Tokyo Love

Sushi Time! Dinner with my brother toots

Some Instagram Pics of the Week

I love my Phone!

But I also love my Canon!!!

downtown family

Untitled, a photo by ♫sandra on Flickr.


Down Towne Orange last week. 

Sunny California

Crazy weather. When I arrived on 20th of October, it wasn't too warm. It was actually a bit cloudy. The nights were a little chilly- I can definitely wear a sweater kind of weather. And then... it got warm and sunny. And a good thing because a friend invited me to go to the beach with her and a sister who was visiting from NY. This is one of the nearby beaches. Newport.

Click on the images to enlarge

The weather was lovely this day, wasn't hot and it wasn't cold, it was just right. This is the first beach I remember going to. My mom took me and my brothers to this beach on the bus. The bus that runs right by our family home and ends right at Newport Beach when traveling southbound. :)
Hope everyone is well

p.s. I admit that I do sometimes miss the colder weather. Sometimes.

Love Sandra.

Merci Montréal, Tu es Formidable!

Home sweet home

Riding on the bus

Looking out the window last Autumn

Look, our building!

Fun painted Metro Station. Next stop after ours going West

Walking along tree lined streets

He helped me organize my closet when I first arrived- heart him!!!

Tim Hortons!

I am so happy, and consider myself pretty darn fortunate to have been able to live in such an amazing (foreign) city. I will very soon be leaving it. I am going to miss it so much. I will miss it and all the friends I made here. I will greatly miss my wonderful congregation Viau. I will miss walking (remember my earlier posts? I was not a fan of the walking) to the local stores, riding on the metro, i will even miss traveling on the bus and just never having to sit in traffic- ever, Tim Hortons, Rue Mont Royal, Mont Royal park, the underground "endless shopping", La Grand Bibliotèque library, Sesame Snaps, the Vietnamese sandwich shop on Ontario close to the KH where Ab and I sometimes meet for a yummy sandwich-we did that yesterday :), I am going to miss our small studio apartment with its BIG view of the city- [tear], all the beautiful trees that line the streets of the city....hmmmm, it seems I will miss a lot, enough to give someone second thoughts about leaving- almost. I will miss you so much, place I called home for the first year of marriage- an awesomely wonderful year, and some change. I leave and will be back. I have to, there is still so much I haven't explored here in Quebec. To all my friends that are from here: Thank you from the bottom of my heart for everything! For being the wonderful people that you are. To have welcomed my in such a loving way. For sometimes being my French teachers, for helping me find my way in a strange city- it really never felt all that strange actually. For inviting and joining me out in Service { I think I will miss all the stairs ;) } For always being willing to lend a helping hand whether it was a ride to the grocery store, rendezvous for service, assembly... I even got the chance to make it to Spanish assemblies- that meant SO much to me, gracias! For including Abner and I in always fun-filled and encouraging times at get - together's and outings. I will never forget you guys- how could I? You helped make my move here so pleasant. I will make sure to always do my best to keep in touch. I will continue to blog and this way let you in a little on what goes on in my/Abner's life where ever I/we may be ~ Votre Soeur Sandra xxxxx

Our Central Park- kind of

I have some blogs that haven't been posted yet... I will get around to it. I haven't really been quite in the mood to blog lately. So much going on... Today Abner told me about this site where I can make videos with images and video clips. I like it. In this video you will see what I did today... I took a stroll (hike and frantic run) in Mt. Royal Park, a mini mountain located in the center of the city. It wasn't raining today, so I decided to do the walk up to the top. And then, while I was still up there it started to rain. It rained hard. I ran down that mountain so fast I don't know how I didn't fall and eat it on that bumpy, steep path. I mean, I wasn't quite prepared with proper running in the mountains kind of gear... however, I. Loved. It. What a cool little adventure. And this time I made it all the way to the top, where I found some amazing views! This is also where I spotted the rain coming. There I was taking in the gorgeous views when all of a sudden a runner- complete with fancy running gear- told me that the rain was coming, and how yesterday she had stayed up there too long and got drenched... Then she told me to look to the left...Yikes! The rain was coming! I got wet, but it was worth it.

Thank you self-timer for making pictures of me possible.

A Year Later, Still a Tourist?

Nance and Bounty a.k.a. Black Pearl

Yes, I live here, not visiting.

Jacques Cartier Square past and present. (picture on the left is from Wikimedia Commons)

It's been a bit more than a year actually. I think. I will have to go back to my "Old Montreal is Grand" blog entry to see just how long it's been. Old Port is so close, yet so far because we never seem to make it out there. And it's so nice. I told my friend Nancy, that went with us: "I've never been to Europe, but somehow I feel like I'm in Europe". The buildings so historic and the narrow cobble stone streets that I have yet to walk down... I will try to do that before leaving, or it may end up being just one more place to explore when we are back here visiting. While in Old Port, I can't help but picture it in the olden days with horse-drawn buggies, women in long dresses... And there we are, present day, walking around in jeans and sneakers and seeing cars, trucks, motorcycles, scooters everywhere causing all kinds of traffic. You can actually experience the horse and buggy thing the way you can in Central Park... I haven't done that yet either... but I will wait till when I visit... am not exactly a tourist right now. Of course if you ask my husband, he might say "She is such a tourist" hence the pictures, maybe? But I need them for blogging purposes. And because I like taking pictures... K, I'm a little bit tourist even after being here for a little over a year. Guess it must be a little weird and somewhat annoying to have your spouse wanting to stop everywhere to take pictures all-the-time in places you know so well. Sorry hun. But it's all good. This past weekend was an extra crowded weekend at Old Port because of the fancy Tall Ships event going on (Black Pearl was there). Later I will be posting about the many things I will miss of Montreal, Old Port is definitely one of those things I'll miss.

Have a great Wednesday, last day of Summer!

Sandra