bday finale.

i am back from my winter wonderland of a birthday - 3 nights and 2.5 days of snow. the beauty!

the trip mostly consisted of snowboarding, eating, and sleeping - a schedule that i wasn't too crazy about but dealt with for the sake of enjoying the snow. if i may, can i insert a thing or two about snowboarding? i knew snowboarding would be weary on my body but had no idea the toll it would take. it didn't help that the people who joined me on the trip live and breathe the sport and thus, scheduled their days accordingly. however, for someone who hasn't the knack or the heart for it - it became incredibly frustrating. i took 3 lessons in total, the first of which z and i took together. as z advanced, i grew more irritated and impatient. z eventually asked in his own frustration, "so you're just going to give up??" i wanted to scream that this was not my idea of a great time and that i hadn't envisioned my trip up to the snowy mountains to be so demanding and that.. hello? i wasn't trying to be a professional snowboarder! i had intended on it being fun and enjoyable. as the days went on, i discovered people all around me who shared the same sentiment: frustrated parents scolding their crying children and boyfriends yelling at their annoyed girlfriends. eventually i was able to find the humor in it all.

the second day wasn't as bad as the first in that i left my group of friends after the lesson to do what i had gone to big bear to do: enjoy the snow the way i wanted to. i went up the lift a few times and eventually big snowflakes fell from the sky. i forgot to mention that when it started snowing the first day i was very excited and shared my excitement with my equally excited instructor. the second day it snowed, i was by myself so when i fell on my ass for the umpteenth time, i just laid there and caught those big snowflakes with my tongue. i wasn't pressured to get back up and i didn't have to worry about falling behind on my lesson. i just simply laid there and stared up at the sky and thought to myself: thank you God for this wonderful birthday gift. once, i turned to a person who fell beside me and with a big smile exclaimed, "it's snowing!" to which he responded with a neutral, "yeah" as he got up and made his way back down the slope.

i was hoping to explore other areas of big bear aside from the resort and the cabin but it never happened. we woke up early, went to the resorts, then came back to the cabin to sleep. i would have even liked to have spent more time at the cabin, snuggled up by the fireplace with hot cocoa and a good book. even though i managed to build my snowman on the last day, it was rushed and on our way out. wouldn't it have been a wonder to build many snowmen and make a thousand of snow angels and go sledding down a big white hill? these are all things i'll definitely have to make sure i do next time. in the meanwhile, my body is in serious need of healing and rest because it isn't 26 anymore.

happy birthday to me.

xoxox