Dragon and a Blizzard

Well, it's the end of January... I can't believe my last post was in October! (That's pretty sad...) Life is crazy, as always, but I am starting fresh this year, with a goal of blogging at least once a week.  Journaling has never been a strong point of mine... so I am going to start slow.   ;)   I have a bucket list of resolutions and can't wait to check them all off! (And blog about them!) It is exciting to see a new year ahead full of opportunities, and potential.   I think blogging will help me keep all my resolutions, knowing I have to stay accountable and write about it. :) So here's to a new year!

It's the Year of the Dragon--supposedly it is a year of good-luck and positive energy.  I'm banking on that.   ;)  It's already off to a great start, by running the Chinese New Year Dragon Race on Saturday with my friend Camille.  I was sick as a dog, (and still am... I'm going to the doctor today) but I ran it anyways, in my VFF (vibram five fingers) in the pouring rain, and in 20*F cold.  It was Camille's first race, and she did great! I felt pretty awesome that I toughed it out, and Bear had a lot of fun playing with cute little William (Camille's son) and dancing in the dragon dance!

The race ended inside the Heber City Rec Center, Thank heavens.. it was so miserable outside.  And the day almost ended in a stressful disaster, but we had luck on our side.  It was raining pretty hard during the race, which wasn't too bad, but right after the last runners had crossed the finish line, it started snowing, like crazy!  The wind started blowing, and all I could think about was how glad I was I didn't have to run in a blizzard!! What I didn't think about right away was that we had to drive up through the Canyon to get home.... which of course was not plowed... so... our little car was struggling sadly up the steep snowy roads... we made it about 20 minutes in before the tires started spinning, and we slid off to the side of the road.  Then it was a waiting game. We were worried we would be stuck for hours and hours... sometimes they just close the road altogether, and don't plow it, so we were a little stressed.  But to our surprise, a plow came by about 30 minutes later, so we booked it back onto the road (right after it passed) and were able to drive a freshly plowed road nearly the rest of the way home! We were really grateful.  We were especially grateful when we heard over the radio that the canyon was closed shortly after we got through it.  We were definitely counting our blessings that day, that we didn't get in an accident, we didn't slide OFF the road, or get stuck in the blizzard for hours, and that we got home safely.  Lesson learned: we bought chains at Wal-Mart on the way home... so that even if the road isn't plowed in the future, we are prepared!!  :D