Almost there...

Hey guys,

Well I am coming to the middle of February which means only 2 and a half months til I'm back in Cali and soaking up the sunshine! Don't get me wrong, being here has been a great experience which I have recently been reflecting on. Today was the second part of my mid-season evaluation and over all it went really great. Erin, my boss put together both her comments and the ski office staff comments to give me an idea of the total picture on how I am doing here at the BOEC. I have realized that the meeting I wasn't totally looking forward to actually made things a lot better. The ski office is where I spend every day from 8:25 am-4 pm each day, that's a ton of time...The thing is that we get to busy in there with our students and staff that there isn't much time for chit chat about how things are going. Although I had spoken with my boss previously about how it was all going and got positive feedback the weeks following felt like some of the hardest I had done. My energy was down, my lessons felt more difficult, the weather was FRIGID cold and I just felt off. I felt like I was missing something which caused me to over think situations and not see them for what they were. My meeting with Erin helped me process some things out loud and talk about what's up with me at work and home. I realized that being here I have grown immensely. I have realized that I can do more than I allow myself, I tend to psyche myself out when it comes to a new or difficult task. I hope that in the next few months I will continue to push myself to get better at going for it and trying my best. I had a lesson the other day which totally freaked me out because I hadn't practiced the technique in roughly 2+ months and didn't remember my training. The technique isn't rocket science but the idea of messing up and compromising the safety of my participant totally freaked me out. I managed just fine once I got over the mental game. I also found out in my 1 on 1 that although my leadership skills are great I need to be able to make room for others to step up and take things on or create an environment that will allow and encourage someone else to take control and give me the back seat. I have heard this before so it didn't surprise me at all. The good news was that Erin said she can see that I have come a long way from the beginning when I wanted total control of every situation...oops ;). This past week Kevin was in Sunrise, Arizona teaching ski lessons and he really enjoyed it. I am glad he was able to see some other places even if it was a 16 hour car ride...YIKES! The better part is that he is home and we get to catch up on the last week. Five days away with no communication was rough but come April who knows how long it will be, I suppose it's good practice for summer. Anyways, we are both excited for tomorrow because his family will FINALLY be here all the way from Holland. They get in late tomorrow evening and will be staying for a week. I have enjoyed getting to know them via Skype over the last few months and look forward to meeting them face to face. They are such incredible people and his parents are so supportive of everything Kevin does. I love that they encourage travel, exploration and adventure. I think this gives him the freedom to enjoy so much more about the world and has also given him the opportunity to become fluent in 5 languages, pretty impressive stuff!

Tomorrow I turn 23 and I'm not too sure how I feel about it...Im kind of not looking forward to it. I take birthdays very seriously and I have a feeling tomorrow isn't going to be much fun. I'm working all day which isn't too cool but hopefully my student is a fun one. I don't think we will be doing much of anything for it so I'm thinking maybe I will just cancel it for this year at least then I can put off being 23 for another year right? For some reason 23 feels like the beginning of big kid life. This means getting a "real" job, paying for cell phones, rent, car insurance, groceries, health insurance, cable, utilities...ugh I've got to stop talking about this, it will be to overwhelming. In order to prepare for all this nonsense I have been looking for jobs lately and honestly everything looks so boring and not very fun. None of them interest me enough to really want to be there. What I really want to do is take seasonal jobs so that in off seasons I can travel and really enjoy life. I feel like then working hard for the season will have an end I can look forward to. I'm not too sure my mom will be too happy when she hears this idea but what I am realizing is that travel and adventure is was keeps me happy and trust me an unhappy Leah is an unpleasant thing. For now I will just dream of my next travel destinations and that perfect job!

I miss you all at home so very much and can't wait to be reunited in only 2 MONTHS!!

lots of love,

Leah