Welcome to Terah Firma

Hi...it's me again....

2010-05-14T21:11:00.000-07:00

Well I guess by now that all of my blogging friends realize when my work life explodes because I literally disappear from my blog. Although it might sometimes seem like it, my life does not stop and I still try to balance plenty of fun things amongst my busy work world.

What have you missed in the last 25 days? I successfully planned a conference for the Foundation (and am working to update their blog with pictures and details), I enjoyed a quick weekend in Panama City Beach co-hosting a Bachelorette Bash for my sister Amy. AND because I was in PCB, I was fortunate enough to miss the major flooding in Nashvegas that happened on May 1st and 2nd. I spent the entire first week of May traveling with work from one end of the state to the other. Successfully finished two more graduation events for the Foundation. Made an unexpected but necessary trip to Evansville to return my sister's unharmed vehicle and celebrate Mother's Day. Spent majority of this week trying to regroup with work stuff and finally got to get in a run two nights this week while catching up with friends.

That's a super short recap of the past month of life. I'm trying to get caught up on so many things but hope to post more things later.

Until then......

Wedding Weekend

2010-04-18T19:12:00.001-07:00

The only word that I can think of that sums up my roomie's wedding was PERFECTION. I feel incredibly blessed to have been able to celebrate with them on their special day and wish them all the happiness in the world. I know she reads my blog so "Love you guys".

Here are some fun shots from the day!

They had a candy bar set up for guests as favors...such a sweet treat

The beautiful garden area

The happy couple

One of the sweetest brides I know :)

Arrington Vineyard

2010-04-11T20:38:00.000-07:00

Saturday afternoon some friends gathered at Arrington Vineyards to enjoy the wonderful weather, great wine and picnic foods, and live jazz music. These pictures are courtesy of my friend Patrick who also graciously organized this get together.

Me, Sims and Katie hanging out around the picnic table and yummy food.

Wade took this fun picture of Me, CrazyAmy and Sims

Chatting up with Wade while hanging out on the hillside

I absolutely loved hanging out and watching the stars come out at night

Blunt Toe Trama

2010-04-10T19:16:00.000-07:00

It's rather laughable now but at the time of injury laughter was the last thing running through my mind. Let me take you back to the scene of the accident. I was having a productive Saturday morning. I got up early, took care of my bosses dog, ran a 5k, picked up bosses from airport and made my way to the grocery store all before 10 am on Saturday. The grocery store was very quiet and I didn't have much to pick up really. What I did stock up on was liter bottles of water since I knew they would be perfect to take to a picnic that afternoon and I was rather thirsty. I also picked a half gallon of my favorite tea. Since I only had about 7 items, I ventured to the self-checkout lanes and began the process. I try my best to bring my recyclable shopping bags to save on the plastic. My thought was that I will scan the heavy bottled products to keep my shopping bag from collapsing. I had all 3 bottled products in and bag secure (so I thought). When I scanned the next product, I clearly did not see the bottles falling out of the bag. I never saw anything but quite painfully felt them all 3, one by one, fall onto my bare foot. The victim, my big left toe. The pain was that instant pain that delivers a blow to the pit of your stomach. I looked down below and saw that I had skin hanging off said big toe. Holy smokes....I literally had to take a moment at the self check out line to regain my composure. I can only imagine what this looked like to those watching the security cameras. Thankfully my toe nails are painted a springy shade of purple because now my big toe matches perfectly.

Easter Brunch

2010-04-05T20:49:00.000-07:00

My church offered the option of a Saturday night worship service so I was excited to partake of this opportunity to go to church on Saturday night which in turn allowed me to sleep in on Sunday morning. (well not really because I had to take care of my bosses dog but it was a nice thought). Anywho, my friend Crazy Amy found this great brunch spot online and we decided to check it out. We went to Boxwood Bistro which is just outside of downtown Franklin. It was like having brunch in a tiny space of heaven. We got a table outside and basked in the glorious sunshine surrounded by shrubbary and beautiful trees full of spring blossoms. The brunch was buffet style and their menu selections were abundant. Everything was simply perfect.

Whirlwind Weekend and Week

2010-03-29T19:45:00.000-07:00

Whew....I think I have caught my breathe from this weekend. What a whirlwind life right now. I went back to Indiana on Friday evening to co-host, along with my mother and sister Holly, a bridal shower for my baby sister. Thankfully one of my bestest friends (crazy Amy) went along with me and she was a huge help with all the going-ons this weekend. We got in around 7pm on Friday night and went straight to dinner with my mom and Elaysha bug. I was starving so dinner at Hacienda was extra delicious. After dinner, we made a quick stop at Target and then headed home. I was in bed before 10 pm.

My Saturday started early....7 am early but it wasn't bad because I was already awake. I left with my mom at 8 am and the errands commenced. We started the day with Donut Bank coffee and donuts...an Evansville must! We then dropped her car off for an oil change and then gathered all the shower stuff and loaded the car and headed to church. We got everything situated for the festivities and I designed the floral arrangements....another fun thing that I am discovering that I am good at and enjoy very much! From there we ran a couple last minute errands to get some more shower supplies. We grabbed lunch and then picked up her car and dropped my car off for an oil change. We swung by the house to pick up Crazy Amy, who enjoyed the morning sleeping in and recouping from her night of food poisoning :( poor Amy, to run and do mani and pedis. We then dropped my mom off at home and then grabbed my daddy-o to get in a quick trip to the gun range to get in some shooting practice. Then we brought my dad back home b/c my parents had a wedding to attend and then grabbed Holly, Amy and Elaysha and headed to the mall. We did some quick shopping and then grabbed some dinner. By the time I got home around 9:30...I was absolutely exhausted!

