I'm sorry that I speak primarily in parentheticals and hashtags.

Guys! I learned how to ice skate last week! And I climbed a snowy mountain in Park City! 
Basically, I'm enjoying winter activities for the first time in my life. 
It's kind of a big deal. 


On Monday, for ward FHE, we went ice skating and I was pretty much a wuss about it. I stayed either right by the wall or with a double escort at all times. Or off the ice completely. And it was way fun, but I was, like, 0% adventurous, despite having a rather large support team.

On Friday, I went on a date with my friend Kyle (from my major) to watch the aerial skiing World Cup something-or-other at Deer Valley Resort in Park City. It was really fun and although I have no pictures of the actual people on the date (fail on my part), I have pictures of Park City! 

Best aerial skiers in the world, right there. #nozoom

And fireworks in February! #doesnthappeninutah

Getting up that dang mountain was a bit of a struggle, but the whole time we hiked up I could only think of how scurred I'd be to come back down. Here's the good news: I decided to just suck it up and be brave and go for it, and we all slid down real fast and I managed to stay on my feet and everything! So it was a success story. And a greater success story than Monday had been because I did it of my own accord, so it was like 50% adventurous (because I was still scurred and I still had a look on my face of utter terror, probably).

Obviously, I was feeling very empowered (in a wintry sense, I mean) by the time Saturday rolled around, which was good because then Shaundra and I decided to go to the BYU hockey game. We had a lovely time watching the game but were surprised with how little fighting there was as well as by how much support the opposing team had in the stands (it was the alumni game, of course, which explains everything). 

Anyway, after the game there was the option to go "skate with the team!" and we had not planned on staying for that but were invited to by my friend Josh (from my ward), and by invited I mean he just told us how to get skate rental tickets, and so we did. And this time, I was downright profesh. And by profesh I mean that I managed a couple laps where I didn't even touch the wall or any other humans or anything, and that I attempted to skate backward, and that I kicked a puck around a bit without falling over. #skillz

I'd say this second round of skating was, like, 85% adventurous. Cuz sometimes I was still a baby about the fact that I was standing on tiny little blades on a really slick surface, but I pretended that I wasn't freaking out inside way better than I had at all earlier in the week. 

But hey! 85% adventure isn't too shabby! I had downright winter fun this week, and that has probably never happened quite like it just did. So woot woot, holler at your boy, and raise the roof cuz this girl ain't even antsy for summer anymore. 

#winning.