Exploring this new Green world

So after catching up on some much needed sleep and a day of lazing around, we were tired of being indoors. So Dave looked up a near by park and we went exploring.

The Tennessee River runs right through Knoxville and there are a few islands that are almost entirely parks and REALLY nice homes. We went and explored some of the parks. Needless to say, everything is green here.

Here's us by the water.


We went off on a little overgrown side path to see what we could find, and I was a little freaked out over the possibility of running into poison ivy. Luckily, I had my trusty husband who, having lived in a green places before, protected me very well from the could be dangers (Even if he did scare me once when I was in front, but thats okay).


Then on Saturday we were thoroughly bored and done relaxing and on our drive up we'd seen our first real mountains since Arizona on the horizon, so we decided to go and see what trails we could find.


We stopped at an information place to get a map and an idea of trails and things like that. And we found out a lot more then we expected to.

It turns out that the only way to get to Smokey Mountain National Park was to drive through three tourist towns. And these weren't the typical base of the mountain tourist towns with quaint shops and restaurants that one would expect. Nope, the apartment lady was right when she told us it was like a mini Vegas.

This picture is of a hotel where it is Christmas year round. Literally. It may not look like it, but I saw the brochure. Here's the website, I'm not joking.
http://www.innatchristmasplace.com/

Here are just a few pictures of some of the things that we saw along our way. We did think about stopping at some of them but they all looked kind of expensive and Dave really wanted to get to those mountains. It was worth it!This one was my favorite so we stopped and took a real picture. It was a museum and we almost went but we stopped after our mountain exploration and decided not to (and it seemed it was more kid oriented). But it was super cool to see.


My favorite part was the little fed-ex box in the upper left hand corner. You can barely see it but... its there.

Road Trip!

So this is our trip to Tennessee! Enjoy!

This is us just starting out in Tucson. We had a full tank of gas, a full to bursting Toyota Corolla and of course, Mama Phelps wouldn't let us leave with out a full stomach.

You can't see this picture very well but lets just say there wasn't much to take pictures of through out the rest of Arizona and New Mexico. But once we hit Texas, there was something we were all kind of looking forward to. The 80 mph speed limits on the free way. :)


Now Dave and I noticed an interesting phenomenon as we traveled. It all started with the oil wells. First we saw one, and were bummed that a picture didn't get taken. Then we saw a few more and snapped a few pictures. Then, they were all over the place.


And you can't really see very well in this picture, but they really were all over the place. There would be a plowed field, and then smack in the middle of the acre would be an oil well and tons of grass and weeds around it and then the field would continue like nothing happened.


Moral of the story is, yes crops are important, but oil makes more money.

Then there were the windmills, which I excitedly took pictures of. Then they were everywhere. And yes, those are bugs on the windshield. The smell of oil in the air apparently attracts a lot of them.


This is down town Dallas. There were some funny looking buildings that we kinda got pictures of... Sorry, you can't really see all that well, but trust me, there were. And much to my chagrin, this is the only point in the whole trip where we got lost because I was taking pictures instead of navigating. Luckily my husband is smart and had us back on track in no time.


The next few pictures are of a lake just east of Dallas. I watched it come on the map with great anticipation. And I was not disappointed. It was awesome. To see anyway. We didn't really have time to stop. But it was pretty all the same.


Then, things started to get a little greener. Okay, so a LOT greener.


Then we got to the Texas/Arkansas border. And we discovered that right there, there is a quaint town thats name is anything but.

Its Texarkana, which as the water tower at the entrance to the city proclaims, is "Twice as Nice" All I know is thats when people started to talk funny.


And to celebrate our entrance this is the only state sign I actually got a picture of. Which is kind of a bummer but Dave was particularly excited that I snapped a picture of the massive bug he'd hit a few hours before. Or what was left of it anyway...


Then we saw water. Lots of it.


And finally, the much awaited for Mississippi River! On our second day we could've stopped in Memphis instead of Little Rock AR but I wanted to see the Mississippi River for the first time in broad day light. And luckily my driver relented to my demands.

It didn't disappoint. Unfortunately we were rushing to get to Knoxville before 7pm (the office of the place we are staying closed then, and we had forgotten about the time change when we decided to sleep in that morning) and so we didn't stop and look around.

This picture I pulled off the internet after realizing that we would not be entering Tennessee again, but rather leaving it so I would never get a chance to take a picture. So here is the sign Dave saw while I was oohing and ahhing over the Mississippi River.


All along our way we saw these beautiful wildflowers along the free way. Unfortunately they don't photograph well out the side window of a vehicle going 80 mph. But just trust me that they were beautiful.

Also along the way, were these really pretty white blossomed trees. They would just stick out of all the green like a frost bitten thumb, and it was really pretty. (Not that frost bitten thumbs are pretty, just, these were.) You can kinda see them in the back ground.


