Merry Christmas!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Hope you all have a day filled with great food, fun activities, many memories and most of all a fabulous day with friends and family:)

Thinking... :)

You're not alone
Together we stand
I'll be by your side
You know I'll take your hand
When it gets cold
And it feels like the end
There's no place to go
You know I won't give in
No, I won't give in

Keep holding on
Cause you know we'll make it through
We'll make it through
Just stay strong
Cause you know I'm here for you
I'm here for you
There's nothing you can say
Nothing you can do
There's no other way when it comes to the truth
So, keep holding on
Cause you know we'll make it through
We'll make it through

Hear me when I say
When I say I believe.
Nothing's gonna change
Nothing's gonna change destiny
Whatever's meant to be
Will work out perfectly

Lyrics: Avril Lavigne - Keep Holding On

I love Zoolights!

Zoolights were great again this year...all part of the tradition. I wish there had been more snow, but the lights were still great...and with hot chocolate and tea we were set. :)

Photos: jbrandick

Phew!

Well they are done. What a blast! Five concerts later, we are done. Always sad to see the end come...you work and work, practice and practice...always worth it in the end! It flew by, but I can't wait until the new year to start all over again!

Thanks to my brother I have a couple shots that I can share with you:) They are a little blurry, but hopefully you can get the idea!

Dress rehearsals

One down, four to go... I love this, so much fun:) Here are a few shots from the dress rehearsals we had earlier this week.

Photos: jbrandick

Trying to distract myself...

Well...thanks to Google Earth I can show this! The arial view of my new home...been here for a month and it's been great! So here you go...we're in the southern most building:)

Memories

So...December first is here. I cannot tell you all how excited I am about Christmas. It is a wonderful time of year, and anyone that knows me well enough knows about the countdown, the love of eggnog lattes, the Christmas lights and the desire to be with the ones I love.















Something I am struggling with this year though is the memories. It's hard to explain really. Some of you know what I'm talking about. The day of 'news' is coming upon me. I thought that I would be ok, but I find myself thinking about it a lot. I have so many mixed feelings. In the end - I wish things were different. I wish the news had remained, and not changed a few days later. I hurt. And the hole is still there, I thought it was closing, but it's still there. Sorry for the vent... I never thought I would feel sad at Christmas, but for the next little bit I think I will be. Thanks for listening...



Photos: jbrandick

Snow:)

Snow. I love it. We have snow, and with the abnormally low temperatures the snow has stayed! -42C with wind chill is a little crazy…but at the same time it’s winter, and it’s making the snow stay. Sadly (for me anyway) the snow will be gone soon…it is warming up and should be about +12C by Sunday…talk about some huge adjustments for the body:)

Here is a couple pictures I got from the current snowfall…hopefully we’ll get a lot more snow between now and Christmas and I’ll be able to get some great snowy pictures of our Christmas lights!

Photos: jbrandick

Provinces and States visited!

I saw this link on Luke's blog and thought it was interesting...so I figured I would see where it is that I have traveled too!

Feel free to give it a try here!

Pictures from the weekend!

Here are a few pictures from the past weekend with C. He was kind enough to let me play around with his cameras which have many more features and lenses than I could ever imagine! It was great...learning to use different features and lenses. As you can see below I had a lot of fun with the fish eye lens. There were many more taken...about 60 or so, but I thought I would limit it to these for the time being...save some for later too:)

Me at the bar in Jump...

Trying to get the hang of things...

Unique perspective of the escalator...

The rest are the Christmas lights at BCE Place...beautiful!

Photos: jbrandick, chendriks

Weekend was fabulous! Show was amazing (go and see it if you get the chance!), dinner was great, and got to catch up with a couple friends. Fantastic time...I cannot say that enough:)

Only downfall is that they left my bag in Toronto...so it should get delivered tomorrow:(

I'll have pictures tomorrow hopefully as the disk is in my bag...

:)

My weekend ahead...

Just in the process of packing for the weekend. Been looking forward to this weekend for weeks...I am going to Toronto to see Wicked! I cannot wait! The generousity of my friend is unbelievable really, and he is the reason I am able to do this. Thank you so much, I cannot say thank you enough:)

Mmmmmm...

This is what I came home to today...

I have the best roommate ever!!! :)

Sunsets

I love sunsets...I love dusk...I love the peace that it offers!

Short and sweet...

Ok...well a short update at the end of my day:)

I am moved! YAY! Not everything is set up, but things are looking good! Just have to go through some more storage on Saturday (weather permitting) and things will be good to go!

Going to the Goo Goo Dolls tonight! So excited! If it is anything like the last show it's going to be fabulous!

And...

this is really only exciting for me...

IT'S SNOWING!!!

:-)

James!

Less than four hours from now...

So exciting!

For a little afternoon fun...

http://www.star28.net/snow.html

In preparation for Happy Feet!!

Moving

Moving sucks.

Makes me tired thinking about it.

Ah well...it will be done shortly...

Still sucks though.

I'm off...wish me luck! :)

Weather!

How does the weather go from this...

To this...

To this...

In 24 hours? Crazy!

Photos: jbrandick

Vee Dub With The Most Love!

This past weekend I entered Vivian (my beloved VW) in the Vee Dub With The Most Love contest that was being held at two VW dealerships in town. The objective was to have the highest odometer reading in a car that was still drivable.

I thought that Vivian and I had a good chance with this being that his reading at that time was about 330,500 km's.

Sadly, we did not win. With 330,500 km's we were no where close to winning. The winner had an unbelievable reading. Take my reading and multiply it by three! Her 1990 Jetta (same as Vivian) had 939,000 km's and change! WOW!!!

Unfortunately we didn't win the contest but after a 10 year relationship Vivian and I know that deep down we do have the Vee Dub With The Most Love ;)

To 'Me',

I want so much to open your eyes
'Cause I need you to look into mine
Tell me that you'll open your eyes

~J~

(lyrics from Snow Patrol)
Me...I think you may know...

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Hopefully I'll have a few shots a little later to share with you all!

Off to share the feast with friends and family! :)

And here are a few pictures...

The beginnings...

The inspection...


Even he wanted a piece of the action!

A perfect close to a great day!

Photos: jbrandick

Couple more shots...

My new friend...

My little friend...

The Saddledome and some of Stampede Grounds.

If you look really far in the distance you can see the ski jump at Canada Olympic Park.

My weekend...

The weekend is almost at a close, but it has been great! A friend came in from out of town yesterday and I did enjoy the time we spent. We were able to get to Spruce Meadows, and even though there were no events we were able to explore the grounds (which are beautful), walk through the barns and even walk onto the International Ring to take pictures. After a trip up the Tower, we had a great dinner at Catch. After we tried to head out of town to see the Northern Lights, but sadly once we got out there the clouds hide most of them, but you could still see the glow. I think the stars and 'real' fresh air were treat enough for this city boy though:) Another trip out just may be in store to try for the Northern Lights again, and if nothing else to experience some Rocky Mountain skiing!

Thanks for making the stop, the fabulous dinner and for the visit in general. It was great to catch up!

Today was spent hunting...never fun, but it has to be done. This week will be busy now with the phone calls and possible viewings...should be interesting.

I didn't take many pictures (and they certainly aren't anything special)...may be able to post a few more if he sends me his copies (please do!!), until then, this is what I have from Spruce Meadows!

Photos: jbrandick