I love my puppies!

I dont know why, but tonight my puppies just want to snuggle. It is so rare for both of them to cuddle with me on the couch, and tonight, they jumped up on their own! I had to have Jason take a picture! :)

Snow shoeing!

Today jason and I had our first outdoor adventure in BC... we went up to Cypress Mountain, which is about a 30 minute drive from our house, and went on a snow shoeing tour! At first, we weren't sure that they'd have shoes big enough for Jason... but they did, and within a few minutes we were off into the woods and hiking! I cannot believe how much we both loved it, and what a great workout! I think we might go again before I start work again!

Here are a few pics from our snow adventure:

Christmas 2006

The Jimenez family had a fantastic first Christmas all alone in their BC home! Jason's gifts included wireless internet connection for the laptop, a new comfy desk chair, a bunch of new dvds and books, and some comfy pajama pants. Nikki got a new watch for timing herself while running, a bunch of work clothes and workout clothes, a huge wonderful container of bubble bath, and a workout ball!

Here are a few pictures of our tree and spoiled puppies, who loved their gifts too!


Our Christmas tree after Santa came:

Our puppies by the tree:

And this is what they did once they opened their presents:

Who says their spoiled?!?!

Ran another 5K today

And beat my personal best time! I ran 1 whole minute quicker, finishing in 34:30. Ok, so not the quickest time, but I'm going for completion right now, not speed! :) I'm hoping speed will come in the future.

I've lived a quarter of a century.

Ok, so it feels exactly the same now that I'm 25 as it did when I was 24 a week ago... but still... thinking about it, I just turned 25 on Monday. That's a quarter of a century, and a big milestone if I think about it. The next big birthday is 30! It doesn't seem possible that I could be that old... but here I am, 25!

So now that I have psyched myself into such a frenzy about getting old, I have decided that this is the time to set some goals for myself and really follow through with them. My mother in law always says that your birthday is the start of your personal new year, and this year, I think I believe her. It feels like a new year. So many good things have been happening for my family and I, the Grey Cup, new puppy, great job, etc... we're happy and everything is great. So, now to set some personal goals for the year.

First one is to get healthy. I just signed up for another 5K this weekend, and an 8K in February. That will lead me to the 10K Sun Run in April.... which will put me on track to run my first half marathon next fall. It's something I have always wanted to do, so this is my year!!! Wish me luck! (Actually, I don't need luck, I need determination and anti-laziness...)

SNOW in Vancouver!

Yup, it happened. What everyone promised NEVER happens here on the west coast... SNOW! And not just a little bit... over a foot (I have no idea how many centimeters that is...)!!!

So of course like the kids that we are, Jason and I, along with some good friends of ours who live in the neighborhood, took the dogs out at 10:30 pm on Sunday night and went sledding! We were a little ghetto- since we didn't have sleds, we used trash bags- I realy honestly thought it was a dumb idea and that it would never work, but I was so wrong! We had so much fun, the dogs loved it, it was great! Everything was so white and clean and pretty... what a nice way to celebrate the day before my 25th birthday! Definitely a night I will always remember!

My new job

Well I was at my new Canadian job for about a month when I found out they were changing my position already. It was extremely flattering to find out that the managers have been impressed by my work, and believed that I am qualified enough to work as a student advisor! So I started 2 weeks ago, and its been challenging and great. I have met with students, I receive emails daily thanking me for my encouragement and advice... really nice to go to work every day and make a differnece in someone's life, you know? I might just be good at this advising stuff after all! :)

Our new family member!

Presenting... CHAMP!

Champ is a now 10 week old greman sheppard mix puppy, he joined our family the night we got home from the Grey Cup (and obviously he is named in that way!)

Lola is getting used to him... we're a happy little family!

GREY CUP CHAMPS!

WOOHOO!!!!!! The BC Lions are the 2006 Grey Cup Champions. Being at the game and seeing Jason win was amazing. I'm such a girl, I cried on the sidelines at the end... but I couldn't help it, I was just so happy for him and all his teammates!

