the weather is beautiful, wish you were here

the past days have been absolutely beautiful here. thursday, chris and i took the motorcycle to the beach. we went for a walk and then laid out a little. then we rode up north a little to grab some lunch. last night we met our friends at pacific rim for some absolutely delicious sushi. yum. this morning, chris played golf with some guys from church. i took the chance to head to the beach again and soak up some sun. the water was crystal clear and calm. it's still a little cold for my liking but i dipped my toes in it. we just got back from a bike ride. the county has been working on a rails to trails project. they have torn up the old railroad tracks and made a very nice trail out of it. lots of people enjoying it by walking, running, roller blading and biking. we did about 16 miles. chris is complaining his butt hurts.

i will be heading to jacksonville tomorrow for the week. i have a school that i will be going to for work. i believe roy will be here monday, so chris will have company. i have a feeling several golf rounds will be played during my absence. i have been working on my tan so that i might be darker than roy. i know that will not last.

in case you were wondering

i am not pregnant

easter funny

happy easter!!!

keagan

keagan was jealous that the herd made it on here before he did. so, here is our baby boy at his best. as you know, he is SPOILED. he gets away with anything, especially with daddy. he loves laying in clothes (especially those fresh out of the dryer). and for some reason, he took a liking to daddy's flight suit. i think it has to do with how chris smells (i find myself liking how he smells also). he will literally roll around in it. the one picture of just his head is when he made it as far as he could down the sleeve until he could fit no further.

in the mornings, he will jump into bed with us, begging for us to get up because he knows he will get a treat and the door to the lanai will open and he gets to bask in the sun. then, if chris and i choose to be lazy and not get up, watch out for kamikaze cat. he will run into the bedroom and in one swift jump, land on the bed and then launch off of us, running back out of the room. if that still does not get us up, he will walk in the blinds letting light in. this continues until he gets his treat and that door opens.

he absolutely loves it here. he has been face to face (with a window in between) with dogs, raccoons, squirrels, frogs, sand hill cranes and birds. during christmas, chris took the branches that we had to cut off our tree and made him a little fort on a chair in the lanai. i think he thought he was a jungle cat. made him smell good though.

he is a cuddlier. he loves to snuggle up and lay on you, by you, anywhere that mommy & daddy are at. sometimes in the morning when i am getting ready for work, i have to hold him in one arm while i try to eat with the other. guess he is preparing me...

the fair is in town

our fair has officially started. opening night was friday and it will run until easter sunday. except for two, i will be there every night. chris will be there most nights with the horses. on the weekends, i organize several leo from outside agencies to assist in a task force. friday night it rained so it was quiet. last night was a different story. needless to say, we were busy. i had an escort clearing out the fair at the end of the night. i somehow became sandwiched in between several horses. chris says that i spoil charley and he just wanted to be close to me...

our irish friends own a pub on the island so i will be giving them a hand for st. paddy's day tomorrow busing tables. i did it last year and had a lot of fun. that was one job i never had...waitressing. chris might help some in the morning but then he has to go in to work afterwards.

it has been beautiful here. i had some time to go to the beach for a while the other day before work. due to the cold fronts that had come through, it washed up all kinds of shells onto the beach. big ones, small ones, colorful ones. i'm sure when roy gets here, he will find all the sharks teeth.

we have 'adopted' a neighborhood dog. the family who lives across from the barn rescued the sweetest and cutest black lab from the shelter. she's only about a year. well, during the day when her owners are away, she makes her way to the barn and our house. the other day when chris was doing the horses shoes, she stayed with him and then snacked on the hoof that he would cut off. she loves to jump on the four wheeler and go for a ride. she will follow chris here to the house and just lay by the door. chris finally talked to her owner today and they are putting up a dog fence to try and keep her in the yard. they don't want her getting hit by a car or venturing onto the gun range. they said she can jump the fence like a deer. chris explained that we enjoy having her around during the day. so her owners said that we can just go and get her when we want so she can have company when they are not home. her name is cassidy derby and i'm sure her picture will be on here soon enough. the weekend mom, dad, brian, jess and gracey came down, they brought their dog, scout. cassidy and scout played all day and night. she will be fun to have around. i already got her a water bowl for the house...

the herd

since this weekend involved repairing the fence around the back pasture, i figured i would post pictures of those we are trying to keep safe. the pictures should have all the names on them. patriot was the only one who would smile for me. these guys are a riot. each one has their own personality. my favorite is charley. he is one of the newer horses and has been doing great. he is really sweet. patriot is the princess. chris is her daddy. she gets jealous if anyone gets around him. guardian is the smallest and oldest. he can still jump though. knight was donated by our volunteer since we had to put freedom down. chris trained him the other day and he will be a fast learner. he's only four , i think. just a baby. i really enjoy helping around the barn with feeding, cleaning and grooming. sometimes i have to limit it though because of my allergies.

chris had the county clear the brush on the opposite side of the fence about a month ago. once that was cleared, several areas in the fence needed repairs. i helped our volunteer (who has been such a blessing!) take down some of the barb wire on valentine's day since chris was out of town. this past weekend our volunteer, his wife, one of the guys on the unit and his family and chris and i chipped in to help get the job done. saturday night, we worked late so i made chili for everyone. we ate around the fire since it was a cold night. nothing like chili around a fire!

monday, chris played golf in the morning with his buddy. i was hoping to make it to the beach but the weather did not want to cooperate. a little on the chilly side. when chris got home, we went and walked another nine holes. he really likes his new set of clubs. my game is improving but i still need lessons. it's nice to get out and spend time together. good exercise also.

trips in 2007

it took me a few tries but i was able to create a little slide show from some of our trips that we took last year. i just was not able to type anything under that post so i am having to type in a separate post.

for some reason, i can not find the cd of pictures from the dominican republic. we went there right after the wedding. if you ever get the chance to go there, keep the curtains closed in the cab... hawaii was the next destination in may. we took a set of golf clubs and played a few times. we traveled the entire island of oahu. we even swam with a big sea turtle. in july, we met my parents at their cabin in montana. hopefully we will be back this year to go on a 'walk'. i also have a date with a certain fishing spot. we met up with my brother and his family in august and went scalloping at crystal river. very relaxing. october gave us the chance to go to virginia with my parents to visit chris's family. chris and i somehow managed to get the 4 wheeler stuck in the mudd. we all took a trip to lexington to see VMI's football team play in their homecoming. thanksgiving sent us to new york with my sister and her family. what a city. we could not have had better seats for the parade. right next to macy's.

we were very blessed to have had the opportunity to travel to so many places last year. the best part was being able to travel with family. i am excited to see where our next adventure will be.

1 year anniversary

today marks our one year anniversary. it has been an amazing year full of love, growth and fun times. we have been blessed more than one could have imagined. we have grown closer as each day passes. it is truly a blessing to choose your love and to love your choice. we celebrated last night on a dinner cruise in the beautiful waters of sarasota. it was a breathtaking sunset and i would not have chosen a more perfect man to spend it with.

our first year took us to the dominican republic, hawaii, montana, virginia and new york. i will attach pictures as soon as i figure out how. we have had fun times with our family visiting us at our home as well as going to visit them. we have kept busy this past year with work and traveling.

this is going to be fun for me creating this blog. bear with me as i am no where near as creative as my crafty sister-in-law and cousin (who is my inspiration for this).