End of the Season

The last 4 months have been a whirlwind! From Jan-April my life has consisted of snowboarding and living at Beaver Creek. I loved my job! With over 100 days on my pass I have enjoyed many powder days and shredding the gnar! Snowboarding is now one of my passions in life and with the beauty of Colorado it's hard to think of living anywhere else. I've met some amazing people and have made lifelong friends. Right now it's May 1st and we just got a foot and a half of snow on the ground! (fyi - the snowboarder pictured above taught me how to ride for the first time.)
My co-workers were awesome! I loved working with Erin Stege (pictured above) and Pipi! She always had a smile on and helped me learn the ropes of our sweet job as the Lunch Meister!
With my job I had the opportunity to meet almost all the ski and snowboard instructors. They were so much fun to hang out with. On my days off I was able to ride with them and improve my snowboarding skills. By the end of the season, I was auditing classes to teach for next year! I can't wait to be an instructor!
Beaver Creek celebrates the end of the season with a big "Splash." Riders have to skim across a pond of freezing cold water. There were many hilarious costumes and only a few made it all the way across. We partied it up Colorado style for the weekend and said goodbyes to all our friends from around the world.
Me and my friend Steph had fun dressing up in our summer dresses, riding up the freezing chair lift, and snowboarding down the hill. Afterwards hitting up the favorite Coyote for some drinks.
Awww! These amazing people (above) are my roomies from River Edge, building B room 207. Our place was where the party was usually at. I miss you Pipi (my co-worker), and Analia (snowboard instructor), Christy Tao, and Michelle!!! <3 One by one our roommates left back to Argentina and other parts of the US...sniff...
Every Saturday Beaver Creek had "Rail Jam" - an opportunity to try out and improve your park riding skillz over boxes. Above are some of the amazing snowboard instructors and friends I rode with throughout the season. (Lynn, Bay, Me, Lachlan, Florance, and Steph M.)
Getting all steezy in the park yo! Look at that air and the beautiful mountains! I was hitting up the intermidate parks by the end of the season! Doing front and back boardslides, board grabs over jumps, and the half pipe.
Getting my backboardslide down. yay! Don't forget about inspirational music like "Tik Tok" by Ke$ha. That always helps ride better. :) My park shredding buddy Bay (below) left to Paris before the season was up. We had a blast and stayed outta trouble for the most part. haha.
It has been a season of growing. I've had ups and downs (literally, I've fallen on my butt many times), but I loved it out here. I'm so grateful for this experience and for my loving Aunt and Uncle to open their doors and let me live with them and my little cousins this winter. I'm planning on staying out here this summer potentially and will keep you posted hopefully more often! Come out and visit me next winter season!

Home for the Holidays

AHHH!!! One of my dearest and bestest friend Jessica Wilson is now married! We've grown up together. We've gone through many happy, sad, hard, and wonderful times together. We've had many adventures. Now life has brought Jess into a new part in life. She found prince charming, fell in love, and put a ring on it. I'm so happy for Jessica and Jeremy!
Rehearsal was smooth despite the anticipation of the big day. Jess and Mr Wilson look like they are both getting emotionally prepared.
The first dance as Mr. and Mrs. Newhouse. Such a beautiful bride - and the groom isn't too bad looking either.
It was with great pleasure and delight that I made it back and was able to participate in the wedding. (I truly wouldn't have missed it for the world!)
The lovely bridesmaids were: Marija Wilson, Me, Cheryl Benson, Abbie Elrod, and Leith Tews. Our dresses were black and stunning. I really liked them - (except for the fact that you needed a lint roller with you at all times.)
Goodbye Ms. Wilson, and Hello Mrs. Newhouse! Whoohooo to the newlyweds! December 27, 2009.

Welcome to Beaver Creek!

Well, for starters let's just say that I love Colorado! It has been a great experience so far and there is beauty everywhere! I have an awesome job and have been blessed with many amazing new friends and loving relatives! I had my first snowboarding lesson this last week and was whitewashed and bruised. However, I went out several other times during the week and learned to love it. Snowboarding motto: "no gain without pain."
I work at Beaver Creek, which is truly like a winter wonderland! There is a village with an ice skating rink and fire places surrounding. My job as the Ski School Children's Counselor is basically; registering kids up, signing kids out, getting them gear, putting on their gear, preparing food, bringing kids to class, encouraging the crying kids, and assisting the instructors, etc. Beaver Creek is the second largest ski school in the nation, next to Vail. We get an average around 200 kids a day and over 1,000 during the holidays. There are so many cool people here and I enjoy all my co-workers. We all get these cool uniforms of black ski pants and blue snow jackets, (not including all the layers underneath.)
Waking up early for work is no problem when there's a beautiful sunrise over the mountains! The real fun comes when you take the shuttle bus jammed full of people up the mountain and barely can keep your balance standing. You can see the NY mountains in the distance.
This last weekend was the World Cup for famous ski racers from all over the world! It was super cool to watch. USA placed 4th.

