Ring out the old...

Well this Christmas break has passed like a flash of lightning and I am wondering where the time went. Tomorrow morning I will head back to Utah. Weird

The drive home was an adventure, to say the least. On a good day the drive takes 13-14 hours. This drive of death was a 20-hour adventure. We made good time until just past Pendleton. However snow in The Dalles made the driving difficult from then on. The wind was blowing, the snow was coming down and it was dark---a very bad combination. At some points i had to literally stop the car because I could not see more than 2 feet in front of me because the wind was blowing the snow. I relied on the brake lights of semis and cars in front of me to keep on the road, along with the guard rail markers and white line. The road itself wasn't too bad, until later, but I just couldn't see anything. It was very scary. We stopped several times to scrape my windshield wipers clean of the ice that accumulated on them (thank so much to Nathan for that). Once we got closer to Portland the road was covered in snow and continued so all the way home. I was very grateful that I was not alone on that drive. I don't know how I would have handled it. Nor was I expecting to drive home and arrive to a blizzard. A foot of snow in Olalla? Who flipped the crazy switch! I finally arrived home at midnight and was very glad to crash onto my bed. After Portland though I had nathan drive because my nerves were shot and i had been driving for 16 hours. But at least we got home safely.

We woke up the next morning to no power (surprise). But Daddy and I took advantage of the snow and skiied down the hill across the street. Hehehe, classic. Last week passed by in a blur of sleeping-in, movies, scrapbooking and pleasure reading. I did manage to get some sewing done this break too, which was fun.

Christmas was a quiet affair, what with it only being mom, dad and I at home. But we had fun. Grandma joined us for the festivities and we had a wonderful day together. The day after Christmas we went skiing! Oh yeah! And those skiiers out there will appreciate this. Daddy and I headed into the back country and Crystal Mountain to get some fresh powder, and did we ever! Silver Basin was gorgeous and for the first time in my life I understood the "bounce" technique to ski powder and I did it! It was awesome and so much fun! Totally worth the traverse and hike to get there. Daddy is known for his whooping and hollering in powder--I did some of my own that run. :)

This week I went into work at Avanade to help out where I could and get some compliance things out of the way. It has been a busy few days. I am going to see what my schedule will be like to see if I can handle doing some work while at school too. And tomorrow I head back to Provo, after a YSA dance for New Years tonight. But this weekend I will actually continue on to Vegas to see Bryan and also see Ben, Katie, and Emma. I barely ever get to see them so I am very excited!

It is hard to believe that 2008 is over. This year went by so quickly and a lot happened, several things different than I expected, of course. I am excited for 2009 and to see what adventures it will bring me. Happy New Year!