New Job and Camping

So highlights from this week -- I started a new job! Yay -- finally! I am working as a research assistant at UAB for a professor there doing lots of background research for some of her research and grant proposals. It's been pretty fun to actually have something to be responsible for outside of our house. :) So that's made the week fun and go faster than usual.

The other great thing from this week was that Tanner and I decided to go camping! We found a state park a half hour from our house with camping and hiking and mountain biking and lots of other cool stuff. When we first pulled in we were greeted with the site of lots of RVs decorated for Halloween. The campsites were decked out with hay bales, strings of lights, scarecrows, and pumpkins! I think that people just might live there! We kept on driving until we reached the "primitive camping". We had a nice campsite in the trees and were able to cook ourselves some delicious tinfoil dinners and peach cobbler.

Halloween City!

Tanner cooking our tin foil dinners with our cute tent camouflaged in the background!

The moon coming up over the trees

We just hung out and read aloud that night and enjoyed the slightly cooler weather (nothing like Utah camping, but it's cooling down here a little). Saturday morning we got up early, packed up our stuff and then went hiking. We got to hike through beautiful forests and even though there were a lot of people in the park, there was a car show going on, so we were the only ones out hiking that early. There were a lot of replicas from structures that had been there pre-Civil War and had been burned down in the war, and even some structures that were still standing. Here's some pictures from our adventures.

An old gristmill and cotton gin. 

Tannehill Iron Works (see tiny me at the bottom in the furnace!) These iron works helped supply 70% of the iron needed for the Confederate army during the Civil War and were then raided and burned by the Union army towards the end of the war. 

Hiking in the beautiful forest!

We had a ton of fun and were just so excited to be outside! Other fun news from this week -- we are officially Alabamians! We finally got our Alabama license plate. Doesn't it look good on the yellow truck?

We're loving life and just living it up down here! We hope ya'll have a great week and we'll keep you posted on our next adventure!

Fall is on It's Way (Slowly)

Sorry everyone that I did not get a blog post up this last week. Unfortunately we did not have a very eventful week, so there really wasn't much to share after we posted our "We're Having a Baby Post". Updates on the baby situation -- I am now getting asked by people in our ward if I am expecting (must mean I'm showing more...) and we find out if the baby is a boy or a girl in 2 1/2 weeks on October 7th! Tanner is 50% sure the baby is a girl. Or maybe a boy... :)

Last week Tanner and I were trying to think of ways to save money besides limiting our grocery budget to buying milk, bread, and butter and he decided I should start cutting his hair. That was scary but he bought the tools and I said sure! So we watched a short YouTube video and I followed his coaching, and it actually turned out really good! He did some calculations and found out if he got his hair cut every month for the rest of our lives and he lived until he was 94, we will have saved about $10,000. Haha, I must be married to a scientist!

The weather has been cooling down, which has been very nice! Last week we spent a lot of time outside in our yard for picnics and playing frisbee, etc. This week is supposed to be back in the upper 80's though, but I think fall is coming! A few of the trees have started changing color, and we're really excited for all the trees to start changing. Stay tuned for pictures of that!

And just to make everyone back in Utah jealous, check out our gas prices!

Love it!

The other good news for this next week is that I will be finally starting a job tomorrow! Yay! It is a part time job at UAB. I will also be blogging for a fitness company and hopefully starting up some personal training and corporate wellness stuff for them soon. We'll keep ya'll posted!

Utah!!!

Over labor day weekend we had the wonderful opportunity to fly back to Utah for TJ and Olivia's wedding. It was probably the best weekend ever!! The weather was beautiful and cool (we actually had to wear jackets!), the wedding was spectacular, and we got to spend a lot of time with both of our families!

Here's some of the pictures from after the wedding. As you can see it was a gorgeous day!

The extremely happy couple!

Super cute siblings waiting for TJ and Olivia to come outside. (Notice Trevor's bouquet)

Sisters! Now we have one more to add to the family!

Friday night (the night before the wedding) we had a fantastic fiesta with the Godfrey's and the Snarr's (Olivia's family). We had great food and music, and the boys really enjoyed demolishing the pinatas at the end of the night (with bows and arrows, batman throwing stars, slingshots, and shovels... What happened to the baseball bat?)

Such cute parents :)

Pinata time!

We were also lucky to be there for several birthday celebrations. Tristyn's birthday was Saturday (same day as the wedding). Our nephew's birthday was on Monday and his little sister's birthday is this week, so we got to celebrate both with them on Monday at Jace's birthday party. Jace had asked for a Spiderman birthday cake, and Brittany did a great job making it for him! We loved being outside for the party in their new backyard!

I think Kaylee liked her new chalk!

We had a great family filled weekend! Thanks TJ and Olivia for getting married so we got to come be with everyone!