Just Lovely.

Check out the beautiful view from down my street as I got home from work last night. I had to run in and grab my camera.

to the right of our casa: TOO MANY CARS, but what an amazing sky

to the left of our casa

So, last night was Monday. We try to have Family Home Evening on Monday nights. I'd have to say that it was just perfect last night. Chad and I had invited a family from Church to come have FHE with us, but they weren't able to come. So it was just the two of us, as usual. We had a great discussion about how Jesus is described as the "living waters" in the scriptures, and what this means to us. Then we watched the re-run of BYU beating Georgia Tech in Atlanta last weekend and decorated a little family of acorn squash for our porch (thanks to Mama Smith for the cool pumpkin stickers!). What a fun time!

Sweet Home Alabama

Today I went out to the home of some of my clients in Phenix City for therapy. They live in a tiny house with the most amazing backyard I have ever seen. Right on the river. The teenage daughter had told me her backyard was "like, the most amazing yard ever, but [her] parents were so [bleeeeeeep] that they never let anyone come over," but I figured she was probably exaggerating.

Nope, it was really that awesome.

But I was too shy to ask to take pictures. After an hour and a half of "therapy" that felt like Jerry Springer meets Steel Magnolias, however, I was ready to find some pretty outdoors. I found the Phenix City River Walk. I love it, and I can't believe I've worked in this town two days a week for an entire year without finding this place! The sun was just fixin' to go down, people were out fishin' and walkin' and runnin', and I just felt so glad to be there.

Fresh Starts. . . and the FINAL Louisville visit before I make it my place of residence.

Just a quick bedtime post to say I'm really grateful for fresh starts, which are in rich supply for me right now. I moved a bunch of stuff up to Kentucky and saw the beautiful little home Chad and I will be living in, and we basked in being together and enjoying our last visit before the wedding.

I guess I'm just really happy about moving into a new phase of my life, being done with grad school (PLEASE can I be done revising my thesis?!), and thinking about who I want to be. I love the opportunity I have right now to think about who I have been in Auburn--in the branch, in my calling(s), at school, with my roommates, as a person, really--and to decide who I want to be in my new city. What kind of wife/Church  
member/citizen/therapist/person will I be?


Speaking of fresh starts, I was feeling really proud of myself today for actually improving on something I've struggled with. I realized that Christ's Atonement offers us lots of 'fresh starts,' and I'm grateful for that. Starting over--whether it be moving to a new city, getting married, or just improving at something and forgetting past mistakes--it all just feels like such a blessing right now.

Oh, and um...only 26 days!! Good heavens.

Here are some trip pictures.

by the scummy water after deciding not to swim.

oh how badly I wanted to get in the water. . . but couldn't bring myself to do it.

looking adorable.

pretty trees and sunshine by our campsite.

a parody of our overly-abundant "squishy face" pictures

lookin' sweaty...106 degrees of pure humidity

flowers, a card, AND my favorite person all in one house.

hammock hammock hammock

My mom gave me a hammock for my birthday and I LOVE IT! I even slept in it this weekend when I went to the beach with church people. My new favorite Sunday activity involves going to my favorite park and reading while lounging in the hammock. This weekend: camping in Louisville with Chad, James, and maybe some other friends. I will be camping in style in my sweet hammock. Thanks, Mom!

A braggy post about my life.

So, sometimes a blog seems like a good place to brag about how great your life is. I mean, if people don't want to read it, they don't have to, right? (Whereas I could seriously annoy people if I did all my bragging face to face).

This weekend I went to Louisville, KY for a visit. Some of the highlights included:


playing lots and lots of tennis


seeing Blind Pilot and Brett Dennen in concert


experiencing bits of Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky in the fall



and mostly, just being with one of my favorite people. This man makes me soooo happy.


Oh, and tickets from Birmingham to Louisville are only $29 each way on Southwest. Have you ever heard of such a thing? AND I met the lead singer of Blind Pilot. How is life so good?!

Blueberries!!

Went on a special outing this morning with Shauna and Esperanza to pick blueberries. $5 for a gallon seemed like a steal I couldn't pass up. However, an hour and a half of picking in the hot sun gave new insight into why I generally pay $3 for a handful of blueberries at the store.



It was kind of tedious, but definitely satisfying. Now I have tons and tons of blueberries!



I can't wait to figure out what to do with them. I'm thinking I'll freeze a bunch for smoothies and pancakes and stuff, and maybe try and can some?



I've been dreaming of making a blueberry/lemon pie, but I don't really know if such a thing exists. We'll see. Any other ideas? Please share.

Lightning Storm

SNOW

That's right, it snowed today. It's almost June, and it snowed today. My birthday is in 3 days, and it snowed today. My birthday! Which is--it always HAS been--a "summer birthday." Meaning, I never brought cupcakes to school on my birthday. Because my birthday was during SUMMER VACATION. I don't care if the summer season doesn't officially begin until June, my birthday is a summer birthday. And it snowed today.

That said, I shouldn't complain about anything that keeps people in their homes and away from our busy Will Call office on a Monday morning. It's like a lovely little Christmas gift, in May.

I'm training for my second triathlon. Only this time, I kind of want to challenge myself and go for the Olympic one instead of the Sprint one. The sprint one was pretty comfortable, but making the jump to the Olympic one seems completely daunting. I don't want to regret not going for it, though. I was terrified of the swimming section of the sprint until I did it last year, and it wasn't bad! So I'm hoping that's how the olympic one will be, this year. Can you tell I'm still trying to fully convince myself I can do it? I still haven't registered. But I made up my training plan. Too bad I started late--it's already three weeks into what's supposed to be a 10-week plan. Whoops. I can do it though, right? I'm young! If I can't do it now, then when will I? Although, I remember learning in an Adult Development class that old people, while they decline in speed and agility, actually IMPROVE in endurance. Isn't that cool? That must be why there were so many elderly folks at last year's triathlon kicking my trash.

I went to an awesome concert on Saturday. Check out the Local Natives, if you haven't listened to them before. Also, the opening act was pretty good, too. Check out The Suckers here.

Moab!!