Sweet home Alabama where the skies were not so blue

This morning I woke up VERY early (for not being a senior citizen) and drove out to Birmingham, Alabama!  It was really dark for the first hour of driving, but by the time I got into Alabama I saw the misty sunrise (in my rear view of course because I was going west).  It was an odd sensation because it was in the morning so it looked cold but I had my air conditioning on because that’s the only way to cut the humidity.  Having the AC on AND thinking it looked cold outside tricked me to putting on my heater to get ‘warm’ but that only lasted a hot second!  So moral of the story is don’t let that misty sunrise fool you, it’s there because you can drink the humidity out of the air and to make your hair go frizzy.

I headed down there because I made an appointment at the temple to go to the 8am session.  It took me until the delirious hours of this morning when my alarm went off before it needed to to figure out that since they are an hour behind I can sleep in an hour later!  Maybe I was just rationalizing sleeping in longer, which is second nature to a college student.  But, you’ll be glad to hear I made it on time.  The temple was packed!  There were a lot of people from the Atlanta area because this temple is closed until 2011 sometime.  One girl was telling all the other ladies that she and her friends had to wake up SO early and drive ALL the way out here, and that she’s living up in the Kennesaw area (close to where I live) because she’s such a poor college student.  It amused me to hear the ladies say they felt so bad for her when most of them drove just as far.

When I was sitting quietly in the temple I heard this loud obnoxious sound from outside, and then I realized that it was THUNDER!  Seriously, I don’t think you’ve heard thunder unless you’ve been down here in the south, it’s earth-shaking!  I drove in to Birmingham to partly sunny skies and there were no more blue skies when I left.  Such is the life down here, how else would all these rivers get muddy so that country singers would have lyrics?

I asked a friend what I should do if I were just going to Birmingham for a few hours and he told me to go see the Vulcan.  I wasn’t sure what I’d be in for, but I’m pretty sure that the toosh of an iron man wasn’t really anywhere on the expectations list.  Here’s a picture so you can see what I mean:

It’s a really interesting statue though.  He was made to show off the resources that Birmingham has.  JH Adams (same as John Adams?) made a few statements about how the wealth of these natural metal resources will be the source of power in years to come.  Vulcan Park is up on a hill overlooking the city, so there was a spectacular view.  I wish I brought my camera with me to show yall.

Next trip is to South Carolina… stay tuned!

School is cancelled

Bad weather shuts down all metro Atlanta public schools

We’ve had some really bad rain for the last 5 days.  So bad that there have been a lot of accidents on the freeways and some freeways have closed due to flooding.  Yesterday some schools tried to cancel after the kids were already at school and that didn’t make working parents very happy.  Today I got a call from my program director that school is cancelled!  I’m surprised Utah doesn’t get the same clue when it snows 1 foot in a day…  But, there has been a lot of flooding, up to 12 feet in some places.  I have been fortunate to not have any of these side affects in my neighborhood, and I am safe and dry.  It’s crazy to live here during this natural disaster.  I can only imagine what this flood will do for the mold here since it’s already a perfect humid environment for it to grow in.

A few nights ago we had a thunder and lightening storm.  The thunder was so loud that it actually shook the house a few times!  And the lightening was amazing.  I didn’t see the bolt of lightening, but the whole sky lit up in different colors.  It was pretty spectacular!

Ima git what I want

Actually, the title is something that Melissa and Jake always say, and it’s really funny with a good moral.

The first week of the internship I got a parking ticket.  I was definitely the only one in the program to get one, and all the other girls acted like ‘yeah, so glad I’m not you because I was totally parked illegally too.’  The officer who wrote up the ticket couldn’t even spell, and as far as I’m concerned that voids the ticket then and there.  But, there’s no way I was going to pay for that one because on the internship schedule we weren’t supposed to get one until Wednesday, how was I to know where to go?  I didn’t, and ignorance is bliss.  I went into the Police Department (or rent-a-cop place) and asked if I could do anything about it.  The front desk guy gave me an appeal form, and I wrote a compelling case as you can see for yourself:

Moral of the story: Life University parking enforcement is logical.  BYU parking enforcement is ruthless.  It just might work out here.

#1 piece of advice for the Atlanta area

#1 thing I’ve been told by just about EVERYBODY down here:  I need a GPS system!  I have a very keen sense of direction, definitely put to the test in  the Atlanta area.  I knew I was really in trouble when I drove in the car of a local who would only drive if we had an address she could put in her very nice female-talking Navigation system.  Case in point:

I would like to point a few things out about this photo.  Not only are there 4 different names for the SAME street, but two even use the same name!!  One is named a PLACE and one is named a DRIVE.  How is a girl to find her way?

too good not to share

I’m so done with the days of backpacks!  (At least I think I am, but I still own my trusty and very dusty North Face backpack.  I’ll always be a student at heart).  Now that I’m in the world of grown-ups, I decided it’s time for a bag!  But not just any bag.  A classy, big but not too small, short straps, and goes with every outfit sort of bag…  This is what Nine West sale rack came up with for me:

I LOVE IT!  Thank you Nine West sale rack, you’ve made a very happy new professional.  Please also notice the beautiful yard in the window.  It’s so green!

one up on the mac

So I figured out the most backwards way to upload a picture, but it works!!  Here are some pictures of the move to Georgia, and whatever else from the summer.  Who’s smarter now Mr MacBook?

