Shred and Refresh -Day 2/3

*That is day 2 plus day 3. Not two-thirds of a day, for you technical minded folks.

**To my dear and dedicated fan base: Thank you for your continued support. I almost retired from blogging after hitting eldorado with the last post. However, you must bear with me; the fat lady is not yet singing.

A steaming stack of freshly ground wheat blueberry pecan pancakes dripping with maple syrup around 9:00 pm and 5 hr "nap" in the middle of the night welcomed in day 2. 3 am and Chelsea and Denver and I stumbled out the door into the car, for the first leg of our journey: Chiloquin to Squaw Valley. The trip was delightful; I slept -a major accomplishment when Denver is driving, I would normally be jolted awake every 10 minutes by the vibrations of the grooves planted in the side of the road, or a sudden gasp from Chelsea and a jerk of the Subaru's tires!

We planned to arrive at Squaw just as the hill opened and would have been on time if half of Sacramento hadn't had the same plan. We hit bumper to bumper traffic at Truckee and crept our way into the ski park by 10:30. Despite the crowds the snow was light, albeit chopped up, and the day was good! In fact, for a Northwest girl, the snow was incredibly light -I can't wait to be flabbergasted by Utah's glory snow!

Advice of the day: Throw a high-calorie granola bar in your jacket prior to heading to the lift line. This keeps your energy up and allows you to aviod the mayhem of skiiers/boarders tumbling over eachother in attempts to nab the one remaining lunch table at the lodge.

Lesson of the day: Attitude gives skiing a bit of pep and looks awesome hucking off cliffs (1 ft to 20 ft). Bad attitude is simply lame and doesn't huck off of anything. If a member of your skiing party appears as though she/he might sport some, leave her/him at the lodge, and don't look back.



Day 3. Voted best back-country day of the year... by yours truly. Pictures tell all:

Advice of the day: Go backcountry. Get freshies.

Lesson of the day: Track your subjects.

Shred and Refresh -Day 1

10 days, 5 ski resorts, 4 friends, 1 Subaru, 2445 miles. The goal is simply this: shred pow; refresh the body and spirit.

Wednesday before last, I hitch-hiked onto my Uncle Phil and his daughter Lauren's dad-daughter ski-day on Mt Shasta. Shout-out to a wonderful and ever so generous family! On the drive home, U. Phil commented on how a day on the mountain does so much more for his spirit then a day in church. I couldn't agree more. When I'm outdoors, my whole being is engaged in worship of my incredible God. This is not to say that worshiping God in the traditional setting with other believers is inferior (in fact, God calls us to do that); however, I do believe that we often overlook other ways of worship. With this in mind, I'm looking forward to a beautiful and completely revitalizing 10 days. God is One. He is the Creator of all things good. And I am going to immerse myself in this truth and revel in His glory. Body, heart and soul.

And because He's so freakin awesome, read this: "He gives snow like wool; He scatters the frost like ashes. He casts forth His ice as fragments; who can stand before His cold? ...He does not delight in the strength of the horse; he does not take pleasure in the legs of a man. The Lord favors those who fear Him. Those who wait for His lovingkindness." Excerpt taken from Psalm 147.

Today is day one. Prep day. My gear is strewn about the house, upstairs, downstairs, across the garage floor, on the dining room table, even draped from the chandelier. I'm so glad I took half of yesterday to thoroughly clean my house! heh. My roommate watched as I dumped an arm full of soft-shells, skin layers, wool socks and gloves in the middle of the living room and slid sideways out the door mumbling something about needing to go work-out. Know: this is not because I have a lot of gear; this is simply rule #1 of organizing: make a BIG mess. Now would be an appropriate time to pity those that will be sharing a small four door car with me for the next week plus.

Advice of the day: a good music mix is essential on prep day. How to make waxing skis interesting? Mix it with a few well-placed dance moves to Michael Jackson's "Beat it." It has the same effect as singing karaoke into your broom handle on house-cleaning day.

Lesson of the day: make certain that your leather gloves are completely dry prior to water-proofing. Did I really think sealing in the moisture was a good idea? I'm only hoping that having completely waterproof hands will be as warm as having waterproof gloves.

A day on Mt Shasta

On the mountain? My heart is at the feet of the incredible Jesus Christ. Renewed. Refreshed.

Sweet 16

Kaitlyn and I began talking "photo shoot" in early November. She, her two adorable friends, and I met up for a very short hour to snap a few shots in early December. Finally, here is my blog post; it's early January. This post is late in coming, but... I couldn't resist putting it up here.
Fresh, lovely, vivacious, sixteen years old... These girls are a complete to joy and simply a delight to photograph! Happy sweet 16!

Jennifer, Taylor, Kaitlyn