TN Trip

For our Labor Day holiday Bart and I decided to visit his family in Tennessee. We drove up on Friday and arrived around dinner time. Saturday we biked a little in their trails on their land and helped with the yard work. Sunday, Bart, Sterlynn, and I decided to drive to Virginia to go on a bike trail that I'd heard about from co-workers. It's called the Virginia Creeper Trail and is part of a rails-to-trails project. The trail is where the railroad used to run. There are even two old railroad stations, where passengers used to wait for the train, on the trail as stops where bikers can learn about the history of the trail and get snacks. We biked approximately 17 miles and had a great time. The trail is on a decline, so it's an easy ride.

On Monday, Sterlynn and I hiked up to Margarette Falls. I've been to TN many times, but this is the first I'd ever heard of this, so I knew I wanted to go. Also, this trip I vowed to keep active and having Sterl around was a great help with my goal.

RIP Jack Oliver Bartlett

My grandpa, my hero, passed away on Friday, September 3, 2010. Bart and I were on the way to Tennessee to visit his parents when we got the news. We stayed in TN for a few days, which I'll post about soon, and ended up coming home early. I didn't get to spend as much time with my grandfather growing up as I wanted to, but the time I did spend with him I will always chrerish. From "spagetti's" while fishing to stories from his life, I will never forget the many things he taught me. His obituary is below.

Jack Oliver Bartlett, 77, of Bostwick, Fla., passed away Friday, September 3, 2010, at his home. The outstanding and courageous battle he fought for so long was for his family, whom he adored with all of his heart.

He was born June 10, 1933, in Asheville, N.C., and proudly served in the U.S. Air Force for seven years. He went on to become an entrepreneur, owning several service stations in the Jacksonville area and proudly served many years as a brother with Masonic Lodge No. 309 F&AM in Jacksonville.

He raised his family in St. Augustine and retired with his wife of Bostwick, enjoying much of his free time golfing and fishing with family and friends.

Jack will be missed by each and every person who had the pleasure of knowing him, but we know that he is now with his God, along with his father and mother, Lloyd and Hilda Bartlett, and his son, Jack Oliver, Jr.

He is survived by his loving wife of 57 years, Carolyn Bartlett of Bostwick; daughters Debra Garza of Jacksonville, Diana Savage of St. Augustine and LouLane Polla of Elkton; three grandchildren, Vickie Lee of St. Johns, Fla, and Jennifer Clendenin and John Tipton, both of St. Augustine; and one great-grandchild.

Memorial services will be held at 1 p.m. Thursday, Sept 9, 2010, at the Johnson-Overturf Funeral Home in Palatka, with Brother David Eddins officiating. The Masonic Lodge will conduct funeral honors and the U.S. Air Force will conduct military honors. Friends may call from 12 to 1 p.m. Thursday at the Johnson-Overturn Funeral Home in Palatka.

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas...

And I almost got it! The week after graduation Bart and I set off for Tennessee to spend the holiday with his family. We were so excited because his mom, dad, sister, Nana, and Gramp would be joining us this year. Weather reports kept telling us that snow was falling for a few days before we planned on leaving and I was so excited! Tinkerbell had her first experience with snow and I got to make my first snowman. Bart showed me with his expertise how to fashion a great snowman and he made a snowdog too! We had a great time because the snow was on the ground when we got there and made a speedy exit a day or two later. I was so worried about driving around on snowy roads and in the end had nothing to worry about. Here are some pictures of our fun at Christmas.

What's this stuff, mom? It's COLD!

Me rolling our snowman's bottom... and puppy getting the hang of being in the snow.









Bart's awesome snowdog and a family portrait. :)

Remodeling, Turkey, and Graduation... Oh, my!

My last post was October and it's now January, so you can see how we've been plenty busy during these past months. In October Bart returned home from West Africa. He went to Abidjan, Coast of Ivory; Douala, Cameroon; Monrovia, Liberia and Freetown, Sierra Lione. To my surprise he said these places are worse than East Africa, but then again I don't think he was factoring in the pirates that regularly roam the East Africa coast. Anyways, he made it home in time for Halloween and to watch the Gators eat some Seminole for dinner!

When Bart returned home it was time, yet again, for the remodeling of our house to continue. As he began the daunting and challenging job of remodeling our existing laundry/storage room into our newly bathroom/ laundry room he needed to remove the existing water heater. I was on the laptop in the bedroom next door when I hear water running down the wall. I'm thinking, "This can't be good" and call to Bart to see what happened. When I heard no reply I quickly got up and walked down the hall just in time to see Bart running out of the back door at top speed! He was running out to turn off the water. As I looked in the room this is what I saw.