And when we got to our apartments, (JUST in time) there was one of these trees right across the way from our apartment.

Now, I haven't had time to ask some of the local wild life just what kind of tree it is... but, when I find out, I'll let you know.

So there you have it folks, that was our trip. Soon I will put up another post regarding our sight seeing trip we took last weekend.
We would like to thank our car dealer for the car he supplied us with, it performed very well, our chef, for the fabulous sandwiches we were sent off with, and our travel agent for the great hotels with firm beds for Dave and yummy breakfasts for me. :)

We're Finally Leaving!

Well for those of you who didn't know, Dave and I are going to Knoxville Tennessee over the summer! Why may you ask? Well I shall tell you.

So Dave works for a home security alarm company (Lifetime Security) that his older brother and a friend started together before the housing market crashed. Since things are finally picking back up they decided to take the company to Tennessee over the summer for a summer selling program.

This means we get to go on a Road Trip! I am literally almost doubling the number of states I've been in by taking this trip. The previous list is Arizona, California, Utah, New Mexico and El Paso (not really Texas in my opinion.) Now the additions are going to be the rest of Texas, Tennessee obviously, and Arkansas. Then we Might, (i'm hoping we'll be able to but probably not) got to Virginia to visit our nieces (we just got a brand new one!) and our nephew. Unfortunatly the probably won't happen because we're both planning on going to school next semester and we've got to drive back.

But I am WAY excited! This is a momentous occasion for me because I have never spent more then 2 weeks outside the state of Arizona. So this is a big step. I'm stoked! Another kind of funny thing that we realized is that I have never lived anywhere that didn't start with the letter T. I grew up in Tucson, moved to Thatcher for college, I got married and now live in Tempe, and even when I break out of Arizona, you guessed it, I'm living in 1 of only 2 states that start with the letter T (I'm driving through the other one).

We got pictures and a floor plan of where we're going to be staying last night and I have to say... They are adorable!!! I know its kinda hard to see but they're done in English Tudor design! They are adorable!!! I seriously can't wait.

We both kind of joked after seeing them that we won't want to come back. Our apartment now is tiny and doesn't have a washer inside and there is no dryer at all. But these are going to have both in each unit! Our floor plan is below and we're very excited!I've got a job with the company as well. I'm just going to be helping out with office work. I like office work so I'm excited :) We're leaving as soon as our vehicle gets done with its check up in Tucson and we hope to be there the early part of next week! We'll give updates and take lots of pictures on our trip!

Have fun baking this summer because we won't be!!!

Wedding Pictures!

Okay, so I put all of the good ones on facebook, so if you don't have one and you still want to see them, let me know and i'll send you a link. But otherwise, here are a few that everyone seems to enjoy. :)

Lonely...

So last night was the first night since Dave and I got married that we didn't sleep together. And not THAT kind of sleep where you really don't get any Sleep at all, but seriously, he was down in Tucson taking care of some stuff and I didn't go because I had to work the next morning and :( I missed him.

Plus I had 24 different occurrences of freaking myself out thinking someone was going to break in and murder me in my sleep. One or two of which may have been our loverly ghetto back alley neighbors going through the stuff we put out for DI. Yes, half of it WAS gone in the morning. But thats okay, they still benefited from it I guess... just freaked me out a ton and a half is all.

Moral of the story is, don't let your husband leave you so early in your marriage, AND if you want things to actually get to DI, don't put them outside. :D

My Fabulous Day

So, I wanted to post some pictures of my fabulous day!

We took our professional pictures the afternoon before and we should get those this next week (!!!) but here are some pictures that my family took as Dave and I came out of the temple and some from the reception.

Enjoy!

He wanted to dip me as we came out... :)

Just a cute pic of us both

I really liked this idea :)


Then we took this one...



So, there you go. Theres sorta a taste of what the temple was like. Check out my facebook for better pics... uploading them all here takes too long. :)

Our House!

Okay so its not actually a house, its a duplex, but its still pretty cool! And small. But that has so far only been an annoyance and somewhat of a good one because we don't buy things we don't need because we simply do not have room for them. So its a blessing in disguise.

Here's a quick video of the house BEFORE Dave moved in and then there are some before after pics... its kinda messy now...




For example, Here is the living/dinning room area before Dave moved in:



Granted its still kinda messy, but I promise, Dave made it worse....





Oh and the BEST part about our house is the stove top. I swear, its hilarious! This is how I turn the stove on, its electric, but oh is it fun.




Yes folks, those are push buttons... its bona fide. I guess they were the rage in the 70s.... Along with yellow appliances... but thats just a guess....

And of course, these pics were taken before the wedding. Now with all the presents and the new bed and us still being in transition... its REALLY messy. But, it'll get clean.