a few more Bahama photos

more pics from the Bahamas

25th Wedding Anniversary

25 years, wow, and the most incredible 25 years of my life. We had a blast on our trip. It turned a little chilly, but it was gorgeous. I enjoyed just being with the love of my life. We relaxed on the beach while listening to the sax player, we danced a little, even joined a conga line, we had a couples message - ahhh, we shopped till we dropped, we even gambled a little ($15 each & that includes the $5 the casino gave us LOL what big spenders LOL), we took a city tour and saw the beautiful island, but mostly we just enjoyed each other. It was amazing just remembering how to be together, just us, no one else, no work, no phones, no distractions, just walking hand in hand or relaxing in each other's arms on the beach - wow, it was awesome!

our 25th Wedding Anniversary trip

On December 17 I will be married to the man of my dreams for 25 years. We will celebrate at the Sandals Royal Bahamian Resort in Bahama for 5 days/4 nights. We are so excited. Karl keeps calling this our "Honeymoon" since we never got to go on one.

Here's what we have to look forward to. We also booked a Couples Massage at the resorts Red Line Spa. You can go to www.sandals.com to see more photos of the resort.
I'll be posting our own photos when we get back.

Voted Top Caribbean Spa Resort by the readers of Condé Nast magazine, this stunning Five Star Diamond Resort provides discerning couples with unmatched opulence, Old World sophistication and, underlying it all, a particularly infectious Caribbean energy

Take a stately ferry ride and discover, just minutes from shore, your own personal island, Sandals Cay.
Complete with two powdery white-sand beaches, crystal-clear aquamarine waters, a freshwater lagoon-style pool with swim-up bar and a full-service restaurant specializing in delectable seafood, Sandals Cay truly embodies the ideal island retreat within Sandals Royal Bahamian. The perfect island hideaway–two magnificent islands for the price of one! (see photo above)

Bask in the unequaled majesty of some of the most glorious rooms and suites to be found anywhere. With beachfront roooms as large as many seaside villas and elegant suites that give a whole new meaning to the word perfection, Sandals Royal Bahamian amply satisfies the most demanding tastes.
Experience undiluted luxury in the aptly named Royal Village, an enclave of pastel-hued villas housing ultra-luxurious suites, snugly ensconced amongst flowering vines and vividly colored tropical blooms. Here you can live out your romantic fantasies as you cavort in the secluded pools and hidden nooks perfumed by fragrant blossoms and caressed by soft sea breezes.
View accommodations at Sandals Royal Bahamian

Dine in splendid style as you choose from 8 gourmet restaurants–a dazzling lineup unheard of in an all-inclusive resort. Sample fare from the four corners of the globe, from sizzling Teppanyaki and exotic sushi to the finest in French haute cuisine and from the very best that Northern Italy has to offer to the most authentic pub food this side of London.
As your taste buds take a tour of the universe, led by our master chefs, your senses will be awash in flavors of another sort. Each restaurant's décor has been lovingly crafted to reflect the very best of its national origins with Cricketer's Pub, our English pub, brought over brick-by-brick from its original home, and our French gem, Baccarat, whose intimate ambiance and rich wood inlays transport one viscerally to a Parisian state of mind. Candlelit tables for two, our signature white glove service and delicacies so heavenly they tickle even the most accomplished palates, all contribute to a dining experience that can never be outdone and will certainly never be forgotten.

The Baccarat - French
The Crystal Room - International
Ristorante Casanova - Italian
Spices Restaurant - Caribbean
Kimonos - Teppanyaki
Café Goobay - Bahamian
Gordon's - Seafood
Royal Café - Grill

From the very first moment you step from your chauffeur driven Mercedes-Benz and cross the threshold of the marble-clad lobby, you enter a world of unbelievable splendor. Here every detail, from your sumptuous accommodations to your evening aperitif, meets the most exacting standards. Your slightest whim is catered to with unstinting attention and warmth. Spectacular architecture, tinkling fountains, gardens rivaling Versailles, each and every feature at Sandals Royal Bahamian has been created expressly to tantalize your spirits and delight your soul.


