I moved.

I moved to the Lake Tahoe area. Specifically, Truckee, CA. It is absolutely beautiful here. The water, and the mountains, and the snow, and the rocks. It is hard to fully take in. I’ve wanted to do this for a really long time. To move to a place that is completely different from one I have ever lived in, to snowboard a lot, and maybe even to find some freedom in a lifestyle that is completely different from the one I was previously pursuing, one that is completely different from the “American dream.”



This is the lake.



Today marks my 2^nd week anniversary of being here. I flew in with my dad and had my car and my possessions shipped out to me here. I got a job as a snowboard instructor at Northstar-at-Tahoe, and moved into an apartment at the base of the mountain.

This is my apartment.

So far things have been going well, but off to a slow start. I’ve gone snowboarding quite a few times at a resort called Boreal. Their terrain park right now is better than anything I have ever ridden in Michigan and we are only a couple weeks into the season. I went to the skatepark that is 10 minutes away from my house once. It is pretty fun and flowy. I have never lived so close to a concrete skatepark, and it is going to be really nice to have around. There are a lot more nearby skateparks too that I cannot wait to check out. I’ve gone into Reno, NV a couple times (the nearest city) in search of community and friends that care about more than just snowboarding (not to say there is anything wrong with my snowboarding friends, there is just more to my life than the shred). I joined a cool food co-op in Reno. I had mixed feelings about it, but the people who run it seem rad (both meanings) and it seems like a good way to get my foot into the door of the activist community out here.

Last Friday I found this cool show space called The Holland Project and saw a ton of Reno’s finest bands play. I really enjoyed that place and plan on going back. It is weird, when you have already been established in a local music scene for so many years to move to a new city with a new scene where you don’t know anyone. All of this is a new experience for me and it is pretty fun and exciting, but also, it makes me appreciate a lot of what I had back home. A couple months ago, I pictured moving out here could be this great new start for me, where I could have the chance to get back involved in music and things I relate with my interest in music, that I had drifted so far away from back home. I still kind-of see it as that, but I didn’t think it would make me miss back home so much. I want to see familiar faces at shows, and know where to go with your friends after shows. I am sure I will develop that here, but for now it is just weird and I fear that I am not outgoing enough to really make the friends I hope to in such a short period of time.

In other news, Northstar-at-Tahoe opens Friday, and I can’t wait. It is going to be so great to ride some of the longest runs of my life which also happen to be right outside my door. What else? I cut my hair shorter. My dreads aren’t so out of control anymore.

This is me being half done.

Anything else, hmmm? Oh yeah, I like a boy. He seems to like me too, which is nice. He lives in Grand Rapids though, which is terribly inconvenient at this time. We Skype a lot, which is super uncool, but I still like it a lot. I miss him, and friends, and family, but I will be home soon, and until then I am going to try to have the best winter of my life.

This is the most recent picture of codi and I.