June, July and August

Oh my goodness I am so behind! Due to vacation then internet problems (we have now switched to U-verse) I'm pretty behind on blogging but I do have a ton of pictures on the computer so I'm gonna try and catch up.

The last week in June I went to Tacoma, WA with work. It was soooo nice to get away from the heat. The high the whole weak was 75 degrees. We went on a nursery inspection then to a 2 day workshop. Most of my pictures are of plants but here's a fun one of my boss Russ holding a diseased leaf.

In July Brian finally used his Christmas present groupon and flew a helicopter in Louisburg! I went with him and took a million pictures. We both had a great time. Brian said it was a whole lot harder than it looked. I think this is the first present that I have EVER gotten Brian that he didn't guess what it was before he opened it! I was told that I'm the best wife ever after the flight, so I'm guessing he liked it.

The next weekend we went to my parent's house and spent lots of time by the pool! My good friend Laura came over with her son Benjamin for his first "big pool" experience. He wasn't a huge fan but I think it will grow on him. I bought him the pelican float which looked really cute on the picture on the box. Then we blew it up. There were several comments on me getting him an angry bird float. It does look kinda mean. Don't you love Benjamin's serious expressions!!

My cousins Ashley and Chris were also in town from Florida. It was awesome to see them since we don't get together very often. Ashley brought her two boys over to the pool and Chase had a blast playing pool basketball with Brian.

For vacation this year Brian and I went to Colorado. We sorta did a road trip starting south in Colorado Springs, then heading west to Aspen and Glenwood Springs, then noth to Grand Lake and Rocky Mtn National Park and finally down to Denver. We had an awesome trip and the scenery was absoluely breathtaking! Aspen was both of our favorites although seeing the Elk in RMNP was pretty awesome too!

Here I am at Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs. We stayed here with our friend Dan's parents and what a treat! They live in a gorgeous 200 year old house on one of the main streets in downtown Colorado Springs.

Yes, we are terrible people and were feeding the wildlife. But to my own credit, they came right up to the picnic tables inches from my feet and started begging. It was pretty hard to resist. He was a big fan of peanut butter and jelly.

This place was BEAUTIFUL! I wish I could show you a 360 degree pic of the place. We were past the timberline so no trees, just miles of wildflowers!

Maroon Bells Wilderness Area near Aspen. This was by far my favorite place! We got to see wild columbine, crazy swollen rivers from the snowmelt, aspen groves and snow covered mountains.

Isn't this the most beautiful place you've ever seen!!

Mirror Lake in Glenwood Springs. The picture really doesn't do the place justice. The water was the most amazing crystal blue color with waterfalls coming in from 3 directions. Amazing! However, the hike to get up there was not amazing. 1.5 miles straight up a rock covered path with thin air at almost 12,000 feet = I thought I was gonna die!!! I think I drank all of the first thermos of water and 3/4 of the second one by the time we got to the top. Luckily I have a loving husband who didn't complain that I had drank all the water. He also didn't complain when I got stung by something on my hand and had a major meltdown since I was already exhausted and had drank ALL the water by that point. What a great man I've got!

Saint Mary's glacier near Idaho Springs. Although you can't tell in the picture, this thing is HUGE!

It was FREEZING up by that glacier! The wind was blowing like crazy, look at my hair! Ha! And yes I'm finishing off a can of pringles. I had totally forgotten how good they are!! The trees around me are actually hundreds of years old, they just look short and stubby because of the crazy conditions up there.

Rocky Mtn National Park. We were really hoping to see a moose in this meadow because we were told this is where they like to hang out, but no luck.

We did see some Elk!!!

We had dinner at the Stanley Hotel where The Shinning was filmed in Estes Park. The food was FANTASTIC!

Of course we couldn't go to Colorado without going to the brewery where Fat Tire is brewed! YUM!!

Fort Caswell Retreat

This past weekend Brian and I went on a retreat with our church to Fort Caswell on Oak Island. The picture above which I snagged off the internet is the lodge we stayed in. The retreat was a lot of fun and something we will definitely do again. We got to meet lots of fun new people and play all sorts of great games. We also had some free time to walk on the beach and Brian played in a pickup basketball game. Throughout the weekend we heard some great gospel centered messges and came home trying to be more thankful toward one another for the everyday mundane things that we do. I also got a good book recommendation which I've checked out from the library called For Women Only by Shaunti Feldhahn. I can't wait to read it!