This is our room (see picture above)
MANOR BEACHFRONT PATIO WALKOUT CONCIERGE ROOM - GP

Open up the French doors and walk out to your own private patio, just feet from an expansive beach and the aquamarine sea. The room features a large sitting area, 37. flat screen TV, four-poster king size bed, with warm tropical decor, plush details and suite concierge service. Rooms are located on the first floor of the Manor Building.
View: Views of the Beach, ocean and Sandals Cay

I'm home.

I made it home. What a long flight and long drive home. I wasn't sure I was going to make it, dozed off a few times, but God led me home to my wonderful husband who I missed so much while I was gone. He was so good and kept the house up so nice. It was awesome to come home to a clean house, thanks baby, I love you.

Emily and I had a great time. Oh the stories we have to tell.

Our trip to Triberg, Germany in the Black Forest was amazing. I bought a beautiful coo coo clock. I forgot to take pictures at the store, so I'll post one once I get it in the mail. Tricia's friend Laura went with us. I know Tricia was worn out when we got home, but she was such a trooper and stuck with us through all the shopping. Oh and just a little tid bit of information I found out, Snow White and the 7 dwarfs lived in the Black Forest, cool huh?

The next day Laura took Emily, Mikki and I to Appenzel, Switzerland (Tricia just wasn't up for the trip after the day of shopping in Germany). We got lots of goodies and some awesome cheese (that stinks so bad, no one will try it). Another day of shopping, what fun!

The day after that Emily, Mikki and I went on a walking tour of Zurich, Switzerland. We stayed lost most of the time, but still had a great time and ate the best food we had our whole trip. Emily's salmon was to die for. I lost my train ticket and had to buy another one (very frustrating) and this is the day I started passing my kidney stone. Not the best day, but the architecture in Zurich was beautiful.

The next morning we left for Bellagio, Italy. Let me tell you how amazing God is. First off, the day we went to Germany Tricia got some Euro to buy something and had some change left. I owed her some money and she had to make change for me and gave me 10 Euro since we were going to Italy and she didn't want to be stuck with it. So Emily and I walk to the train station in Uerikon and take the train to Zurich. We switch trains in Zurich and go to Lugano, Switzerland. Laura, wonderful Laura, had mapped out our trip for us and told me I needed to get Italian bus 12 to Menaggio and then bus 10 to Como. So once we get off the train in Lugano, I go to the ticket booth and tell the man that I need tickets for bus 12 to Menaggio and even show him the hotel we're trying to get to. He sells me two tickets to Menaggio and I pay with my credit card. Again I confirm that this is the C12 bus to Menaggio and he finally asks a lady, who says that is not the correct bus and they can only refund me the ticket in cash (which was Frank because we were still in Switzerland). She tells us that we have to go out front and take a bus to Cassarada (which I think is a bus station). Well, once we get outside we realize this is a city bus and we have to know what zone to buy a ticket for, so Emily asks a girl sitting there is she speaks English and Praise God, she does. She looks on her GPS on her cell and tells us the zone. While we are purchasing the ticket and talking to the girl another lady walked up and overheard our conversation (she speaks Spanish). She said she knows Cassarada and will help us out. So we get on the bus with her and off we go. After a short ride we stop and she tells us to get off. Ok, we are in the middle of no where on a city street and we just get off the bus. Well, I'm freaking. So we walk across the street to a bank (I'm sure someone has to speak English in a bank and there was). She walks us back across the street and is trying to tell us how to read the sign and all of the sudden I look up and there's a bus coming directly at us that says Menaggio across the top. Another Praise the Lord. We get on and tell the guy we don't have a ticket. We drive a little ways and he just pulls over on the side of the road and everyone on the bus is telling us to get off to buy and ticket. We can't find the ticket booth and Emily starts to run across the street and the bus driver honks at her and everyone on the bus is pointed the other way. So I walk up to a man at a paper stand and ask if he knows where we buy a bus ticket and lo and behold it's from him. So I have to buy the tickets with cash, which I wouldn't have had if I hadn't have bought the wrong ticket at the train station (Praise the Lord). We get to Menaggio and the bus driver dumps us off at a bus barn and walks away. So I'm walking around looking for someone to buy a bus ticket from and a guy walks up. I told him what I needed and he whips out a book and writes down 6,50 Euro. Praise the Lord I had 10 Euro that Tricia gave me in change. So I buy that bus ticket and we get dropped off right in front of our hotel. Once Emily and I make it to the hotel, we just look at each other and say, OMG do you realize how much God was just with us. We would have never made it to Italy without Him. Praise God. We shopped and had a great time, except for the Lasagna Emily got, it tasted like Chef Boyorde Ravioli sauce, it sucked. Once we got back to the hotel we walked down to a restaurant to order pizza to "take away" (to go). We asked them if the have pepperoni and they say yes and ask if we want ham too. We said just the pepperoni. We get back to the hotel, go out on the terrace to enjoy our pizza and open it up to find red bell pepper sliced and placed on the pizza. I told Emily maybe they thought we wanted pepper only, lol. We found out from a lady on the train home that pepperoni is a vegatable (a red bell pepper), but the pizza was good (oh and they don't cut it for you either, we had to tear it apart). Our trip home was almost as eventful. We didn't get off at the correct train station and had to take a bus back (which we didn't realize until the bus brought us back), but we had to stand out in the cold and drizzle for about 30 minutes waiting on the bus. Not fun! (also when I say the people God placed in our path spoke English, well that's stretching it, they understood more than they spoke and we used alot of "sign language")

