Happy New 2012!

This January 1, we rang in the new year with friends and snow-frolicking! After an early departure from work (thanks to 4 unused hours of vacation spotted at the last minute!), Mike and I headed up to Grouse Mountain for night skiing. I'd never been up grouse before, so I was pumped! The gondola ride at dusk was a treat, and the ride down was even better because you could see all of Vancouver from the mountain side, and all lit up.

Unfortunately, the snow was junk. It was hard packed and icy, and not particularly pleasant for snowboarding on. We did manage to find one run tucked away where we could snowboard almost all on our own. There were snow-blowers going, too, so there was even some white stuff to swish around. We came home with bruised bums and sore arms, but happy to have gone on the adventure together.

Great views of the city, and not terribly cold - plusses!

Next up, we crashed a NYE party! To be fair, we gave them warning that we might be showing up, though. We had a great time ringing in the year with friends, and a number of pots and pans on their balcony!

Exhausted, I fell asleep on their couch - work+snowboading+up all night = extra sleepy!

New Years Day,t hough, presented its own set of fun activities. The highlight, of course, was officially becoming a Polar Bear! In the morning, I was still tuckered out, but that good husband of mine made sure we walked to English Bay by 2:30pm to suit up and swim out!

Just before the plunge - don't we look confident!

There were sharks in the water we had to watch out for!

Just after the swim - warm clothes and a cold celebratory brew! Smiles all 'round!

And a button for my toubles to prove my acceptance into the Polar Bear community!

After a rest and a long, hot shower, I pulled out the duck breasts I'd been saving for New Year's Dinner!

After the realization that we didn't have orange juice, I was faced with squeezing 1.5 cups of it out of baby clementines - by hand.

But the Duck a L'orange turned out superb! The sauce was a tad thick, but still tasted incredible!

 And that's how I rang in the New Year!