February Serenity Project

Most people don't equate speeding down a mountain on two little sticks as serenity, but I do!

I have lived in Utah for a majority of my life.  I grew up at the base of some amazing mountains, attended college in another mountain valley, and now live in yet another one. The 16 months I was not living in Utah, I missed our mountains, desperately!
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When I was younger, I always saw my parent's skis tucked away nicely in our garage.  I begged and pleaded with them to take us skiing, because I had friends who went every winter weekend.  But alas, they always gave me excuses as to why we couldn't go.  My mom grew up in Denver, and spent every weekend skiing the amazing resorts with her parents.  As an only child, this was much easier for her family, much different than our family of 6 kids.  I was always a bit jealous of her ski life growing up, and couldn't believe she wouldn't pass that on to me! ;)

​The first time I went skiing was when I was in college.  Some of my friends were going for the evening, and invited me along.  I showed up in jeans and a flimsy coat with a semi-decent pair of gloves.  I was freezing cold and wet from the many falls one experiences the first time navigating the slopes on two skinny pieces of fiberglass...but I had so much fun!  I couldn't wait to go again!
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When I met my husband a few years later, I found out that he had grown up skiing, and man, he was soooo good at it!  I couldn't believe that he could go down black diamond runs in only a few minutes time.  He took me skiing a few times while we dated, and after we were married we would go hit the slopes together at least once a year.  Then we had kids and I didn't join him on his ski adventures for a few years, but that all changed as soon as our twins were 6.  It was that year we bought our first season passes to a nearby resort. 

​At that time, I was still pretty shaky on skis.  I much preferred the easiest runs to the more complex ones, and skiing for a couple of hours wore me out.  It was fun, but I didn't love it as much as my husband did.  Good thing the kids weren't that great either, it was a good excuse to stick to the bunny hills! We starting skiing at least two times a month with our passes, and little by little the kids and I all started getting more adventurous and daring on the harder runs.  Going so frequently calmed my fears, and helped me feel more confident in my skiing abilities!  
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We've bought family season ski passes every year for the last 3 years, all at different resorts so we could try new places...and now I can enthusiastically say, I LOVE SKIING!  I can go most of the day without getting tired, I love trying harder runs and black diamonds don't scare me anymore.  Not only does the thrill of speeding down a hill fill me with joy, the crisp, clean air and the gorgeous scenery filled with fresh, glistening snow calms my soul!  I can hardly wait until our next ski day.  And now I can honestly say that skiing is my little slice of winter serenity!

The Serenity Project is done each month with a group of some of my photography friends.  Please continue through the circle to feel some more serenity today!  Next up is Eileen Critchley, Ohio Photographer.