Snowboarding Lessons

Snowboarding is a very challenging sport. One which involves good balance and control; I learned that this Sunday when a few friends and I decided to learn how to snowboard at Mt. Brighton.
It was Kelly Glynn, her sister Katie, Taylor Cieslak and I who had made plans to get up early Sunday morning, meet at Kelly and Katie's house and get out to Mt. Brighton around the time it opened, which was around 9:00. And that is pretty much what happened. I woke up at 6:30 (we had to be at Kelly's by 8:00), ate some breakfast and rushed around getting ready and gathering all my snow gear. I threw my hair into two braids and put on some comfy/warm clothes: yoga pants, a tee-shirt and my fleece North Face jacket.
I was at Kelly's house right on time and we arrived at Mt. Brighton a little after nine. Kelly, Katie and I all had to rent boards and boots; they also had to rent helmets, I did not because 1.) I don't exactly like to put items on my head that have been worn by many others and 2.) I was borrowing a spare and slightly too small, too tight helmet from Tay, but it worked nonetheless. I found the boots to be a tad funny looking though, they made your feet look short and stubby; I bet Shaq's feet would even look small in them! The boards we got were very simple, wither black or white with an unknown logo stamped in the middle of the board.
Soon, it was ten o'clock and time for our lesson. The first thing we learned how to do was “glide” or “skate”, which is how you get around while you're not speeding downhill. I learned that you always keep your front foot locked in the bindings and the other foot can either be placed in front of or behind the board and then you just use the loose foot to push yourself along, almost like on a scooter or a skateboard. First I was really slow at this, but I got the hang of it after a while. We then proceeded onto riding in a straight line down the bunny hill. Now, these straight lines, I could do. However, stopping and turning not so much. Those are probably the most important or useful areas, and I thought they were the hardest. This was because to turn you had to either slightly lift your toes or your heels, and almost always I didn't lift them enough, or I lifted them too much and lost balance. Stopping was the same thing. If you stop on your toes, you can lean too far forward and fall head first into the snow and if you stop on your heels, lose balance and fall backwards, you take a hard fall on your bottom. I've experienced both and I can tell you falling face first is the way to go...because my tail bone still kills to sit on.
After the lesson and a couple practice runs on the bunny hill we all moved onto the intermediate hill; much bigger than the bunny hill. And the tow rope was much longer! We also had to go up “backwards” because the left side was not working. And I actually found that to be more comfortable than the normal way. We all took many falls on this, but I did have a few smooth runs....after I made sure there would be no one in the way. I had a very good time and definitely want to go back again!

Centerline Invitational

I awoke that with to morning smell of toast and scrambled eggs as it drifted into my room from the kitchen downstairs. I stumbled down the stairs soon remembering what day it was: our cross country invitational meet at Centerline. I knew that if I couldn't earn my varsity letter today, it was most likely that I would not earn my letter this season. Or at least that was the attitude I went in with, hoping it would force me to push my self harder than ever before to get my time below 22:30 for a 5k race. So I ate my eggs and toast, hoping they would give me that energy boost when I needed it most.
When I arrived with my father at the meet, the weather didn't look too good, cold, windy and the sky looked as if a storm was on its way. We looked high and low for the rest of my cross country team, but eventually found them on the side of the school. As a team we proceeded to do our pre-race routines, a few laps around the school and into the surrounding neighborhood, stretching and agilities. Once we finished we just relaxed and kept loose until about twenty minutes before the race. From there, time passes in a blur as we get our spikes on, do some more agilities, more stretching and head towards the starting line. Once we got to the starting line we did some run-outs and huddled to give words of advice and encouragement to our teammates. Once back at the starting line runners wait until the last possible minute to take off our sweats, line up with the fastest runners in the front and that included me. I was nervous, so nervous I was shaking in my shoes! As I tried to focus on my race I took my spot at the line, put my right foot forward and waited for the gun to sound.
“Runners, take your marks..” BANG!!
And all the runners sprint forward! Racing to the front and trying to get to the inside before the first turn. The sky had opened up and rain was pouring down on us as the winds blew against us. I found myself in a good spot and soon found my pace as I passed the girls ahead of me as I continued on my 3.1 mile trek. The first mile was good, 6:45 I believe, but the second mile always seems to be the longest as well as the hardest and looking back you always wish that you had done better during your second mile. As I started my third mile, I came upon a straight away in which I found myself slowing down simply because the straight aways can often put a runner to sleep. I sped up as soon as I noticed it and as I came around the last corner where absolutely EVRYONE was waiting for their daughter, teammate or friend to finish the race. I saw my dad as he yelled that I had around ten seconds to left in order to get a varsity time and earn my letter. From that point I sprinted, faster than ever before and crossed the finish line with a time of 22:26. I had done it. I had earned my varsity letter and on top of that I finished 15th out of a hundred and some girls. It was the JV race, but hey, I'm only a freshman. As soon as I got through the crowds at the finish I ran to my dad and collapsed into him, giving him a big hug as I breathed, “I did it.” to him. He had tears in his eyes and I had just earned my varsity letter...as a FRESHMAN! Not many get to do that. I was sopping wet and freezing but nothing mattered to me more then earning my letter.

US missionaries in Haiti charged with child abduction

The missionaries should be tried in Haiti.

“It was Haitian law that has been violated, it is up to the Haitian authorities to hear and judge the case,” said Paul Denis, Haiti's Justice Minister(US missionaries charged in Haiti). Some have suggested the missionaries be tried in the United States, but this would be unfair to the Haitian government since the crime was committed against them. The man who came through Amsterdam to Detroit with a bomb in his pants was tried in the U.S., the country which the crime was committed against, why should this be treated any different? Because that was an act of terrorism? And this seems to be an act of kindness? A crime is a crime, and on any level it should be tried in the city, state or country whose laws the crime had broken.
“I feel good,” the missionary group leader, Laura Silsby, told reporters. “I trust in God”
If she is so comfortable with what will happen, then it really shouldn't matter whether they are tried in the U.S. or not. Much has also been said lately that many parents had willingly gave their children to the group because they were injured badly and would simply not be able to provide for their kids. If this is the case, then the court should acknowledge this fact and maybe even find some of the newly disabled parents and make sure this is all true.