Valentine's Day is around the corner. Like it or love it, it's a warm and fuzzy holiday that dominates an otherwise cold and frosty February in Manitoba Regardless of your marital or financial status you can find ways to enjoy the holiday with those around you. Here's a couple ideas to get your creativity flowing, for whichever category you see yourself in For kids: Heart shaped pizza from your favourite pizza place or grocery store. At home, use a heart shaped cookie cutter to theme everything from eggs and pancakes at breakfast to sandwiches in their packed lunch. For your co-workers: Bring cupcakes to the office, or put a bowl of cinnamon hearts on your desk. For singles and friends: Pick up a great bottle of wine and some chocolates for a rom-com movie night at home. For your girlfriend: You've got dinner reservations booked already, right? Seriously, you're already late calling your favourite restaurant if you think you're getting in on the 14th. So, stop reading & call now!Flowers, of course! For extra mileage send the flowers to her workplace, you'll have her co-workers fawning over her and make her feel extra special. For your boyfriend: Your turn to treat to a movie night out. Or there's always lingerie. He'd probably like lingerie. For your wife: A weekend away. Somewhere with no dishes or laundry or responsibilities. It's even better if there's a spa or breakfast in bed included. And roses, of course. She's your classic beauty. For your husband: His favourite dinner and cocktail, with dessert in front the Jets' game on TV or by the radio to listen to the Wheat Kings while these teams are on the road. Just treating yourself? Do what you love! Eat what you love! Be joyful! Hate the day? Well, grin and do your own thing. It's just a blip in time. One Tuesday in February         .    

Recently engaged? Grand Valley Park is a beautiful outdoor wedding venue with dates still available for 2017 & 2018. The park is an excellent location for both ceremonies and receptions, is located only minutes from Brandon, just off the Trans-Canada Highway. This outdoor chapel, nestled in the midst of 50 acres of beautiful oak forest, will provide a breathtaking experience for you and your guests. Owners, Katherine Jeroski and Jordan Ross, took over the lease on the park last spring, and have focused in on using the park as a wedding rental venue for both ceremonies and receptions. Jordan tells bdnmb.ca “ We have received a great response as the park is a beautiful setting with nice amenities, and an easily accessible location only minutes from Brandon. We can accommodate small to large ceremonies, and receptions, at affordable rates.  Prices are based on guest numbers and needs, so people are encouraged to contact them for quotes, at the contact information below. They will also have a booth at the up-coming Westman Wedding Expo on February 5th.     In addition to having an on-site wedding chapel, Grand Valley Provincial Park has a nicely treed campground set in the beautiful Assiniboine River Valley. Their campground has 22 electrical sites and 20 un-serviced sites. The campground has washroom facilities with showers, and water is available at different spots throughout the park. There is also a large cook shack that can be rented for group functions. The cook shack seats up to 80 people and is equipped with a fire place, stove, fridges, freezer and a BBQ.  Depending on the weather, they usually like to get the campground facilities open by May long weekend. Grand Valley Park also has a long First Nation History, and some information signs, explaining some of the history, can be found on the self guided interpretive trail with a look out tower. The park covers nearly 50 acres of beautiful oak forest, which has many summer and winter recreation opportunities. “We are open to discuss all types of usage of the park facilities this summer, including camps, retreats, reunions or any other group functions. Please email or call for more information!” Their plans for the near future are to continue to clean up the property, and invest in some of the facilities that exist already. They hope to work with the Parks Department to develop some plans for existing and possibly new trails throughout the park. Katherine Jeroski & Jordan Ross Grand Valley Provincial Park 204 573-3798 grandvalleyprovincialpark@gmail.com www.facebook.com/grandvalleypark     Owners, Katherine Jeroski and Jordan Ross      

When do you think I took these pictures? If you said "not today Caley" you'd be correct. I'll tell you what did happen today. Ok yesterday or the day before. I finally got stuck.  In the snow. In my car. And it was -50 with the  windchill. Where? At the cemetery. Unbelievable. You'd be surprised how well you can dig with an ice scraper. I don't know what was worse actually. The people watching me from the street (who go straight to work like normal humans thereby avoiding getting stuck in the cemetery) or my frozen hands. It hurt. So. BAD. Who drives through the cemetery on a Wednesday morning, in semi-blizzard conditions when there's a severe cold warning issued? Me. The girl who wanted to see the big orange sun, glowing through the ice fog and evergreens. Which happen to be conveniently located in the cemetery. Great big beautiful evergreens. On the way to work. I will no longer secretly mock other drivers, shake my head in smug "bad driver disapproval", or drive through a cemetery in winter on the coldest day of the year on my way to work. Until I have a 4x4. Here's a few summer pictures to enjoy, and a few winter ones to bring back a touch of reality. Even though it's cold, the sights to see are just as beautiful as the summer. Ok not quite.                                                      

