Noel, Noel

Is it possible to be homesick for a place that isn't really home? With Christmas around the corner, I certainly feel that way. While I love many of our traditions here at home, there are many things I miss about this time I year abroad too.

I find my feelings of nostalgia are especially strong in December as I reminisce about the Christmas Markets this time of year. While most people tend to plan their trips in the summer months, I find there's something particularly special about Christmas in France (& England). The cities are so festive, filled with lights & decorations. It's hard not to get caught up in it.

That's not to say that we don't get into the Christmas Spirit in Canada - we certainly do. & I love heading out to the mountains to celebrate this holiday with family & friends. I just can't shake the feeling that we're missing this wonderful part of Christmas in Europe: the Market.

We have Christmas Markets & I've been to a few that I've enjoyed, but a Christmas Market in Europe is a thing to experience. I loved wandering my neighbourhood one in the evenings. Amongst the typical homemade gifts you see in most markets, you'll also find delicious food & wonderful drinks. My favourite market treat is raclette with a side of vin chaud (mulled wine), of course. The raclette tartine or tartiflette are also great choices. You really can't go wrong with warm, melted cheese. A European Christmas Market is the perfect place to meet up with friends or wander yourself. & with most of these markets in the city center, they're easily accessible.

Raclette Tartine: baguette, raclette cheese, & charcuterie. Perfect!

The daily morning market is still my very favourite, but the daily Christmas market is a close second. Europe is beautiful any time of year, of course, but I especially love the cooler months. Don't let the fact that it's a less popular time to travel deter you - it truly has its own merits. It's less busy & if you go in November, you'll get to experience the beginning of the Christmas season. You may not be sitting on a beach this time of year, but you can certainly brag about the warmer temperatures to your friends back home (if you're Canadian at least)!

Most of my photos here are pre-DSLR days, so don't let the grainy low light shots deter you. I hope the beauty of the French Christmas Market still shines through. I have such fond memories of them.

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noël

The new year is in full swing. We're back at work & I'm finally getting back into our routines. Even though I had plenty of time to edit photos last week, they sat on my camera until tonight when I realized it was about time I posted about Christmas!

I don't have a whole lot to say. We had a lovely Christmas; we got crazy spoiled as always. N & I spent Christmas Eve until Boxing Day at hiss parents house this year: eating everything from lobster & chowder to turkey & stuffing. We went skating, taught his siblings a new board game, & watched lots of movies.

After N finished work on Boxing Day we loaded up the car & headed out to Columbia Valley. We stayed overnight with a friend of mine in Invermere so we could ski Panorama in the morning. I always enjoy staying in Invermere overnight; the drive up to Panorama is so quick. Not to mention we were served a lovely breakfast & coffee before hitting the slopes. My girlfriend has this great new place near the lake & we weren't in a huge rush to get up the mountain so we took our time catching up over eggs, bacon, & hashbrowns.

The skiing itself was pretty good - nothing spectacular, but nothing to complain about for December either. That night we headed out to my parents' place further down the valley. My dad make his incredible pizza & we exchanged gifts with my family. The rest of the weekend was spent enjoying the country: skating, relaxing, reading, & enjoying each other's company.

It was great to spend time with each of our families & get away from the city for a bit. It always feels like a bit of a holiday even if it's just for a couple days.

Happy New Year all! Follow @whoalansi

December in Instagram

It's been a bit of a slower month for blog posts, but I think overall I've been more consistent than ever before. It wasn't a real resolution to post more, but I did mention that it was a goal for this year and I think I can successfully check that one off. My other resolutions were a little more hit or mess, but I'll talk about that more when I make this years'.

Like all years, this one has its ups and downs. When I think back though, there were so many great moments. It's hard to trump our engagement, but we also made some great memories in the states, spent lots of time out at the lake and in the mountains, and ate our way around the city. I can't complain. Thanks, 2013. I think 2014 should be a pretty great year too. We're off to Mexico at the end of January, we're getting married this summer, and we've got plans for a pretty fantastic honeymoon. I hope you all can look back on 2013 with a smile and I wish you all the joy and happiness for this brand new year. Here's a little recap of what December looked like for us.

1. N participated in Movember again this year. It was his best mustache showing to date, but he still looked like a bit of a creep at the end.
2. N's family dog, Lucky, celebrated his 15th birthday. They let him lick the icing off a cupcake. When you're 105, you get to do whatever you want.
3. KC & I at the hockey game. It was me & the boys that night. Things got rowdy, as all hockey games should.
4. Fitness at work continued. We did a squat challenge this month & sometimes these types of ridiculous outfits make an appearance. Always need to be prepared for squats.
5. My company Christmas party was a blast. We had the best time and took a lot of great photobooth photos.
6. The snow this December has been pretty great so far. We spent the weekend before Christmas in Banff- skiing, drinking, snowshoeing, and hitting the hot springs.
7. We stayed in Calgary for Christmas this year and spent the holidays with N's family at their house. His mom's fireplace is just adorable.
8. Skating on Christmas Day with family and friends.
9. We skied Panorama after Christmas and then headed out to spend some time with my family in the Columbia Valley. It was beautiful!

