My husband and I took our first cruise in December--from Jacksonville to Nassau and Key West. We loved it! (Of course, my husband didn't love my dragging around my tripod & camera and asking him to pose for self-timer with me all over the ship!)

Our house sits on a small lake. My husband, Charlie, built a small dock, and we love to fish or just sit and watch the fish swim around it.

I surprised my husband with a bicycle-built-for-two for Christmas. Talk about trust--I have no brakes & no steering--I just get to pedal! My father, who is 82, and my mother, who is 78, both live with my husband and me, along with our three kids, three dogs, and two cats. 
Before we moved here, I found our home on the Internet and knew it was the right one before ever seeing it with a realtor. (This is its architectural sketch from 25 years ago.) I play racquetball with my husband every morning. I'm finally winning sometimes, but he has to play with his left hand, and I can choose which serves I want to return.
Charlie turned our attic into a cool, tiny suite with bedroom, bath, and den for the kids--all by himself, including a spiral staircase. We put a pool table in our dining room--my dad and husband play about 10 games of pool each day. Now we eat in the kitchen!

This is our first home in the country, and we thought it would be so quiet---

until we heard the bullfrogs, tree frogs, owls, crows, geese, and even peacocks (on a farm across the lake).

We had five ducks--night predators got four, and we found Buttercup a new, safer home.

 My husband teaches music at our college and directs the Tallahassee Home School Band. One of his students, Mikeala, raised the ducks before they came to our house.
 I became a Christian as a young adult, and my husband and I love to minister together. The most important part of my day is my daily devotion and prayer. My favorite new movie is Enchanted.
We feed breadcrumbs to 21 Canada geese and their 4 goslings almost every day--during goose season. They're just now returning after their winter break. I began writing for publication at age 16 and worked for newspapers and magazines as a writer/photographer/editor before becoming an educator.
While my husband can sing and can play almost every instrument, I am hopelessly untalented musically. I own four Nikon cameras, but I use my digital D200 almost exclusively now.
I have a part-time business creating websites, brochures, newsletters, and doing other items involving writing, photography, and graphic design. I taught photography at the University of Wyoming as a TA when getting my master's in journalism.
Our youngest, Chuck, is a freshman at Bainbridge College. He plays the trumpet Our daughter, Joelle, is an English grad from UGA and now a grad student in Library Science at Kent State in Ohio. She used to tutor in the ARC. Arrgh!
Our middle child, Matthew, was on a full collegial scholarship at Mercer in computer engineering, but he plans on going to seminary. He graduated May 10 and got married May 17! I was the wedding photographer. Chuck got Guitar Hero for Christmas, and everyone can play it except me. He is definitely the best, but Joelle isn't bad.

We live in the woods, and we have some weird trees in our yard.

 

 

 Our daughter doesn't drive yet, but I was 23 before I got my driver's license. She can ride our tandem bike, though--in the back!
Chuck works as a counselor at the YMCA and is a freshman at BC. My husband and I have a 2002 conversion van that has interior mood lights that would have made Elvis Presley envious. (Our kids won't let us turn them on when they're in the car.)
My favorite place to work at home is in my blue recliner in our bedroom. My husband and I work out at the YMCA every weekday morn before 6 a.m. He lifts weights after we play racquetball.
I love to read and write (and I teach reading and writing). I speak no other languages, but our daughter, Joelle, speaks Japanese and Spanish.
All of our kids are computer geeks. I guess we are, too (computer geeks, that is).
My favorite older movie is Princess Bride. I'm a fan of Star Trek, even when the aliens wear what looks like scuba masks on the top of their heads.
I use DreamWeaver, Fireworks, and Flash for most of my web work. We used to run 4 miles every day.
I didn't know how much I feared heights until I discovered I couldn't climb the stairs of a lighthouse. My favorite restaurant is probably Olive Garden, and my husband and I split the chicken scampi.
The best part of writing is finishing. God has been very real in our lives, and I'd rather be in the middle of his will--wherever that is--than anywhere else.
We try eat dinner (all seven of us) at our kitchen table as often as possible.

