Oktoberfest

The previous two Octobers were spent being so sick I could hardly enjoy them!

October of 2013 was the last month before I went gluten free.  I had serious stomach issues and a skin rash mostly on my legs and arms.  Luckily after some self-testing and experimenting I found that the culprit of my problems was from the gluten.  By mid November of that year I was feeling a lot better! 

Last year, October of 2014, was spent with morning sickness! Work during that time was especially horrific (some events I don't even want to be known....) that made for long, exhausting, sick days.  The dry-heaving and/or vomit was brought on even more by the constant aroma of squash roasting in the oven (you folks know who you are)! 

 YAY for an October I am enjoying!!

We had a few friends over for an Oktoberfest celebration.  Matt lived in Germany for a couple years and was not really able to explain the purpose of Oktoberfest.  So we just kind of did our own thing.  We had some good brats with sauerkraut, ketchup (not really German), and Dijon mustard (German!).  We listened to German music and Matt taught us a few German words, i.e. haus.  We made soft pretzels.  They turned out great and I did not know that the key to making them was to put the pretzels in a baking soda water bath before you cook them in the oven. We had Rootbeer tasting and floats to end the night off.

Brezels und Rootbier!
The ones on the ends are Amy and Jake.  They are our doppelganger (German word!)-short and tall! The couple in the middle is Zach and Megan with their cute babe Navie.  Both couples are in our ward.

Matt is really loving the trails out here.  There seems to be more trail races than road races! Matt ran a 16 mile trail race that the Birmingham track club put on.  So he got a free race entry! He also won it and got some $$ in a gift card.  Definitely worth it.  We only paid 18$ for the both of us to be in the BTC and it sure has been fun being a member and totally paying back.

Matt as overall winner! Mr. Tosch who has gorgeous hair!! The picture doesn't give it justice!! oh and he directs A LOT of trail races down here.

While Matt was taking first place Yvonne and I took last place in the 4 mile loop... But it was a great hike! We hiked to a lake and saw some great views.  The leaves are changing a little...can you tell?

We have a huge counter in the master bathroom.  In the mornings while I do my hair and make-up (o.k. let's be honest...when I actually do my hair and make-up) I plopped Yevvie down in her Bumbo in front of the mirror and she is as happy as can be.  I especially like this picture because it shows her with bedhead!! She has enough hair to get it messy:)  She will have a pony-tail in no time.

Getting ready for the day

One outing we like to take sometimes during the week is to Bahama Bucks! I swear I didn't like shaved ice until this place.  We meet our friends, Brianne (a wife of one of the guys in Matt's class) and Caroline (her daughter who is a month older than Yvonne).

Looking on Point for our outing!

Matt just got introduced to the movie "Heavy Weights", a classic I thought everyone knew by heart! Also a movie that will not be redone anytime soon because it is not "politically correct".  I think it is hilarious and very quotable.  Matt has been rehearsing the lines from the movie constantly (you know how well Matt does impersonations) and has been making me laugh so hard.  In Tony Perkis' voice, "You have been a good girl Yvonne...fair...strong...Your mother would be proud."

Random and kind of related to the movie...I made Matt eat the following plate of  food for dinner after he told me he ate 5 or 7 Krispy Kreme donuts (people always want to introduce us to these donuts here because they think they haven't made it to the west yet??), several chicken 'n biscuits, and a big hot dog.

Quinoa Salad, Salad, Sweet potatoes (they are so yummy!!! I'm not sure if it is because they are from Georgia or if it is how we have been cooking them but they are my favorite food right now!!)