(Last weekend we traveled to Austria for our first attempt at skiing. When I say "first," I mean it literally. Grace, Troy and I have never been skiing. It was quite a trip! Blake says that I should have enough to write about for at least a week! We had a pretty good time, even if it wasn't the most ideal situation for beginners. The area we were in, Hintertux, didn't have a great slope for newbies. In fact, we were at the very top of the mountain...any higher and we would have been skiing with the Almighty Himself. Read on....)

I'm sure you've all seen those guys and gals on TV who are into "extreme" sports like skydiving, or snowboarding down the side of a mountain, or surfing the largest waves in the world. You have probably thought to yourself, Those guys are insane! It's OK to admit it; I've thought it myself a time or two. But this weekend I learned that I am an extremist! Yup, it's true. Incredible heights, excessive speeds, sports that defy death.....you name it, I am extremely afraid of it! In fact, I think that when God was weaving together my DNA strands, he inadvertently left out my "adventure" and "courage" genes! I figured all of this out too late, of course, because by the time it hit me that I am NOT a thrill-seeker, I was being shoved onto a ski lift and transported up to the heavens.

When I look back over the whole experience, I have to chuckle a little. I'm sure the only thing funnier than me falling down a million times was the sight of me banging my head against the ski lift while screaming, "Please, God, don't let me die!" If I had been able to take my video camera with me, I would be a filthy rich woman right now. I just remember thinking, Lord, if it's my time to go, you should just take me up, because it will be a closer trip for me. Blake was very considerate (or worried) and paid for me to have an instructor. Too bad she didn't speak English. Her only words were "look" and "go" and "STOP!!!" Hey, I only ran over her twice; she was lucky.

I guess I should be happy with myself, because I attempted something that is completely out of my comfort zone. By the way, my comfort zone could be defined as "sea level." Anyway, it was a neat experience, and I definitely want to try again. Only next time I'll leave my fear at home....or maybe just pack a few extra anxiety pills.