Global Perspective

Since being prego, I have been thinking a lot about how we are going to raise our children and thus, I have come up with a simple philosophy:

"To instill a global perspective in our future generation"

So...what does that exactly entail? I hope that our kids will realize that they have a huge responsibility living as God's children and that we must do our very best to take care of what we have. I want them to know that their actions, whether big or small, will impact our world. Our lives are altered by the choices that we make each and every single day.

Some of the ways to instill this global perspective would be ask the following questions to our kids, and to ourselves. Feel free to answer them if you feel compelled to do so...(I got the questions from World Vision)

• Do we buy fair trade and environmentally responsible products?
• Do we pray for events in the news?
• Do we choose to live simply as a means of having more to give away?
• Do we reconcile our reality with that of others and live in a way that makes a positive difference for us all?

The above questions are very difficult and I often struggle with them. I know that I want to live simply yet I yearn to have nice things. Say for example, buying baby stuff. Sure, it would be great to buy the latest and funkiest stroller so that I can take baby out running in the trails but, do I really need the most expensive one? And that is just one of the many other purchases that we will have to make. And did you know that some cribs can cost up to $2000? That is absolutely insane. We want to purchase minimally so that we don't fall into the trap of consumerism.

Another thing that I'm still debating is whether or not we should use cloth diapers instead of disposible ones. Our land fill is already filled to the limit and to add more waste such as diapers seem ridiculous. Vince and I are both willing to do whatever is possible to reduce waste...and yes, we are strong advocates for recycling, composting, and turning off lights whenever not used. We are also very pleased to hear that some of our friends are also becoming more environmentally aware. One even joined the Greenpeace. No matter how big or small our actions are, as long as we are thinking globally, then we will make a difference.

Missing my class...

I didn't get called today to work so I decided to go back and visit my old class at CCA. It was really wonderful to get lots of hugs from various students and to see how much they have grown. My class is now the leading Grade 7s!! Wow. I even had the chance to go rockclimbing with them at The Hangout in Richmond. Being with them made me really miss having my very own class this year.

On the left here is Andrew Huang aka Yao Ming. He kept insisting that I should climb as well instead of just watching them.

On the right is Vikki Kam. She is one super achiever! She stays up in the wee hours of the night to finish up her assignments to perfection.

On the left is Tyler Wong and I'm really proud of him trying to rockclimb as he tends to be one of those students that are always afraid to try new things.

Fall Highlights

~dt grad 96 reunion. we had our high school reunion this past friday, nov. 3 at the Heritage Hall on Main St. i was apprehensive about going but it turned out to be a wonderful time catching up and reminiscing with old friends that i haven't seen for a long, long time. the reunion committee planned the whole event for us and even made a slideshow with some real footage of back in the days of '96 along with the old school tunes. i'm really glad that i went!
















~high tea with Ste. Stella is like my big sister and she took me out on an afternoon high tea at the Secret Tea Garden. i always enjoy our time spent together as we try to unravel some of life's mysteries together. The high tea was scrumptious and I ordered the highly recommended Vanilla Roobois Tea.







~18 weeks ultrasound. it's amazing to see how much baby Chan has grown through the past seven weeks. i'm definitely showing nowadays and can't wait for the bump to be even more noticeable (it's funny cuz some ppl. just think that i'm getting fat but are too nice to ask if i have been eating too much). i have to get some new pants b/c i can't seem to fit into any of my old pants anymore. being prego has been super good for me so far....no complaints other than expanding waistline, sore breasts and being tired. my strongest cravings are sour foods like sour patch kids, mcD's tartar sauce, olives, pickles, vinegar sauce (for the little shanghai dumplings). i'm super thankful that i didn't get the typical morning sickness of throwing up. the best perk of being prego is to use it as an excuse for everything and people generally understand. (ie. i can't remember...or i don't feel like cleaning the toilet)

~28th birthday. thanks to my friends who came to Science World with me to see the Body Worlds 3 display. my favourite parts were of course, admiring the work of real, plastinated bodies and seeing my hardworking friends completing the worksheets that i have made for them. hahaha. congrats to vienne (1st prize) and to cynthia (2nd prize)!! we finished off the day by hanging back at our place and eating some rebellious tomato pizza. here's the url link to my imagestation album if you want to see some pics....

http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2100375455

~hallowe'en with the Burtchetts. as part of our goal to enrich lucia's Swiss b-friend, Damien, to the Canadian culture, we felt that it was necessary for him to experience "trick or treating". we bundled up on the eve of oct. 31 and headed out to the dunbar area where we took four of the burtchett kids out for a fun night of trick or treating. needless to say, it was definitely an experience in which our bon ami n'est pas oublie!

the little girl dressed up as a cow is mikayla!! she originally dressed up as a princess but the weather was too cold to wear a dress so she ended up putting on the cow outfi on top. so....there she is, our lovely COW PRINCESS!!