Good Times in Carolina - The Trip 2!

Here's the gorgeous view from last weekend's trip to Murrell's Inlet, SC. It was so good seeing all the CU girls and families (Olivia and Matt, Laura and Matt and Haleymonster and Little Ana, Chad and Allision all came!)! Yes--families b/c sweet Laura brought the two girls!We mostly sat around catching up but did manage to play outside, have some dinner, and do some typical coastal SC activities--including maze mania and some putt-putt. By the way, I WON MAZE MANIA! YESSSsssss! There were nice marshes (not swamps, Matt Griffin!) all around. We even had time to throw a sneak attack of a lingerie party for Allison. Haley enjoyed the packaging. Miss you all already!

Reason #836 to Come Visit Us in Florida

Ok--we definitely expanded upon the home improvements over the weekend (thanks to Target's 75% off summer sale). We just got it all put together last night. So...there's lot of room for relaxing when visitors come! hint...hint...

Jeff's Grill

I gave wife approval to get a grill this past weekend as well. Here's the proud owner!

Daouda b'a fe furano bilibiliba o la n ko, "a be se k'a san" weekend temenen. A b'a fe kosebe barisa sisan a be se ka sogo tobi ka dun cama cama.

Sod: Before and After

We did it! We've been talking about it for months, but we finally sodded the backyard! Thankfully, our good friends, Aaron and Shelley, came over and helped out a ton so the job got done FAST. The whole project started when I came home last Monday from work and I looked outside only to see the weeds missing from the backyard (I say weeds b/c no real grass existed out there).
Jeff had ripped up the yard and said, "We're sodding Saturday." Ok...so we're sodding. Tuesday I came home and he had huge holes all over the backyard--making sure no missing irrigation heads weren't missing. He said, "If we're sodding, better make sure this is done right." Ok...so we're digging up the ENTIRE irrigation system just to make sure.

Alright, to be fair, he really was doing a great job. I'm just trying to make the story better. So we spent the week prepping the backyard and our other friends, Wayne and Danielle, came over to rip up the last few patches before the big day. Last Saturday, the truck showed up and delivered FIVE pallets. By the end of the day, we were all covered in our lovely loam and no, I did not plan those black spots so nicely and stratigically placed on my shirt. It just happened. Anyway, it looks great and we're pretty excited about being able to enjoy the backyard now!

Tegedegena ka di! Peanut butter Sauce is Good!

" Tege" means peanut and "tegedege" means peanut butter and "na" means sauce, SO peanut butter sauce! It was one of our Malian favorites. We decided to have Malian night at our house one day with our neighbors. When Jeff would make it in Mali, it was so good that everyone called it "tegedaoudana" instead. Jeff's Malian name was Daouda so it was like "Jeff's peanut sauce."

The rule is that Jeff cooks the sauce and I cook the rice. It's dangerous to cook in our house b/c the pups will lay right behind you and try to make you fall down and trip. I'm very accident prone SO this is probably going to happen one day.

These are our neighbors, Beth and Brennan, who humored our Malian outfits while eating Jeff's famous peanut butter sauce on rice, or tegedegena [say it like tiga-diga-na]. Jeff and Brennan had the super dressy outfits. Beth and I went more casual.

An ka voisins, Beth ni Brennan, don. U na na an ka so ka tegedegena dun an fe. An ye feti fitini ke an ka sokono walasa ka Mali feti kalan.

Dog Drama

So a couple of weeks ago, Karma and Zen got in a fight and Zen won. Karma was limping around and sad for days and I had to take her to the vet b/c she had a puncture wound in her armpit (see circled area). So I took a picture of the actual wound below. I know it looks small, but it was a real BIG FAT HOLE in Karma's leg.

Look at this proof of Zen being a ninja assassin. A silent killer if you will.
Here is Giles and Karma fighting over the prized flamingo rope toy. It was so funny to see them fight over it b/c every once in a while one would drag the other one by the toy across the floor.

Catch-Up from June

Ah-the parents! N ka bangebaw don.
This is Uncle Paul/A ye ton ton Paul ye.
The Family on the Boat/An ka somogow be batowkan.