Sunday was the big day....shower day! And by shower, I also mean rain showers. I was glad to sleep in some and then attended church at Bethel Temple Church. It's a great church in Evansville and I look forward to attending any time I'm back in Indiana. We snuck out a little early to pick up balloons for the shower and grabbed a quick lunch and then headed to my parents church where we were hosting the shower. We did all the last minute decor and finishing touches and then I assumed the role of "greeter/traffic director" for all the guests that arrived. We had about 30 people attend and my sister got some great gifts. I feel like over all it was a good and successful event. Crazy Amy was kind enough to be our photographer for the day using my camera. But I haven't had a chance to actually download the pics to my computer. I will post them when I can. The shower ended around 4pm and we had everything cleaned up by 5pm. We ran back to my parents house and packed our car and then headed out to dinner at Longhorns to have an early birthday dinner for my Dad. After dinner, we made a quick stop by my grandmother's house and then got on the road back to Tennessee.

I finally got home around 11 pm and got everything unpacked. And hence the weekend was gone and now a busy week has started. I got up early only to repack as I am now in East Tennessee for today and tomorrow. Then I am heading back to Nashville for some friends that are coming to visit. My travels are not over just yet as I also have to head back to West Tn to do some office stuff and pick up the dog and bring her back to Nashville.

Whirlwind....

Hostess with the Mostest

2010-03-23T11:53:00.000-07:00

It has become clear to me lately that I absolutely LOVE hosting parties. I love creating an environment that allows a group of people to come together and enjoy each other's company...stories told...laughter shared. I love the opportunity to eat delicious amounts of food and sweets. (like I need to create an "opportunity"...HA) This also explains why the favorite part of my job is event planning. While the amount of details can sometimes be overwhelming and stressful, at the end of the day it's very rewarding to me.

It's that time....a season of parties. I hosted a dinner party this weekend for my roomie, Jen and her fiance Mike. This weekend, I am heading to Indiana to co-host a bridal shower for my baby sister, Amy. She will become a Mrs. in just 3 short months. I will celebrate with Jen and Mike as they get married on April 17th. I have a new and fun event that I am planning for work on April 27th. Then I will head to the sunshine state on April 30th to co-host a bachelorette weekend beach bash for Amy. Once I return I will have another two events in a weeks time for work. If I can survive those events and I do plan to survive, then I will take a much needed vacation and head to the majestic mountains of Colorado to celebrate ME and my big birthday of 35. But that's not the end of parties...once I return from Colorado I will have about a week to regroup before heading back to the sunshine state...this time to stand besides my sister as she becomes a wife.

Here's hoping I'm still feeling like the "hostess with the mostest" when it's all said and done!

Where's the sunshine?

2010-03-17T11:18:00.000-07:00

I feel like I haven't seen sunshine since I was in Arizona . Actually we had some sunshine and blue skies last Friday but nothing since then...that was 5 days ago. Being under this constant cover of clouds and rain showers is SO depressing. The combinatino of weather and daylight savings time has made it tough to get out of bed in the morning. The weather peeps keep promising sunshine but that's yet to happen. Maybe I'll just head back to Arizona where the sunshine seems to be abundant.

I think I'm getting back into a routine after vacay. I've worked out every day this week thus far which feels good and I am enjoying a work routine getting to spend lots of time working from my downtown office. April and May are busy months with Foundation stuff and we've even added a new event in April so I guess I should be enjoying this "down" time while I have it. I'm thinking it's like the calm before the storm.

Low Key Weekend

2010-03-14T20:03:00.001-07:00

I've enjoyed a rather low-key weekend. Friday night was spent with Jen and Mike eating a casual dinner at the Broadway Brewhouse in Bellevue. I can't believe they are getting married in 34 days....so excited for them! Saturday morning was dog duty (since the family is overseas) and since I was there, I got in a 3 mile run on their treadmill. Did a couple errands and then met up with my friends Amy, Katie and Patrick for lunch at Blue Coast Burrito and then caught the afternoon show of "Alice in Wonderland" in 3D. It was very enchanting! Made a quick trip to Costco with Amy and then worked my way back for the evening dog duty and then to relax at home and catch up on some tv shows.

The time change, that is losing the hour, really sucked. It also doesn't help to lose an hour of sleep and wake up to another gloomy and wet and cold day :( This weather blows! Anywho, I got up and ready for church stopping to do morning dog duty of course. I grabbed a quick Waffle House lunch with my friend Amy afterwards and then did a couple more errnads and even some work stuff that I wanted to get a jump start on for this week. I got home around 5:30 and began the organizational project known as my closet. I'm rebelling against this colder weather and put a good majority of my sweaters back in storage for next winter! I also got to use some of my finds from Ikea which helped tremendously with all the clutter. I have a whole bag of old running shoes (6 pairs to be exact) ready to be dropped off at Soles4Souls tomorrow and I also did 2 loads of laundry. I even managed to hit the couch in time to watch the new HBO mini-series called The Pacific.

All in all it's been a good weekend and I am ready for another productive work week (fingers crossed).

Rainy Days

2010-03-12T08:23:00.000-08:00

I don't mind a rainy day but rainy days...like day after day...kinda brings me down. It rained my last 3 days in Arizona and it's rained every day (at some point) since I've been back to TN and guess what the weekend forecast is? Yep, more rain. I realize that rain is good for the ground and spring flowers but a little sunshine would be good too and most welcomed.

Coming back from a great vacay hasn't been too hard. I typically get the post-vacay blues and while I do miss hanging out with Ruthann and Wesley, I'm ready to dig into work and some fun events that we have coming up. I haven't been overwhelmed with emails or phone calls from my boss overseas which has been wonderful. I have plenty to work on and am enjoying my own scheduled days and being productive without a million interruptions.

Arizona Vacation Highlights

2010-03-09T21:04:00.000-08:00

Thought I would post some pictures that highlighted my recent vacay to Arizona. This vacation was actually the best vacay that I've taken in a while. I got to spend so much quality time with my dearest friend, Ruthann that I am coming back to Nashville more refreshed and my batteries fully recharged!

A sure sign of spring...Baseball. Cubs spring training game that we attended on Friday

Ruthann and I spent our Saturday at The Spa at Camelback Inn...what a treat!

In between treatments, we lounged by the pool. It had a spectacular view of mountains all around and we got a perfect day full of sunshine and blue skies

I had so much fun getting to meet and play with Wesley. He is such a delight :)

Ruthann and I

Much Needed Vacay

2010-03-08T08:41:00.001-08:00

I cannot even begin to emphasis how great my vacation has been thus far. I flew out on Thursday afternoon to visit one of my dearest friends, Ruthann who now resides in Arizona. I was excited for this trip for multiple reasons. 1. It's a real vacation...no bringing work, laptops, etc. 2. Its great time with friends, getting to meet their little one, Wesley for the first time. 3. I've never been to Arizona before and was so welcoming the sunshine. The weather has been fantastic up until Sunday when we got rain showers and some cooler temperatures. We've had all sorts of fun things planned and for the pictures and play-by-plays, you can check out Ruthann's blog (her link is on my blog list, last link).

It's been a much needed vacation and so great thus far!

A loooong week

2010-02-25T20:03:00.000-08:00

It's been a long week and it's not even Friday yet.

I was prepared as I could be for a busy work week. We are t-minus 7 days until they board the ship and set sail for another 5 week excursion which means a bit of a break for me (although not really). It also means t-minus 7 days for my own vacation as I am so excited to be heading back west, this time to Arizona to see my dearest friend Ruthann, her husband Matt and her son Wesley.

What I wasn't prepared for was to have a close friend of our family pass away :( He was only a year older than I and our families practically grew up together. I have so many fond memories of all the times that we shared throughout our lives. I know that he is in a much better place but I do feel heartbroken for his family...and he has a great family! It's just another one of those things in life we have that we have to face but I am so thankful for HIS Peace that passes all understanding.

I also wasn't prepared for my boss to give me tomorrow off! I won't complain although I know that I have lots to do. I'm just going to force myself to enjoy this 3 day weekend and let the work wait till Monday.

Hello Sunshine

2010-02-21T17:07:00.000-08:00

It was been absolutely WONDERFUL to see the blue skies, sunshine and temperatures rise about 60 degrees. All I can say is ITS ABOUT TIME!! I must say this weather falling on the weekend has been such the welcomed change from our past weekends of snow, ice and frigid temperatures.

I went to the doctor on Friday to find out that I have a good ole' sinus infection. Thankfully, my doctor called me in a Zpak and also instructed me to take Sudafed 2x a day. I'm still battling the congestion, stuffy-nose and sinus headaches but I hope to be fully better soon. Since breathing has been somewhat difficult, I've had to take a 4 day break from working out but plan to start fresh tomorrow. I'm already 3 weeks in to training for another Half Marathon and am fully motivated given my sister's wedding in June which will require me to adorn a strapless bridesmaid dress. Now if only I could curtail my constant desire to eat :)

My weekend has been rather low key and I have been able to get out and enjoy some of the sunshine which has been nice. The next week and a half will be busy with work preparing for the families next overseas travels but that also means a break for me and I plan to spend some much needed R&R in Arizona visiting my dearest friend Ruthann. I cannot wait!

Sickly Cold

2010-02-18T20:12:00.001-08:00

Yes...I am sick of the cold but this week I have a "cold" that is making me rather sickly :( I guess I have the crud that's going around so I'm going to concede and go see my doctor first thing tomorrow morning. I promise you that I cannot remember the last time I had these cold-like symptoms so intensely. I have the constant, and I mean constant runny nose, sneezing, heavy chest and cough, ear popping although it's actually like crackling and sinus pressure. Thankfully I don't seem to be feverish or have a sore throat cause that would probably send me over the edge. Funny thing is I don't really know where I have picked this up as it's not like I'm in an office of sick people or have a kid in daycare...I don't even have a close friend that's had the crud to catch it from. The only place I can think of exposure could be from the gym. Not that it really matters.

Anywho, it only took me one restless night to wave the white flag and call my doctor. My schedule was too full to go today but I can't really afford to put it off because I have a busy work week next week. Who am I kidding...I always have a busy work week! Here's hoping for some good drugs :)

Cabin Fever

2010-01-31T12:22:00.000-08:00

Those two words were the perfect description for me on Sunday morning. Our wintery mix became a winter storm and we ended up with a nice layer of ice, snow and more ice....about 4-5 inches of layers. I thankfully was able to work from home home on Friday and literally got snowed in. It really did feel like the city shut down on Saturday. Sure, it was nice to relax but by midday on Saturday I was growing restless. I did a little cleaning around the house, talked to some friends on the phone, read a little and watched more tv than I care to admit.

I was so happy to wake up to sunshine on Sunday and could barely wait for it to start melting stuff away. It only took me about 30 minutes to dig my car out and I was outta there. I went to Target, the Y to workout and to the grocery store.

It wasn't the weekend I had planned but I guess I should be thankful for the days of rest.

Wintery Mix

2010-01-27T20:26:00.001-08:00

These are two words that used together have enough power to foil my weekend plans :( Personally, I think it's what our local weather peeps like to use to cover their you know what. "We know it's cold and that precipitation is expected so we'll call it a 'wintery mix' " This mix covers just about any type of precipitation one might expect when temperatures creep towards 32 degrees...rain, freezing rain, sleet, ice, snow, etc. etc. And because I live in the "south" and let's face it, no one can really drive on ice, everything gets shut down. Schools will close, people will raid the grocery stores, businesses will close and all the idiots will decide it's a great day for a drive. Just thinking about it makes me crabby. Ruthann, I want some Arizona sunshine right about now!

I have some fun things planned for this weekend and I'm crossing my fingers that this wintery mix will just be cold rain and everything will go on as normal. Here's hoping....

January in PIctures

2010-01-26T20:09:00.000-08:00

For New Years, my friends Jen and Erin came up from Pensacola to visit. It was so fun to have them up for the long New Years weekend. Here we are all dressed up for our Girl's Nite Out!
Crazy Amy and I all dressed up for our New's Year Dinner out. We did a girl's night out to celebrate New Years and went to Mama Mia's. It's my new fave authentic Italian restaurant!

With Jen and Erin in tow, we visited the Belle Meade Plantation. There is so much history here in Nashville and this is one of my "resolutions" for this new year...to visit more local sites.

Our dear friends Tam and Margaret got marriend on January 1st. Michael and Caron were in the wedding and I just happened to balance out the silver with my gold dress. Great Night!

Mondays & Headaches

2010-01-25T10:59:00.000-08:00

Some might think that mondays and headaches go together. This monday has not given me a headache..not yet anyways. Today, I actually woke up with a headache. I call it a "weather headache" because this crazy ever-changing weather comes to town and various pressures wreak havoc on my head :( No fun.

I'm not doing the best at blogging in the new year but I did spend a little time over the weekend gathering some pictures so look for picture posts to come soon. I actually had the best weekend that I've probably had in quite some time. It was...dare I say...relaxing. Friday night, I had a great dinner with my roomie, Jen. The food was yummy but the company and conversation was just what I needed. I'm so continually blessed by all the great friends that God has brought into my life. After not sleeping great last week, I finally got a good nights sleep on Friday and woke up recharged and headed to spin class. I'm really trying to get back in gear and my official training for the Country Music Half Marathon starts next week. Here we go again! After spin, I headed to Franklin to hang with Crazy Amy. We had the most relaxing day just watching tv shows from the previous week. I'd be lost without her DVR :) What was most fun was cooking dinner that night. Our menu consisted of Teryaki Ginger glazed pork chops, mashed potatoes, green beans and for dessert we made chocolate cupcakes with homemade vanilla frosting. It was fun to be in the kitchen cooking and baking....maybe I'll do more of that this year. We only had one "blonde" moment in the kitchen that was priceless. Amy made some bacon and sauteed onions to add to the pork chops so she had grease that needed to be disposed of. Her solution was a gladware container. However, hot grease and plastic clearly don't gel and before our eyes we watched the bottom of the gladware disintegrate. Thankfully it was in the sink so no further damage took place. Whew! Here's a picture for proof:

Sunday was church and then I had to do a couple work errands but got home around 2pm just in time to veg out on the couch and watch the Colts fight for a place in the Superbowl. I didn't realize how late it had gotten, but still managed to get in a 3 mile run at the Y before they closed at 6pm. I made a quick stop to the grocery store on the way home, did some laundry and then watched the Saints/Vikings game. I also worked on my personal calendar through June. Nothing like looking at the next 5 months of everything going on to get overwhelmed. I have a lot of things that I want to do and not for sure that I have the money to travel and get everything accomplished. Guess I'll just take it day by day and if I can prioritize my time and money correctly, then I will do it all! That's my plan!

Better late than never...

2010-01-13T18:55:00.000-08:00

Because clearly it's already the 13th of January and a new year at that and I am just now finding some time to blog after catching up on all of my friends blogs. I just can't seem to keep up with anything these days...I feel like I'm out of touch with some friends and it makes me sad because I miss them... I can barely keep up a decent running pace these days and have somehow lost my motivation to workout even though I'm still dragging my rear to the gym.....I can't keep up with a blog...what blog? Thankfully, I have gotten somewhat caught up with work but then again I have a job that always has something going on so I'm never really "caught up".

And despite my somewhat blah start to this blog, I am really looking forward to this new year of 2010. It's going to be a year of changes...a year of transitions. And while I know that change is not always easy or fun, I am ready for change! So I leave you with three little words:

BRING IT ON

Christmas Eve with the Family

2009-12-24T21:47:00.000-08:00

Amy and I are enjoying our time home for the holidays

We are a bunch of daddy's girls :)

My precious grandparents

Striking a pose...trying to be fabulous

Love my sisters

Hanging with my cousin Tiffany at my grandma's house

Christmas with the Jeffers

2009-12-21T21:39:00.001-08:00

I love the traditions of the holiday season and one of my favorite traditions is our annual "Jeffers Christmas". Caron and Michael were the first friends that I made when I moved to Tennessee and they are like my family. They welcomed me into their Christmas traditions 5 years ago and it's still going strong. Our traditions includes eating dinner, opening gifts and then watching the gifts :) I'm always in charge of bringing the desserts and this year I made our favorite, funfetti cupcakes! Here are some pics from the evening's festivities:

Caron and I

Michael and Tam with their Christmas gifts that we get to watch

Me, Caron and Margaret (Tam's fiance)

Me just hanging with Chewy

Margaret, Tam, Caron and Michael

I'm trying...

2009-12-14T20:41:00.001-08:00

to get into the holiday spirit but it's definitely been a challenge this year. I believe that it's been due mostly in part to an insanely busy and fully consuming work schedule which has demanded of me a fair share of travel and bringing work home almost every night. I believe this combination has somewhat robbed me of my normal enthusiastic outlook on this time of year. I believe this is the first time ever that I have NOT put up a Christmas tree or decorated the house. And I do realize for those that know me well...it's shocking!

All hope is not lost...I have been saturating myself with a lot of Christmas music lately and I think it's actually improving my mood. I have mailed out my first round of Christmas packages to friends, began working on Christmas cards, wrapping presents, took care of all my December birthdays ( i have like 6 close friends/family that have December bdays) and even took time to bake a dessert for a Christmas party that I went to on Friday night. Impressive for someone who feels like she is a borderline Scrooge this year.

