I know the snow has been the bane of many at the moment but there are some instances that an abundance of snow is a blessing.  Personally, I like all kinds of travel but I think I’m more of a mountain/snow person than a beach/sun person.  Those who know me know that I’m happiest when I’m at the top of a mountain soaking in the view before I hit the slopes with my husband and family on our snowboards.

I had only ever gone riding in the west (CA, UT, CO, AK and BC in Canada) but recently I had the pleasure of being invited to experience Sugarbush Resort in VT.  The fun thing was that not only was it my birthday weekend (which I got to share with my best friends) but also, I got a chance to experience a Learn To Ski/Snowboard weekend.  After almost 20 years of snowboarding, I figured I was ready to ‘Learn to Ski’ again.  The last time I put on skis, I was in my late teens and they were straight skis and super long.  (Yeah, and I may have been sporting a headband and raybans as well.  So like totally awesome!) The technology has changed so much over the past two decades and I was ready to give it shot.  My daughter skis now and I thought I would be great to be able to have the choice to ski or snowboard.

Me & My BFF's Chris & Shanna

So as a guest of the fabulous folks at Cabot Creamery and Ski Vermont, we joined Susie and Chelsee of We Are Not Martha and Robyn Moreno of BePracticallyPosh to take the ‘First Timers’ challenge.

Sugarbush has a really amazing program where if you are a true first-timer to skiing or snowboarding, for only $230 you can take a 3-Day First Timer Package and then at the end of the third lesson, you get a SEASON PASS to Sugarbush.  What a brilliant way to not only encourage learning but also incentivize them to keep coming back to enjoy their new skills.   Sugarbush is only a few hour drive from Boston, Providence and New York and if you like to fly (like me), it’s a quick one hour flight into Burlington and just a 40 minute drive to Warren, VT from there.  It really IS perfect for a weekend trip with the family or a couple of friends.

So our weekend was to show it’s never to early (or late) to learn to ski or snowboard. In our group, we had ladies representing 20’s, 30’s, 40’s and 50 year-olds and yes, one wonderful newbie who was finally learning to ski at 60. Her kids had skied for years and now, it was her turn!

Here’s a video of our Team Snow How experience at Sugarbush.

There is no way that I could do a better job of showing what our weekend was all about than the girls at WeAreNotMartha did so check out all the fabulous details there.   The folks at Cabot and Ski Vermont really thought of everything.  You could tell how much care was put into the entire experience.

I’m not surprised though because the more I find out about people behind Cabot, it makes total sense, they do things from the heart…but that’s a whole other post.

There is still so much time left in the season and you might as well put all this snow to good use.  Here’s more information about Sugarbush tickets, accommodations and special events.  They also have great women’s programs and a resourceful ‘Parent’s page’ that answers a bunch of questions you might have.  I highly recommend it.

Thanks to our hosts Roberta Macdonald, Jen Neary and Candace Karu from Cabot, Kathy Murphy from Ski Vermont, the impressive President of Sugarbush, Win Smith, along with our instructors Gary and Meredith and ski legend John Eagan as well as renaissance-man (pro-snowboarder/video producer/graphic designer/cool daddy)  Sean Neary for the Team Snow How video, his bad-ass designs for our Drop goggles & gloves and for escorting me on one last run before we had to go.

Thanks again for such a lovely experience oh and by the way, that habanero cheese is ree-dic-u-lous!

Note: I attended this event where my travel, accommodations and lessons were gratis. There were no obligations to recap my experience and all opinions in this post are my own.

When I was a little girl, I, like many other little girls, thought about what it would be like to be married and have kids.  I always pictured myself with a husband, kids.  Husband would go to work, I would too (wanted to be a teacher when I was little – that never happened…) and we all sit around at the dinner table at the end of every day talking about what we did.  Well, I did get married and have kids – but my family life didn’t exactly turn out that way.  Instead of gathering around at the end of the day to talk about our day, we usually have to pick up a phone and catch up that way.  My husband doesn’t have a “normal” 9-5 job, he’s an audio engineer who’s job entails lots of travel for him.  Yup – he’s a “roadie”.

Simon’s always been on the road, from when I first met him (he was working for one of the bands I was dealing with).  So – it wasn’t anything new to me.  When we decided to have a kid we agreed he’d ease up on the touring a bit, and I’d keep working.  So – we did a “Mr. Mom” arrangement for a bit.  Then, when I decided I wanted to spend more time with my little girl – he went back into the rat race of touring.  Wasn’t bad at first, couple of days here and there.  And then – High School Musical hit the road, taking him with it.  At first we thought it would only be for a few weeks, then it turned into several months.  And after that, came Hannah Montana, Cheetah Girls, and several other tours in between those.  He could have turned down the tours, but our daughter was so into all of it – how could he say no.  Mianna definitely got benefits from his touring.  There’s not many kids that can say Miley Cyrus and the Jonas Brothers sang happy birthday to them on their birthday!  Me, I just got lots of exercise chasing our son around the show arenas.  2 year olds are really not at all interested in meeting celebrities.

So while all of this sounds like oh so much fun (which it is), it’s also tough when he’s on the road.  It’s hard on me, but it’s hardest on my kids, especially my daughter.  I have to say, she’s been handling this so well since he’s been doing it.  She has her meltdowns every now and then – but hey, she’s an 8 year old girl who loves her daddy more than anything.  The toughest thing for me when he’s away is keeping life as normal as possible for them, all the while constantly reminding them how much their dad loves them and misses them.  He and I make sure they talk to him several times a day – always in the morning and always at night, at the very least.  He’s mentioned constantly throughout the day, and I really believe that helps keep his presence in the home when he’s away.   I’m always nervous that when he comes home, or calls, they’ll turn away from him.  But – when he walks through the door it’s like Santa just came in with armloads of presents.  It’s a good 10 minutes before they let him go.  And, while it’s hard on us – it’s just as hard on him.  Every time he misses a milestone (first tooth falling out, learning how to ride a bike, first day of school), it breaks his heart.  When my son was 10 months old – he spent a whole day with him trying to make him walk so he would be there for his first steps. It worked, Jordan took his first few steps after several hours of this exercise.  Ironically, he didn’t do it again until a month later.  Think he may have realized how tiring this walking thing is. Point is – it’s hard on everyone!

Being married to a road crew member (they don’t particularly love the term “roadie” these days) has its ups and downs.  It’s sort of like being married to a rock star without all the fame and fortune and drama that comes along with it.  But – he’s an amazing man and an absolutely wonderful father to our kids.  I wouldn’t trade our life for the world!

Michelle is a Project Manager for One2One Network