Achieving happiness

Okay, firstly to warn you, this post is probably a bit deep and reflective, so if you're not in the mood for reflective reading, then perhaps give this one a miss.

Recently I've been highly aware of my own personal happiness. I am at a stage in my life where it's okay to take the time to think about what makes me happy and, if I'm not happy, to change my situation in order to reach that state of self-contentedness. It's selfish, and it's okay.

I suppose that my methods for achieving inner peace might not be acceptable to some; I don't have a career yet and I have probably been a bit irresponsible with the rock n' roll lifestyle. Some would describe my sabbatical as 'putting real life on hold' and, in certain respects, I have put it on pause for a year to see what else is out there. Except that I don't really think my life is on hold at all. I would say that it is the exact opposite. These last four months have been unbelievably dynamic and so so rich with new experiences.

Lately, the way I've found myself spending my days (and nights) has been the absolute definition of 'living'. I've encountered so many different experiences, all of which are adding to my accumulative bank of memories which form who I am. This period of time is one of growth. I am so clear now about who I am, what I stand for and what I am or am not willing to accept from those around me. This can only be learnt through experience, it can't be taught, nor can anyone else try to help you learn it. You must discover it for yourself.

I think that the only way one can truly grow is by stepping out of his or her comfort zone and broadening one's horizons. It's about meeting new people and doing things you might not normally do. Looking back on it all I can probably tick the 'Miss Adventurous' box. These past four months have given me a plethora of crazy tales to tell but, most importantly, I am now in a space of self-contentedness.

In one of my favourite books, Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert, she writes about happiness. I find it profound. Feast on her words, even re-read them if you fancy:

"Happiness is the consequence of personal effort. You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it, and sometimes even travel around the world looking for it. You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestations of your own blessings. And once you have achieved a state of happiness, you must never become lax about maintaining it. You must make a mighty effort to keep swimming upward into that happiness forever, to stay afloat on top of it." 

These words ring true for me. Of course achieving happiness is a constant effort, yet it is one with reward. Have you found true happiness?

Strolling in snow

Lake walk

After almost  four months of skiing it is now becoming less exciting to pull on the ski gear and head up the mountain day after day. Don't get me wrong, I usually really love it once I'm up there, it's just the getting there that can be a struggle.

So I have taken to doing other sorts of activities during the day between morning and evening work. One of my favourite ways to chill out and relax is to go for a walk in the snow and I thought I would show you some of the photos that I have taken recently on my wanderings.

Included in my journeys was a walk up the 'Summer Road', which is a skiable piste and is entirely up-hill. It was a bit of a mission, but so worthwhile once I made it to the top. Also, although you get quite hot, you're still cooled down by the snowy temperatures which are refreshing and, when you've reached the top, you can simply catch a chairlift back down to the bottom again.

The only problem with walks like these is that I can't find anyone who is keen to join me. Somehow the lure of watching a film in bed seems to far outdo the opportunity to get sweaty and do some exercise. Fair enough I suppose.

In the walking 'zone'

So pretty

The lake in Les Brevieres

So. much. ice

Frozen waterfall

The Boisses bubble

A little bit warm

L'Eglise at Boisses

At the top of Boisses

This week we have the Winter X Games which are being hosted in Val Claret. They are set to be very impressive and I am really excited to get out there and watch some amazing skiing and boarding. We've been watching some of the pros as they practice over the past few days. If you get a chance to check it out on television, definitely do. You'll see some incredibly talented people doing things you never thought possible.

Palafour and Pancakes

Palafour party

This week has been full of fun times! My friends and I took our beers up to the top of one of the runs in Tignes called the Palafour on a sunny afternoon this week and soaked up the rays while listening to music and having snowball fights. It was awesome - and so surreal - to just be chilling in the snow with friends, without any pretenses, just enjoying everyone's company.

Beers in the sun

Despite having to chase a lone snowboard down the mountain, only to find it stuck in a barrier about 500 metres down the piste, we all safely managed to make our way back after our drinking sesh. The ride back down to Brevieres was amazing. Everyone was buzzing and just skied so effortlessly so that, in less than fifteen minutes, we were home.

This week has also included a lovely lunch at one of the village's restaurants, La Sachette. I had a coffee and a scoop of chocolate ice cream. So yummy! Everyone else had pizzas and delicious soups and pastas.

Fortunately I saved space for what was to come next. Pancakes! For it was Shrove Tuesday and everyone knows you have to have pancakes on Shrove Tuesday.