Yes, the water made it all the way up to the ceiling! So far the rest of the remodeling has been uneventful and he's done an amazing job! I'm always in awe of Bart's wonderful work. This room has been especially challenging because of all of the items within such a small space. Currently he's working on tiling the floor and shower wall. The storm today put a hold on cutting tile so I'm hoping tomorrow that will be started. After that is the vanity and toilet installation along with the sink and countertop. Stay tuned for pictures of the finished product!

Thanksgiving this year was fun and I always love that we're able to get together with our whole family for these occasions. This year I was giving thanks that Bart was home with me for the holidays and that my grandfather, who had some health issues earlier this year was still with us. I am definitely blessed!

December was a busy and eventful month. I graduated from Flagler College with my Bachelor's in Science finally!!!!! Wohoo!!! Bart organized a small party at our house after graduation. Family and a few friends joined us and we had a great time together. I don't know how we fit all of those people in our house, but it worked and was cozy and Igot to show off our Christmas decorations. That was nice since we rarely have over that many people, especially around the holidays. Below are pics of some of my classmates having a drinks after my last final exam... man, that was an awesome feeling!!! I'm going to miss my classmates the most. I hope we all keep in contact.

Also below are some of the graduation pictures. Notice the honors cords I'm holding... yeah, baby! Each of my classmates pictued graduated with honors! What a great group of people to have class with!

Time Flies!

Wow! I know it's been a while since my last post, so I figured I'd update on what's been going on. In August we were pretty busy with preparing for Bart returning to work. Before he left there was lots to do and friends & family to visit. We had our fabulous Trash the Dress session with the amazing Corinna Hoffman. We had a blast and the pictures, of course, came out beautiful. It was an experimental session, with it being at night, but the pics were great and Corinna is so much fun to hang out with! Here's the link to our pictures.

We also had a tough time in July/ August with my grandfather sick in the hospital and by the grace of God he is now 100 times better than before! We had lots of great family time visiting him and sticking by each other while he got through this. The doctors were wonderful and we had lots of prayer from our family and friends.


Also before Bart went off to work, we had the pleasure of our friends, Katie and Jeremie, coming down to visit. We met them on our Jamaican honeymoon and became instant friends. And how convenient that they happen to live in FL too! It's so nice to find a couple that we just "click" with. We look forward to many more fun weekends with them! Here's a picture from their visit.


The weekend after their visit, Bart left for West Africa, which is much better than his usual Oman or East Africa. I also started classes for Flagler's fall session the date he left. Convenient for me because it's much easier for me when he's away if I'm occupied and busy with school. September has flown by and I finished up Fall Session A and am currently in Fall Session B. December 12th is graduation, and I'm so ready!

Friends, Fun and Fireworks!

This 4th of July is our first as a married couple. *awe* Last year we were in TN visiting family, so this year since we were home Bart and I wanted to host some festivities at our house. We invited some of our closest friends and had a great cookout. Bart's the GRILLMASTER! He made such great food and had a pretty good time doing it! After the cookout we all grabbed chairs and walked downtown for the fireworks. It was a great time! Pics below... :)

2nd Mate to Chief Mate, then Captain...

Bart has definitely had a very busy couple of weeks. He's been down in Dania Beach studying for his Chief Mate/ Captain test. Two weeks of studying and 3 days of testing. He had nine modules to complete and on Wednesday I got the call that he just completed the test and PASSED! I'm so proud of my husband and so excited for his accomplishments! As soon as his license comes in the mail he'll be able to go back to work. I'll definitely miss him. After a year of time at sea with his C/M license he'll be able to upgrade his documents to Captain! Did I mention how proud of him I am? :-)

During the three weeks he was gone I was pretty busy myself. I decided to surprise Bart the first weekend and went down to visit him after getting off of work on Friday early. We had a great weekend together and saw some friends while down there too. The rest of my time at home I juggled working with my own sprucing up of the house. I re-painted the bathroom, put together a cabinet for above the toilet, and re-tiled the floor. It's a much nicer area now that I'll be able to live with until we actually remodel that room. I also re-painted the dining room. For those of you who know I've never warmed up to the green in there, so now it's a nice neutral (oatmeal on top, antique on bottom) room. Bart was very appreciative of my efforts and was very impressed, especially with the bathroom, with my work.