A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away....

Jen and I came upon Boba Fett and a Storm Trooper while strolling around Pumpkinfest on Saturday and I couldn't resist taking a picture with them.

Allow me to be a dork for just a moment longer, but I loved Star Wars as a kid. I guess you could say that I was a tomboy growing up because I played with my Star Wars action figures (that's right...I had Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia) with the neighbor boy Ryan...and he was so cool because he had the Millennium Falcon. Aah...the good ole' days.

Taking some "Terah Time"...

So this past weekend I claimed much needed "terah time" and by that I mean I left the whole weekend open with no prior commitments (even told some people "no" to their plans which is hard for me to do) and did whatever I felt like doing, whenever I wanted to. Needless to say it was a wonderful weekend. All of my closest friends know how important "terah time" or what my roommate Tracy called "alone time" is for me. Don't get me wrong, I love being around people and am definitely an extrovert but if I don't get a good dose of "alone" time...well I get rather cranky and that's no fun for anyone.

I already blogged about how fun Friday night was. Saturday I actually slept in, something that I haven't got to do in a while...I made a pot of coffee and finished watching "You've Got Mail". Took my good ole' time getting ready and then headed to historic downtown Franklin for their annual Pumpkinfest. I met up with Jen for lunch at my favorite Irish pub and then we strolled around downtown Franklin, stopping in a couple shops, checking out a couple arts/crafts booths and adoring the swarms of little costumed kiddies. I also took time to sit amongst the kids and painted a pumpkin. It was the best way to spend a Saturday...so relaxing!

Sunday was filled with Sunday School & then another great service of worship and the 2nd teaching from this series entitled "Stuff". About 10 of us grabbed lunch at Chili's afterwards and then Amy and I made a quick stop at the Target before I headed back to Bellevue. I managed to do some multi-tasking and talked to my family in IN while driving home and then took a big fat napa! I was so re-engergized from my nap, that I did the annual season swapping of the clothes. I think I really am becoming a little more "southern" each year I live in TN as I felt a little sad putting away all my summer clothes. Anyways, I got out all my sweaters, cleaned my closet, tidied up my room a bit, checked my email, wrote 5 letters to various friends and called it a day.

All in all it really was the best weekend I've had in quite some time and I'm just reminded that it's important to take some "alone" time every once in a while. It's like milk...it does a body good!

Frist Friday

So I finally made it to Frist Friday and it was such a great time. The Frist is the museum in downtown Nashville and every year from April to October they throw a lawn party on the last Friday of each month. It's a great place to mingle and network with other young business professionals. They have live music outside, hors d'oeuvres, drinks and you have access to all museum exhibits. Tonight's was especially fun because it was the last one for the season, it's Halloween weekend and they had one of the best bands in town playing. I met up with Jen and some other people from work.

I walked through the current exhibit: The Société Anonyme: Modernism for America presents highlights of European and American art dating primarily from 1920 to 1940 by major artists including Marcel Duchamp, Max Ernst, Joseph Stella, Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Fernand Leger, Piet Mondrian, Kurt Schwitters, and Joseph Albers. The nearly 200 objects in this exhibition, in the collection of the Yale University Art Gallery, were once held by the legendary Société Anonyme, America’s first “experimental museum” for modern art. It was a very interesting collection.

Jen and I enjoying the crisp fall air at Frist Friday

Guilty Pleasures

Pumpkin Carving Friday

Today was our annual pumpkin carving contest at work. Here are a couple of picture of my favorite pumpkins and some of the gang from work.

The Ultimate Lamp

I have been so excited about this blog and I finally have found the time to write about it. I guess to truly appreciate the significance of this lamp, you will have had to seen (in my opinion) one of the best Christmas movies ever made called A Christmas Story. Just thinking about it puts a smile on my face like a kid on Christmas morning. And if by some chance you've never seen movie, I'd highly recommend watching it sometime in the upcoming holiday season. It's a classic!
So you might ask, "How does one come across the infamous leg lamp?". Well believe it or not, I found it in a bar. On Friday night, after a birthday dinner with Caron at Logan's we went to hear our friend Tam play at Bluesboro Bar & Grille. Since we were an hour late, we grabbed 2 seats at the bar and there she was. But there wasn't only one...they had a leg lamp in each corner of the bar. I was speechless and could not leave without a picture (see below). Next to hanging out with my closest friends, this was the highlight of my night!