Visitors to western Manitoba have come to recognize our region as one with many great attractions to visit. But organizers of the upcoming Valley Paradise Weekend Retreat (January 27-29) want people to know that we aren’t just home to great scenery, we’re also reach in hand on activities for an enriched visitor experience. Marlies Soltys, the curator of the Inspire Studio of Fine Art had the idea for a women’s weekend retreat here in Minnedosa which combines art, cuisine, yoga and an invigorating three days that focuses on women’s health and wellness. Partnering with Allison Burgess of the Corner Stone Grill, Heidi Rae Yogini Lifestyle and Kim Burgess from Valley Art Therapy, the quartet has assembled a weekend with plenty of activities to explore your creative side and treat your taste buds. The program is an example of an emerging trend in rural tourism, focusing on the visitor experience instead of the passive approach of simply marketing a destination. Increasingly, travelers are looking for an authentic experience that allows them to try their hand at a local custom and discover talents that they didn’t know they had. This new approach to visitation not only invites new people to the region, but also sends them home with a souvenir that they have created themselves. Eastman Tourism offers a slate of four programs of a similar nature. One, called “Jammin’ in the Heartland” invites guests for a weekend to pick berries in Grunthal in the morning and then turn your yield into jam in the afternoon that you can take home or enjoy on site. Other sessions include snowmobiling adventures, a paddling safari and a forest excursion through Bird’s Hill Park. Given our geography in Minnedosa, Soltys feels that there is a lot of potential to develop a similar package of activities for those that are interested to fully experience what the valley has to offer. For the Valley Paradise Retreat, the weekend begins on Friday evening with a wine and cheese reception at the Inspire Studio which will include a music appreciation “sound circle”. Saturday begins with a morning yoga session with Heidi Rae followed by a group art therapy session led by Kim Burgess. The afternoon includes an art class sponsored by Inspire Studio and the evening begins in the kitchen as Corner Stone Grill chef Allison Burgess leads the group in the creation of artisanal pizzas for supper. Sunday morning will include more activities hosted at the Inspire Studio with breakfast wraps and mimosas for all patrons. There will also be some open time throughout the weekend for patrons looking to engage in some retail therapy in downtown Minnedosa. “What we really want is for ladies to allow themselves the gift of time,” says Soltys. “Come for the weekend, and just let yourself be creative and explore new talents.” For more information or to register, interested attendees can contact Marlies at 204-210-1993 or by e-mail at inspirestudiooffineart@gmail.com   (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});

Image: Kempton/Flickr   Most of us lead very busy lives so anything that appears to make our lives easier, or saves time, we may as well try it. Today there are many app's geared towards making life easier for everyone. Some local examples of app’s that can make your day to day lives a bit more simple: Domino’s Pizza App Atom Movie App Starbucks App Subway App Booster Juice App Recently I have seen the ads for Superstore advertising for getting groceries. etc online. Off the start, I have been loyal to Safeway for decades, but if this idea of using a shopping app can save an hour a week by eliminating having to get a cart, searching for what you want, and all the stop n chats then why not at least explore the idea. The process is actually very simple and painless. You click on this link, and start to browse the items on your shopping list. Initially, I made some rookie mistakes, but once you have an idea of what you want you can basically search for anything from chewing gum to cupcakes. You fill up your online shopping cart, pay for your purchase, and then select a time when you want to come pick everything up. LOVE IT, so far. A huge bonus is that they keep a record of what you shopped for so you can always just re order what you have had in the past. When you arrive at Superstore you pull into the area for pick ups, call the number, and someone inside brings your order to your vehicle and you leave …. Simple. Local real estate agent Scott Rouire is married, with 3 kids, and loves what Superstore is doing.  "Having three kids I would never go back to the old way of shopping……once you save a profile and do one shop online, it saves what you ordered, and once you have done it a few times it becomes much easier". (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});