It was my favorite time of the year. The air was so crisp that your lungs got cold when you breathed in. Stepping outside would most literally chill you to the bone. Snowflakes gracefully danced down from the sky and onto the earth. The tree's empty branches were now covered with soft pillowy clouds. What was once green was now turned to a shimmering and shiny white.

Every year on December 19 my family packs all of our things together to leave sunny California and gets a chance to visit beautiful, snowy Colorado. We have been temporarily escaping the heat, and visiting a real winter for as long as I can remember. It’s my Mom, my Dad, my older brother, his best friend, and me. My brother, Owen, is 18 and I am 16. We have always had a good relationship, and I care about my brother a lot. Phillip is Owen's best friend. They are always together no matter what since the first grade. It would only be fair to take him along with us on our family vacation. The three of us always stick together and whenever we are around each other, everything is always so fun. 

While we are in Colorado we stay at an amazing ski resort. It’s so high up in the mountains, and is the most beautiful site you would ever see. Everything is covered in the most pure white snow. It’s the perfect conditions for skiing and snowboarding. My brother and I have always preferred snowboarding over skiing. Well really I have never gone skiing before. I have always been too afraid that I will fall or hit a tree. This year however I wanted to make it my goal to go skiing.  No matter what I had to face my fears. I was 16 and old enough to know that skiing will be something fun, and not scary.

It was our second day there, and  I decided to tell my family that I was going to go skiing. My family was annoyed by my decision. They would have to spend their day teaching me how to ski, and that would take away from doing their black diamond slopes. It seemed certain that I was never going to go skiing, until Phillip stood up. He had always been extremely good at this sport. He offered to take me out to the slopes and teach me the basics of skiing. Everyone agreed that we could go out. I was so excited.

The sites going up the ski lift were amazing. The sky was a beautiful bright blue. The mountains were shiny and white. It was truly a winter wonderland. It was like a scene out of a Christmas hallmark movie. We had finally got to the top. It was freezing cold and the winds were blowing fast. It was finally time for me to learn after all these years. He took me to the smallest hill so I could practice. He told me to keep my knees bent, have a strong core, and always pay attention to your surroundings. After many rounds up and down the hill we both thought that I was ready.  

It was finally time to go down a real slope. Phillip wished me luck and told me that he would be right behind me. I took a deep breath and took off. It was exhilarating, it felt like I was going 100 mph. I was doing so well until I saw two huge pine trees that I had to try to go through. I lost balance and the next thing I knew was that I was on the ground rolling down the mountain. I had finally come to a stop, but I was under so much snow it was hard to breathe. 

In a panic I started to yell for help. I then felt two hands digging at my body. Phillip grabbed my hands and pulled me up from the ground, making all the snow that was on top of me fall off. If my past self would have heard that this would happen, she would have been shocked that I started laughing. Once Phillip and I knew that we were each okay we started hysterically laughing. Like this was the  funniest thing that had ever happened to us. After we calmed down I really noticed how great of a guy he was. So kind and caring. He was smart and is the type of person I always want to be around. I was looking at his long pretty eyelashes, collecting snowflakes. 

We went back inside the hotel. I got us warm hot cocoa, with tiny marshmallows floating on the top. This was enough to warm our freezing bodies. Though it was so scary being buried in a pile of snow, I would totally get back out there and do it again. I had found something that would become one of my favorite things to do, and I found a boy who might be more than just a friend.