Merry Happy Everything

This Christmas was a bit slapdash for our family; none of the presents were wrapped until Christmas Eve, our extended family "christmas party" wasn't until Dec 27th, and we watched exactly zero Christmas movies together. It wasn't that we were lacking in Christmas cheer, we just were too busy with everything else going on!! And guess what? It has honestly been the best holiday season yet!

I'm just so happy to be reunited with my friends and family that nothing else has seemed to matter much!

And what better present is there than to be bursting with love and gratitude?

The week before Christmas one of my dear (and tallest) friends, Gardner, came back from serving a two year mission for our church. While waiting for him to land at the airport I saw another friend of mine whom I also hadn't seen in two years!! It was just Grand Reunion Central

As our friend group keeps welcoming more and more friends home, it is so fun to see how everyone has changed over these last 2 years, but also how they are exactly the same. 

Speaking of change, I was more than surprised at the airport to find that my little brother (who is 10 years younger than me!) is not so little anymore! On his tiptoes we are almost the same height! 

Every winter break my mom lets each of us choose one family activity that we really want to do, mine this year was to make gingerbread houses. Ev and I teamed up and came up with two masterpieces! Everett wants to be an architect when he grows up (plus a goalie and a game inventor, but that's besides the point) so he gets credit for most of the ideas, I just helped him execute his vision. Usually he really isn't into this kind of thing, so I couldn't help but laugh when he poured some sugar in the palm of his hand and gently blew on it to give the gingerbread houses a snow dusted look, genius! 

I am going to just have to do a whole separate blog post about skiing.. But suffice it to say that while the valley was seriously lacking in snow, the mountains were not. This photo was from when it snowed 18" overnight and we skied in deep powder all. day. long. 

Also: Is anyone surprised that Santa was shredding at Alta the day before Christmas Eve? nope. 

low quality picture, but high quality friends, so it's staying right here. 

And then BAM, in the blink of an eye it was suddenly Christmas Eve! 

Our tree is always ladden with ornaments that us kids have collected over the years. This handmade one is my favorite. I bought it in Germany at a christmas market a few years ago. 

While I loved watching my younger siblings open up their presents, the real highlight of Christmas was without a doubt: MY BOY BRENNON, or should I say Elder O rocking it in the Orlando, Florida mission! We got to talk to him for a whole 45min on Christmas day and we all just screamed when he popped up on the screen, because we were so excited. 

He is doing so great, I love that kid! I couldn't be prouder of him. He also sent us the most random assortment of presents and letters in a box from Florida, which I loved too! He is such an example to me of love and service, I can't wait to see how he grows over his two years! 

Cue more friends, more homecomings, and more reunions! 

Then, Dads birthday on the 29th is always special! This year we kept it simple and went skiing, went to noodles & co, then had a very green mint chocolate chip cake! I failed to get a good picture of him, but this one somehow seemed to suffice. HBD Dad! 

Finally, to kick off 2015 right Pelle and I went on a 3hr long hike in the terrace hills. The view was gorgeous, the air was fresh, and the good karma was flowing! I accidentally dropped my drivers license in the snow and a kind Russian woman picked it up and found me on the trail. 

Also, we saw a coyote, the coolest flock of birds ever, and a large herd of deer. So I'd say it was a successful outing! 

Holidays schmolidays, traditions are fun, but friends and family are what it is really all about! 

2015, I'm ready. 

The Best Four Days // NYC

Everyday in New York City was an adventure! We walked across Manhattan way too many times, ate the best pizza, went to the MoMA, ate Shake Shack (my favorite burger place in the whole world) visited the public library, went shopping at the coolest stores, got to have lunch with Pelle's best friend whom he hadn't seen in a year, plus we got a behind the scenes tour of CBS studios from another dear friend of ours who works there. Not to mention all the laughs we shared along the way!

Dare I say BEST TRIP EVER?! I think so.

And thus concludes the last of my NYC recap posts!! You can see the other posts from my trip HERE, HERE, and HERE!

