Work in Progress...

Merry Day After Christmas

2011-12-26T17:32:00.000-05:00

Merry Day After Christmas!

Yesterday was quiet here. It was so much fun opening our gifts and seeing what other people got for us this year. It's always fun for me to see Russ get excited too. He doesn't naturally show his excitement often, unless it has to do with cars, so I enjoy Christmas Day for this reason as well. Shhhh, don't tell him I wrote this. :)

The weather was warm yesterday (70's and so humid I was sweating), and I should've spent more of my day outside, but for some reason did not. Silly me. I did notice this butterfly flying around outside though, and I don't think I've ever seen a butterfly (alive) on (live) flowers outside on Christmas Day before yesterday, so I thought it was a good photo opportunity.

Today I woke up very dizzy. I'm not sure what the deal is, but I feel better as the day has passed. Once I felt like I could walk without hurling (no, I'm not pregnant), I decided we should go to Walmart to see what they had on clearance. I haven't ever been one to enjoy the mad rush in stores the day after Christmas, but since Russ doesn't mind going with me, and we go to try and find my mother-in-law craft stuff on sale, it ends up being kinda fun... minus the mad rush of people who each have a cart and think they are the only one in the store. My bargain purchase today was an almost $8.00 VERY SOFT 50 x 60 inch blanket! YAY!

Tonight I'm sitting here mourning the end of my vacation. I could use a few more weeks off to get something done around here. :) It'll be quiet (boring) at work tomorrow since most of the others are on vacation, but it's only a three day work week for me, so I think I might survive. Don't get me wrong, I am thankful for my job, I like it for the most part, and really enjoy the people I work with, but the time it takes to drive back and forth is a bummer. Have I complained about that before? Sorry... Before long it will be time to stop working again and move on to something else I can complain about. :)

I hope you've all made some fun memories this Christmas of 2011. It's hard for me to believe this year is just about over. Where does the time go???

Merry Christmas Eve 2011

2011-12-24T18:37:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas Eve Everyone!!!

For those of you who have received Christmas cards from me in the past couple of years, and didn't get one this year, I am sorry. I had the photos printed up but wasn't able to get the cards made... maybe next year... The picture to the left is the one I picked to send this year, so you can enjoy it online for now.

This is the first Christmas in a LONG time we are not spending with extended family. It feels strange. And it feels wrong. But, as I was cooking dinner tonight, I knew I needed to start dwelling on what I do have here this Christmas Eve... a military husband who is home, and some great weather! I also got to Skype with my mother and twin nieces yesterday, and my oldest niece and sister-in-law showed up and got to say hello before we hung up!!!

One of the few things I miss about my childhood is spending more time with extended family. Our family tradition when I was really young started out on Christmas Eve going to my mother's parent's house with my aunts, uncles, and cousins. I miss those Christmas Eve nights. I have one vivid memory of riding to Memere & Pepere's house one year with my father and mother and it was snowing that night. The snow glistening off the street lights and Christmas lights made it felt like a magical night to me. I don't really ever remember believing in Santa Clause, but I thought it was fun to think about that whole story actually being true... magical. Oh to have that child-like wonder again. :) Many years ago when we all started getting married and having kids, and it was too much for my grandparents to have us all over at their house, my uncle and aunt took it upon themselves to start having all of us over to their house - and I was thrilled... now if we could just get up there to enjoy it again one of these years...

Christmas Day as a kid was spent with my parents opening gifts, having a yummy breakfast, with DONUTS, and then going to my father's parent's house for the rest of the day. Usually my uncles, aunts, and cousins would show up there at some point too. Have I mentioned I miss those days? Yeah, I think I have...

Today I slept late, did some gluten-free baking for my work snacks these next couple of weeks, watched a Christmas movie, and completed our Christmas Eve dinner by making most of the same things I cooked on Thanksgiving. I suppose I need to change up my menu a bit if I cook both Thanksgiving and Christmas again huh?

I'm not sure what we'll be doing tomorrow, but it's nice to have another four day weekend off from work. It looks like I'll be working until I decide it's time to move on to that master's degree thing I've been thinking about doing. :)

Enjoy your families and friends these next few days.

Thankful for my life...

2011-11-25T06:00:00.000-05:00

The first couple of days this week were difficult for me emotionally as I watched one friend go through something very unexpected and hurtful, and another friend, who has been struggling deeply for a couple of years now, had yet another huge blow to her world... It's been years since I went through my time of deep resentment and anger (probably hatred) of men. God has healed me deeply since that time, but this week some of it snuck back into my life again. I still occasionally mourn those thirty-something years I had of "innocence," not knowing men (and women) can be such scum bags, but now I am thankful to have this insight to try and help other people. I just wish I didn't need it.

I've been reading through a book I received last Christmas titled "Happily Ever Laughter." It has short chapters with amusing stories about marriage. Chapter 27 was particularly amusing to me yesterday. The guy writing the chapter was conducting a marriage seminar, and a woman in the audience was doing some creative writing of her own while listening to his seminar.

DISCLAIMER: Of course, not all men and women are the same (thankfully), but some of these things gave me some much needed humor therapy. It also made me even more thankful for my husband! And... for the record... I like five o'clock shadow. :)

A man expects a wife who...

is always beautiful and cheerful.
could have married a movie star but wants only you.
has hair that never needs curlers or a beauty shop.
has beauty that won't run in a rainstorm, because she doesn't wear makeup. Her glow is natural.
is never sick; she's just allergic to jewelry and Italian leather shoes.
insists that moving the furniture by herself is good for her figure.
is an expert at cooking, cleaning house, and fixing the car or computer.
is an expert at painting the house. She even hangs wallpaper by herself.
has favorite hobbies of mowing the lawn and shoveling snow.
hates credit cards, and her favorite expression is "What can I do for you, dear?"
thinks you have Einstein's brain and look like Mr. America.
says she loves you because you're so sexy.

What he gets is a woman who...

speaks 140 words a minute with gusts up to 180.
was once a model... for a totem pole.
is known as a light eater: as soon as it gets light, she starts eating.
treats you like a god... offering three burnt offerings a day. Where there is smoke, there she is, cooking.
has hair that, despite what she does, looks like an explosion in a steel wool factory.
uses a broom only to fly somewhere.
can find you if you get lost - just open your wallet.
fights with the neighbors just to keep in practice until you get home.
lets you know you have only two faults: everything you say and everything you do.

The Ideal Husband

One well groomed and charming, a dashing one, too,
could have married great women but desires only you.
No five o'clock shadow ever crosses his face.
He's always dressed in the latest, each hair in its place.
He's never sick, a tower of strength all for you.
He's allergic to golf clubs... and snowmobiles, too.
He insists you not strain yourself in any way.
He hangs up his clothes and does the dishes each day.
He's an expert in making and managing money,
and he's generous when giving costly gives to his honey.
He rules his well-behaved children with hand firm and fair.
He's a painter, a plumber, an expert at lawn care.
He's a great conversationalist, well versed in all things.
He's a right cheerful fellow; he whistles and sings.
He's always asking, "What would you like to do?"
He loves you so much, just because you are you!

...What She Gets...

He grunts: once if by land, two if by sea,
while glued to hair chair by the color TV.
His hair, what's left, needs a brush and shampoo.
And his chest? Well, it sunk, irretrievably, too.
He snaps at the children and kicks the poor dog.
After wolfing his supper, he sleeps like a log.
He expects T-bone steak as his bill of fare,
but the budget allows only filet of mare.
The paint is all chipped, and the front porch is sagging.
You mention it once and get scolded for nagging.
He needs one night a week to go out with the boys.
He thinks speedboats and cycles are his well-deserved toys.
When you'd like to find out if he loves you or no,
he just shrugs and says, "I'm still here, aren't I? So?"

At the bottom of the page she had written:

How amazing to me is God's wonderful plan.
He takes imperfect woman and imperfect man,
two quite different persons, and when He's done,
they're molded and formed by His hands into one.
A wedding is just the foundation block,
but marriage goes on building rock upon rock
until you're melded together through trial and test,
for God makes good things better, and better things best.

Unfortunately, some marriages and relationships end badly... some spouses are abusive and hurtful and don't care. I find comfort in knowing God sees it all, and the way he'll choose deal with someone like that will be 100% effective compared to whatever I could think up to do to someone I feel deserves a good cane-ing and flogging. :)

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-11-24T17:02:00.001-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving!!! Russ and I stayed home this year and I cooked up some of our favorite foods. It all tasted good even though I forgot the relish in the deviled eggs, and almost pulverized all the pecans instead of chopping them, for the sweet potato casserole... I miss the days when I was one of the brighter bulbs...

Here he is cutting the ham. Notice there are no dirty dishes beside the sink. HE washed them all! So thankful for that guy!

The "spread" - minus the two pans of brownies I made (one regular, one gluten-free).

My "PRECIOUS." (If you don't get that comment you haven't watched Lord of the Rings. If you haven't seen Lord of the Rings, you might not want to) In other words... I ♥ sweet potato casserole with pecan and brown sugar topping!

