Last weekend was a girl's day out snowboarding. Laura, Satoko and I had so much fun! It was Laura's first time going snowboarding so we weren't sure how it was going to go. Turns out that Laura did fantastic! She even was brave enough to go on the lift twice so we could ride down the mountain. She had her share of falling, but it wasn't severe and the next day she was still functional when the soreness settled in. It was a hot day and so the snow wasn't powder fresh. It was melting and so I wasn't sure if this was going to be good or bad. Part of me expected it to be bad conditions because I thought the snow would be icy and we would be boarding on ice. It wasn't icy though, but not powder-like. I think it benefited us better because it slowed us down. I was so proud of myself because I did so much better this time. I didn't fall nearly as much as I had previously and had only about two good falls that I felt. I made it half way down the mountain without falling and then I sat myself in the snow to wait for Laura and Satoko to come down. I was also able to go right, left and focus on where I wanted to go. I had overall better control of the board and so it was much more fun.
Afterward we went to lunch at a tiny place in Shichinohe where we had some yummy fried rice, salad, soup and a parfait. That night I was exhausted and fell asleep pretty early. The soreness settled in that night but the next day I was surprised at how good I felt. We said we can't wait to go the weekend after we return from the snow festival but I just realized it would be on Valentine's Day. It's still cool with me but I'm not sure if anyone else has realized this and if they still want to go that day.




This week I've been really busy with trying to get all my homework done before we leave for Sapporo. Gian has had a ridiculous work schedule working all different hours, but 12 hour shifts. So today was the only time we had to get things done for our trip. I still feel behind as I wanted to be packed and the house cleaned before I had to work tonight. I would have also of liked to of gotten a new pair of gloves and a cute hat. I dropped Roxy and Zelda off at Laura's house and I miss them so much already! I get sad when I think about them, but I know they're in the best hands here and that Roxy will have lots of fun. It's just the first time we'll be away from Roxy for more than just a day! I hope Roxy behaves her little self and doesn't give them too much trouble and I hope Zelda doesn't get too stressed about being somewhere else. As soon as we got there she went behind the sofa to hide and then underneath it.

After work tonight I'll head home to pack and clean a bit more so we come home to a somewhat clean house. Then tomorrow morning Satoko and her husband will be at our house and we'll take a taxi to the train station. I've never been on a train before so I'm pretty excited about traveling this way. Sometime we'll have to make it on the bullet train before we leave Japan. It's about 10 degrees there so I hope we'll be warm enough!