Blah Blah Blah

2009-12-08T20:59:00.000-08:00

I seem to have caught a case of the blahs...which is really unfortunate given this wonderful time of year. I've always loved the Christmas season for so many reasons but this year...at the moment anyways...I have seemed to lost my "joy". There are a couple factors that I feel have robbed this joy but I won't bore you to tears with my whoas. I just know that I have about 15 days to snap out of it and get it together before heading home for the holidays. Here's hoping...

I will leave you with a couple pics from our Sunday School Class Christmas party. Let the holiday parties begin...

Me and my friend Katie

We always do a Gift Exchange/Yankee Swap and Amy traded out her gift for a thousand piece puzzle of a map of Santa Barbara that just happened to come in this handy dandy suitcase.

My friend Patrick won the craziest Christmas Tie contest...his tree tie even had working lights (thanks to the clever battery pack that fit in his front pocket)

Terah, Katie and Amy = Group Hug

Highlights from November

2009-12-05T12:21:00.000-08:00

Since I've been MIA in the blogging world, I thought it would just be easier to just share some highlights from November.

Work has been insane and I have made multiple trips to Parsons (West TN) and to Unicoi (East TN) for multiple events.

Took a spontaneous weekend-road trip to hang with Florida Friends

Got Bronchitis and spent about a week on antibiotics.
Was able to make almost every Monday night TR2 Running Group.
Went to midnight showing of "New Moon" with my friends Amy, Tammy and Julie.
Cleaned my room thoroughly and brought the rest of my winter sweaters and such out of storage including changing to flannel sheets.
Went back to Indiana for Thanksgiving with the family.
Ran a Thanksgiving Day 5k with my dad and thanks to the cold conditions posted a 30:30 finish time.
Started Christmas shopping.

Warning Labels

2009-11-01T19:20:00.000-08:00

I know that warning labels can be very helpful and stear us from things that might bring us harm but have you ever seen this warning label?
This was the label that was on the inside lid of the storage bin I bought to pack away some summer clothes. I mean...really?? Are you serious?? Who thinks they can store away a small child? It's laughable but a child has probably suffocated to death from being placed in a storage container hence the need for a warning label. Just when I think I've seen it all......

It can't already be November?

2009-10-31T19:34:00.000-07:00

I guess fall is officially here with the time change and all this weekend. I saw on some one's facebook status that Christmas was like 7 weeks away or something crazy like that. WHAT?!? Where did this year go? I was just getting used to summer and then I look at my calendar and it's already November. Whoa......

Life has been moving at warp speed but all is well. Just got back from spending time with my family in the sunshine state. It's always nice to take a little break and just get away. It's amazing what a change of scenery can do. I got to spend some much needed face-time with several friends, made some new friends and missed some dear friends. Seems like even when you go on vacation, there is never enough time to see or do everything you want to do.

So tomorrow is November 1 and it's going to be a crazy month. It's sad that when you are trying to organize a time to spend with friends and only have 3 days to offer out of a month that contains 30 days. Time to just buckle down and enjoy the most of this busy season of life.

Beachy Goodness

2009-10-28T15:47:00.000-07:00

I know that not everyone gets to visit the beach so I thought I would post this video that I took on Monday when I got to enjoy the ocean one last time for 2009. Enjoy!

Busy Busy Busy

2009-10-17T08:29:00.001-07:00

How is it that we allow ourselves to get so darn busy? I hate feeling "busy" and that somehow I'm letting life just pass me by. Guess that just shows you how much I hate feeling out of control. In the grand scheme of things, I'm not really "in control" but I sure do like to fool myself into believing that I am in control. Anywho.....

Work has been...you guessed it...BUSY! The family is leaving again (after only being back 3 weeks from a previous 7 week trip) so I've been moving at warp speed keeping everything in order and on schedule as well as making the necessary preparations for this upcoming trip. I do get some sort of little break while they travel but we are fast approaching the holidays and they have planned several big events so it's going to get insanely busy.

So I'm going to take a little "vacay" as soon as they leave and head to the sunshine state. Goodness knows that after all these days of gloom and rain that we, Tennesseans, could use some much needed sunshine. I'm really looking forward to this trip and am actually going to leave all work behind and truly take a vacation. We'll see if that actually happens.....

Mission Accomplished

2009-10-12T07:51:00.000-07:00

I am thrilled to report that my 12 weeks of training finally paid off and I completed the Evansville Half Marathon yesterday setting my best PR. This was the 4th Half Marathon that I have completed but the first one that I was actually able to run the entire 13.1 miles. HIP HIP HURRAY!

Here's the official stats:
Time: 2:24:46
Pace: 11:03
5k (3.1 miles): 32:23, pace 10:26
10k (6.2 miles): 1:05:10, pace 10:30
15K (9.3 miles): 1:38:51, pace 10:37
Overall place: 1351 out of 2185

And I thought this quote tied in perfectly..."Happiness lies in the joy of achievement and the thrill of creative effort." - Franklin D. Roosevelt

I puffy heart Chick-fil-a

2009-10-06T20:40:00.000-07:00

I couldn't say it any better myself....click here to watch the video

Quote for the Week

2009-10-05T21:15:00.000-07:00

"We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are CONSCIOUS of our treasures."

