A lot of things definitely contributed to it but I really have the best friends! I know that not everything about Navy is sunshine and rainbows but due to the fact that we'd been locked up until December, winter break was just that much sweeter.
After visiting with some family in GA I was home for about a week and I got to catch up with some of my high school friends, which I think I mentioned in my last blog. It was a lot of coffee and breakfast/lunch dates but it's always nice to see them again.
I went to Miami with Madeline and we had a lot of fun! Our little Airbnb was so cute and perfect distance from downtown so we walked everywhere. We cooked most of our meals except once we got smoothie bowls for breakfast. Another one of our teammates', Louis, met us there and stayed with us. We went to the beach and hung out every single day, it was really nice! The last day we had to checkout but our flight wasn't until later so we visited with Madeline's Navy sponsor parents who have a house in Boca Raton which was also super pretty!
After a quick turnaround we went to Breckenridge, CO. I hadn't skied since plebe year and I'd never skied out west. Wow, it was beautiful and so much fun. I went with Madeline, Gray, Fi, Louis and Jack. Gray had been in CO for a couple of weeks before so and he grew up skiing out west so he was a much better skier than me. I had no idea that Fi used to be a ski racer so she was much better than me. Madeline had been skiing in California the year before and she also grew up skiing so she was better than me and then Jack and Lou are snowboarders (also better than me). I decided to finally take a lesson on our last day and wow I am so glad I did that but I wish I'd done it sooner. However, now I am ready to go skiing again! I think I'll visit Allison out in Utah, I'm sure that Park City would be just as cool as Breckenridge.
We had so much fun, the town was really cute and the food was awesome. We also had great weather. It was really nice and sunny the majority of the time, it also snowed one day while we were there. The mountains were awesome too. My only complaint was the altitude, I have never felt more out of breath then I did. It was nice to get back to Baltimore and realize I wasn't out of breath while getting my bags. I would go back in a heartbeat though.
I'll be honest when we first got to CO and first went skiing I really couldn't wait for it to be the end of the day because I was in it more for the social aspect but I am so glad I went and that I got better at skiing, it really was a team effort, thank you to all. I think they'd all agree that I improved dramatically hahaha. We're already talking about next years' trips.
I go back to school for my second COVID test on the 15th, I get my first one tomorrow. On the 25th I get my third test. My classes are supposed to start virtually on the 19th, I don't really know what to expect this semester, it'll certainly be different! I can say that I am looking forward to it. I got an email yesterday saying that I got one of the summer training's that I planned for, it's helping with mentoring at Saint Benedicts' which is a school in Newark. I have a friend who has done it before and he said it was awesome. I have another friend who actually went to school there. I am really excited.
I know that 2020 wasn't an awesome year for the world but I'll have to say that I still had a good year. Yes, I was stuck at school for awhile but if I hadn't been there I wouldn't have gotten as close with my friends and teammates as I am now. I am so grateful for them, we have such a great time together. I did well in school and I learned that Navy is where I'm supposed to be. I grew a lot this past year and all in all, it could've been worse. When I was in middle school I had this really terrible science teacher, he was weird and not approachable and he really couldn't teach. My best friend Maddie and I were in the same class and one day she was at our house and my dad said "what do you think of Mr. so-and-so?" She said, "well I had really low expectations so I'm not really disappointed." I think 2020 has been a year like that and it's also kind of a mental reset and helped us learn gratitude, perhaps I'm the only one who feels this way but that's how I'm trying to look at 2021.
I hope everyone is doing well!