We even made ours with candied lemon served with the obligatory lemon juice and sugar. We all ate them outside on the balcony with the table nicely laid. Very civilized.

The pancake making

We have also had a bit of a room change this week so that I now only share my room with Sarah (and another gorgeous girl called Milly, though she doesn't generally sleep in our room). The room looks so much nicer. We have magazines on top of a silk cloth, with a gold filigree art/deco style mirror in the corner, and amazing images on the walls taken from Elle magazine and In Style. It's so nice to have an inviting space to come back to and means that we can now have people into our rooms just to chill and to have drinks with or to watch a movie with, rather than being embarrassed of the space.

I'm starting to realise just how little time there is left of the season and am making as much use of the time as I can. Even if I am not skiing every day and instead spend the day leisurely going to restaurants and making pancakes, these are all memories I am sure to keep well into the future.

Ellie Goulding : The Writer

So who buys CD's anymore, really? Well that's what I thought until I myself did it the other day. If I'm honest, I just couldn't resist, or face the idea of streaming her songs off YouTube anymore. Ellie Goulding's latest album, Bright Lights, is absolutely incredible.

This is one of my favourite songs on the album. It's called The Writer.

Ellie Goulding has also done a cover of Your Song by Elton John and, although it's taboo to say, I think she has might have done it better. What do you think?

Breaking out of the Brev Bubble

The snowy view from outside the window at work

On Monday night a group of the staff from my hotel decided to break out of the 'Brev bubble' and go out in Val Claret for something different.

We had pre-drinks at the Underground Bar beneath our hotel and drank the obligatory 'Drop Kick Ninja's' which have cider, lager, vodka and cassis in them. They pretty much guarantee you a good night and they didn't disappoint. At around half-twelve we got a taxi over to Val Claret - at this point it was snowing really heavily so we were all white in no time - and went to a bar called Saloon. Saloon was fun and quite chilled, with a good vibe to it.

We then made our way to one of the most sleazy places I have ever been, called The Melting Pot. It was crammed full of awful French men who took pleasure in preying on the girls in the club. I ended up wearing my ring on my wedding finger but to no avail really. All of us staff had such a good time dancing and drinking together and, although everyone was pretty gone, it was still amazing to be away from the usual partying routine. At about 4am Aaron (who I work with), Will and his girlfriend Flaps, and a new guy called Andy all headed over to the kebab shop for the customary post-Melting Pot feed. We made our way back to the hotel at about 4.30am and I was up for work at 7am.

The Tuesday morning breakfast service went surprisingly smoothly and although I was ridiculously tired I got through it. I crashed pretty heavily after that and didn't make it out skiing in the afternoon, but did manage a few laps around the lake on my afternoon walk, so it wasn't a complete waste of a day.

Although the past few weeks have been testing because of the Half-Term rush of people and a certain middle of season lull in enthusiasm from all of us staff, I think that we are all past that now and the morale amongst us has certainly lifted.

It's difficult to believe that there are less than eight weeks of the season left. With that ending looming I am starting to plan out what I am going to do afterwards. I am very excited to be spending five fun-filled days with my beautiful friend Sarah in Paris. We plan to visit the flea markets and go on lovely walks and to take photos and sketch and just soak up the Parisian vibes. Cannot wait!

Also putting together plans to head to Italy, Spain, France and then to Greece to meet up with the gorgeous Aussie girlies from school - the three Sarah's! Sarah-Jane (one of my absolute best friends) and I will then be journeying around Eastern Europe for about a month and our itinerary is already filling with exciting trips like a ferry ride from Corfu to Croatia.

This year away is so worthwhile and the adventures are wonderful. I am so pleased to have made the decision to take this sabbatical and am loving (almost) every minute of it.

We have snow!

Sarah and I on the gondola

As of Tuesday 15th February we now have fresh snow in Tignes which is so exciting and has been much awaited.

Here are a few photos from our first day out in the snow since it arrived. In the photos are two gorgeous people, namely Sarah my roommate and Chef John who works at a chalet nearby.

Snowy skies

Chef John

Caught unawares

The pistes

Tignes Le Lac 

It's snowing

Hopefully there will be plenty more snow to come!

Luckily our guests this week have been unbelievably cool and a pleasure to look after. They took us out for an amazing meal in a really nice restaurant - I had escargots for entree and a pan-seared salmon fillet for main. The food was delicious and it was such a treat to be taken out and served rather than always waitressing everyone else.