Pumpkins and Spice

Between making pumpkin pie and carving pumpkins we are feeling the fall spirit! The Sonntag family and I had fun carving pumpkins the other night. It was fun to see all the different faces on each one. My pumpkin (happy jack) is pictured above. :)

Colorado Beauty

I am truly living in one of the most beautiful states in the US right now! After pulling an all nighter and packing till 2:30am (with some help from a friend), I said goodbye to home and started off on a new adventure! My bag ended up weighing 49lbs. - not including my 20lbs carryon and laptop. It was hard leaving when your dad is getting all tearie-eyed before you leave. The flight was good, even though I looked like an Eskimo wearing all my winter gear around the airport. That was only because those were my heaviest items and didn't fit in my luggage bag - but were necessary. My aunt, Carol, and three cousins picked me up at the Denver airport. It was a two hour drive and on the way back we drove through the rugged desert, snowy mountains, and rainy hills. The elevation in Eagle, CO, (which is where I am living), is 6600 feet. There is nothing like waking up and seeing the sunrise over the mountains. I feel so blessed right now. Not sure if I'll move back to MN. Right now I am living with my aunt and uncle with their three kids as the adopted older sister. This is a new adventure and I am super excited! I'm also looking forward to when all my dear MN friends come and visit. I love and miss you all!

Twin Cities Marathon

This was my second and last marathon this year. I woke up at 6am after a night of no sleep at my sisters loud dorm room. My adrenaline was already rushing and I got ready, put some mascara on (because I wanted to look pretty if I died), and headed off in the cold. I didn't eat anything, which was probably stupid. There were over 11,500 people at the starting line. Suddenly we were off running through the streets of downtown Minneapolis next to the dome. My mom was running it as well, but we both have different paces and thus I lost her at mile 1. While I was running I listened to some amazing music on my ipod. However, there was also many bands that played along the run. There were so many people cheering on the runners along the race. A friend of mine was able to take my long t-shirt from later when I finally warmed up. The whole time running I was thinking: "Why the heck am I running this again?!?!" I laughed at the person holding the sign saying "YOU'RE ALL CRAZY!!!"
I kept chanting, "I hate running, I hate running, etc..." I hit the wall at mile 18 and looked down at my shoes and nearly blacked out - my right foot had blood soaking through the shoe! Okay, well I guess that's why my foot hurt a lot. Just keep running I told myself. I was ready to quit at mile 23 and no longer cared about beating my last time. Suddenly I see my good friend Lizzy, who encouraged and ran with me the last 2 miles. It was a glorious sight when the capitol was in view!
After sprinting the last hundred yards, I completed my goal and finished at 4 hours and 30 mins. My mom wasn't too far behind and finished at 4 hours and 47 mins. I was dead afterwards and hungry! People asked me, "So why did you run 26.2 miles again?" Well, because I could! You also have to be a little crazy. One of the things that keeps me running is having a passion, (not for running), but something that keeps a person running till there feet bleed.
No one ever tells you about the pain after the race. My feet were shot. I wrapped them in horse vetrap and then my mom soaked them in salt water, coconut oil, and iodine. Yeah, I admit it might have been easier to just chop off the foot. (It sounded like that anyways.) After limping around like a 70yr old for several days, I think I'll survive. NEVER AGAIN! This was my second and last marathon!

Leaving on a Jetplane

Be not dismayed whate'er betide,

 God will take care of you; 
 beneath his wings of love abide, 
 God will take care of you.

 God will take care of you, 
 through every day, o'er all the way; 
 he will take care of you, 
 God will take care of you.

I have had many farewells to my many new friends. However, it didn't hit me that I was leaving till I said goodbye to the kids at CSC. Yup, broke down crying. I will never forget them singing "God Will Take Care of You" or running to give me a group hug!
Although I have packed up my life in Cebu, a part of my heart is still there... This was truly the best summer of my life. God works in mighty ways. I was never for missions, especially overseas, but the power of Love is far greater than my self will. Looking over the past year, I am grateful for God showing me how precious life is. I will continue to live me life to it's fullest and not look back! He has brought me so far this last year.
The college girls at ETCP also had a farewell party and sang "Friends are Friends Forever." I have many notes that I am looking forward to reading on my long flight back to the USA. I will miss all the children calling out: "Teacher Stephanie!" :)
I will miss all my new friends! Teacher Michelle and Teacher Tammy - you gals are awesome! So many good memories!

"Goodbyes are not forever,
Goodbyes are not the end,
The simply mean I'll miss you,
Until we meet again..."