Long time no blog.....

My dear friend Rebecca has been giving me a hard time about the fact that I haven't blogged in forever. Sorry all!! I will try to keep things a bit more updated now.

So quick update......WE ARE MARRIED!! Troy and I exchanged vows on the beach at Magens Bay in St Thomas (Virgin Islands) as God made his pressence known with thunder and lightning at sunset on Friday, May 28th, 2010. It was totally amazing!!

Our wonderful photographer, Devon, owner of PhotoSynthesis Atlanta, sent the teaser below with a note that this was going to be the cover for her wedding pricing guide next year. :) I can't wait to see the other 9,999 pictures Devon and Jessica took during wedding week.

We did a "Trash the dress" photo shoot, well two actually, a few days after the wedding, and this is one of the shots from downtown Charlotte Amalie during our morning shoot. I recommend a "TTD" photo shoot to all brides. It allowed our photographers to concentrate on family photos between the ceremony and reception since we knew we'd have a chance to take additional bride and groom photos later in the week. And the photo shoots were a blast!! We were relaxed and having so much fun. I didn't care if my dress got dirty or even if I snagged it during the process. Seriously, was I going to wear it again? My friend Kimmie was very stressed in the weeks/months leading up to the wedding that I was seriously going to TRASH my dress. But I'm happy to report the cleaners were able to get all traces of dirt out of the dress and there is only one small spot where my heal got stuck in the hem. The dress looks brand new! So Kimmie - it's all good.

Back to our TTD Session: We started out downtown to take advantage of the architecture. Downtown Charlotte Amalie is now the "shopping district" for the tourist. Even though we arrived first thing in the morning as shops were just opening there were quite a few people around and everyone was so nice. They were shouting out congratulations, allow us to stop traffic and one man dressed in a costume (Native American looking) even agreed to pose in pictures with us. Just thinking about that morning makes me anxious to see the rest of the pictures!! We took pictures downtown and at several historical sites (99 steps, governors house). Then we headed back to the villa to relax and later redressed that afternoon to head to Magens Bay for some fun sunset pictures. I climbed over a bunch of rocks to get out to a big boulder that was in the middle of the water. I'm sure the few folks on the beach found it entertaining as I hiked my wedding dress up around my waste, waded into the water and then started rock hopping to my final destination. Devon followed - staying in the water...tip-toeing each time the tide came in to keep the water away from her gear which was strapped around her waste. We all had some good laughs!! We ended the photo shoot with Troy and I running hand and hand into the ocean as the sun set on the horizon. We all agreed that the thousands of bug bites we all got were totally going to be worth the pictures that Devon and Jessica were able to capture.

I'm happy to report that our family and friends spent the week of our wedding trip enjoying the trip and celebrations, and weren't spending all their time snapping pictures....that's what we had Devon and Jessica for. :-) Sadly, this resulted in us only having a handful of pictures until Devon is able to edit the 10,000+ pictures they took. But I know they are going to be well worth the wait. The one below is my favorite of the pictures we've received from friends and family.

Stay tuned for more wedding updates.....I promise they won't take me 6 months to post! :) I also have some craft projects I'll post soon too.

Have a great day!!

Mrs. Tammy Godwin

St Thomas - here, there and everywhere

Here are some pictures from when we were out and about on the island.

Troy at dinner at Fat Turtle. It's a cool "bar" on the water down near where the cruise ships dock. There is shopping and a few other restrauants around.

A bit hard to read in this size - but it's one of the gazzillion "Keep Left" signs on the island. They drive on the left in American Cars. It's quite the experience. Thankfully Troy does the driving.

It just isn't right. There are times when we turn and I start to freak that he's on the wrong side before I realize where we are. Left on Red...it takes some getting use to.

Sandy and Sunny - or that's what I named them anyhow. These two cuties were just off the road as we turned on to the road to the condo. Down the entire road to the condo there is farm land owned by the government. They lease it to residents for $1 a year per parcel (1/2 acre) to anyone that will farm on it. So there are varying "farms" as you drive. I learned which spots in the road to hold my breath. :)

The Steep road down to the condo....and a view of the water.

It's a bit blurry. The waitress at A Room with A View took our picture during our last night on the island. It took some arm twisting, nagging and pouting but Troy finally took me out to a nice dinner. We had a great time. And I got to wear the fabulous sun dress that Beth and I found at JCP while we were out shopping before the trip.

The View of the city lights from A Room with A View.

St Thomas - The Family

For those that know us - Troy was raised in St Thomas till he was about 14. So St Thomas is not only a vacation for us, but a chance for him to see the family that is still on the island. His mom's parents, her two brothers and many other relatives are still on the island. It's funny how many family members come out of the woodwork when you ask your future MIL for addresses for the wedding. :)

"Amigo" - Troy's Grandfather

Granny - I swear that if I went digging through the old pictures Troy gets the same pose from Granny every year. For being in her mid-late 80's she's a fiesty one.Granny and her Sister Noel

One of Troy's Cousins little girls - I'm still learning names. She's Uncle Moe's grand-daughter and he has her spoiled rotten (though he won't admit it LOL). She's shy at first but then a total ham after you are around her for a little bit.

