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!

Family Fun!

In December we hopped on a plane to visit my sister and her family in Washington. For two nights of our visit, my sister had rented a cabin Mt. Hood so we could play in the snow and go snowboarding. We were VERY excited to get up there and on the mountain! Not so exciting was hauling all of our winter gear and snowboards through the airport but we somehow managed and it worked out great. We had a blast while we were up there and here are a few of the many photographs we took!

Tyson was SO excited to ride on an airplane. He almost couldn't contain the excitement. Mental note: Next time, put more kid friendly movies on the ipod for entertainment.
Much to the dismay of his father, Tyson found these princess heels in my niece Kailee's room and came prancing out in them. What kind of mother would I be if I didn't capture this moment?!
On the day we went boarding, we spent a couple of hours tubing at Skibowl's tubing resort. It was a great time and although he wasn't too sure about it at first, Tyson eventually decided he might like it after all.

Not such a fan of the tube here.

Kailee being her usual silly self!

Love these kiddos!

Don't be fooled by the smile on my face. I was clinging to the pole of the ski chair for dear life. The seat was tiny and the chairs swayed so much I thought at any moment I would catapult off!

The lift operator was so cool and laid back! After my sister and Kacee both consecutively crashed off the lift, he came out to make sure they were ok. Then (while the lift's still running) he offers to take a bunch of photos of us. You don't find these guys in Utah!

My absolute favorite waterfall - Multnomah Falls just outside of Portland, OR. We had been to the falls before in the summer when it is green but never in the winter when the water freezes. It's so beautiful here! Cold, but awesome.

Black and white shot of the Falls.
My sister's family: Stephanie, Kacee, Kailee and Tracy
Waiting at the airport for our delayed flight. We were sad to go because we had such a fun trip. I think it will have to become an annual event!