Just Escape.

Every year about this time, there is a clear and defined day where it actually starts to feel like Fall in Alabama. And every year on that day, I go crazy. I become an obsessed antsy fool who can think of nothing but going North. Sometimes I fantasize about North Alabama, sometimes the mountains of […]

Off to the Races.

“Hey Eli, would you like for me to tell you where to stick it?” These are the jewels that you hear when you travel with a three-year-old and a six-year-old boy. (No, Noah had no idea what he was saying. Yes, he said it in the kindest, sweetest little boy voice ever. Yes, I laughed […]

Callaway Gardens, a Photographical Journey.

Chris and I wanted to go off for my birthday (early, by the way – you still have time to mark October 9 as a Very Important Date on your calendar), but we didn’t know where to go. We only had a weekend available, so we needed to go somewhere relatively close, and we wanted […]

Short Stories From the Road.

So you drive a Prius. You park next to me at the bank. With an empty parking space on the other side of you. The bank has very, very spacious parking spots, too, by the way. Yet you park so close to me that I literally (and I do mean literally literally and not figuratively […]

How to Properly Use Alabama Jell-O Molds.

In a huge announcement of unprecedented importance, Jell-O proclaimed that they were releasing University of Alabama Jell-O Molds. (Along with molds for 22 other Universities, but I’m positive none of them took it nearly as seriously as Alabama fans.) Because I love my husband and I’m a sucker for a good Jell-O mold, I immediately […]

On Stalking Vegetables {And a Giveaway}

I have been a fan of VeggieTales since I was thirteen years old and a babysitter-in-training. The kids I babysat for introduced me to it and I was all like “Whaaaaaat? Vegetables on cartoons?? That can’t be good.” Until I watched one. I *might* have bought my own VHS copies as a teenager. I also […]

Science is For the Birds.

My homeschooling strength has never been science – as a student or a teacher. I buy experiment books and we never open them; we read our science book but never put it into practice; I managed to worm my way out of dissections in both high school and college, whereas by the time my younger […]

The Perils of Sunset Chasing.

So the sunset betrayed me last week. Birmingham isn’t an easy city to photograph – we have hills and trees and trees and hills. BUT. The downtown area is in a basin. So if you can get above it in any way, it’s MAGNIFICENT. Besides the mountain ranges on the south and east sides, there […]

The Origins of Topper.

A couple of months ago, Chris and I took our nasty, stale, extraordinarily aged wedding cake topper on our anniversary trip. Our thirteenth anniversary trip. Topper got to enjoy every aspect of Asheville, The Grove Park Inn, Sunset Chasing, Chocolate Shop Visiting, and we even took him to The Biltmore Estate. I’m waiting for them […]

Where to Find Birmingham’s Sunsets.

“Do you go to the same place every time you sunset chase?” (Nope.) “Do you take all those pictures from your house?” (Not a single one.) “Do you have to trespass to get sunset photos?” (No. You don’t have to. And I almost never do.) “Why are you so obsessed with sunsets?” (That’s a long […]