***EDITED TO ADD: By the way, it was a beautiful sunny day here today. Not sure what the temperature was outside but I was out in short sleeves and it was bee-u-tee-ous!

2011-11-07T12:00:00.000-05:00

At Peggy's Cove there are signs EVERYWHERE warning people not to walk down too far down on the rocks. Shortly after we were here I noticed an online news article/photo of a man and his daughter, who did not need the signs! Thankfully, it looks like they made it out alive!

Even after all the warning signs, there were still silly (crazy) people on these black rocks of doom.

Peggy... and her Cove.

2011-11-05T18:47:00.000-04:00

August 2011 - It was a beautiful ride from my friend's house to Peggy's Cove. What a beautiful place! It started off on the cloudy side, but soon after we arrived we saw blue sky and sun. Thank you for taking the time to show me this little piece of Heaven on earth Shelb & Eli!

This cool carved rock is on the walk down to the lighthouse.

Peggy's light shining in the picture below.

This sign below cracked me up. I just looked to see what they do and they have a Facebook page. They sound pretty crafty. :)

Halifax Public Garden Flowers

2011-10-29T20:09:00.000-04:00

This was such a beautiful (free) place to go! The scenery, and company, were perfect!

If anyone knows what the ball-shaped flower is below I'd love to know.

This picture came out way too bright and I couldn't salvage it's true colors, so I played with it in photo software and came up with this.

I wish this picture would've come out better. These flowers are shaped like butterflies and they were GORGEOUS! If anyone knows what plant this is as well, I'd love to know.

My favorite picture of the day. :)

Halifax Public Gardens

2011-10-24T14:12:00.000-04:00

Each day I got to visit with my friends in Halifax were great days, but I REALLY enjoyed our time here at the public gardens. The weather was beautiful and it was fun wandering around with my friend and one of her daughters who enjoys taking pictures as well.

This little chipmunk was not happy to see us walk in. The garden needs to get a new greeter!

This was a giant topiary created with all natural supplies. It was tall. Probably a couple of feet taller than me.

Some friendly ducks. They came right out of the water to see if we had any food (we didn't). But it gave us a great opportunity to take their picture up close and personal.

Pretty Canadian Gazebo.

One lazy goose (or at least I think it was a goose)...

The pigeons let you get quite close. I know some people think they are pests but I like their pretty colors.

There are still more pictures. Hopefully I'll get them posted soon!

My Trip To Canada

2011-10-22T15:17:00.000-04:00

WAY back in August I took a little trip to Halifax, Nova Scotia, to visit wonderful friends I have not spent time with in way too long... The last time I spent any significant amount of time with her was right around the time she had her first baby... now she has six! Well... they are not all babies now, but they are HER babies. :) My visit with them was a major blessing, and now my brain won't stop thinking about how much I wish we we neighbors... Here are some pictures from the city where they live.

Here are some flowers from their yard.

She had the most beautiful hostas!

These are from a place called Citadel Hill.

Looking out over Halifax from Citadel Hill.

While I was there they had their Busker Festival, so we went to the waterfront to see what we could see.

We saw COWS! Definitely the best ice cream in Canada, and probably THE best I've ever tasted! Oops, never mind... shhhh, don't tell anyone I had some...

They have funny cow-themed t-shirts too!

More photos coming soon...

Still Working...

2011-09-19T17:42:00.000-04:00

Time has been going by so quickly these last few months. I'm still working and trying to keep my focus on the goal of why I'm trying to earn this money... grad school. I think I'm going to need to plan at least a month OFF before I go from the job to school...

One interesting thing going on at work these days is that I found out I work with several people who are interested in photography. One of them decided to start "Photography Friday Lunch." We've shared some of our photos with each other, and now we are starting to ask questions and learn from each other. It's been fun sharing my hobby with other people who enjoy it as well.

My job duties at work have changed in the last several weeks, and I am now assisting the almost 10 engineers with whatever they need my help with, so I have been trying to organize myself and figure out how I can best help them in this new role. Thankfully they have been patient with me.

The picture at the top is one of the last times I saw the bluebird pair this summer. A few weeks ago I noticed their birdhouse fell down. Hopefully the babies were long gone before it fell... In the pictures below you can see the beak of one of them peeking out in the top picture. In the bottom picture is a wide open mouth waiting for food. :)

I am WAY behind on posting pictures. Hopefully I'll get the time to post some more soon.

Lately

2011-07-11T06:05:00.001-04:00

My weeks don't leave much time for anything other than 40 hours of work, 6+ hours of driving to and from work, and getting ready for the coming week during the weekends, but one day this week I'm leaving work early... to get a mammogram. Fun, fun!

I had my annual exam last December, and the nurse practitioner told me I needed to wait until after the first of the year before she could give me a referral for my mammogram, so I did what I was told and called the clinic shortly after the first of the year to try to find out if she put in that referral. I was also instructed that if no one called me back after 72 hours, to call again... which I did... still no call back. The place I actually call is the appointment center, which is different from the clinic, so the third time I called I told them what was going on and they gave me the direct line to the clinic. A friendly and apologetic man answered at the clinic, I told him the situation, and he said he'd have the nurse call me back the next day... still no one called. Shortly after all that I got a job and put it on the back burner... until this week.

The whole reason I tried so hard to get the appointment in the first place is because I was getting some very sharp pains in one of my breasts. It's the kind of pain that comes out of nowhere and hurts so badly I grab myself... not something I want to do a lot in public... :) Between the time the pain started and now, I somehow figured out if I eat a banana every day it takes most of the pains away, but now the pains are more frequent again... so... I finally made ANOTHER appointment with whoever I could get in to see (because the clinic apparently only schedules about a month out at a time, so my NP was booked) and had yet another breast exam... which felt normal to this second NP as well. Which is good.

Instead of leaving you with a cliffhanger until I get my mammo results... IF I get my results anytime this year... I will leave you with a couple of funny things that have happened in the past few months.

Funny-ish Story #1 -

I was sound asleep and woke up to the phone ringing at 10:30 pm. It was our town's emergency calling system. There are many wildfires not far from here, so my mind automatically went to that scenario. Imagine my surprise when the call was concerning a mentally unstable woman on the "loose." They gave her address and when she was last seen she was wearing pink clothes and no shoes. Maybe it was because I was still half asleep, but fear took over and all I could picture was her peeking in our windows and waiting outside for me when I had to go out for work the next day. So I had to talk myself "down" as I went over the details of where she lived in my mind, and asked myself why on earth would she walk all the way here with bare feet just to look in my windows. I never did hear if anyone found her. And she wasn't outside when I left for work. Yes, I have fear issues...

Funny Story #2 -

Russ and I were walking out to the car to go grocery shopping. In order for me to unlock all the car doors I push the unlock button on the remote twice, which makes two double beeping sounds. On this particular day I suppose our resident mockingbird was bored, and after the car beeped we heard the same beeps coming from the tree on the lawn. :) At first I thought I was hearing things, but when I turned to look at Russ he was smiling at me. That was the first time I've known I was being mocked by a bird.

Lizard #2's Dewlap

2011-07-08T05:58:00.002-04:00

I got these pictures through our window but they came out clear enough to see some details of this one's dewlap. His expression in picture #2 cracks me up. :) If you click on the individual pictures they should enlarge for you to view them up close and personal.

"What a beautiful day it is. Maybe the chicks will notice me up here on this this ugly green plant pot with the pretty flower."

"WHAT? What do you want lady? I'm trying to work here - move along!"

"Do you think they noticed how beautiful my dewlap is?"

Lizard #1

2011-07-07T20:02:00.004-04:00

The lizards are out running around these days and I finally got a few good shots of their dewlaps. What is a dewlap you say? Well, they have these crazy red throats they puff out when they are trying to attract mates. This one likes to sit on top of one of our bushes and bob up and down while he puffs out his throat. Oh, what creatures will do for love. :)

Stay tuned for tomorrow's up close and personal encounter with Lizard #2's dewlap. :)

The Great Blue Heron Poser

2011-07-03T05:46:00.003-04:00

There hasn't been much to see this past month or two at the pond behind our house. Every once in awhile I see a big bird or turtle, but it's been mostly quiet.

A couple of months ago this heron posed for me while I was standing only a few feet away from it. I think at first it was leery of me, so it stood still for a long time, and then I guess it felt somewhat safe, so it walked back and forth in front of me several times.

The picture below gives you a little bit of an idea of how far away I was from it.

Keeping it's eye on me...

... starting to squawk...

Smoke & Sun

2011-07-02T09:30:00.007-04:00

Thankfully there hasn't been any smoke, ash, or smoky smell around here for almost a week. It got to the point where I felt like I'd been sitting very near a bonfire for far too long. It was better inside the house, but the house was still pretty stinky. There have been many wildfires from lightening strikes, in Georgia and Florida, and depending on which way the wind was blowing, we have been getting some of the effects of the fires.

A few days ago a lightening strike caused another fire and they had to close I-95 for a little while...

There is also a fireworks ban because of the fire danger, but they still had a big tent at Walmart selling them.

Unfortunately I've been too lazy to get out early in the morning to take pictures of the beautiful smoke haze sunrises, but here are a few from sunset.

