Sunday Morning :)

Josh and I woke up to go to church Sunday Morning, I feel bad because I promised to make Josh Breakfast (Bacon, Eggs, etc. . . ) on Sunday but I slept in and we had to haul to make it to church.  

After we were headed to the Aldridge Gardens but I saw this little park along the way and asked Josh nicely to stop. 

This Red Dress Josh found for me almost a year ago, I asked him to find me a Red Dress & it is super pretty and so I got him a matching Red Tie.  We basically looked AMAZING!!!

Just so you know, Alabama even when people say it's "warm" outside, it is really cold.  I tried to find sunlight this whole morning, being by water and shady trees is very chilly!  Josh & I have a basic standard where if I am comfortable he is HOT & if he is comfortable I am FREEZING! 

This is the picture Josh really likes, with the water font behind us.  I think it looks super sweet too!

I yelled for Josh to come quick because I saw the ugliest ducks EVER!  He promptly took pictures for me, not sure if they really are ducks but wow. . .  

There were pretty geese out on the pond too, geese are pretty but mean.  

We left this pond to continue on to the Aldridge Gardens. . . 

Date Night

We got back to his apartment after rock climbing, showered and got ready for dinner.  Josh's idea of dressing up is a little different than mine so I had a nice casual look going, and Josh suddenly comes out in a nice collared white shirt with a normal blue sweater over it and this Pea Coat (which we both knew he only had on so he could give it to me when I was cold).  It was really sweet because he only put that much effort into his "outfit" because he knows things like that are important to me. 

We went to Chili's for dinner and drove to a really pretty scenic spot up in Birmingham. I am not sure where but it was really nice.  It was in the back of a church that had this kind of porch area with benches and it just looked out into the city.  It was high above the noise and we ate our dinner on a blanket and had a very sweet, dare I say a romantic picnic/dinner.  

I don't know why these pictures are blurry but I wanted to have something to remember my date night by.  Josh looks amazing, I wish I did my hair.  

We finished dinner, stayed to look at the lights but with the winds it was pretty cold so we packed up and just drove around for a bit.  

I think we came back to his apartment and just cuddled up and watched a movie.  Loved it :)

Rock Climbing

Josh & I have our one year anniversary coming up November 24th this year and since we won't be able to spend it together I asked Josh if could plan a special date night while I was there to celebrate it a month early.  He was not thrilled at this task, especially because I asked that it be romantic.

So today, Friday, Josh doesn't have work or class and he planned a whole day, he said he had a fair bit planned in case somethings didn't fall through.  We woke up and headed out to go rock climbing.  We both enjoy rock climbing so I was excited, and he said that at the park we were going to there was  Quilt Fair or Show going on and we could check that out too.  Very thoughtful because I really enjoy crafts.

This is the view over the cliff.  It was a really nice day.

I really like this picture, the gazebo gives a nice frame to the trees and sky.

I was playing around with my color filter on my camera and liked the blue hue but couldn't decide which I liked best so I kept both versions. 

Josh deleted this picture on his computer but I like it,  I don't get very many pictures of him so I try to take ones when I get a chance.  

I like this one, I think Josh looks nice and comfortable maybe just relaxed, but he is always like that.  So I don't know why this is different, but I guess I just remember sitting with him and it brings back nice memories.  

This one just makes me laugh, he tries so hard to take lots of pictures and I really appreciate it.  I like having memories.  

This is one route we climbed.  My shoes Josh got were just TOO tight, even for rock climbing shoes so I opted to go barefoot.  Josh said I did well, I don't know, I feel like I did really poorly.  It is a very different feel to not have the rubber on the shoes to help you grip with your toes into the rock surface.  But I got through two easy routes.  

Josh told me he picked these routes because he remembered this being written on the rock surface. It says, "Be my girlfriend."  Honestly that wasn't planned but I like to pretend it is.  Josh actually really didn't like that someone defaced the rock surface.  

Here is another route I did, after this one Josh asked if we were done so we could watch the sun set over the cliff but we drove all this way I felt we should do at least one more before we lost daylight.  I am not a strong climber even with proper gear so without my shoes I was slower and less confident so it took longer.  

On our last route we had to rappel down and Josh knows I really hate that so he tried his best to simulate just a normal belay down like when rock climbing but I don't know if it is psychological or what but I had a panic attack going down and came close to hyper-ventilating.   Josh tried so hard to be patient and calm me down and afterward I kept promising to him that I wasn't mad at him.  Honestly I think I get mad at myself for not being more capable and for getting scared and frustrated at my own weaknesses.  He never makes me feel anything less than strong and capable and never puts me down for not being a wilderness woman, I am just really hard on myself.  

So I cried the whole way down, and I don't know if I just reached an emotional max or what but I cried the whole way up too.  I GENUINELY enjoy rock climbing.  I have no idea why I kept crying I knew I was safe, Josh would NEVER put me in a dangerous situation.  I felt bad, he planned a really fun afternoon which I enjoyed, the area was beautiful, rock climbing is fun, and I had my boyfriend to cheer me on and tell me how great I was doing!

OHHH remember my beautiful pedicure with my Halloween design?!  Climbing barefoot, my nails chipped, I think I screamed or cried maybe in pain I don't know because Josh belaying was seriously concerned until he found out it was because I chipped my nail.  He was like, "Really Erin, really?"  Not my best moment.  

We kind of saw the sunset, it was pretty but getting chilly so we left to head back to Birmingham for the rest of our date :)

BTW I don't like Southern Accents, Josh said we could stay and look at the Quilt Show for as long as I wanted but hearing them talk kind of annoyed me and after all the crying I decided it was best to just go home, shower and pretend I did amazing. 

Birmingham Botanical Gardens, Again . . .