Times Square // NYC

While editing this new batch of new york photos, I kept thinking about the last time Pelle and I went to New York with our mom, in 2011. So I went on a trip down memory lane and had a little too much fun looking through the old pictures and comparing them to the new ones. My brother will be upset if he ever sees this post, because the pictures are definitely blurry iphone shots, but you know what? I like them! They may not be the best quality, but they certainly are symbolic. 

Remarkably, little of our exterior appearance has changed in these last few years! Yeah we both look a little older, our hair is a little curlier, but other than that, we look about the same. Oh, if only a photo could capture the huge amount of inner personal growth both of us have experienced!  In the space between these photos: we moved away from home and from each other, we transitioned from high school to our respective universities, we have faced many trials and had many an adventure, overall we both have continually sought to become better people.. All this combined has definitely impacted our personalities for the better! 

We had a ridiculous amount of fun together then, but somehow this trip was even better.

Shoutout to mom for somehow dealing with our twin shenanigans twice now in NYC! 

Times Square is such an iconic New York City location and fun to experience. But, I also should admit that I have mixed feelings about this place.. I can't tell if Times Square is one of the best or one of the worst places in the city! haha. It is teeming with vibrancy and life, the billboards are bright and I love its city vibe. But on the other hand, it is packed with hustlers, tourists and an overwhelming number or people/things vying for your attention. I think it is one of those places you just have to appreciate for what it is, and realize that there is more to this city then Times Square.  

More New York 2014 posts HERE and HERE

Highline // NYC

One of my favorite stops in NYC!
This park is built on the remains of an old railroad line. Elevated among the buildings, you have a super cool view of SoHo and all its crazy cool architecture. I love the mixing of modern + old brick buildings. Having this green space in the middle of a densely populated urban area is way cool too. I hope to come back someday during the summer (when it is even greener!) and have a picnic on the grass. It sounds like a great way to escape the hustle and bustle of the city, while admiring it from above.
So glad we missed out on the polar vortex and got to actually explore this place with blue skies and a hint of sunshine. Put this place on your New York City bucketlist asap.

More posts from our new york trip coming up pronto! And in case you missed my last NYC post, click here!

Do Rad Stuff

Our mom has a tee shirt that says "do rad stuff" and although we always made fun of her, telling her that it really said "do BAD stuff", that saying somehow became the self-proclaimed motto of us tribal kids! We wanted to make the most of our winter break, we wanted to do sick things, have adventures and just "do RAD stuff". While packing in all these rad activities made for a busy winter break, I had a ridiculous amount of fun, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

// a day at the shooting range, a first for all of us! I wouldn't call us "gun-totting" kind of people, but we had a good time. It is a lot harder then it looks in the movies. But I did get THREE bulls-eyes my first time! Although, don't be too impressed, I have to admit that the target wasn't that far away..

// ice palace pics! yep you heard that right, we went to a palace built completely out of ICE. It was freezing cold and dark, but they had the coolest (no pun intended) lights and we managed to get a few pics. Also pda alert: those are my cute parents in the far right photo.

// rock climbing.. super rad, but a lot harder than I thought! I love climbing up small cliffs while hiking, so I thought I'd be a natural at these boulder walls. False. But I did get a nice workout and had a good time.

// getting my wisdom teeth out.. not so rad! But I made a super speedy recovery and a week later I was going out to dinner with friends and eating copious amounts of Mexican and Thai food.

// and the raddest activity of them all? SKIING of course. Powder was the name of the game this time around! So. much. snow. The powder skiing over winter break was amazing! Skiing through all those storms? Not so easy, but I love it anyway.

and thus concludes my Winter Break SLC posts.
more New York City posts coming at ya soon though!

