Mt. Hood Meadows

When I was younger, fear didn't exist. I loved to go snowboarding. I would go speeding down the slopes, without a seconds hesitation to how fast I'd be flying.

It's that time of the year. Snowboarding trip with friends. I had planned on taking my camera up and go snow shoeing, but Jen convinced me to go on the bunny hill with her the whole night.

Not once that whole night was I able to trust myself enough to lean on my back leg, like you're supposed to. Kelly, Katie, and I went up to a harder slope for one run, just to see what it was like. As Kelly and I rode the ski lift up the slope, we looked to our side and watched snowboarders do 360's, half pipe jumps, and go of ramps. I said "Kelly, I think this was a bad idea. I cant do that." After Kelly talked me off of the ski lift, we buckled up and headed down.

At one point, Kelly and I were yelling back up the mountain for Katie. It was night skiing, so we couldn't see where she was. Eventually, Katie made her way down. I fell, and hurt my knee, so I un-buckled one boot and sat on my board the rest of the way down. Surprisingly, it was very fun. I just got a couple looks and comments from the people riding up the ski lift above me.

Sadly, Kelly dislocated her shoulder and had to be taken to the hospital. When asked if she will ever snowboard again she says "Of course!"

Even with all of the fear and heart-pounding experiences, I had a great night.

My Baby...

When asked what brand of camera I want to upgrade to, the person asking looks at me with disappointment when they hear my answer. "My dream camera is a Nikon!" Most, actually all of my friends who are professional photographers have, use, and recommend Canons. One such photographer pushed for my reasoning behind wanting a Nikon. And this is what I said:

It's has little to do with quality, name brand, or price. For me, it is all physiological. It all started with my brother, Spencer, and his passion for photography. Spencer had a nice Nikon when I was a little kid. As my own passion for photography grew, so did my desire to test out his Nikon. He never let me touch that camera. And since he took it everywhere with him, I couldn't even sneak in his room and look at it while he was away at school. Years passed and not once had I held that camera. I never looked at a camera in the same way that I looked at a Nikon camera. My parents had noticed my ability to take good photos with the small, family snap-and-shoot camera we had at home. So they said they would pay half the price if I wanted to get my own camera. I didn't have the money for a Nikon, so I settled for a camera that looked similar to Spencer's Nikon....it was even black like his. A couple more years passed and I had fallen in love with my camera. I had brought that camera with me everywhere. That camera went through hell in my possession (sorry for my choice of word, but it is the closest word that comes to what it was like for my camera.) That camera has been dropped while hiking and rolled down the side of Montana and Wyoming's snow caped mountains. It's been on roller coasters, bike rides, snow boards, and more. Don't get the wrong idea, I loved that camera and took care if it like I would my own child...minus the rolling down a mountain part. It has been with me during the best times of my high school life: my first dance, championship lacrosse game, first trip to the Portland Saturday Market, sister's wedding, and even the midnight showing of Twilight. I never expected to get an upgrade anytime soon. But then I saw it on April 14 2009. The Nikon D5000. Ever since then I would dream of having this camera.

And that was my reason for wanting a Nikon.

Every weekend I would pass the Nikon station at Costco, and have to pull myself away from the cameras so I could go home.

Three weeks, straight, before Christmas I made sure to let my parents know just how much I NEEDED this camera. A line I would often use was "I will never progress in photography if I have the same camera the rest of my life. Do you want me to progress?" When I was feeling bold I would pull the What-Would-Jesus-Do line. I even gave a speech about the comparison that could be made between the boy in The Christmas Sweater novel and my need for this specific camera. ( Read The Christmas Sweater and you'll understand.)

It was two days before Christmas and I was sure I wasn't getting a Nikon D5000 anytime soon. Boy was I wrong!

On Christmas Eve my dad came in from the car and said "Lizzy, will you go get the rest of the groceries from the car?" I went out to the trunk and froze. I was in shock. If it wasn't for the light-headed feeling I wouldn't have remembered to breath. Lying in the back of the trunk was a box, in that box was my new baby.

I ran into the house screaming, and I sat on the kitchen floor hugging the box that held my long awaited treasure.

Thanks Mom and Dad!!!

Fun on Mt. Hood Meadows

On Saturday I went snowboarding up at Meadows. I drove with my dad and Sarah went in our other friend's car. I took my camera up with me, so I have pictures of my fun adventure.

One of my friends that also came to the Mountain was Heather. She had quite the experience. It was only her second time snowboarding so she didn't quite know how to stop without falling hard. We both went up the ski lift together and when we got to the slope we went cruising down. she was going crazy fast and I was far behind her. I then saw her fall VERY hard. I rushed down the slope to see if she was okay. She was sitting down and she said she felt like throwing up, and her head hurt. I told her to take her board off and sit on it. She sat on it and slid the rest of the way down the slope. But, she didn't make it down in the best way. She hit a tree. At this point she looked like she was going to pass out. I walked with her back to the lodge and she took a Tylenol.

I took a liter Sunkist soda and I almost drank it all by myself. It was a bad idea though because I got to the top of the slope and I had to go to the bathroom really bad, but I didn't want to stop snowboarding. I eventually forced myself back to the lodge. We left the mountain at closing time(10: 00pm) I drove back with my dad again, and there were three guys in the back, very interesting conversation topics. Anyways... I had a great time and I cant wait to hit the slopes again. I just hope it is powder and not ice next time.

In this last picture I might look awake and happy, but really I am ready to sleep forever.