Ministry through Music

Last night I had the opportunity to volunteer at 88.7 Way-FM , a local station that shares positive music and most importantly the Message of Christ. Although I usually listen to cd's while in my car, I do frequently listen to their morning show while getting ready for work and find that it's a great way to start my day. Everyone that I worked with last night was fun and easy to talk to and I have to say that it made me a little nostalgic for my days at Focus on the Family. I was blessed enough to be able to call Focus on the Family not only my employer but also my "family" for the entire 4 years that I lived in Colorado Springs.

The other thing that was impressed upon me last night was the power of music. I have always had a passion for music...just ask my mom who says the first time she felt me move in her womb was when she was singing in the choir. And not only do I love music and all the varieties out there but also because a song can hold a message. The message can be happy or sad, fun or angry. But the message you hear on stations like Way FM is an eternal message, a message of life and hope, forgiveness and unconditional love. I am so thankful we have stations like this out there and that HE speaks to us through music....

Sunday O' Fun Day

What better to way to start the day than with some great services from The People's Church and I was so excited that I was able to bring Amy and Charity to see my home church. I had been traveling the past 2 weekends so it was great to be back in my Sunday School Class and Pastor Rick started a new series entitled STUFF so it was perfect timing as I hate coming in on the middle of a teaching series. What was the first principle that we learned yesterday girls? GOD OWNS ALL OUR STUFF!

Anyways, Amy wanted to see my friend Caron and since she was working all day at Pottery Barn Kids we decided that we would kill two birds with one stone and have lunch in Green Hills. I introduced Amy and Charity to a great little grille called Cheeseburger Charley's. I know some would say that a burger is a burger, but this place is sort of set up like a Subway as in they grill up the meat of your choice (they have chicken too) and then serve it on the bun but you can dress it any which way you please and they have a "salad" bar of toppings. The decor is retro like a 50's diner so it's a fun place to lunch. I think we all left with happy tummies!

We visited with Caron at PBK and also made a quick run by Sephora. But we were all fading fast as for some of us (not dropping any names, Amy) it was way past our nap times. We got back home around 3 and napped, vegged and so forth but we couldn't rest too long as we had a concert to attend (or so we thought). I was so excited to show Charity a true taste of Nashvegas by taking her to a live show and it had worked out perfectly since Matt Nathanson and Ingrid Michaelson were playing at 3rd & Lindsley. We got there promptly an hour before hand to wait in line only to find out the show was sold out and we would not be able to get in :( Sadness...Oh well, we took some pictures in line (here's a great one of Charity and me) and we reverted to Plan B.
Since we were so close to downtown and all dressed up decided to peruse Broadway and the other happenings of downtown. So we parked right down by the river and walked over and up 2nd avenue. We were all kind of hungry and decided to eat dinner at The Old Spaghetti Factory. Amy and I have been there many of times before but this was another first for Charity and I don't think she was disappointed. I even recommended my favorite dish which she tried and it even coordinated with her outfit (see picture below). The food was excellent and the conversation was good. I have to say that it was so nice to have Amy and Charity in town for the weekend.
We decided to rent a movie and just veg out at home since Monday would be filled with traveling and back to work for me. As we were walking the riverfront back to my car, we noticed this old statue of some soldier/frontiersman so all it took was a "dare you to get up their with the statue" and Amy took off. After a gentle shove from Charity, Amy was able to climb the big rock this Statue was on and we were able to snap a photo. Way to strike a pose, Amy!
It was a great weekend but as you can imagine super busy. It's only 7:30 on Monday night and I can barely keep my eyes open but I'm fighting through to get my laundry done...3 loads down and 1 more to go...and maybe watch a little Monday Night Football since the Colts are playing. But we shall see...something tells me that a good nights rest is just around the corner for me....Good Night, Sleep Tight!

Great Pumpkin Patch...Charlie Brown

Well not exactly but I think this has to be the biggest pumpkin I have ever seen and I had to capture the moment. They had several different harvest theme displays set throughout the Opryland Hotel. Have you ever seen a larger gourd??

