Evening walk

Today is the fifth day of fall, but the first day of fall weather.
We'll see how long the coolness lasts.

Somebody had an accident...ooops.

Mr. Acorn welcomes fall

Alabama in May

Amos and I journeyed out to Alabama for my cousin Aimee's wedding.  Here is a photo post of our trip...
First off, the flora.

Tons of Queen Anne's Lace along the freeway in Mississippi

Alabama Blue

My mom says there is a specific color blue for the summer skies in Alabama

Oh, hello!
(Flora AND fauna!)

Grapevines create a chorus line at Aimee and Daniel's wedding venue

My Aunt Brenda is a master gardener!  One of her many hydrangea

A huge magnolia near Grandmother's house

Mimosa, an icon of the South

Some purple flower

Aunt Brenda and Uncle Jerry's woods

And now, the fauna...

About to cross the Mississippi into Tennessee!  No good pics of the river... :P

I've always loved this Cape buffalo.
Granddad shot him on one of his African safari trips.

Daniel, in blue, with his brother, mom, and sister, helping with the rehearsal
dinner preparations

Cambodian chicken curry - so good!

Amos, Mr. Lighting Expert, replaces the ballast in the mud room light fixture
while Uncle Jerry holds the light and provides moral support ;)

Amos hands off Bailey's balloons after Chelsea
made sure she wasn't dying from a mortal wound.

Daniel and Aimee, working on boutonnieres

Awwww!  Daniel likes Aimee. :)

More flower deliberation with a skeptical Aunt Brenda and Emily

Mother and daughter: Grandmother and Aunt Brenda :)

Father and daughter: Mom and Granddad :)

Aimee is so excited!

The next day, pre-departure

Aunt Brenda and Uncle Jerry

Cousins!  Emily, me, Aaron, Aimee, Lydia, and Seth :)

Daniel with Addi and Bailey, new nieces :)

How cute is this?!?!
Addi watches a toad that Aunt Brenda extracted from her plants

Heading home...with a blue filter??

Elizabeth at work at FamilyLife

College friends :)

Grandmother and I

This last picture is the last picture of Grandmother and me. Grandmother died last Saturday from acute leukemia.  She was a fun, sweet lady, infinitely generous and loving.  Amos and I stayed at her house for this trip, and the most striking thing about her home was the myriad of family pictures.  Pictures on the walls, pictures on the dresser, pictures in boxes, pictures on side tables, pictures on shelves, pictures in calendars, pictures on the fridge.  Grandmother loved her family very much, and we will all miss her very much.

A storm

Thursday, July 14th
12:30 am*
Jennica awakes with a gasp to a huge bang and a flash of bright light.  A storm is raging outside.
After convincing herself it is not the Rapture, she tries to go back to sleep.

7:30 am
Jennica and Amos leave the apartment, commenting on the blue sky and the cool air.

12:00 pm
John, a coworker, walks out of the office with a golf umbrella and the enigmatic words, "Wish me luck!"
Rod, a coworker, rushes out of the office, saying he needs to close the car window that he left open.

12:15 pm
People start scurrying around the office.  Jennica looks out the window and sees a dark, ominous sky.

12:17 pm
Tornado sirens are heard, even up on the ninth floor.

12:19 pm
Jennica stops looking out the windows and tells a coworker she will be right back.

Paul:  Oh, that's right, you're from California.
[He thinks I'm going to the basement.]
Jennica:  Actually, I'm going to the bathroom.

12:25 pm
Jennica joins Paul and Rod at another window.  They watch the storm blow in.  At one point a very small cone forms in the clouds but is quickly drawn back up.  Jennica thinks this is all very exciting, but it would be a shame to be sucked out the window.**

12:30 pm
Jennica, Paul, and Rod return to the office and look out of other windows.  A tornado siren goes off in the building itself, but a voice quickly informs the building that "the tornado has been canceled."

12:35 pm
People try to go back to work.  John comes back up from the basement, not having bothered to leave for his usual lunch break.

12:45 pm
Jennica decides to eat lunch.

2:15 pm
Jennica leaves work and navigates the traffic that is even worse than normal.***

2:30 pm
Jennica arrives at Amos' office, but he is not able to go home yet.

3:00 pm
Jennica arrives at home and finds this:

And this:

(The power was out)

5:00 pm
Jennica arrives at Amos' office, having navigated a city missing half of its traffic signals.

5:30 pm
Jennica and Amos arrive at the chiropractor.

6:00 pm
Jennica and Amos drive to dinner, but Jason's Deli is closed.

6:50 pm
Jennica and Amos reach a Panera Bread and order dinner.

7:15 pm
Jennica and Amos are informed that Panera is out of bagettes.  Jennica chooses Asiago bread; Amos chooses whole grain.

7:20 pm
Jennica and Amos receive their meal.

8:30 pm
Jennica and Amos arrive at home.  The power is still out.

8:35 pm
Jennica takes some pictures of a beautiful sky, which tries to pretend that it hadn't just unleashed a storm on the city.

9:00 pm
Jennica takes a selfie.

Friday, July 15th
3:10 am
The power comes back on.

----------------------
* Times are approximate.
** It wasn't that bad.
*** Apparently bad drivers get even worse in the aftermath of a storm.

Portrait of an Evening Sky

It rained this evening then the clouds put on a little show.

Road Trip

Back in May, Amos and I took a road trip to Alabama to visit some of my extended family and to attend my cousin Aimee's wedding.  We had a great time!  I took a lot of beautiful pictures which I will post later, but for now, here is the journal page I made, summarizing our trip. :)