- Thornton Wilder

W in Atlanta

2009-10-03T21:30:00.001-07:00

Besides good times with friends and the great shopping that ATL has to offer, I was most excited about finally getting the opportunity to stay at a W hotel. I admit that I got a little camera happy but it was such a cool experience. And the icing on the cake was that we ended up getting the room for $60. We can't quite figure out the how or why but we are taking that....not too many people can say that they stayed at the W for only $30 :)

This was a shot of the lobby
Another view of the lobby....the decor and colors was phenomenal

Our room was 822

These beds were the most comfy hotel beds that I have ever slept in

We were absolutely thrilled with our room

This was shot of the tv/workspace that we didn't really have to use

I guess everyone should always have a backup plan(aka toilet paper)....Amy found this in the bathroom

View of bathroom complete with Bliss spa products

This W even had a rooptop bar, Whiskey Blue (owned by Randy Gerber, husband of Cindy Crawford and club/restauranteer extrodinare). No wonder if remined me of the Skybar in LA. He owns that one too. It was the perfect night out, so we hopped in the elevator and went to the roof. I didnt take any pictures inside but it was equally extravagant and hip in it's decor.

We got all glammed up for Whiskey Blue

View from our table...you can see skyline of downtown Atlanta

Did someone say ROADTRIP?!?

2009-10-02T05:51:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year...the temperatures are starting to change...long gone are the hot, humid days of summer...the leaves are starting to fall....and this can mean only one thing....ROAD TRIP! My friend Crazy Amy and I have taken this Friday off from work (although something tells me I'll end up doing some work anyways). Nevertheless, we are heading south...to the ATL (Atlanta, GA). Last year along with Amy's friend, Claire, we went to ATL for the weekend and enjoyed the shopping (specifically stores like H&M and Nordstroms) and just enjoyed the weekend out of town. I know that there are probably lots of things to do in Atlanta but this trip is specific to shopping, enjoying a luxury stay at the W and also getting so see my friend Lauraine.

Amy's first road trip in her new little Saturn Roadster...it was more comfortable than I thought.

It was a gloomy day when we left but the hills of Chattanooga sure did look pretty.

I am uber excited about our stay at the W. I've never stayed at a 5 star hotel. Expect pictures a plenty.

Toodles for now....

Quote for the Week

2009-09-28T08:19:00.000-07:00

"God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say "Thank You"?

-William A. Ward

Finally feeling like fall

2009-09-27T10:26:00.000-07:00

Can i just tell you that it felt so great to wake up this morning and see the sunshine along with blue skies and crisp autumn breezes after what was 10 days of gloomy rain storms and humidity. I hope that this fall like weather will stick around for a while. It's been a great weekend and I actually don't feel any sort of dread for the work week. Life is Good :)

I am quickly approaching the Half Marathon date and my training is going really good. I wasn't able to do the Shelby Bottom Boogie 15K on Saturday morning because it was stormy (think clashes of thunder and lightning bolts) but since I was up early, I headed to the gym and did my 9 miles. And thanks to my boredom, I increased my speed the last 3 miles and finished in a good time of 1:34:15. I'm feeling really good with my long runs and hope that the feelings last long enough to finally grab a personal best for the Evansville Half Marathon on October 11th. My goal is to finish in under 2 hours and 30 minutes (my training pace of 11 min. miles would equal 2:20 but I'm giving myself some lead way). My fastest (which is really slow) time to finish was when I did the Evansville Half Marathon in 2007 and finished with a time around 2:45. Here's hoping that I don't fall apart in the next two weeks.

Quote for the Week

2009-09-21T14:33:00.000-07:00

"Grace isn't a little prayer you chant before receiving a meal. IT'S A WAY TO LIVE."
- Jackie Windspear

"Personal" Day

2009-09-20T22:08:00.000-07:00

So I took a "personal" day on a Sunday. I had such a full weekend of birthday parties and was a little on people overload so after getting a good night's sleep on Saturday night (just shows you how exhausting it can be, being around people) I woke up on Sunday and decided to take a "personal day". Nope, it didn't require me to get time off approved, but I made the conscience decision to skip church and indulge in some "me" time. Clearly it was the best option!

I had to be up early so that I could take care of my bosses dog so after doing that errand I went to the grocery store. Here is where i realized that the best time of day to do grocery shopping in Nashville is around 9:00 am'ish. My guess would be that either people were in church or tailgating for the first home game of the TN Titans because the grocery store was like a ghost town. Talk about little slice of heaven :) I grabbed Starbucks, a muffin and the Sunday paper and spent a solid hour at home enjoying my morning. Then I went into productive mode for the next 4 hours and cleaned/organized my closets (clothes, shoes, cd's, handbags), my dresser, under-the-bed storage, bookshelves and bathroom cabinet. I took a late lunch around 3pm and then returned some phone calls from friends and then headed back to Green Hills to take care of the dog yet again and then did my 8 miles on the treadmill. Whew....it was too rainy outside to run so thankfully I had the Emmy Red Carpet Coverage to keep me distracted and motivated (nothing like seeing the skinny starlets in glamorous designer dresses to keep this fat girl running). Other than feelings of boredom, my fun was good and I managed to finish in 1:23:08. I'm feeling great about my training this time around.

Of course after running, I sent a couple work emails since I was at the mini-mansion (where my work laptop is) and then headed home to eat (my stomach was growling during the drive home...guess that's what happens when you burn over 1100 calories running). I took a quick hot soak in the tub cause I thought it would feel good on my legs but I was quickly reminded how much I hate being in the bath tub...UGH! Well let me re-phrase that, if I had a garden tub that i could fully submerse myself in, I would take a bath every night. However that is not the case and I simply don't fit in a standard bath tub so it's not a pleasurable or relaxing experience. I grabbed some dinner and watched a little bit of "You've Got Mail", one of my favorite fall movies, and then talked to my friend Caron before bed time.

It was a great day and I realized that i should definitely take more "personal" days! Life is good!

