Ski Skool

I'm pretty sure I learn some of the most important lessons during the weekends when I don't spend a minute in a classroom.

My extremely smart roommate Jamie is in the accounting program at BYU. Since it is the #2 accounting program in the nation, PWC (one of the major accounting firms) does some hard-core recruiting here. For instance, they sponsored a skiing day this past Saturday for all the accounting students and they could bring a guest. I got to be Jamie's guest and ski at Sundance all day and get donuts and free lunch for just $10 (ok, so there's no such thing as a free lunch).

My FHE brothers Kevin and Cameron came too and I was on the ski lift with them at one point. I had been getting off at the first stop over and over, because I'm not a very experienced skier and the easiest hill was enough excitement for me. But when I was riding the lift with Kev and Cam, they put the bar down in front of us and wouldn't let me get off on the first stop, thus forcing me to ride to the top of the lift and be on a blue square level-run which was, to say the least, terrifying to me. I don't know why they had such confidence in me that I could ski at that level, but those pro-skiers slowed down and made sure I made it down safely.

It was on that run down that I got a taste of how skiing is supposed to be. I embraced the speed instead of constantly trying to slow down or come to stop. The beautiful views, the cold wind in your face, the friction-less velocity of skiing....it was a whole new world that I never would have discovered had I stayed on the bunny hill (which I certainly would have done if not for the challenge of my FHE brothers). I went down that blue square hill several more times voluntarily and loved it (yes, it's possible to love something you're terrible at, thank goodness!) despite the epic wipe-outs.

I didn't think I would ever be able to ski down a hill any steeper than the easiest one. This experience solidified in me one of my all-time favorite quotes by Eleanor Roosevelt,

"You must do that which you think you cannot."

Moore Quotes

In aspiring to imitate the date 11/11/11 and try my hand at alliteration, I'm going to do a post called Feature Friend Friday and feature one of my friends this Friday.

Travis Moore moved into my ward when I was a senior in high school and has been such a genuine friend ever since. He is at BYU with me now. He has texted me a quote almost every single day for the past year and a half or so and still does! When I am abroad and out of cell phone reception, he texts quotes to my email. Dedication.

He also has very creative ideas. For instance, today he and his brother Jeremy organized a flash mob in my History of Creativity class. Around 20 people who are not in that class were sitting in among the 60-ish students who are in the class, and at 11:11 a.m. their cell phone alarms went off and they left the classroom to make a wish. I think our substitute professor is still a little confused as to why they left...but the rest of us were amused.

Another creative idea he helped to mastermind was a facebook in real life party.  We all brought white t-shirts and wrote a status on it. We had relationship status stickers, green dots to show we were online to chat, a list of friends on our sleeves. There were events and photos everywhere, and we even played "Pin the Like sticker on Mark Zuckerberg." Very creative!

I have done photo shoots, gone urban exploring, been spelunking, watched movies in random places, explored the roof of the Swicket, gone canoeing, and scores of other fun things with Travis and his innovation.  He's a great example to me of spirituality, service, charity, and good wholesome activities.

Yesterday's quote from Travis leads me to one last thought for this Veteran's Day.

"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them."~John F. Kennedy. 

Veterans are great examples of living by their gratitude for America. They truly understand that life is not just about themselves, but that life is in service to others. I am thankful for America and our freedom beyond what words on a blog can express. All it takes is going to another country to instill deep patriotism in your soul.