Orlando, FL

So, last week during the ice and snow I was in sunny Orlando! Don't get too jealous it was cold there too, just minus the ice and snow. I had a conference for work and even though they had a fantastic heated outdoor pool I only got to see it as I walked from the convention center to my room every night at 10:00PM. It was kind of like being tormented.... oh lovely pool calling my name.... I should go for a swim...... except that I have another meeting in 10 minutes then I get to type up all my notes from the day.... yuck! Anyways... here is all the tropical I got to see. Her name is Sierra and she can say Hello and ring like a telephone. That isn't much of a vocabulary in my opinion but she did say hello to me when I walked by a couple of times. She has a cage out by the pool that they put her in (or on) during the day. I asked them if she could fly because it didn't look like her wings were cut... the guy laughed and said she tried sometimes but she has gotten too fat so she just splats.... poor bird... I know what its like to have a few unwanted extra pounds!

Trip to Texas

Yummy Rio Red Grapefruit

Packing House

Fresh Oranges...if only these pictures were scented...mmmm

Diseased Orange

Citrus Nursery

Newly pruned nursery trees, getting ready for next year.

This week I was in TX for a meeting and tours of the fruit facilities there. The tours were fantastic! The citrus packing house made me feel like an episode of Mr. Rogers when they use to do "how did they do that" clips on how things are made. Its amazing what machines can do and how much more efficient technology has made us. Not to mention that the whole building smelled FANTASTIC! Like a freshly cut orange! We also ate some great Tex-Mex food while we were there. I had some yellow corn patties with ground sirloin and pico on top, Yum!

Richmond, VA

This past week I was in Richmond Virginia to give a presentation at a workshop. We stayed downtown and ate at some great restaurants! The first was a place called The hard shell and we just happened to be there on monday night which is their lobster special night. Everyone in the group had a different type of lobster dish and they were all amazing!! Another place we went to was called Comfort. It was a modern spin on southern cuisine. It was so good that there was actually moaning at the table!! On Wednesday night Brian drove up and surprised me which was awesome! The next day after the meeting was over we walked down to the river walk and through downtown. Richmond has such a rich history! I wish we could have stayed longer.

Tucson, AZ

Last week I was in Tucson Arizona for a lab inspection and was totally surprised at how awesome a place it is!! The city was really fun with a great strip of restaurants going through one side of the University. The Sonoran desert was also a huge surprise. I hadn't expected it to be soooo beautiful!! Its surrounded on three sides by bright red mountains and the cacti are huge!! We did encounter a rattle snake (and yes I freaked out) but he was a gentleman, warning us he was there, then getting out of the way. You must put Tucson on your places to go list!!!

LOTS of Traveling!!

Its been pretty crazy around here lately but hopefully I won't be leaving home again anytime soon. In the last month I've been to meetings in California, Charlotte and Kansas. Then amidst all that we went on vacation in West Virginia. I sure was happy when that plane landed last night in RALEIGH!! I love traveling to new places but I also like breaks in between the trips which hasn't been the case this time. Brian was so sweet last night! He came to pick me up at the airport and brought me flowers! Awww, my heart melts.

Sooo... I guess I should give a brief recap of the places I've been.

1st - California
I flew into San Francisco then drove up to San Rafael where we have a quarantine nursery set up. San Rafael is BEAUTIFUL!!! The weather was perfect the whole time, I even had to put on a sweater in the evenings. I got to go out to China Camp which is a state park that had one of the first P. ramorum detections. It was beautiful and right along the bay. We also had a little free time before our flight on the last day so we went to the golden gate bridge and hiked down to the beach below it which was a blast!

2nd - West Virginia
We went on vacation to West Virginia and went white water rafting on the New River. We had a blast with Brian and my family there. We went hiking along some great trails and some of the group went on a zip line course which they thought was awesome. Me and mom opted for a massage instead. The massage studio was inside a pagota out in the woods. The very tip of the pagoda roof was open with a big wooden fan in the opening. It was awesome because you were just laying there looking up into the trees tops and you could hear the birds and all the forest noises. Soooo relaxing!!

