Demotivation

Hey, peeps. Look! I'm posting a blog!! This one's sort of a cop-out, but hey, I'm tired. Which is kind of my constant state of being....Anywho. I also may have spent a bit too much time on the website www.verydemotivational.com. Cause sometimes you really need to laugh at other peoples' misfortunes. : )

Here's a few examples. Enjoy!!

There. Now, don't you feel better? Sweet dreams!! : )

The Day the Oven Rack Attacked Me

In my line of work, there are quite a few hazards you have to be careful around. Knives, hot ovens, hot pans, heavy objects, and in my case, doors, door knobs, the corners of tables, large mixers, and much more. Sadly, I have been injured by pretty much ALL of them. No joke. But there was one more I hadn't considered. Until one particular Wednesday...

Dun Dun DUUUUNNNNN!!! 

The Culprit

This is an oven rack we use at work. We put sheet pans on it and roll it into the walk-in oven. We don't actually call it that cause it's creepy, but that's pretty much what it is. It's like a walk-in closet that heats up to 500+ degrees Fahrenheit. We can fit two of those racks in the oven at a time. Yup.

A picture for height reference. 

Don't I look pleased with the thing? 

So, on this particular Wednesday, I had opened that day (4am) and I was wrapping things up and doing pan-up at about 1:30pm. Pan-up is when all the frozen pastries and everything are put on trays then on a rack, and rolled into the fridge to be baked the next morning. Anyway, it had been a long day and somehow I ended up being the first person in AND the last person out. This happens way more than it should. 

So I had just started and put one tray of pastries on the rack and I decided to pull it closer to make it a bit easier on myself. Yeah, well, I kinda pulled it the wrong way. I really should know better, but alas, I did it anyway. It's a little unsteady if you pull it width-wise as opposed to length-wise. So, yeah, I pulled it, I turned around, had a split-second thought of "Hey, what if that fell on me..." ---and then it did. 

The damage. Minutes after. 

You can see blood on my sock too. 

I had my back toward it, so it hit my back, struck my left hip bone, scraped down my left calf (pic above) and landed on my foot. Which it also scraped. But at first, I didn't realize how bad it was. I just thought, "Gall, that was stupid. Ow." and then I just picked it up and the tray of pastries and went about my work.

About 10 minutes later I realized my pants were sticking to my leg. Looked down. Uh oh. Blood.

Blood-soaked pants with my finger 

through the hole it ripped through. 

So, I went into the office to inspect the damage. Ew. A lovely scrape. I grabbed some tissues and the First Aid kit (which I use more often than a normal person should have to) and proceeded to patch myself up. 

The fix. 5 large band-aids, which I'm pretty 

sure are meant for fingers...

I finished my work and went home for the day. I didn't notice until later that it had ripped my pants AND my chef coat where it had hit my hip. Man, that rack was thorough!! I told my family the whole story. Only THAT would happen to ME. Accident-prone to the nth degree.

The next day. Lovely, isn't it?

I removed the band-aids the next day to let it air out and *gasp* what a surprise!! A lovely bruise to go along with it. I dreaded going to church and wearing a skirt. And our family vacation began the next Monday where I would be in shorts and/or a swimming suit the entire time. Eh. 

A few weeks later. Mostly healed.

Anyway, it healed pretty quickly and not many people noticed except for my sister, Ashleigh, who had the decency to scream, "HOLY CRAP, WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR LEG?!?!". Yeah. Thanks for that. : ) 

So, this has been another chapter in the Chronicles of Anika's Injuries. Hope you "enjoyed" it. haha. 

Workaholic

Hey, everyone. Day two of BEDA!! So far, so good!

So, remember how I said that I tend to jump into things without thinking? Yeah. Case and point: today is my ONLY day off work this week. Yup. I worked the past 4 days (Thurs-Sun) and I work the next 6 days (Tues-Sun). Sounds like the perfect time to commit to a month-long blogfest, right? Uh huh. I'm a bit crazy. Haha!