This is my good friend Christina who is serving in Independence, Missouri.  I didn’t tell her when I was coming to set up an appointment because I was SURE that wasn’t ok to do, but I was so glad to see her!  We talked for a while, and it made me miss her all over again…

The Liberty Jail was rebuilt as close of a match as they could make, and they think the foundation is the original.  They built the visitors center around the jail, so it was interesting to go inside one building to see another building.  The Prophet Joseph went through quite the struggle to start the LDS church.  My mother and I were reminded of a great talk by Elder Holland about Lessons From Liberty Jail.

Then we headed out to Nauvoo, IL.  This is really not on the way to anything.  Unless, yeah, it’s just never on the way.  We got there at dusk and saw the beautiful temple at sunset and also the Miss-iss-ippi with the spectacular sunset!  It’s really pretty out there, and the cicadas are LOUD and the misquitoes are plentiful.

At night the temple is light up all the colors of the sunset:

And the river is glass and colorful as well:

Mom and I were able to go into the temple and participate in a temple session.  The temple is beautiful and teaches eternal truths that are essential to everyone.  I love the temple and the blessings that come from being worthy to be a regular attendant.  I am so grateful for the sacrifice of the early saints to allow us to ‘dot the earth’ with temples.  We also went to the Carthage Jail, but for some reason I didn’t take a picture there.  One of my only regrets of the trip.

Last stop was to the St Louis Arch.  They say it was a visual representation of the hopes and dreams of the people in that time.  It was an engineering marvel at that time as well.  To get to the top you have to take this special elevator that goes around the curve of the arch.  The guide said it is a mix between a roller coaster ride and an elevator, and the only one of it’s kind.

I’m glad to not be on the road any more!  At least 8 1/2 more months before I have to think about making that trek again…

Cheapaholics anonymous

In light of college football starting, Chick-fil-A sponsored a “wear your favorite team shirt and get a free chicken sandwich” day.  I live with two other newly graduated kiddos and we decided to partake of this amazing FREE deal!  We went to lunch to 3 Chick-fil-A’s and later went to 4 more for a total of SEVEN stores to get a free sandwich each.  We rounded up 15 free sandwiches!  It was funny because the girl kept saying things like “did you remember your wallet at this one?” or “this one is empty, not like the last one we went to!”  A few freudian slips, but no harm done.  Here is a picture of me sporting my team gear and the sandwiches.  (Yes, I did get a few remarks from the kind southern folk since they were in denial that Oklahoma didn’t just lose, but lost to BYU!).

And… a close up

sweet southern comfort food

Really?  No more caption necessary:

More pictures to come, right after I figure out how to use a Mac…

if you’ll be my cotton picker, I’ll be your Georgia peach

Thankfully I do have a home sweet home, an unfurnished newly remodeled home situated perfectly between Marietta and Atlanta.  I’m living with my friend Jena who graduated in the Dietetics program with me and is also in the same internship!  She’s married and they are expecting their first in February.  I’m glad to have some familiarity in a far away land.

The lady whose house I’m moved into just moved out a few months ago, and I’m living in her room.  She had her dog living in the room, and I understand that some serious carpet cleaning took place a few months ago.  Everything from the carpet pads has now soaked up to the surface.  My mom and I did some serious carpet cleaning only for the smell to linger.  Today I took some carpet powder and sprinkled it liberally to the carpet, I think I’m making progress.  It looks like a cute little neighborhood and I’m very close to my school for the internship.  I’m excited to go to my new ward on Sunday and meet some friends out here!  I really miss my Provo friends, this has been a harder transition than I thought it would be.  And I really got used to living at Melissa and Jake’s house with cute little Rushton!  Please don’t forget about me over here!

Funny story: dad helped us make hotel reservations a few times along the road trip.  When we he made one for us near Nauvoo, he told us the name of the town we were staying in.  Mom wrote down what she thought she heard: Noahsville, USA.  She thought that was a funny name so she asked him where the town was.  His reply was of course ‘I dont’ know!’  Really?  Because you’re going to have to help get us there, Dad.  After a lot of giggling we realized he said that we were staying in NOWHERESVILLE, USA.  Haha, dad.  Joke was us on us because it was the middle of nowhere with nasty pizza on the floor.