You know it's smoky when you can stare at the sun without squinting.

Pesky Squirrel

2011-06-29T05:31:00.002-04:00

We've lived here almost a year and this is the first time I've seen a squirrel running around the yard (it's actually been a few months since I've seen it, I took these pictures awhile ago). At first it was fun to see, and Cleo enjoyed watching it, but I've discovered this squirrel can be a pain. It keeps digging in the pine straw that we use for landscaping and makes a mess! There are also holes and messes everywhere it has hidden its food... I actually don't know for sure if the squirrel is making the holes, but my favorite coping mechanism - denial - refuses to believe it might be anything else... :)

The picture below reminds me of Scrat from the movie Ice Age. :)

Job Update

2011-06-28T06:31:00.002-04:00

When this posts I'll have about three days left at this particular project/job I've been at for the last four and a half+ months. My co-worker left on Friday, so I will be working by myself to end our part of the project this coming week. That ought to be interesting. The project still has some major bugs to be worked out, but I guess that will fall in someone else's lap in the months to come.

My co-worker has been asking the boss if they have anything for her after this project is over, and about two hours before she left, he asked her if she was still willing to come back, and she is, so she will be back in July to help them with something else... and most likely be a help as the bugs get worked out of this past project. The boss also said he was trying to find something for me, but he said he knew he had another week to figure that out before I left, so I may get a last minute offer as well. There's another department that will need help at some point too, so I am hoping they will be ready soon and ask me first. We'll see. I'd really like a couple of months of a life off again! But... my goal is a master's degree and more money is needed for that next step in my life.

I've adjusted to a lot of things while working full time, but after just a few months of it I feel a bit burnt out in many ways. The job isn't overly difficult, but mostly all work and no play makes me crispy. I feel like my weekends are just work in preparation for the week to come with maybe an hour in there somewhere for reading or blogging. I guess my ideal work week would include another day or two "off" so I can take care of housework/laundry/baking and have some down time. It also takes me 40 minutes to get to and from work, so that's more time spent away from home. I haven't found any jobs close to home that I am interested in, so, hopefully, if they find more work for me, they will give me a raise now that I have some experience at this mill and I am one of the few who knows a lot about this new software they've implemented. Again, we'll see. One major positive thing about this job has been that most of the people have been wonderful to work with. I'll let you know what happens...

Happy Milestone Birthday My Sister!!!

2011-06-27T05:02:00.001-04:00

Sure wish I could be there to help you celebrate your birthday... And, yes... it is something to celebrate! I am so glad you were born, and that God put you in our family to be my sister. With each passing year I see you growing and changing in awesome ways, and I am proud of the woman you have become. Time flies doesn't it? I hope this coming year is your best year ever!

I love you very much!

One Nosy Alligator

2011-06-20T05:42:00.000-04:00

Ok, picture the scene... half way through the swamp tour our tour guide takes us to what looks like a field on both sides (they call them prairies) and stops the boat to tell us a bit about how deep the swamp is, what layers are at the bottom of the swamp (besides alligators), and if you decide you want to try to walk on the prairies you'd probably sink, especially if it's extremely wet. There's a lot to see... alligators of course, lots of different birds, water lilies, etc... To my HUGE surprise, this was the first time I have seen a curious alligator. It was actually kind of creepy, but thankfully it looked like a small-ish one.. Usually they run, or swim, the other way if people or boats are too close. This one swam up to the boat while we were sitting there and emerged it's creepy lizard head. If this alligator would've stayed still I could've reached out and touched it. I chose to take pictures...

When we all went over to that side of the boat to look, it swam away a bit but then came back to check us out a little longer.

Alligators

2011-06-19T14:29:00.003-04:00

Here are some of the better shots I got of the alligators as we floated down the swamp during our "tour." There weren't as many visible alligators during this tour, but plenty to make it worth our time.

I forgot to post this close-up below of one of the baby alligators I posted yesterday.

Hanging out... waiting for food... :)

Swamp Babies

2011-06-15T06:30:00.000-04:00

Here are the babies we saw on our visit to the swamp.

You may not be able to tell from the picture but this alligator was quite small. It looked very cute and cuddly... well... maybe not so cuddly.

This one below was even smaller...

...and here is it's Momma swimming around near it to protect intruders. It's a good thing we were in a boat!

Another Swamp Boat Tour

2011-06-12T07:31:00.000-04:00

When friends of ours visited us in March I took them to experience the swamp tour (yes, I'm very behind on posting pictures). This time I had a zoom lens!

I didn't stop to think my friends might be a bit apprehensive about this tour, ok... maybe a couple of them were downright scared, but we came out unscathed! I think. Hopefully they don't have issues now that they'll need therapy for later...

The tour place is renovating their docks, so they had caution tape around these docks closest to the parking lot. This is what "greeted" us as we got to the bottom of the walkway.

After I got home and looked at this picture below I had a bit of a panic attack. We had to wait about a half hour before our tour departed, so we walked around and checked out the grounds. There's a small hill near the docks where the swamp winds around the other side of the hill. Lots of alligators hang out there. Yes, I was this close to it. No, there was no barrier between us. I'm such an idiot sometimes! Thankfully he stayed put and didn't move a muscle.

During our tour, our tour guide told us to go on their Facebook page and watch the video they posted of an 8 foot male alligator thrashing around in the water with a smaller alligator carcass in it's mouth "showing his aggression." The video was taken in the swamp part in the above picture... and the alligator in the photo above could have easily been *the* 8 foot alligator... YIKES!!! The neat part of the video is at the end when the alligator shows his "territorial bellowing." Somehow he moves and vibrates himself so that bubbles spray up onto his back. Hopefully you can see the video by clicking this link below.

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1668544204511&oid=109901865696401&comments

We had just started our tour when we spotted this tiny turtle on a log. The tour guide slammed the boat motor in reverse to take a look at it. When we got back to look at it he said he was surprised it was still there... and that it wasn't long for this world. :(

Still more pictures to come...

My Job

2011-06-09T06:34:00.000-04:00

Before I write about what's going on with my job... this is a picture of a magnolia from the tree on our lawn. It's a smallish tree, but it had lots of flowers this year. My neighbor complains about the tree because it drops a lot of big leaves. I think it's worth it!

Well, here it is almost the middle of June and I am still working at the temp job. The project was estimated to be completed by mid-May but they needed to extend us since they were behind in going "live" with the project. Overall it's been a great job with great people, and I am closer to my financial goal (so I can take more classes), so I try not to complain, but I am REALLY looking forward to having more than a weekend off. My weekends are filled with house work-type stuff, grocery shopping, baking for the week, laundry, and any other errands I need to do. I am tired, and feel overwhelmed lots of times. I haven't worked 40 hours a week since the 1990's I believe. My new job end date is the "end of June." I finally e-mailed my boss to ask what that meant by this, and he informed my co-worker and I today that it means the last day of June... but... there is talk of keeping someone on for "support," so who knows. I'm not sure I'm interested in, or a good fit for, another extension for this project.

I've been there over 4 months and still don't have a good grasp on what needs to be completed before we are done on this project. Communication hasn't been one of our boss's strong points and that part has been frustrating for me. After tomorrow this boss will no longer be my boss. His regular job is in another mill, so he'll be headed back to his normal place of business next week. I'm hoping our new boss will keep us in the loop. We'll see.

A couple of other supervisors have expressed interest in my help in other departments after this project is done, and one of them may be part-time. I hope that one works out.

It's Been Awhile...

2011-05-21T08:57:00.001-04:00

Phew. Where does the time go? I haven't felt much like spending the time to post on here lately. Today I finally have some good energy for a Saturday! So much has happened in the last two months that I've tried to write a little here and there so when I got the time to post I could remember what I wanted to write. Here's the craziest thing that has happened...

On Wednesday, March 16th, a week after the awful earthquake and tsunami in Japan, my husband found out he was possibly being sent there to help with the relief effort... and he left 2 days later on Friday morning! It was all quite a shock considering he is supposed to be on his SHORE duty rotation these next two years, and we normally get months to prepare for his deployments. Thankfully he was *only* there about 35 days and was over 100+ miles away from the devastated area and nuclear plant. He stayed on the Atsugi military base, and was part of Operation Tomodachi. His job was to test aircraft, and people on the aircraft, after they had been on missions. He worked 12 hour shifts 7 days a week most of the time he was there, but they eventually put him on 8 hour shifts about a week before he came home, and he got two days off (one of those days off he got to visit Tokyo). He was able to stay in officer's quarters, so he had a nice room with most of the comforts of home (full kitchen, tv, HOUSEKEEPING, etc…)!!! YAY! Some of the other guys who went from his base had to sleep on awful beds in not-so-good rooms, and some others went and stayed on ships, so Russ got the best accommodations!

The day Russ found out there was a possibility he was going to Japan, was the day our friends, the Derkes, were arriving. Now that I am able to look back on all of it, I truly believe God orchestrated the visit of our friends just at the right time! They were only planning on staying through the weekend but ended up staying for two weeks, and I feel like God’s hands were all over our visit!!! It was AWESOME to have them here with me during the first part of Russ being away. Since that time they have been here again, so I have more catching up to do with writing and posting pictures. Until next time...