Oh, and keep in mind that I will  be waking up at 2:30am every single one of those work days and working 8 to 10 hours as well. Yay!! *shakes head no*

Now, I do enjoy my job. Most of the time. : ) And I've gotten used to the getting-up-early and the being-on-my-feet-for-10-to-12-hours part. Doesn't mean it's easy, though. Getting up that early means going to bed at 6:30 pm (well, more like 7:45pm...). Kind of limits my social life. Actually do something with friends, or get enough sleep to make it through the workday? A constant battle. And it can be hard on my body. Sore feet/ankles/legs from standing and walking and I already had surgery on my right wrist from tendinitis (also known as Carpel Tunnel) as a result of repetitive movements at work and in Culinary school. It still gets sore sometimes. No fun.

I've been at my job for over 2 years. That's quite a while in the food industry. At this point, I can honestly say that I am awesome at my job. I know what I'm doing and have a semi-managerial position in the bakery. First is the Executive Pastry Chef Anna, then Pastry Sous Chef Cynthia, and then me. I don't really have a title. Except Baker 3, which isn't really that great sounding. But I can do ALL the duties of the Sous Chef and I did just that for about a year before Cynthia came back. I actually was next in line for the position, but Cynthia had more "experience" (grumblegrumble). Yeah, whatever.

Anyway. I'm feeling the need to move on. I'm not sure when or where that will be, but I'm keeping an eye out for new opportunities.

Wish me luck!! : )

BEDA

Hello, all. It's late. I'm tired. But here's a little snippet of news.

I've decided to join the BEDA crowd. That stands for Blog Every Day April (but in this case, through the example of Maureen Johnson- author extraordinaire, I'm doing it in August. See? It still works. : ] ).

Ahem. So. Yeah, I'm going to try to blog every single day in August. Starting with today. Which probably means they'll be pretty short most days. That should be a nice change, eh? HA!!

We'll see how this goes. I have a habit of jumping into things without really thinking them through ( *cough* vegetarian *cough*) so, wish me luck!!

'Til tomorrow....

Anika

Oh, What Can Happen in a Year?

Image courtesy of BiggerPockets.com

A lot, apparently. I meant to post this at the beginning of May, so...according to MY schedule, I'm right on time!! ; )

So. A year. Yes. May 2009 sort of changed everything. I didn't see it coming. I wasn't prepared, that's for sure. And it all started with a book, an idea, and the courage to jump right in.

I became vegetarian.

Now I'm not saying that going vegetarian was a big HUGE thing that changed everything, but it was definitely the catalyst. A pebble tossed into the pond that created all the ripples that spread and brought me to where I am now.

I was at a point where I needed a change. A kick in the pants. I wasn't happy. I couldn't continue going the way I was. Anyway, I've already talked about that here, so if you missed it, there it be.[<---Hey, I think I just did my first successful link!! Yay, me!! : ) ]

So, that's how it started, but I couldn't have predicted what came as a result of that decision.

Such as:

I lost 70 pounds and went down 5 sizes.

I overhauled my entire wardrobe, mostly cause nothing fit me anymore. Can't shop at Lane Bryant anymore (which is a good thing cause they're expensive!) and only jeans and sometimes dresses fit me at Torrid (great store!!).

I've become a bit obsessed with awesome graphic T-shirts. They rock. I have a lot now. But I'll probably buy more. : )

I became more confident, and therefore a bit more social.

I became more confident in my work also and became a "supervisor" of sorts. (More on that later).

I learned to snowboard. You can read about that here. [Hey, I did it again!!]

I was almost, sort of, a little bit more confident in putting on a swimming suit for Bear Lake this year. (More on that later also).

I put myself out there for a guy and got rejected. Not harshly, but it was still a "no". (Still dealing).

I loved for the first time. Didn't turn out as I had hoped, but we're still good friends and I'm grateful for that. : )

I became an opener at work when a co-worker and close friend moved away. Both of those have been hard to deal with. When your alarm goes off at 2:30am, you kinda wanna die. And not getting to look forward to seeing that friend at work makes it harder.

