Come On

 

People, it's 70 degrees outside!  You don't need to play in the snow.  Maybe they don't know how good they have it.  70 degrees vs. 30 degrees the last week of November?  I know what I prefer.  How about you? :)

Stone Mountain

On Thanksgiving Day, we went to Stone Mountain Park with Newel's brother-in-law and his kids.  It was really fun.  We rode the skyride to the top of the mountain and then took lots of pictures because you can see a lot of stuff from the top (mostly trees and dowtown Atlanta).

 

The skyride we took to the top.

 

 

The top of the mountain is 1,686 feet above sea level which is the highest elevation we've experienced since leaving Utah.

 

Looking south? (I'm very directionally-challenged with no big ocean or mountains.)

 

 

I thought this was the prettiest view of the day.

 

 

 

It was great to spend the day with family and enjoy the outdoors before it really cools down here in the South.  We hope y'all had a great Thanksgiving!

Real quick...

We're going to Atlanta for our first Thanksgiving in the South to be with Newel's sister and her family.  It should be swell.  I will definitely post something about our adventures out there (fingers-crossed that our sweet, little Jetta behaves this trip). 

We still have to pack and get up early to drive out there, but I wanted to tell a story real quick about an experience Newel had at work.  On Monday, Newel's work had a Thanksgiving potluck.  There were all kinds of amazing Southern Thanksgiving dishes like smoked turkey, cornbread dressing (stuffing), and sweet potato casserole.  To bad it wasn't take-your-wife-to-work day.  I would've been all over that food.  Anyway, this story isn't about the food.  It's about Newel and his coworkers.  Newel said before they started, they blessed the food.  Newel said it was awesome because there wasn't any hesitation on praying to Heavenly Father in thanks for their blessings, which included being together and having food.  No one was worried about offending anyone because everyone acknowledged that all blessings come from Him.  I thought it was a neat story.  I hope I told it well enough.

I know we're grateful for all our blessings.  If I name them one by one, I'll never get to packing.  Happy Thanksgiving!

Isn't this cute?

 

I found these when I unpacked a few months ago, and I didn't know what to do with them so I just took a picture of them.  The one on the left is Newel's handprint in 1985 and the one on the right is my handprint in 1989.  It amazes me when I think that Newel and I were once just little kids (with little hands) that had no idea one another existed.  We had no idea that one day we would marry and embark on a whole new adventure together in Birmingham, Alabama.

 

This life is an amazing gift, and we are so grateful to be living in Alabama at this time in our lives.  When we first found out we'd be moving to Birmingham, I said, "Birmingham?!  Who thinks about Birmingham?!"  The only time I had ever thought of Birmingham was when I learned about civil rights history in grade school.  But now that we're here, I know one thing for sure - our Heavenly Father thinks about Birmingham.  He is very mindful of everyone that lives here, including me and Newel.  He loves all of us so much and thinks about each of us all the time, no matter where we are in the world. 

A Valuable Friendship

I'm a friend worth having right now.  Well, I'm a friend worth having all the time, but especially now because I'm almost finished with my two weeks of new-hire training!  I am now certified in CPR and First Aid.  I've also completed a 2-day training in MCS (Managing Crisis Safely) where I learned some great skills including but not limited to: blocking punches/kicks, getting out of choke holds and removing potential weapons from a person's grasp.  Basically, I can kick butt right now...and/or rescue you if necessary.  And may I add that I learned to drive/successfully drove a mini school bus yesterday.  Having a friendship with me is a very wise investment. :)

So Beautiful

 

 

John 1:3 

 

Football Fever

We are embarrassed to admit to football fans around here that we don't have cable because that means we probably don't watch the games.  And really?  Who in Alabama doesn't watch the games?!  Sorry folks, we don't.  Not because we don't want to; it's because we usually just don't. 

But sometimes, we don't have to watch the games to know what's going on.  We can just listen to what's going on outside.  This last weekend, Alabama played LSU and it was pretty intense.  We were watching Smallville, and every once in a while, we would hear people shout and say, "Yeah, baby!" or "Whoo!" or other loud cheers.  Newel would then check his smartphone and tell me the score and whatever else was happening in the game.  After we finished watching Smallville, got ready for bed, said our prayers, and started falling asleep, all of the sudden we heard a bunch of people cheering, cars honking, and one dude scream "ROOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLL TIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIDDDE ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLL!!!"  Newel and I started laughing.  We love the football fanaticism.

Newel checked his smartphone again to see how the game ended.  Alabama was down 14-17, but then scored a touchdown with a minute left in the game.  Final score 21-17.  Nice win, Crimson Tide.  That really is something to cheer about, especially if you live in Alabama.  One day, we will fully partake of this football fever. 

If you want to partake now, go here.

Backyard Adventures by the 280

Yesterday was BEAUTIFUL, and it was warm too.  Newel said, "I never thought I'd say it's a nice, warm November day."  I loved it.  This Birmingham fall weather reminds me of how things were growing up in San Diego.  Being here feels a lot more normal to me than when I lived in Utah.  I still love Utah though.  Just not the cold weather so much.

Major props if you find Newel in this picture.

 

After we cleaned and exercised and did all our other Saturday errands we went to walk along the Cahaba River which is right behind our apartment complex (basically our backyard) and flows under the 280 (the majorily congested highway Newel and lots of other people take to work).  Walking through the trees and by the river was really pretty.  Here are some pictures:

You can see the Cahaba River right through the trees. 

 

Me smiling in exasperation after trying to get Newel to take a decent picture of me. 

This was the best one he took. :)

And this, in my humble opinion, is the best one I took.

 

More Cahaba River.

 

Underneath our busy, bustling 280.

 

Newel walking back to our car while I scramble to get one last picture.

 

Yesterday was one of my favorite days we had in Birmingham.  A nice, warm November day.