A Friends Visit and Sightseeing

2011-04-15T19:15:00.004-04:00

One of my dearest friends visited in March with her family, and I had such a wonderful visit with them. They are easy and fun to have around!!! I'm hoping they end up back here soon!!!

One nice, but windy, evening we went out to dinner and then drove down to the waterfront. It was the first time I'd been to the waterfront at night since Russ proposed. :) It was also the first time I'd been there at night with a camera. It's tricky getting good shots with low lighting and moving subjects. Here they are going for a swim... ummm, I mean... walking to the end of the dock.

The sunset was beautiful, but didn't last long! It must be neat to stay on one of these boats and be able to see the sunset from within them or on deck.

I didn't realize until I got this picture on the computer that the last time I was at the waterfront at night (if you've been paying attention, it was when Russ proposed 7+ years ago) it wasn't this lit up. I wonder when they got all the lighting? When Russ got down on his knee to propose (shhhh, don't tell him I told you) it was very dark... but memorable... ♥

Supermoon - March 19, 2011

2011-04-06T19:20:00.004-04:00

As you can see I'm a little behind on getting my pictures posted... This was the first moon I've tried to photograph and I liked how these two pictures came out. I was outside for quite awhile trying to get a picture of the moon like in the first photo but be able to see more of the trees as well... couldn't do it for whatever reason.

The Waterfront - March 2011

2011-04-05T05:48:00.005-04:00

I decided it was time to take a trip to the waterfront again since I had seen lots of trees blossoming around town. Unfortunately, the most beautiful blossoming trees were on base and I wasn't going to try taking pictures on base again!!! There weren't any blossoming trees where I went but the weather and scenery were still beautiful.

These tiny flowers were everywhere. I haven't used my zoom lens much to get close up shots but it worked pretty well.

The roses were scattered here and there when I took this, but this month they are everywhere!

I've seen these flowers before at the waterfront. I have no idea what they are but they are pretty fancy!

I'm not sure why this boat and another one are a mess and sunk into the mud flats but I'm thankful I'm not it's owner...

This is THE bench! THE bench in the gazebo at the waterfront where Russell proposed to me. Every other time I've been here there have been people in the gazebo, and most of the time one or more of the people are on THIS bench. Ah... memories... :)

This boat was huge! I'd like to take a look around inside.

Scenes From Our Yard In March

2011-04-04T19:36:00.005-04:00

If I haven't written it before, I sure do enjoy having spring show up in March!

My neighbor has a lot of nice big outdoor plants. This is one of hers.

One of our many azalea bushes!

Lots of blossoms!

This bird was singing loudly, so I took his picture. :) Oops, my signature got cut off when I resized the picture... oh well... I tried twice.

Not sure what this bird is but he and a bunch of his kind were taunting Cleo one morning on the lawn.

This picture was actually taken in February but I keep forgetting to post it... It's been fun seeing the turtles crawl out of the water to sit in the warm sun.

Found this guy in our screen porch one day. I sure do enjoy my new camera lens! I'm able to get close without getting close. They're scaredy lizards anyway and run away when I get too close.

What A Crazy Few Weeks

2011-04-03T14:47:00.003-04:00

Some friends of mine came to visit toward the middle of March and I thought I was only going to get a few days to visit with them but they ended up staying for over two weeks!!! I really didn't want them to leave after all that time either! It was a trick for me to try and get all the visiting in I wanted to do plus work full-time. I did take a half day off the first part of the time they were here (before I knew they'd be staying longer) and went to the beach with them. In the end I was able to get two beach days in with them, a swamp boat tour, I showed them the waterfront one evening, and had more fun than I ever imagined!

Hopefully within the next week I'll be able to take the time and post some pictures I took this last month. I'm way behind!

Kitty Videos

2011-03-14T06:50:00.001-04:00

I saw these videos on someone else's blog today and wanted to share the laughter.

Russ and I found the first video a little more funny than other people might since Cleo has extra toes on her paws. We'd be in trouble if she figured out how to use them as opposable thumbs!

First of all, here's a picture of one of Cleo's "thumbs."

This was is so stinkin' cute!

The Wood Stork

2011-03-13T18:05:00.000-04:00

I've seen this bird out in the backyard three times so far. Each time I see it I sit and stare at it because it's on the big side and it's head is UGLY compared to the fully white egrets! At first I thought it was a very old egret or one with major head problems. :) When it arrived the second time I realized the first time I saw it its head must've been all muddy, which made it look that much more ugly. The bird jams its long beak down into the water for whatever food it's trying to get, and ends up getting covered with mud. After a bit of an internet search I discovered it's a Wood Stork.

I hope this isn't the stork they say delivers babies to their parents... if so, that would explain the anxiety issues many of us have these days. :)

The bird stood pretty close to our house for quite awhile and posed nicely. The cat wanted to play! :)

Sticking its head into the mud again.

Valentine's Bouquet

2011-03-06T07:58:00.000-05:00

Russ always buys me the most beautiful flowers for Valentine's Day!

Another Otter

2011-02-27T07:01:00.001-05:00

I had fun last week watching another river otter in our pond. Little did I know what a sight it would be! From where I was standing I couldn't tell what in the world he was dragging out of the pond... upon closer inspection (I braved it and walked over closer so I could see), what it dragged out was a huge fish!!!

If you click on the pictures they should open into a bigger size so you can see them better.

The fish was as big as he/she was! Who knew we had such mammoth fish in the pond! Even our neighbor was shocked. He sent some of my pictures to his friend, who works for a government department that would know a lot about fish, and his friend said it is a grass carp. They apparently stock ponds with them (at $9-12 a pop) to keep the weeds eaten up. This fish was approximately 2 feet long!

Cute little otter.

Chomp, chomp, chomp.

Having himself/herself a nice big meal until...

... I was spotted...

I ran for my life!

I heard the Jaws theme song in my head as I was running away (backwards).

At about the time I was running backward toward the house, my neighbor was coming outside and looked at me funny. After I told him what was going on he walked over to see if what I was telling him was true.

I felt very badly after a few hours when the otter didn't return for his meal and the vultures devoured the rest of the fish... those vultures are BIG and mean!

Saturday February 26th

2011-02-26T12:01:00.009-05:00

This past week has gone quickly and stretched me a bit in a few ways. After almost two weeks of working at the new job, my supervisor asked if I had access to a certain database (I do), so he put me to work on a project. Unfortunately, it was part of the database I was not familiar with yet, so it ended up being a crash course in many ways. Thankfully, my co-worker helped me through a lot of it (she was pretty overwhelmed by the task too). Friday we all sat down to see how the project was going and I learned lots more information that will help me from now on. Our meeting lasted about 2 1/2 hours, and even though I was on information overload, it was nice to see what the new database will look like and how it will/can function. Now if I was only a mechanic and knew all the lingo...

Working full-time feels like a week long marathon to me. I have actually never run a marathon but I bet I'd be just as exhausted. I'm doing better than I was the first and second weeks, so maybe I'll continue to gain stamina. Ha!

One thing that's helping now is how light it is outside when I leave for work. Even though I am looking forward to the time change in two weeks, I won't enjoy the darkness outside again in the mornings, but at least I'll get more sunlight at the other end of the day!

The grass is turning green and the trees and bushes are starting to bloom here! Thankfully the pollen hasn't made me feel too yukky. I just have itchy eyes and a little bit of congestion, but my co-worker's sinuses are NOT happy! By the way... weeding here in the springtime = sand gnats = a pain in my behind! For you northerners who read this... just picture smaller black flies in swarms.

Poor Russ has been working horribly long hours. He found out last Friday night at 6 pm that he would not have a three day weekend and instead would be working 12 hour shifts... that lasted all last weekend and until Thursday of this past week. Thursday and Friday he got a little break but found out yesterday he is in 12 hour shift-work again this weekend... This will make 3 weekends in a row he's worked. He is dying (figuratively of course) for a day to sleep in! I am really looking forward to him getting back to his regular routine so we aren't both burning our candles at both ends!

I decided to try a new place to get my hair cut today. The place is within walking distance of our house and I am very happy with how she cut my hair!!! Now, if I could find a job closer to home... these gas prices are getting CRAZY!

If anyone knows why I received an issue of Outdoor Photography magazine, I'd love to know who sent it! Russ said it wasn't him (although he did say it could've been a freebie he signed up for but forgot about). :) I am now going back out to sit in my lawn chair and read the rest of said magazine.

Last Couple of Weeks

2011-02-19T09:49:00.001-05:00

I'm getting into the swing of working again. Russ's schedule changed for the first week of my job but hopefully he'll be going back to his normal schedule soon. Me working full-time, along with his schedule change has pushed me to the brink of emotional overload at times. I'm not sure why, but that's how I've felt.

Thankfully the work I do at my new job hasn't been overly stressful. Other than my anxieties about being in a new place and meeting new people, the only time I've been a bit overwhelmed was yesterday when my supervisor came in to have me do a project for him and I didn't have a clue about most of what he was saying. His mannerisms remind me of a doctor I used to work for who wasn't very nice sometimes, so I was intimidated at first, but after yesterday I can tell he will be a much more understanding man to work for.