I was called to be the Family Home Evening chairperson in my Singles' Branch. That has its difficulties at times, but I'm learning a lot. And I'm forced to be more "in charge" and stuff. Heh.

I gained an admirer of sorts at work. He often tells me I "look good today", although I always wear the same thing: chef coat and checkered pants. It's flattering, but a bit awkward and creepy cause he's, like, twice my age. Yeah.

I feel more comfortable wearing shorts now. Got a cute pair of denim ones that I practically lived in at Bear Lake! Well, those and a swim suit and capri sweats... ; )

I turned 24. Whoop. : )

I renewed my love of baking at home through www.joythebaker.com

Anyway, there's more, but I just wanted to put in print a little rundown of the changes I've noticed while looking back at the year. Thanks for reading and I'll really try my best to post more often. Hugs!!

Anika <3

30 SECONDS TO MARS

So, I went to an AWESOME concert at the beginning of May. 30 Seconds to Mars headlining

with Mute Math and Neon Trees opening. It was INCREDIBLE!!!  It had been a while since I'd been to a concert and never have I been part of the standing-room-only-bumping-and-jumping-with-strangers-sweating-and-screaming-your-lungs-out group before. And I LOVED IT!!! Amazing. Here's some pics. All from my Blackberry, so the quality sucks, but whatever. : )

I was the ticket buyer. So excited when they came!!

Neon Trees. They were SO GOOD!! Local. Hadn't heard of them,

but definitely will look them up!!

Lead singer of Neon Trees. He was INSANE!! Crazy, crazy dancing, 

awesome mo-hawk, very interactive, very cool!! I'm pretty 

sure he ripped his pants while dancing. HA!!

Neon Trees. Very cool. Bassist was awesome too!

Mute Math. I knew some of their stuff, including one song from

the "Twilight" soundtrack--"Spotlight" ring a bell?

My fave is "You Are Mine". Goosebumps!!

Drummer for Mute Math. He was so cool!! He sat down at his drums, taped

some huge headphones around his head (very emphatically), and totally

ROCKED it!! At one point he poured water on his drums

and the effect of the splashing water was AWESOME!! :D

He's playing a key-tar. HA!! Awesome. 

Mute Math.

Angie and I. There was a LOOOONG wait before 30STM came on.

We took pictures!! I look crazy!!

Kissy face Ange. 

Pretty normal pic! I look tired. Cause I WAS!! Waaay past my 

bedtime. ; )

Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Jared Leto!!! And his pomegranate

mo-hawk!! :D Lead singer of 30 Seconds to Mars

and sometimes actor. Perhaps Jordan Catalano from "My So-Called Life"

rings a bell??

Our turn to sing!!!

WOOOHOOO!!!!

He demanded a lot of jumping and yelling and moshing.

We obliged. : )

He appeared at the back of the venue and played some stuff

acoustically. Very cool!! He asked to be an "honorary Mormon"

HAHAHA!!

I had SUCH a great time!! Despite the fact that I had been awake since 2:30am, worked until 12:45pm, walked The Gateway for 3 hours, and then preceded to stand/jump/dance from 6:15pm until 11:30pm in shoes that squeezed my feet, woke up at 4am the next day and worked until 1:30pm ALL on my sore feet. I was useless the next 2 days. Haha! But it was worth it!! 

From Student to Teacher

Hello, all. I haven't been in a blogging "mood" as of late, but I thought I'd try today. Mostly pictures, I'm thinking.  So a few weeks ago, I finally got my younger sisters to come snowboarding with me!! But since it was their first times, it was kind of more of a lesson. From me. Yeah. I'm not sure I'm qualified to teach, but I did my best. Here's the proof:

Getting ready to ride!

Chillin' on the chairlift.

Double chairlift pic = SUCCESS!! :D

I was there too. See?

Alex rockin' it!!

Ashleigh is looking good!!

Alex taking a break at the bottom.

Looking fly in their gear.

Took a break for lunch. Whew!

