Matthew's New Car

In the last few weeks Matthew and I have had several things go wrong with our cars. Mine needed new tires, new brake lines, an alignment, and a new wheel bearing. Matthew's needed to be retired, so he bought a new (to him) 2003 Toyota Echo with only 27,700 miles on it. It is a nice little car that gets great gas mileage. We'll let you know how comfortable it is the next time we take it on a trip. We also finally sold the old van so we have plenty of parking spots for visitors!

Home Renovations

In anticipation for the rest of my belongings arriving from Michigan, all of the company coming for Thanksgiving, and because I do not like pink, we have been doing a little work around the house. We sold most of the furniture in the pink guest room and I repainted the walls and trim. We also bought some much needed new curtains. We have been clearing out the front room as well since it will become a temporary bedroom for the holidays. We haven't finished decorating the newly painted room but plan to do that when the rest of my furniture and artwork comes from MI.

Before

After painting

The final product (for now at least)

Sapelo Island

I spent some time down on Sapelo Island for "work" a few weeks ago. I was helping a grad student collect some data on the salt marshes, but mostly I just got to enjoy a beautiful Georgia barrier island!

Camping in Florida

In September we went camping in Florida with some friends of mine from work. We enjoyed cooking over the fire as well as taking a canoe trip around some of the rivers in the area. We also went to a spring but I have not been able to get any of those pictures yet.


Matthew cooking breakfastt


















Canoeing along the rivers





















































































Some of the animals we saw along the way:

Cooking Hobo dinners in the dark

Garden Update

My first fall plantings have not been doing well (most of the cucumbers have died and the beans were all blown over by a storm) but our eggplants are still producing like crazy. Here are some photos of what the garden looks like now and what we have been doing with our delicious eggplants.

A day's harvest


















Our eggplant parmesan/lasagna creation!

First Fixer-Upper

Pictures of the first house I bought that needed a lot of work.  I did a fair amount before giving up and selling.  I didn't take any picture of improvements I made.  All these picture are at the time of purchase.

Labor Day Weekend

On Saturday of Labor Day weekend we went to a cookout at a friend's place in Bluffton, S.C. The weather was beautiful, the food was great, and the games were fun!

Matthew playing Bocce with some friends

Lindsay hanging out with the spectators

A quick game of Rat-a-Tat-Cat before the food is ready

Jamie, Lindsay, & Matthew

A plate full of delicious food

Matthew ate too much food!

Enjoying the Scenery