Warrior Dash 2012! What a way to end Sabbatical!

Warrior Dash, June 3rd 2012!  

Before...

That's me on the far left

The Warrior Roast!  

Nearing the end...

I'm just trying to stay upright here!  SLIPPERY WHEN WET!!!

I Finished first in my age group!! (971st, that is)
I finished fifth overall!  (3,085th).  

My fellow Warriors (after)

Here we're looking as fierce as we can

Victorious!

I emerged Victorious

Myrtle Beach Vacation

We celebrated our 10 year anniversary at Myrtle Beach, SC the week of September 5-10. There was the possibility of hurricane effects that week, but it turned out to be just beautiful. We stayed at a resort with a room overlooking the ocean and lots of amenities including pools, lazy rivers, tennis, mini-golf, etc. We had a wonderful time. :)

We enjoyed many beautiful views of the ocean and sky.

One of the fun things we did was attend a dinner theater

called the Pirates Voyage (pirates are a big thing there).

This was started by Dolly Parton. It used to be the Dixie Stampede, and was just this year converted into the Pirates Voyage.

It's set up as a competition and you cheer for the side you're on.

There were seals outside the Pirates Voyage.

A couple of them did tricks as part of the show.

You can kind of make out the set of the pirate's ship.

There was water surrounding it.

The show included lots of awesome gymnastics,

acrobatics, diving, and fire stuff!

We enjoyed a few rounds of tennis one of the mornings.

We had fun making a castle and fortress,

and many people stopped to take a look. :)

This gorgeous sunrise was on the morning we left.

The sun was completely bright pink.

Floating along the outdoor lazy river....

We stopped by this produce stand in SC on our way home.

We bought peaches and got to try boiled peanuts!

It's blurry, but this is a field of cotton.

Building Our Garden Fence

This was our project in June, over the course of about a week. The fence has kept out all the hungry wildlife roaming our yard, the plants have just flourished and we have really enjoyed gardening this year!

Patrick dug nine holes, three feet deep by hand,

with an old rusty post hole digger we borrowed

from a kind soul at church.

We dug a 10-inch trench all around the garden

and buried wire in order to keep the crazy groundhogs out!

This is how we brought the 6 foot high, 100 feet of fencing

around the house and up the hill to the garden!

Patrick held on to it and pressed on the gas

while I walked alongside and steered...

maybe a bit crazy, but it worked!

Ahh, the satisfaction of hard work and a job well done!

We also added a single wire after this up at seven feet high

to be sure to keep the deer out!

More wildlife at the Nafziger Preserve!

I spotted the tail of this turkey from the house,

not sure what it was--maybe just our cat,

or some other animal. So I went to check it out.

Just wish Rodney was around to do his turkey call. :)

My Gift on Mother's Day: May 8, 2011

This little fawn was up in the brush near our garden. I just happened to see it when I was going up to look at the garden. It was a precious gift for me. I was able to get really close to it and pet it a little (although maybe I shouldn't have!) It is just adorable!