I haven't worked in a non-medical office for a long time, and working at a mill was very intimidating to me at first. A couple of days before I started work, Russ and I took a trip to find it. The piles of sawdust and logs are huge. Very intimidating! I also knew I'd probably work with, or see, lots of men, which is also very intimidating to me for several reasons I won't get into. :) They have all been very nice though, so it's been an easy first two weeks. The girl I work closest with is great! Age -wise she could be my daughter (gasp)... but she's mature for her years, a capable hard worker, and so far we work well together. She even told me the other day that she doesn't usually get along with girls, especially girls her age and it's easier to be friends with guys, but on my first day she said she told her friend she really likes me. :)

So... other than the 40+ minute drive and the blister I got on my foot the first day I wore my dress shoes, things in job-land are going ok.

One of my concerns about working again was my temptation with foods I really need to avoid... The the first day I was there the girl I work with bought everyone pizza and brought in an ice cream cake... Four of the men I work closest with are "planners" for the temporary job we are doing, and I've learned one thing about them already... they like their sweets just as much as we women do! Dare I say they like them more? This has all happened in the 9 days I've been working... one guy brought in a pineapple upside down cake his wife made, two of the guys went to a place called Bliss Cupcakery and bought a box of cupcakes that were one of the most beautiful pieces of food I've ever seen, and one brought in a huge mound of Banana Pudding. I resisted all but a VERY small piece of the ice cream cake my female co-worker brought in and... one of those CUPCAKES! Shhhhh. Don't tell.

And now... some random thoughts...

* Spring has arrived!

* Avoiding those many foods my body does not digest well is sometimes very irritating...

* I love being married to my best friend

* When did I become the person who needs the fan or A/C blasting to sleep while my husband sleeps under a wool blanket and comforter?

New Job

2011-02-04T14:29:00.003-05:00

This morning the temp agency called to ask if I wanted to take a data entry job at a paper company. I said yes! While I'm thankful to have a job, even if it is temporary, I'm a bit anxious because I haven't worked full-time since Russ and I have been married. I find comfort in the fact the job is temporary because I'm not convinced I could do a several year marathon of these particular hours for a company that isn't local (which means my commute will take more than a half hour).

This morning before I went to the temp agency to fill out the required paperwork, they had me go to a lab for a drug screen. The lab staff were very friendly, and the office was decorated in a way I don't think I've ever witnessed before. They had a few Thomas Kincaid paintings along with poster sized Bible verses and other uplifting religious-type pictures, etc... They also had a nice upbeat Christian radio station playing in the back office. The first, and last time, I had a drug test (in Virginia Beach), the person who "helped" me only grunted and had a huge frown on her face the whole time. This was a major step up!

Because I'll be working full-time now, there's a huge chance I won't have time to post on my blog for awhile. This experience should show me just how much of an addiction I have to this crazy computer (and Facebook). I tend to check it often (or sit in front of it far too much during the day) so I can have some sort of access to the relationships I enjoy... maybe now I'll make some new friends. I look forward to the day (if it ever comes) when we settle down in one place for a long while!

A Bunion? Really?

2011-01-26T12:31:00.000-05:00

This summer, about a month after our move, the base of my left little toe (where the bone sticks out) started hurting and it hasn't stopped. It seemed to all start after trying to keep myself cool by going barefoot in the house. You see, wearing socks and/or shoes in the summer is very uncomfortable for me now that I have hot flashes. A friend once described it as it feeling like her feet were one of the ways her body heat needed to escape. I think it's true. Anyway... thankfully, my primary care doctor was able to refer me to a podiatrist and I saw her a couple of weeks ago. She diagnosed a Tailor's bunion and gave me padding (which doesn't help if I'm wearing a tight shoe), and a stick on anti-inflammatory to reduce any swelling. My other two options are orthotics for my shoes or surgery. Ironically, my insurance won't cover the shoe inserts, which cost about $300.00, but they WILL cover surgery... Insurance companies don't make sense to me sometimes... Anyway, I digress. I'm thankful my toe doesn't hurt very badly... yet, so I have time to figure out the next step.

I can't say I wasn't warned about future foot problems... I worked for a podiatrist in the 90's and she told me my arch was so high it would cause me problems later in life. She was right. Many of my toes are curling under, and my arch isn't "stable" or supportive, it just collapses when I step down on my foot. So much for the "Barbie Doll" perfect feet, as my mother calls them. Appearances are definitely not everything.

Went To A Movie

2011-01-19T11:29:00.003-05:00

I wrote some thoughts in previous posts a couple of years ago after reading The Chronicles of Narnia, but I don't think I've mentioned just how much I've enjoyed (read: LOVED) the movies! Russ and I finally went to see The Voyage of the Dawn Treader last weekend. It's difficult for me to put into words just how I feel when I'm watching one of those movies. I don't enjoy the fighting scenes at all, but there is so much spiritual symbolism that jumps out at me when I'm watching that sometimes (ok, more than sometimes) I feel like sobbing. Here is one example...

In a couple of the scenes of this most recent movie, Lucy is struggling with not being as pretty as her older sister, Susan. She struggles with temptation in this magical land, and finally Aslan comes to her and says, "You doubt your value... Don't run from who you are." God knows I need so many reminders!

There is also another little girl on board the boat ,and when she tells Lucy she wants to grow up to be just like her, Lucy gently says in reply, "I want you to grow up to be just like you." Wow.

There is so much more I could write about but I don't want to spoil the movie for anyone.

I think it's a shame that the adults in my life at school when I was growing up did not like C.S. Lewis' writing. It would've been a good tool for me to learn so much more about God at the time.

There are many books out that give details of the symbolism in C.S. Lewis' work, so if any of you know of a good reputable one, please send the information my way.

Sparrows

2011-01-18T06:15:00.002-05:00

Many mornings they can be seen in the flower garden, and on the back lawn. Cleo loves watching them... or maybe I should write, she likes stalking them.

I laughed when I first looked at this picture after loading it onto the computer. The way its stripes and coloring point down to the nose makes it look like it's "lips" are pursed and it's mean or angry. :)

Unidentified Birds

2011-01-17T06:09:00.003-05:00

Here are a couple of birds I haven't seen in our backyard before yesterday. They stayed close to each other during their feast around the pond. If anyone knows what they are, please fill me in. I'm too lazy to do an online search. :)

Hair Cut

2011-01-14T06:24:00.000-05:00

In October, I wrote about one of the "woes" of moving... having our mail properly forwarded and delivered... Before I get to the point of this post, I have an update on the previous mail post. After receiving many Christmas cards this year with no problem, one person who tried to send us a Christmas card received it back because the post office said we no longer live here... Because of this transaction, I have come to realize the previous tenants have Russell in their name, so, the whole thing makes a bit more sense now. Although, I really would appreciate it if they, the postal people, would not just skim what is written on the envelopes...

The point of this post is another "woe"of moving... finding a new hair dresser. The place I went when we lived here before is now closed, so this time I needed to find somewhere else. I searched online and found many excellent reviews for this particular place, so I decided to give it a try... I am now growing out a big (and I mean big) clump of hair she cut out of my bangs at the worst spot, my cowlick. (Note to self: NEVER tell a new hairdresser that your previous one used thinning shears on your bangs. The new hairdresser might not have a clue!) Russ didn't notice, so thankfully I can pretty much hide it. She cut the rest of my hair very well though, so I am thankful it wasn't all bad...

Songs

2011-01-13T13:38:00.000-05:00

There are many things that happen in my day-to-day life that I don't write on my blog because many times it's just too personal, or makes me feel far too vulnerable to share with the world... but I feel like I need to share this personal story. :)

A week or so ago, as we were coming home from the grocery store, a song on the radio caught my attention. My ears don't tune in well to many lyrics, but I caught them all in this song...

To back up a bit (this is the personal part)... these last couple of years I've been praying that God would show me his love in ways I can understand and "get," because if I am honest with myself, most of my life I have not felt God's love, even though the Bible, or other people, tell me so. So... in order to "hear" God, I have been trying to consistently sit and be quiet to see if God wants to "talk" to me. No, I don't expect an audible conversation, but there have been times that a thought has come into my head that I know is clearly not mine but is God "speaking" to me. Not long after I prayed and asked God to show me more about his love, I was sitting quietly trying to block out all the other racing thoughts in my mind and focus on being quiet... and this came into my mind... "I love you." To which I responded, "WHOA! That was totally not me!!!" For months now, whenever I get quiet to "listen," I hear those same words, "I love you." It totally blows my mind. After awhile, when I started to wonder if I was the one who was thinking it, instead of God "speaking" it, I heard, "I love you... {pause} and you are beautiful!" To which I responded, "WHOA! I would DEFINITELY not think that on my own!!!" During the times now when I choose to stop awhile and listen, He keeps reminding me of those two things over and over again!!! It is mind boggling to me.

The part about God thinking I am beautiful is a huge revelation to me... in the past I've written about how I struggle with my self-image, so this has been huge for me to realize God thinks I am beautiful. After all, He is the one who created me!

