Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Visit to Birmingham and Enjoying Corvallis...

Hello everyone...its Mandi here.  I wanted to let you know how I'm enjoying Corvallis and about my recent trip to Birmingham!  We'll start with my trip to the B'ham.

I needed to go home for about a week to see my different doctors for check-ups (dentist, eye doctor, etc.).  Thankfully, I was able to get all my appointments scheduled during one week...one very busy week, I might add.  So, my honey and I bought a plane ticket for me to fly to Birmingham on June 10th and fly back on June 18th.  I stayed with my mom and really enjoyed getting some mommy-daughter time in!  I was also able to schedule time to see some dear friends and family which was very special and made me feel at home and lie I was still a part of everyones life.
It was a rude awakening when I got off the plane in Birmingham that first night...it was so hot outside even with it being late at night!  I knew it had been unseasonably hot for the past couple of weeks, but I got to experience it first hand (100 degrees at times and more humidity then you can imagine)...I needed super, super strength deodorant!!  My hair had been so straight in New Mexico, but as soon as I got to Birmingham it went curly once again!  While I was there I had a goal of re-vamping my wardrobe since I haven't lived near any "real" stores in a while.  That goal was achieved and I had a blast doing it and modeling my new clothes for my honey when I got home! 
I am very thankful that my honey and I were able to text and talk on the phone while we were apart so that the separation wasn't as painful...but boy, was I ready to come home and wrap my arms around my amazing, handsome hubby!!!!  It felt so good to see him and hug him and be back home!  Whenever we're apart, I realize even more how my home is wherever he is no matter where I'm from or have lived the longest.  I am so super blessed to have such an amazing, caring, supportive teammate for life...my honey rocks:)!

                                     
Here is Mr. Winston snuggling with my honey while I was gone...he looks like he is really missing me!

(This is Meshach, he lives with my mom...the sweetest cat on earth!)

Now, about Corvallis, Oregon...I LOVE it here!!!  Not only do we have an amazing home to live in, the city is so beautiful and full of the nicest people!  I think I had forgotten what it feels like to live in a place where the people are friendly and happy...such a breath of fresh air.  My honey and I have really enjoyed eating and cooking with fresh, organic produce and healthy meats which are readily available here.  Everyone is big into being "green" here, so its super easy to recycle and decrease our carbon footprint.  So many people ride their bikes here and all the roads have special bike lanes to encourage bicycling.  The air is crisp and clean and everything is so green...the temperature usually maxes out in the 70's (a-mazing)!  Every Saturday and Wednesday there is an amazing farmer's market downtown along the riverwalk that is so much fun.  It gives everyone the opportunity to bring their dogs out and my honey and I love that!  Corvallis is mostly made up of college students and young families so there are a lot of children running around and playing.  My honey and I like to watch all of the kids and dogs and enjoy the great 'vibes'.  There are all kinds of musicians who come to the riverwalk to play their music which I love so much.  There are so many parks in the city and trails to  walk and hike on...we hope to borrow two bikes from our neighbor so that we can ride some on the trails.  We already found an amazing church that we love and I'm sure it will be hard to leave.  The kitties are happy here and enjoy the peaceful community...they also love the townhouse that we live in because it has stairs and lots of room to play.
So, overall, we feel so blessed to be here right now and I would love to stay here for a while, but will see what God's next plan is for us.  My honey is doing great at his new job and is already being asked to stay by people he works with (no surprise to me).  Unfortunately, its not up to us to stay, we have to abide by our 3 month contract.  I am not working yet, but its okay.  I am enjoying cooking and preparing my honey's dinner when he gets done with work around 730pm...I never really enjoyed cooking, but this has been an enjoyable time.


These are some pictures from the farmer's market that we love to go to in downtown Corvallis.  So many families, dogs, kids, musicians and interesting people!! 


The kids love playing in this fountain!


These are salsa dancers who were dancing at the farmer's market last Saturday.






Here's our car for this assignment...his name is Earnest Jr. because he is the smallest (by far) car we have had thus far!

Okay, I'm signing off for now...thanks for keeping up with our adventures.

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