Look What We Did Last Night!

It's TOM's Birthday!

It was such a beautiful evening with beautiful people, lots of good food, dwarf jokes, drinks, cake, Maddi's yummy purple dessert and bonfire in the backyard! We had a blast and in fact my honey would like to go back, Tom and maybe enjoy your tub because he couldn't sleep but dream about hottub and chili :). Thanks Maddi for the email again and thanks Lynn for inviting us, and to you and Tom for being such generous hosts. It was so good to see you guys again and it's always a great feeling having you around....

Have a safe trip tomorrow, Sir Tom! Hugs!!!

Hello Sunday!

Happy Sunday everyone. Welcome to Parksville! Just a short posting for you here. Remember I mentioned on my previous post that I was thinking of doing something for those of you who are planning on exploring the island this summer? I don't actually have a set plan but this idea kept lingering in my head so what about an introduction? Maybe this will help us lead to the right direction. But you know what? It's summer and it's an adventure so feel free to explore. The island is too small so if you feel like you're lost, just turn around and go back to where you started. You won't miss it with this big sign that was raised just a few weeks ago. Enjoy the trip.

Once you past this horse ranch on your right, you know that you are on the right track...

A few minutes later after that big welcome sign, you'll notice this Heritage Museum on your right again.

Next to that, you'll see a series of wood signs for resorts but they fill so fast at summertime so make sure you make reservations a few months early. If you take the right turn to the first one at Tigh Na Mara, this is what awaits you-- the entrance to these resorts which have beach access once you are inside.

Next up, what awaits you in town. Till then, have a great Sunday!

Welcome Summer!

Yup! It's finally here-- the most awaited moment of the North Americans-- heat, sweat, lots of sunshine!!! Back home, this would mean nothing really but another day of dry heat, no wind and lots of cold showers! In fact, I remember taking about 3 showers in a day which is the least amount compared to anybody else. The weather could also affect the health and mood significantly but people are always happy no matter what. I guess it's part of being Asian and particularly, being a Filipino. We are a happy bunch, period.

In Canada, or in any American country I've been to, the weather speaks a lot about people in general. Winter means a lot of depression and most people tend to stay home and dwell on it. Come spring time, hope starts setting in, then summer changes everything. You'd see a lot of Americans outside, enjoying the sun and totally beaming with smiles and laughter. You can feel a significant change in the mood and surrounding. And because people are mostly happy around this time of year, I always look forward to its coming--- always on the 21st of June which is also the longest day of the year. Unfortunately, I woke up with the sky covered with dark clouds in the morning. It really didn't matter because I had to spend the day working anyways but around noon, we started to see some sun coming and man, I tell you, that still changed everything. What does it mean to you? How do you like summer in your own town? For me, summer is......

My Maui sunglasses and my hat collection.

The Beach! Seriously, anywhere you go here in Parksville, is water!

Spending lots of time in our garden; camping with good ol' camper. You won't believe the places it took us!

Lots of picture taking--not a bad pic for a 3.2 MP Blackberry.

Ice-cream, who doesn't scream for you at this hot sunny weather?

Mmmmmm, the smell of fish and chips everywhere!

And I think my honey and I do a lot more walking together around this time of year. Lots to do and too little time so hope you are enjoying every bit of each summertime you can have. Til next. Hugs!

Test

Just experimenting... found this blog that has info on how to sharpen your postings on your blog so see what happens to these pics once I post them..... Bear with me... Goodnight!

Happy Sunny Weekend!

Oh, my! I just heard that this is the last weekend of spring although I can feel the heat of the summer already, can't you? It's been sunny, warm, bright and touristy down here in Parksville. I was thinking of this idea to walk you thru some spots here that tourists and locals alike love to do and visit every summer. After all, Parksville is one of the most famous small towns in BC that is favoured by many. I am thinking that it would be a good idea to blog this summer to watch for that one ok. Meanwhile, here are just some random pics I took while the sun was shining on us these last few days. Enjoy!

Can you believe how many poppies popped out everywhere this year in our garden?

We finally filled that what people call the green house you see above with these and with our all time faves, tomatoes and cucumber...

Look how fast they sprout after only a week! Can you see? Here's a closer look.....

It's always heart warming when clients show appreciation esp with these pretty flowers.

The sun was beaming yesterday on us so my honey got busy organizing his trailer while I was.....

busy taking pics of myself! What else?....Take pictures but remember to enjoy each moment. Hugs!

Happy Friday!

Just listening to Johnny Denver with his good oldie, "Follow Me" inspires me to at least post something here to wish everyone of you out there to have a great weekend. What a beautiful melody, very beautiful song and so calming with his majestic voice and guitar tunes! For those of you who have Public Broadcasting Service or PBS Station, his Concert in Japan, 1981 is on right now, as of this writing at 9:12 pm. Now he's moved on to "Leaving on a Jetplane"! Gosh! it's totally transcending listening to a total calmness and with nothing on the background but his voice and his guitar (except for my honey, who doesn't get why so many times "I've played around, so many times I'd let you down, I tell you now they don't mean a thing...."). Whatever he says, it's still beautiful to listen to this good ol' music. I wish I can pack my bags and leave, just leave and fly away, anywhere, where there's fresh air, birds chirping, flowers blooming, trees fluttering against the wind, with total calmness......

