Scary!

As we were pulling out of our neighborhood this morning, a woman stopped us to let us know the cops had set up a speed trap. We saw a bunch of police cars as we drove out of Haile and thought it was nice of her to let us know. Then I saw this story on the Gainesville Sun website. It wasn't a speed trap at all. Pretty scary! This is the trail we run and the attack occurred about a half-mile from our house. No more running alone...

The Alachua County Sheriff's Office is searching for a man who attacked a woman on a running trail in Haile Plantation at SW 94th Street and SW 46th Boulevard early Wednesday.

The man beat the woman extensively and sexually assaulted her, said Sheriff's Office spokesman Lt. Steve Maynard. The incident occurred between about 6:30 a.m. and 6:40 a.m. at the entrance to the Indigo Square subdivision.

The 36-year-old woman had been jogging and was about 40 feet from the back of a house when a man with a gun appeared on the trail, officers reported. He struck the woman at least once in the face with gun, Maynard said. He then hit her repeatedly before tearing her clothes. The man raped the woman.

The woman was badly injured and may have suffered a broken jaw, according to deputies.

Another jogger heard the woman's screams and came to her aid. The witness told investigators she saw a man walking away toward a four-door small sedan. “He nonchalantly drove away as if he wasn't in a hurry,” Maynard said.

Maynard said investigators are hoping that any motorists in the area who may have spotted the man or the car can provide information about the suspect's whereabouts. The suspect was described as a black male with short hair and a medium build who was “very clean cut” and wearing black shorts and a black shirt.

“This guy is extremely dangerous,” Maynard said.

Officers were at the scene of the attack Wednesday morning. A law enforcement helicopter also had been called out to circle the area and look for the suspect's vehicle.

Fun Weekend!

First, we must introduce to you "Big Phil," the newest edition to the Tobler home. We finally bought our be-lated Christmas gift to ourselves on Saturday, a 47" LCD tv. It really is a big TV. I can almost see it without my contacts in!



"Big Phil"



Jeff bonding with "Big Phil"

We were also able to celebrate a few our our friends' graduation from dental school. It was a lovely graduation ceremony and the after-party was fun too. Of course, this means they're all leaving soon too. I had to say goodbye to our best friend, Brent, yesterday which was sad, sad, sad!

I'm busy this week getting ready for my trip to San Francisco next week. I'm presenting at a conference and there is a lot to do to wrap things up. I'm also shooting to finish the draft of my second dissertation paper by Friday, which means I have a couple of long evenings ahead of me.

Jeff's dental school application is almost ready. We're still trying to decide on which schools to apply to. It's kind of crazy picking these places not knowing if you're going to end up living there...would we really want to move to Morgantown, West Virginia??

Have a good week!




Us with Erin, Tanner & Dr. Martin after the dental school graduation



Irene & Jeff at the post-graduation party



How I spend my evenings and Saturdays...fun, fun, fun!



How Jeff spends part of his Saturdays!

Bonjour!

It's time to brush up on my French!! Ashley and I are headed to Paris for a fabulous twin vacation in August! YIPEE!! We haven't set the exact date just yet but, I'm really excited. I'm sure it's going to be one of those experiences that I'll always cherish. Getting lost in Paris with my sister for a week...it's going to be great!



We've had a pretty busy week this week. I'm on the tail-end of a very long, tedious project at work and I'm very thankful that it's almost over. We've also been preparing Jeff's application for dental school...it's that time! We're not planning on moving but, it's kind of crazy to think that we might! (I hit my 10 year mark in Gainesville in August...the trend is against us leaving.)

I started my weekend a little early last night with a fun estrogen fest (girls night). We went to Bento (one of my favorites...try the Miami roll!) and watched 27 dresses. I don't get to watch chick-flicks very often...it was fun! I managed to avoid getting teary-eyed with the happy ending...can't say the same for Rachel though (you're too cute, Rachel!).

This weekend a few of our friends are graduating from dental school. We'll be attending graduation tomorrow and the after-party as well. Saturday we'll be picking up our new TV (if all goes as planned)!

It's going to be a fun weekend! I hope yours is as well!

P.S. On the diet-front...Jeff and I are staying strong. I'm down 2 lbs (which I'm hoping is not an anomaly) and Jeff's slimming down as well. Our competitors, the Copelands, bit the dust. Cassie right out of the gate and Craig earlier this week.

Diet Update

Jeff and I have made it on our diet all week! We have a free day tomorrow which I'm looking forward to. Except I can't figure out what diet-breaker it is that I want to have! Cookies, Chad's famous pina coladas, a big bowl of cheesy pasta, pizza....too many good things to choose from! It really hasn't been too bad so far. The hardest part has been breaking our evening snacking rituals. We are both night-snackers and bad habits are hard to break!

We don't have much planned for the weekend but, we might do our part to stimulate the economy and finally purchase our 47" (or 52", still undecided...is it worth $100 an inch for the extra five inches?) LCD TV with our recently received rebate check. Actually, its our belated Christmas gift to ourselves that we just haven't gotten around to buying since January! It will be a welcome addition to our TV room. Our little 37"seems so small after watching my dad's 52" for a week over the holidays! Of course, this would mean I'll have to spend the weekend hooking it up (Jeff does many things but, electronics is not one of them) and that'll eat into my dissertation work time...a real issue!

