Middle-of-Nowhere, Georgia

My dogs are the best travel companions! They just hang out, wherever we go. We took a detour on our trip to Pennsylvania and stayed the night with Alaina's family, somewhere deep in South Georgia.

We rode four-wheelers and caught up on the last 8 years since we worked together. He property was gorgeous!

The dogs had a lovely time relaxing, too, before our 14-hour day of driving North the next day.

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Tortoise Food

When you're going on vacation for a month, you prepare tortoise treats by the gallon!

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New Bed

After years of low back pain, I finally bought my first new mattress and bed! I'm turning 34 this year, I guess it was about time :)

I do love Ikea, but the process of transporting and assembling required the help of friends... And wine!

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SCUBA Sarah!

Diving has always been on my bucket list, but I was afraid I'd be too clostiphobic to enjoy it. So just as the water warmed up, I sucked it up, and enrolled in an Open Water course and 6-weeks later... I'm certified! Four check-out dives in Key Largo and the world is my oyster :)

t's a-whole-nother world under the sea! I am so amazed at the fish and coral. Seeing it up-close, in 70 feet of water, is surreal, when I'm used to teaching about it everyday in an aquarium or touch tank. And spear fishing- wow, what an interesting concept! Check out the hogfish my dive buddies harvested.

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Crawl 4 a Cure

Brooke and I had quite an adventure on this bar crawl benefitting breast cancer. We took a trolley from one bar to the next and things got crazier as the day unfolded. I'll let the photos speak for themselves :)

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Pirate Adventure

A friend of mine hosts an online company called Do Florida Right and invited me on a pirate adventure in Bokeelia, just north of Ft. Myers. My girls and I made costumes and headed there at sunrise for a fun-filled day of pirating and island hopping.


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Shingles

I woke up one morning scratching my chin. The itch got progressively worse throughout the day. That night I had a few friends look at the left side of my chin, completely under my jawline, not visible head on. They saw red bumps. I scratched all night and called the doctor in the morning. Thankfully she could squeeze me in... Because she diagnosed me with shingles! I had the worst chicken pox known to man, how could I have shingles?!

She prescribed me Valtrex and said I should have a mild case because I'm young (the vaccine isn't even available unless you're over 60!), healthy, not overly stressed, and in treatment within 36 hours.

I learned that shingles affects the nerve endings, and only on one half of the body. Fortunately, I only had a few small pox on my torso and one near my left eye. Within 2 days my chin was much better and totally gone in about 2 weeks. I wasn't in much pain, but I was contagious to those who have never had chicken pox. Such a strange illness. I'm better now, but the younger you are when you get them, the more likely they are to reoccur. Hopefully this is it!

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Naples Fitness Challenge Triathlon

I was asked to participate in the Naples Tri this year!  My teammates were not what you might expect, haha.  Perry is in his 80s and started the race something like 30 years ago, and he wanted to do the 15k bike leg.  His friend, Fred, age 70+, was going to swim the 1/4 mile.  So a friend asked me if I'd join them for the 5k run.  Our team name was Coasters and Floaters, and they were thrilled to meet me on race day and see that (in their words) I was bringing down the average age of the team!

I would have had no idea how to go about a triathlon, but Lisa, who's done many of them, was very helpful.  We really had a fun time, before, and after! 

How in the world would I have stuck those numbers on my arms and legs without her?

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