Jen and I went to the national park this morning for a walk in the sun, with cameras in hand. It was very relaxing.
The trip to Jamaica was fantastic! I’ve never flown internationally so to the various customs lines, airport security checks and everything else that makes flying a pain in the ass really didn’t seem so bad. I think we lucked out big time, because earlier in the week someone tried to hijack a plane in Detroit, and another incident happened a few days after we arrived back in Canada. We fit into the window of awesomeness while it was there!
The body shock of going from -20c to +25c in a few hours was nice and relaxing. On the way home, it was less enjoyable (but what can you do when you live in Canada and it’s the middle of winter?). At the airport in Montego Bay we were pleasantly surprised to find a Sandals suite with a Red Stripe tap. It set the stage for a week of free beer!
The first few days at the resort were beautiful. There was sun, shade, lots of great food & drink, and most importantly there was no loud people. That changed the day following the wedding, when a large amount of young people from the USA arrived and proceeded to act like the resort was some kind of university dorm. One of these new arrivals brought a chest cold with em that hasn’t left me yet; it really sucks.
A few days of rain followed which put a damper on things, but we tried to make the best of it and spent an afternoon in Ocho Rios walking around markets.
The flight back seemed shorter, but we also had obnoxious french children behind us. One of them seemed to be out of control, who kept kicking Jen’s seat until the father switched with the child in an effort to lessen the embarrassment the child was generating.
Overall, I enjoyed myself and I’m looking forward to the next time Jen and I go back to Jamaica.
This year was pretty easy going. The drive to Sudbury was a little longer than expected thanks to an emergency closure between Arnprior and Cobden on Hwy. 17 that took us on a little detour through farm country. There wasn’t much snow, so there wasn’t many issues regarding traveling.
We arrived a little later than we expected, and headed to Evan & Terry-Lyn’s house (Jen’s cousins) for dinner & drink. I was very impressed with Evan’s man-cave; he had pinball! The next day we visited Jen’s grand-parents on her mother’s side for Christmas dinner. The food was great and so was the company. Jen’s grand-mother has a small dog named Daisy that gets hyper when people arrive. At first the dog was annoying, but as the night went on and it calmed down the behavior changed and it turned out to be a pretty nice dog.
The next day we visited some friends. First we went to Tasha’s; a high school friend of Jen’s who had just moved into a new house with her long term boyfriend. After spending a bit of time with them, we left to go see Chris & Shauny and watch the Montreal-Toronto game. The Habs won of course, 3-2 one minute into overtime! Toronto can’t finish. We were leaving as Michael (Chris’ brother) & his girlfriend Melissa were arriving. A handshake and a “Merry Christmas!” later we were driving back to Jen’s parents house for the night.
We drove home on Sunday and made great time thanks to a relatively empty highway. Halo was waiting at the door when we entered, and meowed like she hadn’t seen us in ages (4 days!). The reef seemed to do well without us for a few days, so I’m sure it’ll be fine while we’re gone to Jamaica and my friend Brent will be taking over the feeding duties.
Jen and I are heading to our “home town” to visit friends and family during the holiday weekend. I’m looking forward to the trip. I haven’t seen my Grandma since the summer, and I owe her a bunch of hugs.
Jen was out this afternoon so I took the opportunity to get a picture of our tree while the reef was on and I had good ambient light to work with. I also took a picture of the setup.
Jen’s sister Michelle is getting married to her long term boyfriend John(ny) in a little over a month from now; and I’m going to be their photographer.
I’m very excited, because I’ve never been to Jamaica, and I can’t think of better scenery for awesome photos. I hope my camera gear makes the trip alright! I’m going to bring my mobile strobist kit which should cover 90% of possible lighting scenarios.
Since this is a destination wedding, Jen and I will also have time to do some vacation activities like snorkeling.
Jen and I went for a walk around the “mountain” on the weekend. I brought my camera and DA* 50-135mm lens, and some food Jen had put in my pack. I’m thankful we had the food, it was needed by the time we got to the main look out areas.
The views were spectacular. I put some landscape photos into my gallery. I’m looking forward to more landscape photos as the seasons change, the trees are very colorful.
I was treated to an amazing dinner with dessert two days in a roll. Both were vegetarian, but I wouldn’t have known if I wasn’t privy to the ingredients.
The first was a tuscan seasoned ‘chicken breast’, green beans, carrots and possibly the best oven roasted potatoes I’ve ever had. All the herbs and vegetables were fresh from the Byward Market (purchased that day while I was downhilling).
The second was penne with a slightly spicy ‘meat’ sauce, and garlic bread made with garlic infused cheese we got from St. Albert a few weeks ago.
I’m not sure what the dessert was, but it involved a small sponge cake, Areo chocolate ice-cream, chocolate whip cream and a (market fresh) strawberry reduction/sauce.
Easily the best meals I’ve eaten at home. No pictures this time, I was too busy clearing my plates.
I got a call last week that the ring I ordered had arrived. When I went to get it there was some drama caused by a young store clerk that thought I should pay for the store’s mistake of ordering the ring with the wrong finish.
After denying purchasing the ring a few times and stating “make a call” to the designer’s company regarding fixing the problem; the manager finally joined the conversation with “everything’s fine, we’ll call you later today when it’s fixed”.
Problem solved! Mature manager for the save, immature/annoying/rude clerk for the fail. I was ready to walk away from the purchase based on 10 minutes with the girl. I told the manager that fact after I agreed to take the ring home when I went back that day.
Now for the good news, it’s bloody amazing. The high polish finish really makes the diamond cluster stand out in this Anna Sportun design (a Toronto designer).
I’m glad I found something so unique for my future wife.