to WA from CA, I initially was thrown off by the differences in riding conditions. In CA I'd been able to get away with lighter first layers, in WA the cold is no joke, and sunny spring conditions are not as typical.
My first winter in WA was rough for other reasons as well, I dealt with some seasonal depression from the lack of sunlight (and also because of all of the crazy transitions I'd just been through). It took a while, but eventually it sunk in that I was very close to some amazing places to ride, snowboarding helped me get through a difficult period of my life. My snowboarding went to a new level my first year in WA, I made a very stubborn decision to no longer be just a mediocre rider, I wanted to improve. With a ton of work, lots of falls, and many grouchy days (the poor husband had to deal with me through those - sorry honey!), my turns became cleaner and tighter, I learned how to carve with the edges of my board, my stance became stronger, I gained the confidence to ride in sometimes less than ideal snow, I stopped cursing everyone and everything when I unintentionally ended up on a cat track, I had the chance to teach the husband the basics of riding a snowboard (he's a great skier), last January I even got to teach my oldest friend in the world how to ride when she was up for a visit. The picture at the top of this post was actually taken that day at Mt. Baker. That was also the day that I began to seriously consider trying to become a snowboarding instructor.
Now this Saturday I will begin a course that will allow me to become a certified instructor and possibly even get a job as a part-time instructor this winter at a nearby resort called Steven's Pass. I am proud of myself for sticking with snowboarding even on the hard days...it is not a difficult sport to get the basics down, but to really ride with style requires tons of commitment. Snowboarding is something that I've shared with many of my students over the years. They always looked at me suspiciously if I missed a day during the winter...especially if a storm had just passed through and left fresh powder in it's wake.
Since I started to ride, I have had the pleasure of riding at some of the most amazing moutains in the world, I have riden in California, Nevada, Washington, Canada, Colorado, and Utah...some of the best days of my life have been up on a mountain, strapped into my board. So maybe to some, this all sounds silly and dramatic, but one day when my body is old and tired, I am going to be glad that I made a point of enjoying the beauty and thrill of mountains covered in snow. Time to go shred!
Before I left I fried my point and shoot digital camera by accident in a puddle of iced tea...it was a dumb mistake I made in the midst of trying to quickly pack for the weekend. With the same mistake I also managed to leave a dark stain on our duvet cover - I still need to get to the dry cleaners to get that taken care of. As a result of the iced tea incident, I am now without my trusty camera...I feel kind of naked without it. I hadn't fully realized how much I depended on it and enjoyed having it. I am going to replace it at some point, but in the mean time I have been using the camera on my BlackBerry (I used it to snap these tulip pictures when I came home from the weekend). I also have an old digital camera I can use, but it's just not the same. I'd been thinking of upgrading to a Nikon sometime in the next year - I guess it's time to start saving for that. 
Speaking of photos, the tulips in these pictures opened up over the weekend. There are so many beautiful colors happening in my garden right now - it's lovely! After winter I always feel like spring's color is like a breath of fresh air. I want to get up to La Connor for the annual tulip festival this week - it's happening a bit earlier than normal because of the warm weather we've had recently. I am sure I'll manage to get some great pictures to share! 
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