Brooklyn Bridge // NYC

I think I have an addiction... This is my second trip to NYC in six months!
I seriously love this city. Whenever I come home or return to my university in Switzerland I have to fly through JFK, so this time I just paid an extra $5 (steal of a deal!) and delayed my "layover in JFK" to four days of NYC fun! My twin wasn't able to come with last trip (but don't feel too bad for him, he was gallavanting across Europe at the time) so he, and our awesome mom, decided to accompany me to NYC this time for a final hurrah to Winter Break 2014. Last week I said my goodbyes to Utah friends/family and we caught a red eye flight from SLC---> JFK, so the morning of day one was spent napping.. but that evening we decided to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge, a first for all of us. It was only a bit chilly (luckily the polar vortex was gone by the time we arrived!) and we loved it!
Highly recommend "must do" item for anyone visiting NYC in the near future. 

// view of the city with the Manhattan skyscrapers disappering into the fog
// wooden slats on the bridge dating back to its construction in 1883
// the cutest little water tower there ever was

^^ excuse the low quality iphone photo, but it wouldn't be a "winter break" post without a twin pic! ;)

We started crossing the bridge at dusk so by the time we made it to the Brooklyn side it was already dark and the bridge was beautifully lit up! ^^

oh and tip for anyone walking the bridge: visit the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory near the waterfront on the Brooklyn side, their strawberry ice cream was DEVINE. I wish I had a pic, but that is a testament to how fast we devoured it (in spite of the cold weather!) it was that good.

last trip to NYC, click here
more NYC posts coming soon!

A Twin Celebration

Ingredients for a "perfect celebration"
✓ thai food (massaman curry for me, red curry for him)
✓ a snowy ski day up at Alta
✓ lots of laughs + fun times with the family at dinner
✓ a new episode of Sherlock (so good so good so good!!)

Pow

Meet my second home: Alta Ski Resort
aka #thebestever
Out of the 29 days I have been home, I have managed to clock in TEN solid ski days amid a wisdom teeth surgery, multiple family parties, and a weekend trip. So I am pretttyyyy proud. I have only been skiing for three years, so I am no expert! But this year was so much fun!! And really the first year where I feel like I have improved my technique while still having a good time!
Plus, we have had a few awesome storms and some serious powder days!

the twins go skiing

i do my own stunts (^^) which is to say that I end up looking like this 75% of the time I am skiing.

And only sometimes do I look like I, just might, have a clue about what to do (^^)

I am seriously bummed that the ski season is already over for me. I am hopping on a flight tomorrow evening. But, I am also stoked because I have one last winter break adventure before school begins again; New York City 2014 with the twin and mom! I just have to get packed now..

The Tribe Goes Tubing

Every year The Tribe goes on a mini-vacation the weekend after Christmas to celebrate my dad's birthday. We pack up the car and drive an hour over the mountains to Heber, Utah. To kick off the weekend celebration we all went snow tubing at Soldier Hollow, a cross country ski resort which hosted events for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake. We have been tubing there for the past four years, but this year was by far the best one yet!

Liam (bro #3) + Me + Maxwell (bro #5 and youngest tribe member) [photo credit: Pelle] 

Twin pic + the ever enthusiastic Brennon (brother #2) 

I got a little bit of air on that jump... plus some seriously windswept hair! [photo credit: Pelle] 


We seriously had such a fun two hours and got in near a dozen runs. The only bummer was that they capped tubing groups at 3 tubes for safety reasons.. But we mayyyy have broken a few rules and run past the staff at the top to form an 8 tube mega group our last run.. ;)

This video is super short (about 45sec) but a fun tubing snippet!
Three of us older siblings formed the most perfectly aerodynamic tubing formation and because of that I found myself flying in the air not once, but twice as I spearheaded our tubes zooming down the mountain. It is just a miracle I didn't completely fall off!


Tribe Tubing from Jessica Oglesby on Vimeo.

You could say that the tribe goes hard.

While most schools are back in session now, I somehow lucked out with two more weeks of break! And I am stoked! So not ready to go back to school yet, I'm having too much fun at home!
Turns out that Utah is quite the winter wonderland!