NEW YORK!

So pretty much, my 24th birthday was the best birthday I have EVER had. Before Luke and I move back to the West Coast, we booked a last minute trip to New York City! One of our best friends from BYU, Chelsea Sue, was born and raised in Brooklyn, and has been begging us to come to NYC ever since we graduated.  We were so blessed to be able to stay with her.  She and her mom are the BEST hosts, and we loved every minute we got to spend with them. Also, let's all just drool over this view of theirs!

On our first full day in the city, I'm pretty sure we walked 500 miles.  We started in midtown where we checked off all the highlights: Grand Central Station, St. Patrick's Cathedral, the shops along 5th Ave, Central Park, the Manhattan Temple and many more things.  And btw, the weather could not have been more perfect. High 50's with beautiful sunshine!  New York is spectacular during the Christmas seasons, and we especially loved seeing the 5th Ave store fronts, and of course the Rockefeller Tree!

Let's just pretend we had tickets

Central Park in all its glory!

She really is our favorite

We made our way south and saw Time Square (Luke's absolute favorite) and the empire state building.  Chelsea had to leave to babysit, so Luke and I just loved walking all the way down 5th Ave Greenwhich Village. We happened to be in town for one of Luke's close high school friend's birthday party.  We so enjoyed getting to finally see Christie again and celebrate with her in their New York apartment with a view of the Empire State Building!

On Sunday, we started the day by going to church, and were lucky enough to meet Elder Rasband. He was in town and it looks like we timed it so well!  Later that day, Chelsea showed us lower Manhattan. We walked through the financial district (Luckily it was a Sunday, so it was nice and quiet) where we saw Mayor De Blasio!

We visited the 9/11 Memorial that day as well.  When I was in New York 10 years ago with my family, ground zero was still there.  I remember as a kid just looking at all the rubble as we looked through the chain linked fence. Now years later, it was such a peaceful place.  The monument is incredible.  I've seen many different monuments, and this one is my favorite.  The sounds of the rushing water and the pure size of the monument remind you of not only the severity that happened that day, but the strength that also came with it.

We took the Staten Island Ferry out and back just in time to see the Statue of Liberty against a beautiful sunset.

Needless to say, the highlight was my birthday! Chelsea and Luke got up at 4:30 AM to be on the Today Show with me at Rockefeller Center. Such a great experience! I may be young, but I admit to watching the Today Show every day before I go to work.  It was so cool! And Savannah Guthrie personally wished me a happy birthday! Such a fun experience.

We were so grateful we could finally visit the beautiful city together, and most importantly, see our dear friend Chelsea (Susan) Sue!

Thanksgiving in NC

This Thanksgiving, Luke and I got in our car and drove to North Carolina! Almost all of Laura's (Luke's mom's) family lives in the Durham/Raleigh area, so we were surrounded by lots of family!  Laura and Bob drove down from Virginia, along with Anna and Cameron and little Henry.  I was so excited to finally meet our new nephew, Henry! We had so much fun playing with him!

On Thanksgiving morning, a group of us ran the Durham Turkey Trot!  It was a great way to start the day, and made extra room for food later in the day. The turkey hats were a great addition!

Well, Luke is getting old.  We run all the time, and of course it'd be a relaxed 5k that threw his back out.  The pour guy could barely walk that day, but was a trooper! By the end of the day, Luke was dead on the floor, and so Cameron showed unconditional brotherly-in-law love and gave Luke a massage to try and help out.

The week was a wonderful one, getting to know so much family better, and eating GREAT southern food!

Kellee/Rachel Reunion

My best friend Kellee flew out to see me last week! We first became roommates over 5 years ago (whaaaaat?!). This trip included lots and lots of shopping, food and watching The Office.  Luke was out of town for the week, so it was just us girls.

Of course, a trip of seeing each other wouldn't be complete without at photo shoot! We had the best lighting along the beautiful creek that Luke and I run along. Enjoy the pics!

And a few shots of the amazing scenery

Pumpkin Season

I. Love. Fall.  Growing up, there were probably a dozen pumpkin patches to choose from each fall season.  Here in Alabama, I was just so grateful there was one.  Luke and I went to a farm in Harpersville, AL.  It had your typical corn maze, pumpkin patch, hay bale ride, and fall treats.  But there was something there you would not expect at a pumpkin patch: A cival war reinactment.  That was definitely a first for me.

