bio bay!

went with a tour group to the bio-luminescence bay on the remote island next to puerto rico, vieques island... seriously, this should be one of THE wonders of the world! hard to explain, but in the vision of mister walt disney, it's like swimming in tinkerbell's fairy dust! (there are no photos of it as 1)it was a night swim and 2) it can't be captured on film! yes, THAT amazing!! you really won't believe it until you try it for yourself.)

our island flyer... about a 40 minute boat ride... and yes, they MADE the pregnant girl sit on the inside of the darn boat. talk about YUCK!
this photo may look like i'm being oh so pensive... NOPE... serious sea sick and the only bit of air on the inside of this little boat was to hang out the sea splashing windows. pregnant and motion sickness mixed with sticky humidity makes for an "experience"... admittedly though, i'd do it again in a second for the bio bay!!
we had an oh so YUMMY puerto rican feast... fried pork chops and plantains! delish!!

no joke... this was our transportation to the bio bay... we literally drove off the road and through the beaten path of the jungle! quite memorable really :)

drivin around old san juan...

sigh vacation time...

old san juan...

a little windy eh!

my husband the gum chewer :)

puerto rico!

since dallin has to leave me for 6 weeks to texas at the military boot camp officers training, he thought a nice hoorah trip was in order! and why not puerto rico!! and sure... 32 weeks pregnant no problem :)
historic forts of old san juan... my attempt to smuggle a cannonball home :)
old wall drawings made by a captured sea captain on the dungeon walls... waiting his execution!
dallin as my prisoner!
beaches outside our hotel... simple gorgeous!

31 weeks.... TOUCHDOWN!!

some prego pics after church on sunday... one of the few days i get dressed up :) this lovely dress was a gift from my sister tracey... LOVE IT!! thanks trace.

"(s)he had a round face, and a little round belly that shook when she laughed like a bowl full of jelly..."

sometimes you feel like you're ready to make a touch down!!

atlanta botanical garden tour showcases glenridge hall...

atlanta botanical garden society had asked if glenridge hall wanted to participate in this years annual garden tour to be held on mother's day weekend. with 13 homes on the tour... one being millionaire Arthur Blank's home (owner of the Atlanta Falcons football team) we accepted the invitation, but spent the last 5 months in SERIOUS preparation! by the responses from some of the TWO THOUSAND PLUS persons that attended the two day tour, "this garden by far outshines all the rest!" "attending this garden was the crown jewel!"... praise after praise... can't complain about that! so this was how we spent our mother's day :)

my favorite was when they asked how many workers i had on my crew... loved to see their jaws drop when i responded, "i have two men that work for me... we total a three man crew :)" dallin actually heard someone else talking about Arthur Blank's garden... they said it looked like it was just filled with home depot plants.

the other favorite part... i would walk around with anika and no one knew i was the master gardener. it SERIOUSLY shocked them to see this pregnant young female as the designer of this masterpiece!

LOVED having this goal to work for! it was motivating to have something to work for and to show it off in the end! what a wonderful crew i have! and what a time it was swiping my little credit card :)

more photos of the tour...

some last ones of the tour :)

george sanko THE fern specialist of the world! he and i created the native garden on the big island of glenridge hall-- could NOT have done it without his help!

one of my workers tony... was helping with parking... dallin caught our photo by surprise ;)
and little miss anika who enjoyed the attention from the tour as well... she would lay right smack in the middle of the registration table line so people would pet her! she's no fool... got it right down to a system. roll over and they pet her belly too :)

last ones...

and deep breath... HUGE sigh of relief... success success success... special thanks to the Lord for all the WONDERFUL RAIN georgia has received this passed year! HEAVENLY indeed!!

cottage make over...

the BEFORE...

and AFTER!!!


all designed by me and installed by my workers and me... doesn't green make the biggest difference!