hellos from CA!

I was remiss in telling the blogosphere that I arrived safely in SoCal Wed evening.  I managed to miss much of the LA traffic that I have mixed emotions about - I mostly hate it, but it's so consistent that it's a comforting reminder of home....

All in all it was a hassle-free trip - I skirted the great blizzard in the southern plains, but I did get delayed on the highway in New Mexico-Arizona border by a semi-SUV accident that made the highway a complete parking lot for 3 whole hours....of course it occurred right after I had decided to end driving for the day and find a hotel to revel in TV and not driving...alas....tis how the world works sometimes.  It was 7pm at the time of the accident and a little 10pm I was awakened by the semi behind me honking at me to FINALLY drive...it was a little disorienting, but I drove to my hotel (which was just 12 miles away) and crashed hard, as did Hannah.  The next morning we both awoke relatively refreshed and ready for the last leg of the trip - just 500 miles to go!!  It was a pretty easy 10 hours drive...Red Bull became my friend let's just say...

Here are a few pics of the last leg of the trip...Dan has also made it safely to PA with no dreaded airport delays!!

all for now, will report back soon, basically been running lots of errands with the fam and eating tasty food...

xo

Biding time..

Still at the hotel room watching the weather channel and resting...This gives me time to upload pics and catch up on the bloggy...

This past week has been busy along with everyone else in the country - shopping, packing, readying...the Holiday season is fun, but also oh so packed in with activities!!!

Dan finished up with his finals early in the week which both went well...I tried to pack in as much lab work as possible before skipping town for 3 weeks - woo hoo!!  Saturday we celebrated my 33rd birthday with a wonderfully relaxing brunch at home - just me, Dan, and Hannah.  Dan made some great Bloody Marys, skillet potatoes, and pancakes...we also had a few Mimosas and enjoyed lounging in our PJs on the sofa with Hannah and playing some games on the Wii - I think a birthday brunch is becoming a tradition!!

We went to Evangeline's which had gotten good reviews, but we surprisingly found it so-so, though it could be due to UA Graduation also going on that slammed them for the night...I think we still prefer the Cypress Inn or Carmelo Cafe for dining here in Tuscaloosa, but regardless it was good to finally check that place out - the white christmas decorations in the restaurant were quite tasteful - hanging windows decorated with white wreaths separated the bar area from the dining area and I really want to steal that idea in the house...but we really have no need for such a barrier...hmm...

anyhow, it was a perfect birthday feeling well-loved by both Dan, Hannah, and all the friends and family who sent well wishes - thanks much!!

xoxox

and now...

pics!!

Greetings from the road!

Hi-yo!!
Just a quick update - made it to Amarillo, Tx last night at 2am after about 15 hours of driving! Hannah and I enjoyed a night here at the La Quinta Inn safe and sound. We managed to put on about 1000 miles on the ol' Matrix which puts us about at the half way mark. I need to tweak the ol route to the LBC since it looks like most of 40W is closed. But we may also just wait out the storm which should clear up by noon.

Rest assured I'm checking the weather constantly and driving safe!!

xoxoxo

ct and hannah

Please Watch this...

and love it as much as we do..

P.S.!

I also forgot to mention our fun fun night out in Birmingham last weekend!  We went to see the Alabama Shakes at the BottleTree Cafe.  They were AMAZING!  Do yourself a favor and download their EP for $4 at their website, you will NOT be sorry!  They are blowing up the charts!  They are from Athens, AL and the five piece put on a darn fine show.  We have been seeing them billed on shows all around town, and even heard them covered on NPR one morning.  (Seattle folk - they're playin' the Crocodile at the end of January, GO!!)

Before heading to the show we went climbing at First Ave Rocks for a spell, then dinner at Rojo - which is fast becoming my favorite place to eat in Bham!  Solid Meximerican food, not to mention decent Bloody Marys...

ok, just made two batches of soap with Vija and Emily - we are a soap factory now!!  it went a lot faster with three folks working together and doing two batches - another experiment in oatmeal, orange peel, and vanilla bean, and a half batch with cedar oil as well - now we wait for two weeks for it to cure!!  

all for now!

Season's Greetings!!!

So long since the last post! 

Yikes!!  Wish I could come up with a series of events that have busied us...but I'm at a loss...Let's see...we got a Christmas tree from a tree farm in Tuscaloosa!  We picked out a wee five-foot Leland Cypress (the only Christmas tree that will grow reliably in the South - we were hoping to find a fragrant Fraser Fir...alas, you need at least 3000 feet of elevation to grow those puppies) on a rainy Sunday. We named him Roly since that's all he did in the back of the Matrix as we drove home - not much heft to him, he's about 5 pounds max.  He's sparsely decorated with just a small popcorn garland and lights, but keeps the house happy and cheery.  Here are pictures 

We have finally finished the deck!!!  We stained her in between a brief respite of rain.  Now we're ready to fully appreciate the backyard, if only it would stop raining!!!  I think we have sun for the next few days - it's been getting chilly at night - into the high 20s!!  Here are some pics of the finished deck...which doesn't look much different, but I think the deck probably feels more accomplished...

The last few weeks have been filled with Dan writing papers and studying for finals (one on Monday, and one on Tuesday), and me trying to get as many samples processed as possible before my two week vacation!  I can't wait to start the road trip!  We still have to do some trip planning - once Dan is done with finals we can breathe a collective sigh of relief and have fun with those details!  Hopefully today there will be some soap making and beer bottling going on...it's already noon, yikes!!  so much to do with so little daylight and warmth!!  All we want to do is snuggle in bed with Hannah to stay warm!!! It's funny how baselines shift - the house is 58 degrees without the heat on and we're freezing!!!  Seems like ages since we dealt with Idaho winters that were well below freezing...and Iceland winters are but a distant memory...but soon a group may be going out for field work in January, but for sure February so we better buck up by then!!

Anyhow, hope all is well with you and yours...  

Happy Tday!!!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!!!  Dan and I ate waaaaaaay too much at an orphan Thanksgiving that Vija hosted...Smoked turkey, roast turkey, sides coming out of our ears, and a pecan and applie pie with ice cream and whipped cream for dessert!  It was delicious and ridiculously tasty!  Hope you all were with loved ones and enjoyed the day!

pictures!!
xo