So here are a few pics:

Jason the champ! :) Pretty cool pic huh?

My weekend roomie, Lysa (one of the guys' girlfriends) and I on the bus on the way to the game

Jason and I with the Grey Cup at the party after the game! How exciting!!! (wow, I'm short!!!)

Haven't been in a while....

I haven't blogged in a while... about a month I think! I can say that my cute new rain boots have definitely been getting some use here in Vancouver!!!

So I am going to catch up tonight and post a whole bunch of new things... :)

Just bought the cutest rain boots!

If I have to live in all this rain, I might as well be cute while I'm here right?? :)

VOTE FOR JASON!!!

Everyone please visit this site and vote for my hubby as your favorite BC lion! :)

Thanks!!!

http://www.bclions.com/index.php?module=page&id=3138

An interesting Jason article...

Warning, it might be more than you wanted to know about professional football! :)

http://www.cfl.ca/index.php?module=newser&func=display&topicnum=&nid=12111&writer=0

A little late...5K results!

So I ran the 5K last week... and it went great! I wasn't able to run the whole thing, (I walked a little in the middle) but still finished at just about 40 minutes. The best part was I ended up raising $400 for breast cancer research!!! Thanks somuch to everyone who donated and helped me reach my goal. I think next year I'll aim for more!!!

Don't forget to wear your pink ribbons to support breast cancer research throughout the month of October!

YAY! The sun came out again!

I haven't been on here much at all since I started working, but we're still alive! Jason left early this morning, they play tomorrow in Regina. So its just me and Lola tonight! My plan was to spend the weekend cleaning and cooking (since I do neither at all during the week!) but today when I woke up, the sun was out! It has been so cold and rainy, we've had the fireplace on all week. But now its just cool and clear and sunny... I think Lola and I might spend the weekend outside!

Stupid head cold....

My wonderful husband brought home a head cold from Montreal last week, and he was so thoughtful... he brought back one for me too. My head hurts. My sinuses hurt. My eyes are all puffy. Did I mention my head hurts? And I kept waking up last night because I had to cough... stupid head cold....

Commuting in Vancouver

I learned today that big city commuting kinda sucks!!! I now have my daily routine down though: to get to work, I walk 10 minutes to the train (subway) station. I take the train for 20-25 minutes. Then I get off the train and wait in line with a few hundred UBC students for the bus. Today we stood and watched 3 buses come and go, while the line barely moved because the buses were so full no one else could get on. Ok, so I finally get on the bus (standing room only) and ride down the street for another 15 minutes. Of course, this bus stops no where near my job, so I get off the bus and have another 5 blocks to walk before I finally get to work. All in all, it looks like it will take 75 minutes to get to work in the morning, and an hour and a half to get home at night.

Craziest part? I kind of like it!

(Now, ask me again when its raining in January and I might have a different answer for you...)

Our night at the Hot Springs!

We spent a night at the Harrison Hot Springs this weekend, it was wonderful!!! Here are a few pics!

Just signed up for another 5K!

The last 5K I ran was a Race for the Heart to support women's heart disease research... this race, on October 1st in Vancouver, is to support breast cancer research. I have been raising funds for breast cancer research since the beginning of college, it is a cause I think is truly worth supporting.

PLEASE visit my page, http://tinyurl.com/mpa6c. There you can make a donation (I am shooting to raise just $300, not an unreasonable amount!) If you can't make a donation, come out and cheer me on as I run!

Nikki's new job!

WOOHOO! After being here almost a month and sending out one billion resumes, I finally have a job! Starting this Tuesday, I am officially the Administrator of Student Evaluation Services for the CGA. I am so excited!!!!! It's a great start to hopefully a long career in the field of higher education (which believe it or not is what I am pretty sure I want to do for the rest of my life!!).

Getting started on this whole blog thing...

Since we have made a whole new, fresh start in a new city far far away from everyone we know, (and we are seriously cutting back on cell phone minutes!!!), this blog thing may just be the best way to keep in touch with everyone! So check back often and we'll post all kinds of updates to keep everyone informed that we're still alive and ticking! :)