Back on the [blogging] ball

I'm not going to lie--this was a very hard post to write. Not because it's picture heavy (sorry) or controversial (sorry) but because it's my FIRST POST IN OVER A MONTH.

*hangs head in shame*

Blogging is like exercising. Super easy once you have your routine down, and you are doing it regularly. But stop for a while, and that first run is TORTURE.

So this is my attempt to start. Again. We'll do this chronologically:

Utah
MM and I had so much fun snowboarding out in Salt Lake City (SLC)! We stayed with his wonderful aunt and uncle out in Sandy, UT, and were a short drive from Solitude, where we spent five awesome days snowboarding.

MM and I on the slopes!

Luckily for my rear end, I got a lot better at snowboarding than when we went to Wisconsin, and I even went on some blue runs! (For those of you who aren't familiar, like myself a few months ago, in order of increasing difficulty: green, blue, black diamond, double black diamond etc)

MM and I at the summit at Solitude. How badass am I?? (not really; I am hanging on for dear life.)

Unfortunately for my rear end, my last day of snowboarding was strongly punctuated when I landed HARD on my bum on a flat trail under some flat light, and let me tell you: it HURT. As in, it brought tears to my eyes as soon as it happened --that kind of hurt.

Thankfully MM's aunt let me use a bag of frozen peas to ice it when I got home (don't worry, they were not consumed later), and though my rear end still hurts a little when I run now, I still think the trip was still TOTALLY fun and worth it. I mean, just look at the view!

SOO much fun. And highly recommended.

Florida
After our snowboarding stint in Utah, we flew down to Florida for a few days to spend time with MM's parents. And as fun as our snowy adventures were, holy canoli was I glad to be in warm weather.

Basking in the sun. Pretty much what I did everyday.

While we were there, we ate at Tarpon Bay at the Hyatt Regency in Bonita Springs and had some of the most delicious seafood while seated over the water.

(Photo from google images)

We also celebrated MM's father's birthday while we were down there with a GIANT sushi boat.

Not our boat, but you get the idea. Source

The three of us took the whole thing down like champs. It was pretty epic.

While we were down there, MM's dad also showed me how to shuck oysters!! I took a picture of him shucking, but since I have not asked his permission to plaster his face all over the interwebs, I will refrain from posting it. It was a great experience though! I never knew shucking oysters was so easy. I got the hang of it after about six, and shucked the last six of our dozen like a pro. If my cholesterol weren't already high, I would totally eat oysters all the time...

And that concludes my February vacation! Up next: my birthday and match day!

It pays to be little

At 5 foot even, I am the shortest of all my friends. I have consistently been the shortest person in my class all though elementary, middle school, and high school. People used to reassure me by saying things like "Good things come in small packages" or "You are fun sized!"

Now people just look at me sympathetically as I try not to think about how they can probably see down my shirt.

The one great thing about being small, though, is being able to fit into kid size clothing. This would normally not be a big advantage for me, as I don't care to wear baby tees that say "Girl Power" in sparkly letters. But when it came time to buy my snowboarding gear, it came in REALLY handy.

MM and I headed to Sports Authority, and saved money on ski pants...

MM: Awww you don't even fit into a youth XL! Me: *sigh*

On waterproof gloves...

I'm so glad they didn't say "Groovy" in glitter puff paint

But apparently my head is beyond junior sized. The youth goggles were too narrow on my ginormous face, so we had to actually splurge on adult sized eyewear...

Does this mean I'm disproportionate?

My only complaint with the youth ski pants is they are not super accommodating for my giant bubble butt. Although I suppose I'd be a little creeped out by kids' pants with so much extra room in the rear....

My attempt to be "outdoorsy"

ME = Not outdoorsy. Not athletic. I was just not brought up in a family where either was emphasized. Give my family a choice between a campground and a hotel, and they would be checking into a two double bed suite before you could say "Holiday Inn".

MM = Outdoorsy AND athletic. He loves camping, wakeboarding, snowboarding...and naturally he wants me to love all that too. So for our first vacation of 2011, he wanted to head out to Salt Lake City, UT to visit some family and snowboard.

UM, strapping my feet into a board that will barrel down the side of a mountain at frightening speeds with little to no bodily protection? NO SCHPANK YOU. My cousin had tried to teach me to snowboard a couple seasons ago, with little success. I inched my way down the bunny hill while little 5 year olds whizzed past me.

My cousins and sisters and I in front of the bunny hill @ Cypress in BC

MM, being the A-class guy he is, decided he would take me on a couple trial runs up in Wisconsin in attempt to teach me how to snowboard. So in the past two weeks, I have been to Wilmot Mountain and Alpine Valley Resort to learn how to link my turns and not faceplant in the snow before heading out to the big boy hills in Utah.

Speaking of faceplanting (which, not gonna lie, I did a LOT of), WHY THE FRACK IS SNOW SO HARD?? Where are all those fluffy snowbanks I remembered as a kid?? I might as well have been falling on concrete. And I definitely have the bruises to show for it.

I apologize for subjecting you to my pale-ass leg, but OUCH.

The worst part is, it's not even cool to be all bruised up. They're not like battle scars or anything. They just mean I'm still bad. *sigh*

At this point I'll just be happy if I can not fall off the ski lift at least 60% of the time.