Wow has it really been 17 years?

I came across this article on the Snowboard Canada website.  They recently celebrated 20 years of publishing and in the 2012 Buyer's Guide, did a writeup that included all of the magazine covers since the beginning.

Here is the cover that I got from the Spring 1995 Issue

I did a quick glance through the list of 72 covers and although I might have made a mistake, 71 of the covers for the first 20 years have only one rider (the other one is the full 2010 Olympic team) and of those 71 covers, 6 riders got two covers.  So even though it's so long ago, it's still pretty cool to be 1 of 65 riders on the cover over a 20 year period.  These days there are way more than 65 snowboarders in front of me in lift line every time I get to the chairlift, some days you'd swear there are that many even when out in the backcountry.  Back in the day it was so cool that there would literally be 3-5 other riders on the whole mountain and you'd know each other by the end of the day.  Although I'm not as close to the snowboard scene as I once was, I still love to ride, it has shaped my life and continues to, but obviously there's way different priorities now.

I wonder if out of those 65 riders if I'm the only sucker to get a PhD???  I shouldn't be negative...I'm happy that I did my PhD it's just that finishing has been anti-climactic and now the "what's next?" adds to that somewhat.

Until next time....

~Christmas 2011~

This year we did a lot of traveling for the Christmas season! We started off by going out to Calgary to visit the Nelson half of the McNelson family. Amber was such a trooper that we managed to make the entire drive in one day! I think that her bunny was a big help on all of our long car rides. Every time she started to fuss I would ask her "Where's bunny?" and she would look around, grab bunny, snuggle him and forget why she was fussing in the first place.

Once we got to Calgary Amber was happy to be out of the truck and even happier to see Grandma and Grandpa Nelson! Tim was also happy to get his yearly double Jack photo :)

After a fantastic visit in Calgary filled with gourmet dinners, early Christmas celebrations, and some much needed family time we hit the road once again to Sechelt. Amber was once again a great traveler, however, by the time we got to Abbostford Amber was definitely making it known that she did not want to be in her car seat any longer! We felt so bad, but knew that it was best just to press on so we could make it home where she could play with her toys.

We managed to make it to Sechelt on Christmas Eve. When we got there, Amber was once again happy to be out of her car seat and very happy to see Grandma and Papa McCourt.

This year I was spoiled for Christmas as Tim decided to get me a brand new mountain bike!!

I was so excited to ride it as soon as possible, but due to a freak accident I ended up going to the emergency room on Christmas Eve to get 4 stitches in my pinky finger :( I did manage to get a few (slow) laps on my bike in the basement of my parents place though, which I figured was better than nothing!

Amber really seemed to enjoy Christmas day as well. She didn't quite have the hang of opening presents, but Loca was always close by to "help" her whenever she needed (or didn't need) it.

At one point we even decided to put Loca in her crate as a "time out" because she was trying to open everyone's presents.

Here are a few other great photos from Christmas:

After our fantastic visit in Sechelt we headed straight up to our cabin on Mt. Cain for new years. It was nice to be able to unplug for a few days and get in a couple days of snowboarding. Then on New Years day we headed home so that I could get ready to go to work on the 3rd!

My first week back at work went fairly well, although I missed Amber like crazy. I was itching to leave every day to go and pick her up. I think I may have broken into a jog a few times on my way to get her!

Amber seems to be enjoying daycare as well. She really likes Charlotte (daycare woman) and the other kid Gabriel. I'm happy that we found such a great place for her to be at during the day - it's a huge weight of my mind knowing that she's safe and happy while we're not with her.

Here's a photo of Amber in her special bed that Charlotte made for her at daycare (laundry hamper filled with blankets with a faux fur blanket on top). Apparently she absolutely loves it :)