Holiday 2007 Update Newsletter

As per usual, I prepared a holiday newsletter this year to get people caught up on the major events of 2007. It wasn't as difficult to write this year as it was in 2006. Perhaps because I had just finished NaNoWriMo so the thought of writing one page seemed easy or perhaps because we had done quite a few things this year, the ideas just flowed. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as we enjoyed doing it!

Season's greetings from our home to yours. We hope that 2007 has brought you many good times and blessings. We've had another wonderful and busy year and are looking forward to more of the same in 2008.

We started 2007 very fitness focused and managed to carry that through the spring and early summer. We both ran the Vancouver Sun Run again this year and I reached my goal of running it in under an hour. The best part of the event was joining with so many friends and family. Even though we weren't traveling as a group, we were glad to have our good friends Gareth and Debbie there and my sister Kim, mom Erika, and step-father Howie there too.

Lance continued to excel in his CGA courses and finished his first year on the honour list. His second year is also off to a great start and he'll be finishing that in spring of 2008. I also finished my last CAIB course in July (truly a cause for celebration!) although I'm still waiting for the official paperwork to arrive conferring my designation.

During the summer Lance managed to get his hands on a suitable bike and started riding to and from work. Not only did he get to enjoy fresh air, extra workout time, and freedom from behind the wheel, but it was also a great relief from the high gas prices as we didn't need to fill up as often. We also took some swimming lessons that we both greatly enjoyed. I know that I won't ever be a great swimmer, but Lance is still hoping to complete a triathlon once we get him some better gear.

We've been making good progress in picking up bits of Japanese using some audio lessons. We are very excited about the trip to Japan that is going to happen in May of 2008. We are even trying all kinds of different sushi and Japanese foods when we eat out so we can find things to eat when we are there.

The fall came much too quickly as usual. We managed a trip to Seattle for a gaming convention and a Thanksgiving visit to Oregon to have dinner with the Bixby family. Both were very enjoyable little breaks and we had a great time visiting family and getting caught up!

I achieved one of my goals for the year when I participated in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). It's an annual challenge to write a minimum 50,000 word novel in 30 days. I exceeded the goal of 50,000 words but will need to put in a lot more work in 2008 to see the story finished.

We hope that this holiday letter has found you in good spirits from the year that has passed and we wish you all the best for the year that approaches!