so much to say

this might be a little long winded. much has happened these past few weeks, i'm not sure where to start.

first an update with work. due to amendment one passing and the ensuing budget crunch, my department had a major reorganization about two weeks ago. many rumors were circulating about layoffs, etc... my lieutenant gave me a heads up the day before that i would most likely be called into the chief's office. i was expecting to be told that my position was eliminated and that i would be sent back to the road. this would not be the end of the world for me (unless i had to go back to midnights) so i was pleasantly surprised when the chief told me i was keeping my position. i will be shifted under the intelligence unit. there are some other circumstances surrounding this move that i do not agree with but will wait out the storm. unlike others, i was lucky. in all, our department cut 28 positions to include laying off a captain and our public information officer. 2 lieutenants were demoted to sergeant and 5 sergeants demoted to officer. like i said, i am grateful i am able to continue to do my current position. it's been hard though going to work. as you can imagine, the atmosphere is not the greatest. chris's unit so far is safe. we can only pray that it will remain so. rumors again circulating that they will cut mounted, the helicopter. the 'not knowing' of what will happen is stressful for both of us. he has put his entire career, sweat and tears into that unit and it shows. i am very proud of him for his accomplishments not only with mounted but with air 1. his reputation precedes him not only at the sheriff's office but around the states.

sunday was eventful at the barn...again. chris was going into church early so roy and i fed for him. when i went to let the front 6 in, the horses were not in their pasture. they snuck into an adjoining pasture with 2 horses that they aren't supposed to be with. no big deal. i got them in their stalls but realized i was 1 horse short. i then found guardian lying in the pasture, motionless. my heart stopped! this could not be happening again. we ran to him to see that he was alive but obviously something was wrong. roy went to get chris and i stayed with him. long story short, he had began to colic (not good for horses). on top of that, he was severely dehydrated. the vet came out and gave him some medicine and hooked him up to some iv's. he is doing MUCH better. the old man gave us a scare.

last night, we had several friends over for dinner. i was very brave in that of the 5 things i made, i had never made a single item before. chris's dad did not think it was the best of ideas, but i took on the challenge. chris went with me to publix in the morning (twice) to get all the yummy ingredients we would need. let me tell you about the menu. for appetizers we had shrimp with cocktail sauce and then lime shrimp with a chipolte sauce, smoked salmon cheese cups (goat cheese), (dad would have loved these), toasted crustini with a cesar artichoke dip and spicy tuna sushi. the main coarse was pork loin with a peach salsa (thanks to jess's wonderful recipe), garlic green beans and a caprese salad. for desert, roy made his wonderful butterscotch pies. there were some kids there so i also fixed chicken strips, french fries and mac & cheese. this also was back up in case my menu was not up to par. either everyone was being polite or they actually liked dinner because there was not much left over. i set my camera out to take some pictures but only captured these few. can you tell what chris helped make (they are they chicken strips)...

this morning, chris played golf with a guy from work. he is flying tonight which is why i have so much time for this blog. our schedules have been a little opposite lately. i had in service today. all i can say is that i have several marks and rug burns on me right now. my ribs hurt and i have a large bruise developing on my left hip. the second half of the day involved scenario training that involved some wrestling around on the ground. i think tonight will be a hot bath, ibuprofin, a glass of wine and dancing with the stars followed by american idol.

goofing off with family

brian, jess & gracey visited us this weekend. what a fun time we had. chris worked all weekend and roy went to tampa to visit his brother who was down, so it was just us. saturday, we went to the beach and soaked up some sun. brian & jess took the motorcycle for a long ride up to a restaurant for their anniversary. gracey & i met chris for dinner since he was flying that night. after it cleared up on sunday, jess, gracey & i were off to the beach again. we sat on the intercoastal and watched the boats go by (that and the bridge go up every three minutes). brian did a ride-along with the county. he got to see some of my stomping ground. chris had to work again so we went to pop's for dinner on the water. we had fun being silly. love you guys.

allison 's blog

my sister-in-law , allison, has joined the blogging world. she is an incredibly talented photographer. i have added her link under loved ones so you can view her photos. it's nice being able to keep touch this way. does not feel like you are so far away.

now where is the rest family...

ugh...

chad turned *40*

and we went to saga to celebrate. his birthday was on friday. after i rushed home (i was an hour late getting off work), chris, roy and i met chad (our hero) and marjorie at our favorite japanese restaurant.

just in case someone does not know our 'friends' chad (mwah) & marjorie, please let me elaborate. chad (love ya) is chris's other wife. before chris & i met, chad (smooches) & marjorie were responsoble for him. in january of 2006, chad (still love ya) and & i were in a class together. after that class, chad (you're awesome) told chris that he needed to give me a call, which thankfully, he did. the 'friends' that we met for dinner on our first date were chad (superstar) & marjorie (love ya too). it is from that date to the year that we were married. so, had it not been for chad (the man of the year for 2006 and future sheriff???), chris and i might not be the blessed couple we are today.

so, chris and i would like to let our friends know how thankful and truly blessed we are to have them on our life. we love you both very much!

stephanie...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY STEPHANIE!!!

don't try this at home

warning...shoe polish and toaster ovens are NOT a good mix

so, chris and i are in the bedroom making a phone call when he abruptly heads out. as i follow, i notice a stench in the air. i head to the kitchen to investigate when i see my wonderful, loving dear husband grabbing the tongs from the grill.

there's an odd cloud of smoke bellowing in the kitchen. it's then that i see chris grabbing something out of the toaster oven with the tongs. can't help but notice that the something...IS ON FIRE!!! my nice cuisinart toaster oven and what i learn to be a can of shoe polish which has flames about two feet tall is being moved by the tongs from the toaster oven to the sink. in the process, liquid shoe polish is going every where (refer to exhibit #1). swift action by yours truly moves everything in reach of the flames to prevent further development of our fire. chris, (insert comment of he is STILL on the phone) turns on the water to extinguish the flames. i have since learned that our fire extinguishers are somewhere in the garage. (i can guarantee that one will soon find it's place under the sink).

my wonderful, loving and dear husband put the can of shoe polish in the cuisinart toaster oven to 'soften' it up so he could polish his boots before going into work. what he failed to realize is that he actually turned the oven on. he did not realize that when he turned the knob, the oven comes on. refer to exhibit #2 to of my wonderful, loving and dear husband cleaning the sink full of shoe polish.

exhibit #1 (after a little scraping)

exhibit #2

i got tagged

i didn't know 'tagging' existed on blogs. so, 7 random and/or odd facts about me... i'll do my best.

1. when i was younger (and much braver), i thought i could fly. i even tested that theory out a time or two. my ultimate stunt (jumping off the roof of our trailer) was, however interrupted.
2. i will drink chocolate milk with anything.
3. i have an odd fascination with windshield wipers and watching them sweep away rain.
4. i have any even odder fascination of sticking my finger in my best friend's pony tail. she loves it.
5. i can be obsessively compulsive with cleanliness and organization to the point where not only do i drive chris crazy but i drive myself crazy.
6. i like to fall asleep with the tv on. sometimes, i turn it on just to help me fall asleep, not even to watch it.
7. i have a blanket that was given to be when i was young by my uncle that i still have and it is still my favorite and the softest blanket ever. even keagan loves it.

so now i am supposed to tag others but since the only other person i know to have a blog is stacy and she has already been tagged, i think the rest of the family needs to get on board with this blogging phenomenon.

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...