Happy 2017!

Good bye to a fantastic 2016 and Hello to 2017!  I am soooo excited for what's ahead!

All the best to you and your dreams - Let's do this!

With love from Breckenridge,
Jen

Skiing (Hashtag) Rocks

Back in 2008, Mr. U and I asked our employers if we could work from a distance for three months. We wanted to properly teach Miss O how to ski.  Sure, you can learn to ski going 1-2 days a week. But, we wanted her to be fully immersed in the sport.  Our employers thankfully agreed (do I have the coolest college ever?) and we left Maryland and lived in Lake Tahoe for seven weeks and Breckenridge for seven weeks.  Both resorts share the same ski pass, which made the three months more financially doable.  This is also when we feel madly in love with Breckenridge and had to buy a small place there two years later.

I have proof in the videos below of Miss O's improvement over the three month ski experience. Immersion is grand.

Video #1: Miss O is skiing off the Magic Carpet here (remember this video is 7 years old).  Notice how she only makes one turn at the end to stop and squeals with delight the entire way down.  We pretty much hung out on this Magic Carpet for a week straight.  In Week 2, we would ski the bunny hill when she started to get the hang of making turns and stopping on a dime.

Video #2:  Just three short weeks later, look out how much she improved here.  Isn't it crazy?  From doing zero turns and barreling down the bunny slope to skiing the entire mountain at Heavenly in Lake Tahoe on any of their blue runs.

Video #3:   This video is shot almost at the end of our three month ski experience.  She's in the halfpipe in Breckenridge!  This video cracks me up and truly shows what happens when you get to ski daily for three months.  So much growth.

To me, skiing is such a incredible activity - you get to spend immense amounts of time in the outdoors and visit many different places around the world to ski.  Skiing is also a fantastic sport that you can do for a lifetime. I love when I see older skiers.

It is now seven years later and we still love to ski.  Some days the three of us go out together.  Other days, just two of us.  This year, we've been skiing only locally in Pennsylvania, which I thought I wouldn't like, but it has totally surprised me.  The snow has been great.  The lift lines are OK for such a populated part of the country.  I love seeing all the local ski teams; kids that ski rock, in my opinion. Since Miss O qualifies for the free PA ski pass, she's been using that all season.  I just saw it is closed for this year, but if your child qualifies, mark your calendar for next fall when applications open again.

Really, I can't say more good things about skiing.  A chance to be outdoors, glide down mountains, push yourself to conquer new slopes, meet interesting people, see the world, and if you are like me, collect lift chair selfies of the people you adore.

#skiingrocks  - Just sayin,

Jen

My Favorite Family Sport

In efforts to balance work + play (and sanity), today's post is play related.  Yay!

Last year, this was our holiday blog collage.  I altered it to reflect this very important thought for today.

Skiing is my favorite family sport.

It is a sport kids pick up rather quickly when they are taught early how to ski.  It is a sport the whole family can enjoy together even with young kids (probably because most kids, like Lil O, are fearless on their skis).  And by the way, I swear Lil O is significantly faster than me on her skis (and Mr. UpCyclist, sorry babe to rat you out publicly).  When we race Nastar, she consistently earns gold and platinum medals.  Me?  Bronze.  And Mr. UpCyclist?  Hey, our entire family can't be medalists.  Mr. U has other great sports moments....like in mountain biking.

Back to skiing.....it is a sport that you can literally enjoy your entire life.  Have you seen how many 80+ older people ski and rip at it?

Thus, I'm planted a seed today - albeit, an expensive seed - teach your kids to ski early, got it?

You'll thank me when you are 80 years old and can still keep up with them on your skis.

xoxo,

Jen

PS - Mr. U and I snowboard, too.  From teaching snowboarding in my 20s, I am pretty certain you can pick up snowboarding at most any age.  Skiing, on the other hand, is best learned young.  Oh, and don't forgot about our lovely ski condo rental.  It would be fun to have cool blog readers rent it.  See you on the slopes!