J and I are still thinking about our honeymoon destination. We're getting married in June, but unfortunately, we run our own businesses so we can't get away until the off-season in Oct. or Nov. We're really crazy busy on the island in the summer months. We're thinking Caribbean cruise or something like that. I've been to 11 countries (all over Asia, Indonesia, the Caribbean and North America) but have never been on a full-on cruise. John's only travelled around Canada and the U.S. so he said a cruise would be nice.

Got any ideas or advice on great honeymoon places??? Where did you go on yours? Is Oct/Nov typhoon season??

What a big surprise! I had a conversation last week with John’s middle sister. It went something like this:

Lori: What are you doing next weekend?
Me: Not sure yet. Why?
Lori: John’s (her husband’s name is also John) accident was a year ago so I was thinking of throwing a little get-together to thank members of the community for being so good to us and for helping us out.
Me: Oh, that’s sweet!
Lori: Yeah, so Sunday at 2 o’clock.
Me: Okay, for sure. That sounds good.
Lori: Okay then!
Me: See ya then!

Sunday (yesterday) my mom was fussing and asking me to empty her memory card on her camera and upload all the pictures onto her computer so she could take pictures at Lori’s get-together. I didn’t think anything of it.

We get to the Oswald farm and there are TONS of cars parked out back. I still didn’t think anything of it, as I knew this was a community thank you thingy for John Oswald. Well…there were so many people there, all hugging me and everything. My mom was taking photos of me with everyone and it was driving me nuts, as I hate having photos taken of me. I went to the living room to talk to some other people and there were balloons and flowers and lots of food. My friend Rita said, “Do you have any idea why you’re here?” “Uhh…yeah. It’s John Oswald’s thank you get-together.” Rita pointed to a banner which hung above my head and it read: “BRIDAL SHOWER!!”

I had no clue! I was in shock because Lori and everyone else had held this under my nose for the longest time and the entire time, I was under the impression that the party was for Lori’s husband. Of course, my fiance was late. He was working hard on the field. The guys on the fire department almost went over to his place to get him. He also had no idea.

Lori gave me a copy of the invitation she had sent out in the mail a few weeks ago. It read: “You are invited to a HIS and HER Bridal Shower”. How sweet is that?? I cannot believe I fell for my future SIL’s story!! We were laughing because I honestly thought it was a thank you to the community party.

We were showered with lots of wonderful gifts and the people who were there were people in the community who we are very close to. Seeing all the people in the room made me feel so good and so blessed. John (my John) always tells me, “If you take care of the community the community will take care of you.” He is so right.

A big thank you to everyone who was there and to my wonderful future SIL and MIL for organizing the event. Thanks also to my future nieces who helped their mum with all the shower stuff. I’m so lucky to be part of such a great family.

Choosing our wedding cake was a very difficult task for us. We wanted a cake that would blow our guests away and one that they'd remember for a long time. So often, I've attended weddings where hardly anyone ate the cake. I figure if we're paying a lot of money on a cake, people had better be eating it, damnit!! lol

I realize that the wedding cake isn't the most important part of the wedding and that it's the actual day and the promise that the couple makes to each other...but hey, if we're going to be doing this one time in our entire lives, it had better be one amazing cake!!!

The other week, we got together with the owner of the famous Garden's Gate Restaurant (featured in various travel magazines) and she went over some ideas with us. I brought in photos and recipes that I wanted to run by her and she did the same. J was along for the ride, but said, "Whatever you want. This is your day. You're the bride." I corrected him and said it was "our" day though :)

I'll show you some wonderful cake pics, but you'll have to wait until the wedding to find out which gorgeous and delicious cake we chose!!! I can't wait!! 41 days to go!

...and low in fat too!!

My mum-in-law-2b made this awesome salad with ingredients I would never have thought to put together!! It's nice and light, tasty, filling, and good for you!

Ingredients for your Pineapple-Green Grape Cottage Cheese salad:

1/2 a container of cottage cheese* 1/2 c. seedless green grapes; halved* 1 can bite sized pineapple; drained (save and use juice for something else--waste not want not!) * 2 tbsp sunflower seeds*

Blend all ingredients together. This is a very yummy salad. You can sweeten the mixture with sugar replacement such as Splenda. I personally don't add any sweetener or sugar because I don't feel the recipe needs it. If you do use sweetener, just make sure it doesn't contain asparthame.

*Did you know...*
Cottage cheese is protein rich, a good source of calcium, and can be enjoyed by anyone anytime of the day; it’s an excellent component of a healthy diet. There are so many ways to enjoy Cottage Cheese right from the container as a quick snack, or at breakfast or lunch on top of fruit, a bagel or salad.

LOL...do I sound like a cottage cheese advocate, or what? :p

Chance being cute


Betcha didn't know how horrible a guard dog Chance is! He never lets us know when there are people on the property!! J said that someone came to get their order of fire wood and Chance just let them!! No barking, no growling...nothing!! Hmmm....a little too friendly, I suppose!

