This Week in Our Lives

Well, it appears I'm not as good about daily blogging...maybe I have more of a life now, maybe I'm just lazy:D  So, here's a recap of our past week:

We hit the beach!  And J and Little Angel were out in the water and a dolphin swam back and forth in front of them....only about 10 feet away---it was really cool!

Here's a photo from our first ever band rehearsal for the all-new Low Country Community Band.  This is a REALLY big deal!  I volunteered to be historian, as I feel I will be "growing old" with the band:D

We hit our little enclosed butterfly garden.  The butterflies have not "been born" yet, but there were a few black swallowtails.

While I've been busy creating bracelets for orders/requests or seeing the "The Hunger Games," J and Fairy girl were hard at work creating a garden plot, and planting tomatoes, bell peppers, zucchini, cucumber, basil, oh...and a Meyer Lemon Tree, as seen in our Jim Beam Whisky Barrel (I'm VERY excited for this one!)

And Little Miss Angel has literally started cooking and baking on her own, with very little supervision (we haven't let her handle a knife yet though; but she is managing the oven!)

And no blog entry would ever be complete without a brief appearance from Piper the Fluffy Poo!

Still Alive and Kicking!

My blog has been seriously neglected his year.  Heck, my cameras have been seriously neglected this year!  I just thought I'd do a little recap, and post some more photos from the last time I took some photos, which was, ahem, January 30th---Little Angel's 8th birthday.

After the New Year, we headed down to Florida, to celebrate Christmas with the grandparents.  Last year my parents gifted us passes to Magic Kingdom.  This year they gifted us annual fun passes to Sea World, we've been there twice this year already (two trips in January).

J was "liberated" of employment just before Christmas---I know most people wouldn't get this, but it was a HUGE blessing (though we are eternally grateful to his former company for relocating us down to Paradise!)!  Life's been so wonderful having him home (they were working him into the ground, it was really dragging us down as a family).  He's really taken this time to just relax, unwind, recover, and just be.  Work has been crazy for him since we were married.  Now he's taking the opportunity to possibly switch careers---he's looking into renewable energy...but in the meantime, he's enjoying his vacation:)  Of course we'll have to have an income again someday, but for now, he really needed this break.

So, we had a wonderful "post" Christmas with Grandparents---we went to this cool restaurant in Dade City, sort of the half way point between J's parents and mine.  The next day we hit Sea World!

Then we headed back down to Florida three weks later, for the January Birthdays.  We had another Sea World adventure, Little Miss Angel got her ears pierced, and J and I had an incredible overnight get-away to Cedar Cove, on the gulf.  Our room was literally OVER the gulf.  We had such a wonderful time, and it's an adorable quaint town!  

      Other News on the homefront, I finally bit the bullet and joined the Savannah Winds!  and then, after two rehearsals, I quit--forever!  The group is phenomenal!  But I just don't have THAT much time to practice at home for this group.  They are THAT good, and I'm not a total musical wimp.  BUT then, TWO musical opportunities popped up for me!  woo hoo!  One, was to join a concert band/pit group, that accompanies a 100 piece show choir.  These are mostly retirees:D  And I would be paid $100 a gig!  I may do this someday, but not right now;  why?  they rehearse Saturday mornings, and I'm assuming someday, my hubby may decide to work again, in which Saturdays would be our boating/ biking/ beaching/ hiking/ kayaking day (you know, the whole reason why we moved here!).  But no worries, a brand new community band really formed down here, right in my own town...I could not believe it really happened---we already have 50 musicians and a talented band director...we are affiliated with a returning adult program with the University of SC...we have support!  we have musicians!  we have a place to practice!  we don't have anything else:D  they are even asking if band members would consider purchasing/donating music (next year we will qualify for a grant to help with this).  Our first performance will be Memorial Day!  This really makes me do the Happy Dance (in case you didn't catch how much I have missed band:)

Other news, the girls start piano lessons tomorrow!!  They still have choir on Tuesdays.  I'm making and selling bracelets!  J unpacked the the last four boxes, today, the only ones he was responsible for (after 13 months here:O) And lots more exciting goings-on.........

Life is quite good!