Some crazy dude walking in the snow in flip flops with a 

can of beer in one hand and a case of beer in 

the other. Brilliance!

Some heel edge for Ash!

One last ride!

They both did VERY well for their first times. Better than I did, I'm ashamed to say. Each had a few successful chairlift unloads. Yay! And a lot of heel edge practice. A few falls, but the snow was what we call "mashed potatoes", so it didn't hurt. Just a little sore from getting up. : ) They closed Chickadee last

weekend, so that's it for them this season. And mostly for me as well. Ah, well. It was fun!! We'll see how

 we all do next season!! Hope to see you out there!!

V-Day and more Snowboarding

Here's a lovely dessert we did for some VIP clients the day before Valentine's. It's a Napoleon with Lemon and Raspberry Mousses, sweet cream anglaise (sauce), and raspberries. Sprinkled with pink toasted coconut.

And at some point on Monday, I got inspired to make some sugar cookies. Here are some pics for ya. I kinda went nuts. haha! Pink and white icing, a piping bag and some little blank "canvases", nothing to it!! Didn't taste too bad either. ; )

Now, I'm still not really sure why I felt impressed to make those cookies, other than I was bored, cause I'm not really big on the "holiday". Quite frankly, I kind of hate it. And yes, you could put me in the category of "bitter singles". For years, I've referred to it as "Singles Awareness Day", because for those of us who are single on that day, we are VERY VERY AWARE OF IT!! Also, it's just a made-up holiday to sell cards, candy, flowers, etc. Blah blah blah.

This year, I guess I wanted to feel better about being single. Cookies always seem to help, right? And just to keep my mind and hands occupied, perhaps. I don't think it worked. This year seems to be harder, for some reason. Now, I don't mean to be all self-pitying or whatever, but I just thought I'd actually SAY how I feel on the subject. Also, I've decided that it shall now be known as "VD". Yup. My greeting? "Happy VD!". Gets the point across, but slightly insulting. Haha! So there. Enough on that subject. On to happier things!!

More Snowboarding Adventures

Here's a pic of Snowbird from the top
of Chickadee (the bunny slope). It was snowing
a bit. Beautiful, chilly day!!

So, I went snowboarding again last Wednesday. I was a bit apprehensive because I hadn't gone in 3 weeks, since the HUGE HIP BRUISE INCIDENT, but I felt like I was ready to get back out there!! And guess what I discovered.....SNOWBOARDING IS FUN!!! Crazy, right?!? Haha. Yes. I have reached the point where everything is starting to click and I'm actually enjoying myself! It's a great feeling. First of all, the guy at the rental place didn't charge me (yay! I swear, it all depends on which guy I deal with. Never the same guy...weird.) so that was a nice surprise. I felt bad I couldn't at least leave a tip, but seriously, I NEVER have cash these days.

Here are my feet strapped to the board.
I really liked this board, so I took a pic, to maybe
get the same one next time.

I was determined to work mostly on toe edge this time. It still scared me, but it was time!! The first thing I had to get in my mind was that my LEFT foot is my lead foot. For some reason, probably cause I'm right handed, I just kept thinking I had to lead with my right. Just one of those stupid things stuck in my brain. I had to let go of that. Once I did, it became MUCH easier! So, I was still attempting to ride to one side of the hill on heel edge and ride to the other on toe edge. I was still afraid of that transition, so I did it VERY slowly. To begin with, anyway. It got easier each time I tried it. For some reason, I still have a hard time going from toe edge back to heel edge, probably because I've fallen on my butt so many times and I'm trying to avoid that. : ) I did fall twice on my bum, but nothing serious. Somehow, I did hyper-extend my left elbow. That didn't feel very good. And my right wrist, my bum wrist, I wrenched it somehow during the course of the day. Other than that, I felt pretty good afterward. Arms were a bit sore, but that's all.

So, I'm thinking one more day of practice on Chickadee and I MIGHT be ready to venture out on another slightly more difficult run. Oh, and guess what?!? I have totally mastered the chair lift!! I didn't fall ONCE getting on or off!! YAY YAY YAY!!!! Whew. That means I won't fall on my hip like the time before!! That was part of why I was so nervous to go out again. What a load off my mind!!

