Watch Out Shaun White..

Well, not really. No professional snowboarding in our future, but Zack and I were proud of each other for our efforts in skiing! We went skiing on Saturday at Loveland Ski Area. It was my first time EVER (yes, true story) and it had been awhile for Zack, so we took a full-day lesson. We got up really early, well the earliest I have been up in a long time, and got on the road towards the high country. We didn't make it far until we ran smack into traffic. There is only one major highway in and out from Denver to the Rockies that hosts a plethora of ski spots. Translation: standstill/very slow moving traffic for almost THREE hours (without traffic, it should only take an hour). Surprisingly, my type-A-hate-to-be-late personality laid low, and tried to keep Zack entertained while we eked by at the pace of a snail. I think deep down, I was not ready to rush to get there; I was extremely nervous. Excited, but definitely nervous. Luckily, we had beautiful views like the one below on our way.

We arrived at the Loveland Ski Area just in time to confirm our reservation, get our rentals and meet up with our instructor. We were with two other skiers, one who unfortunately got altitude sickness and didn't come back after our lunch break and the other who left after she got the hang of it and  met up with a friend. I ended up being the only one left (Zack went on to a more challenging run), and so I had a private lesson for a couple of hours! At the end of the ski day, I kind of got the hang of it, and actually made it down without falling more times than I could have imagined. Since Zack quickly found his footing, he went to on to the next run. I was really impressed! He definitely caught the fever, and if it wasn't for closing time, he would have probably not stopped! I was worried that I was holding him back, and he was so sweet in staying with me most of the day, but I am so glad he got to try a more challenging one. I was happy to stay on the small run. Baby steps for me! Oliver, our instructor was so great and very patient with me! With about 30 more minutes left in the day, I was done and ended on a good note: I hadn't fallen in the last 4-5 runs. Oliver met up with Zack, which I thought was really nice. We also got to spend some time with our friends back from NC, Chris and Kaylie, who were in town for Kaylie's work. They just happened to have chosen Loveland for Saturday too, so we were excited to see them! And I know Zack enjoyed skiing a few runs with them. Here are a few photos from our day..

Goggles give you shadow mustaches!

Lift...loved this part!

Kaylie and me

The run we learned on is to the right

Zack's run started near the red dot (center of photo) and mine started near the pink dot, behind the trees (right)

We had a great time, and Zack can't wait to go again. I definitely want to try it again, but need a little time to recoup! Here's one last photo. Even though we were in terrible traffic on our way home too, we still had a beautiful view! 

.