Now that I have totally freaked some people out, and made myself absolutely uncomfortable sharing all this, I will get to the point...

The song we heard in the car coming home from the grocery store is titled Beautiful and is sung by Mercy Me. If you would like to read all the lyrics, go here.

The day I heard the song for the first time I especially needed to hear these words:

"Days will come when you don't have the strength..."

"...you are more than what is hurting you tonight..."

"...You are made for so much more than all of this..."

"...You are treasured, you are sacred, you are His..." WOW, I never really considered myself sacred!!!

All the lyrics, along with his voice and the tune, are amazing! I believe this song was another way God used to get his point across to me!

If you click here you can see a video of the song that someone made with photos and streaming lyrics. I am a visual learner, and their video creation is very good!

If you would rather see the band performing the song, click here. If you click here it will take you to a video of the lead singer of Mercy Me telling the story behind the song.

As I was listening to the song on the radio I waited to see if the station would tell me who the band was but they did not, so when I was doing an online search to figure out who it was I came across another similar AMAZING song sung by Jonny Diaz called More Beautiful You. If you click here it will take you to a page where you can read the lyrics. Click here to listen to the song on YouTube.

All this to say... I hope this message touches someone else as much as it did me. So many of us women buy into lies about our looks, or how we are expected to look. God created us and loves us not matter what!

Bluebird Couple

2011-01-11T05:46:00.002-05:00

First of all, I finally got a picture (a bad one at that) of Cleo stalking the bluebird at the front of our house. The crazy bluebird sits on the edge of this windowsill when it finally gets tired of flying into it...

For the first time, a couple of days ago, I was able to see, and get a picture of, the momma bluebird.

And... here is the crazy daddy bluebird again. Pretty blue head and brown belly.

I find it amusing he sits on this plant hanger to rest after his daily window ritual at the neighbors house. If you didn't notice, the top of it is in the shape of a bird.

Pretty blue.

Heron Close-Up

2011-01-10T15:25:00.000-05:00

I'm enjoying some practice time with my new zoom lens through the window into the backyard. This heron cooperated a bit by posing and flying by, but my camera settings made the flying photos blurry. Oh well. Here's what I got.

(Click to enlarge photos)

This isn't a very good picture, but I liked how it shows the feathers flying up on its back as it landed.

Alabama Squirrels

2011-01-08T06:35:00.001-05:00

I'm thinking I really need some bird feeders in our yard... I've resisted putting them out there because Cleo has a bad habit of scratching at the windows when she sees something outside she wants to "play with." So, I don't want to tempt her to scratch any more than she already does... I'll have to ponder this dilemma awhile longer.

Here are some squirrels from my sister-in-law and brother-in-law's yard.

Sitting on top of the boy's "jungle gym" in the yard.

I think that's teeth sticking out of its mouth. Or maybe food?

This one's paws remind me of Scrat in the movie Ice Age. That squirrel cracks me up.

Alabama Birds

2011-01-07T06:20:00.000-05:00

Over the Christmas holiday we visited family in Alabama and had so much fun! The weather was very chilly, so I decided to try out my new lens through the window. :) My brother-in-law built a nice long bird feeder with wood and attached it to the corner of their deck and the birds and squirrels love it!

A very blue Bluejay!

Pretty Red.

Soaked and hungry.

I think the blue color on this dove is so pretty! Unfortunately I got some reflection from the Christmas lights in the picture, but if you look closely (or click to enlarge it) you can see some raindrops falling.

The Friendly Duck

2011-01-03T15:38:00.011-05:00

For the past couple of weeks there has been an interesting looking duck swimming around in the pond and making friends with the heron and egrets. The best I can tell from a little research is that it's a Hooded Merganser? Please correct me if I'm wrong.

It's amusing to watch it swim and dive.

(Click on the photos to enlarge)

The most interesting thing I've seen with this duck is that it swims near the other bigger birds and follows them around the pond. I've been thinking it's quite a friendly duck, but maybe it knows these bigger birds have a better clue of where to find more food. :)

Here's the duck with a small egret... which reminds me... I was incorrect about some pictures posted last month. I wrote that they were egrets but they were ibis. The white birds with the long red beaks are ibis. This is an egret. :)

I ended up catching them at just the right time going past our window. I'm loving this new zoom lens!

The duck went for a dive in this picture and you can only see it's tail feathers.

Oh, by the way, I took all these pictures through the window... which reminds me... I need to clean the window...

Highlights of 2010

2011-01-03T15:38:00.007-05:00

At this stage in my life, when it comes to the end of each year, I am stunned it is already over! I know I've said it before, and I'll say it again... time sure does fly!!! Maybe it's a God-given thing in our brains as we get older so that the not-so-pleasant stuff seems to go by more quickly?

Last year was in no way the worst year of my life. It was actually probably one of my better years, even though there were a lot of new experiences for me.

One of the new things I finally got up the nerve to do was volunteering. The job I had, up until July 2009, didn't need my part-time flex position anymore, so they did away with it, and I've had a "life off" again. Since I knew we would be moving sometime last year, I decided trying to find another job wouldn't be prudent because I didn't think I could find an employer who would want to put time into training me for the short amount of time I would work with them, so I opted to volunteer. I decided to volunteer at a Crisis Pregnancy Center, and I was there for about 8 months. I ended up really enjoying it even though I felt VERY inadequate doing it. The biggest thing God showed me through it all was that, at some point, I do want to go ahead and get my master's degree in counseling. Even though I felt inadequate as a volunteer counselor, I enjoyed meeting the women who chose to come and talk, and helping them make their own informed decision about pregnancy and other life choices.

This has also been a pain free year for me!!! I have felt SO good, and have energy and motivation! It's a good thing, because I needed it all for our move, among other things. Changing the way I eat has not been easy, as you have read in previous posts, but I can see some good things coming of it now as I look back. It's been a year and a half since I have cut out gluten, dairy, and sugar. Thankfully, I have found many recipes that curb my cravings for processed sugary foods! I don't whine nearly as much as I used to - which is a miracle! Now, whenever I do eat one of the "naughty three," I notice the difference and don't like how I feel, so it keeps me away from it more easily... most of the time. The bottom line is... I enjoy feeling awake and motivated, so I don't want to mess it up... much. :)

The big thing that happened this year with us is we moved. I was looking forward to getting out of the city and back to a familiar, slower paced lifestyle, and here we are again! We both really enjoy our new place and will miss it when our years here are up. The one down side is being further away from family... especially since my grandparents are getting older, and so are my nieces! Never in my wildest dreams as a kid did I think I wouldn't be part of my nieces and nephews lives on a more consistent basis. Oh well...

On a more positive note... Russ got me a zoom lens for Christmas, so this coming year I hope to be able to post more pictures on my blog! I have already taken a few from our backyard, so I'll get those edited and posted ASAP.

The start of 2011 has me searching for a new job. Hopefully soon I'll find something so I can get on with the next phase of my life... saving money so I can get going on that next degree. My goal is to get the degree before Russ retires in 2015. It should be interesting to see how it all works itself out. :)

More Birds

2010-12-22T16:19:00.004-05:00

Last week there was an adult egret in our backyard searching for food - with 10 babies! It was fun watching them. Unfortunately, the pictures aren't that good because I was taking them through the window...

The heron has been a regular here the last few weeks. Sure wish I could've been outside taking these because it was one of those "in-the-right-place-at-the-right-time" times. :) This is quite a big bird but you can't really tell by the pictures!

This will be my last post for a week or two. It's time to take a vacation! Merry Christmas everyone!!!

Crazy Bluebird

2010-12-17T17:00:00.000-05:00

It's been several months now since the bluebird has been "visiting" and taunting Cleo. I'm not sure why, but this silly bluebird seems to have a spacial issue with our windows, and our neighbor's windows... In other words, he comes by just about every day to bump into the window several times and fly off. He must have brain damage now... It has become a ritual for Cleo, and she runs from window to window every morning to see the action... and try to be part of it.

Cleo's first phase - sitting on the arm of the chair...

Second phase - paws on windowsill...

Stage three - lift off! She has *seen* the bird and would like to play (or maim) it!

Mr. Bluebird usually sits on the edge of our neighbors roof each day, and Cleo *can* see that far away!

And here he is! "Hellew!!! Anybody home???"

"I want to [bang] get in!"

"Please?" [bang]

"Pretty please?" [bang]

"Aren't I pretty? Please let me in!" [bang]

[bang]

"Oh never mind!" And away he goes... day after day after day...

Just so you all know, these pictures were not taken on the same day. I think it was three or four separate days. :) Since we do not own this home, I'm not sure what to do to deter this birdie. I would think he would see the blinds??? Or maybe since he's done it for at least at least 2 straight months, he'd get a clue...

Blue Heron

2010-12-15T06:29:00.003-05:00

We've lived here for around five months now and this is the first heron I've seen in our back yard. It's been here several times since too. It's a lot of fun for me to see what birds and animals our backyard pond attracts!

Fall Leaves

2010-12-14T06:19:00.000-05:00

Although, the season of fall seems to happen a lot later here, it was comforting to me to see many of the trees change and the colorful leaves fall. When I lived in Maine, I really disliked seeing summer come to an end, especially knowing months of cold weather was on its way. I sure wish our family and friends would follow us around down here, so I could have the best of both worlds... the people I love around me - and warm weather too.

