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Monthly Archives: December 2010

Final Lessons and Thoughts from 2010

So Christmas has come and gone, and I’m also finally finished with all the Christmas posts! (Wow, those took me a long time, and in my last post, internet explorer crashed on me and I ended up having to re-do half of the post! Lesson learned: always save drafts as you go!)

Speaking of lessons learned, I’ve been reflecting a lot on this past year and thinking about what were some of the greatest lessons that came my way. As I say goodbye to 2010 and hello to 2011, I want to share with you 2 indelible thoughts that I had the privilege of hearing in the past week.

The first one came from Mrs. Pelletier a few days ago. We had all just come in from the nippy cold night air, and it reminded her of one day a long time ago… She was in a salon, getting her hair done, on a very cold day in Terrace; the women there were all shivering and griping to each other about the cold weather. Then in comes an older lady, in her 80’s, known for being very active still. And she just said, “this weather is so invigorating!” Mrs. Pelletier said she always remembers that comment, how it’s all in your attitude.

What a wonderful way of looking at life. Because we certainly can’t control what the weather is like, what little annoyances or catastrophes and tragedies might come our way; the only thing we can do is shift our perspective, manage how we think or feel about things.

This is something that I have been striving to implement in my life. One of my worst faults is that I worry incessantly, and tend to be negative and pessimistic. It is something I am trying to change everyday. Some days I’m more successful than others.

So the next time I’m annoyed by traffic, or weather, or other more serious life stresses, I will remember that I have the power to rise above the negativity by changing my attitude.

The second lesson came from Mr. Pelletier. One morning, I looked out our living room window at the snow-capped mountains in the distance, and remarked how beautiful they were, how beautiful this city is. Mr. Pelletier agreed, and we admired the scenery together for a few moments. Then he said, “Well, everyday is beautiful. Everyday that you’re alive is beautiful.”

And that about sums it up. I am still in the process of formulating my resolutions and goals for the new year, but I know that the most important goal I can make is to smile and laugh and feel thankful each and every day, to remember what a blessing it is to just be alive.

And with that, I’m off to ring in the new year with our dear friends! Have a safe and happy new year everyone!! 🙂

 

Posted by on December 31, 2010 in Thoughts

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Christmas 2010 Part 4

The last few days of Mr. and Mrs. Pelletier’s visit was filled with more fun activities and yummy eats.

Starting with coffee made in my new coffee maker the next morning!

YUM. I actually like the smell of coffee even more than the taste, and I can’t describe to you how fantastic it is for me to smell that brewing coffee in the morning… Len and I have been enjoying coffee every morning since then in our new Christmas mugs that Charmaine gave us!

We went on a rainy day excursion to Stanley Park.

I’ve lived in this city for 14.5 years now, but the sight of the mountains never ceases to take my breath away.

 

 

 

 

Then we came across this extraordinary sculpture on Beach Ave:

This is “We” by Jaume Plensa from Spain.

“A work that celebrates the linguistic diversity of the human race by putting multiple alphabets together on a single human form. Sitting proudly, without a face, the larger-than life figure is made up of characters from eight alphabets, Latin, Greek, Russian Cyrillic, Hebrew, Hindi, Japanese, Arabic and Chinese. Characters make up the skin of the body form and open for interpretation by a global and multi-lingual Vancouver audience. The 16 foot, painted stainless steel sculpture, draws us away from the daily distractions of a constantly bustling city and helps us appreciate the beauty of linguistic diversity.”  (Source)

 

We then headed to West Van and had lunch at one of our favourite places, Savary Island Pie Company.

 

I tried tortiere for the first time, and it was really good! And it was paired with a red lentil and spinach soup that was seriously outta this world!

That evening was very special. We sang Christmas carols while I played the piano! I’ve always wanted to do that with family, and it was even more fun and special than I’d imagined it to be. It also reminded me of the times when my dad and I would jam together, me on piano and him on his various chinese instruments, and put our own spin on these Christmas classics.

 

 

 

It was a rip-roarin’ good time!

As a side note, did I mention that I’ve been eating a ridiculous amount of chocolates, cookies, and just food in general? Oh my. Oh dear. But I did try to have stabilizing breakfasts, such as this quinoa porridgy goodness:

And lots of fruit. Like this vibrant dragon fruit:

 

 

 

One night, we went out for a scrumptious dinner at the Golden Star Seafood Restaurant:

 

 

Mmmm lobster! 🙂

On one of the only sunny days we had, we took a little walk in Lynn Valley:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In between all our gallivanting, we did find time to finish the puzzle!

It sure was a tough one! Mrs. Pelletier was truly the puzzle master!

It was a good thing the puzzle got done when it did, cuz I was starting to see the world in puzzle pieces, even in my dreams!

We also had a lot of hearty laughs playing the Wii!

 

 

 

And on their last evening here, we had a lovely dinner at The Keg:

 

 

It was a beautiful, happy Christmas, full of all the things that I’ve always loved best about this holiday season. Everyday I was filled with such thankfulness in my heart, for all the wonderful people whom I love and who love me, for all the laughter we share, and for all the innumerable blessings in my life. We were sad to see Mr. and Mrs. Pelletier go. I look forward to many more Christmases together!

 

Posted by on December 31, 2010 in Hanging Out

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