Deep Sea Fishing

Ry went on a "boy's weekend" to Florida last week. Here is what he had to say about it...

I had the chance to go deep sea fishing in Florida last weekend with some guys from work. We drove from Nashville to Destin, FL, where one of the guys has a beach house. We then took a charter out about 45 miles off the gulf coast and fished for a few hours. We were fishing in 350 feet of water and caught 36 fish between 6 guys. We caught grouper, amberjack, red snapper and scamps. Our biggest fish were about 35 lbs. We ended up with about 100 lbs in filets and had a great time! Enjoy the pictures

Of course, what I see is...defenseless animals fighting for their life, barbarically hung by their lip from a hook, and paraded on hooks by their eye balls at the end of the day to show man's dominance. This might have to be a hobby Ry enjoys without me :)

Do you like Ry's fishing hat??? It was new for the trip - a "Congrats, You're a Chief!!" gift. You know, the Hartman's can't travel without buying something new for the trip! Below are some more pictures of his fun weekend. Double click on the slideshow to see the pictures bigger.

Dance Dance Dance

Okay, so I'm not a TV junkie, I promise (maybe a movie junkie, but not a TV junkie) but I have to admit I have been watching, So You Think You Can Dance this season. I have never watched it before, but I'm liking it. Not obsessed and feel the need to vote or anything, but I DVR the episodes and watch them when I have some time. (As a friend once said to me, "DVR will change your life" :) Anywho, I have a couple of favorites.

Joshua and Katie - these 2 are my favorite! I have loved every dance of theirs. I think he might win it! For being a hip hop dancer and no formal training, he is unbelievable!!! I LOVED their hip hop dance routine to Jordan Sparks' No Air.

And I really like Chelsie and Mark too. (I think she might be Mormon!) From the little clips they show, I always think, "Oh boy, I don't know if they are going to do very well" but they always do! Wednesday nights performace of Leona Lewis's Bleeding Love was AWESOME!!!

Quick Update

Well, it has been way too long since I posted a blog. My excuse...Girl's Camp :) I am the Girls Camp Stake Secretary (don't ask me how/why...I can't wear my swimsuits to camp and I probably listen to music their parents tell them to turn off :) Anyway, it starts on June 30, so we've had lots to get done. It has actually been quite fun - Liz Rich is the leader, and Sara Bateman and Kelly Rowe are her counselors. Most of our meetings are spent on the floor laughing. We are even planning a skit called "Camp Idol".

Other updates - you know...MOVIES :) (cuz I love movies)

We've recently seen:
Get Smart - super funny; definitely recommend it!
Indiana Jones - actually kind of dumb; aliens & spaceships, please! not a lot of plot, mostly special effects.
BabyMama - also very funny! Go see it!
Iron Man - for a super hero movie, pretty good. Way better than the last Spider Man movie
What Happens in Vegas - Loved it. LOVED Ashton in a tux!!!
The Great Debates (DVD) - SUPER GOOD! I didn't hear a lot about this movie when it was in the theaters, but it was way good. Definitely recommend it!!! Netflix it for sure.

My next book - Love the One Your With by Emily Giffin. Come July, I am re-reading the Twilight series in preparation for Aug 2...anyone else gone to the bookstore and read the 1st chapter of Breaking Dawn? (It is in the special edition version of Eclipse.) Okay, so I am a Twilight/Edward junkie...wedding is on people!!!

The Host

So who's read The Host? I finished it Sunday night (around 1:30 am) after reading most of the day. I know a lot of you have bought it considering it is #1 on the NY Times list. :) ($14 at Costco) Overall, definitely liked Twilight better, however, I was pretty engrossed in it. Stephanie draws me in and gets me hooked more than most books! It took longer with The Host though. With Twilight, by page 18, (first mention of Edward :) I couldn't put it down. (And I couldn't get through New Moon fast enough - waiting for Edward to come back!!!) With The Host, after I read the first chapter, I was like "What the???" I didn't get it! After the first 60 or 70 pages though, I was pretty engrossed. So, I thought it was very entertaining and a good story. I don't like Sci Fi, but I did like the book. I think she is a very talented writer...

Spoiler Alert

Here is my hang up - Wanda and Jared. Was it just me or did you sort of want them to end up together??? I know, I know, Jared couldn't/shouldn't love Wanda because he loves Mel (and Wanda is in Mel's body!). So, Jared could never really love Wanda that way, but I don't see Wanda loving Ian as strongly as she loved Jared. In this crazy "Love Square" I think everyone ended up with who they "should" be with, so it was this "happy ending", but was it really?

What do you think?

Costa Rica Slide Show

Hey, so I just figured out how to add a slide show to my blog (Thanks Kristi!). Here are all our pictures from Costa Rica.

Costa Rica!!!

Ryan and I just got back from an amazing week in Costa Rica! We had a blast. The first part of the week we stayed in Manuel Antonio. We hiked in the rainforest, saw lots of monkeys, boogy boarded and jet skied in the ocean, and took a canopy tour through the trees. It was awesome! Then we went up north to Tamarindo and stayed in this tiny hotel (10 guests total and 30 staff) called Los Altos de Eros. We relaxed by the pool, sat on the beach, got massages and dinner at sunset. We were totally spoiled and loved every minute of it :) If you like to travel, Costa Rica is an great place to visit!!!

(If course my pictures go in the opposite order, so the first one is Los Altos)

Now I could live in Nashville

When people ask me where Ryan and I want to live someday (post residency/fellowship, ya know, when real life begins :) I always say, "Somewhere that has a Nordstrom." So I have always had to rule out Nashville, but I just learned today Nordstrom is coming to Green Hills in 2010. I can't believe it! Just when we are moving to Cincinnati for Ryan's Sports Medicine fellowship (summer 2009), there is going to be a Nodstrom added to my mall. Just my luck. But I guess we can add Nashville on the list of "Places We Could Live."

A New Favorite Song

So I just bought my first American Idol song - Always Be My Baby by David Cook. (Listening to it right now!). I gotta say, this song rocks!!! When they annouced what he was singing, I was like,"oh dear, this can't be good" but holy cow, it was AWESOME! Now, David Cook is not my favorite artist. I LOVE LOVE LOVE David Archuleta and want him to win, BUT I think David Cook is going to sell more records. He has the making of a great recording artist.

Geez, I have become an American Idol junkie this season. I watch it every week, always vote, and now download their songs...

I like to travel because...

I buy new shoes :) Here are my Costa Rica Keens.

And here is my "travel backpack"...

A Cup Of Tea

I had to post about this book I am reading called Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson. It is an incredible true story about one man's mission of building schools for children in Pakistan. He went over there to climb K2 and wandered into this villiage on his deathbed. They cared for him, and he formed a strong bond with these people; realizing their children had no means of education, he committed himself to building them a school. In a world of extreme poverty, he saw education as the best way to help them (and especially educating the girls).

In one village, Greg arranged for a young woman to get healthcare training from a clinic 150 km away and bought medical supplies for her. Prior to taking over her village's healthcare, people often died from diarrhea and other sicknesses. She states: "After five years, with good water from new pipes (which Greg funded), and teaching the people how to clean their children, and use clean food, not a single person has died from these problems. It's my great interest to continue to develop myself in this field, and pass on my training to other women. Now that we have made such progress, not a single person in this area believes women should not be educated."

If you get a chance to read this book, I would highly recommend it!