What can you make with two pounds of okra? Gumbo time!

My parents in Florida have a wonderful garden, and I miss the numerous fresh vegetables during the summer—tomatoes, cucumbers, corn, potatoes, squash and okra. During our recent trip, my dad gave us a lot of okra. Okra is a unique vegetable, and most people eat it stewed with tomatoes or fried. It has a slimy texture when sliced, and I actually had trouble giving it away since many people don't like it or don't know how to cook with it.

I found several recipes online for gumbo with okra, so we made a pot on a Sunday afternoon and had plenty of leftovers throughout the week. I sauteed the okra in olive oil first for about 30 minutes to remove most of the slimy texture. Then, I added tomatoes, onions, garlic, celery and red and green peppers and let the mixture saute for a while longer. Next, we added chicken broth and water and brought it to a boil.

We decided to add sausage and shrimp.

I seasoned the shrimp with salt, pepper and some Old Bay Seasoning.

We added the meat last and then let the gumbo simmer for several hours on low heat. It smelled great, and we ate it over rice. With the leftovers, I made some orzo and served it over that. I also ate it over a package of instant cheese grits. It was a great dish with lots of fresh vegetables, and okra was the not-so-slimy star.

Summertime sunsets, storms and sunflowers

Our recent trip to Florida was full of heat and humidity as we had expected, but we also saw some gorgeous sunsets. I took photos of the sun setting on a lake in Winter Haven on a muggy Saturday evening.

I wasn't the only creature close to the water that evening. A small alligator waded near the shore...a site we don't see in Kentucky. 

I also wasn't the only one taking photos of the beautiful sunset.

It rained during our trip, and I shot this video outside my parent's house one evening. I love the dark purple color of the clouds.

Back in Kentucky, it also rained. One evening, it poured for more than an hour, and our gauge outside showed three inches of rain. You can see how quickly the water filled up the area behind the back of our house.

Below is a similar view that I took last fall when we moved into the house.

We put up two bird feeders full of bird seed that hang on the back deck, and now there are sunflowers growing there, my favorite flower!

1800 miles in 2 weeks across 4 states...our summer oblication

We spent almost two weeks in June visiting our families in Florida. I nicknamed it an "oblication" since it was combination vacation and obligation trip to see everyone. David starts four years of dental school at the University of Kentucky August 1, so we drove down before he's in school for 11 months of the year with limited breaks.

For our family members who have only visited during the winter, this is what Kentucky and Tennessee look like during the spring and summer—plenty of beautiful green mountains!

We left on a Sunday and drove part of the way, stopping in Macon, Georgia overnight. On Monday morning, I watched one of my former University of Tennessee students, Samantha Smith, on air as a weather forecaster for Channel 41 in Macon. She is working on her degree in meteorology and will have a great career!

It took about 10 and a half hours total to reach my parent's house in Alachua, so not a bad drive. We spent the next 10 days visiting our families and friends and sharing many great conversations and meals. Here are some photo highlights from our trip.

I was very excited to see my nephew Judson again since he is almost 10 months old. He is crawling and laughing and a very loveable child. (About 90 percent of the photos I took on the trip are of Judson and his cuteness!)

He loves to play on the computer while sitting on Grandpa's lap.

Grandma steals some sugar. 

We made Judson into a little Kentucky Wildcat.

We also visited David's family in Winter Haven and Lake Alfred and saw his extended family and even met some new little cousins.

David's aunts, uncles and cousins on his mom's side came over for BBQ night.

David's mom has redesigned her kitchen, and it looks great!

Yummy pizza from the Pizza Connection in Auburndale, Florida, courtesy of David's dad.

David's aunt made a delicious pineapple upside down cake.

There is always time to play Angry Birds. David and his sister, Allison, are addicted to this game on their phones!

We saw some beautiful sunsets in Florida. I'll write another post about them and share more photos.

While in Polk County, we traveled to Dinosaur World in Plant City, Florida to meet up with some friends from college. They brought some delicious Publix subs, and we had a picnic while their kids enjoyed the dinosaurs. The outing represented my love/hate relationship with Florida—love seeing family and friends and eating Publix subs but hate the heat and humidity! (Ironically, while we were in Florida, Publix announced it will open stores in Knoxville. I'm hoping they move on up to Lexington, too!)

We had a great trip, but we're happy to be home again in Kentucky. Sammie and Cash had a wonderful lady named Miss Maria who came over and checked in on them while we were gone. I talked to her several times during our trip, and she said they were doing fine but missed us. We missed them too!

Cash spends hours sunning himself on the floor.

Sammie spent a lot of time sleeping on Dad's chair upstairs. It was coated in a thick layer of hair when we returned.

72 years and counting...Happy Birthday Dad! (Updated with new photo of Dad modeling!)

My dad, Amos, is celebrating 72 years today, July 7. Happy Birthday, Dad!

My mom snapped this photo of Dad opening one of his gifts. A man can never have too many shirts. 

Mom also took this photo of Dad modeling the new shirt we gave him. What style he has! :)

In honor of his birthday, I looked up some facts about the year 1939. Visit http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/1939.html to learn more, but below are some interesting items.