This was on our lawn November 22nd.

St. Simons Island

2010-12-13T14:02:00.005-05:00

The other beach we ventured onto while my friend was here in November was on St. Simon's Island. I've been to this area a couple of times before and am always amazed by the beauty of it. My friend said she thought this was, so far, the best beach I've found. :) We were here on November 1st and it was the most perfect, warm, sunny day for being a beach bum.

You can see in the distance there is (a?) breakwater. When we first arrived, there weren't many waves at the shore but once the tide started coming in that all changed!

The birds here have obviously been fed consistently by some of the beach-goers. On this particular day, the lady beside us fed them cheerios. Thankfully she didn't throw them down right near us! All that to say, I was able to get nearer the birds for pictures. Now to figure out how to make them stand still.

This one was running for his life with his cheerio. The other, bigger birds were bullies.

There were hardly any shells on this beach, but it was still beautiful in it's own ways.

Shell or barnacle?

My camera lens made a pretty neat effect with the sun shining on this glittering sand.

The Swamp!!!

2010-12-10T04:31:00.002-05:00

Russ and I took our friend to the Okefenokee Swamp when she visited in October. Actually, our friend is the one who located this boat tour online with Okefenokee Adventures, and I talked Russ into going with us. :) I could've spent days and days out there! Never in my wildest dreams did I think we would see so many alligators! We ended up getting Chip, the owner, as our tour guide and he was excellent! This guy knows the swamp and his alligators! Since the water level was low in October there were more alligator's visible than if the water levels would have been normal. For once, I was glad for the drought. I'm going to post all the photos I have in this one post, so the post will be longer than usual.

They have lots of boats...

...and lots of alligators!

We went on Halloween Day, and Yoda was in the tour boat beside ours. :) It was actually a dummy, not a real person.

This tour guide took Halloween very seriously.

There were many alligators just hanging out where the boats were docked.

And we're off...

The green water you see is not algae. Russ and I had already learned about this "duck weed" at the zoo, and I wrote about it in a previous post. Click here to read it.

The duck-weed is dispersing and we're off into the deep not-so-dark swamp.

Here are the best shots I got of the alligators. I was able to get many, many, many more photos but since they are not good quality I figured I'd just post the best ones. This first one is my second favorite shot of the day. I love the reflection in the water.

Chip, our guide, thought it was interesting the couple of times we came upon two alligators sitting side by side. They usually do not do this, especially if it's not mating season.

This here is what they call one of the "prairies." I never thought prairies included water and alligators!

Turtle... aka alligator food.

Here's a momma with her babies. Chip thought they were about two years old, which was surprising to me. I cropped it for the next shot. Hopefully you can click to enlarge it.

This here is the "County Line Gator." Chip said he's the biggest of the bunch right now. Wish I would've gotten a better shot of him and remembered how big and long Chip said he was.. sorry...

This sign says "Day Use Canoe Trail." Anyone want to take a canoe ride out here? They have all the canoes you could ever ask for and we saw a couple heading out in one when we were there. I think I'll stick with the flat bottomed boats, thank you!

Enjoying some warm sun.

This heron stayed with us for almost the whole ride out into the swamp. I took pictures of it every time we came up on it and I didn't get any very good ones. When we would approach, it would fly away and land just a little ahead of us again.

The sky finally cleared during our ride out and I got some better pictures of the scenery on our way back.

This was the best shot I got the whole day! I was thrilled it came out so well! I did NOT have a zoom lens, I was actually this close!

Had enough of the paparazzi I guess.

This big guy (or girl), is injured. If you are able to enlarge it, you can see it's front foot is stubby. There were some other injuries too but I can't remember what they were, and you cannot see them in this photo. Sure wish I had a better memory sometimes...

Beautiful wildflowers around the docks.

Our day in Fernandina

2010-12-09T05:22:00.001-05:00

After a few hours of a perfect sunny beach day, my friend and I decided to try out the restaurant near the beach called Sandy Bottoms Beach Bar and Grill. Eating outside with a good friend, and this view, is my kind of lunch!

This photo below is really awful but it was an exciting part of our day, so I figured I'd write about it. As we were being seated I (we) saw a motorized glider fly only feet above the water to this spot down the beach from the restaurant and land. We chuckled at the man flying it because he had a football helmet on and it looked a bit strange... A few minutes later, three guys pushed it down the beach in front of us and into the parking lot by the restaurant. When they got the glider right in front of the restaurant a friendly policeman showed up to chat. :) They didn't seem phased by him and he didn't look very intimidating... maybe because when he tried to help them push it he placed his hand directly on the hot engine? I don't think anyone else saw him do it but I bet he wanted to yell and scream in pain but he sucked it up. Poor Mr. Policeman...

If anyone is ever in the Fernandina Beach area there is a nice beach right near the state park and it has lots of free parking!

Beach Birds

2010-12-08T05:51:00.005-05:00

Fernandina Beach Birdies...

I find this one below comical since they are all facing toward the same way. Are they facing the sun... the waves... or something else??? Do you think they see the beauty of it all too?

These little dudes were difficult to photograph! This was the best shot I got. Someday I will have a zoom lens!

***You should be able to click on the individual photos to enlarge them.

Shells

2010-12-07T05:44:00.000-05:00

Catching Up

2010-12-06T17:11:00.006-05:00

These last few months have flown by for me! Now that I have almost all of my Christmas shopping and mailing done, I'm finally here to post the pictures of my ocean trips, that happened at the end of October, with one of my dearest friends ! The first beach we tried out was Fernandina Beach in Florida. In my opinion, this beach was the most photographic. One of my favorite things to do is walk along the beach and look at the shells... and waves... and birds. This beach had plenty of each. Here's the first batch of pictures.

(For those of you who get this via e-mail, you should be able to see these photos larger if you click on the blog link at the bottom of the e-mail and click on the picture to enlarge it... well... I just tried it and you can see all of them enlarged except the first and last ones... sorry)

It was such a beautifully warm day!

Someone wrote this in the sand. It was not me, but it could've been, since I sure do love someone by that name!

She doesn't know I took this picture... but she will soon. :)

Trying Out New Recipes

2010-11-24T06:27:00.001-05:00

Lately I've been thinking how crazy it is that I've been doing this "food thing" for almost a year and a half - and I haven't keeled over and died yet!!! Sure, that sounds a bit dramatic, but for me, this radical change in my diet has been dramatic at times... just ask my husband! :) It seems I've found my inner-whiny voice again at 40-something years old...

Thanks to the nutritionist I had been seeing in Virginia, I had found some recipes early on using egg protein powder instead of flour. They were just what I needed at the time (especially the chocolate cake). A few months ago, however, something about the protein powder changed and my recipes started coming out awful. I'm pretty sure it wasn't something I was doing wrong since I made the recipes for months without a problem, and I made them multiple times after their packaging changed and they still came out awful every time. I tried to get in touch with whoever makes the protein powder to see what the deal was and they said the only thing that had been changed was the vanilla flavoring. Anyway, since I'm not one of those people who can adapt and overcome at trying to tweak recipes, I've moved on to almond flour and I'm really enjoying these new recipes!!!

Last month I wrote about Elana Amsterdam and her cookbook and website, Elana's Pantry, here. She also lists many recipes on her blog too! Here is one of them.

Apple Crisp!!!

I've made this twice already and LOVE! IT! Apple Crisp is one of my favorite desserts, especially in the fall and winter. The first time I made it the topping wasn't as crisp as I had hoped, so I searched Elana's blog and found out she had changed the topping a bit so it wouldn't be "mushy." Use only 1/4 cup oil and 1 1/2 cups of almond flour instead of what is listed in the recipe I linked to above.

I made the first one when my friend Genia was here and she said she really liked it! She had sugar-free Cool Whip on hers. :)

Thank you dear husband for chopping up the apples for me both times! It's one of the bazillion reasons I love you!!!

Pumpkin Pie Muffins!!!

There are so many pumpkin-type desserts I cannot eat anymore, so I was thrilled to find a few pumpkin recipes on her website! These are really good!!!

Flourless Chocolate Banana Cake

To be honest, this cake tasted a bit odd to me at first. It's difficult to explain my feelings about it because it tasted weird yet I wanted to eat more. :) I read down through the comments after Elana's post on this cake and there was one person who made this with avocado instead of bananas. She said you couldn't taste the avocado, so it just tasted like chocolate cake. If anyone has any input into cooked avocado, and how long it lasts after cooking, I'd appreciate it. I usually eat these desserts by myself and don't want it to go bad before I can eat it all. Next time I make this I am not going to use as much vegetable glycerin. I'll also try some powdered Stevia extract with it and use less-ripe bananas. I think if I could cut down the taste of the bananas I would really like it. Did you notice it's flourless??? I chopped up fresh strawberries on some of my pieces and it tasted pretty good!

The Heron and The Otter

2010-11-23T06:41:00.000-05:00

A couple of weeks ago I was surprised by the heron's visit to "our" pond. Usually there are egrets but not much else by way of birds. The heron was fun to watch.

