Hello blogosphere, its been awhile.

Hey everyone, let me start out by apologizing since I havent blogged since October, when really, a million things that are worth blogging about have happened since then. I was hoping my lovely lady would blog, but she is too hummble to think that anyone is intrested in anything she has to say (which isnt true Amy)! Anyways, I have alot of things in my head that I want to blog about, so I am going to start this blog the same way I started the last, with an outline!

This Blog will include:

1.Updates on how P90x has been going

2. A final account of the 2010 garden

3. The Chattanooga vacation, including the aquarium!

4. The decision to add to our family, by buying a black lab.

5. The 2011 garden, including some dissapointing news about our garden space.

Ok, so P90x has been giving us some mixed results, mostly because we arent consistnetly doing it. Its just so hard to take an hour and half out of your day, every day. But on the weeks I do it I usuually lose a few pounds, so I just need to work on my consistency. And I also have a hard time eating healthy and being in a good work out routine, there is nothing like a good work out to make you crave a cheeseburger!

The garden will be much smaller this year, due to construction going on in last years garden space around June. So we are doing the garden in a small spot of grass outside our door and in alot of pots and containers! We are doing lettuce, broccoli, carrots, onions, strawberries, and peas for the early spring garden. Last October when our garden fizzeled out we ended up having about 85 cucumbers, 12 watermelons, 100 tomatoes, and 6 pumpkins. We also got to harvest some good walnuts out of the trees by the garden, yummy.

Earlier in January we went to Chattanooga, where we found a great hotel to stay in, the Hilton Garden Inn. We also did all the regular tourists things like eat at downtown restuarants and go to the aquarium. One great surprise that we came upon was an old bookstore downtown that smelled and looked like it was about 50 years past its prime. Inside was a little old lady with yarn pilled 10 feet high sewing sweaters. When I asked her where the nature books where, and if she had any good old field guides, she informed me that she got one in recently. She looked at Amy and told her to go behind the desk and look in the top drawer and bring me the yellow book. Amy and myself were both kind of taken aback by the odd request that an employee would ask a stranger to go behind the cash registar and fish somthing out of the desk. When Amy hesitated a bit, I reached for the desk drawer, the old lady quickly snapped at me, STOP!, I didnt ask you to get it, I asked her! Not sure whether to be offended, embarrased, or just laugh about it, I stood there stunned for a moment. Amy got the book and it was cool field guide to nature activities. Now, many of you may not know this, but I collect old field guides, the older the better. I have several that I inherited from grandparents and that is basically what got the ball rollling. I got one or two childrens bird books from my dad's dad Pap (the only person who would watch nature programs on discovery planet with me, which was one of the many influences that made me the nature lover I am today). I also got two field guides from mam'ah, my mothers mom, who apparently went through a bird watching phase. My favorite old bird guides are the ones that are old enough to still list the Ivory Billed Woodpecker as a rare species. That is only intresting because Ivory Billed Woodpeckers are now extinct. Anyways, I found several great old field guides, indcluding the original Peterson Field Guide to Eastern Trees and a great life list for birders book that has every bird in North America. Amy and I both walked out of that store with piles of books that we got for dirt cheap!

My favorite part of Chat town had to be the aquarium. The native fish exhibit, that is cool. I also really loved the jelley fish and the snakes. But, I am embarresed to say, that out of all the sharks, pirhanaas, sting rays, snapping turtles, and alligators; my favorite exhibit was the butterfly exhibit. It was litterally a room you walked into, and butterflies where just fluttering about everywhere. Very cool place, I think I would visit it on a weekly basis if I lived in the Chat area.

We also went to Crane day at the Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge. First time I have ever seen a Sandhill Crane, and it was pretty cool. There were thousands of those things, they are going to have to open up a season eventually. Very beautiful birds.

Also, my friend Nick Luper has bred some beautiful lab puppies, and Amy and I have decided to buy one, a black female. We decided to name her Lucy, and she will be ready to pick up on the 4th of March!

Here are some aquarium pics, this blog wasnt as long as it was originally cause I accidentally deleted the entire thing and had to start over! That was frustrating.