Meeting 40-something of my closest friends...that I've never met before!

In less than 48 hours, I will be in the sky flying west to my second Big Fat Meetup(BFM). I will say that we are meeting in Southern California, but that's all I'll say about the location till I'm home. Needless to say, I am sooo excited. I've actually met some of these ladies before, seven of us are Two-timers to the BFM and one of them is from right here in FL. We've had a couple of FL meetups together.

So, why are we doing this? What do we have in common? What's the point?

Well, the only thing that we all have in common I think is Sonlight but I'm pretty sure that we all use it in different ways. Some of us are nearly done with our hsing journey and some are just beginning. We are doing this because we spend so much time together on the forums that we feel like a family. We are each other's support and encouragement in times that are tough and we celebrate together in times of victory and success. The BFM is a fun weekend where we'll be able to connect IRL(in real life) in a way that forums and email don't allow. I think we are all excited.

And CALIFORNIA, I can't believe I get to go there. The farthest west I've ever made it was the beautiful state of Colorado, but I'll finally be able to say I've crossed the continent. Now I just have to make it to Alaska

A new friend in our backyard...

He's gorgeous! He was partaking of the fine meal of whatever vermin was in the far reaches of our property, lol. I say feast away

I hope he (or she) comes back.

Sunday Night Chocolate...A Sad Story!

So tonight I decided there was a need for chocolate, A huge NEED for Chocolate...



It's just regular ol' Betty Crocker Brownies with a bag of Ghiardelli semi-sweet chocolate chips mixed in, but yummy! Here's what it looked like after the family got a hold of it...



But, alas...TRAGEDY strikes...



It fell on the floor, see the doggie hairs...I was very sad, it was my piece, good thing we made a nice big plate of them, huh?

We have another visitor in our yard...

Most people in the US won't see these running wild, but we have two. Here's one in our Mulberry Tree out front...


And here...



These guys aren't natives. I'm not sure where they've come from, but they've chosen our front yard to live in. At least they're not noisy neighbors and they don't stay up all night, lol.

Look who stopped by for a visit!

We have a pond out front of our home that attracts all kinds of wonderful wildlife. One day I'll have a gazebo and a fountain out there, but that's still in the future. Today I glanced out the front window and saw this guy floating.


He's a Wood Duck. I don't see a female around but she could be up in the ficus. They actually roost in the trees. Isn't he a beauty? I'm hoping for baby ducks this year, we used to get them every spring, but not so much the last few years.

My first TAG!

I've been tagged for the first time! By my lovely friend Trish in Honduras over at Sowers4Pastors

The rules are as follows...

1. Link your tagger and list these rules on your blog.

2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.

3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.

4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.


First of all...Yay! thanks Trish for tagging me. I'm not sure I'd want to do a million of these, but a few here or there sound fun, fun, fun...

Now on to seven random facts...hmmmm

1) I played the Viola as a child/teen...I still have the viola but it is in need of repair. If I could get it fixed, or get a new one, I'd start playing again. It's a beautiful sounding instrument and I miss it.

2) I was extremely healthy til I got married. I tell dh that marriage to him was my downfall. One month after marriage I ended up in the hospital for an emergency appendectomy. Two years ago my gall bladder had to be removed. I wonder what's next, argh!

3) I'm a Jacksonville Jaguars football fan! I love them, have since the day the NFL announced that Jacksonville would get one of the 1995 expansion teams. Jacksonville is my hometown and I miss it. I've been to two games in the past two years and I plan to make one game a year from now on at a minimum!

4) I wanted five children, dh wanted one, we thought three was a good compromise I always thought I'd be better with boys, I was right, though I have two girls. They puzzle me some days but fortunately they are not extremely girly girls, for my sake. LOL

5) I have never lived anywhere but Florida's east coast. I don't know that I ever will, either. Dh teases me by saying we'll move to TX when he retires, I won't hold my breath. We'll still be in our mid to late 40's and our youngest will be almost grown or grown depended on which year he retires. So we'll still be living life.

6) I had PRK laser surgery on my eyes two years ago and now have near perfect vision after 23 years of extreme nearsightedness. The last two years have been so freeing. If I had to do it again, I certainly would. I'm trying to talk dh into getting it done.

7) I've recently taking up photography. Soon I'd like to take classes. I've been told that I'm pretty good by some people who know, so I'd like to learn enough that I can make a few dollars to help supplement my staying home with my dc.

Well, those are mostly boring, but they are certainly random. I've been away from my blog for sooo long, I apologize for my absence. I'll be blogging again regularly from now on. Thanks to Trish reminding me to log on and post a blog! Let's see who I'll tag...

1. Wendy at Wending Through Life with Wendy
2. Emily at Teaching TWO Little Miss Smartypants
3. Amy at Working Title (she wanted to know how one gets tagged )
4. Tara at My Balancing Act
5. Kelly at Life with Boys
6. Sarah at Ponderings...
7. You, whoever you are...you're it!

That was hard!!!! I hope those I tagged are okay with it. I've never tagged anyone before (well since childhood when we played Tag, but that's not quite the same, now is it? ) I don't know if I want to do that anymore, lol...tag me again and we'll see.

Spring in Florida, looks a lot like Summer in most places...

But there is a spring... We have some trees that are still working on waking up this year...


This a Bald Cypress and the first sprigs of Spring coming out.


Flowers you won't see outside of the swamp.


New friends to make

Spring is really a beautiful time in South Florida, too bad it lasts such a short time.