The new addition to the family, Toboganing & Snowboard lessons!

We bought the car! 1998 Ford Taurus station wagon. Its burgundy and is so nice and roomy. Everything is automatic - windows, central locking, cruise control, seat adjusting, you name it! Its an automatic and has a column shift (the gear stick at the steering wheel) so I will have to get used to that not being my indicator! Aaron has been the driver so far and it was a slow ride up the mountain as it was his first time driving in town, and off the mountain and to add to the stress of it all its been snowing hard for the past 3 days and we are driving on the wrong side of the road!!!! We made it though so good work Aaron :)

Getting the car insured was a pain in the butt. We didnt bring our passports with us when we caught the businto town, which were required for the paperwork so Dave (the seller) drove us up the mountain to collect everything then back down which is about an hour round trip. We bought him lunch at Ray Rays. So we got the car for $1800 and insurance and registration cost us just under $600 which is for 6 months. Ouch!

This took up Aaron's weekend so we didnt get out snowboarding. But we went toboganing last night down the Magic Carpet with Dane and Gina which was pretty fun. No epic crashes but I did get one of Aaron's on video.. hehehehehe!!

Aaron was back at work today enjoying the last few days of snow (which is still coming down hard by the way) I on the other hand, woke up early and went for a snowboarding lesson!! I was supposed to be tagging along with another girl but she ended up going on a ski lesson so lucky me got a one on one! John, my instructor, took me down Magic Carpet three times to see where I was at (a very beginner trail) then we caught the Mile One chair lift and went down Horseshoe twice, Show Off once then Horseshoe to finish off. My knees are nice and bruised as I am always falling onto them on my toe turn. John said I need to stick my hips out to avoid face planting which I am a professional at mind you! :) My neck is a little sore from my tumbles but overall I am not falling down as much and my confidence is slowly creeping up. So I will be heading out next week again depending on what my shifts look like. And Aaron and I will definitely get out on his weekend this time!!

Staff Christmas Party and Our first trip up the Mountain!

Aaron and I had a day off together on Wednesday and we finally decided to brave it up the mountain! We walked from Staff Accom to the Silver Platter (the run that is for kids that we have been practising on), we caught the Pomers up to the top. Pomers are interesting.. skiiers tuck the little plug between their legs where as snowboarders have to put it under their arm so for 5mins you're hanging on for dear life and your forearms burn an your quads burn from keeping your legs bent and trying not to fall over! I will have to get a photo of Aaron or I on it for you. Then we snowboarded down the Magic Carpet which is another beginner run then we caught the Mile One Quad chair lift up to Show Off and Horse Shoe. I didn't fall off =) These are supposed to be the 'easier' runs... We went down Show Off first and it was so steep! I went down the whole way braking.. I know there is a term for it but it is when you dig your heels in so you dont go fast. Definitely a beginner. There were skiiers zooming passed me and people in the chair lift going over me. SO intimidating! When we FINALLY got to the bottom I had had enough but Aaron wanted to go again. So we went down Horseshoe this time which we needed to go down to connect back to the Silver Platter to go home. This was just as steep and had heaps of bumps in it so people could do jumps and tricks. So I fell over lots.. super fun.. NOT!

I fell over seven times in total and winded myself twice.. I had to stop and rest a few times because my thighs were on fire from squating and pushing my heels in the whole way down. Definitely booking in for some lessons. Just need the confidence because whenever I pick up speed I freak out then fall over. Or whenever I try to go onto my toes I fall backwards which made up for the majority of my stacks.. Aaron fell over twice... damn him.. I think we might stick to the Silver Platter a bit longer..

We had our Staff Christmas Party that night in the Great Hall and we got a free buffet meal and two free drinks! The them was 'Ugly Sweater' but do you think we could find any ugly sweaters at the second hand store??? NO! So I bought Aaron an I Santa hats and tree skirts!!! So unattractive but it was in the spirit! We had roast pork, beef and turkey with some salads, mash and yummy desserts to choose from. Quite a good feast. They gave away heaps of prizes including two Heli Ski rides!!! Which is where you go up in a helicopter and they drop you of at the top of the mountain and you board/ski down! Crazy hey?! I am kind of glad I didnt win that one..

Work is going good. Aaron is really busy as the snow has picked up again as it got a bit warm and even got to 2 degrees! He has been staying back an hour here and there and even got called in on his weekend (Thursday) to do a full day.. Not happy..

My work has been amazingly quiet. I have had five shifts so far and have been sent home early from all except one! It is supposed to pick up during the week though because it is getting closer to Christmas so we will see. I served my first table last night! And I got a $15 tip yeehar!

We are both working Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day.. I wonder if we get paid extra?? Aaron works 7am-3pm and me 4:30pm-10pm so we will see each other for the tiny gap in between our shifts because we are both asleep when we start/finish. Oh well..