Snowfall and the Impending Season

Steps are being made here - one by one I'm getting my feet on the ground. Professionally, socially, and personally. I've succeeded in securing at least 2 jobs and at least 2 season passes. I'm guaranteed the ability to snowboard every day this season as a result of my work and personal investment in my priorities. I've met new friends and started to further my career here as a fitness professional. Overall, I'm filled with a sense of accomplishment. I'm quite happy, and I love living with some of my best friends in the world. The snow is falling.

These next few weeks will be marked with angst as the big resorts bide time before they open for the season, but we've always got backcountry options. As long as Mother Nature keeps the storm window open, there are turns to be had. Moreover, local resort BOREAL has a few park runs up already. It's time to get progressive.

I already feel a sense of urgency - I intend on getting better this season, and I'm not sure how much time and energy I'll be able to put in in April and May. The impending Ironman in June requires some dedication, and I knew that going it. I just have to remind myself what I've invested in (financially, mentally, and physically). Worst case scenario: I cut the season short, and add impetus to coming back (or exploring a new mountain home) next winter. Decisions, decisions.

I can't wait to visit my parents next month, and I look forward to seeing Japan. I'm currently evaluating what options exist for me to spend some additional time there in the spring or summer of 2011.

We're currently sharing our home with Max, a friend from our Border2Border travels. I think it's wonderful to host him here, and I'm very glad that we've remained friends. We met on a beach in California that served as both of our homes that night. Random chance introduced us. Of all of the highlights of the Border2Border trip, the people we met and shared time with are my favorite.

Life is good, and I'm confident that you can make it great with some concerted effort and a will to find purpose. Impacting the world and the people around you positively should be a focus. I'm consistently trying to expand my influence in the world, and hope to contribute more every day.

Photos... As Promised

Photos are above, as promised. I'm assimilating more and more every day here in Tahoe City, and I'm really starting to enjoy the area. I'm pretty confident that I'll be working my job of choice at Alpine Meadows and Squaw Valley, which is awesome. It's going to be a very full season. I'm making strides at the gym, and I'm looking forward to recommitting myself there next week (post-mountain job fair weekend). Our house is all here, and I'm excited to have a "family" feel. On that note - I can't wait to spend time with my parents and brother this New Year's in Japan. I'm counting my blessings.

New Homes

I'm starting to settle into my new home here, and it's a very welcome process. The transition from a life of mobility (intrinsically linked to a certain lack of stability) to a more stationary situation highlights more than a few shifts in day-to-day life. I'm writing this entry sitting on my couch in my home, sipping tea from my coffee cup. I don't use "my" with ego, but with cause to identify that familiarity has a place in my life again for the first time (really) since last winter. Transition requires a lot of petty work: utilities setups, moving in, arranging and rearranging things around the home, and getting settled mentally (one cannot overemphasize this). Mobility never allows one to "settle" for more than a day or as little as an hour, and the chemical changes that occur in the body seem to go dormant. It's a bit of a jarring experience to stop moving. I can sympathize with marathoners who don't seem to know what to do after 26.2 miles other than run - your mind has to take a minute to "switch over". I'm settling in - slowly but surely. The Paul Simon record on my stereo and this cup of tea seem to be helping. As does the view of Lake Tahoe from my balcony.

My new home is shared with my dear friends Eric and Amy, and my new friend Katie. It's a two-story condo in the Dollar Point area of Tahoe City, CA, complete with 3 bedrooms, a lovely dining room, a full kitchen, and busts of a bear, a bighorn sheep, and an elk. And yes, we do have a view of Lake Tahoe from our 2nd story balcony. It feels like a home. I'm most excited about the fact that we're at the top of a hill, and (theoretically) when it snows a whole bunch I can snowboard from our doorstep to the bus stop and catch a shuttle to the mountains. I'll bet you can't do that.

Speaking of snowboarding, I've go 3 days under belt so far this season. 2 of them were in October, and I've already got a few new tricks in the bag this year. I've made some new friends riding up at the local park hill, Boreal, and I picked up a night pass for the season, ensuring that not a day will go by without snowboarding being involved this season (unless I decide against riding that day myself). I'm even more excited to know that there is bus service up to Boreal this winter, and that (as an employee of Alpine Meadows) I'll have a winter bus pass. Something about resort-to-your-house bus service just makes a winter resort town feel proper.

I'll be teaching my second class at A Sante Fitness here in Tahoe City tomorrow, and I'm excited to be working in the fitness community here. It's rewarding and motivating to surround myself with active people - especially with so many elite athletes in this community. I hope to build on my 2 classes per week throughout the season, and to hopefully start training this month. Lots to do - and 2 job fairs this weekend at Alpine Meadows and Squaw Valley stand to add to the workload. I'm ready for it, and excited to see what the weekend brings.

I feel like I've said "I'm excited for the weekend" or "I'm looking forward to this week" a lot recently. I'm very glad I can say that. Take steps to add excitement to your life - it's worth it.