Minus 16.5 Pounds

And 23.5 inches...

An Evening with Friends

It's sad that we have friends only an hour away that we see only about once a year. But with both of them working full time, and raising two young boys, their schedules are jam-packed. But tonight was one of those yearly events. We went to their house, where we grilled out, sat in the spa, and swam in the pool all evening. We had a great time!

We also got to meet the newest addition to their family--Henry. Henry is the cutest dang thing ever! Even if he does still pee on the floor and chew up the coffee table. Who could resist that face? It's the Power of Cute.

Diet Snacks...

Yeah, this is what I get for a snack. If I ever see another strawberry again, it will be too soon.

Thank you, Facebook!

Thank you, Facebook. Once again, you have made it possible to re-connect with an old friend. On December 9, 2008, I found my high school friend Julie on Facebook. We messaged each other and got 'caught up' with each others lives. She lives on the west coast, near Seattle, and doesn't come back here to Nashville very often. But she arrived here yesterday for a family wedding this weekend! We made plans to meet for lunch, and had a great time remembering different people, catching up on where they are and what they're doing, and talking about our lives now. It was so great to see her! I hope to go out to Seattle again someday soon, and see her and meet her family.

Dieting sucks!

And this is all I get to eat for dinner...This diet is no fun!

Red Snapper & Fresh Veggies

Tonight's meal consisted of Red Snapper, grilled on my counter-top grill, with fresh organic baby spinach, sauteed in Riesling vinegar with salt, pepper, and garlic. Kelly also had asparagus, tomatoes, celery, scallions and cilantro.

Diet Food

Kelly has been really great about what we eat while I am on this super-strict diet. He eats close to what I eat, but maybe a little larger portion or a slightly different vegetable. I can't stand asparagus, but he likes it. He also loves cilantro, which tastes like soap to me.

Acai Berry Tea

Well, I started a really strict diet three days ago. I've had to give up all my soft drinks and juice. All I can have is water, coffee, and tea--with no sugar. Of course, I hate coffee and tea. But I thought I would try some of the fruit-flavored teas, over ice, with some stevia to sweeten. This is Acai Berry tea. And you know what? It's gross. I still hate tea. Back to plain old water it is.

Butterflies

With all the flowers blooming, we have lots of butterflies in our yard. Mostly these dark ones. I don't know anything about butterflies, so I had to do some research to identify it. It appears to be a male Pipevine Swallowtail, based on what I could find on-line to identify it. I love watching them flit and flutter from one flower to another. Ha-ha, I made a rhyme!

A Quick Trip to Memphis--Day 2

Today was so suffocatingly hot that we could barely go outside. The humidity was like 90%, and it was about 97 degrees. Plus, we had thunderstorms. Steamy.

But after the storms cleared, I took Kendall and Jax outside to grab a few pictures of them. Just some casual, summer stuff. I processed some of them using Flora Bella's Spring actions.

I also snapped a few photos of the neighbor's spectacular backyard--including my favorite Stargazer Lilies.

I had to head back home right after an early dinner, and right around Jackson, TN, I caught this spectacular sunset--which I shot while holding my camera over my shoulder, driving down the interstate, not even looking to see where it was aimed.

The Batman Building

Just a grab shot of the Bell South Building (aka the Batman Building) downtown...

What a Lovely Surprise!

One of the dear girls from the Two Peas in a Bucket Photography forum sent me some great Happy Mail all the way from Hawaii! Elizabeth has an ETSY shop where she sells designer camera strap covers. She sent me this beautiful strap cover as a gift! I just love having so many friends all over the world and being able to stay connected through Facebook and internet forums and message boards!

A Little Western Flair from Thursday...

Here are a few more from last Thursday. Love the attitude I'm getting in some of these. Of course, she threatened to steal my boots and take them back to Hawaii with her.

A few more from downtown...

Just a few more from downtown. These were taken at Legislative Plaza.

Our Downtown Session

So after the field in Kingston Springs, we headed to downtown Nashville. I should have been paying attention to local news, and I would have known they were getting ready for CMA-fest, previously known as Fan Fair. So some of the place we wanted to shoot were either inaccessible because of flood damage, or because of CMA-fest. The Symphony Hall was still barricaded while they tried to dry out all the water damage from a month ago. The Country Music Hall of Fame had a bunch of white tents in front of it for Fan Fair. And there was heavy machinery on the Pedestrian Bridge. We worked around all that as best we could. That and the harsh sun which was still blasting down on us.

How freakin' awesome are these shoes?

Saying goodbye for more than 6 months sucks!

So the kid left today. She's driving back to Memphis, where she will spend the night and catch a plane tomorrow for Honolulu. She was only here for 8 days--not nearly long enough! It's been six months since her last visit home (Christmas) and we won't see her again until December when we fly out to Hawaii for her college graduation.

Of course, I had to take just a few more photos of her before she drove off...