Hi. My name is Michelle and I am an addict.

It's not easy for me to admit. I hate the idea of being addicted to anything. It's getting a little out of hand though. It's all I think about all the time and I can't get it out of my head. Short of giving in to this addiction every time I need a fix, I don't know how to rid myself of it. The only hope for me is the inevitable thaw that comes every spring. Surely by now you must be thinking, what vice could possibly have made her so insane??

SNOWBOARDING.

It all started about 5 years ago when I first tried it out. I have to admit, I didn't love it. In fact, I dare say I hated the sport. I sucked. Royally. But I was able to go for no cost and even got paid to do it, which made it hard to pass up. Especially since Doug was already hard-core into it. Alas, I was only able to try it 4-5 times before the opportunity had passed and before I knew it, I was pregnant and then had a kid with little time or money to spare to pick it back up again.

Until this year.

For some reason, I had this primal urge to try again. I'm not sure what brought me back to it, but for some reason I decided to try again. Our first venture up was after Thanksgiving. For my first time in 5 years, not too shabby. I'm not entirely proud of my performance and I was horrifically sore the next day but altogether, I liked it enough to try again.

Despite the lack of snow (the runs were pure ice - UGH), it was so nice to get out and try snowboarding again!

Doug is my ever-patient partner on the mountain.

My friend and co-worker, Jen has taken up the sport and is learning along with me. Todd, Doug's brother is a fantastic boarder and loves to ride with Doug while Jen and I slowly make our way down the runs.

Second outing occurred on a trip to visit my sister up at Mt. Hood. There are a few pics of our adventure here. This time I took an actual lesson from an actual instructor (prior experiences had been Doug patiently trying to tell me what to do and me cursing and lashing out in frustration). I was surprised to find I did a little bit better than the last attempt and not quite as sore afterwards. Bonus.

Our third experience this season was only last weekend and resulted in me being unequivocally in love with the sport of snowboarding. Perhaps it was the fresh powder. Or maybe it was the beginnings of my practice, determination and bull-headedness combining to make for an awesome experience. Whatever it was, I experienced a rush like no other and now I am a junkie. All I think about is when I will have a chance to go again. The best part? No soreness the next day. I think I'll attribute that to my regimented workout schedule. Whatever it is, I'll take it!

Awww isn't he sweet??

My favorite group of people!