again, a brief one with more photos than words, because it was a busy one, filled with travelling and lots of celebration... and it's a new year, so no focusing on the past allowed!
friday night after stopping to get my planner (the same one, year after year) at chapters, jeff and i went home, had some wine and 'appitizers (crackers and vegan pate), and then dinner at libretto. woke up late saturday, and took our time - including setting some stuff up on my iPad, watching some six feet under, 3 lunches, and packing - and then headed first to drop jeff off, and then to waterloo for a meeting of the ladies i RA'd with at laurier - an annual tradition. with alex home from thailand, courtney (and dog ellie) coming from london, and leigh coming from sarnia, we all piled into karli's home (after some interesting car-in-snow schenanigans - can you say light car stuck for 20 minutes in the middle of the roundabout? yes, me), and settled in for a night of catch up, food, cider (which alex doesn't get in thailand), and love. though space jam called for our viewing pleasure at about 2am, we decided it was time for bed. woke up after a bit of a sleep in on Sunday, and after breakfast (ish), and some more talk with karli, sean and leigh, i headed out to meet jeff, see my parents and sister (before she left to go back to nova scotia for school), and then depart for the cottage for new years. a 4 hour drive, some snow, lots of tea, and some introspection about why we chose somewhere 4 hours away for new years LATER, we arrived, and spent the evening with 11 other people, some food, and some drinks. slept very poorly (air mattress + middle of a living room + people up until 4am = no sleep. at all), and spent monday exhausted. but still managed to enjoy the newly fallen snow with a bit of a walk (alone - perfect), some time in the snow with new snow pants, and some target practice with the boys. then, warmed up and spent the rest of the day eating, listening to music, a jaunt into town to buy some supplies (forgotten in waterloo), trying to tow someone out of the ditch (to no avail - people have no idea how to drive their own cars), watching the last waltz, and - of course - celebrating the new year. went to bed fairly early, after the chapagne. woke up monday feeling good (as a result of the ear plugs purchased following the night of no sleep). made a big breakfast, cleaned and packed, and then headed out for home. lots of tea, pee stops, and music, then dropped off ryan and heidi who hitched a ride, and then to my parents for our annual new years day dinner with friends - including a kids table, and homemade mustard sauce. after we all stuffed ourselves and said our goodbyes, we headed out for a moment of peace. ended the long weekend with 6 feet under, and silence. and it was golden.
a fortune that was appropriately timed, directly following a conversation about my jewelry with my cousin laura - i'm planning on it!; gift exchanges, cider and laughter with the lovely ladies i donned with at Laurier - our yearly tradition, no matter where in the world we are; the snowfall on the (frozen) lake; heidi and i puffed up with warm clothes; my sister kelly and some target practice (us shea girls are a force to be reckoned with on a BB gun; helping tow on NYE; a new year wouldn't be started correctly without the spicebox; an INTENSE game with friends; 90% of attendees were shot in the ass at some point during this evening; me desperately trying to see photos of my new niece with the worst cell service known to humanity; we have a habit of drawing people into our ridiculous traditions - and we also take 'champagne showers' in the most literal sense (my hair was crunchy the next morning); happy champagne! i mean... new year :)
this new years weekend was..... GO:friday night after stopping to get my planner (the same one, year after year) at chapters, jeff and i went home, had some wine and 'appitizers (crackers and vegan pate), and then dinner at libretto. woke up late saturday, and took our time - including setting some stuff up on my iPad, watching some six feet under, 3 lunches, and packing - and then headed first to drop jeff off, and then to waterloo for a meeting of the ladies i RA'd with at laurier - an annual tradition. with alex home from thailand, courtney (and dog ellie) coming from london, and leigh coming from sarnia, we all piled into karli's home (after some interesting car-in-snow schenanigans - can you say light car stuck for 20 minutes in the middle of the roundabout? yes, me), and settled in for a night of catch up, food, cider (which alex doesn't get in thailand), and love. though space jam called for our viewing pleasure at about 2am, we decided it was time for bed. woke up after a bit of a sleep in on Sunday, and after breakfast (ish), and some more talk with karli, sean and leigh, i headed out to meet jeff, see my parents and sister (before she left to go back to nova scotia for school), and then depart for the cottage for new years. a 4 hour drive, some snow, lots of tea, and some introspection about why we chose somewhere 4 hours away for new years LATER, we arrived, and spent the evening with 11 other people, some food, and some drinks. slept very poorly (air mattress + middle of a living room + people up until 4am = no sleep. at all), and spent monday exhausted. but still managed to enjoy the newly fallen snow with a bit of a walk (alone - perfect), some time in the snow with new snow pants, and some target practice with the boys. then, warmed up and spent the rest of the day eating, listening to music, a jaunt into town to buy some supplies (forgotten in waterloo), trying to tow someone out of the ditch (to no avail - people have no idea how to drive their own cars), watching the last waltz, and - of course - celebrating the new year. went to bed fairly early, after the chapagne. woke up monday feeling good (as a result of the ear plugs purchased following the night of no sleep). made a big breakfast, cleaned and packed, and then headed out for home. lots of tea, pee stops, and music, then dropped off ryan and heidi who hitched a ride, and then to my parents for our annual new years day dinner with friends - including a kids table, and homemade mustard sauce. after we all stuffed ourselves and said our goodbyes, we headed out for a moment of peace. ended the long weekend with 6 feet under, and silence. and it was golden.
AND
i spent some time celebrating the exciting news from my friends.... a new pregnancy, and a new munchkin, born just in time for the new year. i'm elated about the news from cait and mat (and my little nephew N), and over the moon for nater and bri, and my newly born little niece F.
2013 is going to be a good year.
in case you missed them, my 2012 summaries: