Fort Walton

A couple of weekends ago we went to Fort Walton Beach, Florida and it was so nice.  I LOVE the beach, and I've missed it so much.  I usually go to visit family in San Diego during the winter and early spring/summer seasons when the water is way too cold for a wimp like me.  I've probably only dipped my toes in the ocean the last 4-5 times I've been home.  

Everytime I go to the beach, I feel like my body recognizes the familiar scene of my childhood, and I feel home again.  It sounds crazy, but I do.  My whole body feels more relaxed and I feel happier.  Newel loves the beach too.  I'm sure it crossed his mind when we were dating that visiting in-laws in San Diego would be a definite bonus if/when he married me. :) 

Here's are some pictures of our trip.  

Can't you tell how happy we are to be at the beach?!

Aww yeah.

The is a picture of Destin Harbor which is just east of Fort Walton.  We grabbed dinner in Destin and loved the food, of course.

There are no pictures of us swimming in the ocean, but we swam a lot.  The water was apparently cooler than it usually is for this time of year, but we thought it was warmer than anything in the Pacific.  It was a great beach vacation, and we can't wait to go back again!

Wardrobe MALFUNCTION

 Yep, I accidentally wore different shoes to work today. 

 I wasn't even in a rush this morning.  And I thought I looked totally cute today - cute outfit, good hair day, etc.  We keep our shoes by the front door, and I wanted to wear my comfortable black ones (on my right foot).  I looked down and then back up, assuming I was slipping on my two black work shoes.  But no.  I locked up our apartment, got in my car, drove all the way to work, and didn't even realize I had two different shoes on until I entered the school.  Oh my goodness!  I was tempted to leave work and go back home to get two of the same shoes, but decided against it because I had a lot to do today.  I decided to experiment and see if anyone would say anything.  Only two of my coworkers did.  Not sure if that meant only two of them noticed or only two them were brave enough to say anything.  My first coworker to notice asked, "Hillary, I was wondering, what's going on with...(pointing at my feet)?"  And then, my second coworker to notice came up to me in the cafeteria to quietly ask me if I knew I was wearing two different shoes (probably because she didn't want to embarrass me if I didn't know).  Wow.  I laughed a lot today.  Newel laughed at me too since he got home before I did and got to see the my whole work ensemble.  I think this whole experience taught me (or reminded me) not to take life too seriously.  It's a good life and a funny one too.

Personal Goal for Tomorrow:  Wear the SAME pair of shoes. :)

The Other South

So here are some pictures of a trip I took to San Diego (technically not the South but still Southern California) at the end of April.  I got to do lots of fun things like:

Going to my favorite temple with my mom and sister.

 Going to dinner with my family which included Gavin having to lay down due to his "heartburn".

Discovering Gavin, my youngest brother, is taller than me!  (I knew it would happen, but I still can't believe it!)

Getting to spend time with some of my most favorite people in the entire world!

It was so fun to be with each of them, especially my sister because she left to serve a full-time mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Fort Worth, Texas on May 1st.  I just love her and all of my family so, so much!

Green!

Don't fret, dear blog.  I didn't forget about you.  In fact, I've been thinking of you often ever since my last post when I confessed I really did forget about you.  I've thought all about what I wanted to share about Alabama next so here it is:

Y'all have probably heard that there are A LOT of trees in Alabama, and it's true.  So many.  When we first moved here, Newel said he was getting claustrophobic, and I thought it was a little crowded.  Now we're both used to it, and we both like it.  When we drive somewhere that's kind of open, we usually comment on it because it feels kind of weird to have so much space. :)

Anyway, when we first moved here, it seemed like all the trees were about the same kind of green.  Then in the fall, the leaves started to change into those beautiful yellow, orange, red and/or brown colors that everyone loves.  Then in the winter, most of the trees' leaves fell off, and it was just kind of grey/brown looking.  Then spring came, and it's not like summer where all the trees are the same kind of green.  They are different shades of green, and it's so pretty!  I took a picture (see below), but it doesn't fully capture how pretty it is/was (mostly because those lovely power lines are in the way).

All the pretty green colors made me think of my sister-in-law, Stacy, because she loves green.  I think I know other people that love the color too, but she's the one I can remember really likes it and so it makes me think of her.  I think she would really like the spring trees out here too.  Now that's summers almost upon us, the leaves are turning the same color again.  Weird to think we've been here almost a year...

Oh dear.

A sad thing happened to the blogger in me today.  I forgot I had a blog.  Really, I did.  I was driving home from work today, and I just remembered I had one.  All those professional bloggers out there may not think it's possible, but it totally is and here's how it happened:

I kept telling myself, I needed to update my blog but then kept putting it off.  Bad choice.  Naughty, naughty blogger Hillary.  And this is why I put it off:

It finally hit me that we were really in Alabama and we were here to stay.  We weren't on vacation, just having fun with these friendly Southerners who talk different and make some really good food.  This was our new home.  At least for now.  And I'm more than okay with that.  We love it here, and we've been so blessed to meet and associate ourselves with so many good people and enjoy a beautiful part of the country that we never even really knew about.

I think it was still kind of hard for me to accept being so far from family and think about all the fun things they were doing together.  I didn't want to talk about things going on here when I really just wanted to be over there with them.

But that's life, and I have a good one.  A really good one.  Stay tuned for more of our adventures.  You know some of the greatest adventures happen at home anyway. :)