Hi from sunny (and damp) So Cal!

Ahh! It's nice to be home in Long Beach for the holidays! I arrived Tuesday night in the midst of Day 6 of seven straight days of rain - LA is not set up for this! Mudslides, floods, and general chaos hit pockets of areas for commuters and the like. Thankfully I landed in a respite of rain - had I arrived a day later and I would've been delayed by the torrential downpours. But it's not like this is Hurricane Katrina or anything, though the local news would like you to think otherwise. I can only take a few minutes of "STORM WATCH 2010" before I gag...I guess LA needs its drama.

Today I see blue skies and comfortable 60 degree temps. Yesterday my mom and Anthony went shopping for some last minute stocking stuffers and made it to Gloria's Cafe which was featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. We ordered a couple of the specialties that were covered by Guy Fieri - Carne Adobada, and the Seven Seas Soup - delicious!! The soup was pretty amazing, it reminded me of a Vietnamese soup called Hu Tieu that my mom makes. My brothers and I call my mom's version the "Noah's Ark Soup" because it's loaded with pork, shrimp, crab, and a quail egg to boot. There are unlimited versions and you can really put anything you want in it - dried squid, octopus, pork stomach lining...whathaveyou.

Here are a few pictures of my trip thus far - a visit with my first niece, Luella, and some shots at Gloria's Cafe.

xo!

Merry early xmas for hannah!

This was an early xmas present from our dear friends Iowa (Kerri) and her pup Ellee!! Hannah had a blast "opening" up her present! Enjoy!

What up ya'all?!!

The holiday season...

Ahh!!! It's been a very nice week of mostly relaxation and calmness after the hubbub of returning from Iceland and studying for finals. All the students have cleared out of town and traffic is slow in town, we can park on campus for free, and the hallways are free of undergrads cramming for tests. The Christmas tree is up and we've put up a few other decorations, but for the most part we keep up the Christmas spirit by listening to random holiday songs and watching holiday specials on hulu. We recently watched Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas which is Dan's favorite Christmas show that he's watched since he was a kid. It was pretty adorable and as he said, the songs get stuck in your head as simple as they are. Here's a youtube clip of outtakes I found...adorable...

Yesterday we went to a new burger place that we've been reading about. They have a solid greasy burger with slightly sweet fries and onion rings. It hit the spot on a chilly Friday that also happened to be my birthday. The day before we celebrated my birthday with a birthday brunch. The pictures document much of the spread we had - Dan went all out on his cinnamon bacon rolls, we made ham and green onion omelets, the neighbors made waffles with an apple topping and of course our beverages were mimosas and bloody marys...delish! All in all a delightful last few days have passed us by....

We both can't wait to fly home to our respective homes - just a few more days!! yippee for Christmas!!

xo

ct

Holidays!

Happy Holidays!

Today we got our Christmas tree! It's a squat little guy we bought from the Home Depot. Chau is actually taller than it but that is exactly what we wanted. We don't have a lot of space in our house so a nice small tree is perfect. Besides, we don't have many decorations to decorate a large tree anyway. We actually don't have ANY decorations...just lights and popcorn garland that Chau made. For the topper, we passed on the star/angel and went for the traditional cowboy hat. Here are a few pictures. Merry Christmas!

Christmas decorations part I...

Hi!!

Here are a few random pictures for you to enjoy...Dan got back from Iceland yesterday afternoon..It's great to have him back and Hannah seems very happy as well. I went to a Pho place for some pho to-go in Bham before picking Dan up (it made me a few minutes late to the airport...whoops). Dan had the chicken pho (which I think should not exist in this world), I had my usual pho tai (with the rare steak) and a couple of spring rolls. Everything was very tasty - the broth was very flavorful and aromatic so I am pleased to have a decent pho fix somewhat close to us.

I can't believe it's December already! While Dan was away I started some minor Christmas decorations, we still have to pick out a tree together sometime this week. We are both very excited to be visiting our respective families in less than two weeks! Dan hasn't been home in quite a few years, while I haven't been back since last Christmas. I'm excited to see the new improvements my parents have been making to the house and also ecstatic to eat some In-n-Out burgers, lots of good Vietnamese, and stir fried lobster from a Chinese restaurant which is a Christmas time tradition (usually because that's just when all the kids are home and can enjoy it!).

I tried my hand at a slow cooked boston butt pulled pork studded with garlic and rubbed down with liquid smoke, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder. I also slapped together a random BBQ sauce I found on chowhound:

1 part yellow mustard, 1 part apple cider vinegar, 1/4 part sugar, 1/4 part light brown sugar, 1/4 part water, 1/8 part chilie powder, 1/16 part Worcestershire sauce, 1/16 part black pepper, 1/16 part cayenne pepper, 1/16 part soy sauce and maybe a tablesoop of butter. Place this in a sauce pot, bring to a boil, make sure you have enough liquid, cut the heat back and let simmer about 30 minutes.

We made pulled pork sandwiches, drizzled with the spicy bbq sauce and a sprinkling of some nice crunchy slaw. It doesn't stand up to local bbq joints that actually smoke their meat on a smoker (rather than our cheater liquid smoke way), but still does the job in half the time.

It's been in the mid 40s during the day while at night it dips down to the low 20s! We've cranked on the heat and it's nice and cozy at home. The only thing that would make our ambiance perfect is stoking a nice fire in our non existent fireplace.

Here is my birdhouse I won! Tilt your head to the left...now:

Some people think it looks like a scarecrow..what do you think?

Anyhow, enjoy the other pictures!

Random news

An email I got today:

From: Kentuck

Subject: Congratulations!

Date: December 2, 2010 7:16:57 PM CST

To: Chau

You have won the George Shelton birdhouse featured at the Kentuck Museum Gallery Shop!
Stop by to pick up your prize anytime between 9am to 5pm Monday through Friday and 10am to 4:30pm Saturday.

Congratulations!

Valerie

*************************************************************

Woo hoo!! The Kentuck is an art center that hosts the annual art festival I went to earlier this year where I made my birdhouse that now decorates the yard. I can't fully remember what the birdhouse I won looks like, but I entered a random drawing during last month's Art Night that we went to with the neighbors and some other friends. We've only gone to a two so far, but we've upheld a tradition of getting a drink afterwards in case we have to console ourselves about Tuscaloosa's meager art scene. Art Night occurs every first Thursday of the month. In fact, there is one going on right now! I opted to stay in today and mellow out with a Hot Toddy some Ratatat, and some garland in hopes of decorating the house a little...we'll see how it goes.