Weekend Full O' Birthday Parties

2009-09-19T21:50:00.000-07:00

Tis the September weekend to celebrate friend's birthdays. Friday night we celebrated Stacey's 40th Birthday (friend from church). It was about a group of 15 or so and we had a great space at the back of BB Kings in downtown Nashville. Here are a bunch of pics:

The Birthday Girl: Stacey

Katie, Amy and I

Jon, Patrick and Chris
Amy (Striking a pose), Me and Heather
Amy, Me and Jill

Then on Saturday night, we (mostly an entirely different group of church friends) got together to celebrate Patrick's birthday at South Street. I actually realized that I didn't take any pics of the birthday boy on Saturday so I'll use this pic from Friday night and then other pics from his bday bash.

Patrick (birthday boy) and Katie

Me and Crazy Amy

Mike and his pub chicken (more like half a chicken...it was HUGE)

Timmy and Michelle

OK...I'm about "peopled" out after all these parties

Lists

2009-09-17T20:58:00.001-07:00

Seriously....I don't think that I would be able to do my job if I wasn't able to write out lists. List of things that I have accomplished, things that I need to do, things that I need to organize, things that I need to shop for, etc. etc. etc. Strike that last sentence...I don't think that I could live life without keeping lists. I have lists in notebooks, on legal pads, on post-it notes, in my agenda/day-planner, in my journal, on my bathroom mirror (gotta love the dry-erase pens). It's actually a little scary to think about all the lists as I write this post.
Just call me a list-a-holic!

But as much as I love making lists....there is nothing better than crossing things off the lists and watching it disappear. Now that really makes me one happy girl :)

Busy-ness

2009-09-15T20:37:00.000-07:00

Do you ever wonder about the how or why of being busy? As we hit the halfway mark of yet another month, life continues to be moving at warp speed. At this rate, I'm afraid that I'll wake up tomorrow and it will be Thanksgiving. Sheesh!

Work is busy...SUPER busy and about to be SUPER DUPER busy with the return of my boss next week. My "social" calendar is also rapidly approaching "busy" status as I have something on my calendar everyday until next Monday and then another 5 day stretch of social activities starts again. My "workout" calendar is busy because I am trying to stay disciplined to following the training schedule at hand for my upcoming half marathon. Looks like with the increased evening activities I am going to have to make the switch to running in the a.m. And if you know me at all, you know how vital it is for my own sanity to have "alone time"....where do I find time to fit that in???

Quote of the Week

2009-09-14T20:27:00.000-07:00

So I've always loved reading through books of quotes. My friend Tra'Cee always writes quotes on the envelopes of the letters she writes to me. I love coming across those quotes that just turn the "bright light" on upstairs. There can be such power in words.

So I have decided to post a "Quote of the Week" every Monday and I will try to post this first thing in the morning (unlike my late posting now). Please feel free to share your favorite quotes with me and I'll be happy to use them too.

"Unless I accept my faults I will most certainly doubt my virtues."
Hugh Prather

Run Run Run

2009-09-09T20:20:00.000-07:00

Could it be that I have finally found my groove for running again? I'm telling you for awhile there I wasn't sure that I'd ever enjoy running again but the past 7 weeks of disciplined training is paying off and I'm starting to feel comfortable in running distance again. Hallelujah :) And just in time....I'm running the Evansville Half Marathon on October 11th and as I'm approaching the half way mark in training, I actually feel like I can see the light at the end of the tunnel..

With my dad in tow, we did The Franklin Classic 10k on Labor Day. Of course, I had to tweak my training schedule to accommodate a race on a Monday but did a spin class on Saturday (45 mins of cardio) and took Sunday as a rest day. I knew what I wanted to goal myself but I'm always apprehensive about setting a time goal because I tend to freak myself out, panic and then ruin my run. Thankfully, this wasn't the case on Monday.

My goal and comfortable pace averages around a 11 minute mile. I knew this course was hilly so I could prepare mentally but I forgot just how hilly it was. Nevertheless, I seemed to be on goal at each mile marker and here is my final time: Gun Time=1:10:16 Chip Time=1:09:28 Pace=11:13. I am not going to lie...I am pleased! This just backs up one of my personal running mottos "Slow and Steady finishes the race".

Fun Family Weekend

2009-09-09T20:14:00.000-07:00

I enjoyed the long holiday weekend with a visit from my parents, sister Holly and niece Elaysha. They arrived into town on Friday night and stayed until Monday afternoon. We filled this time with shopping, shopping and more shopping, good food (even did our own grilling on Sunday night) and just spending quality time together. I am so blessed to have good family :) And I had to snap a couple pics of the star of the show....Elaysha Bug.

We were trying to take pics and realized that she was busy snacking on a cookie

Which then caused us to break out in laughter and silliness...

She just keeps growing up so fast....my beautiful Elaysha Bug

Little Blogger Hiatus

2009-09-02T08:01:00.000-07:00

I'm back and it's already September. I just have one question...where did the summer go? I'm going to write more later and recap the summer but make sure to go back through some of my posts as I am going to do some backdating posts with pictures of the past 2 weeks that I "disappeared".

Roaring 30's Birthday Bash

2009-08-29T08:13:00.000-07:00

Last night one of my dearest friends, Crazy Amy, had a themed birthday party "Roaring 30's" to be exact. She totally dressed the part as did quite a few. Digging in my closet only got me to the 50's with a high-waisted pencil skirt, fun blouse, fishnet pantyhose and heels...but I should get points for at least dressing up. The crowd consisted mostly of those that work with Amy but a few friends from church came as well. Here are some pictures from the evening(thanks to Patrick for capturing the night in film):

Birthday Girl - Crazy Amy

Katie, Amy and I all dressed up and roaring to party

Amy's friend Sims hosted the party at her home, poolside and it was a perfect night.