I woke up hurting so bad Friday morning and by the time we got back to Tricia's I realized I was passing a kidney stone. So the rest of my trip was not the greatest. We left the next morning for home with a 9 hr flight to Washington, DC, a 4 hour lay over, a 3 1/2 hr flight to Houston and then a 2 hr drive home, in pain. Oh but the trip was worth it and we had a great time. It was amazing to see the wonderful things our God made! Just amazing!

Our thanks to Tricia and Adam for the experience. We loved it!

And a special thanks to our new friend, Laura. We enjoyed having such a wonderful tour guide. We appreciate all the time you took to make our trip so special and memorable. You're the best!

I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to experience this trip of a lifetime and enjoyed spending time with Tricia and her family.

1st pics from Switzerland

These are the 1st pictures I've taken from Uerikon, Switzerland. The pictures of the lake, alps and castle are from Tricia's back yard. We went to a winery today also. It is absolutely beautiful here and we can't wait to do more sight seeing. There will be more pictures to come. We are exhausted today. It is 7:30 pm. We got here at 7:30 am and have stayed up all day to get in the right time zone. Can't wait to go to sleep.

All about me

This is an article in a local newspaper, The Lumberton Observer. David Lisenby is the editor. He did an article on everyone at the Lumberton Police Department, but this ones "all about me". The paper is free and can be picked up at local businesses or you can view it online @ www.lumbertonobserver.com

