Scallops... They Don't Come Wrapped In Bacon.

Not that I REALLY believed scallops are picked all pretty and clean and wrapped with a nice thick piece of bacon. But a girl can dream, right?? 

I honestly didn't know much about scallops or "scalloping" (the act of gathering scallops from the water) but when Chad, Matt's friend, asked us to go, I jumped at the opportunity! I'm always up for a new adventure. I even came up with my own term for scalloping: "scallop hunting" but in this version of hunting no camo is required. :)

So last weekend, a group of us traveled to the Homosassa River and took that out toward the Gulf of Mexico. I don't know where I thought we would find scallops but in my naive little world I assumed we would park the boat by a nice sandy beach and be able to swim in shallow water and grab them. I was wrong. I am pretty sure when they stopped the boat in the middle of the Gulf I had a look of "you have to got to be kidding me" on my face. 

In my mind, big open water = big mouth sharks. 

But we were fine and surprisingly in pretty shallow water. We all jumped in with our masks and snorkels and a bag to hold the scallops we collected. It took me a while to figure out what was a scallop and dove down several times only to come up empty handed. Thankfully, Matt swam by my side and would point out scallops to me. I thought you would be able to see more of the white muscle and go down and grab it. Nope, we were looking for these:

All of those blue "dots" on the edge of their shells our eyes and sometimes, they'll actually try and swim away from you. To me, that only made "scallop hunting" more fun. Maybe this is why people enjoy actual hunting? The thrill of the catch? Who knows, I have not conquered that yet.

(Teamwork at its finest.)

We ended up coming away with a several gallons of scallops. I won't go into the cleaning part because they informed me it involves uses a shop vac to suction out... well, the gross stuff. 

But here is the finished product... minus the bacon ;)

And I couldn't have asked for a better group to go "scallop hunting" with; I am already looking forward to the next trip and would love to someday take my family. 

The Journey South

The last couple of weeks have been full of emotions both happy and sad. I am so grateful that my family, friends and Matt have been patient and supportive during this move because I was ALL OVER THE PLACE with my emotions. Seriously, all over. I would be fine all day and then just a glance at a suitcase would bring on the water works. 

Now that I have moved, things are much better. I am starting to get settled and know that in a few weeks/months I will start to feel at home here too. One thing is for sure, it is nice to no longer be in a long distance relationship! 

Before I left, I got to hang out with my sweet Kentucky friends who surprised me with some "moving gifts":

A very comforting Bible verse for my decision to move: 

A beautiful picture of my previous home:

And some new charms to wear. One for my old home and one for my new home:

Last Saturday was THE DAY and my family and I stopped at one of our favorite places in Louisville: My Favorite Muffin. It wouldn't have been a true Deptola morning without these:

After some yummy comfort food, I was off to sunny Florida! I told Matt I didn't pack a lot but I think our versions of "a lot" are MUCH different. Thank goodness for carts!
(I won't try and deceive anyone, I have more stuff coming soon but I thought this was a good start for now.)

As intimidating as moving can be, it was much easier knowing I have an awesome support system already here in his family and friends. As soon as we got home I had some lovely gifts welcoming me to Florida and spent the evening relaxing with friends. 

So a lot has changed this weekend but with all the love and support I have received I know I am one lucky girl with my old Kentucky home and my new Florida home. 

My Blog Birthday!

Today is a special day for me as I am introducing to the world (aka my family and friends) my new blog: Based On A True Story (or more simply, B.O.A.T.S.).

Yes, I am a blogger now. 

No, I don't think I have a problem. 

Yes, I can share this information on Facebook but having a BLOG is so much cooler, right??

Truth be told, I have thought about starting a blog for a long time and I was THIS close to creating one when I studied abroad but never got around to it. However, I have recently made a BIG decision and I wanted a way for my family and friends to stay informed on this next chapter of my life. So here I am now, a blogger. And this is my story...

My goal is to post several times a week so we will see how that goes. However right now, I am so excited about this blog I anticipate daily posts as I am still in the "bloggymoon" stage.

So I will end my first post with sharing my BIG decision: 

I moved to Florida and I get to spend everyday with this wonderful guy: