Christmas/New Years 2007

Here are just a few pictures from the holidays. Our Christmas was pretty quiet and relaxing - Jeff and I just hung out at home, caught up with some friends from church, made food, and took a walk on the beach. Of course, the case of wine that Mom Tyndell gave Jeff made for a fun day (haha...just kidding). On New Years, we had some of the neighbors over to watch the Clemson vs. Auburn game. Horrible outcome of course, but the party was full of fun and dance party (with maracas). When Brennan fell asleep, as he does at all parties, Danielle and I could test out our kung fu skills. Check out the ladies of Mallard Drive, my gingerbread train, and Karma and Zen chillin' in their holiday outfits.

Enjoying Their Presents!

Here are our super cute niece and nephew, Kaitlyn and Matthew, enjoying some cool gifts from Uncle Jeff and Aunt Brooke.

HDR Holiday Boat Cruise

We went to my work holiday cruise over the weekend and a co-worker sent me a few pics from the event - we all went out on a boat on the intercoastal canal which was pretty fun and the weather was fantastic. Here is one of me and Dave, who is the construction manager on that biosolids project I work on. You can't see it, but his name tag says "Brooke's Boss." The other picture is a few people from the Miami Lakes office and Jeff is standing next to my actual boss, Anwar, which is why the other picture is so funny. haha...consulting humor. Anyway - it was a great time had by all. We even got to see some of the Fort Lauderdale boat parade.

The Cleaning Power of Steam

Some of you may know how obsessed Jeff can be about the newest and most effective floor cleaning devices. Well, after several months of obsession, today marked a miraculous day in his life - He finally got the Shark Steam Mop. He has also promised that this is the last floor cleaning device that he will purchase since it is obviously the best machine ever made. We shook on it actually - as long as I admit that the cleaning power of steam is the best thing ever.

Does Anyone Want Karma the Bear?

One night last week, Karma the Bear woke up in the middle of the night and started digesting and shredding our quilt. We are very bitter towards her destruction and were forced to go buy new bedding for the bedroom. I really liked this quilt but now it gets retired to the picnic and concert bedding category.

It's Bananas! B-A-N-A-N-A-S!

Dear Allison, I sure wish you were here to share in the bountiful harvest from our backyard! Yummy yummy bananas have started to ripen after a long wait! haha...our little tree we planted last year actually has three little baby trees sprouting up beside it so we can have some more bananas next year. Yesss!

Birthday and 5K Refresher

Here are some catch-up pictures from the past few weeks. My work gave me this yummers carrot cake for my birthday right before Thanksgiving - I am very excited to dig in as you can see! Also wanted to share some of the pictures from the Marathon of the Palm Beachs 5K that Jeff and I did with some of his co-workers. This was the first 5k that I've ever done, and I was actually surprised at how fun it was. I hadn't been running very much, so I was definitely going to be happy if I broke 35 minutes. Notice my time - haha - gloriously beating Jeff! It really was a fun thing to do together though - and the race was right on the intercoastal in between West Palm and Palm Beach - so pretty. It was a really fun day.

Biosolids Processing Facility

Lately I've been working on this major construction project with my company to build a biosolids processing facility. Per request of some of the project managers, they wanted to start a blog to show field progress to all the people involved all over the country. Anyway - thought if some of you were interested in my nerdy job, you might want to check it out - http://www.wpb-biosolids.blogspot.com/ Have fun!

Thanksgiving 2007 in SC

We just got back home from spending a week in SC at Mom and Dad Tyndell's house in SC. It was a great week of relaxing (and eating). We started off the week going to the Clemson vs. Boston College game (notice the picture of the most exciting 25 seconds in college football) - we lost, but Clemson made a valient effort and it was a real nail biter! I even got to see my friend, Ashlee, for a bit before the game started. The next day was Judy's birthday so with the whole family in town, we had a nice lunch in Clemson, and I got to take a few nice pics of everyone by the lake at the Madren Center. We walked over to the area where my brick on campus was located too - I had never seen it before in person. Jeff and I also got to hang out with some G-Vegas friends for a nite of good times - Allison and Chad hosted with Olivia and Matt and Jackie and Wari in tow. It was so good to see everyone. We also made a day trip over to Dillard and Sky Valley, GA (and ate at the Dillard House - yum, yum!), where Jeff and I got married in 2003, so I got a fun pic of the chapel and ski lodge where the festivities were held. We found out that they are actually going to tear down the lodge and build a new one, so I had to get a picture of Jeff next to the bear carving in the reception room. Our great family friend, Cher, came into town for a few days too, so I got her and Mom laughing inside by the tree in the lodge too. We will definitely miss that place! Aside from wedding memories, I grew up going to parties there and my parents skiied and played golf in the valley. The pups also had fun resting as you can see! Karma liked sleeping on top of whoever was siting on the couch, and Zen enjoyed the love seat to herself. Spoiled rotten animals....