Swimming is one of my favorite things to do on a hot afternoon.

 
Right now I'm working on our church's picture directory. My husband is a deacon at Grace Church.
I love to stay in touch with former students. One of those students, Sergio, and his wife and children, visit us a couple of times each year and stay in our little camper in the backyard. He even helped us move.
I got a hernia when we moved and spent 4 days in the hospital. My husband had to move everything without me.
 He didn't label and he didn't sort. Matching candlesticks weren't even in the same box. Last year we had an addition to our family--my 1998 BMW Z3. What fun!
Last year Chuck gave Charlie an ax and sledgehammer for Father's Day. He said he felt weird carrying them through Wal-Mart. I used to help with my husband's musicals, and one of his former students who starred in several of his musicals has been in two Hallmark movies--Thicker than Water and Though None Go with Me. How fun to watch her on TV!
See my huband in a a music video on youtube! My favorite food is pizza--and I love the deli pizza from WalMart.
My husband loves hot weather, and I love cold weather. Of course, what I love about cold weather is sitting in front of the fireplace and reading! My husband, Charlie, can fix anything--his middle name should be McGuiver.
I try to take a nap every Sunday afternoon. I make up games for the classroom, like human tic tac toe and vocabulary bingo.
For Mother's Day last year, our kids gave me a giant stuffed flying pink pony. I like to have fun when I teach.

In 2004 I was awarded the AACC David Pierce (Microsoft) award for excellence in technology and also the Board of Regents (University system of Georgia) award for teaching.

 I got a trip to Minneapolis and $5000 as part of the first award and $2500 for the second. It was a good year!
We enjoy playing Scrabble, and my husband really enjoys beating me and our daughter. However, I did win our last game--and we all made 50 bonus points for using all of our letters!

The centerpiece of my office is a large framed jigsaw puzzle of a blue dog that our daughter put together.

 
I had a pet chicken when I was 10. I've always loved animals and have had many pets over the years.
Our female Sheltie, Rachel, is twice the size of our male, Jacob. My husband has a music studio in our bedroom, and sometimes he's very noisy when I'm ready to go to sleep.
We live in the woods about 3 miles from town. There's nothing like sitting on the dock at sunset and listening to music.
My goal is to get back to writing books and doing more inspirational speaking as part of my ministry. My husband scuba dives, but I prefer no more than six feet of water unless I'm on a cruise ship!
My favorite verse of the Bible is Philippians 4:5-7: Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. I love to read the Message version of the Bible.
I have a huge sense of humor and love to play. I can't go to the movies without eating popcorn.
My husband always wants Milk Duds. Email me for an extra point if you see that this cell says nothing about me!
I'm patient with everything except a slow computer and jigsaw puzzles.

I was once named queen of professors by some of my students.

I've learned to trust God in everything. I've seen God take the mistakes and hurts of my life and use them for His glory.
I love to encourage others. I love to listen to music, especially oldies, but also opera--Amichi and Bocelli.
I recently found out our daughter ate PlayDoh as a toddler. I used to have a darkroom, and I'd spend 16 hours a day in it.
We play euchre (a card game) several times a month with my parents. For 2007, they were ahead by one. (The contest ends New Year's Eve every year. We keep track of the score all year.) My doctorate is from Baylor University.
I love to smile--it's the surest way to feel good and make others feel good, too. Now my darkroom is PhotoShop.
The most luxurious item I ever bought was the iSqeez foot massager. It took me three days to even open the box and decide to keep it. I once drove to the top of Jelm Mountain in Wyoming in the winter to do a cover shot for a magazine of star trails. My lenses froze, and the car got stuck in snow several times.
I miss the smell of hypo on my hands. I once worked in a remote sensing color lab in Wyoming and made 24" x 24" prints of satellite photos.
The only fruit I don't like is the mango. I am known around the house for doing crazy things that are too embarrassing to post in a public place.
I enjoy waking up each morning. My idea of great TV is Leave It to Beaver and Andy Griffith.
--Tonya Strickland, updated January, 2008

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