Are We Still In Florida?

O.K. I think I still live in Florida, but it feels as if hubby moved us back up to Maine. IT'S SO COLD HERE! I don't remember the last time I looked at the temp. and it said 19 degrees! It also snowed. Yes, that's correct, IT SNOWED IN FLORIDA ON SATURDAY, JANUARY 9th, 2010! Well, I'm still trying to get rid of this stupid cold. YUCK! Haleigh and I went through a whole roll of toilet tissue between the two of us last week. Rough though, I think we'll invest in some Puff's Plus with lotion this week. I have a pretty busy week since I stayed home for 2 days last week. It was nice.Two whole days, vegging on the couch and in the bed! I needed the extra rest. No new pictures to display this time. Though with this cold, I have not dyed the hair and appear to be turning into a skunk.SCARY! So, we'll see this week, when Haleigh comes over, if taking pictures is on her to do list!

But Officer, It's Only 5 P.M...

Well, my baby is now 15 years old. WOW! I'm getting old. We decided, since for the past 10 years we have not been in Florida for his birthday, that we would have a party for Alex and a few friends. So, Alex for the past couple of weeks, has been planning and inviting, etc...We told him to let us know what he wanted to do, the menu, the place, etc...He decided to have the party at the house with 26 of his friends and family. Alex and his band,

made their debut in the backyard on the patio. It was awesome. Food, Family, Friends, new talent bursting forth, exciting right? Well,yes, yes, yes, and not quite. Apparently, three of our neighbors, whether it be on our road, or three streets over did not appreciate the young lads budding talent. Yes, it's a first for the Dickinson family. We had the Citrus County Police called out to the Dickinson residents for disturbing the peace. However, the officer was great, and said the boys sounded great, his son is a drummer as well, but it IS his RESPONSIBILITY to respond to all calls. SO, he did. We agreed to do whatever the man in blue advised us to do in order to not give ALex the memory of his parents being hauled off to jail to make our parental point of "But officer, it's only 5 p.m. The noise ordinance is not effective till after 11P.M." Long story short, the officer completely understood, and said since the party ended at 7, to pretend he was never here. SWEET!
SO, ALex and the band, played one last song to commemorate his 15th Birthday and hopefully, prayerfully, his last encounter with the Citrus County police.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

What a FANTASTIC day! Haleigh Bug, Alex and I spend the morning creating our very own gingerbread house. How fun! Alot of work, which they fail to mention that on the box, but it was fun. We're also puppy sitting for a client, so we took some pics of Haleigh bug and Baxter and Spotty. All three look drunk in the picture, but I can honestly say, liquor was not involved. Dan, Alex and I braved the stores just one last time, hopefully, to finish up some shopping. I believe that's about it. I have to work for alittle while tommorrow before I tackle the never ending grocery list. The world can shop for just about anything online these days, I wonder if Walmart will ship your holiday food shopping list straight to your door?

Let It Snow, Let It Snow,Let It Snow!

This weekend, we went to Kissimmee with family and friends. Unfortunetly, Kristen, Jared, and Haleigh did not get to come with us.
Buggy caught tonsilitus and Jared was sporting a 101 fever this morning along with Kristen's sore throat. BIG BUMMER! We are praying for a quick recovery! Forward, march...and that's what we've been doing this whole weekend. Seriously, we had to walked atleast 50+ miles today. We went to Downtown Disney, and Celebration this evening to see the snow. How awesome it has been today. We missed seeing the expressions on Kristen, Jared, and Haleigh's face when the "snow" began falling at Celebration, but, maybe next year. Anyway, we've been "wooping it"up with our oldest son Sean, and his girlfriend, Kate, and Alex.
Alex and I even shared the best Brownie Sundae this evening and I just know that delicious culinary treat put 5 pounds on my hips. Some things are just worth it!

We survived!

Well, it's been ALONG time since my last post. Yes, we did do the hike. However, we did not complete it all. After the ups and downs we had, we only did 53 miles. We plan on going back someday and finishing the remaining 20 something miles, but, we'll see. It was awesome. The views, the weather, the experience. Breathtaking. All together we only hiked for 4 1/2 days. Some of our fellow compadres did not finish with us, but they sure did put in 100% while they hiked. Dan and I did get to have some alone time, in the woods, on top of a mountain, which was WONDERFUL. We camped and hiked together, just the two of us, for 2 days. It was awesome.
We learned alot from this trip. Like, 60 pounds is alittle too much for one man to carry. And the body tends to react and respond to such weight in not so nice ways, NO MATTER HOW MUCH TRAINING AND PREP YOU DO. But, like I said, it was worth it. And we found out we need to do alittle more research. So, it wasn't a wasted trip after all.
Though, we did learn the hard way one very important lesson. If you plan on taking pictures, at all, of your adventures, it's better to invest in a digital camera that you feel comportable with rather than numerous disposable cameras. $54.00 later, and only a few pictures came out. UUUUGGGG!!!! That was hard to swallow. Oh well...

South Carolina, Here We Come!

Well, as you can see, three of us are very excited about our trip. We leave in 2 days. WOW! Time has kicked in turbo drive. It's hard to believe this crazy adventure is really here. I've been asking ALOT of questions these last couple of days. I sure hope and pray we have trained hard enough for this expedition. I think we have.


Well, Kristen and Jared celebrated their anniversary this week.

And that meant Haleigh Bug stayed with us for 2 days and 2 whole nights.

She was an absolute joy. We tried to do as much as we could before we leave.

It's going to be 2 weeks before we get back. WOW! I already miss my family and friends and we haven't even left yet. We will be taking lots of pictures and ibuprofen...HAHA, and I'm keeping a journal to write down our days ups and downs (the mountains, that is) enlightened moments ( what we're we thinking, those thoughts etc...) and plans to get Dan back, I'm sure. Just Kidding. I'm on board with this trip just as much as he is. Though I have to admit, seeing a port-a-potty in the wooods during our trek would be a most welcomed treat. UUGGG!

It's Buggy Time!

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Is it just me, or does Haleigh look ALOT older these days?


Here's Kristen and Haleigh coloring a picture for Pop-Pop.



And here's Haleigh and I checking out this year's future orange crop. Looks like it will be Orange Marmalade in every ones Christmas baskets this year.


We have been VERY busy with our upcoming hike. It's in 3 WEEKS, YEAH!!!!! This weekend we camped out in our tents. Dan and I have our own tents, and decided we better get a trial run in (sleeping in separate tents), before our trip. This was the first time, EVER, in a tent by myself.It wasnt too bad. Though there's nothing like the comfort of your very own cuddle bear to help lul you to sleep. But, I guess the ole Tylenol P.M. will have to be the bear on this trip.