I hope to pick up my new birdhouse soon so I'll post pictures soon!!

Weeee!!

xo,ct

Halló from Ísland #2

Hello again! Tonight I am in a great mood. Today, we just finished our field work for this trip. Oh Joy!!! Today was a beautifully sunny day despite being a frigid -7 degrees C. At least it didn't rain. Enough about that. I have a few more pictures to share. Chau told me to take a lot of pictures because apparently I don't. So here are a few more. Enjoy!!

Hello from Iceland!!

Hello! Or should I say the Icelandic word for hello which is...well I guess I don't know it. Icelandic is a very difficult language to learn. Anyway, I believe I'm writing our first "International Blog". I am sitting in my posh apartment at the University of Iceland in Reykjavik. I arrived on Sunday morning and am already into day 2 of field work. I will not be leaving for another 4 days so I hope to blog again while here. I am making this post fairly short for a couple of reasons. The first being that i am extremely tired from field work today and I need to get some decent sleep at some point this trip. The second reason is that I have a paper to finish writing tonight for my Microbial Biology class. I need to get that in by tomorrow and I will be in the field all day tomorrow. So I'm just going to post a few pictures of what I've been up to thus far. ENJOY!

Happy Belated Thanksgiving!

Ahh...with bellies full of my infamous "Thanksgiving bowls" (leftovers from Thanksgiving mashed up in a bowl and eaten with a spoon), I write with a heavy heart regarding Alabama's sad loss against Auburn in the Iron Bowl...28-27!! We looked so promising during the first half, but abysmal in the second half. I'm sure most of T-Town is much sadder than Dan and I, so I guess this year I'm thankful I don't care too much about football...The game ended maybe 30 minutes ago and we can already hear the line of trucks and RVs leaving town. The Goodyear blimp has been hovering above us all day but will hopefully quiet down now that the game is sealed. We have frequently commented on the novelty that is southern football, the most impressive is the fact that last week we played Georgia on a Thursday (unsure why), and rather than have the football game compete with University traffic, the higher ups decided it was best to cancel classes all together so tailgating could take place unimpeded by students craving education...really now Alabama?!?!? yes, really...Today's game is one of the biggest rivalries in the South, and having it on Black Friday caused much hubbub about town. Once again, the higher ups decided to push for "Crimson Saturday" to be touted about as the big shopping day so consumers would not have to choose between ginormous sales or football (it was close, but football won out)...we'll see how the local merchants make out...

Anyhow, our Thanksgiving has quite wonderful. For me, the morning was filled with prepping the turkey, gravy, and stuffing (Dan took care of cranberry sauce and popovers). We went next door to have an early dinner (3pm!) with the neighbors and another couple that also teaches at the University. We had a great spread of food and followed the great American tradition of Thanksgiving gluttony, but saved room for dessert two hours later. We played a few rounds of Taboo (love that game) and called it a night...after Dan played a few rounds of Nintendo football and I snuck in a second Thanksgiving dinner (of course). Here are a few pics of our day..

Dan leaves for Iceland tomorrow for an 8 day sampling trip. Hopefully the weather holds for him, but outlook is a little touch and go...Look out for another update from him when he gets back!

xo

ct

Note!

I just added a few more pics to the most recent photo album for Nov 21, 2010, here's the link again (or also on the top right of our blog)...a little project we worked on over the last week finally shaping up after today - another raised bed for the yard! We'll have to buy some planting soil from our new favorite nursery in town...then time to plant more stuff - probably more lettuce and....hmmmmm....

ct!

Happy Birthday to Dan (yesterday)!

Hi!

First off, pictures that I want you to see right now without clicking on another link:

Ninja comes to the house to say "hi" Ed Grimley style...

On Dan's special day in Birmingham after a birthday dinner at Rojo...

Dan's Bday was yesterday and we had a great day all around. We started it off with a hearty breakfast of Dan's skillet potatoes and a nice simple omelet. We then headed into Birmingham and zipped straight to First Ave Rocks where the birthday boy wanted to spend his special day. I didn't have the foresight to rent the "party room" that the climbing gym has, but maybe next year...

After a nice climbing workout we set out to find Rojo, a latin bar and grill that has peaked Dan's interest after hearing Bob Dylan gave it a shout out on his weekly radio show. Now, we love love love Birmingham - it has a surprisingly pretty skyline, a nice historic downtown, a smattering of art and culture that the South can be devoid of, and all around a lot going for it. However, we have yet to master navigating around Bham's Highland neighborhood. The streets curve through residential neighborhoods and change names at the drop of a hat. There are numerous bowl-like parks in the neighborhoods that serve more to confuse you than landmarks to gauge navigational progress. So needless to say, attempting to find Rojo with a subpar map proved difficult, but in the end after acquiring Rojo's phone number (novel idea!) we got some vague directions from a helpful Rojo waitress and made it with extreme hunger.

Dan ordered a tasty mahi mahi taco plate while I opted for the carne asada burrito. While we waited for our food we noshed on some mini nachos and a couple of tasty bloody marys. The food and ambiance at Rojo was just what we wanted after a day of some hard climbing.

Bellies full, we set out to do a little shopping as we've been in the market for another refillable chalk ball and some natural vegetable shortening. Where else to do this shopping than the Cahaba Village Plaza? There are many "shi shi" shoppes and boutiques in the plaza along with a Mountain High Outfitters and a Whole Foods which meant virtual one stop shopping. We visited the area when Dan's parents visited since Tuscaloosa is lacking a really nice outdoor store that actually meets our needs (rather than the needs of people who just want to look like they are outdoorsy)...

We headed home after a nice day in the big city and after a quick power nap we walked down to the Alcove for a low key birthday night cap. A couple tasty high gravity beers put us right to sleep, all in all I think Dan had a great birthday with a nice mix of fun and relaxation...In addition, Alabama had a home game on Thursday against Georgia so Saturday was very mellow around town which played well into Dan's low key Birthday celebration.

Here are some pics from the last week or so...

xo

A quick note...

Dan and I just made up this Google Map of a few choice landmarks from his first Iceland trip. Check it out! Here is also a video of the "Vulcan's Larder"....these are the scientists Dan works with....

We hope to add more to the map soon enough!

xo

Food and Fall...