2300 miles later…

I’m coming to you from Smyrna, Georgia!  My mom and I drove 2300 miles from Provo to get here.  That was 8 tanks of gas, 6 hotel rooms, 9 states, 2 encounters with the highway patrol in 2 states, and about 1 pound of chocolate later.  I’m glad to not have to drive a long distance for a while!  The summer was wonderful, and I could give you a short synopsis of that: camping, painstaking summer job, frequent trips to the temple, Def Leppard Concert, demolition derby and a road trip to SoCal!  I also turned 24, which was pretty traumatic for me.

Back to the big move.  I packed up the car with almost everything I own.  I didn’t use boxes because those are confining.  My friends in Provo can attest to how FULL that car was!  We started the drive south to highway 70 and fell in love with the Rockies in Colorado.  I’m seriously contemplating living around Denver when I’m done with the internship here in Georgia.  I couldn’t find the CD holster to go in the CD player, and the radio stations are dismal traveling.  So… mom and I had some good conversation!  I did think it was pretty funny that highway 70 has elected to let us know every .1 of a mile how far along we were.  Thank you for that, Colorado.

The next day we drove through Kansas.  And then we kept driving through Kansas.  And it never ended.  Corn field and soybean field after corn field and soybean field.  Mom was tired of sitting in the passenger seat so she got behind the wheel and found the only highway patrol man around and he so graciously gave her a warning.  He told her that she was going too fast and drove off faster than he got behind her (we took the warning seriously, officer).  I didn’t believe Kansas ended until I finally saw the sign for Missouri, which happens to be in the middle of Kansas City.

Since we had stopped at EVERY tourist visitor center at the borders to get free maps, we picked up a brochure for Kansas that said to go to Oklahoma Joe’s BBQ place.  We were not disappointed!  It was just like the Southern boys told me it would be.  Delicious pulled pork with a taste of tangy BBQ sauce and a little bit of coleslaw all on a fresh roll/bun.  I’m ready to go to the South!

Next we went to Independence and went to the LDS visitor center where I saw my friend Christina who is serving there!  It was very nice to learn about Mormon history and also catch up with her a little bit.  Then we headed out to the Liberty Jail and out to Nauvoo.  Interesting enough that the only state that we didn’t have a map of happened to be the state that we made the most freeway interchanges on: Missouri.  Somehow we made it to Nauvoo from these directions:  Go out to Hannibal, then head up to Keokuk.  Mom was sure she could get us there because she’d heard of those towns from Huck Finn.  Needless to say, we had to stop to ask for directions a few times.

This trip is wonderful, but I think I’m a little emotional about moving so far away from the life I’ve always known and not knowing anyone where I’m going.  So, naturally when I was worried about the car that had all my possessions would get broken into by the cruisers on Main Street in Keokuk, I started bawling my eyes out.  On top of that, the hotel that we went to was the pits.  There was a half eaten piece of pizza on the floor along with remnants of the rest of the meal.  I was not excited about being there.  Good thing the Nauvoo temple was beautiful and lifted my spirits.  We stopped at a few of the historical Mormon places there, but the town was deserted and the lady missionaries wanted to talk our ears off.

Finally to St Louis we got pulled over AGAIN, this time because our rear lights weren’t on in the dark, and mom needed to blow her nose causing her to swerve between lanes with the cop right behind her.  The cop found it humorous that she had to blow her nose, and also that I had to dig through the back of the car to find the registration.  Both of these things were so preposterous to him, I mean who blows their nose and has a jam packed full car?  How we got off without even a warning is beyond me but I’m glad we did!  We didn’t drive after dark after that, so we learned our lesson there.  We also got to stop and see Jessica and she toured us around Lindenwood University as well as the good breakfast eats in St Charles.  Thanks Jess!

I was anxious to finally stop driving, so we hurriedly went to the St Louis Arch and on to Nashville for the night.  We knew we had to find somewhere to stay quickly because daylight was running out, so the first Quality Inn we found had to suffice.  We were famished because the only meal we had was breakfast many hours ago.  I thought it would be a great idea to stretch our legs and walk down the street to Taco Bell (yes in fact my major was dietetics).  That was a TERRIBLE idea!  We had to cross 3 busy intersections without crosswalks, and go by an abandoned gas station that had an eerie feeling and did I mention is was pitch black outside?  Yeah, dark as night gets.  We got to Taco Bell at 9:05 and the lobby closed t 9, just the drive in was open.  I was tempted to go through the drive through as a pedestrian, but didn’t think Mom would appreciate that.  After walking back to the hotel to get in the car because what we were doing was such a dumb idea, we started to DRIVE around the tenderloin of Nashville.  This proved to be as dumb as walking around because we didn’t know where we were going and didn’t know what we were looking for.  Mom insisted that we find some sort of Applebee’s but when all that’s around is fast food and scary people, I was certain there was no Applebee’s around.  Somehow we ended up right back with our friend at Taco Bell, this time in a car going through the drive through.  Wow, glad we made it through that night in one piece with the car unscathed.

Arriving in Smyrna, GA on Wednesday afternoon was not a moment too soon.  I was glad to see my friends Jena and Jason ready to have some friends around.  Moving in can be another post…