Vancouver is so beautiful

I just returned from a short trip to Vancouver. It is so beautiful there. It was a tad chilly but no rain. I walked about 1km to the course everyday and it was just so refreshing even the morning. The blossoms were in full bloom too so it was gorgeous. I really like Vancouver for their nature loving and planet saving ideas. I loved the smell of the ocean too!

I stayed with Jessica and Dean. It was so nice to catch up with them, it had been a few years since I last saw them in Ottawa. I ate really well while I was there. We had fancy breakfast and lunch at the course and in the evenings we ate out or Dean cooked. Boy was I spoilt! I put on a few pounds. Good thing I did managed to go out for a run one evening.... I ran to Stanley park from Dean and Jessica's which is about 3km away. Didn't go into the park though, I wasn't too sure I would make it back to their place if I tried running in there.

I saw Sean and Teresa and we played a game of Mahjong. So much fun. I also caught up with Mark Humphries, people I used to work together at BNI, Winnipeg before 2000!

Glad to be home, missed the Kyle and the kids. We talked everyday but I was so busy at the course everyday and there was tons of homework. In a way it was nice not to have the distractions of home and just being able to concentrate.
I look forward to going out to Vancouver again to seeing everyone and enjoying the beautiful city.

Matthew is turning 7

Wow that was so fast. Matthew will be 7 on the 10th of April. Today we had a birthday party for him and his friends. We made a cake together and decorated with gummy bears. So everyone had more than one gummy bear on their cake as long as Natalie didn't eat it first! The kids decorated their own pizza, and we had a great lunch. I am very proud of Matthew and want to share a video that he made a couple of weeks ago.

The house is Ottawa is sold

We are officially houseless. They took possession last week on the 28th of Feb. Do you believe in "Vision Boards"? Well I do. The house wasn't selling and I thought, why don't I put something on my vision board? So I took a picture of our house, wrote "sold" across the front and wrote the words "The house on 261 Stoneway drive will sell before the 4th of February". Guess what? It sold on the 3rd!! Why didn't I just do that earlier?

Here are a couple of pictures of the crew. Matthew will be 7 in a month. Andrew and Natalie will be 5 and 3 in July!

Spring is Around the Corner

The temperature is rising. The snow is melting and the sun is shinning. Actually the sun always shines in Winnipeg. The kids are playing outside alot. The boys are into climbing trees, so naturally Natalie has to follow. Unfortunately with the snowsuit, it is hard to manuvure and she gets stuck and can't come down. Mummy to the rescue!

Middle of Winter

It is the middle of February and it is very cold here in Winnipeg. -28C and -45C with the windchill. March is a few days away and Spring is around the corner. The flowers will be blooming and we will be able to play outside again. Not that we can't right now, it is just that it is a little uncomfortable. I am a little bit of a whimp. Costa Rica looks real good now.

Things are coming along really well. Kyle is working on his real estate and also has a mentor which keeps him on track. Check out his website.
His website is http://www.kgerealestate.com/

Kyle has also been taking advantage of the winter and using his cross country skis. As my parents house backs onto the lake, when it is not too cold, he goes for a ski, great exercise. After the ski, he comes home to soak in the hot tub. We are really spoilt here at my parents place. We both have been making a point of getting out to the gym or doing some sort of exercise 3 times a week(never together) and it has worked out well.

I am doing my internet marketing, I have a few websites out. There is so much to learn and most of what I have learnt is from Armand Morin. I have created a little blog (short clip) on the product that I have been using. The site is
http://internet-marketing-explained-ime.blogspot.com/
Download and read the free report to see what he has to offer.

While I was on course, one of the speakers I met was Marci Shimoff. She wrote a book called "Happy for No Reason". I can totally related to that. I am currently reading it and will write a review on it shortly. That site is http://www.happy-for-no-reason.blogspot.com/
There is a link to order it if you would like to get a copy for yourself.

Matthew is doing well. He is in Grade 1 French immersion and his French is coming along really well. Once in a while a you hear him saying a word in French. He is always correcting me when I attempt to say a French word. Today the school went to "Festival du Voyageur ", the French winter festival. They had maple taffy and saw the snow sculptures. I can't believe it they went. I think today has been one of the coldest days of the year. He is quite tired. He really enjoys school. Matthew's piano is coming along well. He is really good at it. Practicing is another story. It is like pulling teeth, doesn't like it, I guess it cuts into his play time. We practice in the morning before he goes to school while he is still fresh. Trying to practicing after school is harder.

Andrew is doing well too. He is still mummy's boy. He is going pre-school once a week. I signed him up a couple of weeks ago and he wasn't going. Kyle and Matthew were encouraging him and telling how much fun he would have and he would have none of that. Not too sure what Kyle said to him the morning of his first day. He was excited about going and we couldn't leave soon enough. We did the 10 minute walk to school. When we arrived, he did not hesitate to tell me that he was tired and didn't know how he was going to make the walk home. So when I picked him up, I brought the sled and pull him home. We came home the back way over the lake. It was so funny, Andrew was hesitant to walk across even though he had seen his dad ski over it and other people playing on it. I guess he didn't have the concept of the lake freezing. He just knew it was a lake with water.

Natalie is still busy as ever. She is talking up a storm. She just had her first sleep over at her cousin Erin's house. Actually she had a sleep over with Matthew and Andrew too. I don't think I could have not sent her along with the boys. She does whatever the boys do. Sometime that is good, other times.... She is still enjoying her gymnastics. She is so flexible and loves to climb and tumble. She is so strong too for her little 26lb body. Oh I finally cut her hair for real, the other picture is a photoshop creativity. Actually I cut her bangs. It was tough for me as this was her first ever hair cut. I braided it and have kept it. Now at least the hair is out of her face.

