Jamaican Memories

In 1999 I had the opportunity to take a tropical marine biology class in Jamaica. I guess this is where I picked up my interest in marine botany. However, I did my Ph.D. work in the much colder waters of the North Atlantic. The class was very difficult as we spent all day collecting specimens and all night identifying what we had collected.

I did not do any scuba diving; it was all snorkeling. I guess I dove no more than 12'-15' collecting specimens. Here is a pic my professor took of me at work collecting specimens. Notice the gloves. I had never swam with gloves on before or since, but the coral was sharp.

Here is part of the gang that comprised the class. The only time I got seasick is when the boat was not moving. So I was always the first to get into the water and the last to get out of the water each dive trip.

We kept all our live specimens in this tank until the course ended. On the last day of class these specimens were all laid out for us to identify and then returned to the ocean.

We did get one day off to explore the island and go play in a place called Dunn's River Falls. The water was cold, but refreshing.

28 years together

Today we have been married 28 years. We had what I called a "storybook" romance. He was a football player, I was a cheerleader, we were in the same class, and Mr. & Ms. BHS. Our friends were amazed because we never fought like other teenage couples. We graduated High School in 1980 and got marriaged the following August. He is extremely intellegent and funny, He is my best friend. I can not imagine a day of life without him. I have a chronic illness and he babies me constantly. We have been through many obstacles together while raising 3 children. We are now entering the phase of our life where we get to be grandparents. "YAH!". I look forward to the Lord's return, but until then I pray I have each and every day with my wonderful husband. I love you Troy.

Debbie

Not a Drop!

It looked promising for a few hours, but no rain. However, the clouds were beautiful and did provide some shade. My potted plants have all dried up and my shrubs are now starting to show signs of major heat stress. I water my plants regularly, but nothing is a substitute for rain.

Erika and Kayden

These are recent pictures of my niece Erika and her son Kayden. Aren't they adorable!!

Hoping for a green thumb

Yesterday on our way home from Hot Springs we stopped by my brother's to pick up a plant. This plant has been around for as long as I can remember. Andy replanted it and it just got to big for him so I took it on. We have a 9' ceiling in our Den so I thought we would be okay. It is already almost touching the ceiling. I don't have my dad's green thumb so I am hoping to be able to keep it alive. Andy repotted it and Troy has repotted it again. It is leaning a little in this picture because the base is a littlel small. We will have to get a bigger one for it.

Camera Shy

I have been trying for several weeks to get some good pictures of the hummingbirds that frequent our feeders, but to no avail (they will not stay still). However, Debbie took these pictures, which I thought turned out pretty good. We both need to take time to read the camera instructions more closely to determine the best setting to capture these speedy visitors. Also, I should be getting a telescopic lens this fall so I can take pictures from a distance and thereby, prevent scaring these guys off their perch.

Formatting Fun

I have spent the morning playing with my blog format. I have rearranged some of the entries and changed the page layout. Hopefully, it will be easier to navigate through. I have combined slideshows under one label and separated the web links from the blog sites. It has been an interesting morning.

The Journey So Far

Fun with Photos

Troy and I have been playing with Adobe Photoshop. The above pictures are ones Troy edited. These pictures were taken during our trip to Florida. The last picture has very subtle editing. It has highlighting around Alex. Kinda neat what you can do with that software.

Anticipation

Troy and I are very excited about having grandkids. We currently have a grandson who was 2 months old on July 24th. Adam, Justine and Brody live in New Hampshire which seems like a world away from us. We have not yet had the opportunity to meet our grandson, but we are now ready to have him come and stay some with us (Granny and Papa). Tabitha is pregnant and we are eagerly awaiting the end of January. Granny is already preparing. I was going to put the baby bed in a room by itself and fix up the room for our grandkids to stay, but I couldn't bring myself to imagine actually having a baby in the house and it be anywhere but right in the room with me.

I was fortunate enough to get a baby bed and a bedding set from a friend of mine and I spent the day putting it together. Since the bedding set was Disney I had plenty of collectible stuffed toys to add to the arrangement. I love Mickey.

Fungus Fun

Mildew will grow on anything in ARKANSAS.
Yuck! mildew up close.
After some intense powerwashing, the mildew finally relented its grip.
Squeaky Clean We spent the day with Tabitha and Sean. Debbie and Tabitha visited while Sean and I powerwashed their house. The mildew was harder to remove than I had predicted; but with me applying the bleach and Sean blasting the mildew with water, the job got done. Note the two "before" pics compared to the "after" pics; I think we did a pretty good job.

I cannot tell a lie!

I chopped down the cherry tree!

This was the last of the original trees that were in the backyard when we bought our house. It had started to look stressed last year and this year had only a few scattered leaves. It stood too close to the house to take a chance on it falling on its own, so down it came with the help of a neighbor and a long chain that ran from his tractor to the tree as I was cutting. I just finished cutting up the downed tree and it looks like it will take several trips to the brushpile to clear all this mess. I especially love working in the 100 degree plus weather.

Atlantic coast visit

Having failed to find the seaweed I went to the Gulf to collect, I was forced to cut across Florida and search for it on the Atlantic coast (and yes I did find it there). Here are a few pics of the St. Augustine and Daytona Beach area. I plan on attending a seaweed conference back in this area at the end of October. I hope the hurricanes are all gone by then.

Heavenly Message

Here is some sky writing we saw over Orlando, Fl. The complete message was "God loves you." I am sure everyone in Disney World was able to see the message as well.

The Birds

We saw plenty of birds along the gulf coast while searching for seaweed. I like the pelicans the best.

One dog's journey

This is our minature daschund, Candy. We took her with us to Florida this past May. I think she enjoyed the trip, but I am not so sure she liked the ocean. She looked like a minature seal in the waves.

Landmark Baptist Church Camp 2008

This week it's church camp! Lots of food, fun, fellowship, and above all good services. Brushy Creek is located on Lake DeGray, out in the middle of nowhere or at least it seems like nowhere. It is actually just around 8 miles off Highway 7, but a long 8 miles -- Beautiful country though. We love it!. Troy taught lessons on Tuesday and Wednesday (which I hope to get him to post). I was only able to attend Tuesday night. It made me homesick for the days when I had my own kids at camp and I'm looking forward to the days I will see my grandkids there.

Niagara Vacation

Just reminiscing about the vacation Debbie and I took a few years back while we lived in New England. We knew if we were ever going to visit Niagara Falls, we had better do it while we were up North. I highly recommend it. The Falls, both the American (top) and the Canadian (bottom), are breath-taking. We liked the butterfly sanctuary that is located there as well.

Isn't my wife beautiful?