Wish You Were Here...: Summer Is Officially Over

Hello beautiful people,

A lot of things have been happening lately in the Daniel household, and I am excited to update you all on these happenings. Summer is officially over for me, I finished all three of my summer classes the last week of July, and just last week began my fall semester. Today is a gorgeous day, with really low humidity, and I am super-excited because it is starting to feel like fall (my favorite season!).

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Over the past few months, Buck and his business partner have been steadily busy with their manufacturing company. So busy in fact (and desperate as well) that they had asked me to come in a few days this summer to help out at the shop. Although I do not weld, they were still able to put me to work, and my main duties included cutting the steel material they use. All of their material arrives in large bundles that are 20-30 feet long (just a guess). Once they get a customer order for certain pieces of equipment the steel must be cut to the right length before they can begin welding. I must admit I felt like the most hardcore wife in the world that day, although the job was pretty easy, but it was fun to spend a few days at work with Buck.

Steel Bundles Needing My Expert Cutting Skills

I also spent the last week in July in Haiti, setting up the second Virtual Extension system in Limbe, Haiti. This experience was doubly rewarding the second time around, and I am very fortunate to have been a part of such a wonderful trip. Believe it or not, the country seems to be healing slowly but surely….things look cleaner, schools are starting back up, and people slowly moving out of the “temporary” camps. This trip the station was set up in the northern region of Haiti at a soil erosion school. This school teaches seminars to farmers all across the country in an effort to educate them on the devastating effects of deforestation and soil erosion. Experts are brought in, and participants learn conservation techniques. This time around, I was mainly responsible for the training, which was a huge leap in responsibility for me, but also very rewarding. Already participants from the second station are using the system, and working to train other individuals throughout the country to use the system.

Thousands of individuals still living in "temporary" tent camps 1 1/2 years after the earthquake

Buck and I are close to celebrating our 1^st anniversary, and in attempt to take a short break between summer and fall semesters we headed down to Amelia Island, Florida last week for a quick getaway. If there is anything that Buck and I learned on our honeymoon it was that I love laying at the beach all day and reading, and Buck needs to be entertained the whole time we are on vacation. In an effort to make the vacation enjoyable for both of us he picked Amelia Island, since it is well known as a site to find fossilized shark’s teeth. This seemed to work pretty well, and although I didn’t find even one tooth, Buck found four and seemed to be pretty pleased with his stash.