With the chillier temps outside we've been excited to get cozy at home, wearing our down booties, drinking hot coffee all day, and oh the food, the food! - been cooking a lot of comfort foods and devouring it with much enthusiasm...Tasty chicken yellow curry (with jasmine rice, we just bought 25 lbs from the asian market)..Dan's been making a lot of great breads from the Artisan Breads in 5 minutes or less book...I just made a super easy apple cake using a recipe from this blog. So far it smells like Fall from the oven, so I think it's a winner.....earlier this week I made some fried tofu cutlets with an impromptu BBQ sauce and spinach mashed potatoes...Shrimp tacos with a garbanzo bean and cabbage slaw! We have been eating well for sure. I am also SO excited to cook for Thanksgiving...we're having the orphan's Thanksgiving at the neighbor's house with a few others (maybe) on their newly acquired retro kitchen table complete with 4 inches of chrome wrapping around the edge...

oh yeah, go Tide! bouncing back after a very sad loss to LSU last week, we beat mississippi state university handsomely. Dan and I walked down to the Alcove Tavern and had a couple pints along with a catered free meal from the Innisfree Pub (pasta salad, mac and cheese, and a chipotle glazed pork loin..we had seconds, no shame when it comes to free food, especially good free food...)

ok, time to check on the apple cake...let's hope for the best!

xo

Random bits

I dressed Hannah in the hideous blouse I got from the thrift store for my Halloween costume...hard to make out the shoulder pads on her though...

And our first "bounty" from the starters I got from the Fall Arboretum Plant sale...so far we've only tasted the lettuce - tasty!

And again, another of Hannah doing what she does best - laying out in the sun in the front yard..I don't know how to rotate the picture using blogger, sorry:

he's gonna hate this....

...but I couldn't help uploading this clip of Dan belting out some Cat Stevens during our ride out to Pie Lab this past weekend....

xo

Frost! Pie! Yard!

Very random post today...working backwards may be best...which will be recounted in the other direction in these photos...Today Dan and I took a drive south about 40 miles to the town of Greensboro, AL. There is a place called Pie Lab that we've been wanting to visit for quite sometime. It was a fabulous morning drive, the air was nice and crisp and the colors on the trees were taking their time to change in keeping with the season. Once there we had some delish pie and quiche and two cups o' Joe. Pie Lab is a very cool idea and I hope it can revive Greensboro, whose downtown is very sad but with oh so much potential for a cute small town.

From Pie Lab's "About" page on their website:

Pie Lab is a local restaurant & bustling community space located in Greensboro, Alabama. In March of 2009, a group of young designers and thinkers participating in a PROJECT M session came up with the concept of Pie Lab. They coined the equation that "Pie + Conversation = Ideas / Ideas + Design = Positive Change." A group of these young designers moved to Alabama and, with the help of Project M and HERO, were able to make it a reality here in Greensboro.

Today, Pie Lab functions as a restaurant striving to bake with local ingredients and a community space striving to meet the needs of community members. We believe in the idea that pie can bring people together. That great conversation can be enjoyed alongside great food.

We walked around DT Greensboro which was very tiny, but had a lot of old buildings (city established in early 1800's) that I could see being a pretty hip downtown with a little TLC. Unfortunately, there's not a whole lot going for Greensboro aside from the charm potential industry wise as it was mostly an Agriculture-based economy before the civil war. Then the Great Depression hit and they never really bounced back after that like most small rural southern towns (my source for this info is here). Anyhow, I still find it pretty durn cute in 2010 and there are a few DT pics of our little jaunt in the photo album I linked to at the top of this post.

Other than that, Dan's been adjusting to Central time quite well, we're both keeping busy in the lab with various tasks. There are pics of my Halloween costume with a friend Eve in the album (the day before Dan came back), some pics of my visit to Birmingham while I awaited the arrival of the Iceland Boys (bfast at Urban Standard (shrimp and grist for 7 bucks!) and bouldering at First Ave Rocks)...

Also been working in the yard a bit, planting bulbs, making the yard look more "country" (read: hanging random stuff on the fence), and the veggies are doing great! I think tomorrow will be time to harvest the first of the kale! whoopie!! Oh yes, and yesterday was our first day of frost...not too bad and we ended up keeping warm with the electric blanket...we're seeing how long we can hold out without using the heat! I think we feel more hardy since coming from Idaho...in truth, cold is cold...

xo

Dan's First Iceland Sampling Trip

Hi everyone. On Sunday I returned from my first of many Iceland sampling trips! As some of you know, I will be studying the effects of climate warming on stream ecosystems over the next 4 (or more) years. I am just one person in a team of 7-8 people working on this project and we are using a suite of spring fed streams in Iceland as our study site. This first sampling trip was not without problems, but is was a successful trip nonetheless.

We were very busy the entire trip and had little time to explore. Days were spent working outside in the cold. It was just above freezing and windy most days. Most nights were spent drinking Gull beer, chatting, and watching YouTube videos on our computers. However, being that we were staying in downtown Reykjavik, we did find some time to have fun and enjoy the interesting Icelandic cuisine at night. Between the minke whale kebabs, guillemot curry, and sheep intestinal fat, we kept ourselves sated.

That's about it for now. I will be heading back in about a month. It will surely be colder and windier then. Here's a link to a few pictures from my trip. Enjoy!

Just a quick update...

Whew! that week flew by!! TGIF for sure today. This week was peppered by a quick field trip up to Coweeta, followed by 1.5 days of washing rocks - for some reason spending hours and hours washing these rocks isn't so depressing. I think because with every rock I wash I know I'm putting it somewhere in the garden. I am excited to fill in the front strip of dirt with more Coweeta rocks and then hopefully get some pots on top. The veggies are doing well - we had some wicked thunderstorms the past week that rocked much of the midwest. A couple of tornadoes touched down north of us, but we just got a major dumping of (much needed) rain. I think that made the plants happy. Hannah had another doggie date with Herman, her 16 lb pug-beagle man friend. It was great fun to watch her be ACTIVE and get along well with another pup. Our friend Eve made another fantastic dinner and if was fun to chat while her husband Mike was laid up on the couch watching football and staving off a cold. Today after an epic nap I cleaned house a bit and I'm off to the Alcove to meet up with Eve for a couple of drinks. Tomorrow Emily and I volunteer at the Arboretum at this Bat extravaganza event that teaches kids about bats. Then there is a Halloween party but I'm unsure what I'll dress up as. Sunday the Iceland boys come back home! I pick them up in the afternoon and I'm hoping to go up early to check out First Avenue Rocks in the downtown area - yippee! Dan's coming home soon!!

p.s. the update is the boys made it fine to Iceland, killer winds though (20 meters/sec according to Dan which comes out to be 44 mph), and here's this link where you can brush up on your Icelandic. Gisli is the Icelandic collaborators, you can see Jon taking stream measurements....

