Hello, my friends! I hope those of you who had yesterday off for the holiday enjoyed it! Inspired by the Olympic Winter Games, Matt, my dad, and I decided to take a day trip and go skiing!
We drove up to Whitetail in Pennsylvania, which is only about 1.5 hours from DC. It was INSANELY crowded (Matt and I had to wait nearly 2 hours to rent skis – my dad was lucky and owns his so he headed straight to the black diamonds), but once we got going it was worth the wait. It was such a beautiful day for skiing!
So sunny and the trails were mostly powder vs. ice, too, which was great.
Matt and I got in a couple runs on the easier slopes and then spent most of the afternoon on the blue (intermediate) slopes, which were pretty steep but nice and wide and a lot less crowded than the greens.
The lift to get up to the blues was way less crowded and faster, too – good motivation to step it up a notch! I’m not all that great of a skiier since I didn’t learn until late in high school and only go about once a year, but I feel like I’m starting to get more confident out there. Matt was sweet and stuck with me on the easier slopes all day. 🙂
Before we settled in and I got my ski legs back a little bit, Matt shot a hilarious video of me on the bunny slope on our first run of the day. His commentary totally makes it – you can hear us both start cracking up at the end of the video as I “whizz by” (aka slide by at approximately 2 miles per hour, lol). He totally has the Olympic Winter Games TV commentator voice down, too. Hilarious. I tried to embed the video directly but it wasn’t working, so instead click here to view it on YouTube. Enjoy 😉
I did feel really inspired out there yesterday, though, given that we’ve been watching so much amazing winter sports coverage on TV over the past week! While we were out there yesterday I had a lot of fun pretending I was in the Olympic Winter Games, slicing my way down the mountain to victory. I feel like everyone else out there yesterday was doing the same thing – there were some little stops on some of the slopes where snowboarders could practice some tricks, etc. Anyone else obsessed with watching all the action on TV? Matt and I have been enjoying it nonstop. I don’t want it to end!
One of the things I’ve also really been enjoying while watching the action is, actually, the commercials! The Winter Games-focused commercials have all been so inspiring and sweet and I love seeing an inside look into the athlete’s lives. One of my favorites so far has been the AT&T #ItsOurTime ads, all about showing the hard work and dedication the athletes have to their sport and training to be part of Team USA. I’ve been saying to Matt how much I love these ads since last week, so when I got an email from the AT&T team asking if I’d like to share a sponsored post about the #ItsOurTime campaign to support the athletes, I was all about it. What a fun coincidence!
AT&T is a proud partner of Team USA, and their #ItsOurTime app gives all of us a chance to directly show our support for the athletes who have worked so tirelessly over the past 4 years to represent our nation. The free app (available via iTunes & Google Play) is all about celebrating and honoring all of the sacrifices made by the amazing athletes of Team USA. Their talent, perseverance, and commitment to their sport and their country is palpable — and now it’s time to cheer them on! By downloading the #ItsOurTime app, fans all across the country can record themselves shouting the iconic “USA!” chant, and the chants (put together in an interactive digital wall) will be shared with our Team USA athletes before they compete! Cool, huh? Check out my chant video! U-S-A! U-S-A! It’s so cool to think about the athletes seeing me cheering for them before they compete. 🙂
AT&T has offered a fun giveaway for you guys as part of this campaign – one lucky winner will receive the new Samsung Galaxy S4 Active (it’s waterproof – how cool is that?! would be great for skiing!), and another lucky winner will receive a $150 visa gift card and an assortment of Team USA gear/memorabilia.
- To enter to win, simply comment with which Team USA athlete and/or sport you have been most excited to cheer for!
- Want an additional entry? Download the free #ItsOurTime app, record your own U-S-A chant video, and submit an additional comment with a link to it (just post the link you receive via email once you upload the video through the app).
I’ll randomly select the winners on Friday and will notify them directly via email!
A big thank you to AT&T for sponsoring this post, and for supporting Team USA! See below for a little more about our awesome athletes – I shared a few of my favorite inspirational quotes from some of their interviews!
Get to know Team USA!
Shani Davis – Speedskating
- (Talking winning gold in 2006): “To this day when I think of all the hard work, sacrifice, and obstacles I overcame to win that race I still get emotional.”
Meryl Davis – Ice Dancing/Figure Skating
- (Talking walking in to the 2010 Games): “The experience absolutely surpassed my expectations. Wearing our team uniforms, waving the American Flag… what a feeling of pride.”
Charlie White – Ice Dancing/Figure Skating
- “We always make a point to hug our moms before we go get ready to compete.” – so cute!
Justin Reiter – Slopestyle/Snowboarder
- “Like all athletes I have faced a lot of moments in my career where quitting would have been a lot easier. Injuries, poor finishes, unmet goals, and adversity have made for a bumpy road. I am inspired to keep going simply because in my heart I know that the pain and regret that comes along with quitting is greater than any difficulty I face.”
Noelle Pikus Pace – Skeleton
Shaun White – Snowboarder
Alyson Dudek – Speedskating
- Most inspiring thing anyone has said to her: “Don’t let the good days go to your head, but don’t let the bad days go to your heart. It’s a long journey, but the reward is worth it.”
Heath Calhoun – Paralympian/Skiing
Alana Nichols – Paralympian/Skiing
- (Talking winning gold in 2010): “I had overcome so much leading up to that moment and when I won that giant slalom race my spirit exploded with joy and sorrow and everything in between. It was one of the most amazing moments of my life.”
Have a wonderful day, my friends!