This trip to a pumpkin patch was special.  Luke and I met exactly four years before on that day at a ward activity to a pumpkin patch.  It was special that four years later, we were married, thousands of miles from where we met, enjoying picking a pumpkin.

When we took our pumpkins home, we also had a lot of fun decorating and carving them!

We attended our church's trunk-or-treat event.  We decided to participate with the trunking and decorated our trunk.  We were very please by the kinds of things we could purchase at the Dollar Store (always a winner) and had fun making a cob web with spiders in our trunk with other spooky things including a spooky light and music from our phones.  All that mattered to us was that our Sumbeams (3-4 year-old) students loved looking at our trunk, and were definite fans of the Minion pumpkin.  They were like 100% of why Luke carved a Minion.

Luke and I went dressed as Peter Pan and his shadow.  Fun fact: I was all dressed up as Tinker Bell (Yes, we recycled our costumes from the Disneyland race) and 5 minutes before we left, decided to make a costume change. But it was a hit!

Georgia!

A few weeks ago, Luke and I headed out to the Atlanta suburb of Grayson, where Luke grew up.  A family friend was having a wedding reception, so we headed out and met Luke's mom and step-dad who came down from Virginia. We had a great weekend together.

I picked up Luke from the Atlanta airport.  He was gone on a business trip, and so it worked out that he was flying through ATL anyways. Grayson is a beautiful town. I had been to the house that Luke's family lived in in high school, but I had never seen the home he lived in until age 14 that was a couple of towns over.   We went to see the house, and I must say that it was one of the literally 3 times that I have seen Luke be sentimental (I am extremely sentimental, so he balances me out).  The home was beautiful.  We also hiked through some woods by his house to find a hidden waterfall he would always play in as a kid with his dad and siblings.  This was not a planned hike, so we did it in Luke's business clothes and my not-for-hiking clothes.  But it was very fun and absolutely beautiful!

   

The next morning, we went for a run at Tribble Mill where Luke would always run with his XC and track team in high school.  Laura came with us on a very rainy run.

That afternoon, Luke and I headed to Stone Mountain.  I have heard story after story from Luke about Stone Mountain.  His family would go often.  But you don't really appriciate it until you are there.  The Atlanta region is pretty flat.  But suddenly, there is this GIANT piece of granite that just sticks out of the ground. We had a lot of fun hiking it.  This time, at least I was prepared to hike. I kept telling Luke that it was going to rain again and that he needed to bring his rain jacket.  Of course, I did not listen.  So as we hiked back down the mountain as it poured and poured, I had a smug grin on my face as Luke cold and soaked, while I was warm and dry :)

Parent Visit to the South!

Last week we had a wonderful time with my parents who flew out to Birmingham to be with us.  They have always made it their goal to visit us in each of our locations, and we are so grateful that we do! My mom flew out a few days before my dad.  It was great to go on walks and of course go shopping with her.

My dad took a red-eye to Birmingham, and from the moment we picked him up from the airport, we were busy showing my parents the south! We headed down to the little town of Sylacauga where Luke works.  It is about an hour south of Birmingham, and far enough away from a city that you really can get the true southern experience.  The town is full of manufacturing plants, and that is what brings Luke out there each day. 

Luke was able to give us a tour of the plant, and he and my dad talked business the whole time.  I’ve gotten to tour a couple of the plants Luke has worked at (some do not allow visitors), and each time I am more and more impressed.  A million different parts and hundreds of hands working in unison (well, that is the goal) to make a product.

While still in Sylacauga, Luke showed us a well know BBQ place for lunch named Faye's Bar-B-Que.  It was about as southern as it gets.  This little old lady owns and runs the place.  She was the sweetest and cutest thing I have ever seen.

We've been lucky that my aunt and uncle also with in Birmingham.  It's been great to live near them and my cousins.  We're especially lucky to have my uncle serving as our bishop. We went to my aunt and uncle’s home where we celebrated my cousin Anna’s 15^th birthday! The entire time we sang the happy birthday song, I was just in disbelief that she is 15!!

On the Saturday of their visit, we took a little day trip to Atlanta! Luke and I hadn’t been since we were engaged (Luke grew up in a suburb of Atlanta and his family has since moved away). My dad had only been to Atlanta a handful of times for business and my mom had never been.  It was a beautiful day to see all of the highlights of such a great city!

We wrapped up with a fun hike through the hills to see the mines of Birmingham, including a tree house!