January finds me back in the city by the bay, where the weather is surprisingly pleasant, considering it's supposed to be the dead of winter.  Last year, the winter was particularly harsh, and I was keenly aware of it, given I rode my bike to school every single day, rain, shine, snow, ice, or any combination thereof.  During this time, my belief in global warming eroded as freezing temperatures extended well into March, with some snow storms hitting even in April.  On several bike trips to school, I hit black ice in the parking lot, which would send my back tire sliding and slipping in whichever direction momentum would lead it, as I tried to maneuvered what would turn out to be a mix between a flying dismount, an emergency eject, and an express abandon-ship, all while I watched and felt my bike spin out from under me, fooling myself into thinking I'd somehow be able to land on my feet.

Needless to say, this winter's bike commute is much more appealing.  I've joined the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, and have more or less figured out the routes that work for me as I get to where I need to go around the city.  In an effort to reduce my carbon footprint and save the whales, I try to drive only when leaving the city; and every time I try to navigate the city streets while driving, or even ride the train during rush hour, I am emphatically reminded why I opt to ride a bike.

The holidays have come and gone, and I joined in the joviality and merrymaking.  Alex, my friend from high school, and his wife hosted a Thanksgiving feast to which I was graciously invited.  Alex's family was also in town from Utah, and the following day, we also all joined forces for a Black Friday stroll around the city.  As December rolled around, I found myself at a few office holiday parties, a church charity auction, and other festivities.  My brother Philip even flew out here to take some sort of aptitude exam, and stayed with me for a few days.  I treated him to some of the local ethnic cuisine, with which he was not impressed.

Towards the end of December, I flew back to Utah to spend the holidays with family.  I spent an enjoyable two weeks there, saw plenty of family, attended my cousin's wedding, and got to experience the snow and cold, something I had as of yet not done this season.  Taking advantage of the snow on the ground, we had a few sessions of horse-training, where we got my Dad's horses comfortable pulling a seasonally appropriate "one horse open sleigh."  I caught a quick picture of one moment of it:

Also, in the vein of taking advantage of the mountains and snow while I could, I made it up to the ski resorts twice, once with family and once with friends.  Here I am at the base of Brighton Ski Resort with my friend Tommy Hyatt and his little brother Peter, after a full day on the slopes.

The holidays having come to an end, I returned back to San Francisco, where my now-furnished apartment was waiting for me.  After chaotic mismanagement of my IKEA order, my stuff finally arrived to its intended destination. I got two sofas, a bed, a rug, some side tables, and several bookcases.  My apartment is small, but it's pretty nice!  See for yourself:

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Now, as I hear of record low temperatures throughout the nation, as well as debilitating winter storms, I am content enjoying the 50-60 degree breeze as I fly through the clogged city streets on my bike.  At work, I still have not been assigned a client to do chargeable work, but I have been enlisted to work on various "job jar" projects as they call them, doing data cleansing, format conversions, and deliverable document preparation.

Hopefully the new year will bring with it some good projects to work on, despite the lagging economy.  Whatever the future brings, I'm glad I have a job and steady income, because from what I understand, that's becoming less and less common in the population, especially among those just now entering the work force.