Two posts in one day?!?! Yes.

But this is a short one. I just got back from the Arboretum plant sale and I got inspired to plant some edibles. Whether or not Dan and I will get to eat them is up to nature.

Here are some photos of the new arrivals. Please note, I have no idea what I am doing but I have vague notions of what gardening entails. We'll see how this experiment goes. I got a couple varieties of kale, lettuce, beets, and then a mess of herbs: parsley (flat and curly), oregano, thyme, and sage. I got a couple of succulents for the house as well which I'm pretty excited about. All together I blew about thirty bucks from the garage sale profit, so I feel like it was a fair trade off for selling junk for half a day with friends and getting a box full of green in return.

Weeeee!!!

And, just because:

xoxo

Yard sale! Dan leaves for Iceland! Fall!!

Hello! The last few days have been super busy! Saturday morning I took Dan, Jon, and Alex to the Birmingham Airport - they left (I am assuming) successfully for Iceland via Atlanta and Boston. They should be there now and I should figure out what time zone Iceland is in...I raced back to the homestead to meet up with the neighbors for the garage sale that was in progress. They were kind enough to lay out our stuff for us while I ran airport shuttle. It was a beautiful Fall day and we grilled out and had some beers in the front yard while a decent-sized crowd rifled through our belongings. All in all pretty successful (about sixty buckaroos) considering all of the stuff we were purging was bound for the thrift store and I had nothing planned for the day except relaxing. It feels good to purge the house of unnecessary items - Dan and I are trying to resist using our basement as a storage dumping ground. I'll try to contain myself with the wad of cash I have from the sale while I peruse the Arboretum's Fall plant sale today!

Prior to Saturday Dan has been busy readying for the Iceland trip - a lot of minor details to attend to and double, triple checking of all the field gear. We also made it to Birmingham Thursday night (that's right, 3 trips to B-ham in less than a week!) for a show at the Bottletree cafe. The Thermals from Portland, OR played a raucous set including some of my favorite songs - a pillar of salt, now we can see, how we know, I don't believe you (latest single on the new album), Saint Rosa and the swallows.

Here are a couple pics:

Our staircase is slowly becoming on of the art focal points in the house, thanks to the addition of a Madelin original painting that she made for Dan - we absolutely adore the bright colors it adds!!

Here's another picture of Hannah, using one of Dan's shirts that didn't quite make it to the hamper as a bed. We were working in the office organizing and packing and she likes to be in the same room as us - she also likes anything resembling a bed:

And also, as the title of this post suggests, Fall looks to be fully upon us. Leaves are dumping into our yard with no abandon and the drive from the airport yesterday was peppered by lots of red leaves. Right now I'm finishing up this posting on the front porch while staring at our camellia bush that I hope blooms soon. There are plenty of white buds just waiting to burst open! I don't know is they are Fall bloomers, but I'm taking it as a sign of Fall nonetheless!

xo

Nelson Parental Units visit! Kentuck Art festival! Halloween decorations and the yard...

Hi! a lot has transpired since the last post! We've been busy the last couple of weeks - cleaning and organizing that lead to having great fun with Dan's parents! We put up some Halloween decorations and bought some flowers for the yard to spruce up the place before Gene and Paul visited on Saturday. I love the front yard and I'm happy that it feels like Fall and we have lotsa color in the front and back yard.

On Saturday I went to the Kentuck Art Festival with our neighbors and another friend - it was GREAT! So much art for little Tuscaloosa - overall I was very impressed by the number and diversity of vendors - all who were described as "folk art," but all of them had such a great number of takes on the definition. See pics for some examples...

The Nelson parental units came a day early which was wonderful because it meant they were able to take in not only a UA home game, but Homecoming against Ole Miss! We thankfully won the game (23-10) and are currently ranked 8th which is plenty respectable (good thing Ohio State fell to the Badgers last week!). They got to see the Homecoming parade in downtown Tuscaloosa while dining at Chuck's Fish (very tasty I'm told!) and got to see the streets of Tuscaloosa get crazy busy as game time neared. Parking on our street which is a little less than 2 miles away from the stadium was PACKED! Including many large SUVs that blocked us into our own driveway. We chose to stay at home for dinner and Dan made up a couple of his famous pizza pies - a chicago deep dish and a thin crust. We kept things simple with the ingredients - sauce, basil, mushrooms, and onions....it was delicious!!! We spent a lot of time chatting and I got to hear stories of Dan in his youth, AND Gene was kind enough to bring a bunch of youthful Dan pictures - I'll have to scan some of them and post them onto the blog - thank goodness Dan can't edit my posts. All I can say is that the pictures are PRICELESS.

The next day we had a lovely breakfast at home (banana pancakes from this great recipe!) and drove them around T-town. We visited the riverside park and gazed at the Black Warrior River for a bit - quite lovely temperature walking about! We then took them onto campus and embraced the Paul Denny Bryant Stadium in the peace of a Sunday afternoon. The campus was nice and quiet after a week of Homecoming celebration. The only noise were the groundskeepers breaking down all the party tents.

Later that evening we had an AMAZING dinner at the Cypress Inn. We all shared our well-made selections - steak wrapped in bacon, fried gulf shrimp, and fried catfish. We have heard that Cypress Inn is the best place to eat in Tuscaloosa and after that meal we believed it. The sides were also amazing - hoppin' john, mashed potatoes, great house salads etc. One of my favorite parts of the meal were the sourdough rolls and mini pumpkin muffins - SO SO moist and tasty! The Cypress Inn is especially nice because it is the only riverfront restaurant in town. We walked to the river after dinner and it was great to feel the Fall air surround our full bellies.

Monday we drove to Birmingham and had a lot of fun. We visited the Peanut Depot, had lunch at the Urban Standard (hip sandwich-soup-salad eatery), walked the downtown of Homewood (Penzey's Spices and Savage Bakery), admired the Vulcan statue at Vulcan park, and drove around the fancy neighborhood of Mountain Brook. It was a packed day that was topped off by a delicious meal at Dreamland. Their tangy sauce makes me drool even now! I think in the future Dan and I have decided to ditch the sides and just go for the ribs they are famous for, along with a healthy serving of their equally famous banana pudding. Everything else is just filler!

