Who we are...
We are an empty nest couple living northwest of Atlanta, Georgia. This is our first appearance on the web and we welcome you to browse to your heart's content.
The two pictures above are us in our most comfortable environments... First on the pier in St. Maarten, Netherlands Antilles with our cruise ship, the Oasis of the Seas in the background. Thirdly, at home on our oasis at home, our back porch.
First, take a look at our menu on the right. This is the portal to what we like to do
in our spare time, what spare time we have these days.
Here's a few quotes to remember...
"Being
nice to other people is like peeing in your pants. Everyone else can see what
you did but only you feel the warmth of the consequences."
– Neil Boortz
"Some
people are like slinkies - not really good for anything but they bring a smile to your face
when pushed down the stairs."
– Unknown
"If you
can't fix it with a hammer, you've got an electrical problem."
– Unknown Husband
Latest News...
Updated on:
Wednesday May 9, 2012 @ 1:40 PM EDT
New Recipes - Appetizers, Vietnamese and Indian. See Changes Page for details.
Scake Model Updates!
I took some time to update the Scale Model and Scale Model Shows Pages.
The Endless Edit is Ending!!!
We have finished the major edit for Part I and II of Alpha Threat. Part II took longer since it is more than 400 pages. We are now tryiong to decide how and who to publish. We are considering forming an LLC to publish in case Lee wants to write a book or two. We also decided to get an ISBN number and officially copyright my work, (Legal issues.. yeah). So now we are looking at publishers but no decitions yet...
And I thought writing the book would be the hardest part...
We have decided on a cover. It has a background of the jungle and the title and my name on it. Pretty simple. We plod on.
We have a New Young Man in the Family.
On Saturday April 21, 2012, James Michael Gilreath entered this world. He is the son of Marla and Michael Gilreath, my cousin's daughter and her husband.
We have Set the Date for Our Annual Shrimp/Crawfish Boil!
Yep, we are at it again... this growing funfest will be heald on Sunday afternoon/evening, May 27th. We don't have a final time yet but we know that we try to eat around 6:30 to 7:00. This year we will have LIVE music by our neighbor Leo's band. They play a grand mixture of rock music that we all grew up listening to. They can also throw in a healthy mix of the blues.
The "To the Extreme in 2013" Cruise is 13 Months Away!
This is the hard part. After booking our cabins we wait. But now we are only 13 months from our cruise date! Time will fly as we move closer and closer. We still only have five families booked but folks are coming out of the woodworks to try to join us. Ya'll come on! The more the merrier.
The "To the Extreme in 2013" cruise aboard Royal Caribbean's the Allure of the Seas in June of 2013 will be so much fun. Our plans are still being pulled together but we invite you to come along. I tell you this will be a BLAST!!! I just pray we don't sink the ship!
If you would like to join us, just pencil in June 2013. We plan to do a Western Caribbean itinerary due to the more calmer seas since we will have several "cruise virgins" with us.
For more info and a tentative timeline, check out our 2013 Cruise link here or Cruise with Us! on the Main Menu.
Old News...
We added a QR Code to our 2013 Allure Cruise page.
We added a QR (Quick Response) code readable by several QR readers in order for you to quickly capture the Allurecruise13 contact information. You can get various apps for your iPhone and other PDAs to capture this information by just focusing your PDA camera on the QR code. I use a free app on my iPhone, RedLaser to read and create these codes. Try it!
The Smoak Family Gets Bigger! A New Baby on the Way!
The big news is that Christina and Chris announced that they were having a baby - due July 1st! Not only that, but it's going to be a girl!
Lee and I are now going to be GRANDPARENTS!!!
The latest doctor's visit had everything perfect and Christina is now showing a nice baby bump!
More New Babies on the Way!
Marla and Michael Gilreath are expecting their first child, a boy, in April. Marla is my first cousin, Peggy and Lloyd Goldsmith's oldest daughter. So there will be four new grandparents in our clan by the end of July.
Our Genealogy Work.
I have spent many hours updating my lines on Ancestry.com over the last several weeks. My tree now contains 12,234 people. I told you we were a large family.
For more information, check out our Genealogy Page here or Genealogy on the Main Menu.
Cruisin'.
We so enjoyed our fantastic Caribbean cruise on the Oasis of the Seas last year with Sherrie and Leo Ruschell and Barbara and Bob Shaw. We all survived a full week of fun, food and frolic. I can't remember when we have had such a great time! You cannot imagine the beauty and the SIZE of the Oasis of the Seas until you see her and get aboard. She is truly the 8th Wonder of the World! If you missed hearing and seeing about our cruise, here's a Direct Link to Our Oasis of the Seas Pictures!
