After a term in which I interviewed Steven Colbert, threw my first Festivus gathering, and survived as a dedicated marching band member for a, um, colorful college football season, Winter Break has been a nice time to decompress spending time with family and friends. I remember in elementary school we learned how different animals cope with winter. Some adapt by growing a thicker coat, others hibernate, and then there are the critters that migrate. This year I suppose I took the whole duck thing to heart joining my feathered flocking friends and headed south -- and east -- for the winter.
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| Looks like the Colorado State University geese procrastinated and got a late flight to Cabo. |
Once we had both escaped Finals Week alive, my boyfriend Jonah and I hopped over to Colorado to visit some of his family. The last time I was in Colorado I was a little girl with my family doing Volkswalks and winding through the Rockies. This time I was both an excited significant other wanting to make a good impression with important family members as well as a curious college student exploring the school I'd almost gone to, University of Colorado Boulder.
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| A brisk winter trek -- who knew it could be snowy and sunny?! |
The trip was lovely and definitely a success. Not only did we get in the holiday spirit making Christmas cookies and seeing The Nutcracker, but I got to know Jonah's world better. I mean, what says family visit like seeing that adorable (although some might say embarrassing) video of your boyfriend as a toddler dancing his little diapered booty away in baby music class?
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| My pupper walking the doggos. |
Then it was back to the wintry wonderland of Oregon. When I arrived in Portland, Uber rates from PDX were at a 500 percent surge. Five. Hundred. Luckily I had my own private chauffeur, my dad. He navigated the slippery I-5, passing truckers adjusting chains and empty cars parked on the shoulder of the freeway after running out of gas the night before. It truly felt like Snowpocalypse had struck the Willamette Valley.
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| Greetings from good ol' Salem, Oregon! |
After a few days cozying up inside, going for brisk walks, and traversing the icy roads to meet up with friends I hadn't seen since summer or last Christmas, I went south with the fam. We drove down to Sacramento to spend the holidays with a few of my mom's sisters, her mother and my cousins.
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| Aunt Mo, Cocktail Waitress: helping families survive the holidays since 2016. |
It was wonderful seeing everyone and hearing the neat things they're getting up to -- working for Tesla, studying abroad in the Netherlands, adopting new pups. I was also thankful my stocking stuffer turned out. All I've got to say is that technology is pretty neat. With the assistance of online 3D printing communities, I was able to design and print cookie cutters shaped in either California or Oregon for everyone. The new DIY! The next migration this winter will be out to Central Oregon for some more snow and sun to ring in the new year. But for now, before migrating east again, it's time for some laundry and a little R&R!