Thought I'd share a few pics of healthy foods we've been enjoying at the Torbett house! I do try pretty hard to be very knowledgeable about what's in the food we eat, how nutritional it is, fat content, etc. Most of the time that is (Notice-I chose NOT to display the bag of off-brand Doritoes we bought as a weekend treat) :)
Most days, we do all-right....plus you can't beat the peaches, nectarines, and cantaloupe we've been eating lately!

Brett and I went walking one night this week on the Scull Creek Trail in Fayetteville...we walked for about 2 and 1/2 miles. The trail was very busy with people and dogs :). Also, we parked at a playground to start the walk so I got to swing afterwards. What fun!

In House News-Everything has been submitted to bank for the loan, we should have the 9-1-1 address this week (waiting on one person to sign off on it), next call Electric Company, and also get perc test. THEN, start foundation (in a couple of weeks hopefully).

Last night we went to the farm and mowed-what a workout! I made salad (with egg, tuna, tomato, onion, green onion, carrot, green olive, feta cheese and light dressing) for dinner, and even had compliments from the Torbett men! :) When Brett and I got home I made strawberry banana smoothies with the ingredients above. YUM! They were delicious and a perfect way to cool off. And, as far as I can tell, fairly healthy too!

I made homemade hummus last night-you can search http://www.allrecipes.com/ for plenty of variations! I used two Great Value cans of Chickpeas (Garbanzo beans) that were .66 each. I left a bit of "juice" in one can, and drained the other. I also added garlic, a bit of salt, lemon juice, ground red pepper, paprika, and black pepper. It tastes great, is healthy, and very economical! :) Brett and I are going to make it again in the future and try different variations.

We had beautiful weather this morning and went on a hike for about 6 miles (total distance there and back)..it was the longest, most strenuous hike EVER. We were walking in water up to our knees a good part of the time. However, at the end of the hike was a beautiful beach....and along the hike was a neat waterfall (a huge one) and a kapok tree (just like the children's book The Great Kapok Tree). The camera is broken, so all the photos we took are on Brett's cell phone which we'll post when we get home. We also had an incredibly good Italian meal tonight.
The not so fun side of things here is that it rains every day starting at 3, and doesn't quit for the rest of the night. It also gets dark around 7:00...and there are lots of mosquitoes, all the time. We are having a great time though-just putting on lots of bug spray. :)

Good day today! The rain finally stopped this morning and we woke up to sun . :) What a blessing! We first went by the Annaberg Sugar Mill Ruins (pictured above) which has the neat remains of an old sugar mill with plenty of plaques explaining what everything is. There is also a fantastic view from these ruins of the remaining U.S. V.I. and the B.V.I.
We also made it to Maho Bay to snorkel with sea turtles! We took some pics underwater and I touched a shell of one of the turtles! We went to a different beach this afternoon and did some more snorkeling, with lunch at "Skinnylegs" in between.

It is raining now again, so we're home to shower, read, relax, and finish Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Brett's going to grill burgers tonight!
We love you!

No pictures today..
It started raining majorally hard around 6 o'clock (or earlier) this morning and it's now 7:00 p.m. and hasn't let up one bit. We're under a "flash flood warning" here (do these things follow us from Arkansas or what?) So, no beaches today.
However, no complaints here! Brett and I have been enjoying one another's company and have been reading a lot, playing Tetris on the computer :), talking, lounging, etc. We did venture into town earlier to get some dinner at the St. John Market (a regular grocery store) and rented the second Harry Potter movie so we're settled in for an enjoyable, safe evening. The roads here are steeeeeeep.....like so steep you wonder if you'll make it up. We only saw one road closed, and several police out but that made us feel safe :) Jan, the roads are like the one on the way to Mt. Nebo.
Maybe prettier skies tomorrow?
If not, we're holding out (by the looks of the weather forecast) for Thursday.

Today we drove to a trail and then walked to the beach you see below. We snorkeled out to this island you see in front, swam around the entire island, took a short rest, and then swam back. Exhausting, but worth it! On our snorkel we saw flourescent fish, a sting ray, starfish (my fave), and swam in a "school" of thousands of tiny fish...Like we were swimming right in the middle of it! So cool!! We took lots of neat pics with our underwater cameras.

God answers prayers. :)
Today Brett woke up completely healed! Praise Jesus!
We also had sun for half a day (better than none!) then it rained real hard for an hour or two, but then stopped so we went snorkeling again. We went to three different beaches today......at the third beach we saw a lot of brightly colored fish, some really big fish, and lots of sea urchins, and a sting ray.
More later. :)

Quick update:
We made it here just fine, picked up our yellow Jeep wrangler ( I now want one), made it by the grocery store, and to the cottage.
It has been raining here all day (it's stopped now but everything is very wet) From the few glimpses we got, the island is beautiful.
Prayers please! Brett still isn't feeling well at all :(. We're praying for health for him, and sunshine at some point this week.
We love you!

Well, we are headed to St. John Island tomorrow for vacation.
Depending on which weather site you read, there is potential for lots and lots of rain while we're there. We have already decided we will make the absolute best of this vacation, no matter what, come rain or shine! We're bringing books, snorkel gear, and scrabble letters to play bananagrams. :) We'll get out in the rain and see the beaches :). But, I am hoping it doesn't rain all the time!
We'll be updating (hopefully) from St. John.

Guess what we're getting ready for?
V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N :) to St. John Island. I'm excited to snorkel, spend time with Brett, read, and take some underwater pics! We got underwater cameras at Target (Target brand) so we'll see how they do.

Tonight we went to Jana and Seth's to have some dinner with them. Caleb was a hoot :). He wanted to have his picture taken with "Uncle Brett" and was also interested in taking his momma and daddy's pictures with Lainey. This may have been because I showed him how to work the camera. Caleb also tried spinach, and the tortellini I made. :) Lainey was as sweet as ever.....

This week I made zucchini pasta......a simple, but good recipe. I cooked zucchini, onion, and garlic in olive oil and then put whole wheat pasta in. Yum!

Brett will be going snorkeling for the first time on our vacation (I will be "teaching" him-oh my! You might as well go ahead and pray now :) ) He was excited to try out his snorkel gear he got in the mail. Also, we took his spare change and got some $ for vacation

I saved the best for last:
Brett is officially, COMPLETELY, 110% DONE with his Master's Degree.
We are absolutely excited!!!
p.s.Did I mention he graduated with a 4.0? Ed would be so proud!