September 29, 2010

Cunningham Falls

 Monkey Bread for breakfast.  Ok, fine.  There were scrambled eggs as well.
 We found these vibrant orange mushrooms on our hike.  When I first noticed them from a distance, I thought it was a tree with lovely leaves; however, upon closer examination, they turned out to be mushrooms.

 I'm not sure what tree this was, but there were so many of them!  The trunks varied in size, but they were all a slate gray color, with lovely green leaves.  Some of them were so feathery.  The forest looked like an enchanted fairy land.  I was reflecting on this when Brian decided to tell me there was an orc peering at me from around that tree.  It did in fact look like it was the forest from LOTR.
 It wasn't supposed to rain, but part way through our hike we found a little cove to wait til the rain passed.  The walk became fairly slippery.
 I love how the sun is shining!  Light paths are so much fun!
 The falls!  You can't see them very well from where we were, but they had it all fenced off so this was as close as you could get.
 The stream from the falls.
We thought it rather ironic that every bridge was filled with water, but the streams underneath the bridges were dry.

And thus concludes our first hiking adventure as a married couple.  I have more trips planned so as to take advantage of this lovely weather!

Smiles!

September 19, 2010

Recent Happenings

This was our first dinner after our honeymoon.  We didn't have anything in the house but beef jerky, cereal, sardines, cheese, bagels, and crackers, so we made a meal out of it.  Definitely memorable.

This is just before Brian forced me to my doom, er, that is, learning to cut his hair.  He helped me quite a bit, but I'm so glad I'm not making a career out of this!  He is often more confident in my abilities than I am!

Our bed for the first few weeks.  We've never before been so thankful for a bed!

Our first dinner after Brian went back to work.  I've had plenty to keep me busy, and have enjoyed being on my own, but have started to feel pretty lonely.  He works all day and I don't have anywhere to go and limited places to walk.  My mom and grandmothers have had a tradition of setting the table this way, lighting candles, playing nice music, and dressing up a bit for their husbands, and while I have the time, I really enjoy making things fun.  Brian seems to enjoy it as well.  Life is all about taking pleasure in the simple things and making the most of everything!  We are both perfectionists, so it's been interesting to work out our "particular" ways of doing things.  Or, "well, we've always done it that way!"  It's made for some fun eye openers and interesting laughs.

We grilled one night at a local park, but it was so windy and chilly that we ended up eating in the truck.

The view from our balcony!  I am so thankful for trees and mountains!  I do miss flowers and gardening some, though.

The other side of the balcony view...

Baking day!  Iced tea, Cream of Tomato Soup, Peanut Butter Blossoms (gluten and dairy free!), Banana Nut Muffins (with wheat germ, flax seed, and protein powder!), and Smoked Gouda Croissant Sandwiches (thanks to Sharon Sunday!).  I so enjoy cooking and baking and really feel alive and inspired when doing so.  I could do it all day--experimenting, etc, if I didn't have other things to do.  Someday, I'm going to be a really good cook (Brian says I do splendidly now) and take gourmet cooking classes.  Two of my favorite cooking movies: No Reservations and Julie and Julia (minus a few scenes) inspire me.  I also found a few of my favorite, but out of print, cookbooks on amazon for $0.47!  I was so happy because I've been borrowing my mom's indefinitely...

More baking!  Clone of a Cinnabon!  I've had a hard time learning to cook for two people and it helps to keep me busy all day.  Thus, the guys at Brian's work end up with the leftovers and it makes them rather happy fellows.

Pizza crust!

Brian and I have called this dear little friend our "baby."  It has truly been a blessing!  I like this model the best of the ones I have used--it has all metal gears, matches my kitchen Tuscan theme, and latches on the bottom instead of that nasty lever for the bowl.

Brian is such a sweet guy!  He washed the dishes for me after baking all day, and I was really tired, and had a hard time standing.  He does things like this rather frequently.  I reciprocate with a backrub.  The only thing lacking right now is a piano....but I have a keyboard that I'm keeping my eye on for right now.  I very much miss playing.

Married life is incredible!  I had no idea it could be this good or just get better and better!  We both aren't sure how we could possibly have ever been happy or content with singleness.  Definitely an adventure!  We're on the hunt right now for a good church in our area.  This Tuesday we will celebrate our one month anniversary.  Hard to believe it's been that long already.  It seems so short and yet like it has been this way for years.  We believe that celebrating things often is such fun.  Brian is working on honeymoon pictures, and should have them up soon.

Smiles!


A + B