Life is Beautiful. You come too: Obsessed with Alabama

If we had to rank a list of most likely places for the Paulson family to live, Alabama would probably have been in the bottom 5. And yet somehow we ended up here.

but WE. LOVE. IT. Every single day I find myself becoming more and more obsessed with it.

We live in a little town called Daphne which is across the bay from Mobile. It's very much the Deep South.

And it's just cute. Old beautiful homes line the forested streets to the bay, which is a mile from our house. Little stores are along main street, often hidden by trees. Lots of businesses are in buildings that look like they were once homes. There are hardly any sidewalks, but we're lucky enough to live half a block from the Eastern Shore Trail, which is a sidewalk that leads through beautiful streets and into the next city. There are churches everywhere. Baptist, Presbyterian, Catholic, Mormon, it's amazing. So fun to live in such a faithful area. Oh, and it rains!! Huge, heavy rainstorms that come quickly and leave quickly.

Sunday walk by the bay!

I love taking Kennedy running with me. I made it a total of 7 miles the day I took this picture. (Don't mind me shamelessly bragging. I'm still so proud!)

This beach is just a couple miles from our house!

We love our little baby backpack. And she loves looking around.

Umm yeah. (But the good news is, dogs are ALL on leashes!! For those of us scared of dogs, it makes it so much easier to be brave.)

A mini cemetery on main street for those killed in abortions.

We're just 45 min from Florida. At this rest stop they serve free orange juice! So yeah. We'd only gone like 20 minutes, but we stopped. :)

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We had a fantastically hilarious experience when we first arrived to Alabama. Derek saw an offer on Craigslist for a washer/dryer for $300. BOTH for $300! (And with a new baby and all the poopy explosions that happen, you just want to have those.) So we went for it. And it ended up being quite the adventure. When we visited the trailer home of the family who was selling it was pouring rain. Completely pouring. We arrived and Derek got out of the car to look at the different machines. Then the thunder and lightning started--and they were arriving pretty closely together. (He later told me he was convinced he'd be electrocuted.) Derek was outside for a while and then was escorted inside. And I tell you what, they were inside forever. Like half an hour. So instead of being worried about him being struck by lightning, I'm in the car thinking that Derek is being kidnapped or murdered. And I don't want to go knock on the door just in case something bad is happening. (Then they could kill all three of us!) So Kennedy and I just sat there. Forever. Planning what to do. Not really worried yet, but planning nonetheless. Oh, also Derek left his phone in the car so contacting him was kind of a no-go.

But then, finally Derek came out. Not even murdered. The nice couple just wanted someone to talk to! Derek came out all in one piece and we even found a set we love. In the end, we got a lovely washer and dryer and met some nice people :)

[This is where I would put the video I made of the crazy rainstorm on the property of strangers in the middle of nowhere. It wouldn't upload so just use your imagination.]

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One of the BEST parts about our new Alabama home is our HOME! Okay yes it's still an apartment. But it's the first time we've been out of a basement!! Oh we love it.

the wooden board on the mantle is part of a project I'm working on. stay tuned. It's going to be beautiful :) Also, I'm NOT a crafty girl. So this has been quite the affair so far.