New Places, New Faces

A few weeks ago we were fortunate enough to find some new local places to enjoy. Below are some pictures from our Friday night hangout, Vine and Barley. It's a great new spot in St. Lucie West that features a very wide variety of specialty beers and wines. The wine is set up in machines that dispense different size portions. You grab a glass, and a card that resembles a hotel key card, find a wine you like and select the size portion you would like to try. The beers are poured from the taps behind the bar or from the typical bottle. This type of beer and wine bar is great, it really lends to a very social atmosphere. Everyone mingles all night and occasionally you will bump into a new person trying the same wine as you, and start up a conversation. We will certainly miss this while we're traveling. We've also been fortunate enough to have some new faces join our little group. A very close friend and sorority sister of mine lives just five minutes from Jim and I. Missy has been a great addition to our local group and she comes with some very good baggage, Nikki and Rachel. They live in Melbourne and travel down on the weekends to spend time with us all. We've also added Seth to our group. Seth is doing an internship at the PGA Learning Center and working with our very good friend Rich. Ryan and Leah have also been a wonderful new addition to our group. Ryan and Leah are in the Thursday night bowling league with Rich. Ryan also works at the PGA Golf Club. We spent the night before these pictures were taken celebrating Dad's birthday at our local Carabba's. We will be leaving for Australia and New Zealand tomorrow and will be back in the states on March, 16th. I hope to be able to blog while overseas, but may have some troubles with pictures! If anyone is interested in getting in touch with us, please email us or send a text message to our email. We will be able to access text messages sent via email to our phone while overseas. Yes, this is possible, simply type in our email address then type your text message and send. The golf will be televised for all three weeks. All broadcasts will come from the golf channel. We hope to hear from everyone and see you all as soon as possible.

Seth and Jim

Dad and Mom

Carolyn, Dad and Mom

Dave and Ryan

Steve, Tim and Rich

Rachel, Missy, Carolyn and Nikki

Mom, Missy, Rich and Nikki

A Week In Panama

These pictures are from our trip to Panama last year. I didn't take too many because I wasn't aware that I couldn't take pictures during the competitive rounds. I snuck Joe's camera in one day and took a few shots. The golf course is beautiful except for the canal with all the trash in it. There apparently are guards in the jungle guarding the borders of the course from criminals, etc. but I didn't see any. The weather was very similar to what the boys are experiencing this week, very hot and windy. At the end of every round the children of all the club members would gather around the scoring tents to wait for the players to appear. They would chant "me no have" and ask for golf balls, tees, hats, gloves, and even head covers! That definitely made you smile, whether you had a good or a bad day. We tried brown milk for the first time along with many other interesting foods. I had left my sneakers in Florida, so we were forced to go to the mall and buy new ones, that was an experience. Jim and I went on a tour of the canal - pretty neat, but it was at night! We enjoyed our time, made the cut, and left feeling very good about our very first tournament on the Nationwide Tour. This year, I did not go with Jim and Joe. I am really sorry now! Jim has played so well and I am so proud of him. What a difference a year makes. He's been in the top 10 all week, and we are very excited!

View from the clubhouse of 10 fairway (left) and 18 green (right)

Some of the many lakes/rivers on the course

A Giant tree to the left of 6 tee

Some Beauganvilia and a beautiful view just before 3 fairway