Fall Life Through My Phone

It's been little while since I've done an update so for history sake, here we go.

Labor Day Hike

Unfortunately there was so much forest fires in the area both here and across the western half of the US. It's crazy that at the same time Houston was experiencing their major flooding. The polar opposites going on.

With all the fires, it was hard to get out much near the end of summer to do anything outdoors. We did make it to the pool near the end of August (the first time that summer, isn't that blasemphy?!) and we had so much fun seeing our former neighbors. Their two little girls hung on to us the whole time.

But during Labor Day weekend, we ventured to Kamiak Butte for a hike. It was more smoky than anticipated but still good. And because I own no shorts, hiking in skirts in the way to go! It's the new thing, didn't you know?

And needing to stop by our favorite sandwich shop afterwards is a must.

In the middle of September, we loved stopping by the local fair. Austin especially loved visiting with the recycling guys at their display table. We also saw one of my friend's quilts...people's talents: amazing.

And I couldn't resist taking a picture of Multnomah Falls. Always makes me long for home.

Austin has been reading a lot more, mostly through audiobooks, on his commute to the school. But he got sucked into The Mysterious Benedict Society books and is anticipating reading the next one. He's also read The Wright Brothers, The Notorious Benedict Arnold, and he's in the middle of Last Days of Night. I read the latter recently as well and really enjoyed it. It's about the war of electricity between Edison and Westinghouse. Who really invented the light bulb? It's like the equivalent of Steve Jobs vs Bill Gates. There's a movie coming out this fall called "The Current War" which highlights this story of Edison and Westinghouse and it's got Benedict Cumberbatch so of course it's gotta be good. Excited to see it. 

Speaking of Austin, he passed the FE (Fundamental of Engineering) exam! On to the next step to being a professional engineer. He put in a lot of hours studying. He's also done a lot with career fairs and applying for jobs. Just the other day he emailed a VP of a company to get information about their company and they had a good chat yesterday. That takes guts and proud that he's putting himself out there. The job waiting game is frustrating and exciting with every new city he brings up as a prospect. 

On Friday the 13th our friends hosted a Murder Mystery Night. They created the whole game and had about 4 other couples with specific characters too. As part of the game, they had us all go the stake adult dance. It turned out to be more fun than I expected once we let loose on the dance floor. ;) My favorite thing was watching this old lady do the cha cha slide. Worth coming for that. 

Because the sun goes down so early, I told Austin we needed to have our going on walks earlier in the afternoon because the trees! So gorgeous. I drive by this area a couple of times a week and I have to restrain myself from pulling over all the time and taking pictures. It's hard to capture the beauty in a tiny frame but I love this area. They know how to do fall right. 

And more pictures of this fall. I love this bush which I call the rainbow bush. On this later in the evening walk, we turn the corner and with that sunset Austin yells, "SIMBA!" 

And now watching the snow fall outside is making me miss fall already. #pleasecomeback #notreadyforwinter