The next day Dan and I worked in the morning while Paul and Gene went "Zipping" around south of Tuscaloosa - they visited Moundville which is a Native American Archeological site, and got a sliver of pie from the Pie Lab in Greensboro. Dan and I whipped up a tasty BBQ of chicken kebobs with veggies, a cucumber salad, and some homemade pita bread topped with some za'atar spice we got from Penzey's the day before in Birmingham (chocolate cookie ice cream sandwiches for dessert! Thanks Fairfield Inn Marriot!). We capped off their visit with a tour of Dan's lab/building (Bevil). We showed them where Dan works, the aquarium that I cleaned up, and some other areas which was very fun.

All in all a wonderful visit - our first visitors! We hope more will come and we hope they will visit again. It was such fun to meet them for the first time and Dan had a blast seeing them in his new digs. We are so happy they came - thanks for all the fun and treats!

xoxo!!

Here are the pictures!

chau

Just a quick one...

Hi! Only a couple pictures of the front garden area that I cleaned up recently. It looks bare I know, but at least all the weeds are gone. I probably need to top it off with some mulch or something...soon. While turning over the soil I found a bunch of bulbs that were planted - they had been there for at least one season because there were many baby bulbs that were surrounding the larger ones in the area - however, I know nothing about gardening.

Anyhow, I hope to put some pots of flowers out there soon to get some color. In the meantime I bought a small pumpkin from the Farmer's Market yesterday for the stoop. Though I like carving pumpkins and the like, I enjoy the visual of a good plain pumpkin on a stoop. This one is a little wimpy, but I forgot to bring sufficient cash with me to the market for a respectable pumpkin.

Anyhow, a quick note about Pie Lab! I just saw that nytimes did a long story about Pie Lab which is a pie shop/idea lab in Greensboro, AL which is about 40 mi south of us. It was exciting to be reminded of their presence and Dan and I are excited about maybe taking the Nelson parental units there for an afternoon pie and coffee during their visit next week. Oh! I did not mentioned earlier that the Nelson parental units are visiting next week! They drive down next Sunday and stay for a few days which will be fun to finally have some guests to show around. We've been cleaning and organizing the house for their visit and brainstorming about "Must Sees" of T-Town.

(Also, if any Nelson parental units are reading this: If you remember, please please please bring a few pictures of Dan as a child as he refuses my pleas for such a request!! Thanks much)

xo

ct

FALL!!!

Last night it got down to the 40s!! I seem obsessed about the weather here. This is probably because it was one of the many unknowns upon moving out to the Deep South. I guess we can say we survived the summer and we're slowly transitioning to Fall. Woo! Hannah got bundled up this morning as did I in my down booties and my beanie. So nice!

Last week I went to Coweeta Hydrological Laboratory which is run by USGS. As a research tech in the Benstead lab part of my duties will be to accompany Mick (phd student) on a monthly overnight sampling trip. It takes us about 5 hours to drive to the station. We drive due east from Tuscaloosa through Birmingham, then to Atlanta (my first time in Georgia!!!) and head north and Coweeta is right on the border in North Carolina (my first time in NC!). We drive up one day, sample the next, then head home. It makes for a lightening fast trip, but quite pretty. I'm excited to see the forest change throughout the year. By next sampling trip the leaves should be falling, which will make for fun sampling.

This past weekend Dan and I went to the Alcove with our neighbor Emily and watched the Crimson Tide whoop up on some Gator behind. #1 vs #7 was hotly anticipated this whole week, but soon after the 1st quarter we were assured yet another victory. The Alcove did not disappoint as they provided more smoked boston butt pork sandwiches, and smoked chicken wings rubbed with pesto and sun-dried tomato marinade . Now, I don't know about you, but I had never tasted smoked wings so we were a bit intrigued by the provided vittles - they were AMAZING. Despite our full bellies we ended up eating our fair share (and then some) of wings - very tasty rub that you simply could not tire of and the juiciest wings ever! How we love you Alcove!!!

Sunday Dan and I took it easy and did the domestic thing and organized the office. The bookcase has been a godsend to organize our reading material, but then we (I) had unsightly boxes and boxes full of notes from my undergrad. A ginormous amount of purging occurred (far less needed on Dan's end) and we managed to store everything in some sturdy rubbermaid bins. The office looks a lot better now (we think) and we're excited about having the room feel so homey - let's hope for massive productivity to follow!

I posted some pictures here of the sampling trip, Hannah and I in the cold, and a few of the office space that is slowly coming along....enjoy!

Pleasant Day #2 in a row

Another day where we're in the 70s!! Oh joyous day! It's pretty great to leave the front door open and get some fresh air and hear the birds chirping away!! This is a short post to reiterate my disbelief in how huge football is around here. Any given location you'll pass by a group of people talking about the stats of the last UA game, their predictions for which running back will dominate the upcoming game (Ingram for sure), or how drunk they got while tailgating (really, really drunk). This has so far happened at Target and at Mike n Ed's BBQ...I'll probably just inform you all when I go somewhere and don't hear about Crimson Tide football.

Also, here is a picture of my new haircut with dry hair - feels so nice to have shorter hair! Many thanks to Dan!!

xo

Pleasant!!

Today it topped out below the 80s! We got a nice morning rain and the rest of the day has been partly cloudy. By 4pm Hannah and I went for a walk around the neighborhood and it was only about 76! We are used to that time of day being hot like the sun, but not today! A light breeze kept us company and Hannah didn't break a pant the whole way - a first here!

So, it's been an eventful Monday! I sent off a chapter to Brian (yippee!!), Dan and I went to Mike n Ed's BBQ ("Come pig out with us!"), and Dan tried his hand at being a hairdresser (or hair stylist as he likes to be dubbed). I have been trying to grow out my hair but I got tired of shedding as much as Hannah, so today I made the decision. High Life's in hand Dan took off about 4 inches! My hair is about shoulder length still and it indeed has what I'll dub the Nelson Flair. It's lucky Iceland is on the table else we may lose him to Miss Betsy's Grand Ol' Hair Salon down the corner (totally made up).

Back to Mike n Ed's - we had a deceivingly filling BBQ pork sandwich - bbq pork on a toasted hamburger bun topped with coleslaw and dill pickles - yum! We also got a side of potato salad (a little mayo-y, but had nice tang) and BBQ beans (stewed with shredded pork!). Mike n Ed's also makes three different bbq sauces to slather on - a spicy, hickory smoked, and mild. The spicy wasn't all that spicy, but I am partial to the hickory smoked myself (Dan seems to agree). Afterwards we were hit with a food coma that has yet to leave us four hours after our meal. It was great to taste yet another southern BBQ - I'm used to BBQ joints being scarce and expensive, thankfully in the South they are neither of those adjectives...The two of us had a filling meal for under $14 - and that's including tip!

