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!