10 Things That Make Me Terribly Happy About Summer

September 14, 2017Leave a comment

THE BIKE PARK, I can’t even begin to tell you how good this season has been. (But I will, stay tuned)
Samurai sushi take out, eaten by the lake, talking until the mosquitos eat us alive.
Pinafores!
Sitting on balconies, listening to Henri’s tunes and drinking wine with the best roommates.
Swimming in lakes of varying temperatures (glacier water is damn cold people!)
Warm evenings sitting at Tapleys patio, before hectic nights out.
Dancing. So much dancing! (In clubs, at work, at home, walking down the street)
Riding into work as the sun rises over the mountains.
Giggling with Sybil and we slowly die of heatstroke in the Penthouse Sweatbox
The people. My summer people made it so much better than I ever thought it could be.

Hanbel.
x

Summertime, and the Livin’s Easy

July 17, 2017Leave a comment

My summer, so far, includes but is not limited to the following:

Trail riding in Squamish,

spotting bears in the bike park,

paddling canoes around our lake, beers and babes in tow,

watching the sun set at 10pm,

going on a free RZR tour adventure,

hiking Joffre lakes, and being pleasantly surprised at our fitness levels,

stopping off on the way home to pick a couple of strawberries,

cheering on my best mate Henri, as she SMASHED her half marathon in 1 hour, 37 minutes,

adventuring every Wednesday with Bec and Vanessa (this week took us to Cheakamus lake),

catching a movie, under the stars, between the mountains, with the cutest housemates in the world,

and basically having this dopey smile on my face.. every damn day.

LIFE IS SO GOOD.

Happy days,
Hanbel.
x

All the Things

April 20, 2017April 20, 20172 Comments

Alrighty-roo, it’s catch up time!

The last month has been busy, full of activities, events and work shenanigans.

So here’s what my March and April have looked like:

WEDDING TIME
Celebrating our boss’ wedding at Nita Lake Lodge, with photo booths, plenty of dancing and all the wine. It was a fun time…

BLUEBIRD DAYS
These have been far and few between, so when one falls on your weekend, you take as many photos as possible. Oh, glorious Whistler!

THESE GIRLS!
Having awesome gals to ride with makes life so much better, it’s been the best couple of months sharing the hill with these babes.

KONGA
Classes have started up again, and I still have to advertise like crazy and build a following, but I’m having fun in the process. Plus, when the view from the room is this good and the tunes are loud, life is good!

BAKERY LIFE
I still love this job, even on the difficult days. Easter weekend hit us hard, but with such a good team it was super fun! This week we have four favourites leaving us, and it’s making my heart very sad. This town sucks sometimes, no one sticks around for too long. On the plus side, this means I have people around the world to visit!

Not pictured: lots of wine-based after work activities, getting my bike back out and riding to work most days, learning to read bus timetables again, walking to work when the sun is shining and all of the spring/summer anticipation.

The snow is melting, the sun has been making more frequent appearances and we can now stay outside for longer than 10 minutes at a time. There’s a lot to look forward to in Whistler, and I’m so happy to be here 🙂

Have a lovely week kiddos,
Hanbel
x

L’abbiamo Rotto

April 16, 20171 Comment

I’ve been off the grid for a little while now, I apologise.

The last three weeks have definitely been up there with some of the weirdest ones to experience. I’m hoping you all know by now, I’d hate for you to find out through this blog. At the same time though, I’m sick of retelling the same story. Not because it causes a great deal of pain, I’m just not a fan of repetition. I hated coming home (not really mum!) last year because of how many questions I had to answer… over and over again.

I’m not going into details, out of respect for the other person involved in this situation. So yes, I will be vague as hell and probably frustrate you, but I guess if we’re friends then you can just ask me anything anyway. Or… you already know every detail better than I do.

The simple fact of the matter is that this blog has always been an outlet. Something similar to a diary, where I can write things down and somehow ease my mind a little.

I’m good guys. I promise. A loss is loss, but this one feels very undramatic and natural. Whistler is also a great place to go through these things, there are so many distractions. Plus, the sun is starting to reappear and promises of summer are peering through the clouds. Being away from home makes things harder, but also a million times easier – if that makes any sense. I’m actually glad to be away from all things familiar, and to just get on with life. It might hit me like a tonne of bricks later on, but so far… it’s all good.

So I guess the point of this post is to say, don’t worry. Whistler has my back. I obviously can only speak for myself now but I think it’s all going to be okay. I love you all, and all the love I’ve been getting – keep it coming, for both of us.

Much love,
Hanbel.
x

Thoughts for Thursday

February 3, 2017February 3, 20171 Comment

Lats night, we sat down after dinner (and several episodes of Friends…) and decided to watch a documentary (mainly to balance out the Beavis and Butthead style laughing at Joey’s antics).

If you have Netflix, please do yourself a favour and watch Minimalism.

Based around the lives of two dudes, Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus, who have chosen to live their lives with meaning and purpose. They are fighting back against the massive consumption issues surrounding the world, and providing an alternative lifestyle option for those who are willing to listen.

I’ll leave it at that, because otherwise there’s no point in you watching it yourself, but I will tell you that we found it fascinating. The idea of living a minimalist life resonates so much with the huge change we made this year. Living in a home a quarter the size of our last one, rarely indulging in buying new clothes or purchasing anything “because it’s on sale and I NEED IT”. Living here has changed the way we live, but we do wonder if it’s our choice or because of the low wages we earn, and the fact that everyone around us succumbs to the “ski bum” lifestyle.

Either way, we definitely want to continue along this path. Andrew immediately began deleting apps off his phone he doesn’t use, starting de-cluttering our drawers and vows to only buy things that will bring joy or purpose to his life.

I’m going to try my hardest to limit my screen time (I don’t need Facebook and Instagram telling me what kind of life I should lead, what I should be buying or doing – but I do enjoy them, so I won’t delete them altogether), starting in the morning. My first instinct is to grab my phone as soon as I wake up and start scrolling, but I want to make an active effort to hold off for as long as possible.

I, too, will purposely think about what I spend my money on. If it is going to make me happy in the long run, it’s mine! If it’s an impulse buy, or some piece of clothing I know that I’m going to hate in 3 months time… what’s the point?

This has been quite the rant, and far from what I normally post. I just thought I’d share some thoughts with the internet, because sometimes writing it all down helps to make sense of it all, commit to anything I’ve written on here and help another person out who may have the same thoughts!

Thanks for listening, have a meaningful and lovely day 🙂

Hanbel.
x

The World of Hanbel

Working on Living that Dream

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