Also, I'm really sorry if I scared anyone away from trying snowboarding with my last post. I really didn't mean to!! You should ABSOLUTELY try it!! I just wanted you to be prepared. Know what you're getting yourself into. And, hey, you could totally be a quicker learner than I am and pick it up right away!! But you never know until you try. Good luck!!

And Happy VD!! ; )

Adventures in Snowboarding

This is a diagram of a snowboard. Most of it means nothing to me,

but hopefully it will give you an idea of what I'm
talking about, like heel and toe edge. Oh,
and by the way I'm Regular footed. Not Goofy. : )

Well, hello, blogging world!! It's been a while. So, I figured since something DID happen that was news-worthy, I should blog about it: I attempted snowboarding!! Such an accomplishment for me because 1. it was scary to even think about and 2. I've worked at a ski resort for a 1 1/2 years and had never tried it!! Disgraceful, right? Yeah, well. Not anymore!! I'm sure anyone who has read my previous posts knows that I am never short for words. And this post is no exception. : ) I'm gonna give you ALL the gory details. Ready? Here we go!!

So, my first obstacle in my pursuit of snowboarding was finding the appropriate clothing and equipment. I had my green and blue ski coat that would do, but I really did need a new one. Had to wait though. During the Summer, Snowbird has a Lost and Found sale every year and through some miracle, I found some snowboarding boots for $7!! Ridiculous, right?!? Sure, they were used and a little big, but still!! Jackpot!! I also got some goggles and a pair of gloves, so including the boots, it only cost me $11!! Yay for Lost and Found, right? : ) So, when it got closer to Winter, I started looking for pants. Now, I'm not a small person. Yes, I have lost a good amount of weight, but I'm still 5' 10" and I have hips. This presents a problem. I checked online and quite a few stores including Sports Authority, Ross, TJ Maxx and several others and...no good.

First of all, the sizing is whack and most have a super high waist, which sucks. I'm ALL about the low-rise pants. Yes, I know that higher pants meant less snow DOWN my pants, but did I really need them right under my armpits? Really? I think not. Well, one day in December, I was dropping off 2 co-workers at the Trax station at 7200 S. and....something East (directions are not my strong point. Clearly.) and there happened to be a Sportman's Warehouse across the street. I decided to check it out. After a good amount of searching I FINALLY found a pair that fit me!! Huzzah!! Bad news: they were brown. Not ideal. So, I decided to put them on hold and mull it over a bit. Blah, blah, blah. I finally decided it didn't matter THAT much to match. Bought them the next day. Yay! Pants!! So, it turns out my mom was planning on helping me get pants for Christmas...so, it was either she could pay me back for the pants I had already bought (with no surprise on Christmas) or she was willing to help buy me a new coat. Yay!! My green/blue coat was a great coat and it had serve me well over the past 6 or so years, but...it was time for an upgrade. We checked the same stores I had looked at for pants, and again, no success. We randomly decided to check a place called Recreation Outlet (I think?) and I found one that was this ice blue color with brown on it (maybe to match my pants?) and it totally fit!! And only a little over $100 (my mom's cut-off point as far as her contribution). Very generous of her and I LOVE IT!!! We also found some base layer clothing (I paid her back for that) and at that point, I felt like I was finally ready!! I planned on renting a board and bought a cheap hat I could wear, so I was set!! All I needed was someone who was willing to teach me... : )

First Attempt

These are the bruises from my first "lesson"