Anyway, we wish all our our readers a great weekend! And especially our Moms! We love you and appreciate your love, support, and encouragement. Our lives are better because you're in them!

The Real Diet Begins...

Bathing suit season is in full-swing in Florida and Jeff and I decided it was time to get serious about our diet. We do pretty good normally, healthy food, running regularly, but we want to have more dramatic results. So, today we began our high (lean) protein, no dairy, low-carb diet (I know, sounds exciting, huh?). We've turned it into a bit of a challenge with Craig & Cassie which should make it more motivating and fun. I'll keep you posted on our progress!

We had another nice weekend. I am starting to buckle-down and work on my dissertation on Saturdays. It's not much fun (I missed the trip to the beach) but, it'll feel so good to get this rather large monkey off my back! I'm making good progress and so far, I'm still on track to finish this fall.

Jeff and I both have trips coming up in the next few weeks. Jeff is headed on a cross-country road trip with his buddy, Brent. They are driving from Gainesville to Washington (yes, state) in Brent's big truck, pulling a 16 ft. trailer, and two dogs in the cab. It sounds like a disaster to me but, he's looking forward to it! I'm headed to San Francisco for work and am looking forward to it. It's been years since I've been and it's one of my favorite cities. I'm hoping to carve out an afternoon/evening to eat some clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl, shop, and catch up with a good friend.

Ashley and I are also trying to plan a fabulous vacation. Paris in August/September?? Hopefully, we can find some reasonable airfare. It's pretty expensive right now!

New Toy!

So, Jeff and I tend to be "late adopters," meaning those individuals in the population who adopt new technology later than most others. In keeping with our tradition, Jeff has been using his little cell phone that came free when we first signed joined the world of mobile phones four years ago (we were late adopters with that too). He desperately needs a new one and has been looking around and quickly became taken with the T-mobile dash--a "smart" phone. Anyway, we know we're behind but, we finally bought our first "smart" phone last night. Jeff, being the kind guy that he is, let this one be mine. After all, in our relationship, I'm the one that will truly test all its functions. I'm pretty excited about my new toy and Jeff should have one soon (if it performs as well as we hope)!

All Done!

All done with finals, tests, studying, etc.! Whahoo!

Fun Weekend!

In between our study sessions this weekend, Jeff and I finished up the parade of homes with the Copelands and Greenhalghs. It was a fun day and our favorites from last week were still our favorites this week. We finished our afternoon with a great dinner at the Olive Garden. For some reason, Jeff and I never seem to go there but, we both had delicious dishes (I had the stuffed rigatoni w/ chicken and Jeff had the steak gorgonzola alfredo) and are likely to return.

It's finals week this week. Both of our exams are on Tuesday so, were gearing up for what will be a busy start to our week with a couple of long days. It's finally sinking in for me....last class ever, last exam ever, last time I have to study ever... All pretty exciting!

As a more random note....Jeff and I were talking today about how we enjoy all the wildlife around us. Just sitting on our back porch this afternoon we saw a blue jay, two male cardinals, one female cardinal, a woodpecker, a hawk, and our usual assortment of lizards and squirrels. We're so blessed to live in such a beautiful place, surrounded by so many beautiful things!

Have a good week, all!

How do you celebrate you last class ever???

By skipping it!! So, yesterday was to be my very last day in class as a student (It's pretty hard to believe I couldn't possibly go to school any longer without changing professions!). When the alarm went off at 7am I thought to myself....go to my last class? Or sleep in? After all, it was the last time I could skip class and sleep in. I'm sure I'm not the only one who would've chosen to sleep (Jeff was grateful)! I have my final on Tuesday morning and then I'll just have my dissertation to complete (which is progressing nicely)! Yeah!

Jeff has been busy with his end-of-semester tasks as well. His trying to register for what will be his last class in his master's program so that he'll get to spend his last two semesters just doing the project for his thesis. He's excited about a long break from classes before he (hopefully) starts dental school.

Other exciting news....Lost and Grey's are starting new episodes tomorrow night! I can't lie, I've actually enjoyed the forced hiatus from TV since the writer's strike. I've had the opportunity to re-evaluate how involved I want to be in these shows and have chosen just a few (Brother's and Sisters, Lost & Grey's) to follow. It's been so nice to sit on our back porch and read/chat with Jeff instead!

Unproductive Weekend

Jeff and I had big plans this weekend to be productive and work on all of our end-of-the-semester school work. Classes end for both of us tomorrow (his for this semester, mine forever!) and we have loads to do. Saturday morning began well. However, we were quickly distracted when Cassie and Craig invited us to the Parade of Homes. The builders in the area put this event on and it features a few dozen new home throughout Gainesville that they let you walk through. Needless to say, we went and didn't get anything we wanted to done! We enjoyed it so much that we're doing it again this Saturday...visiting a few of our favorites and a bunch we didn't get to see and hopefully taking some pictures!

I did find the following online...it's the sketch and floor plan of our favorite home. It has become our new dream home (and the Copeland's too). Some day....








We capped our unproductive weekend off last night by attending a BBQ at Brent and Erin's. We had a great time and definitely busted our diet!