Netflix or Adventures?

Recently, I have not been on many “adventures”. In the summer, when I don’t have school I have a lot more free time. Plus, the weather is warmer and I am more likely to want to go outside. But once school starts up, and as the year goes on, a find I have less and less time for myself to do what I desire. I think it is important to never fully loose what you enjoy. No matter how busy I am, I always want to find some time to get outside and enjoy nature. I shouldn’t use the excuse that it’s cold, or “I only have 20 minutes”. I am very guilty of getting stuck inside because I am hooked on a show on Netflix and just HAVE to watch the next episode. Before I know it the little free time I had is over and I spent it lying in my bed. Don’t get me wrong; I love the time I spend wrapped up in my blankets, in my bed. But, I have to remind myself of what is truly important. What will I remember years from now? The time that I watched Netflix all day in my bed, or the memories I made with friends going hammocking, or snowboarding? Each person has his or her own passions and enjoyments. For me, I will cherish the adventures I have more than the comfortable moments in my bed. 

Down the Slopes We Go

My third favorite tradition when it snows started only two years ago, but snowboarding has quickly become my favorite things to do. The first time attempted at the new hobby I fell more times than I can count and was majorly sore the next day. Yet, beside the pain, I was hooked. That same year I went out a couple more times, improving with each run. I didn’t care how many times I fell; I was still having a blast.

Last year instead of renting the board, helmet, and boots I bought all of the supplies. After finally getting my own board I went out on the slopes every chance I could. My friends and I would wake up early in the morning to drive up to Caberfae in Cadillac, Michigan a little over an hour away from where I live. That is the place I most often go to snowboard, because it is the best hill that is closet to me. Other places I have go are up north near Lake Michigan. I would love to go to those places more if they were a closer drive.

I love the thrill that I get while speeding down the mountain. Carving back and forth with snow spraying everywhere. My friends surround me as we race down the mountain together. We all have the same destination, yet we each have different ways of getting down there. Some of the more my more daring friends jump off hills, and do turns and tricks, while others take more of a straight path down to the chair lift.

I can’t wait to get back on the slopes and make fun memories with friends again. I have found that through snowboarding I have made new friends, while at the same time, grown closer to older ones.

One day I would love to go out to Colorado and snowboard down one of their huge mountains where it takes all day to get to the bottom on the hill. I am so used to the small, man-made “mountains” in Michigan that the thought of it taking all day to get to the bottom of the hill and not having to get on a chairlift every 15 minutes is bizarre and awesome to me.

Frosty: The Gigantic Snowman

My second favorite tradition when the snow hits the ground started 4 years ago when my brother started a new tradition without even knowing it. He built a snowman named Frosty. Now this isn’t some little snowman that comes alive like in the movie. Our Frosty the snowman is a 12 foot tall snowman with a trashcan for its hat, baseballs for the eyes, golf balls as the mouth and buttons, and a orange cone for the nose. We use to put hockey sticks on the sides for the arms until someone stole them, now we just use tree branches. Last year we got creative and tied two scarfs together to make one big enough to wrap around.

The whole thing started with my brother randomly wanting to make the biggest snowman he could. So, we started piling snow in one area of our front yard to make the base. Soon, all the snow from our yard was collected into one huge snowman. Since that first time, we enjoy making and even bigger and better snowman every year.

It is always fun to see everyone’s reactions when seeing the gigantic snowman. During the Christmas season, people are constantly stopping at the front of our house to take a picture of/with Frosty. It is so big people can’t pass by our house without noticing it.  

With so much snow being packed in one place, Frosty usually lasts all winter. As is starts to get warmer, the snowman melts more and more. Last year, with it being a long and cold winter, a little pile of Frosty lasted until the middle of March.

It may seem like a silly thing to build a huge snowman, but it is something that I look forward to every year now. I believe the Holiday season brings out a little child in all of us.

Around the House We Go

As the air starts to get colder I am craving for the snow to fall. Most people are dreading the time where the snow hits the ground and we don’t see bare ground until March. I am opposite from these people. I love the snow, and the memories that come along with it. There are three favorite traditions I have that come only when there is snow. Today I will tell you about the first one, which is snowmobiling.   

Ten years ago, we had new neighbors move in across the street. These neighbors soon became like family to us. One thing my brother and I were excited about when they moved in was they brought a little Kitty Cat snowmobile along with them. Starting the first winter we had with our new neighbors we would ride around and around their house pulling people on a sled. Of course, the maximum weight on the Kitty Cat snowmobile is 50 pounds, so we soon outgrew that.     

Therefore, over the years we have slowly graduated into bigger snowmobiles. Now we use a full size snowmobile. I have either sat on the sled or have driven the snowmobile around the house at least 50 times each winter. This is what we do on our free time. We used to be screaming of excitement so loud our moms would have to come out of the house and tell us to be quiet. Sometimes we play games like trying the hit the person on the sled with a snowball, or seeing if we can jump on the sled as its being pulled around the house. I have had endless snowballs in the face and people piled on top of me as I ride around. 

Now as we have gotten older, we build jumps for the sled to go off of, or sometimes we drive in the road after a big snowfall. More times than I can count, I have been on the sled when it crashes into the fence, or I have rolled into the snow from the sled flipping over because the snowmobile is going too fast around the curve.

After hours of this excitement, we always go into the warm house. We defrost up our numb bodies with blankets, a warm fire, and hot chocolate. 

AAA- Ann Arbor Adventures

One adventure recently, was when my mom took my cousin Kelly’s senior pictures. This past weekend my mom and I went drove the two hours down to Ann Arbor to spend the night. On Friday night we picked out her outfits and then early Saturday morning she got ready. We then drove downtown to where we were going to take pictures. My mom is not a professional photographer; she just enjoys taking pictures of our family and close friends. When we planned to take her pictures outside we didn’t know it would be so cold. My cousin would take off her coat quickly when my mom was about to snap a photo. Filling the role as my mom’s assistant, I would quickly grab the winter coat and put it around myself to keep warm. In the 37-degree windy bitterly cold weather my cousin stood in her thin blouse posing for pictures on stairs in front of the University of Michigan’s Library, museum, and courtyard. We also got some picture of her in front of her high school, which is downtown too. In the middle of the session we stopped into a coffee shop to get hot drinks to warm us up, and then we proceeded. When my mom felt she was got enough pictures, we stopped to have lunch at my favorite restaurant in Ann Arbor called, “No Thai!” This was my third time eating there, but my moms first. Our food was delicious, and I can’t wait to go back again.

This was just an example of one of life’s simple adventures. I too often take for granted the little moments I get to spend with my family.