My friend and co-worker, Matt, was kind enough to "volunteer" to teach me to snowboard. I say that because I sort of coerced/guilted him into it. Haha! But being the good guy he is, he was willing to giving me some beginning lessons. My lesson occurred on a Thursday. The 17th of December, I believe. First of all, getting all those layers on and boots laced up took a while that first time. You want to be warm, but not TOO warm, not bulky. The boots, tight but not TOO tight. I got mine at such a good price, that I didn't mind that they were a bit big. Matt says that they should fit tight, but not uncomfortably so. Better fit, better control on the board. Hm. Well, I did what I could. So, he waited for me to get all suited up and then we took the elevator up to Cliff Sports, the rental place in the Cliff Lodge. I already had boots, so all I needed was a board and bindings. Had to fill out some paperwork first, which included my height and weight (awkward), necessary to get me the right size board. They also determined whether I'm regular or goofy. Meaning, is my left foot in front (regular) or my right foot (goofy). They did that by having me stand with my back to them and the guy pushed me to see which foot I would step forward with. In my case, left. Which make me regular-footed! Also, we told them we worked down in the bakery and Matt casual asked if there was any scenario where rentals could be exchanged for baked goods of any sort. That had worked in the past, but they're a little more strict these days about that sort of thing. Meh. It's fine. So I got up to the register and the guy was nice enough to say that I "seemed like a nice person" and since it was my first time, I was just "good to go", unless I wanted to contribute to the tip jar. I threw in a $5 and off we went. Yay!

So, we walked outside of the rental place and then down the hill a bit to where the bakery is. Matt has his own board, which he keeps in the bakery office, so he went to go get it. And now, I was....ready. : ) He taught me how to put on my bindings, although I did almost lose my board down the hill first. Haha. He caught it, though. Luckily. Anyway, I got strapped in and he then explained the edges: toe edge and heel edge. Sounds easy enough, right? Well, the first step in snowboarding is mastering the heel edge. It's all about finding that medium where you are just sliding down the hill on your heel edge, controlling your speed and basically trying not to fall. Well, that was the plan, but I had a hard time getting in the standing position from my butt. Like I said, sounds easy, but you have a slick piece of wood strapped to your feet and, honestly, I'm a bit top-heavy. Haha!! So, that first time, Matt got in front of me to brace my board with his so I could get up. Yay! I was up!! Then...I'm pretty sure I fell. What? It's hard!! Anyway, after some difficulty, I discovered I could get up on my own from my knees instead of my butt. Progress!! Sort of. The only thing is, if I don't get flipped around facing down the hill the right way, I ended up catching my heel edge and falling flat on my butt. Which HURTS LIKE A MOTHER!!! Seriously. You can't stop yourself from falling at that point. Down you go. Yup. Best thing is to catch yourself with straight wrists and your fist instead of with an open palm. That hurts your wrists after a while and you're more likely to break a finger that way.

Anyway, so I finally made it all the way down the hill after a few more falls. Matt was waiting at the bottom by the chairlift for me. I took a while. haha. Now, when getting on the chairlift, you have to take one of your feet off the board, but keep the other strapped on. From there, you have to navigate your way through the chairlift line with an awkward piece of slippery wood stuck to your foot. Not. Easy. Really. I fell a couple times just doing that!! I felt like such a retard. WORSE than Bambi on ice, I swear. I contorted my body somehow so I was sitting on the board with one foot still strapped on it at some point. *sigh* Whatever. Probably took me 15 min to get on the chairlift that first time. Matt shared a chair with me that first time. Not the best idea. I almost broke my ankle after sitting on the chair cause my toe edge got caught under the chair. Yeah. Fun, eh? After getting on, the ride is pretty calm. Then....the anxiety of getting OFF the chair builds. There's a certain finesse to getting off the lift with a board stuck to your foot. I did not master it that first day. Fell every. Single. Time. Mostly onto my knees, hence the bruises.