OMG...Got to the motel (we've got motel guests, as tourist season has started already) and there was a present sitting on the table for J and me. It was a wedding pressie from some returning guests of ours. They come 2x a year every year and have become friends of ours. Regardless, I was still shocked. It was soooo thoughtful and soooooooooo unecessary!! They're a sweet elderly couple and the wife keeps in touch every month by writing my mom and me letters. Very sweet. They had us open the pressie and to our surprise, it was a gorgeous crystal bowl!!! Holy smokes...totally unnecessary! They said that they just wanted to give us something to remember them by, as I've "always been so nice and so good to them whenever they stay at the motel". Wow...

Yep. Life is perfect. The first sailing of the year (for the ChiCheemaun Ferry)was today. The boat is the lifeline that connects the island to the mainland from the southern port of entry. In the north, there's the swing bridge, which is open year-round and is the only other way on and off the island. The ferry is a thoroughfare for travellers who wish to go south towards Toronto or the U.S.

Without the Chicheemaun, the island would be at a loss. Tourists just love the Chicheemaun too.

My mum-in-law-to-be, my youngest niece and I went to the ferry terminal to see the arrival of the first ship of the year (it's a tradition for them). I must say that the feeling was pretty neat. It signifies the start of a new season and the sound of ferry traffic on the highway is a welcome one. Soon Europeans, Americans, and Canadians from all over the country will be paying the Island a visit. It's a really exciting feeling. The island will be bustling with activity for the next few months, until next off-season arrives.

Last night, we attended the official opening of the season for the Royal Michael's Bay restaurant. The appetizers were delicious and the meal was superb (as usual). Sweet potato & apple soup, salad with duck confit, sirloin steak with a vegetable medley and for dessert we had a very smoothe creme brule. It was an enjoyable evening. J and I mingled with various council members, motel and resort owners, business owners, the owner of the newspaper and distinguished members of the community. I love this life!! Great company and fantastic food. What a wonderful combination.

Cool new finds at the garden center! I just purchased some herbs for my garden. My cool new buys are: Greek Oregano, Lemon Thyme and Parsley. Can't wait! The asparagus is starting to poke out and the raspberry canes are cleaned (thanks to my mum-in-law-2B). I'm gonna have a rockin' garden this year!!

Got up super early as today was our official unveiling of our project for the Manitoulin Tourism Association. The reeve (yeah, he's sort of like the mayor of our township--trust me, I had no idea what a reeve was either before I moved up to rural Ontario!) was there, along with council members, members of the community and the media. Our committee worked tirelessly on this project since October of 2005 and now we're finally done!

The unveiling was a success and a report with photos will be in next week's newspaper.

Tonight J and I are going to the grand opening of yet another wonderful season at the Royal Michael's Bay Golf and Country Club. It's by invitation only-I just know the right people to rub shoulders with ;p I love the restaurant. It's really the classiest place to dine on the island. Island socialites dine there, as well as tourists, as many people who live on the island will not dine there because they think it's too expensive and too 'upper class'. I think the food is wonderful and the scenery/atmosphere is phenomenal. It's definitely worth a visit if you're up on the island. Anyhow, my fiance has never dined there, so he's looking forward to it. Hey, and we're dining for free! Opening night...I know the manager...we run a motel and we give each other business in the summer season...This is a very good publicity move on Royal Michael's behalf!

I've been debating over the past few weeks on whether or not I should try to mask my tattoo on my wedding day (it's a small-ish sun I designed myself and it's located on my right shoulder). Sure, my tattoo is a part of who I am, and it is very special to me, but there will be a lot of older people at the wedding (lotsa seniors!!) and I also don't know what kind of effect my tattoo will have on the 'look' of my wedding dress. Should I be traditional for just one day and cover it up??

My sister-in-law, Lele (aka Elisha) has been great in helping me find a way to mask my tattoo. She told me about this amazing product called Cover FX. Cover FX offers maximum coverage, is natural looking, waterproof and is a concealer/foundation all in one. It's good for people with sensitive skin (like me!), it's got vitamin E and SPF 30, and is not tested on animals. It's good for all-day-wear, and doesn't smudge...so I won't have to worry about messing up my wedding dress!! (Thanks, Lele!)

Size :: 12 g / 0.42 ozPrice :: Can/US - $37.00

I don't know about you guys, but I've been receiving an increased amount of 'junk mail' in my inbox these days. It seems like the past week or so I've been getting more and more junk from people I don't know.

I've even got my filter on as high as possible, and still get the annoying e-mail messages! They're more crafty now though. Instead of "Increase your penis size" or "viagra offer", the subject headings are more along the lines of "Re: your message" or "Re: your account".

Aside from having the filter set on max and sending all mail from unknown sources to the "bulk" or "junk" folders, what can one do to get rid of these annoying e-mail messages?

I've even got an e-mail address that J and I are using just for wedding stuff and only friends and family have it. Guess what? Those damn spammers have even mailed us at that address!!! WTF?