A few more pictures

More of my summer creations in the kitchen... this is a delicious portebella mushroom burger with a side of curry carrots. The burger was great however I don't recommend the carrots... ewh.

Ryan and I at Crabby Bill's for the final game of the World Cup. Bad lighting here but a good moment to remember! So much fun.
Here's a night out with a few friends. This girl in the middle is a huge science geek like me.. she could seriously be my new best friend.
Ry and JP.
Datz.. so tasty.

Gator Hunting.. well, Gator Looking really.

Earlier this week, Ryan's old friend from St. Leo made a stop in Tampa on non-stop six month journey with his girlfriend Arna. Both Bjarki and Arna live in Iceland and spent a day and night with us here is Sunny Florida before they headed off to Vancouver. The two are spending the next five months (they've already been on the road for one month now) seeing as much of the world as they can! What a great idea! To entertain and excite our guests we took them to the Smith lake house for a day of skiing and gator hunting!!

Our gator hunting trip was very successful not only because we saw so many gators but because we could get very close to them with the boat before they swam off.

This little guy was the smallest gator we came across. He might have been a whole foot and a half long.
This is me venturing into the water to get a close up shot. I was trying to muster the courage to actually catch the little booger but I just didn't have it in me.. you can see his little reflective eye shinning back at you here in this picture.

Florida Summer

Summer time is fun time!

Cori Belle chowing down on some yummy avocado!

Old friends.

New tricks.

Arna and I thought it looks like the guys are wearing

a shirt.. maybe it was better in person :)

We discovered hard wood floors under the carpet

in our Florida room.. turns out they were in pretty

good shape after we sanded the old paint off of them.

Before (above) and ....

After sanding.. huge improvement :) Now all we have

to do is pull up the carpet in all the rooms and sand those

as well.. can't wait.

Kiteboarding and such..

During beach week, Ryan had one solid night of wind and spent two hours tiring himself out kiteboarding. While he was tearing it up, Jamie asked me if I had any pictures of Ryan kiting and it occurred to me I need to share the good stuff!

Kiteboarding and I go way back. First of all when I first met Ryan he had just begun to take up the sport and he was completely clueless. Of course, I couldn't tell he was but now the stories he tells me and what I know of the safety improvements in kites.. I'm amazed he's alive. I'm not kidding. So anyhow, kiteboarding and I have a history together. I've kinda of always felt that this is the one sport Ryan loves to do more than any others. (I totally understand.. I feel this way about horses). And as our relationship has grown, my understanding and support of his sport has evolved as well.

At first, I was merely a spectator who was a little grossed out with his crotch harness that spent hours sitting on a beach watching and reading. As time progressed, I was roped into doing little house-keeping activities that would get him on the water as soon as possible. Soon after, I volunteered to start taking photos and videos of his tricks and time on the water. And today, well.. after a trip to the emergency room, four new kites, a new amazing board :) and harness, he is very well practiced and I am well groomed as his kiteboarding assistant.. and I love it!

Here are some of my favorite pics of Ryan kiteboarding...

The face of a happy man!

Happy that the camera still takes pictures after this one....

Mad air. Not even sure how high up he was but I used the zoom for this photo!

Shortly after taking this photo a woman approached me and asked what magazine I was shooting for.

Enjoy and thanks for looking :)

Recipes for Week # 2

After returning from a wonderful weekend in Nashville, it's time to get back to my kitchen to cook. This week, I picked a handful of recipes (mostly Rachel Ray.... just can't get enough of this girl) and headed out to the grocery. Here are the yummy recipes in store for us this week not in any particular order.

#1. Provencial Tuna Melt (http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/food/recipes/provencal-tuna-melt/)

#2. Portabella Burgers with Watercress Pesto & side of Curry Carrot

(http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/food/recipes/portabello-burgers-watercress-pesto/)

#3. Melissa's Burger Recipe from Rachel Ray

#4. Aunt Christy's shrimp appetizer from Nashville this past weekend.

At the end of the week, I'll have pictures and results from our kitchen adventures! Until then, have a great week!

Missy