Remembering Mali

I found these pictures of our dear friends Andre and Victoria from Mali on my computer today and realized that I never posted them. A fellow RPCV (return Peace Corps volunteer) went for a visit and stopped by their house and sent me these photos. Andre and Victoria were our neighbors in Mali and here they are with their son, Daouda, who was just a baby when we left, and Cecil, their new daughter. They are also the proud owners of Aku, our parrot, that we left behind. I'm happy to see that the kids on the street didn't fry her up. No, I'm not kidding - they always wanted to eat her. Actually - in the first picture's background you can see our old home! The door with the straw overhang was where I first lived in Sikasso - later we moved down the street to have some more privacy and room. Ah - memories.

Welcome to Hurricane Season

Yesterday marked the beginning of Hurricane Season, and ironically, a tropical depression in the gulf brought tons and tons of rain yesterday and today. We are SO happy about the rain to help with the drought (and revitalize the plants in the yard), but hope it doesn't mean a lot of actual hurricanes this year. Accordingly, Jeff and I decided to kill the big tree in our front yard that was threatening our roof last weekend. Check out the before and after shot. I get emotionally attached to trees, so I was pretty depressed about this decision, but if this tree would have fallen on our house, it would have been worse. It was a pretty big tree as you can see. So, we had to make a grown-up decision to take it down. So - the next step is to plan the new tropical island for our front yard after we get the stump removed.

Will and Laura's Wedding

My teammate, Will, from Peace Corps got married to his longtime girlfriend, Laura, and Jeff and I went to check out the celebration and see some other pals from Peace Corps. The wedding was absolutely incredible, beautiful, and super fun. We saw our friends, Molly, Adam, and Andy and Dee Dee and had a great time catching up in a gorgeous setting. Check out the garden and overlook behind Laura's family's house. So pretty!

The afternoon before the wedding, Jeff, Adam, and Andy, and I all took a drive around L.A. to see some of the sights as well. Drove on Mahulland Drive, saw the Hollywood Bowl, and the Chinese Theater - all in record time! It was a whirlwind weekend.

I have to say that we definitely clean up nice from our "nogolen" days in Mali. Ala ka mariagi ja!

Finally! The Green Wall.

I've been wanting to paint walls since we moved in at the end of 2005, but all my color ideas get vetoed repetitively by the man. Honestly, too many white walls make me anxious. BUT - to my surprise, Jeff woke up the other Sunday and said, "I want to paint. Let's do this. I'm feeling green." Of course giving him all the credit for the idea just to get the dang wall painted, we settled on frog pad green and knocked it out in three hours. I am so happy to have a green wall!! Yessss! This is so great b/c things are not so green outside right now due to the crazy drought and water restrictions. If it can't be green outside, may it be green inside! Hooray!

Aaron and Shelley's Run of the Roses

Every year, our friends, Aaron and Shelley, have a Kentucky Derby Party and here's some good ones from the party. The food, flowers, hats, and the betting was super fun! Unfortunately, my horse didn't win, but I did win the hat competition with a compilation of flowers from the yard. Wayne, Danielle, and Jasmine had some great hats though - very descriptive. Notice Dave Hagar's spirit with his horse head-shaped rice krispie treat and vintage derby hat! He's always taking it to the next level...

The Black Cloud of Fishermen

Jeff went fishing a while ago with some of the guys from his work and here's some fun shots. Nope - he didn't catch anything, but it looks like it was a beautiful day nonetheless.

Some More Tully Shots

Just wanted to add a few more pictures from when Debbie, Chris, Kaitlyn, and Matthew were visiting. Too bad when we went to the beach that time, it was super windy! How odd for "the Ray." Kaitlyn will love us for this hiney shot one day!

Ode to Hamsters

You know who you are - gotta love giant hamsters, aka, the caby-

bara! Come to find out - the Palm Beach Zoo is pretty awesome.

Four Years and On to Key West!

We took some time off last week to go to Key West in celebration of our anniversary Thursday-Sunday. It was so nice to get away by ourselves for a break and it was strange thinking how fast four years went by together. This was the first time we had gone on vacation alone in two years so we definitely enjoyed some rest and relaxation. If you've never been to the Keys, you are missing out on some serious laid back culture. In addition to catching up on some missed sleep, we took in a ghost tour, several walks on Duval Street, saw the Butterfly Conservatory, visited the Hemingway House (and saw his many 6-toed cats), and a sunset cruise. It was definitely a nice getaway. Our fun neighbors, Dave and Teresa, were even in town for a day so we met up with them and their friends, Kim and Tom, for happy hour. You might even notice Jeff giving it his all on a karoke excursion one night - everyone in this one bar kept singing boring songs, so he decided to kick it up a notch with some "Mustang Sally." The Butterfly Conservatory was so fun that we've decided to slowly phase out some grass in exchange for lovely flowers and shrubs. Don't worry - the herb and veggie patch garden will still be in effect.

Garden Update and Catchup

Sorry I haven't blogged in a while - but I have many updates to please below. Work has been pretty busy for both of us lately but we are hoping that it will calm down after April. The good news is that my eggplants are coming in! HOOOOORRAY!!! Check out these awesome produce.