Orlando Trip

Darle had a business trip to Orlando this month and I got to go with him. While he was at his meetings I lounged around the pools reading my book and doing homework. After his meeting and on Saturday we got to play in the Florida sun. We toured the Kennedy Space Center on Tuesday, Magic Kingdom on Wednesday, lounged around the hotel Thursday (Darle had meetings all day), watched the shuttle launch on Friday (very cool), Epcot on Saturday, then a swamp tour on an air boat before getting on the plane to come home Sunday.
We had so much fun and enjoyed the warm sun the whole time.


Magic Kingdom was not as fun as we thought it would be. Childhood fantasies were overtaken by adult perspective. Buzz Lightyear is just not something we squeal over like the little boys in line with us. We did the whole park in 6 hours. It would have been much more fun if we had little ones to take and be excited with.

So Magic Kingdom was a bust but we had a fantastic time at Epcot. I didn't post any pictures from Epcot but we were the from nearly open to closing, and could have stayed another 2 hours or so. Our feet nearly fell off but we had a great time. So glad we had the whole day Saturday to spend there.

We spent nearly the whole day Friday sitting in our spot with thousands of others waiting for the space shuttle Atlantis to launch. We had to get there early to get a spot with a clear view. The water was nasty and smelled like rot, some people waded in it to get a closer view even though we were 7 miles away (30 feet wont make a difference). It was really intense to watch it launch. For Darle, this event would be the equivalent to me getting to tour Tara Plantation and the Big house in Atalanta, if such places actually existed.

Darle waiting for the big moment.

This was at Kennedy.

This was on Tuesday before the launch.

This is what they call the "crawler" used to transport the shuttle from the big building behind to the pad. the road was specially made for the crawler.

And the big event...... Huston we have lift off.

This is the trail it left after the shuttle was out of site.

This the last photo from the swamp tour. Not really any alligators in that part of Florida.

Beautiful Spring

I just love when Spring comes. All the earth comes back to life, the birds are singing, and the air is filled with the smell of fresh flowers.
We planted our garden two weeks ago and have already been able to enjoy fresh cilantro on our taco night this past Friday. We also planted all of the flowers in our front yard and created a planter bed in a ring around the base of the tree in the front yard. This year my Wisteria has already produced tons of flower clusters. I absolutely love it! Last year I only had 2 flowers on the whole thing.

And a drum roll please......... The bathroom remodel is finally done!
We are elated that we finally get to fully use the Master Bath after a year and half of living in our house. We forgot to take "before" pictures before starting the demo work but here are the Bathroom before and after photos.


The wall that you see exposed made it difficult to maneuver when two people are trying to get ready for work at the same time. Not to mention that there was only one sink with a small mirror above. Attached to the sink cabinet was an attached bookcase. Since I do my homework in the office, this was wasted space; and the shelves were fixed in position so I couldn't put any bottled items on it. It pretty much was used for toilet paper storage.

Before

After

From a different view. Darle Incorporated the same glass tile into the back splash as was used in the shower. The pictures came out much darker than the bathroom actually is. The tile on counter is a light cream / beige color and the light from the window really brightens the area.

Before

It was even smaller that it looks.

After

I just love this shower! Complete with two shower heads and a center rain head, built in seat in the back and a beautiful glass tile insert. We put in a clear glass door so we could see and admire Darle’s hard work even when not using the shower. Plus, having the clear glass keeps the bathroom feeling open.