Hi everyone! It’s Friday again which means it’s time for the Friday Five Linkup with Mar, Courtney, and Cynthia! This week’s theme is “Favorite winter Activities”, but I’m tweaking it a bit! I’m going to start off by writing about winter activities that I want to try this year. I never got the chance to do these activities in Philly and I’m excited to try them in Alaska! And then I’ll finish up with 5 of my current favorite winter activities. I love winter and I’m so excited to get more snow and get cold enough temps to start doing everything on my lists!
5 things I’m dying to do this winter:
1. Outdoor ice skating: All the outdoor rinks are currently still classified as thin ice, but I am so ready to rent some skates and try this one out!
Westchester Lagoon on Wednesday
2. Cross country skiing: REI rents skis and the parks and rec department has classes (yes we are that uncoordinated that we probably need a class on how to move while wearing skis) so this will be done as soon as possible!
3. Snowshoeing: We don’t need these yet, but if we ever get a ton of snow and want to hike we’re going to need some snowshoes!
4. Snow machining: Known to people in the Lower 48 as “snow mobiling” – I was told that if I say that here I’ll look like a tourist. Great. No chance of this happening since we don’t know anyone who has one, but it looks like fun!
5. Running in the dark: I’m so afraid to do this because of the close run-ins I’ve had with moose that were lurking near me in the forest without me noticing until it was too late, but I have to get over it at some point because it’s so dark after work!
5 of my current favorite winter activities:
1. Running in the snow: SO MUCH BETTER THAN SUMMER RUNNING. My studded shoes have made such a difference and now it’s like I’m running on normal snow-free ground – except it’s prettier!
2. Finding the Northern Lights: I’ve done this once already, but I want to see them as much as possible while it’s so dark out!
3. Building snowmen: When it starts snowing I immediately drop everything to do this. I can’t help it!
Last year’s snowman!
4. Perfecting my winter baking skills: I’m currently eating some incredible candy cane chocolate cookies that were made possible by my lovely Kitchen Aid. I made them twice this week. #sorrynotsorry
Recipe coming soon!
5. Catching up on my reading list: I brought so many books with me to Alaska – I’ve read most but there’s a list of ones I’m planning on reading all winter long!
I’ve got a lot to do – I better get started ASAP! And if you’re looking for a fun winter activity that will get you outside on the darkest day of the year, join me at the Solstice Sprint Virtual 5K on December 21st! It’s the first virtual race I’ve ever hosted and all of the details can be found here. We’ve already got quite a few people signed up and I can’t wait to run “with” everyone!
What’s on your to-do list this winter? What are your favorite winter activities?
Mom in the Mtns 
I look forward to your candy cane cookie recipe. My friend also posted a candy cane snicker doodle recipe – looks great. I hope you get to try outdoor ice skating – I think that is so cool!
It looks like so much fun! We saw a lot of people doing it on a nearby pond today despite the fact that it was labeled as thin ice and it was above freezing. No one was crashing through the ice so I guess I should try to join them soon!
A moose would freak me out too!! Holy smokes!!
It’s been a month since I’ve seen one, but I know they’re out there! They leave you alone as long as you give them a lot of space, but I’m afraid of not knowing they’re right next to me in the dark.
I don’t blame you at all!! That would be scary to look up and to see one right next to you.
Every winter I think I want to try cross-country skiing but haven’t yet. And yes, I love running in the snow!
We both need to do it this year!
I want to go outdoor ice skating! I’ve been indoor…but outdoor IS so much cooler!
I agree! I think it’s so much cooler with an actual lake below me – I’m going to feel like I’m in a Christmas movie!
My winter to do list also includes skiing – but I am an alpine skier! I would like to try cross country skiing though. Your cookies look great!
Ooooh that sounds like fun! I’m too uncoordinated for that haha. Hopefully we both get to do lots of skiing!
Please post the recipe for the cookies. They look divine. I would like to ride on a snow mobile! I’ve never seen one, except on TV.
I will! Look for it soon! And I want to ride on one too! They’re so expensive and there’s nowhere to do it in the city, but out in the suburbs there’s places where people do it. I wish I knew someone who had one that I could try out!
I am all about candy cane and chocolate mixed together. Those cookies look amazing!
They are so good! I’m going to share the recipe soon!
Awesome list. I’ve skated outside once, in NYC. They have one here in VA nearby that does it too but very small. Also, I’ve always wanted to try snowshoeing too. Looks like a cool and unique time.
I think snowshoeing looks like so much fun and I really want to try it! I’m hoping Santa will bring me a pair of snowshoes this year 🙂
Those cookies look delicious! I love all the fun winter activities you have on your list to try.
Thanks! I’ll share the recipe soon!
I am dying to go skating and cross country skiing! I haven’t done either in years!!
I’ve never done either! Well I did indoor ice skating once and looked like an idiot hanging on the side. I can’t wait to try everything!
Did you stud your own shoes? I see so many DIYs online but I’m nervous to try.
I took mine to a local running store and they did it for me for $10. I wrote a post about it (feel free to search “studded shoes”) and linked to DIY instructions that I thought sounded pretty good. I highly recommend it – running in the snow is so easy now! I was so scared to do it last year but with the studs it’s no big deal.
ack – i’d be terrified of a moose as well. i love ice skating!! 🙂
Yeah the moose are not my favorite. They are really cool to watch from a distance though! And I wish I was good at ice skating – last time I did it little kids were out-skating me like crazy!
I have never been snow mobiling either but it looks like so much fun. I would love to ski again this winter after my marathon is over. Cross country skiing sounds alot more work.
It does look tough, but I’m hoping it will be a good way for me to cross train on the trails. To me it looks safer than downhill skiing because I’m so uncoordinated!
I’m looking forward to trying running in the snow this winter. What kind of studded shoes do you wear? I’m clueless when it comes to snow-running footwear.
I was last year too! Last year I bought YakTrax Run shoe covers and ran with those. I liked them a lot but you can’t use them on non-icy or non-snowy surfaces like bare concrete or they’ll break. Here in Anchorage we have a running store who studs shoes for $10 so I had them do that to my old Mizunos that have 200 miles on them. I won’t ever be able to use them indoors or in the other seasons (although they won’t break on concrete), but they’re working awesomely right now on the snow and ice! If you search my blog for “studded shoes” I wrote a post about them and linked to a website with DIY studding instructions. You can do them yourself with a power drill!
Thank you for this great info!
Run in with a moose!?!?! HOLY cow I would flip. I’ve only ever run in the dark around my neighborhood because I’m too chicken to go any further when I’m alone haha.
So am I which is why I haven’t done it yet! The moose are fine if you give them space, but I’m afraid I won’t be able to do that in the dark. I feel that a lack of sunlight is the root of all of my problems haha!
Those cookies look so good! A moose would terrify me – they are huge! I can downhill ski but cross-country skiing caught me for a loop – I couldn’t figure out how to slow down. Looks like you’re embracing the Alaskan weather. I would love to see the Northern lights – that sounds amazing.
That is a really good (and really scary) point about cross country skiing! I’m kind of afraid of skiing and ice skating, which is why I want to learn how to do them so bad! Everyone looks like they’re having so much fun and I’m worried about how to stop haha. I would like to see them more too – it’s too cloudy all the time! I’ll be sure to post next time I see them!
Snowshoeing is so much fun! And, no special skills needed…as long as you can get them on your feet, you’re good to go. Have fun!