Mountain Home Marathon

Last weekend, Ryan's family came for a visit. One of the first events of the weekend was the Mountain Home Marathon. This year was the 6th Annual race that benefits a village in Kenya. The race has raised funds over the past 6 years to build fresh water wells a world away. Ryan, his dad, and I jogged/walked the 5K. Bobby finished the 1st out of the 3 of us and Ryan and I crossed the finish-line together. It was a great morning for a great cause.

Duke's New 'Do

Well, it's not really a new hairdo, but the last time Duke got his hair cut, we took the opportunity to take a few pictures while dinner was on the stove. Notice...Duke is somehow perfectly posed in all of the pictures, while Aspen is a little less cooperative...

They put a new scarf on Duke after every haircut...for some reason this one had Tinkerbell on it...We tried not to laugh, but he was a bit embarrassed.

A Beautiful Weekend

The weather could not have been any better this weekend...mid-seventies and nothing but sun! We went to the river Saturday. Ryan did some fishing while I went for a jog and then laid on the grassy bank soaking up some November sunshine. Here are a few scenic shots from the pretty day at the river.

Fall Foliage

We went for a hike last weekend to enjoy the fall foliage before it fell to the ground...and it's a good thing we went when we did! This weekend, most of the trees are bare. The hiking trail wound around coves at the lake and ended at a lookout point on top of a small mountain.

A Weekend in Birmingham

We spent the weekend in Birmingham. Our house sold, so we were in town to get our furniture and sign the closing papers. The buyers were out of town, so they will sign the papers tomorrow to make everything final...keep your fingers-crossed that nothing falls through at the last minute! The experience of selling the house has been bittersweet. We were happy that it sold so fast...especially in this economy, but I cried all weekend at the thought of leaving such a great house (our first house).

On a happier note, we had some fun with Ryan's family this weekend. On Saturday we spent the morning at the American Heart Association Heart Walk. Ryan's dad had organized a team through his company, so we joined him to walk for a cause. Here we are walking through the streets of Birmingham.



In front of a tree of balloons with Ryan's siblings...Schooner walked too!



After the walk we went to the Vulcan...finally! If you remember, I lived in Birmingham for 3 years without ever going to this notable landmark. I guess coming for a visit warrants touristy activities!

View from the top:
Notice Ryan is not with us on the top...He rode the elevator up with us, but was headed down the stairs within seconds of arriving (apparently he's afraid of heights...I never knew).

Since the pictures are taking forever to upload tonight, I just made a facebook album...check out more pictures there!

Today is a special day because it is Rose Marie's (my mother-in-law) Birthday. We celebrated Saturday night with dinner at Joe's Crab Shack and some WONDERFUL birthday cake. Happy birthday Rose Marie!!! Hope you had a great day! We love you and miss you!

Jobs, House...an overall update.

Sorry it's been a while since my last post! I do have a good excuse...we've been bumming internet from my parents. So while we've been coming over daily to use the Internet to check email, etc., I rarely spend enough time to actually post anything on the blog.

Now for an update:
1) As far as my job, I am still waiting on my Arkansas license to be able to start practicing as an NP. So for the past two weeks I've been helping my mom at her daycare...a far cry from what I thought I would be doing, but it has provided some income and kept me from being bored out of my mind! I think I will be starting work at the clinic on Monday as an RN to start orienting to the clinic and paperwork and to start getting a paycheck while I wait on my license.
2) Ryan is still searching for a job persistently but without much success. He has been a bit discouraged, so keep him in your prayers so he doesn't give up and go running back to Alabama ;)...not that there were any jobs there, but at least he has a few friends there to keep his spirits up!
And the grand finale...
3) Our house is under contract!! I hope I don't jinx it by talking about it, but as long as all goes as planned we are going to close on the 14th or 21st of August! I thought it would sit on the market for months, but we had an offer after just 3 weeks. God is good!

Supporting the Local Market

My sister, Kim, and I are hooked on something we both experienced for the first time today...the Mountain Home Farmers Market! We had a great time looking at all the fresh produce, baked goods, homemade salsa and jams, and a few crafts. We both stocked up for the week and hope to make it a weekly tradition. This will save us some money, give us access to the freshest produce, and most importantly, support local farmers and the local economy.

I'm a little picky about my tomatoes. Many vendors (eg. grocery stores) refrigerate tomatoes at some point to reach and maintain an appealing color and texture, and ultimately, make them last longer...great for looks, bad for taste. Refrigerating tomatoes zaps all of that fresh-from-the-garden taste from the tomatoes (and isn't that what we are looking for in a tomato?). These tomatoes are organic, locally grown, and FLAVORFUL!

I spent about $18 on all of this...

But when you consider these two items were $9 (half of the total), I did pretty well on the produce. Homemade salsa and jam...so worth it!

Support your local farmers!