Wednesday, January 9, 2002  11:09 pm  <|>
<124> The way things once were: This last week has been all about remembering the past and experiencing new things too. And, in keeping with what I did last week, this week I also found time to return to Philadelphia for a couple days. I'll start there. I went back to Philly on Friday for my roommate's birthday and to see Bill Cosby do a few hours of standup, which was AWESOME by the way. The man is just funny, what else must I say? We couldn't stop quoting it afterwards. I ended up extending my stay from one night into two, forcing me to wake up entirely too early Sunday morning, while still attempting to recover from Saturday night... My mom insisted on picking me up somewhat early because we were SUPPOSED to get storms and snow, which we got neither of basically. We did get a little rain later in the night, but the snow didn't come until Monday and even that was very overrated. We barely got a covering to stick and it didn't last very long even when it did cover the ground. But it was still the first snow fall of the season, so the weather reporters still found reason to get excited.

Now yesterday was a new experience for me: my first time skiing. I went with my best friend and one of her friends from school. I was a little uncertain about going at first, but it's good to try new things I've learned, plus a lot of my friends speak so highly of skiing and snowboarding that I thought I owed it to myself to give it a shot too. So I did and I had a lot of fun. I had to wake up at 5:30am (which I don't recommend doing when you don't fall asleep until 2am the night before) because we were leaving at 6am. By the time we got there and got our tickets and equipment rented it was about 10am and we "practiced" until noon when our beginners lesson was (we got a package). Well, my attempts pre-lesson were interesting, but I did decently for never skiing before in my life I supposed. My best friend and I had never been before, but her friend had a few times and gave us some basic guidance (and helped pick us up a lot the first few runs down...) But the nice thing was after the lesson I learned this whole concept called steering and what a difference. We took a break for lunch after the lesson and then got back out on the slopes, or slope I should say because all the beginner slopes were closed except one. I only fell once after that and managed to ski for the rest of the day until almost 6pm fall free. It was pretty nice once I got the hang of it. I still want to try snowboarding though, maybe next time...

In honor of the new year, I guess I've been thinking a lot about this past year and how far I've really come. I mean, it's kind of cheesy I suppose, but this whole year was really all about new beginnings and just a year ago I was talking about the past year being all about transition. That is how it's gone and maybe it's nothing more then the natural progression of growing up and all, but I'm still amazed by it. This last year was about firsts for me and lots of experience gained too. I've met amazing people and make incredible friends that I barely even knew this time last year and that's hard to believe. I feel like I've known these people forever and I can't imagine what I would do without them. And now that I'm down to less then a week before I return to my life at school, I hit that point where I decide that maybe home isn't so bad, but I also realize that I don't need it like I once did. A year ago I was preparing to move out of my house for the first time ever, when before that I had never been away from it in 18 years for more than a week or so. Yet, here I am tonight, a girl who barely comes home now that she has her own place and her own people, things I never dreamed of obtaining just a few short years ago. Looking back on everything, I see how much I've grown too. I got to see an old friend over this break whom I hadn't seen in two years, not since the summer after graduating high school, and she told me out of all her old friends at home, she thinks I changed the most. I am not sure how much she really meant it, because at the time she was just trying to tease me like she was always good at doing, but when I think about it she may be very right. I have changed quite a bit and for the most part, that's all a good thing. It's not that there was actual bad things to fix, it's just that everything that I've gone through and everything I have gained because of it has made me who I am now... I guess I just like my life better now and who I have become. I am stronger then ever and feel like I can overcome almost anything and I mean, what better point is there to really be at right now?