Hoping there is more snow on it's way and, until then, making the most of the small dump we just received.

I hate Valentine's Day

For those of you with a boyfriend or girlfriend, husband or wife, I'd like to wish you a Happy Valentine's Day. I sincerely hope you're having a beautiful day together.

Me on the other hand? At risk of sounding bitter and twisted I'll let you know that I hate Valentine's Day. Of course it's only because I don't have someone special to share it with. If I did have a boyfriend I'd be in my element.

Maybe next year might be different? I expect I'll change my opinion of 'V' Day (v for vile) once I am one of those girls getting a tacky loveheart teddy bear. Please note though that I absolutely despise those naff Valentine's pressies such as bear cards and little cherubs. I'd much prefer a cute handmade card or an experience with someone like a picnic any day.

Anyway, now that that's off my chest I thought I'd let you know some good news: today it started snowing on the Tignes glacier. So exciting. We are expecting another 12 centimetres in the next day or two. Here's hoping!

Chalet Girl Foam Wrestling

This week has flown by ridiculously quickly! I spent my day off on Wednesday skiing with one of my colleagues - a 'ski companion'/ ski guide- and some guests over in Le Fournet, before enjoying some wine tasting in Val D'Isere. How civilized. We then headed to the Folie Douce and headed home at around 6pm - skiing in the dusky twilight - just in time for dinner.

On Wednesday night a 'once-in-a-season' event took place in the Underground Bar beneath our hotel. It is known as 'chalet girl foam wrestling' and, I have to admit, when I was asked to get involved I very firmly declined. I just wasn't really interested in participating in it because it is degrading to women and it doesn't really fit with my morals or principles. Boring I know. I didn't like the idea of so many sleazy men looking on at me while I competed without really gaining anything from it myself.

So although I wasn't wanting to personally participate I did go along to watch my friends give it a go. There was a foamy pit full of suds and each of the two competitors were given a sock. The object of the game was to remove your opponent's sock first. All clothes remained on, everyone was having fun and it wasn't skanky at all. It was just good, clean (and soapy) fun.

The bar was short of competitors and my colleague Janine who I get on so well with - and who was as adamant as I was that we wouldn't get involved - soon decided we'd compete against each other. Janine, who is from South Africa, took the stage-name 'Springbok' and my name was 'The Kangaroo'... how original of us. Our foam wrestling was spread over three rounds - round one I won, round two Janine defeated me and, in the third round, although it was ridiculously close, I managed to triumph. It was a huge amount of fun and I am really glad I did it in the end! A big buzz. Here are some of the photos:

The Kangaroo

Then, on Thursday, it was my roommate Sarah's 19th birthday. We all celebrated by holding an off-piste birthday picnic in the glorious sun. We had loud speakers, lots of food courtesy of the chefs, and some ice-cold beers. That picnic embodied what this ski season is about. It was unbelievably chilled and so much fun. We followed our picnic with a nice ski over to La Daille and the Ski Tranquille area of Tignes.

Regardless of the severe lack of snow here (there are exposed rocks and patches of grass all over the slopes) we are still in good spirits and are soon expecting some 10 centimetres of snow. Hopefully there will be much much more to come because my journey to work and back each day gets more and more slippery and I am now falling daily on the ice sheets.

Tomorrow is changeover day again and hopefully our guests next week will be lots of fun. We are expecting a large group of firefighters who like to party so I'm thinking it should be an interesting week. In the meantime... please pray for some snow!

Same sex marriage. What do you think?

I feel quite strongly about the right to same sex marriage.

I believe that everyone has the right to wed the one they love.

In the above clip,  19 year-old student Zach Wahl - who is fighting for equality in marriage rights - addresses a public forum on House Joint Resolution 6 in the Iowa House of Representatives.

His speech entirely personalises the debate. He is a striking example of how a same-sex couple can just as successfully raise children. 

Even if you don't agree with him, it's certainly worthwhile listening to what he has to say about his experience being raised by two women.

Atlas Hands

Something entirely un-snow related, but this has been my favourite song for a while now and I thought it needed to be shared!

I wake up to it each morning as my alarm and couldn't imagine anything more ideal as my wake-up song.

The video clip is also absolutely gorgeous - so full of beautiful seaside landscapes and breezy salt spray - it carries me far from the snowy setting I am currently in.

Hope you like it just as much.