Anyhow, about to post pictures now of the haircut!

xo!

The Weekend Update...

Hi all! More pictures posted on the online album. Ah Sunday! The pitter patter of raindrops are calming us as we listen to the latest RadioLab podcast. What a relief to have some semblance of fall weather! We've been having record high temps and needing this respite for sure.

I tended to the yard after receiving a wonderful delivery from the Nelson parental units. It's a wonder how effective leaf rakes are at their job versus the dirt rake. The leaves were delivered to the curb in record time and the backyard is looking mighty fine (I think). The ivy plant taking over the large tree in the back seems to be slowly dying, which tells me my raking chores are just beginning back there. I'm having to get used to the deciduous forest after spending so much time in the piney Northwest. I'm excited to see a lot of fall color, but dreading the leaf raking. Ah well, it seems to be one of those insanely satisfying chores, up there with vacuuming or finishing the dishes. A blank yard floor and a pile of leaves at the curb gives one (me) a sense of accomplishment simply unparalleled. Our lawn chairs are out on the brick patio and look splendid - even the cardinals are happy to sit on them. Dan and I sat out in the early evening on Friday and enjoyed the yard for the first time since moving in. Now we get to contemplate a fire pit or chimenea addition...hmmm...

In other news, the Tide are now 3-0 after an exciting game at Arkansas. It was nice to have a break from the the hulabaloo that is a home game. The streets seemed even more quiet with most folks holing up at bars to watch the game. Next week the Florida game will be a big one and should prove to rock Tuscaloosa in fine form...

Oh yes, also amongst the pictures are a few items that rocked Dan down memory lane. Since he moved to Idaho with very little it's been fun to see some items from his childhood and to hear the stories associated with them. Weeee!!

Miscellany

Here are some additional photos! I have been remiss in the blog writing...Now that there are two of us I can shift my guilt to "Well, Dan's not posting either" but that's not fair to anyone is it? So here is what I hope will be many posts coming up. Right now movers are here with a bunch of items that Mr. and Mrs. Nelson were kind enough to send down from Pennsylvania. I'm most excited about a box marked "albums"...I have yet to see a picture of Dan before 2005. When he comes home today we'll have fun looking through all the new stuff we've accumulated in a wink of an eye!

Overall Tuscaloosa is doing quite well. Another heat wave has hit us, with temperatures about 15 degrees higher than what is considered normal for September. We're back in the 100s this week but hoping for a break in the weather next week...

A general comment on Tuscaloosa Gameday - it's like the town is a veritable beer garden. Open container laws are null and void, as you may notice from the pictures we've posted...RV's and tents arrive on Thursday night, and then explode on Saturday. We haven't stumbled upon the Quad (where most of the tailgating occurs) on Sunday, but I imagine the school and city puts the revenue generated from parking to a speedy cleanup.

I now have an official part time job with Dan's advisor. Right now I'm concentrating on putting a "woman's touch" on the lab, as it is overrun with boys. This means organizing the lab and trashing years of hoarding. Best yet, I get to use a label maker liberally..and that I have...too bad I don't have a "before" picture...But from what I hear the lab has never looked better, so it's nice to get paid to make life easier overall for people...

OK, more soon..promise..

xo

Gamedays in Tuscaloosa

Check out these photos.

Well, week 3 of football season is over. The Tide are 3-0 and are tearing through their opponents. We have yet to attend a game but hope to one of these days. Nonetheless, we're having a good time tailgating and checking out the crowd. Enjoy.

Only another week left in August???

Hi there! A few items to report on - the yard work hit a major milestone yesterday when I finally raked up the last of the big pile-o-leaves in the backyard. It looks a lot better now and we are deciding on the perfect patio set to place outside so we can fully enjoy the area. The ivy is a huge pain to pull out of the ground, and as you can see from photos in the link below (or to the right at our shortcuts area), it's a slow, slow work in progress.

Clearing the decaying leaves and sprawling ivy means we've shooed away the Palmetto bugs that plague the South, but imagine my surprise when a different pest showed up this morning...a rat! in broad daylight! Feasting on some old rice I had sprinkled out for the birds. I'm a bit conflicted about our new rodent friend. I'm pretty sure he's a resident in the empty field lot behind out house, but unsure what damage he'll do on our yard/house. Rats eat roaches right? Well, the enemy of my enemy just might well be my friend...

We also have the good fortune this week of experiencing a low of 60 degrees this week!! The highs are again in the low 90s which is great compared to the last month...Dry air wafted through Alabama and boy could we feel it this morning! It was the most pleasant weather we've experienced here to date. Dan and I are excited for the fall to settle in - Unsure about the massive amount of leaves to rake up, but I'll deal with it if I can sit outside for longer than 20 minutes without needing a shower.

Anyhow, this past weekend we also went on an evening cruise aboard the Bama Belle. Pictures are also included in today's link, and I'll let Dan tell you about the happenings on that end as he tends to provide more vivid narratives...

The link to the yard, Bama Belle, and a few of Hannah...

Cheers for now all!

A few days of cooler weather...

meaning it is only in the low 90s this week!! At this point I think we'll take anything below 100, and as long as our central air works we will be golden. A low-key week has passed us by. The UA starts classes tomorrow, and it shows. Tuscaloosa is flooded with students - traffic is a little worse and the grocery stores are a little bit busier. All in all I'm interested in seeing The Strip bustling, but will be happy that we are closer to the Downtown proper area. Construction Downtown is nearing an end, save for the Federal building that is currently pink in color for some reason.

I've been busing myself with cleaning up the yard. There are years and years of fallen leaves that have piled high along our fence. I'm slowly but surely making a dent and attempting to beautify the yard. It's not so bad as it is, but the ivy is a bit unruly. That said, I'm really unsure what the other vines creeping along our fence are - weed? native? invasive? For now I have been pulling up things and asking questions later. I really can only stand an hour or so outside before becoming a complete puddle, but progress can indeed be seen (at least I think).

Other than that, Dan and I finally finished the bedroom table - salvaged from CNR. It looks so much better than it did originally so we're pretty pleased with ourselves! We've also added a little greenery in the home, after researching a local nursery that has gotten good reviews for their staff and plant knowhow. They've been kind enough to take a look at some pictures of our yard and gave us ideas of what to do with it to make it more welcoming. Right now our task is to just clean it up as it's too hot to plant anything now. Come October the weather should be tame enough for us to plant some pansies, and the splash of color will be most welcome. As it stands though, the yard has been a great pleasure for us given our avian friends. The hummingbird is constantly buzzing about defending his prolific cane sugar-producing territory.