Her little brother. He was such a happy boy. And so many faces

The newest addition to the family. She was born in February.

St Thomas - Atlantis....80+ Feet under the sea

There is a tourist attraction in St Thomas (and some other places around the world) called Atlantis. It's a submarine designed to take tourist down to see the reefs and what now on the bottom of the ocean. The one in St Thomas was closing at the end of May so Troy wanted to go see what it was all about.

Here is a picture of me on the boat that took us out to where the sub was "docked". It was very hot and humid on the boat as they had all the windows zip tied shut. We found out why as we made our way out and hit some big wavs! :)

The top of Atlantis. It was a tight fit inside. It held 48 passengers and the pilot and our tour guide. There was a bench down the middle that people sat on back to back, looking out the portals. The hardest part for me was going down the ladder into the sub BACKWARDS. I'm not a huge fan of stairs to begin with, and then you want me to go down backwards. Lovely!

They said to add about 10 feet to the reading in the sub to figure out how far down we were. (the sensor was on TOP of the sub). This was the farthest down we went.

We were lucky enough to board in the first group so we had not only the view out the side windows but also out the front.

A school of blue fish. The water was a bit cloudy - they said due to some algea that had moved into the area.

Troy and I during the ride.

A nice lady was willing to take a picture of us on the bow of the boat after our trip.

I have to say, it's cool to say we did it, but honestly I wasn't THAT impressed. Even though the water was suppose to be cloudy because of the algae, the guide did say that the colors are not anything like what you see in the magazines even under normal conditions. It's was $90 a piece for us to take the trip - not sure I'd say it was worth it.

St Thomas - Cute Babies

So while at Magens Bay our first morning there were two mothers with these two cute baby girls playing in the sand and water. Troy wasn't using the camera at the time (shocking) so I asked him to set it up on auto for me (I haven't mastered all the settings on them yet - they are way too advanced for me).

So I went over to chat and see if they would mind if I took some pictures. We got their email address and sent them the pictures when we got home. They really enjoyed them. Here are a few of my favorites.

This is the cutie pie that first caught my attention. She was having a great time in her makeshift pool mom had dug for her.

Isn't she just a doll? I feel bad that I forgot her name.
The girls (yes the one in the blue suit is a girl), crawled up the beach and had fun looking to see how far mom was going to let them go.

Eventually Maddie made her way back. (notice the sandy tush at the top of the picture...so cute), and she finally came crawling back too.

Then some cuddle time with mommy after rinsing off.

St Thomas - Magens Bay

Mr. Elliott dropped our rental jeep off at the condo the evening we arrived so we could head out first thing in the morning to Magens Bay. For those that don't know Magens Bay is one of the top ten beaches in the world. Last year I learned why! The sand on the beach is so soft, the water is very clear and so blue, and because of it's location and the small islands at the mouth of the bay the water is usually pretty calm.

Troy tends to get occuppied with pictures of the pelicans and other birds diving for fish when we are there. :) I'll spare you the hundreds of pictures he took of those. :) But here are a few of my favorites.

Me wandering down the beach. This is right around the spot we plan on getting married at next year. While there that day we saw FOUR weddings take place. It was exciting to think that Friday before Memorial Day next year one of those couples would be US!!

Troy caught me sitting in the sun reading.

One of the birds diving for fish. We found out from the bartender that these are called The Brown Booby. At first when he told Troy this I thought he was kidding, so I had to look it up when we got home, and sure enough. I like how they look like fighter planes when they are in their dive.

And Mr. Troy - WITH his camera of course.

We spent the morning on the beach and then headed up to the bar for lunch and some drinks. St Thomas is pricey as it is, but apparently being one of the top beaches allows total robbery...a burger, just the burger mind you, was $9.75. Two burgers and a side of fries cost 23 bucks! DOH! Thankfully the drinks were more resonable - 6 bucks a piece, and since liquor is cheap down there they are VERY generous with it. WoooHooo Three drinks and I was so done!

ST Thomas - Dorothea Beach where we stayed

I know everyone has been wanting to see pictures from our trip. Sorry for the delay...the day after we got home I came down sick and am just now bouncing back.



Thursday - Arrival Day



Our flight was about 30 minutes late leaving ATL. Nothing like delaying paradise. The majority of the flight was bumpy. But we finally arrived. We had rented a condo on Dorothea Beach (a "rural" part of the island it said in the listing on Homeaway.com). Patty and Peter the owners of the condo where there to pick us up at the airport. It was nice to not have to deal with the rental car at the airport (bad experience last year).

Off to the condo we go. We drove through parts of the island that did not look familiar (not only to me, but to Troy too). And eventually Patty started pointing out a few landmarks as we approached the road to the condo. We turned on the "road"...it was bumpy, windy and steep. No wonder they said we'd need a jeep. But in the end it was totally worth it. Here are some pictures from the beach.

This is from the lawn outside the condo. Yes we were THAT close to the water.

PARADISE!!

And here I am so excited to be on the beach.

Troy hiked out to the end of the points on both sides of the bay during our trip and this is one of the pictures he took looking back towards the condos.

There are plenty more....we (well mostly Troy) took close to 2,000 this trip. Yes he's a bit obsessed. :)