My parents left for Malaysia to visit my sister yesterday for about 3 months. They are be enjoying the warm humid hair. It will be a great for them to be away for the rest of the winter. They will do some travelling while they are there visiting friends and family. It is a little different at home, 2 less people makes a difference. Natalie asked for them yesterday, guess she didn't understand when we told her that she won't see them for 108 days.

We are all doing well here and loving it. We see Kyle's parents a couple time a month as they live out in the country. The kids adore them too and love hanging out with them. I am really glad that we have the opportunity to be so close to family for everyone to bond.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to all. I do hope Santa has been good to everyone. He was define good to me. We had a great Christmas with the whole family, and there was no rushing around like when we fly in. It was a whole weeks of eating. The first dinner was on the 22nd , the first day of winter. The Chinese like to celebrate it, so mum make "steam boat" which is a chinese fondue, instead of oil, food is cooked in soup. Then sis-in-law on 23rd, we had Kyle's parents in for lunch on the 24th for lunch Christmas lunch at my parents on the 25th and then dinner at Kyle's brother. The rest of the week, we spent at Kyle's parents at the country where we constantly eat and then we were back for the big Yap Christmas dinner on the 29th as my brother was away for Christmas. I became very sluggish over the holiday time as expected but we are back to normal now. The gym is open again and it is amazing what the difference one week of being active does. I feel good again. This is going to be another awesome year!

2007 was an awesome year we did some pretty amazing things and met some amazing people. I ended the year with a course I attended with Armand Morin, an internet marketing expert. It was amazing and I have learned tons from him and still learning which I am putting into action right now. The event was in Las Vegas at the Red Rock Casino and spa. I was able to meet up with some of my friends from other courses so it made it that more memorable. The Red Rock is really far from the strip but a very elegant hotel. I really like it there, unfortunately Kyle was in LA on another course so it was me and my two roommates.

2008 has started off with a blast, literally. We went to a house party at Yolande's place and she lives close to the "Forks" where the fireworks were held. It was only 10 minutes, good thing too, as it was pretty cold. Took us 15 minutes to dress up, 5 minute walk to see a 10 minute display. Kids love it and so did I so it was all worth it.

I am working on my different websites and eBay. Kyle and I are going to look at an investment property here in Winnipeg this afternoon. The kids have started their gymnastics and piano and Chinese classes. Our life is busy again. My Spanish lessons are on hold right now till we go to Costa Rica. I figure I would do classes when we get there so that I can practice right away. I didn't get too much chance to practice here and it wasn't progressing well. Give more time to work on my businesses.

We have also received drawings for our house in CR. We are reviewing it with architects. It is so exciting. Will post a couple when it is a little more finalized. We will have a guest house too, enough space for lots of visitors...

Last weekend, we did what many Manitobans have been doing since the Canadian money got stronger, we drove down to Grand Forks, ND, 2 hours away for cross border shopping. We told the boys that they could pick their Christmas present this year and that is what they did. They were so excited and they had a great time picking out toys at Target and was great for us as they had their post Christmas sale!! We stayed with Diane Brorby who lives 20 minutes from Grand Forks and had a great weekend hanging out.

We have been playing outside with the kids lots too. There is a park down the street from my parents place so we go tobagganing/sliding there with the boys. Natalie doesn't like the sled too much. She won't even ride in it(on level ground) to the park. She prefers to walk, unlike the boys who want to ride. I miss my double stroller. What a great investment that was. Kids are too old. While we were in Grand Forks, at the mall, it was a fight from the 3 for the 2 strollers that we had. Why walk when you can ride!!

Costa Rica Is So Beautiful

So it is official. We've bought a piece of land in the southern pacific side of Costa Rica in a little town called Ojohol. It has a beautiful view of the mountains and a distant view of the ocean. We are off in the hills, so the roads are a little rough from the coastal highway. We will have to get a 4x4. From the highway it is about 5 minutes to the closest beach Playa Ventana. There are a few beaches close by that is great for surfing too. It is so green there and wildlife are plentiful. We saw Toucans and Macaws fly and land on the tress right in front of us. Wow, I thought that I would only see those in a zoo.

This picture is of the "Whale's tail", in the Whale Marine national park. Very good for snorkling here. The sky cleared enough while we were flying there for us to snap this picture.


Life will be totally different. No one is ever in a hurry there, everything is "10 minutes". Something we will have to adapt to. I am just looking forward to the "warm winters". They consider their rainy season(September-October) the winter season. We almost didn't make it to Ojochal from San Jose(capital of Costa Rica). For one there is only one flight a day in the morning and it rained 14 inches the night before we arrived and it was still cloudy in the morning. If the pilots cannot see the landing strip, they will not land the plane. The airport in Palmar Sur right now is just a strip surrounded by an oil palm plantation. The new airport due in 2010 will have runway lights so it can cater to larger planes can land at any time of the day.

Even though we are in the middle of nowhere, there are many things to do, places to see and restaurants. There are German, French and Dutch restaurants, just to name a few and even a French bakery. You can go birdwatching, snorkling, kayaking in the ocean and hiking to the waterfall. If you don't want to hike, there is a ATV tour that takes you to the waterfalls. I coudl do all these things when I am here or just enjoy the peace...

There are so many great investment opportunities here too. It is amazing. Let us know if you want to join us down here or just buy some investment properties. I will help as much as I can or at least steer you in the right direction.