Ok, I guess I am dreaming here. Oh well, it's free and it's the only way to get away from this madness. You may noticed that I've made a few changes on my blog too, that's part of getting away from it all. I'm so happy that this free Blogger had new templates to offer so thought I'd try it. Tell me how you like it ok. Tomorrow is another work day, another madness in my life. Hope you have a great one. For those of you who have the weekend off, make the most of it. Stop the whining because it will never get you anywhere at all. Make the most of your every minute and get out and enjoy while the sun is shining. You are so lucky and if you are just going to waste it, let me know. I could use a day away from work, at least on a Saturday and would willingly trade one with you. Anyone? :) Happy weekend!!!

Welcome Junebug

Hello my dear Families and Friends! You must have received a new invitation from my blog again just a while ago but frankly, I'm not even sure what to post right now. Reviewing my blog, it has been a long time since the last post! Bad blogger, aren't I? But well, who cares? Some of you may not even notice that each of us exists anyways, right? Well, that's what I thought but wait a minute here. We have families to take care of, jobs to fulfill, errands to do, bills to pay, holidays to arrange, blah, blah, blah...... Ok now, as busy as we can get, we still miss good times and connection with each other, right? Oh please tell me that you do because I do. A lot of times I feel the emptiness inside because I don't feel connected at all! I may have my honey and mom once in a while but it still feels like something is missing. And so therefore, here I am connecting with everyone back again and though you may not find time to comment or write back or anything in return, I would just assume that you do care by reading my post further......

I missed May post so I guess I should start from there eh! But as I said, our lives revolve around work most of the time. I have all my photos from my April posts printed and ready to scrap, or maybe just get a simple Album to keep them safe. For you my Canadian friends, you must be excited like I am to have a full summer now and it seems like spring is not ready to leave us yet. Yesterday was so gorgeous but like I said, work gets in the way. I started my Saturday shift since May because, a) I am covering for someone in Courtenay who is on sick leave right now, b) I was in Courtenay for two days every week the whole month, and c), summer is coming and we've been having tourists visiting the Island already. So we get busier at work although, it was so dead the whole afternoon yesterday. I bet most people were enjoying the sunny day at the beach despite the cool wind blowing. Tomorrow is back to work again and today, Sunday my only day off, the sun seems to be peeking behind those clouds as usual. So I had to enjoy a bit of the heat after work and maybe share with you some photos I took from our garden. My honey did a great job mowing the lawn and thanks to our dear friend, Randy who is always there to help. He is such a good organizer you know and if you need a hand on anything at all, Randy is your man. You should see how much work he's done everytime we do something at home. Thanks Rand and you know that we can't thank you enough! You should come over today and maybe help Kev with his beers in the fridge...

Scrapbookingwise, I am still taking classes although, I still haven't really done much for myself. I hope to finish another album at least my "house" one since it's our first year anniversary in the new house this April. To those who spent the time to visit us last year, I will definitely include you in that special album. Thank you so much for sharing our joy owning our home and looking back at our photos just give me a lot of hope that we'd still see you this summer. We hope you can drop by if you happen to be on the Island or in the neighborhood. The Johnsons fest might be scheduled back in August and I'll make sure I get at least that long weekend to share it with the whole gang. Oh, did I tell you also that we had this big party yesterday with family in the Philippines? Yup! For the first time, they had skype connected, big thanks to my cousin Ricial (Carol, if you would kindly pass this on to your bro). So there's the whole family on screen and we managed to take their photo as well. My honey took them for a big tour in and out the house and even played the guitar with Jojo. It was so much fun. I wish we can do that a lot more. Which may be the inspiration for me to write today. To be connected with everyone and I do hope that all of us will get inspired to connect with families esp those loved ones we haven't seen for a long time.

Today could have been Vancouver visit for me to watch the KP perform at Scotia for the KP annual Anniversary celebration, but I might just take the day off since I am working tomorrow. I was hoping I could visit some friends there too but maybe some other time. So for you guys, break a leg. Myla and Wil, keep up the great job and hope to see you some other time and maybe some photos/videos from the show. Also because it's June, I know a few people celebrating this month so for you guys, happy birthday and anniversary. Till next time, here are some pics from our home to yours......

We've finally seen some blooms aside from the poppies here since the deers haven't been around until last weekend!

This bambi fawn thought I wasn't watching but she was so alert!

She must have gotten it from Mama Bambi: staring at me but still ate my plant.

Cheers to the sunshine!

From my honey (excuse the naked tummy chub-chub!)

From me (how'd you like my hat Teri and Che-che!)

And the Family in PI. Hugs and kisses.....