Another Car "Adventure" Part 1

Really?  REALLY?!  Yes, really, we had another car "adventure".  More like "headache", but everything's okay now.  It was the kind of experience where, at first, I thought, "This is the pits.", but then, by the end, I was thanking Heavenly Father for our safety, kind strangers, supportive family, and the laughs that we experienced through it all.  So here's what happened:

We went to Atlanta for the day to spend time with Newel's sister's family to celebrate his nephew's birthday.  Newel did some laser tagging with the boys and his brother-in-law.  Newel and his brother--in-law were the chaperones, but the little boys wiped the floor with them playing laser tag.  We think it's an intuitive thing for kids.  After laser tag, we went back to their house and had dinner, opened presents, and ate cake and ice cream.  It was fun.  After the party, we said goodbye and got back in the Jetta to head back to Birmingham.

Before we got to the freeway, the battery died.  We were able get the car to a gas station so we could pop the hood and check things out.  A man approached us to see what he could do to help, and gave us some tips to remove the corrosion off the battery, which he thought was probably the problem.  We thanked him before he went on his way.

After removing the corrosion, we realized we needed to jump start the car, and another man offered to help us do that with his truck.  We got it going, thanked the man, and then thought we were on our way.  Guess again.  We got on the freeway and after 5 miles, the battery started to die.  We were able to pull off at the next exit and make it to a McDonalds parking lot, which I helped push the car into.  Newel was stearing the car, so I pushed it by myself.  Yes, BY MYSELF!  I was pretty proud to be able to push the car. :)

#1

I like that when I have to fill in my address for something online (like my job applications), the state of Alabama comes first.  You know that U.S. Names song in alphabetical order that helps you remember all the states’ names?  Alabama is first.  We’re number 1. J

The Snake

Newel likes to tease.  Sometimes I think it's funny, and other times I don't, and he knows it.  When we we're driving out of Oak Mountain State Park, there was a rattlesnake in the middle of the road.  Newel decided to get out of the car to take a picture of it.  I said, "Fine, but I'll stay here in the car.  Be careful."  Newel then gets out and takes this picture of the snake.

 

I'm thinking, okay, you took the picture, time to get back in the car so I wave to him to come back.  But no.  Newel starts stomping around it, and I'm pretty sure the snake's not going to be happy about it.  I'm waving frantically and telling him to get back in the car.  But Newel just smiles and keeps stomping, and I'm thinking I might need to take Newel to a hospital.  Finally, the snake moved a little and Newel took this picture.

"What were you doing?!"  I say as he gets back in the car.  Newel told me hw wanted to try to get the snake to move so he could get a good picture of it because in the other one, the snake was just laying there. Who cares!  Luckily, no one got hurt, especially me because I stayed in the car with the doors locked.  (I really don't like snakes.)

The "Beach"

One of the first places we've gone since moving to B'ham is Oak Mountain State Park.  It's a cool place, not far from where we live and it has a beach!  I've always loved the feeling of being completely submerged in water, and it's something I haven't been able to experience much since my growing-up years in San Diego.  I know we're in the middle of Alabama, and I didn't have high expectations for what the park called a beach, but I when I first saw the beach, I felt like laughing.

 

No waves, very overcast (a lot like Law Street in June), and no ocean breeze because (duh) there's no ocean.  I still liked it though.  I appreciate what I experienced growing up, but I also appreciate what I'm experiencing here.  There are lots of fun things to do to enjoy the outdoors at Oak Mountain.  There are a lot of trails for hiking, biking and horseback riding, pretty scenic drives, canoeing and kayaking on the lake, and a lot of other things we didn't get to check out because we were only there for a day.  So, in summary, it was fun.  Below is a photo I took looking out towards downtown from Oak Mountain (you can't see it because of all the trees!)

 

 

We All Go to Church

I noticed driving to church that there were a lot of churches we passed by until we finally got to our church.  Last Sunday, I counted and found that we pass 8 church building before we get to ours.  And it's not like Utah, where you may pass a few Mormon church buildings before you get to the one you're supposed to go to, but all the churches were different denominations, except I think we passed by a couple Presbyterian churches.  It's cool.  I like living somewhere where a lot of people believe in God and want to worship Him by going to church.  If you want to know more about the church where I worship, go here.  I love it.

Uncle Noodle

 

We went to Atlanta Sunday evening and spent Labor Day with Newel's sister, Rachel, and her family.  We had a lot of fun with them, playing games, going swimming, and eating really delicious food.  Their youngest, Liberty, really liked her Uncle Newel.  After reading her one book, she would go find another book and bring it to Newel wanting him to read/look through it with her.  It was really sweet.  We're grateful to have family nearby here in the South!

Happy Bird-day to Me!

My birthday was last week, but I wanted to post something about it because it was my first birthday in the South, and we actually took a couple pictures of it!  The best parts of my birthday was my family calling and saying something they liked about me (a Heap Family tradition), and then Newel surprising me with coming home from work early and giving me a bouquet of roses.  The roses were beautiful, but what made me the most happy was that we was home, and we could be together for the rest of my birthday.  Just a little side-note about me: nothing brings me more joy and happiness in life than spending time with Newel and family.  So you can see why it made me so happy to have Newel come home early and spend even more time with him.

Anyway, enough with the sappy stuff.  Newel and I love Indian food and so we went to an Indian restaurant for dinner which was delicious (but no Bombay), and then we went to Target to get a vase for the flowers he got me (I have no idea what happened to the vases I had before moving).  Then we went home and watched The Even Stevens Movie (one my Disney Channel Original favorites), which was a present from my brother and his wife (Thank you again Andrew and Stacy!).  It was a low-key birthday, but exactly what I wanted.  I got to talk to my family, eat delicious food and spend most of the day with my sweetheart.  The only picture that turned out was the one in front of Target so here you go. :)