IDA

A fizzle... Rain, some wind. Storm just made landfall... Here is link to NOAA
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/refresh/graphics_at1+shtml/083515.shtml?5-daynl?large#contents

Ft Hood

I will not acknowledge the mutherfucker by name. Put him up against the wall and kill him.

Animals

There is a wide variety of wildlife here in North West Florida. Just about every day on my way to or from work, I encounter deer, squirrels, raccoons, fox, armadillo, coyote and of course the slithery snakes which normally aren't seen. So imagine the look on my face when, on my way home from work last Friday, a HUGE black bear just wanders out of the woods to the right and front of me. "THAT'S A F#$%*^@ BEAR!", I say out loud. Unfortunately I was going about 60 mph on a very busy road. All of us slowed down a bit to watch, but I wasn't able to get a pic. I will have camera at the ready over the next weeks, so that I can take a picture if it shows up again.

UPDATE! see below

Air Force

Ryan was accepted in to the Air Force ROTC program at the University of West Florida!

A fun Weekend

Boy, did this sneek up on us...

Post Op

I want to cry...

Birmingham, Alabama

A lovely city from what we've seen. Didn't come here to site-see though. Had to bring Valentyne up here for surgery. One of the bones (either radius or ulna) in her front right paw stopped growing and was causing her to limp and the paw to stick outwards. Doc came very highly recommended. He is going to break the bone that has stopped growing and then put a screw in which will (hopefully) cause new bone growth (it works in humans). Apparently this is quite common in short legged dogs of all breeds. We just don't want her to be in pain...
More later with pics I'm (almost) sure.

March

Lots of rain the last few days. Tornado's all around. Lots of fun here in the panhandle.

Helen

Funny thing happened on the way home from Asheville. We had heard about this little town in Georgia called Helen. So, we made the time to visit. We're definitely going back...

Biltmore

Had a long weekend, so we took a little road trip to Asheville, North Carolina. What an experience. Downtown was a bit weird for me though (too many hippies..). Many galleries and small restaurants and bars. Very crowded, but quite cool. The highlight of this portion of our trip was visiting the Biltmore House.

This is the view as you come in through the gate.

Detail throughout the whole "house"

View from the front of the house to the gazebo on the hill.

A view from one of the gardens.

View of the front of the Conservatory (green house)

My baby in the conservatory

The Winery. Oh, the winery...

Movie

If you haven't yet, go see Gran Torino. It's fantastic.