Nice, new, and looking ahead

Welcome to the first episode of A'lil Hoohaa's Photo Blogging Challenge of this year. The theme for January was "nice, new, and looking ahead", which gave me a bit of a headache.

But then I thought I have been preparing for it all month long!

You see, I came across a social media post about jar joys. Have you heard of them? It's a simple jar, and whenever you experience something that brings you joy, you write it down on a little note and put it in the jar. 

Come New Year's Eve - or during the year when you need a pick-me up - pull out these notes that represent the good things in your life!

I was intrigued. Instead of paper notes, I started to create collages. I may put them together as a slide show or something. 

Some may sound as trivial as "Wordle in three Attempts" or "Perfect Avocado".

For now I'm just gonna share five of the more spectacular ones!

One night after practice we had dinner in a ski gondola with a fellow hockey Mom and her player son. What better place to enjoy a cheese fondue than this, right? Bonus points for the snowy night that it was. There's a separate post about this magic place here.

Last weekend the kids got to experience a fabulous hockey weekend. Due to one game being postponed from last year, it just so happened that there were two away games scheduled, both of them taking place in the Italian speaking part of Switzerland. This always represents quite a drive, starting with the need to find drivers who have a special permit. The club released some funds for accommodation and meals, so the boys could stay in the area and didn't have to drive back and forth. Exciting!

The first game was against HC Rivers, our arch rival from last season. I'm not giving away the result, watch for yourself!

On the same Saturday that Colin and his teammates were on their way for this game, he was also supposed to meet some 80 kids from his school to go to ski camp. I had to provide a letter from the hockey organization to ask the school for permission to take him to camp on Sunday night after the second game at our own time and expense.

It was a three hours' drive, but what a scenic one it was! In order to get from the Italian part of Switzerland, called Ticino, to Grisons, you first have to go through the San Bernardino Tunnel (6.6km = 4 miles) and later cross the Julier Pass (2,284 meters = 7,493 feet).

After dropping him off, just in time for dinner, we drove to a St. Moritz neighborhood that is less posh than the popular town. It is also even more elevated. We slept at 1,850 meters = 6,070 feet, for comparison, that's higher than Denver, Colorado. I did not feel at my best. My AppleWatch has a blood oxygen feature, which told me my measurement was at 92% :-( 

Climbing up two flights of stairs left me out of breath and slightly nauseous. And I wasn't even carrying the heavy bag!

Needless to say, even though the scenery was beautiful, and we did have to go back to work, I was glad to be back at a lower altitude. On our way, the fuel range of hubby's car began to decline, and - considering we were in mountainous terrain with not many shopping and gas station opportunities - I urged him to stop at the one gas station we were approaching. He was laughing it off. "With that range we may even get home" he said, "you'll see!"

Let's just say he lost that bet, and he had to buy me dinner. 

Speaking of meals. With Colin away at camp, meaning he didn't need me to drive him to practice three times a week, I had some extra time on my hands. One night my bestie and I managed to get together for a Pinsa and some Prosecco. Much enjoyed!

"Enjoy the little things in life for one day you'll look back and realize they were the big things!"

Kurt Vonnegut

Is he right or what?

What was your January like? What was nice and new, and what have you been looking ahead at?

Please head over here and check out my fellow bloggers' contributions.