Well, it was a long 2 1/2 hours with many, many spectacular falls involved. I think I even ran into the pole of the chairlift at one point. Don't worry. They pad those things for a reason. : ) My last fall of the day was a doozy. I started at the top of the hill, sliding on my heel edge when somehow, I adjusted my weight and caught my entire toe edge and totally face-planted. It happened so quickly and it kind of knocked the wind out of me, so I sort of laid there in the snow for a minute. I could here Matt calling my name and he was scampering up the hill with one foot off his board at a pretty quick pace. I think I worried him, cause he was all serious and all "Anika, are you okay?!?", which was weird. I finally lifted my head and told him I was okay. I don't think I actually hit my face, but I tried so hard not to, that I sort of gave myself whiplash. My neck and shoulders were VERY sore the next couple days. In the course of that fall, I somehow bounced my goggles to the top of my head and I think I lost my hat. It was almost, what Matt called, a "yard sale". Goggles, hat, gloves, everything lying everywhere. Quite the sight, I can bet. So, I sat there for a minute, gathering my senses, and I decided that was enough for one day. Matt was headed in anyway, so I thanked him and he headed back to the bakery. I slowly got up and rode my heel edge over to where the rental place was. I turned in my board and walked through the lodge to the bakery. I could already tell how incredibly sore I was going to be. Neck and shoulders from whiplash, arms from picking myself up, knees and butt and hips from falling, legs from using unusual muscles from dealing with that board....yeah. Pretty much everything. It hurt SO bad to move for the next WEEK!! My knees were really the only physical evidence of the soreness, but they were pretty good bruises. I had to show them to everyone. : ) So...that was my FIRST attempt. Ready for the second? Mmkay.

Second Attempt

On the chairlift. This pic is actually from my third attempt,
but I didn't have a pic from my second. : )

Before I even started this adventure, I had to promise myself that I would go a second time. Everyone told me it would be better. I had my doubts, but I was determined!! I gave myself about 2 weeks to heal up before trying again. Well, actually, I waited until all the vacationers and crazies left until I went, so it was closer to 3 weeks, which was good. I think it was the 8th of January, a Friday. I had gone into work early that day, like 5:30am, so I wouldn't miss out on hours and also could get my work done. Matt had opened that day and planned on snowboarding as well, so he said he would do a couple runs, the harder runs obviously, and then come over the Chickadee (the bunny slope) and give me a few more "progress reports". Very nice of him. I'm sure it was painful to watch the first time around. And boring. Haha!! Anyway, he headed out before me and then I got all suited up. Didn't take me as long as last time, but it's still a process. Went upstairs to get my board. I dealt with a different guy, so it cost me $12.15 with half day and employee discount. Eh. Still, not bad. Walked out onto the hill, strapped in, and off I went!!

That day, I was still working on my heel edge and not falling. Oh, and the chairlift. That dang chairlift!! Getting on was a bit easier and the one boot off the board movement, too. Getting off, though? Man!! Bain of my existence, I swear. Fell every. Single. Time. DANG IT!! I did 6 or 7 runs, the actual boarding down the hill getting better every time. I even tried going around trees and changing direction and stuff. Much improved. Yay! I was sort watching out for Matt, but he was wearing black pants and a black/blue coat, which is surprisingly popular on the slopes. Including Snowbird Mountain School. So, I just kinda did my thing, listening to tunes on my ipod. Without music, boarding alone kinda sucks. : ) Anyway, so on my 7th lift ride up to the top, I fell of course, getting off. Boo! I got up, dusted myself off, and headed over to the side to strap my other foot in. I saw someone out of the corner of my eye, glanced over, and hey! It was Matt. Just watching me look retarded. He was literally 3 feet from me and didn't call attention to himself. Odd. So I just said hey and took a seat right by him, very gracefully of course. It's not like my board slipped out from under me and I sorta plopped down in the snow in a heap. I swear. Riiiiiight. We chatted for a bit. He told me where he had gone boarding, he said he saw me on my last run when I went around a tree. Impressive. Sorta. haha! I said I wanted to work on my toe edge, but it freaked me out a bit to go down the hill backwards. He gave me some pointers. He was about to head in, I thought I had 1 or 2 more runs in me, so he headed back to the bakery and I carefully and slowly attempted sliding down the hill on my toe edge. Scary! I like to see where I'm going! I'm weird like that. He watched me for a sec from further down the hill and gave more advice. At that point, I accidentally caught my heel edge and, of course, fell flat on my butt. OUCH!! He's all "That's the worst way to fall. Most painful" I assured him I knew that by now. Ha!! He headed in. I tried toe edge a little more, then gave up and slid down the rest of the way on my heels. One more run after that, or more like just rode down to where the rental place is, and I was done. A few falls inbetween, but very much improved from last time! Still a bit sore, but not nearly as bad as last time!