Well, click here for a few pictures of the table, yard, and misc...

xo

Building a bird sanctuary brick by brick..

Well, not brick by brick, but first with a hummingbird feeder, and hopefully after today, with some bird seed and suet. Our backyard is now home to a great male ruby throated hummingbird. He's a territorial little bugger and is fending off his new territory from a younger male. We have been delighted by his flits and fancies about the yard (see a couple pictures of himat the end of the Aug 8 photos posted). His favorite perch is easily viewed from our living room couch and the kitchen. In addition to our feisty buzzer, we have a pair of morning doves dubbed "Pat and Chris" that like to roost on the fence dividing us from our neighbor's yard each evening around 5:30pm. But that's not all!! We've been treated by visits from many cardinals that feed on our flowering grass (sadly, today is their last day since the yard guys come every other Monday to tame the lawn). There is also a very vocal Carolina wren that wakes us each morning and enjoys sunning on our back porch by the BBQ. Add in the handful of mocking birds that seem to pepper our southern landscape and you've got enough to keep this So Cal girl happy for quite a while. Perhaps it is the lack of a TV, but our backyard keeps me well-captivated. I've been spending mornings staring out of our windows enjoying the little bit of wildlife we are lucky to have. Makes up for all of the biting and stinging insects that plague me when I venture into the yard.

Still in the works is a plan for the backyard. The stack of library books has yet to totally inspire us to a firm plan, but we have many options for our mostly sunny backyard. We hope to get rid of most of the grass in the backyard, save for a little patch that Hannah can enjoy the few times she requests a visit. Maybe some no maintenance gravel and mulch to offer walking paths, a firepit of some sort, and affordable outdoor furniture to lounge in once it is no longer oppressively hot (October we are hoping).

The front porch is slowly coming along...a small table to hold my morning coffee and what is deemed the "ghetto" furniture of a milk crate bench will hopefully get covered with oil cloth or the like. Our street is quiet for the most part and the front porch is a comfortable area shielded from the morning sun and I have yet to be harassed by any invertebrates while relaxing there. Hannah comes out occasionally to lie on the warm sidewalk and observe the cars that are traveling to and from the post office the next block over. To be sure, our house is now a home, and a home in the south at that...

xo

Day trips and other fun stuff

Since Dismal's Canyon, we've been keeping busy with other trips around the area. On Thursday evening we headed across the river with our neighbors to the city of Northport for a little culture. The city's galleries were holding their monthly "Art Walk". The average age of the artists was probably 65 and there were common themes of pet portraits, people portraits, and southern landscapes. To say the least, the art wasn't very imaginative. We did however meet some folks that could paint a nice portrait of Hannah if we ever felt the urge to have one.

We awoke on Friday morning with the urge to get out of town. We decided to head to the small city of Huntsville which is located in northern AL. Huntsville is famous for being where the US space program first took off. The NASA Space and Rocket Center and a branch campus of UA are located in Huntsville. However, we decided to leave these two attractions for our next visit, instead opting for some delicious Vietnamese food and an art gallery. Chau was really excited about the food and I think it passed her rigorous approval. While in Huntsville, we also took in some breathtaking views of the surrounding area from the Monte Santo State Park lookout.

Yesterday, still feeling the urge to get out of town, we headed to B-ham to watch the Birmingham Barons battle it out on the diamond with the Mississippi Braves. First, you should know that the B-ham Barons are a legendary minor league team. The Barons have produced several Hall of Famers such as Satchel Paige, Willie Mays, Reggie Jackson, Rollie Fingers, Robin Ventura, Bo Jackson, and Frank Thomas. You may also remember that in the early 1990s, Michael Jordan attempted to play major league baseball. The minor league team he played for was the Barons. Out of the three big things we did this weekend, the game was our favorite. The stadium was great. The people watching was great. But best of all was the fireworks spectacular (Pyro Palooza III to be exact). It was awesome. Plus we got to eat hot dogs and drink extremely expensive beer. Oh yeah...and the Barons won! We'll definitely be back.

Check out the photos from our weekend...here.

A trip in the great outdoors and some hannah pictures to boot

Well, it's been in the 100s everyday this past week. I've tried to limit my outdoor exposure and relish the a/c at our place...That means getting a bit stir crazy, so Dan, Hannah and I went out for a drive to see a little bit of the South. We headed north from Tuscaloosa to a place called Dismals Canyon after reading about it in one of our numerous library books...it sounded promising - hiking beside a stream in between giant moss-covered boulders. It was about 100 miles north of T-town, and quite worth it. We had our initial doubts upon parking...male tank tops abounded...sigh...prayer circle before hiking...crap...many overweight children sweating their way from the trail..ugh...However, once we made our way down to the water we were rewarded for our perseverance. The loop was short and very mild, but it was a full 20 degrees cooler down beside the stream. Hannah also gave up her fear of water and actually waded in the tannin-stained waters common to deciduous forests...All in all it was a lot of fun to see the rock formations and see a bit of our new home. Next up we may head south to Talladega National Forest or back North to visit Bankhead which is supposed to be amazing...Wherever it is there will be water for sure.

Here are pictures of the trip prefaced by random pictures of the house/hannah.

We've been noticing a lot of bug love in the air around the house, so a few pictures to document that, we also have a new grill which we try to break in nightly, so pictures of our dinner bounty to share...

xo

More randomness

Got my craft on with some spray on chalkboard paint...I made three in total...with two I decided to start a list that Kristin suggested Dan and I get out of the way early on in our live-together relationship...

It has since become this...

Anyhow, a few pictures with art finally up...

We also went for a little bike ride around town yesterday...

A few random pics...

I don't know if I actually talked about Five Guys: Burgers and Fries. It will be the closest to In-n-Out Burgers as I can get out here in the southeast. They have a simple menu of Burgers, hot dogs, and fries. The true beauty is in their free toppings:

• Mayo
• Relish
• Onions
• Lettuce
• Pickles
• Tomatoes
• Grilled Onions
• Grilled Mushrooms
• Ketchup
• Mustard
• Jalapeno Peppers
• Green Peppers
• A-1 Sauce
• Bar-B-Q Sauce
• Hot Sauce

Below is a picture of Dan and I enjoying a shared large burger and cup o fries...well, the photo shows part of Dan, and my hand holding up a menu...Our first burger was topped with grilled mushrooms, grilled onions, tomatoes, and lettuce. What will be the best combination? Stay tuned for future mixes..