Weekend Fun with Family

So late on Friday night my youngest sister Amy and her friend Charity drove up from Pensacola to spend the weekend. Their first agenda for their weekend was to SHOP. That's easy enough to accomplish so we drove out to Opry Mills (I like to call is Shopryland since it's this huge outlet mall complex that sits right next to the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center). My mom and other sister Holly and her daughter Elaysha also drove down from Indiana for the day and we all met up as the doors to the mall were unlocked. I think we all managed to get in about 3 laps at the mall until we decided to take a break and walk over to see the Opryland Hotel. It really is something to see (at least once) as it's this gianormous resort/hotel/convention center that has multiple indoor conservatories and shops and cafes and well, you name it and it's probably in this complex. We walked around there for about an hour, found the largest pumpkin/harvest displays I've ever seen and had a snack outside the Magnolia Conservatory.
Here are some pictures from our Saturday adventures :

Me, Mom & Amy
Me and my niece, Elaysha
Amy, Elaysha, Terah
Terah, Charity & Amy
Elaysha's Snack

Happy Birthday to Caron

So tonight was so much fun. I was able to have quality one-on-one time with Caron as we celebrated her special day. We started out with a little shopping at Target and TJ Maxx...I mean it's always fun to shop! Then she was in the mood for a good birthday steak so we headed to Demo's only to arrive to long lines inside and streaming out the door...no time to wait, so we ended up at Logan's Roadhouse. We didn't have to wait too long as we grabbed an open table in the bar area but the service, if you can even call it that, was terrible. Only thing that made it tolerable besides the food being really good was being able to sit and catch up with Caron. We then headed promptly to Bluesboro to watch our friend Tam play with his old high school band called, Twilight Zone. It was so great to see him in his element and he totally rocked out! He and the band also surprised Caron with a birthday song and I delivered her a cupcake, flowers, tiara and birthday gifts. Despite not having Michael here to celebrate with her(he's on tour in Asia), I believe she had a great birthday and I had a great night celebrating her and enjoying our friendship.

The Birthday Girl

Friday...finally.....

I don't know about you but I'm so glad that today is Friday and that I do not (unlike many others at the office right now) have to work this weekend. And I'm also excited for this Friday in particular because my sister Amy and her friend Charity are driving up this afternoon from Pensacola and will be here the entire weekend, and if I remember correctly, I believe this will be Charity's first trip to the fabulous city, I like to call Nashvegas! AND today also happens to be the birthday of one of my closest friends, Caron. Our friend Tam is playing with his old high school band in Murfreesboro so I believe we are grabbing dinner and then heading to the show. Should be a great night and a good start to the weekend. I am sure I will have pictures to post on Monday.

What month is it??

I could have sworn that it was October yet when I stopped by my local Walgreens to pick up some pictures this morning I was greeted by pre-lit Christmas trees, a Santa and a snowman. Huh?? I didn't know it was December already?

You would think that after spending 5 years of my life in the world of retail (where holidays are set up 3 months in advance) that I would be use to seeing Christmas decor now. Clearly, this tells me that I have been out of the "retail" loop for a while because seeing Santa in the window just totally caught me off guard. So I did some math and figured that the actual day of Christmas, December 25th, is only 69 days away...that's just a little over 2 months. I might have caused myself to panic because that means this year is almost over and I have no idea where it went, not to mention all the things that I wanted to accomplish or the stuff that needs to be done before the holidays...OK, somebody grab a paper bag ....deep breath in...deep breath out....

Trip to the ATL

So this weekend I once again headed out of Nashville and drove south to see my friend Lauraine and her family in Atlanta.(Alpharetta, GA to be exact) I have known Lauraine for a little over 10 years as we used to have cubicles side by side when we worked at Bellsouth in Indiana. We've been friends through the years and it was so fun to be able to spend some quality time with her and her husband Russell and their daughter Briana. Lauraine and I got one-on-one time, aka shopping the malls on Saturday thanks to Russell who stayed home with Briana. It was so refreshing to be able to catch up with her and just hang out. They took me to a delicious restaurant called Roadhouse (think Logan's or Outback)for dinner and then we made a Cold Stone creamery run for dessert later in the evening. For a weekend of traveling, it left me feeling refreshed and relaxed. Below are some pictures we took this morning:

Briana, Lauraine and Me

Briana, Russell and Lauraine

Briana, her great Halloween artwork and Lauraine

The Kingdom

Last night I went with my friends Caron, Michael and Tam to see the movie "The Kingdom". I had heard from reviews that it was an intense, action-packed movie and it definitely lived up to that description. If you haven't heard of this film, it's about a team of U.S. investigators set out to find the perpetrators behind a deadly attack in a Middle Eastern country. The opening scene showed a timeline of how the U.S. began it's involvement with the Middle East...a three letter word called OIL...all the way through present day, post 9/11 and the current war on terror.

