Episode 30 - Winter Break
Skiing, relaxing with family, and lots and lots of books!
So.
I am back at UCLA on this lovely January the 7th of 2024, and I find myself in the interesting predicament of not having posted any blogs about my winter break and am several weeks behind.
However, not much has happened over winter break besides me just having a wonderful time with my wonderful time and relaxing a ton, reading a ton, and playing a ton with my brother.
So.
I have decided to declare a blog bankruptcy.
What is that, you may ask?
Well, I recently read about a guy who declared an email bankruptcy, where he decided to delete all his emails and let everyone know that if they needed anything from him, they best send another email to him as soon as they could.
So, I will write a high-level overview of what I did over break, using my camera roll and the pictures in it to explain what I did over break. Then, we’ll be back to our regularly scheduled tour of everyday Dennis life now that I’m back at UCLA.
Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s dive in!
Landed in SFO on December 20 and was ecstatic to be back in the US of A. My family greets me at the arrival gate, everyone is jumping and cheering. We get an absolutely amazing In-N-Out (OH MY IT WAS DELICIOUS!!), then head home. I unpack a bit, shower, and it’s off to bed!
Wake up, unpack some more, then it’s off to skiing at South Lake Tahoe (Heavenly Resort to be specific). We were there for 3 days total, went hiking the first day along the lake, and skiing the second and third days. The hike had trees that were cut down from a beaver! Great to be back among my amazing and dearly beloved pine trees and granite mountains.
There isn’t much snow, so I skied the same run (Dipper) 50 times in 2 days. I could basically ski it with my eyes closed at that point.
Back home on the 23rd, and I woke up early on the 24th to blog the Twickenham post. I’m still a bit on Paris time so woke up at 5:30, grabbed a folding camping chair, then headed up to the hill by my house to blog and watch the sunrise. Amazing time, great music, great vibes.
Christmas was wonderful, full of cheer, great family, and lots and lots of presents! I got new trail running Hokas, a nice backpacking backpack, the new Murtaugh book, a couple of t-shirts, and some Ferrero Rocher, great haul! Super fun chaotically opening presents and spending the whole day with family. In the evening, we went with my lovely neighbor Joanne over to Brentwood to check out the Christmas arches that are beautifully decorated each year.
After Christmas, we had a troop bike ride, made pelmeni with my siblings and cousin, and went on a lovely catch-up walk with Joanne. Went to SF with the fam for a ballet and then walked around Salesforce Park with my family too and saw a cool light-up tree in Golden Gate Park. I also went on the muddiest bike ride of my entire life in Black Diamond Mines and barely made it up the hill and home. I also hung out with my good friend Audrey from UCLA, we walked around in San Ramon and got some great Korean Food.
For New Year’s Eve, my family had a lovely dinner and talked about all the great things that happened last year, as well as planned our resolutions for next year. Here are mine!
Sub 4-hour marathon
Stop biting nails
Conversationally proficient in Spanish
Receive full-time offer from BCG
Read 30 books
Visit 10 US National Parks
Then I went with my sister and cousin to SF to her friend’s New Years party, we had a great time, counted down, and saw the fireworks! Great times, amazing bass speaker, and delicious brownies. My sister forgot the keys to her SF apartment, so we drove home at 1 am (with me driving, of course, with a Ricky Gervais special to keep me company).
On New Years Day, our family hiked up Mission Peak near Fremont. 8 miles round trip, great views, and a lovely way to start the year. The rest of the fam cooked food at the top, and I walked over to the next mountaintop to check out the views from there. Amazing trails, lots of cows, and an overall great time!
And interspersed with all that, there was plenty of reading (I must’ve read 3000 pages over break), lots of chicken adventures, many games of Scrabble with my sister, and of course, Boy Scout Christmas Tree pickup!
An overall amazing break with the best family ever. So relaxing and so much fun. :)
Thanks all for tuning in, and see y’all soon!
We enjoyed having you home ❤️