Here is a picture of Dan in front of the Biology building on campus:

And finally, a picture of the great Bryant Denny Stadium, which is our southern analogy to Mt Rainier in Seattle, as in "Oh look, you can see the stadium from this part of the city" and so on. It is ginormous and recently expanded..I hope to see a game and hear the deafening roar of the state of Alabama cheering on the Crimson Tide soon enough...

Last night Dan and I walked downtown to Epiphany Fine Dining for a drink and dessert. We had Mojitos and a delicious watermelon martini made with fresh yellow watermelon. Dessert was a tough choice but we went with the Blackberry shortcake made with olive oil cake and a chantilly cream topped with basil and surrounded in a balsamic vinegar reduction...tasty and very different! We will be returning to Epiphany during the week where their happy hour provides half off appetizers ($5 kobe beef sliders with egg salad?!?! yes please) at the bar..I can't wait!

xo

What we've been up to

A lot has happened since the last post. We are finally almost finished with setting up the house. We tried another downtown restaurant (Edelweiss German Bakery and Cafe). And finally...we checked out the climbing wall at the student rec center. Yesterday I had the urge to go climbing and was able to talk Chau into going with me. We had originally planned to go to an outdoor gear store located across the river called Alabama Outdoors (AO). They have a nice selection of outdoor gear and clothing but more importantly, a small indoor climbing wall. We wanted to go to AO because it would have only cost us $3 each to climb as long as we wanted and it was near AAA which was on our list of places to go for the day. Unfortunately, their wall was closed due to a change in ownership. Thus, they were having permitting issues. Still having the urge to climb, we decided to check out the climbing wall at the student rec center. I am not officially a student yet and Chau is not yet a member of the rec center so we had to pay a small fee of $10 each. First, the wall is pretty nice. Maybe not as nice as the facility at U of I, but we were spoiled there. One really cool thing about the wall at UA is that there's a bouldering wall on which you can top out on. For you non-climbers out there, topping out is when you climb up the boulder and actually pull yourself up onto the top of it so you can stand on the top. This is much more difficult (and fun) than climbing until your hand reaches the top hold, hanging there, then letting go to get off the boulder. Topping out was not an option at U of I. There were also a variety of problems of different grades to play around on and keep us happy. Because both Chau and I haven't climbed a lot lately, we have lost a lot of stamina. Thus, we only spent about an hour climbing. However, we both can't wait to go back and work on some of those problems that thwarted us yesterday.

mmmm...The City Cafe

I'm not sure if ya'all have heard of "a meat and two/three" restaurant before, but they are truly delightful. The premise is that you get an order of meat (i.e. fried catfish, fried chicken, beef of some kind) and with it you can get 2 or 3 side dishes. The side dishes are typically comfort food/southern style foods like fried green tomatoes, potato salad, fried okra, beans etc. Apparently these types of restaurants are all over the south and Chau and I finally hit one up today for lunch.

The City Cafe is located in the small town of Northport, AL which is situated just over the Black Warrior River from Tuscaloosa. It is one of the more popular "meat and three" places in the area because of its reasonable prices and large portion sizes. So popular in fact that when we arrived, the line for a table snaked around the restaurant, leaving barely enough room for the servers to tend to their tables. Although the line was long, they moved people in and out of that place so fast that the wait was not bad as we first assumed.

The menu is fairly basic. They have a set menu for every day of the week (they are only open Monday through Friday) and most of the items are repeated throughout the week. I ordered the fried catfish, fried okra, and cole slaw while Chau got the chicken and dumplin's, mac & cheese, and fried green tomatoes. She also ordered a "sweet tea". The food came out quick and the server even brought out an extra tea for when we wanted a refill.

I don't remember the next few minutes of this event because it happened so fast. The food was really tasty and there was so much of it that I just started devouring whatever was on my plate. I eventually had to slow down and throw in the towel. Chau and I both had leftovers but we couldn't resist getting a slice of buttermilk pie to share. The pie was also great and when the greasy bill finally came with the total, we were pleasantly surprised. The entire meal cost a little over $12!! Just $12 dollars for all that food! Simply ridiculous. And now you know about the wonders of "a meat and three".

Week One

Hi! Well, we've been here a week officially. Thus far we've thrown up some art, unpacked all the boxes, and for all intents and purposes have "settled in"...We've found our local NPR station and listening to it in the morning has helped me feel like it's home. We are a block away from the post office, a couple blocks away from my credit union, a few blocks away from the downtown (the Alcove tavern is fantastic), and far enough away from "The Strip" that we can enjoy it as necessary, but stay away as well.

On Saturday night we went out to The Strip with some biology graduate students. We ended up at the Houndstooth, which, according to its website was voted the best college sports bar or something or other. It was great to chat with the other students, they assured us we would like Tuscaloosa life - unsure why there were so many unsolicited assurances, but I guess a positive in the grand scheme of things. Overall, the patrons were pretty fratastic - dress shirts and shorts, along with backwards baseball caps. It was quite entertaining to people watch throughout the night. We ended the night early at one o'clock and headed to Little Italy for a slice of NY-style pizza. at $1.80 it hit the spot and provided more people watching of frat boys and sorority girls stumbling about - Dan and I left quite grateful to have each other and to no longer be 21 year old undergrads...

Yesterday we had a lazy Sunday around the house finishing up some packing things...We stopped by the student rec center which is quite impressive. The climbing wall has some great looking routes and a bouldering wall you can top off on! There is also an outdoor aquatics center with a lazy river and a slide that is part of the membership - awesome! We plan on taking advantage of the pools throughout the summer to cool down from the heat/humidity!

Afterwards we had a hankering for food so we stopped by the legendary Dreamland BBQ and got hit in the head with some solid BBQ. A tangy sauce with great sides and banana pudding. We plan on donating our Idaho/Hawaii license plates so they can put them up in the restaurant and when you visit we can point out our personal mark on Tuscaloosa!

Ok, time to put together the coffee table...xo

Pics of the new place!

Here's a montage of the moving in and settling in process...still have some work to do in the office/guest bedroom, and general organization in general. The backyard has tons of potential other than simply a bike storage hold and poop palace for Hannah...in due time, in due time...

xo

Welcome to bloggy blogginess...

This will be a continual work in progress with posts from chau and dan...

Here are a few pics from the start of our trip....we left Saturday and arrived Sunday, July 4th! All in all over 3000 miles driven by each car, 10 states visited, no catastrophes, plenty of fun...