Fall Festivities

This weekend we continued to embrace the fall season with some apple picking and pumpkin carving. Friday we went to Mountain View Orchards in Jemison, AL with friends Mike, Kelsey, & Adalynne, and Adam & Hannah.  It's a place that Google doesn't even know about. A little orchard not too far off of I-65, with only a small apple-shaped "U-Pick" sign at the edge of the road. Once you follow the tire tracks on back you begin to notice various lines of trees along the open fields in front of you. You roll up to the "general store" where you can buy pre-picked apples. But we were there for fun!  

We paid for our box to fill, then they loaded us up on the back of a trailer and drove us out to the orchard. We all enjoyed the country ride and fresh air, almost as much as Addy!

(Some of my VERY favorite people in this picture right here!
Also many missing, so don't get jealous on me.)

The orchard guy drove us out to the rows that were ready for picking (I prefer you to read that "pickin'," because that's just what happens in the South. You don't go out picking the fresh fruits & veggies from your garden, you go out pickin'!). Then he told us how to determine is the apples were just right for...pickin', and let us loose!

We looked high and low... mostly high, thanks to Adam, until we filled half of the box with Golden delicious ...

...and half the box with Arkansas Blacks.

Then we had fun taking pictures. :)

Then Adalynne decided to take her very first steps right in the middle of the orchard. Which I didn't think of until this moment, is somewhat ironically funny because the child loves fruit. Maybe she saved this moment as her ode to fruit. Or something like that. Anyway it happened, we were all excited, then Kelsey scolded those holding cameras for not capturing the moment, so we recreated it. It went something like this:

And after all of the excitement, we strolled (every so cutely) back to the trailer and loaded up to leave.

They next day, some of our apples were turned into caramel apples and apple pie for the Pumpkin Carving Party on Saturday! I shamefully did not get a picture of the entire table spread of all the fall goodies. But we had lots of fun carving away and creating our masterpieces!

Fall Mantel

Last Friday, I decided it was officially fall. I know it's technically been fall since September, but I haven't really had time to slow down and soak it in. Plus, it's still been shorts and t-shirt weather here, so it hasn't felt like fall. But last Friday, after my last class and right before I left for Dothan, I had to get my oil changed. I picked a recently open shop next to a thrift store I frequent so that I would have something to do in the 45 minutes it took them to change my oil.  While wondering around I happened upon a large empty frame that I thought would work nicely on our mantel for pretty cheap, so I grabbed it. And also lugged it back to the auto shop. Probably got a few strange looks, but that's okay.

When I got home I rummaged around and found the fall decor I bought last season, and threw it all on the mantel. It surprisingly turned out well for a two minute decorating whirl.

I picked up the printed handkerchief, the pumpkin (which really has a place for a monogram, sold separately, on the other side), and the acorns at Hobby Lobby after Thanksgiving last year (= 80% off). The orange dried floral thing sticking out of the candle holder on the left was also from Hobby Lobby. It was in last year's fall by-the-door arrangement outside, which I didn't use this year. The candles (Ikea) and holders (Dollar Tree) are usual mantel items that happened to fit the theme. The owl was from Target at Christmas time, but he certainly blends right in here. It didn't fill up the whole mantel, and I never know what else to do with our map, so it just stayed. 

I had been wanting a large empty frame to add to the mantel to give some dimension and height at times, but had never really looked for one (aka, thought they would/could be expensive). When I saw this one in the thrift store, I first noticed it's shape and size, but then realized that it would match the metallic sunburst piece on the opposite wall (shown above). (It matches more than the photo shows; they both have a brushed bronze metallic look to them.) And that piece also has silver in it, which helps tie in Mr. Owl.

Here's a close-up of the acorns scattered across the bottom. They are little jingle-bell like things. 

On my drive to Dothan, I got to enjoy God's beautiful scenery and noticed that the leaves are starting to change here and there. Also this week I started burning fall scented candles, and we have a few fall 'activities' planned (one of which is coming up here on the blog... stay tuned!). So, welcome fall! And apple cider, and sweaters, and boots, and pumpkin bread, and crunching leaves, and Thanksgiving, and apple pie, and everything else that feels like this time of year! (I kind of like it, can you tell?)

A few days off

I've had a couple of days off from school. If you count the weekend, and the fact that I finished class by noon last Friday, I technically had 4.5 days.  However, they call it "Fall Break" by giving us Monday and Tuesday off. I'll take it, though.

It worked out great for the break to fall on this past weekend. Jesse has been in Dothan since last week for work, so it gave me the chance to go visit him! Thankfully his brother and sister-in-law (Matt & Heidi) live there as well, so I got to visit everyone!

While Jesse worked Saturday morning, I got to visit with Heidi! We had a girl's day out, which started with getting ready - curling our hair and sharing new makeup favorites, then went shopping.  I had so much fun roaming around the stores, getting good (and honest) advice from someone with a similar style and opinion. She hasn't been to Birmingham in a while, so I think we made up for the shopping all in one day. ;)

Once Jesse and Matt were both off work, we went to Firestone Wood Fired Pizza & Grill for dinner. It was amazing! (No pictures, sorry!) If you are ever nearby, stop for lunch or dinner. Their wings and pizzas are fresh, unique, and delicious! Definitely a place that has put great thought and effort into their menu and foods. On our table: the House salad (with dried peaches and pecans - amazing combination), Wood Fired Wings, Hummus with Pita Bread (the bread was great, the hummus of the week not so much), the Meat Baby pizza (what you would think of a meat-lovers, but superb), Hawaiian Delight (ham + pineapple - not my favorite, but Jesse loved it), and the Fun Guy pizza (roasted garlic & spinach).  I've had brick oven style pizza before, but these guys know what they are doing.