See you in 2014, blog friends! Happy New Year!

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Merry Christmas

Christmas has arrived! We're working out last few hours before packing it in for a few days. N & I are spending Christmas with his family this year & then heading out to the Columbia Valley to spend the weekend with my family. It promises to be a wonderful week filled with family, friends, and food! Sounds more or less perfect to me!

I just wanted to take a minute to wish all those of you who read this little blog from time to time a very Merry Christmas - filled with family, friends, and all your wonderful Christmas traditions. I am very grateful to all of those who stop by, letting me share a little bit of my life with you. It's been a great year of blogging for me & I'm looking forward to an even better 2014.

Meilleurs vœux pour un Noël plein de joies et une nouvelle année remplie de bonheur,

A & N

xx

(PS. Just some of my favourite silly photos from my work's Christmas Party. I have great friends & coworkers!)

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Christmas

Talk about down to the wire eh? I said I'd get my Christmas posts in before the end of February and here I am on February 28...

It took me a while to get to organizing my photos from Christmas this year. I even took far fewer than normal and still I could not find the spare time to sit down and edit them. I just can't help but feeling I'm always sprinting from one thing to the next lately. It's been nice to have some downtime to relax this winter. Once I learn to stop feeling guilty about taking a day off and being lazy, I'll be set. (Will this ever happen?) Maybe that's why I was so intent on posting something about Christmas and showing off some of the beauty of our time at the lake - it's one of the few places that I can actually unwind and relax without the guilt. 

I caught up on my reading, went for walks every day,  ate a lot of food, and drank a lot of wine. It was glorious. 

Family Walks

N and I in the snowy driveway

Snowy Mountains

Christmas Day at the lake is the best. There is no one to wake you up at the crack of dawn, so we all sleep in a bit. When we finally do stir, we leisurely enjoy some coffee and a light breakfast. Mom pops some bubbly, adds a little juice, and we sit down to open presents.

Once the presents are opened, it's brunch time. This usually involves a little more bubbly and lots of delicious food. My Nana made Christmas bread as usual. Not only is it delicious, but I think it's totally gorgeous too.

We all settle down for a while (or if you're me, go off for a 5 km run) before dinner prep begins. This year, my parents went non traditional (again) and made lamb. I think they've decided they're done with two turkeys in the span of 3 months. If that means we have lamb instead, that's perfectly fine by me.

N and I relaxing before dinner

delicious, delicious lamb

Spring begins in March, right? Good thing I got this winter blogging thing out of the way before the end of February then.

xoxo
a

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Tree Trimmin'

It doesn't really ever feel like Christmas until we have a tree and one of the best things about spending the holiday out at the lake is getting to pick one out from the forest. Normally, my dad and brother go out to hunt for one, but this year brother had to work. N and I went out to help Dad find one instead.

Heading out to find a tree.

The three of us piled into the truck and headed down the highway to find a nice tree. Normally there isn't too much snow up there in December. This year there was a ton, making turning the truck around on the narrow road a bit difficult. Dad dropped us off to find a tree while he went looking for a way to turn the truck around.

Nathan sawing down our tree in camoflage. 

The snow was so deep, even my Sorels couldn't keep it out! We were soaked, but we found our tree, successfully cut it down, and stuffed it in the back of the truck.

Snow covered Sorels

The boy

My brother arrived that evening and Mom put him right to work. We always do a pretty simple tree since we're in the country. Mom gets the boys to put on some lights and a star and then adds a few simple ornaments.

Lots of help trimming the tree

Mom loves having us wrap our gifts in brown craft paper. She says it goes with the country feel at the lake. We all indulge her with this and it does end up looking really beautiful.

Presents all ready under the tree

I also made some home-made ornaments this year with some girlfriends. We got the idea from A Beautiful Mess (Thanks Elsie & Emma!) and, although ours didn't turn out as well as theirs, they were pretty cute. I gave a lot away as gifts, but some ended up on the tree as well.

Joyeux Noel 

Noel Noel Noel

We haven't had the lake house for that long (only 5 years), but our tradition of getting our own tree and setting it up together on Christmas Eve has become one of my favourites.

Well, that and my Christmas Day 5 km run. Everyone else thinks that one's a bit crazy though, even if I did convince Dad and N to join me this year. 

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