I just love Thanksgiving - it's probably my favorite time of year of all. Mainly b/c it's all about family and food and not about presents or rushing around or anything material. Everyone is on the same level just enjoying the time together. It reminds me of Ramadan or similar Muslim holidays in a way b/c they are so much about family and staying focused on the important things. We've been realizing how truly thankful we are - we have a lot of great things going on in life right now.

Welcoming Elise....Very Soon....

I just went to my friend, Karyn's, baby shower this past weekend - she is about to have her second child and I just thought this picture of her was super cute from the event. Karyn has her own family and pregancy photography business too - she has an awesome website that you gotta check out! http://www.inbloompregnancyphotos.com/

Passiflora Madness!

I don't know how many of you know about passifloras, or passion vines! They are awesome and my new gardening attempt is to grow them from seeds that we bought when we visited Butterfly World a while back in Ft. Lauderdale (cool afternoon strolling spot). I have this one next to our front door - there are tons of varieties but they are all ultra-colorful and have crazy looking appendages from the centers. Anything that naturally looks like Dr. Seuss created it is OK in my book.

Halloween Fun

While Mom and Dad Ahrens were visiting us at the end of October, they were fortunate, like

all of us are, to experience the Haunted Hagar Halloween. Last year, you may remember some of Dave's great Halloween gags that he makes himself - this year, the new one was a pirate ship that blew "cannons" into his pool, which matched his pirate costume. Truly awesome. Here are a few pictures from the evening. Mom and Dad went as a flapper and as Dr. Seymore Harry Butts, a protologist. Jeff and I went as Malians. Wayne and Danielle went as an Olympic sprinters gone bad. I also tried to show off the artistic-ness of Jeff with our Snoopy-O-Lantern this year! The picture isn't perfect, but you get the idea.

Facebook

Jeff and I finally got with the times and joined Facebook last night, so check us out on those sites as well. We never got on the myspace bandwagon b/c it just seemed too creepy, but Facebook, from what I gather, seems a little more controlled so you don't have to worry about random people having too much personal access.

Hollywood, FL

It's pretty, isn't it? Those of you going into the winter season...haha!

Fun Friends Catch-Up

There's been quite a few fun hang out sessions this past fall, and I realized that people have sent me all kinds of pictures that I haven't posted. So this is my catch-up post! These are some pictures from the Dolphins game, the Dave Matthews Concert tailgating, and a girls weekend with Shelley, Marlis, and Danielle. I also just had to post a cute picture of our niece, Kaitlyn, dressed as an apple tree. Enjoy!

A Guster Tale

I just have to vent for a second. The other weekend Jeff noticed that Guster, one of my favorite bands of all time, was in Ft. Lauderdale for a show. They never come to South Florida, so of course, we were very excited and went down early to get tickets. Many of you may recall Guster as the band that I was forbidden to listen to while driving b/c I would get so excited and start driving too fast (yes - I definitely got 3 warnings from the Police while at Clemson, but never a ticket). Well....they sold out in like 10 minutes and we didn't get to go! It was a very sad day....go see them for me if you have the chance.

The Birthday Pups!

Hooray! Karma and Zen turn 3 (really 21 in dog years) today! It's very hard to get a nice picture of the two of them together - this was the best I could do after a walk and gardening time this morning. We have been so lucky to have these dogs - you might think I'm being a little over the top - but they bring a lot of joy, laughter, and relaxation into our lives. Happy Birthday to our pups!