We always rate the movies we see by using Caron's infamous 10-scale (10 being out of this world and 1 being horrible) We unanimously gave it a 9. While this movie was intense and a little hard to watch (violence wise) I thought the cast did an amazing job and the directors did an excellent job of capturing both sides of the story. They showed glimpses of what the different cultures look like and I appreciated that. I was still pondering this movie on my drive home and it became very clear to me that we, living in America, really do have it pretty good...I don't have to be fearful that if I'm stopped at a stop light and a car pulls up to me that it could be a bomb. I can't even begin to grasp what it would feel like to not feel safe enough to walk out the front door. And I don't want to seem naive as I do realize there are probably those living in America that wish us harm but I just couldn't help but feel extreme gratitude for living in the U.S. and for the troops that are fighting to keep us safe.

Has FALL finally arrived?

Let's hope so! After the heat and humidity blast last weekend, it was so refreshing to wake up this morning and feel the 45 degree temperatures. I mean, it is after all October, folks. And I should not have been so surprised to hear people at work today say that it's cold outside...excuse me?!? Did you just say "cold"? I don't think I'll ever get used to the Southerner's complaints of temperatures below 60 degrees. This is why I can say that I'm proud to be from the North. We love the cold! Fall and Winter are probably my favorite seasons.

The leaves haven't changed too much down here yet but hopefully soon. This picture is from my friend Amy who was back north over the weekend. I love fall foliage.

Half Marathon F-U-N

Well this morning was the 4th Evansville Half Marathon and since I'm sitting here blogging about it you know that I survived. It was not my best run to say the least...the 93% humidity and 90 degrees plus temps does not make for the best race conditions. I thought that in October the temperatures are supposed to be in the 50's? Anywho, I started out with my dad and I had a great first 4 miles but the heat and such made it a challenge to settle in and get comfortable. What do you do when you still have 9 miles to go? You just keep on keeping on! My dad finished before me by about 15 minutes and was there with Holly and Elaysha to cheer me on at the finish. What a great feeling to finish! Here are some pictures below:

Almost to the finish line on the downtown riverfront

Dad crosses the finish line

Almost there...

We are the champions....

Fall Festival Fun

Friday night I arrived in Evansville in time to enjoy the Annual West Side Nut Club Fall Festival. The boulevard is loaded with every food booth imaginable and the lawns at the library are ran over with Carnival rides and games. It's every kids dream. The food was delicious, the people watching was spectacular (I counted 8 mullets in a 2 hour period...amazing) and the smile on my niece's face when she won her goldfish was priceless. Here are some pictures:

Elaysha eating yummy mozzarella sticks

Holly eating a gianormous tenderloin sandwich

Elaysha holding her goldfish, which she named Mallory

Elaysha riding the kiddie train

On Your Mark...Get Set...GO...

Well this is it....the big weekend that will end with a bang on Sunday morning as my dad and I participate in the 4th Annual Evansville Half Marathon. I am excited, I feel good and am ready to run. AND I love any opportunity to be home and see my family.

I was looking through some scripture this morning as I was trying to remember what passage the line "let us run the race with patience..." came from when I came across another passage that struck me:

"I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings. Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever." I Cor. 9:23-25 NIV

Of course it had the analogy of running a race but what struck me was the motivating factor. Sure, I have done my training and will run to receive a finisher's medal at the end. My motivation is to cross the finish line and receive a medal. The medal will be great and I will bask in the pride of my accomplishments and show it off to others. But where will my medal be this time next year? I would probably guess in one of my storage boxes along with old letters and photos.

What motivates me in life...do I live my life to please others? Do I live for temporary/material "wealth" OR do I live a life that is pleasing to GOD? Is it a life that truly gives Him Glory?

I would hope and pray that when all is said and done and the final race is run, that my "medal" will be an Eternal one!

Speechless...

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words but yesterday while I was running up a hill, I was greeted at the top by a sunset that left me speechless. I don't think I could use a thousand words to articulate just how amazing this sunset was...it literally took my breath away (or maybe that was because I was running up a hill...ha!) I was awestruck and once again reminded of just how vast and awesome God is.

T-Minus 5 days and counting...

Is it sad that the biggest happening in my life right now is the Half Marathon that I'm going to be running on Sunday?!? Actually despite the past week of foot injuries and tummy problems, I am rather excited to do this race and can't believe that it's already here. Seems like just yesterday that I stared at my 12 week training schedule, took a deep breathe and laced up my running shoes for a 3 mile run. Now, I only have 2 more "easy" runs to go before a good two days of rest and then the big event. I'm sure the nerves will be in overdrive early Sunday morning but right now I feel excited and ready to run. And I am very excited to be running this race with my dad. He turned 60 in April and I could only hope to be able to still run, let alone run 13.1 miles, when I am 60. I couldn't think of a better running partner to have!