the searbys

After a such a busy week, Joel and I were able to spend an entire day together. We ran a few errands and got the little things out of the way then we headed to Paynes Prairie. This little state park is only about 20 minutes south of our house. We'd been talking about going there for a year and finally took the time to go. We "hiked" a few trails, nothing too complicated, and came upon a watchtower. From the tower you could look over this huge prairie. We had the binoculars with us and with them we could see a heard of bison and one lonely deer. It was just really nice to be out in nature enjoying God's creation. We'll probably go back this fall or winter and camp for a weekend.

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer and enjoying the outdoors as much as we did yesterday.

Well, I (Joel) haven't written an entry for a long time....I've been really busy at work. I'm still loving my job and learning a lot. Next week I'll be in Chicago as we have a big marketing event. It's kind of been my baby and I've worked very hard on it so I'm pretty excited.

Tonight Jen fixed a great dinner of Salmon, asparagus, and rice and we enjoyed a nice bottle of white wine with it. It's really great to come home and enjoy our time together since we're both so busy during the day. I hope you got to enjoy some of those little things this week!

Just thought I better say something on this little blog so you all know I'm still alive! We always love hearing from any and all of you so STAY IN TOUCH!!!!

-joel

Joel, Jodi & I took a little vacation down to Sarasota for the weekend before the 4th of July. It was nice to get away from our every-day jobs and spend a little time relaxing. This picture of Joel and I is at The Bonefish Grill where we ate dinner on Saturday night. We were sitting outside waiting for our table.







Thanks to Joel's aunt and uncle for the beautiful place to stay!!! It had 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, this living/dining area in the picture plus a kitchen. Our view was of the golf course. We were able to use the pool and the work-out equipment at the clubhouse each morning.





Besides eating good seafood and going the beach, one of best parts of the weekend was visiting Grandma & Grandpa Raymer's old house near Englewood. We took a road trip on Jodi's b-day and ended up seeing the house some of the places we used to go for family vacations. It was a little emotional being at the house and my grandparents not being. Plus, Pelican Pete's Playland and other places were all boarded up from the last hurricane.



Mark & Linda came down for the last part of our little vacation and then they stayed with us in Gainesville for another night. I think we all had a good time!