I haven’t blogged in a while, and as I say this, I realize I say it quite often. But, its true, and maybe not because of lack of material, but more lack of time. You could read back over the last 12 months of posts to find out how our 2011 went, and it wouldn’t take long, especially compared to 2010 where we travelled and blogged alot more. But, for myself and for clarity of the mind, I have decided to reflect (while listening to the Drifter Movie Soundtrack) on the year to prepare and focus for a better 2012.
Travel in 2011:
I can happily say we surfed nearly 5 weeks this year, with Oahu for a week in February, 2 weeks in July, and 10 days in Maui in March with Josh’s family. It still makes me very nervous, but at the same time I’ve figured out longboarding is my thing, and a noserider made me quite happy to ride. Both Josh and I progressed a lot this year. We made it to New York in April for my 30th birthday in April. A quick 5 days in the big apple with Josh and my mom to see the sights, and do some shopping, which made for another memorable birthday away from home. In November we took 10 day break to drive to the coast to relax and hang out in Vancouver, Ucluelet, Tofino, Parksville, and Victoria. Travel was slight this year compared to our 16 weeks away in 2010, as we made no extensive travel adventures this year, though I can’t complain at all. Surfing was fun and warm nonetheless.
On the negative side of travel, we experienced the after affects of the Japan earthquake while in Maui, with a wee tsunami which, we were lucky, it could have been far worse. And, on our second round in Hawaii in July we witnessed a few medical emergencies which tainted my Waikiki beach and surfing experiences.
Business:
The company did alright this year, with some major changes, including the new appointment of a group of three knowledgeable and experienced professionals to run and manage the day to day operation for us. However, the industry is changing, and as we work towards efficiency and improvement I’m sure we’ll still see more changes next year. We also went from three shareholders to just my sister and I which will make things simpler going forward, and after a long process and lots of fees we’re glad that has wrapped itself up.We also are in the process of winding up our out-of-city division after a partial sale, which is sad, but another necessary step towards a simplistic ideal for two sisters lacking much business knowledge.
On the negative side, we started 2011 with another diagnosis of leukemia (same as dad) for a key player in our personal and business lives and although he’s doing well now, his involvement with us in the future will be up in the air. In October, another diagnosis of cancer for another key player and someone who plays a huge role organizing our financial world and dad’s estate. Cancer has forced us into being more invoved, whether this is good, bad or inevitable, I still haven’t decided.
Personal:
Josh and I remained pretty status quo this year, with not much new to report. He’s exploring new career and educational opportunities for the fall, and is toying with the idea of keeping himself busy contracting out our new place in Invermere on the lot we purchased this fall. We’ve been working with an architect to make sure we can incorporate all of our long term cabin needs. I am still working in Emerg a few days a week, but now my spare time is crammed with meetings and business commitments, those of which Josh usually attends as well.
We’ve also taken a new role in philanthropy with a charity endowment fund for leukemia that my dad and his wife started to financially support families in treatment. With all the cancer in our lives, we’ve both been trying to stay active and healthy with changes this year including ridding ourselves of plastic tupperware, eating less additives, preservatives and junk food, and one-upping our home gym to be more cozy and equiped for our enjoyment.
Nixon is finishing up the year on house arrest after he slipped a disk in his neck a few weeks ago. He is not impressed, but is medicated to care a bit less. Next week we can progress to short walks, which means for now we have escaped expensive and risky surgical repair. A harness will become his new stylish outfit for pretty much eternity to avoid any risk of the 1 in 3 relapse. Hopefully his favorite doggy sitter won’t mind taking him again because we have some big travel plans for 2012 and beyond, and otherwise we’ll have to start yet another search for a new “Marley” nanny.
We are still only a family of three, though we hoped that would change this year. I guess we have high hopes for 2012, and would love to spend Christmas next year with a mini- J-Dub. We still have so many travel aspirations, including one to do a medical mission and possibly an extended trip to a less young- kid friendly place (India, Zanzibar,Malawi,Kenya, North Korea….hehe), and so with our kid-free time dwindling we will continue to keep our selves busy by checking a few more places off our worldy list.
High Hopes for 2012:
I’m excited to start a 5 week photography course in January, hopefully the first of a few towards a certificate. Josh is thinking of going back to school in the fall, or maybe doing a building projects. I am doing my first cleanse next week, and am trying to encourage Josh to starve himself of deliciousness along with me. We’re looking forward to building our place in Invermere to finally have a place to spend our summers on the water. February will take us to Barbados for a 2 week surf adventure, where we’re cottaging right on the break allowing for more snooze time and more surf time. There might be a spring trip in the works as well, and if Josh has anything to say about it, we’ll be surfing wherever we are then too. We are planning our first real fundraiser for sometime in the spring as well, to support the Bill Beattie Memorial Endowment Fund. As for the business world, even when we think we know where we’re headed, the unknown keeps us on our toes and nothing is for certain. We are learning as we go, and adapting to changes as they present to us.