Oh, I almost forgot!! KNEE PADS!!!! Best invention EVER!! I highly recommend them for beginners. Or anyone, really. I bought mine at Sports Authority in the snowboarding section for $19. They actually DO have what you could consider a "butt pad", which is actually like bike shorts with padding. They were about $50 and I just couldn't do it right then, unfortunately. Anyway, the knee pads TOTALLY saved me. Seriously. Worth the money. I wear them under my ski pants. Can't even tell. : )

Ready for try number three? I know you are!!!

Third Attempt

Yes, that is a bruise. On my hip. About 8 inches in diameter.
Yeeaaahhhh. Ouch.

Try number 3 occurred the Wednesday after attempt number 2, which was, like...January 13th? Yeah. I definitely should have waited a few more days, I've decided. My body needs more healin'. But before I get into THAT, I guess I should tell you how it went. Pretty well, actually. Totally solo this time. Rockin' the iPod. Got dressed, got my board ($18 this time, what the...?), and I was good to go. I mostly worked on toe edge. Sorta. It still kinda freaks me out, quite frankly. Sliding backwards down a hill with a board strapped to your feet? Sounds safe, right? Plus with my whole history with catching my heel edge and falling flat on my butt, it's still possible to happen again. Ick. Anyway, I still tried it. Just sliding perpendicular to the hill and after a bit of that, I tried something Matt suggested. He said to ride on heel edge to one side of the hill and then ride on toe edge to the other side of the hill. Definitely helpful, but I'm still kind of chicken as far as speed, so I end up almost completely stopping before I turn to toe edge. haha! Yeahh...heart of a Lion, this one. : )

But guess what?!? I totally mastered getting on the chairlift!! No trouble whatsoever!! Yay!!! Now, the first couple times getting off were shaky (aka falling) and two of those involved my board sliding out from under me and falling straight on my right hip in the exact same spot, resulting in the above-pictured fabulous bruise!! It's been 3 weeks and it is still discolored. Seriously. Definitely getting better, though!! ALMOST healed. I'm hoping to go out again on maybe Friday, February 6th, but I'll just have to see. The bad thing is that I got it getting off the chair, so there's a high probability that it might happen again. See the problem? Yeah. Here's hoping though!! ANYWAY, the first couple times off the chair, I did fall, but then, one time I just stood up on my board and just rode down from the lift! I was completely shocked!! I just laughed and looked around for someone to tell, but of course I was by myself, so I just proclaimed it in the biggest caps EVER on facebook and Twitter!! Next best thing, right? ; ) So, ahem, I may have fallen the next time, but the next TWO times I stood up!! Fell one more time, but the last time? Totally nailed it!!! Yay!!

So, after 3 attempts, I have mastered getting ON the chairlift, heel edge riding, and improved on toe edge and chairlift unload!! There is a definite learning curve to snowboarding and it's fun to see yourself improve. It's still HARD though. To begin with, anyway. Not to discourage anyone from trying!! Just know that you WILL fall, be SORE, and be discouraged. But make sure you go again!! It really is worth it. But seriously, KNEE PADS!!! I kid you not. Life savers. After the third time, I would have to say I was less sore than the first time in general, but in more pain than the second time because of that dang hip! I could seriously FEEL it swelling and bruising as I drove home. And even putting on jeans hurt for a while. And sitting. And brushing against anything. Really. I couldn't sleep on my right side for about 2 weeks. Really sucked. BUT all is almost well now. Hardly sore at all! : )

Mmkay. Well....I guess that's about it. This post only took me a week and a half to write!! And yes, it was long, but you enjoyed it, right? RIGHT?!? Alrighty then. Peace out!! : )