Another year done

Two thousand and thirteen is just a handful of hours away from being another year in my rear view mirror as the countdown continues onto midnight. I have been meaning to write this post for a few days now as part of the aftermath of another festive season, but due to sickness and writer's block I couldn't quite muster up the ability to do so. There is no greater prompting than it being the final day of the year to motivate me to put fingers to keyboard. This year was one full of adventures, a birthday milestone and some changes. I revisited fantastic cities with people near and dear to my heart. I got to spend my thirtieth birthday at Disneyland, which was definitely a cool thing to do. I moved house, discovered a deep love of country music and got my last work visa for Canada. These are just the things that pop into my mind as I type, but I know that this year was so much more. I have continued to mould who I am as I tried new things, saw new sights and reaffirmed all of the different ways I enjoy life and how I lead mine. I got to witness my family and friends do some of the same. I want to take this opportunity to remind myself of how fortunate I am to be surrounded by amazing people, who help make me a better person by just knowing them. Gosh the ending of another year and the beginning of the next sure can have a profound effect on a person as feelings of nostalgia are stirred up. Life has been good to me throughout the year, predictability coupled with surprises as the days dropped off the calendar. I would be lying if I didn't say I still have some holes to fill, but even recognising this is half the battle won. It is with these thoughts and feelings that I remember the year that was and look forward to the year that is to come; a year full of endless possibilities, limited only by one's imagination. Plans are already afoot, as I get ready to enjoy more of what I love with the people I love. Two thousand and fourteen has so much potential like each year that has come before it and may just be a game changer!

Musical musings for December

This month I took advantage of an iTunes sale and the 'complete my album' feature to purchase the remainder of four country albums at a steal. This means I have gotten to enjoy two of my favourite things starting with C together: Christmas and Country. Even more awesome than this, is the fact that I am definitely going to Sunfest in August next year. I am so excited for a few days of country music, camping and maybe a little bit of relaxing in the summer time on Vancouver Island. Until this time I will keep listening to country music old and new with the latest being:

1. Days of Gold - Jake Owen
2. Crash My Party - Luke Bryan
3. Fuse - Keith Urban
4. Here's to the Good Times - Florida Georgia Line

December's musical musings can be found on these albums (images courtesy of iTunes)

Cookie exchange 2013

Cookie exchanges have now become one of my favourite things to do at Christmas time since living here in Canada. This is only my second time participating in one, but I have to say half the fun for me is choosing and baking the cookies. As a side note, I was feeling pretty nostalgic before I started writing this post so I re-read last year's cookie exchange one. Gosh time has flown by since then and it is funny to see what I was up to last year including having my brother and his girlfriend visit me. Anyway, this year I chose two cookies for the exchange. 

Both recipes were from two of my favourite bloggers and centred around ingredients I had picked up on my recent trip to Portland. First up were Bakerella's chocolate peppermint cookies. This was the perfect recipe seeing as I had grabbed a bag of the key ingredient. The only substitute I made was to use white chocolate chips instead of the bittersweet chocolate ones.

With my country music backdrop courtesy of Jake Owen tunes, I moved onto cookie number two. I definitely was more excited about this cookie, Kevin & Amanda's gooey s'mores cookies. This excitement extended from using the jet-puffed mallow bits, which are too adorable for words. I used Christmas coloured chocolate chips and regular graham crackers instead of mini kisses and cinnamon flavoured crackers. The cookies turned out great and tasted amazing, which makes me glad to know as I can make one more batch of them based on how much mallow bits I have left. This ingredient is definitely reason enough for another road trip.

These two cookies were easy enough to make, which I was really glad for as it meant I only spent a few hours of my day baking and have some deliciousness to show for me efforts.

Yay for cookie exchanges at Christmas, a newer tradition I hope to carry out every year as part of my festive season celebrations.

Spoonful of sugar

Sometimes all you really need is a spoonful of sugar in the form of a Mary Poppins musical production. 

Seeing this show reminded me of how much I love going to the theatre. It was such an amazing production with fantastic sets and wonderful actors. I really enjoyed seeing one of my favourite childhood movies brought to life on the stage and found myself tapping along to the beat whilst smiling to myself throughout it all. I have definitely been inspired to purchase the movie version to watch and relive the magic, but also enjoy the things that can't quite be captured in a live production.

Next up on my theatre calendar is West Side Story in February as part of my birthday celebrations, I cannot wait!

December so far

Today saw the first snowfall of December, which seemed to be inevitable based on the crazy weather we have been having lately. Snow is still such a wonderful sight to be seen although it can be slick to walk on as noted this evening. The Christmas season always seems extra festive with snow so yes it is lovely; just make sure you have traction on your shoes. So far this month I have been keeping busy not only with my usual stuff, but also Christmas shopping, which I am pleased to say is only a third of a present away from being complete. Christmas shopping aside, a highlight of the month so far has been going to see The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, which was the blockbuster you expected it to be. Also, on the first day of the month a group of friends and I painted ceramics at U Paint I Fire, a local studio. It was a lot of fun even though I chose quite a simple heart-shaped dish to paint. Below are the before and after firing images:

Not a bad result for someone who is a bit creatively challenged when it comes to bringing ideas to life. Next up is Mary Poppins on Wednesday night and baking cookies on the weekend for an exchange with work friends. Now when I stop and think about it, I cannot believe Christmas is only a couple of weeks away.