3rd - Charlotte
The next week I was in Charlotte for the American Phytopathological Meeting. There were some great workshops and we at at a fantastic restaurant downtown called Aria. It was Tuscan and one of the best places I've eaten in a very long time! I liked it so much that the next day I managed to drag one of my coworkers back there again for lunch! I was amazed how much downtown Charlotte has changed since I had been there last. There are plazas everywhere to hang out in, lots of good restaurants, hotels, museums, etc. It would be a great quick getaway! Thanks to conference rates we were able to stay at the Westin which was not too shabby!! I was hoping to get to go to Ikea while I was there but it didn't work out. Thats probably for the best because I sort of go crazy in that place!!! How can you not when everything is soooo cute and sooo cheap!!!

4th - Manhattan, Kansas
This week I was in Kansas at a workshop on Phytophthora ramorum. I had to give a presentation which I was super nervous about but I think it went really well in the end. Manhattan is the home of the Kansas State Wildcats and they really take that to heart! I had to stop at Walmart to get some snacks and I think I was the only individual not wearing a purple (wildcats) shirt!! Manhattan has their own aiport which was pretty hilarious. They have 3 flights a day and they all go to Dallas. You had to be at the airport 45 minutes early or the ticket counter would be closed because the ticket agent is also the baggage lady!! LOL

San Francisco

San Francisco

WV Fam Vacation

WV Fam Vacation

Weekend Pics

The men folk after a thunderstorm brought the barbecue inside!

Abby and Lexie camping on the beach.

Camp fire on the beach, talk about some yummy dinner!! Corn, baked potatoes and turkey sausages. It took 3 hours cooking one thing at a time but that made it taste all the better!

Ft. Pierce, FL

A few weeks ago I went to Florida with work to put on a conference on citrus diseases. A few of us were able to go out into the experimental orchards and look at some infected fruit. It was pretty awesome! The bottom picture has a healthy orange on the right and an orange infected with citrus greening on the left. The top picture is me holding an orange off a healthy tree. I picked that orange myself then ate it right then and there. It was pretty much the best orange I've ever eaten!! The juice was all over my face, in my hair, and down my shirt but it was sooo worth it!

Christmas!!!

Brian and Sammy

Meg and Sammy

Our beautiful Christmas tree!

Carriage ride in downtown Indy.

Our nephew Brady.

Brian and I were blessed this Christmas to spend time with both of our families. We spent a week in Indiana then had Christmas in Raleigh a few days later. We had an extremely long car ride on the way to Indy thanks to the snow (24.5 hours in the car!!) but we made great time on the way home. I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas filled with friends and family!!!

Trip to Miami

Me and "snappy" at Everglades National Park. Luckily I did not experience the snappy part of the name.

Training at Clemson

Last week I went to a training class at Clemson to learn how to bait soil and filter water for Sudden Oak Death disease. It was a lot of fun since I don't reguarly get to work in a lab, I just get to read and report on all the different techniques usually. I got to look at a bunch of plant pathogens under a $10,000 compound microscope which was awesome! No comparison to the $250 scopes in biology class!!

Portland Oregon

Lange Vineyard in the Willamette Valley. They grow primarily pinot noir grapes.

Mount Saint Helen

Cold water lake. Created when the glaciers melted off the top of Mount Saint Helen.

Last week I was in Portland, OR for a plant pathology convention with work. It was a lot of fun and I got an opportunity to see some sites. We drove up to Mount Saint Helen one afternoon which was amazing!! The shear enormoity of the eruption doesn't hit you until your actually there looking at the miles and miles of destruction that remain, even after 30 years! How mighty is our God, that he can blow up a whole mountain if he wants to!!! It was also amazing to see how the earth is begining to heal itself and slowly shrubs and some trees are coming back. The streams have created channels through the ash and are once again flowing like they should.

Portland in itself was a really cool city. Its build around the Columbia river and has a really nice boardwalk. It also has a really nice area called the Pearl district. Its the old warehousing district that has been revamped with new restaurants, stores and townhouses. We ate at this fabulous restaurant called Bay 13 and had fresh halibut served over a corn and red pepper sucatash, amazing!