Linda Hunter

To Serve And Protect - Officers
Friday, 27 March 2009 22:09

Behind the Scene ~ Linda Hunter

We have introduced you to the men who make up the Lumberton Police Department. These men work diligently to serve and protect our fair city. This week, we would like to introduce you to the lady behind the men. We would like to introduce you to Police Secretary Linda Hunter.
Mrs. Hunter has been the secretary for the Lumberton Police Department for almost 19 years. She started working for the city in February of 1990 as a part-time employee to help the court out with a back-log of warrants.
Chief Reynolds had become the Police Chief in October of ‘89, so he was new to the Department. The Chief got Mrs. Hunter to help with some of the secretarial duties at the Police Department.
After a couple of months, Chief Reynolds realized that the Police Department needed their own secretary and offered the position to Hunter. She accepted the position in May, 1990 and has served in the position since then. She has been a part of many changes in the city.
Over the years she has either created, implemented or learned many of the procedures that are now in effect in the office at the Police Department. Whether creating a policy out of necessity for the position or to be in compliance for local, state or federal policies, she has been instrumental for making the Office Manager position what it is today.
Hunter says that her primary duty is to process offense reports that the police fill out when they are on patrol and make a report or arrest a suspect. She has to number the report, type it up, make copies and process it where it can be presented to the County Attorney or District Attorney’s Office.
But her job duties don’t stop there. As we were discussing the duties of her position, Hunter received a phone call on the police line. The call was from a resident whose emus were out and in a neighbors yard. Mrs. Hunter advised the caller of what he should do. All in a day’s work. She also does the Racial Profile Report and many other statistical reports as well as being the Dispatcher for the city.
As if the office duties and dispatching and answering the phones weren’t enough, Hunter also takes care of the department’s mascot, Jade. Jade is a grey cat that stays at the Police Department. He was brought into the department about 8 years ago. Jade has only three legs, but gets around the office with ease. He is positively an office cat. Mrs. Hunter has been married to her blushing groom, Karl, for 24 years. She has two step-children, Chad (who also works for the City of Lumberton and has one child) and Janet (who lives in Atascosita and has six children) seven grandchildren, and a son, Eric (who graduates this year).
She attends Family Worship Center in Beaumont and is very active in her church. She sings in the choir and teaches 4-5 year-olds in Sunday School. “I couldn’t make it through the day without my church family,” she said. “They’re just awesome. If I didn’t have them praying for me every day I don’t know if I’d make it.”
As far as hobbies, Mrs. Hunter says that she and Karl love to travel. Their hopes are to travel all over the country when they retire (Karl isn’t really crazy about flying). She said that traveling is their passion. She also likes to read (favorite authors include Nicholas Sparks and Joyce Meyer).
After talking a little about the book that she is currently reading, Hunter confessed her favorite hobby - sitting outside with Karl and enjoying life. A twinkle was in her eyes as she talked about the time she spends with her husband. It was very heartwarming to see her obvious love for her spouse and to hear the giddiness in her voice when she talked about him. Even after 24 years of marriage, she still has a school-girl crush on him.
I must admit that I had never imagined that there was so much to the secretary job at a police department. The duties and responsibilities would be overwhelming to the average person, But, as I discovered during this interview, Linda Hunter is everything but “average”. She is very dedicated to her job, to her faith, to her family. I have a whole new respect for her.
I have spoken to her almost every week since starting the paper, but I never knew that she was such a wonderful person. In retrospect, I have discovered that the entire staff of the Lumberton Police Department is made up of a group extraordinary people. They are just your average people in Lumberton, but so much more.
I hope you have enjoyed getting to know a little more about these fine people as much as I have. My hat is off and my complete respect goes out to each and every member of the staff at the Lumberton Police Department.

The Love Dare

How many of you have heard of the movie
Fireproof? It is a great movie for couples
and I encourage you to watch it and to take the Love Dare challenge. No matter how good you think your marriage is, it can be better. Karl and I watched the movie on Valentine's day and started our 40 day journey.
Especially after years of marriage, it is easy to just go through the motions of being married. That doesn't mean we don't love one another or that we aren't happy with one another, it just means a little of the "spark" might be missing or we just get so comfortable with each other, we forget to make sure our spouse knows how much they mean to us and how much we love them. Even the best marriages get stagnant from time to time and need a little "boost".
God designed and created marriage as a good thing. It is a beautiful, priceless gift. The Love Dare is a journey of exploring and demonstrating genuine love and once you learn this all of your relationships, especially the one with your spouse, will be lasting, fulfilling relationships.
I know you think you have the perfect marriage, because that's exactly what I think, but I also know that satan wants to destroy marriages and I for one want to be ready for any attack on my marriage (and getting Karl to demonstrate his love for me more is just an added bonus lol).
I dare you to take the Love Dare challenge!

Pictures

you can view the pictures in my slideshow @ PicasaWeb by going to this link http://picasaweb.google.com/lhunter1016

My first blog.

Well, I'm new to this blogging thing so don't be too hard on me right off. I hope I can find the time to keep this up too. I have a myspace and just joined facebook and feel that is a lot to keep up with already. This seems like a really cool way to share, so I thought I'd try it too.
My name is Linda Mae Hunter. I am 44 years old and I live in Lumberton, Texas. I have been married to the most wonderful man, Karl, for 24 years. I have one son, Eric, who is 17 and graduates High School this year. I have a step-daughter, Janet and a step-son, Chad. I have 7 wonderful grandchildren, Kaylynn 13, Whitney 12, Taylor 10, Ryan 8, Logan 7, Aubrie 5 and Jace 2. I have worked as the Police Secretary for the Lumberton Police Department for 19 years. I attend Family Worship Center of Beaumont.