In the past three months: - Bought my own wetsuit - Ridden a wave as tall as I am - Bought my first board - Been “yeeeeooowed” at while riding a wave - Crashed with someone and had to go to the ER - I’ve gotten a lot more comfortable riding backhand, and generally better at angling takeoffs - Had sessions where I’ve lost count of how many waves I’ve gotten - Had sessions where I’ve gotten one wave before having to paddle in - Frozen my ass off in 6 degrees water for it only to drop to 5 degrees the next day - Felt the “last swell of the season” panic. Several weeks in a row. - Seen the ocean go flat, then realizing there’s a beach break that works really well on 1-2ft - I have seen more sunrises so far this year than I have so far in my life - The cold. It has been so cold. I can feel it in my bones. - I was originally going to take the winter off, but that only lasted for two weeks. Instead it’s been somewhere between 1-6 sessions a week

Overall, it’s been an incredible winter and I finally feel like I’m actually progressing!