On Wednesday Josh & I went to the Birmingham Botanical Gardens again, we had just a fun time last time we decided to see what the gardens have during Autumn. 

The Roses were pretty, and specifically the Yellow Roses smelled so nice.  

There were tons of Marigolds, I don't personally like the smell but all of them clustered together looked so amazing with the colors blending.  

I hope you can see the butterfly on top of the flowers.  I kept telling Josh, "Get the butterfly in the picture, get the butterfly"  Love it!

Josh got this cool picture of my reflection in the lily pool.  This is without doubt my FAVORITE place in the gardens.  The lilies looked SO amazing and when the sun went down a little Josh got some really pretty pictures.  He tried when we first got there but there was a funny glare, I am so grateful we went back because these look perfect!!!

Yeah Lilies are amazing, Love this picture.  And they were purple which made it a million times more perfect. 

AND this one!!!  There was four little clusters going down the pond, and the lily pads were so pretty and a little colorful, I have never seen a place in nature that I honestly thought was more beautiful.  I could have stayed by this pool all day.  

We figured out my camera's self-timer and Josh got the angle and level that we wanted on the ground and ran to get in the picture with me.  We did a few takes but it looked great in the end :)

And in this picture you can hopefully tell that we are MATCHING!!!  Josh, so sweet, got a size small from work so we could have matching shirts to wear.  He did the same thing while were caving, we have matching shirts then too (sorry no pictures).  My boyfriend is basically amazing.  

I think this picture turned out so pretty with the trees reflecting in the little pond.  After coming from Arizona with 95 degree weather and palm trees Alabama was almost exotic.  

We stayed at the gardens for a while.  Josh and I just sat on a bench & just enjoyed the weather, the wonderful clean smell and the beauty of the nature around us.  It was sweet to just spend that time together and enjoy each others company.  I Love moments like that. 

Mountain Trail Biking

 Sunday we left to go caving and that was super fun, but we didn't take pictures because  it's dark and the air saturated in the caves.  It was really fun :)

The next day (10/21/12) we went to the Hays Nature Preserve in Huntsville, AL to ride some nature trails on mountain bikes.  Josh rented my bike at his outdoor rental shop where he works.  The bike is a little big for me but it worked okay, the area was really pretty.   

I love all the autumn colors, the trees, the leaves on the ground, all very beautiful.

Josh tried to get pictures of me riding my bike, I am not very good, Josh would ask me every now and then questions like, "Erin do you try to ride as close as possible to the trees so that it looks like you're going to run into them?"  

Us together :)

Josh posing for the camera, very thoughtful look. . . 

Josh has a very artistic eye, he takes very pretty nature pictures.  I like pictures, and he likes nature so it works out pretty well.

So this picture isn't my favorite, but I feel I look a little focused and rugged. 

I was so sore after the bike riding, seriously couldn't sit because my butt hurt!!! Josh laughed, he thought it was funny but on the ride home I sat on my neck pillow & walking in general was difficult borderline painful.  

These trees were awesome, they were in the water and the trunks were super fat an amazing.  

AND BIG!!!

We had a fun weekend with Caving and Bike Riding but we headed back in the afternoon to get back before evening.  Josh has work and class Tuesday so we head back...

My visit with Josh

I went to visit Josh almost exactly to the day a year from my first visit last year.  Left October 19, 2012 on the red eye to Atlanta to have a 2 1/2 hour delay to arrive in Birmingham, AL almost 9 a.m. AL time.  We were supposed to go caving with some friends Saturday and leave as soon as I landed but they ended up having to cancel so when I arrived we were free to stick to our own schedule. So. . . we decided to just chill on the couch because I was SO TIRED!!!  We just went grocery shopping and got food to make spaghetti and Dirt - a dessert Josh was Super excited to eat :)

Unfortunately while making Dirt I forgot to add the Cool Whip & remembered too late so Josh made what he called, "Polar Bear" and went crazy over it.  

Josh was so helpful, with the spaghetti and with his Polar Bear.  Since I messed up the pudding portion he decided to just leave the pudding on the bottom, and he added Reese's Peanut Butter Cup next then another small layer of what pudding was left then his crushed Oreo.  And lastly he added the Cool Whip and topped it with Gummy Bears - he was so sad at the grocery store when we couldn't find gummy worms so he decided "Polar Bear" was more appropriate anyway.  

Josh crushing Oreos, he did a great job. 

And LOTS of Cool Whip

He is arranging his Polar Bears in a strategic battle formation or something like that.  Not sure. . . He seemed happy with the end result. 

Ta Da

You cannot see the Reese's Peanut Butter Cups but Josh basically almost cried with Joy every time he ate it.

It was fun to cook together, but mostly just fun to spend time with my boyfriend.  We decided to just stay the night in Birmingham and not head out caving until early Sunday Morning so I could be well rested.  So thoughtful. 

Brunette

I went brunette again :)

It was amazing, I LOVE Groupon, I got a deal for $40.00 of an $80.00 service at Dolce Spa and Salon, and being a new member or something I got $10.00 off that!  So for $30.00 I got an $80.00 color and cut at a really fancy salon.  It was so fancy there and the stylist did all these fancy things & I LOVE the color. 

I also got my toes polished for Halloween, a lady at work came in with this design and I got the salon she went to and basically copied her.  

The attention to detail was great.  You cannot tell but there is like a little red hourglass and little dots of red for the eyes and a little gray glitter on the web.  It was amazing & pretty cheap too!

I am getting myself all dolled up for my trip in exactly one week.  I leave for Birmingham Friday Night on the Red Eye to arrive Saturday Morning super early.  I know Josh won't notice, but it will make me feel better AND hopefully I will have fun pictures with my boyfriend to bring back!