He rounded the pond and came over to our side for a visit.

And here's my awful picture of the otter. At first glance I thought it was a water bird, but quickly realized it was too big for a bird. It swam and dove around for about a half hour and hasn't been back... Russ thinks the picture is so bad you might mistake the otter for "Nessie." Maybe if the otter becomes a regular that's what I'll name it. :) In any case, it sent Russ on a search for an affordable zoom lens for me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

The Alligator Has Left The Premises

2010-11-22T06:23:00.000-05:00

I keep forgetting to write a post about seeing our resident alligator finally being caught and taken away... it was fun to watch, but I honestly miss watching it swimming around the pond.

This guy in the photo brought a long pole with a loop on the end of it, and at first his companions were throwing what looked like bait into the pond to try and get the alligator nearer. When this didn't work, the guy went and got his fishing pole.

It didn't take him any time at all to get the alligator hooked on his fishing pole, and here he has the alligator reeled up to the shore. The very small person he has helping him had a difficult time keeping the alligator reeled in, but eventually he got the alligator's head hooked by the loop on the other pole and dragged it out of the pond. The waterfall was in the way, so I couldn't get pictures of him hauling the alligator out...

He tied the alligator's legs up I believe, but I couldn't see it because he pulled the gator over the other side of the hill, and...

....VOILA! He was outta there!

(I'm not sure how much this photo will enlarge for you but if you click on it you should be able to better see the guy carrying the alligator)

There has NOT been a lack of excitement in our backyard pond even though the alligator is gone. I'll post some more pictures tomorrow.

Fall Has Arrived!

2010-11-21T04:50:00.005-05:00

I took these photos on one of our rare cloudy and dreary days. It was surprising to see many leaves floating on the pond. There doesn't appear to be enough leaf-shedding trees around here to warrant (hmmm, where did that word come from?) that many leaves falling.

I've been surprised at how many trees down here are turning pretty colors and shedding leaves! Far more than Virginia... but now that I think about it... maybe there are more trees here than in the city. :)

Zoo Flowers

2010-11-20T06:26:00.003-05:00

There weren't many flowers blooming in October when we visited the zoo, but I'll be looking forward to next spring and summer when I can go back and get some photos of their gardens at the zoo! That's all for zoo pictures this time. Hopefully I didn't torture you all with my poor photography this round. Stay tuned for some ocean and swamp pictures!

Having some fun with photo software. :)

Various Zoo Animals

2010-11-19T06:57:00.000-05:00

The zebras were not very social today.

WOLF!!!

Lazy hippos.

Very bright lizard.

One huge rat looking animal. Anyone know what this is? It was about as big as a medium sized dog.

One big iguana!

Turtles

2010-11-18T06:22:00.002-05:00

This pond had all kinds of fish, water birds, and turtles. I could've spent hours here watching all the swimmers.

This one has an interesting looking head shape. Can you tell me what it is Sol? :)

Snakes...

2010-11-17T07:10:00.003-05:00

Ever since we went to the zoo and saw these snakes I've had at least two, maybe three, dreams (nightmares) about snakes! So... here's to nightmares!

This rattlesnake wanted OUT of that cage! It felt powerful to be out of reach... but if the glass broke... watch out!

I've never seen such a looooong snake in my life. It was bright green and draped all over these branches. Hopefully this one in the cage will be the longest I ever see!

This one was HUGE! I think it is some sort of python? It's the one from my dreams...

Mean lookin' dude giving me the "stink eye"!

Check out that horn!

Otters

2010-11-16T07:06:00.003-05:00

Otters are one of my all time favorite animals to watch, but it sure is difficult to get good pictures of them! Here are a few of the many I took. These are the not-so-blurry ones. I love the last one with both of them swimming together. Hopefully, if you click on them they will enlarge a bit.

Monkeys

2010-11-15T06:46:00.000-05:00

These squirrel monkeys were adorable and entertaining. Sure was difficult to get a good shot of them though because they don't sit still for long.

If you look closely, or click on the picture to enlarge it, you can see the momma monkey (or whatever it's proper name is) below carrying it's baby. Actually, the baby is hanging on for dear life. You can see it's arms wrapped around the momma's sides.

These guys (or girls?) were picking bugs off each other and eating them. Yum, yum! :)

Russ was quite helpful to me in my photo taking at the zoo. He tried to get the animals and birds attention so I could get better shots. This is one of those times he helped get the animal's attention and I was able to get a shot before it looked away. The bushy black thing hanging down on the left is it's tail! It was quite a tail to behold!

This little guy was digging for his food, although I'm not sure what exactly it was looking for. Again, Russ helped me by getting it to look at the camera. :) Or maybe he's Dr. Doolittle and I don't know it?!

Lions and Lemurs

2010-11-14T07:51:00.006-05:00

I was surprised to get this first shot. Right before we left this exhibit I believe I adjusted my camera settings one last time and took this shot into the sun before we left, and voila! If you click on it you should be able to see an enlarge (better to see) version.

Mr. Lion was lazy and laid low (literally) most of the time we were there.

I didn't realize lemurs looked like this...

...I thought they all looked like this one below.

As I was taking pictures Russ reminded me that he (the lemur) likes to "move it, move it!" :) If you don't get what I just wrote you need to watch the movie Madagascar. Or you can click on the words "move it, move it!" to see a snippet of the video.

For what it's worth, one of my all time favorite movie scenes is in the movie Madagascar 2. I'm so totally and completely fed-up with our society for pressuring girls and women to be a certain size, that I laughed and laughed the first time I saw the scene. Madagascar 2 is an animated movie, and the scene is about a male hippo checking out a female hippo. He's not a hippo I'd ever go out with (if I went out with animated hippos), but his standards of appearance just cracked me up. Go here if you'd like to view a bit of it. :)

Jaguars and Kangaroos

2010-11-13T07:40:00.003-05:00

The jaguars were sleepy during our visit, but wow, what beautiful animals!

I really wanted to pat his big black head! (please pardon the fence...)

Beautiful spots!

I don't think I've ever seen actual kangaroos before. They apparently enjoy digging holes in the dirt and laying around. :)

Going to dig a new dirt hole for a nap. It looks uncomfortable for these poor things to walk with having longer legs in back. Maybe this one's jumping apparatus was broken?

Gorillas

2010-11-12T07:33:00.003-05:00

This exhibit had several viewing areas. When we passed the first one, which was a big window, the gorillas were all on the opposite end of the exhibit. When we got to this viewing place they were all on the other side! This was toward the end of our zoo tour, so we lingered here awhile longer, and I was glad we did because we ended up being there, near where they were feeding them, for feeding time. This guy was HUGE! Scary huge! It was weird seeing him eat what looked like lettuce. He's so big and scary it seems like he should be eating meat. I'm not sure why my brain thinks the way it does sometimes...

Here they all come for suppah.

Giraffes

2010-11-11T07:20:00.005-05:00

I could stand and watch giraffes all day. They fascinate me. There were several at this particular zoo, and the one way back in the distance (you can see him between the trees - click on the picture to enlarge it a bit) was a little different than the others. His spots were much darker.

They had food for the giraffes, for those of us who wanted to feed them, and this one was trying to get all he could and get it fast! The zoo-keeper kept warning the kids they might get snorted on if the giraffe didn't get his food fast enough. :)

This one wasn't giving up on a meal either. He wasn't tall enough to get the branch he wanted but he kept trying...

...and trying... (check out the tongue in the next few pictures)

... and trying....

... and trying...

....AND trying! There were a bunch of us watching this poor guy and his very long tongue. If he would've backed up about an inch there was a branch he could've reached. I'm not sure giraffes brains are all that big. :)

Having this at the exhibit near the live giraffes seemed in poor taste to me. :)

Frogs

2010-11-10T07:21:00.003-05:00

At first I thought this was a plastic frog. Apparently it isn't... the crazy thing was in an aquarium flattened up against the glass. Never seen anything like it in my life! :)

These next two pudgy frogs look very cozy and content.

Poisonous dart frogs are quite cute. :)

Zoo Elephants

2010-11-09T06:24:00.004-05:00

We arrived at the elephant exhibit just in time! The zookeepers were luring the dominant female to them, into the water, with food. Russ and I thought this sign about elephant teeth was VERY INTERESTING!!!

The zoo-keepers threw whole green peppers into the water to get her to go in.

She was hungry!

She spies more food...

She did "tricks" for her food.

He missed... the zoo-keeper needs to work on his food throwing shots. It was so neat to see an elephant this close! I could've sat and stared at her for hours but felt I should move and let other people get a good view too.

I was impressed how well she obeyed their commands... but I guess I would too if I had to rely on other people to feed me!

Ducks

2010-11-08T06:20:00.002-05:00

This duck wasn't as friendly as the others and refused to pose nicely for the camera. I was mesmerized by it's beautiful feathers. They look painted. I think I've seen too many duck decoys and not enough real ducks. :)

Snoozing

I'm apparently boring since all these ducks want to do around me is snooze. Or maybe I look trustworthy? :)

Such a beautiful duck!!!