And Stuff that has happened.

:) Wow! I finally rediscovered my blog again--not that I'm surprised I lost it, but I forgot which email I used for this account (go figure). Anywho, life in Alabama is speeding along. Since last I wrote there have been several new developments. Jake is in school and trucking along, I am working three days a week at the hospital and we now have a baby peanut on the way. He is due in February and we cannot wait.

I guess that brings us up to speed.

The last few weeks have been fun, Jake and I celebrated our first Halloween together, I demanded that we carve pumpkins and here are the results of our long labored pumpkin carving hours:

Jake did Phinneas, I did Oogie Boogie.

We are PRETTY AMAZING.

:D and then I took some pictures for prosperity's sake.

Jake had a headache, but he was such a good sport.

And of course, we had to make a haunted gingerbread house this last week, all in celebration of Halloween. The next big holiday is Jacob's Birthday, then Thanksgiving! We are looking forward to it...Now, if only I could figure out what to get him for his birthday... :) Any bright Ideas?

Nothing super exciting, but I thought I would at least update my blog. :D Consider it updated.

Keep us in your thoughts! I will update it again soon, hopefully with more exciting news!

Adjusting

    This past week or so as I was running around trying to get residency in Alabama, I was fortunate enough to run to the mall to get my license, only to find that I couldn't get my license at that building--go figure (Something to do with first time license stuff). As I was turning to head home, I called Camille, my very best friend and we began talking when suddenly I realized that I didn't know where I was. I had gotten on the correct road! What had happened? I checked every few minutes to make sure I was still on South Memorial Parkway! It didn't even OCCUR to me that I had driven 30 minutes NORTH on SOUTH Memorial Parkway. I found myself Waaaaayyy far away in a small town called Hazel Green.
So I got lost once--twice--but let's face it, there are a lot of things to adjust to out here, I shall tell you of these things:

• 1. Windstorms. Dorthy, Eat your heart out. The first time I heard a Tornado siren I think my heart about died in my chest. It is an eerie sound. Go ahead and click on the video to hear what I am talking about. From my apartment it is very soft, but just high pitched enough that you hear it, sometimes it ebbs but it goes on for a good period of time. Combined with the 50-60 mile an hour wind, I was sitting in the tiny vanity with a blanket and the radio turned up loud. Poor Jacob, I thought we were going to die. He probably asked me if I was okay a million times.
• 2. Bugs. Thankfully I have not had the pleasure of making the acquaintance of a large-nasty-spider, but the other day Jacob and I left the door open while we carried these white shelves into our house. I was lying on our carpet (because we have yet to get a couch or a comfortable chair) when all of the sudden a small brown and black, flat backed creature silently shot across the carpet. I SCREAMED. I was up in a second, dancing away into the dining room asking Jacob to kill it, please kill it. Jacob grabbed some tupperware MY TUPPERWARE and scooped it up and tossed it outside. He still won't tell me what it was, but it looked like, what I have always envisioned to be a cockroach. I have been told the best is yet to come.

   Those are probably the only downsides to Alabama. The people are all relatively nice. I have had police officers who are writing books, explain the area, which places are safe and which are not, how to get my license changed and how to get my tags changed. I receive endless jokes about the humidity and how the weather is significantly better in Alabama. Which, I will agree, it is. We don't get snow here, only rain. And rain, it does! We have little ponds in our parkinglot and rivers that pour off our sidewalks into the drainage system below. You walk outside and just get soaked.

   I would say the other great thing is our ward, I was just called to be the Beehive Advisor, and I am very excited. It's a little daunting, I mean, I am only twenty years old and I am an advisor for twelve to fourteen year old girls! They are really sweet though, I went into the Young Women's room last sunday and two of them, Sage and Coryn, they simply mobbed me with attention, and I was okay with that. I look forward to working with them.

   Jacob will take the GRE a week from tomorrow, then, hopefully he can start school in the fall. Oh, the GRE is kind of like the SAT for Grad School, for those who don't know. And I am currently searching the field for an occupation. For the past few weeks I have been interviewing for CNA positions, but after a spilled drug test incident, I have taken a break and am now pursuing phlebotomy. As I think about it, I am enjoying the idea more and more, and I feel like they have better scheduled hours. I don't know for sure but I am open to the idea. Keep praying for me, please, I know I need it.

Well, I need to get back to work. Love you lotso.

Courtney

ALABAMA

At last, the lost daughter has appeared in cyberspace, calling: Greetings, Utah! Come in, Utah. Can you hear me? Is anyone out there? My voice just dies out though, because, well, the great people of Alabama don't make mountains like the Utahn's do. It's all right though. It's been pretty warm, lots of rain, and a frightening windstorm to shake things up a bit. Just their way of saying, Welcome, we like you and have a good life--and speaking of which, mine is pretty good.

Jacob and I have settled into our apartment, it's a cute little place. One bedroom, a vanity and a toilet/shower room, A family room and a tiny dining room that connects to the kitchen and niches for the washer and dryer. Jacob and I have been decorating it slowly, placing pictures of all of you on top of shelves and the mantle. Oh! We have a fireplace! Very handy.

My new goal is to go running every morning, apply to one nursing home a day and learn this town inside and out! Jake seems to have already picked up on this little current, he keeps sending me out on my own with brief instruction and keys to the van. So far, I haven't gotten lost once! Ka chigga.

News keeps trickling downstream from Utah and it's fun to receive phone calls and hear about the dating lives of my brothers, Dane and Braun, and then to talk to my sister, a mere ten hours away in Texas. Though I am relatively far away, I feel very close to you all and I think that helps the heart ache.

The ward is very kind, though, they are fewer than those in my single's ward, or even in any ward in Utah for that matter, but they all have very large hearts and have taken us under their wings. We were given some furniture by the Bishop's wife, and my neighbor (about five minutes away by car) had me over for lunch :D Her name is Rachel and she's some years older than me but I felt right at home. She was so kind and I got to know another woman in the ward. Rachel is an amazing cook--she won't admit it, but she knows a thing or two I'd like to learn. She made Banana pudding with whipped cream and nilla wafers...oh, my mouth has been watering all morning. I want some more! It's my new favorite food in all the whole wide world.

I wish that I could rewind and start from day one of Jake and my courtship and through the honeymoon and every day since, but there is so much to cover and so many thoughts and feelings and ideals that have passed through my porous brain, so I will begin today and try to share with those of you who are following, just a tiny insight into my life. :D

Love, love, love, love,

Baby Courtney
(And Jacob)