Average cost of new house: $3,800
Average wages per year: $1,730
Cost of a gallon of gas: 10 cents
A loaf of bread: 8 cents
A pound of hamburger meat: 14 cents
Average price for new car: $700

I'm sorry we can't be there to help him celebrate, but we saw him during June when we visited our Florida families for almost two weeks. It was a great visit, and I'll share more photos in a future blog post.

Three generations: My dad, brother and nephew on Father's Day in June 2011.

We love you Dad! Happy 72nd birthday!

This weather is for the birds

A family of geese seem to be the only ones walking in the rain, but I'm enjoying the cooler temps.

It has been a wet and rainy spring in Kentucky, and this week, it has felt more like winter. Lexington had a high of 49 degrees Tuesday, which was the lowest high temperature for that date ever recorded, breaking the previous "low" high of 58. It's only been in the 40s and 50s for highs this week, and it's been cloudy and raining every day. I love it! :) It will warm up into the 60s and 70s by the weekend.

We waited until after my birthday to plant flowers outside since there were frost and freeze warnings during the first week in May. We potted a plant in my sunflower pot that broke during the storm (David glued it back together), and also put a planter on our back deck railing.

We tried to plant two small shrubs in the front, but there are tons of small rocks when we dig down. I don't know what happened, but someone must have created a rock garden at some point.

I finally figured out a way to keep my small flag from flying away by putting a binder clip on the end of it. Several flags have flown off, but I've been able to recover all of them except an adorable Easter flag I had.

Here is a short video of the planter we have on the back deck and our bird feeders.

I hope some of the rain makes its way south to Florida, where I know they really need it. Also, I am not complaining about the cool and rainy weather. I prefer it over humidity and temperatures in the upper 90s, the weather we'll probably experience when we visit Florida again!

The past 2 months in 10 photos

It's been a whirlwind two months...we've moved to Lexington, Kentucky! David has started a new job as a chemistry lecturer at Eastern Kentucky University, and we traveled to Florida to meet my new nephew, Judson. I'm still commuting to Knoxville a couple days a week to teach, but the drive is beautiful, and the fall leaves are changing colors.

I know I haven't posted a lot, but I'm trying to catch up. Here are 10 photos that represent what's been happening in our lives since August 13, the day David received a phone call about teaching. I'll write more soon about each experience, but this is a good recap.

If you're a Gator fan, you know football season hasn't been a great experience. Oh well. At least my adorable nephew Judson has a cute outfit to wear for basketball season. I found it online at the Disney Store. 

Cash and Sammie love the stairs in our new house. Although, Cash is more daring than I'd like. He tries to step outside the railing and walk down.

On our final day in Knoxville, David was packing up the car. Sammie didn't want to leave, so she hid in the green chair AFTER he folded it up. That's classic Sammie.

Her curiosity got the best of her, and she jumped up into the Jeep Liberty once David had packed it in the garage. Little did she know that she'd be riding inside a Honda a few hours later and wailing at the top of her lungs. I guess she prefers Limousines.

David lived in a temporary apartment for about a week that smelled like a combination of cigarette smoke, animal urine and mold, but look at those gorgeous hard wood floors. Lucky him!

During a moving trip to Kentucky, I managed to give Heidi Honda a flat tire when I tried to parallel park at the temporary apartment and hit the curb too hard. Where's the candidate for public office who wants to eliminate parallel parking? Let's focus on real issues!

David really likes his job teaching chemistry lecture and lab courses at Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond, Kentucky, about 20 miles south of Lexington. It's a beautiful campus, and this is the view from his office. 

In case he forgets where he is, there is a sign outside his door.

Speaking of chemistry, we also gave Judson his first Pooh Bear, but I think he was upset more about his own pooh in this photo. :)

My mom finally has her first grandson, but she's had an "adopted" granddaughter for a while who she adores. I think the feeling is mutual. :)

Grandma's 80th Birthday Celebration

We traveled to Florida for a quick visit this past weekend to celebrate David's Grandma's 80th birthday. It was a surprise party, and all of her children and grandchildren were able to be there.

We waited as a group until Grandma arrived.

Aunt Sue said, "You have something on your shirt Uncle Rick," and we all had a good laugh!

Grandma has six children, five girls and one boy and 16 grandchildren ranging in age from 18 to 31.

Her birthday is actually Sept. 27, but our party was the day before, and she thought she was going shopping and to dinner with a couple of her children and grandchildren. She had no idea what was about to happen.

We're all hiding outside in the backyard waiting for her to make her way to the back door.

She's starting to notice all of us as we're saying, "Surprise!"

She had no idea we were all there waiting to wish her a Happy Birthday!

David and his Grandma Jo (Josephine)

We had some delicious food, including yummy appetizers, ribs, beef brisket, homemade potato salad, baked beans, coleslaw, macaroni and cheese, and collard greens.

Before we left, Cash was curious about our suitcase.

We had two smooth flights, only one hour and ten minutes each. It was a great Florida visit, but we're happy to be home with our highs in the 70s (not the 90s) and lows in the 40s later this week.

Happy 80th Birthday Grandma! We love you!