My Winter Recap Thus Far

I have been thinking lately that I haven't really written very regularly on my blog. I was looking back at my oldest posts the other day and missed the way they just came to me. I always felt like my muse was standing over me, hand on shoulder, inspiring me to write what I did. My posts were lengthy and were something I was/am proud of.

I was saying this (maybe not in as much detail) to my lovely cousin, Chrissy and she reminded me of our winter adventures we have been taking part in the last month or so. How could I not have thought of that? This blog started out as my "letters to home" and how could I not share with you what I have done my first winter?

So I think it is quite fitting that I share with you everything that has happened to me recently:

First thing Chrissy and I partook in was sledding. She texted me out of the blue and asked if I wanted to go sledding in my backyard. The fact that I hadn't known I could sled in my backyard got me excited enough. After about twenty minutes we realized we were not strong enough to pack the snow ourselves. *insert weak girl joke here*

We went to Chestnut Ridge, a beautiful park not far from Eden and used their designated sledding hills. It was a-m-a-z-i-n-g. It's nice to know there are still things you can do for free that truly bring you joy.

I wiped out a few times and had a few near-heart attacks walking back up the hill but in the end was nothing but happy.

Next, we went to my first winter festival. It was cold. Like reallllllllly cold. Oh and it was in the middle of a snowstorm. Still fun, just cold. I saw my first quidditch match there and it's really hard to follow (but still awesome, of course). Unfortunately I had to work so I didn't get to stay for too long.

A week or so later we went tubing. This kiiiiiiiind of blew sledding out of the water (or snow, I guess I should say). There was no walking up the hill (you just sat in the tube and a pulley system pulled you up nice and slow). It was quite adventurous as I found out going down the first hill. It hurt. But was awesome. We went fast and got a lot of air. Both Chrissy and I mustered up the courage to go on the "extreme" lane and let me tell you...extreme was an understatement. At one point the tube was off the snow and I was off the tube. And what goes up must go down. My face went down, specifically. As in, it slammed against the tube as my airtime ended. I'll admit it, the more pain I felt, the more bad ass I felt, too. I still can't describe exactly how much fun I had, but I think Chrissy knows, regardless.

The next winter festival I went to had the perfect weather. It was sunny, about 25 degrees. Chrissy and I sawed our own chunk of wood and they branded a snowman on it.

We did a craft, got our faces painted. There was a news reporter interviewing people and we definitely made an effort to stand right next to them in hopes we would get interviewed. It was a no go...But that's okay because we got to go on a T-BOG! That's toboggan for those of us (like me, that had never heard of that before I moved here) that have no idea what a t-bog could be. It was $25 to rent one for two hours and that just seemed like too much so we scoped out two little girls that were hauling their toboggan up the hill and we asked them if we could borrow it. Thankfully, the mother had no problem with it and I got to experience the serious thrill that is tobogganing.

Our latest winter adventure was more educational than the rest. We went out on Lake Erie (literally were WALKING across the lake) and spotted the ice volcanoes. If you don't know what an ice volcano is click here (The guy talking was our guide!).Chrissy and I went out with about 40 other people (most of whom fit into the senior category) and observed the volcanoes. Here's a picture of one:

Pretty much everyone fell at least once. Chrissy and I both took a few spills but it was just too cool for that to bother me at all. It was really interesting and quite beautiful. End that with some Tim Horton's to warm up and it was just about perfect.

It's easy to get jaded in winter. It's simple to say you hate it and wish for spring everyday. I find myself doing that from time to time (there seems to be a direct correlation between these feelings and how much snow/ice is on my car) but when you do things like like I've been doing, really enjoy it, it doesn't seem so bad. It's the same with any season. I really, really don't like summer. Well, Eden summers aren't bad. But Florida summers are just rotten. Maybe, though, if I actually did some summer activities, things that can't be done any other time, I might warm up to it a little bit (pun INTENDED!).

So here's to winter! You rock (about 65% of the time)! And I'm glad you're here.

Happy winter, everybody!

P.S. To Chrissy, thank you so much for doing these things with me. I know I say thank you all the time but I hope you realize that this really does mean the world to me. I am going to miss you so much when I go back to Florida.