After dinner Matt & Heidi took us to AdventureLand, where we had fun being kids again in the arcade. We divided up tokens and played until we were out. Heidi hit the Jackpot twice on a ball drop game, and Jesse once on the game where the light spins around and you have to punch your button at just the right second to trap it (top left in the photo). Our efforts were cashed in for candy!

On Sunday, Jesse and I went to St. Andrew's Bay. We spent the morning on the beach and did some snorkeling. We saw several fish and a couple of crabs along the rocks. There was also an interaction with a couple of raccoons that live in the rocks along the shoreline. They are apparently not afraid of people, and came out to investigate for snacks. They were adorable!

We left the beach for a late lunch at Finn's Taco Trunk, which is known for... well, their tacos. So we ordered the original fish and ahi tuna tacos. Then we patiently waited for them at their picnic tables.  They were quite yummy and piled high with fresh toppings.

Jesse has acquired quite the obsession over Chill Frozen Yogurt while in Dothan, specifically a custard yogurt that they didn't have. No worries. I made do with Pumpkin Pie Fro-Yo + cheesecake bites and Salted Caramel Corn yogurt + a brownie. I promise it all fit into that one bowl. :)

I left Jesse in Dothan for more work, and spent a night in Luverne visiting my parents. My mom even cooked me dinner to my request. Then I enjoyed some naps on their couch, doing absolutely nothing.

It was SO nice to enjoy some time off.  We crammed a lot of fun into just a few days and even through Jesse's work, he helped me make the most of it!

Another exciting fact: the next time we see Matt and Heidi we will be headed to New York!!! I can't wait!

High Five for Friday

Helloooooo everyone!  I realize I've been a little MIA lately. Please excuse the lack of posts; it's been a little crazy around here, with many 10pm nights at school (see #3).  Let's catch up though with this week's high five!

1.  Saturday we had a wonderful visit from Jesse's parents. They came up on Friday and took us to dinner at the Fish Market downtown. We then gave them the Birmingham experience of going to the top of Vulcan, which was beautiful at night; and of course a trip to Steel City Pops!  Saturday morning, Jesse took them to his work where the pond was open for fishing (an annual occurrence). You had to keep what you caught, so they returned at lunch time with several fish, which was just enough to feed the fours of us. It was SO good to have them here with us and to share some of our city with them. :)

2. On Sunday, after church, we stopped by Railroad Park for lunch.  They were having "Trucks on the Track," where all the different local Birmingham food trucks set up for the day, and 10% of the proceeds went back to Railroad Park.  For you non-Birminghammers - Railroad Park is a new-ish park in the downtown area. It's a beautiful place to picnic or go for a walk, with a beautiful backdrop of the city.  It's part of the hope to revive certain parts of downtown Birmingham, and is located just across from the Baron's stadium (Region's Field). This was actually our first time at the Park (go figure... food was involved in bringing us in).  The whole idea of food trucks really drew in a lot of people, as the lines were pretty long. Jesse and I split up to get our grub.  He was on the hunt for fish tacos, and found his way into line for Cantina, while I waited for a fresh off the grill grilled-cheese from Melt.  His cuban and fish tacos were amazing, as was his side of grilled corn with cilantro butter and crumbled fresco cheese. My grilled cheese was no ordinary grilled cheese - it took two hefty Texas toast slices to hold together the brilliant combination of pulled pork, BBQ sauce, and homemade mac and cheese!

3.  I survived my first practical in my clinical evaluations course!  And by that I mean, I don't know if I passed, but I didn't die of a panic attack in the middle of it while my professor watched my every move, and graded me by checking off every little possible thing I could do (or not do, or forgot to do).  Whew!  We were all at max stress this week, because all of our little over-achieving minds probably thought deep down somewhere that this first clinical checkoff would secretly pronounce if we can indeed be optometrists one day. But, we were all stressed for nothing. (Well maybe a little something.)  I tried to give myself a little pep talk before going in. It went a little something like this, "You just gotta go in there and show 'em you can do this. Because you can. You can take a case history. You can determine their visual acuities. You can check their pupil sizes and reactivities to light. You can do confrontation fields. You can check blood pressure. So don't stress... just go do it!"  So I did. You get timed on everything, meaning you have a certain number of minutes to perform each skill, which was the hardest part. Somehow I finished them all in time; definitely with a few flubs here and there. But, I finished it and can now move on.... to the next exam.  It's nearly midterm time, which is absurd, because it seems like we just started this semester!

4.  Last night, after I returned home from my practicals day at school, Jesse and I declared it movie night, and invited Mike and Kelsey up to watch. Movies + popcorn + friends = the best way to unwind after a trying day!

5.  A couple of weeks ago I sat for third year students to practice evaluating contact lenses. Mostly I did this because they were giving American Express gift cards out to the participants. I had had my eye on a few makeup items I wouldn't normally chunk out the dough over, but I decided if I participated and got the giftcard, it would technically be like getting this makeup for free! So, that's what happened. I finally got around to going to Ulta today. They were having 40% off several drugstore makeup brands, so I combined that with coupons to stock up on the foundation I like. (Score!) Plus my splurge (think with me: free!) beautiful Naked palette! I love all of the neutral colors it has inside, and I am SO excited to put it to use!