Steinhatchee & Lochloosa

Jim and I went fishing in Lochloosa yeasterday evening. We were fishing for specks but ended up catching a ton of bream instead. We had a blast. It was our first trip to the lake and we look forward to exploring it more thoroughly when we have more time. Today we took the boat over to Steinhatchee ( about 1 1/2 hours from Gainesville) to go scalloping. We almost turned back when it started to pour down rain about 1/2 way there, but we stuck it out and were very handsomely rewarded. We had such a fun and relaxing day on the water together.

It seems like an eternity...

So much has happened in the last few months that I don't know where to begin. I guess I'll try to go by month. Jim and I went to the Keys in late April for his scuba certification dives. We stayed in Tavinerier and drove down to Key West after the first day to get a look at the place. We didn't stay long, but had a great time. Jim is now a NAUI certified scuba diver So begins our love of the Keys...we can't wait to visit again! The following weekend we went to Ginnie Springs for my skin diving certification. The water was so cold that I wore 2 wetsuits. I'm getting cold just thinking about it. We did some more exploring in Gainesville and finally found Split Rock, a very secret, unmarked nature preserve. It was really neat. We also found some unmarked trails along the Hogtown creek. May was a very busy time for Jim. He began his paperwork to become a Big brother. He also did a bunch of traveling for his lab. He attended a week long conference in Orlando called STLE and met up with his cousin Jack for dinner one night. A few weeks later, he was in Melborne closing a project with the Harris company. We attended a friends wedding in Tallahassee in June and got to spend some time with Richard, Brandi, and Marc. We had so much fun with the 3 of them. We can't wait to see the new adition to the Campbell clan...hopefully soon! A friend of ours joined us for an overnight stay in Cedar Key. We filled the horse trough and went for a swim. The stars were amazing. It was a very relaxing evening. Jim and I took a trip to the Destin area for our 1st anniversary and my birthday. The Campbells were nice enough to let us stay at their bay house for our visit. We went fishing for kings on my birthday and caught our limit almost immediately. What a fun time! Jim made his first solo dive since becoming certified. He dove on a barge near the Miss Louise and said he saw some amazing things. Lots of barracudas! We celebrated our anniversary with year old cake, sparklers from the wedding, and mimosas in our champagne flutes! I can't believe it's already been a year. The best one yet! On to July. Jim finally got paired with a "little brother". He is adorable, has red hair, and loves the outdoors just as much as Jim. What a perfect match! We drove to Marianna to go on the annual canoe trip on the Chipola river. The river was beautiful. I always forget how picturesque and tranquil it is. We had great fire works for the 4th at the camp site thanks to Jason and Virgina. I successfully threw Jim a surprise party in Gainesville for his birthday, and boy was he surprised! It was luau themed and everyone was dressed to the nines. What a fun night! We drove back to Marianna the next day to visit with his parents who were down from North Carolina. It was really great to see them, it had been too long. Jim is playing intermural soccer with a few of his labmates. We got one of our favorite mexican resturants in Gainesville to sponser the team. We are finally beginning to see fruit on our tomato plants. All of our hard work is paying off! We have been having some problems recently with some beautiful yellow rat snakes eating our chicken eggs. It's an inconvence but they're nice to look at. We hope to spend the rest of our summer eating great tomatoes, traveling, fishing and exploring. Until next time...