Dear family and friends,
I sit here, just 10 short days before Christmas, finally writing my year in review letter and wondering how I’m going to fit it all in, but starts with the end of last year and a trip to see our first NFL game. So exciting!
It started last January with a trip to Maui and Kauai with Mom, Dad, Lan, and Al. Unfortunately Sean couldn’t join us this year as he had school and work to attend to. No need to feel too bad for him though as he’ll join us when we all go to the big island this coming January. No question, Hawaii is beautiful and feels like a very special place.
Because I was missing climbing the local mountains, I took up snowshoeing as a regular activity on Sundays over much of last winter (and am looking forward to resuming that again this year, as soon as there’s enough snow again). In the spring I resumed climbing the Grouse Grind again, but also started running. I’ve been consistently doing yoga for my main activity—it has become a big part of my life—but because I had signed up to do the Tough Mudder (TM) in June, I knew I had to do more. I really don’t like running, but because the TM is almost a half marathon distance for running—between crazy obstacles—I knew I had to get my knees on board for this. Typically running hurts my knees. At least I no longer have to wear the knee braces I wore through my teen years! Though I trained mostly on a soft dirt track and a bit of trail running, at the beginning my knees hurt after only about 4 km. With a gradual increase in distance and some homeopathic remedies I self-injected into my knees, by the time June hit, I felt ready.
I was part of a team of 12 for TM. Though I really only knew a few of the people at the start, we quickly got to bond through some of the challenges (i.e. torture) and celebratory achievements. The obstacles that most scared me were the ones with electric charges up to 10,000 volts! The one that I found the most difficult was the Arctic Enema, an ice bath that you have to fully submerge into and traverse. It was a cold June day in Whistler and it was hard enough to warm up! The easiest hard obstacle for me was the Cliffhanger. I had been doing the Grouse Grind climb regularly and enjoy that, so it felt fine. The most fun obstacle was Mud Mile, even when I followed someone off the main path and ended up having to slide down a crazy steep muddy slope. Bruised, tired, and of course muddy, at the end of it all, I was uninjured and had a blast!
When people ask me why I did it, I’m not entirely sure. But, really, I think it was mostly to prove to myself that I could do it after turning 40 this year. For my birthday, Sean and I went to Seattle for the weekend to hang out and shop. We also invited friends to join us for dinner at a restaurant called Dark Table. The whole experience is done fully in the dark. It’s incredibly hard to eat with utensils when you can’t see the plate, the food, or even your own hands, so many of us later confirmed that we had eaten most of the meal with our hands. It was definitely memorable!
I had opportunity to proudly brag about family several times this year, but in particular are two moments. The first is that my mom received the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee award in March for her work with the Japanese community and her healthcare skills and knowledge. Wow! That was such a privileged moment to beam pride when she received that!
The second main pride time this year was that Sean completed his B.A. degree in Professional Communications. He busted his hump to get that done, and in the process made some great friends and learned even more than he had expected. He’s now changed his career to writer, doing mostly copywriting for various companies. I’ve even dragged him into my world of health stuff, as he’s writing articles and product information sheets on things like fish oils, probiotics, and vitamins. Unfortunately his graduation ceremony was in the middle of the week in Victoria, so we couldn’t attend, so Dad created a replacement convocation ceremony and I photoshopped their image in front of his school.
On August 10th my cousin Adrienne got married in Whistler, so we went there to celebrate her. It was a wonderful wedding! Lan made a beautiful wedding cake and cupcakes. Two days earlier Sean and I reached our 10th year anniversary, so we used that weekend in Whistler as a chance to celebrate our own wedding as well.
For most of this year, Sean and I talked about organizing a trip to Europe in the fall. We finally chose Italy and went in October for 2 weeks. We love to see as much as possible of any country we visit, so we made up our own whirlwind tour, starting in Rome. Though we spent more days in Rome than any other place, there is so much to see! We got to experience more than we had planned for in Rome, including the inside of a Rome train station police station and the Canadian Embassy. Just as we were leaving Rome for Cinque Terre, Sean’s backpack was stolen with passport inside. A sadly authentic Roman experience. But we still look back with great memories of seeing the Coliseum, the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, the Vatican, Sistine Chapel, coincidentally meeting the traffic cop who introduces Woody Allen’s movie “To Rome with Love,” and so much more. Cinque Terre was a perfect contrast to the craziness of Rome. Gorgeous views, laidback feeling. Next was Milan, where I was able to visit a company that makes products I use in clinic. Milan really is fashionable! Venice is all we had hoped it would be—no other city in the world like it. Florence felt like the most amazing art tour, and we stood in awe at the immense and lifelike statue of David. We even managed to squeeze in a daytrip to Pisa. I’m still working on going through my 1270 photos!
Our friends Luisa and David moved just a couple of blocks away from us, so though we all have busy schedules, it’s given us more opportunity to see each other and, of course, celebrate with food. Lucky for us! Luisa is a personal chef and with her chef friends we’ve had a number of delicious gatherings, including a burger cook off, a waffle and topping brunch, and just today a ThanksChristmasGivings dinner with turkey and all the chef speciality trimmings!
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you all! I hope you’re just as excited for 2014 as I am!
Love Melissa, Sean, Hana, and Kendo