Just wanted to post some pictures from when the family was visiting last month through this past weekend. These are from when they were here in June and we rented a boat to go out on the intercoastal canal. It was pretty fun and we were all very happy that it wasn't super sunny and hot (these non-Floridians can't handle the heat!) EXCEPT when we got caught in a tsunami storm on the way back and got drenched.

By the way, every once in a while I'm going to do some posts with text in Bambara for my Malian friends to see, so no one get freaked out ok? It looks funny spelled out.

A Peek into Work

So...these are my nerdy new pictures I just got showing the C-44 Test Cells! This is a pilot project that I am involved in at work--we built mini-versions of two reservoirs (big pools of water) and two STAs (small pools of water with plants that you can see in the top photo--no! not the one with me in rubber boots! the other one!). STA is a fancy schmancy word for treatment wetland. Next summer, we begin building the big version of a reservoir and STA on 12,000 acres. This pilot project is on 475 acres. We are looking at constructability issues out at the test cell site and doing lots of monitoring of water quality, seepage, algae (yes--I get to use a row boat in the big pool of water), and plant growth. So anyway, it's just a peek into my nerdy life and proof that every once in a while I DO get to go outside and miss my computer screen. The link on the title above takes you to the project webpage if you're interested.

More Tyndells in Florida Fun

Some more pics from AT from last weekend. My fam was in Orlando before they came down to Delray and went on an airboat tour--hence, the fun ear protectors on Judy's head!

PT and DT in FL

Here is Uncle Paul and my Dad hanging out in South Florida over the weekend. They have tickets for a possible goodie bag of Bacardi gifts at a bar!

Hurricane Season is Here

Well, June 1st was an exciting day in Florida as we welcomed hurricane season. Today we spotted the first tropical depression and the first cloudy day all day in a while. Check out the link on the title for updates during the season.

Kiwano Fear

Has anyone ever heard of a Kiwano? It's a spiney melon from New Zealand. Jeff and I were at Publix the other day and thought, "hmm...it's orange, spiney, and from New Zealand, so it must be delightful and yummy." Orange you glad you got a Kiwano? SIKE! I cut this thing open today only to find it full of green, gooey seeds like ectoplasm. I was very displeased to say the least. And it tasted like what I imagine the green catepillers mushed up must have tasted like in the new Willy Wonka movie. So disappointing. Fear the Kiwano. Fear it. Do not be decieved by the beautiful colors and spines as we were.

A Veggie Garden Update

So...proof it's going strong! The tomatoes are kicking, I've got a second round of the beautiful, yet bitter purple peppers, and the basil has gone into overload. Pesto on fried green tomatoes is looking good these days. We gave up on the lettuce since it was getting hot and the cucumbers because...it's getting hot...and put in a tabasco pepper (yes, it was Jeff "I love hot sauce" Ahrens' idea) and an orange pepper.

Ode to Toby from the Garden

Jeff took this sweet shot of our hibiscus bush. We have two and they play tag blooming so that we always have something pretty on the side yard. This is one plant that hasn't gotten burnt by the Florida sunshine.

More Cecily's Wedding Pics

Dr. Giles vs. Mr. Giles

These are two pictures of my parents' dog, Giles, portraying both personalities. You typically see Dr. Giles a little more often than Mr. Giles....it's like the Jekyll vs. Hyde complex.

And this is how the Tyndell boys relax

Thanks for the fun pic AT! Wish I could be there to hang out too.
Nice pool by the way.

Dear Cecily and Seth's Wedding

The weekend before last Jeff and I went to SC to Cecily and Seth's wedding in good ole Seneca! It was so wonderful seeing old friends and hanging out with my parents. So I wanted to post some good shots from the weekend. Cecily was too gorgeous for words. It took me a while to get update on this topic b/c Ashlee had my camera and I had hers....long story, but I got it back today! I hadn't seen Ashlee since my wedding and hadn't seen Cecily in over a year, so it was full of great memories and me not doing a good job holding back joyous tears. I'm such a wimp when it comes to old friends these days. Congratulations The Hudsons!