Birthday Party Group Picture

Not my ideal "vacay"

2009-08-20T22:28:00.000-07:00

I guess this vacation was just another example of why it's good to not build up big expectations when planning a vacation that correlates with weather cooperation. I arrived in Pensacola on Friday and saw a beautiful sunset and that was pretty much all I saw of the sunshine (with the exception of a few cloudy covered sunrays on Tuesday). We had planned to spend pool time on Saturday but we had to change plans because it was completely overcast. Sunday was more of the same and then I headed to Panama City Beach just in time to arrive for Tropical Storm Anna. Monday was such a rainy day so I took full advantage and worked all day (at least I had this option so I could save my vacation days). Tuesday I woke up to sunshine so I took advantage and went for a run only to watch the cloud cover move off of the beach and then the sun was gone, yet again. I did actually take the day off on Tuesday and enjoyed some quiet time by the pool and read a book. Probably the most relaxing day of my trip! But with the weather forecast not looking promising, I decided to call it and headed back to Pensacola to work my way back to Nashville. I realized when i was driving away from PCB that I didn't get one picture of the beach so I pulled to the side of the road outside of Seaside, FL and snapped these photos. Another storm was coming in but it made these pictures look perfect.

I love how this picture is like the perfect beach-made aisle that leads you to the ocean...gorgeous

I guess there are always blessings in disguise like the fact that I was able to attend Seven22 (midweek service at my sister's church) and was incredibly blessed and refreshed by worship and the teaching. And I also got to spend some time catching up with Pensacola friends. I actually spent the entire day on Wednesday working in FL (how did I get sooo much work that needed to be done?!?) and then headed back to Nashville. It was a long drive and I got back later than I had hoped, but it saved me having to take time off and it was such a productive day. It all worked out for the best in the end!

Studio Time

2009-08-16T22:08:00.000-07:00

Saturday afternoon, Amy and I drove out to the little town of Berrydale (and I mean little country town) to Bryan's Uncle & Aunts home because they have a shed turned studio out back and I got the opportunity to actually record a song. The whole recording process is something that's been in the top 10 of my "bucket" list and it was quite an experience. I was a bundle of emotions....excited, nervous, anxious, happy, frightened, delighted....I pretty much covered them all. It was such a fun experience and though I'll spare you having to suffer through listening to the finished product (you are always your worst critic, I know) and let you see some fun pictures instead:

Bryan was getting me all set up to sing (notice my frightened look)

I might not sound great but I have always loved to sing.

Once you are in a small confined space for a while....things get a little whacky.

Bryan worked his sound magic and made me sound so much better.
Mission Accomplished!

The Crab Trap

2009-08-15T22:01:00.000-07:00

Here are pictures we took after eating at The Crab Trap. I puffy heart fresh FL seafood.

The restaurant was right next to Pensacola Bay.

Bryan and Amy = Bramy

It was a fun evening hanging out with Bramy :)

Vacay Time

2009-08-14T10:16:00.000-07:00

Finally...I have survived the insane work schedule of this summer and am heading to the sunshine state for some much needed R&R. I did a little bit of work stuff before heading out of town yesterday and made the drive to Pensacola to spend the weekend with my sister, Amy. I arrived just in time to enjoy some fresh seafood. We ate dinner at The Crab Trap in downtown Pensacola. It's a new place right down on Pensacola Bay and we had a great table with a beautiful picture window view of the bay. I enjoyed a piece of grilled Amberjack, Corn on the Cob and Steamed Potatoes. We took some pictures outside as the sun was setting but I haven't uploaded them yet (I'll post them later). We came back to the house were Amy is house-sitting and killed a little time until meeting up with her roomie, Erin to see "The Time Traveler's Wife". I read the book two summers ago and really didn't enjoy it for the simple fact that it was so hard to follow. The movie itself was much better and thankfully, not as emotionally draining as I had expected!

Tomorrow's plan is to sleep in a little, go to the gym and workout (glad I'll be able to get in a run) and then lounge poolside after. In the evening, we are going to drive out to Jay and spend some time with Bryan in his studio. I am so excited about getting the opportunity to actually sing/record in a studio. This is something that is on my "bucket list". As much as I have always loved music and singing, I have always longed for the chance to record in a studio. I'm sure it will be an experience to blog about! Sunday will be church and hopefully meet up with some friends and then I'm driving over to Panama City Beach to meet up with my aunt Tammy and cousin Tiffany. This is our annual "girls" trip and we have a condo for the week. So excited that I can hardly stand it.

YEAH FOR VACAY!

Kitchen Kraziness

2009-08-13T09:52:00.000-07:00

I'll admit it....whenever i step into a kitchen it's nothing but craziness. I use the sink and manage to get water everywhere...anytime I have to get into flour/sugar or any other substance similar in nature, it's on every counter top appliance and sometimes even ends up in my hair (don't ask). Sharing this knowledge you would ask "why" would I ever think that I could possibly manage multi-tasking when it comes to the kitchen. Perhaps I have disillusioned myself into believing that because I am such a good multi-tasker with work that this would be the same case in other areas of my life. Clearly, I have fooled myself.

Last night I was talking to a friend on my way home from the gym. I hadn't been able to connect with her in a while so I wanted to know what was going in her life. I was also starving and knew that the window to make dinner was quickly coming to an end so I knew what I needed to do. Talk on the phone WHILE making dinner. If I stuck with my usual post-gym dinner of a bowl of cereal then all would have been fine. However, I decided that I would make pancakes. I know it's crazy but I grew up in a family where you had breakfast for dinner almost every other week so pancakes sounded like the perfect option for dinner. Thanks to my friend Ruthann, I have found a great whole wheat mix from Trader Joe's that makes delicious pancakes. Yet, I am no family of four so I have to take their pancake recipe and halve all the ingredients. So I halve the ingredients (or at least i thought I had) and continue on with my phone conversation to my friend. I mix the eggs, whole wheat mix, milk and oil and whip it good. My skillet is heated and ready to go and my mix appears to be thoroughly beat into submission. I end the phone conversation with my friend because at least I have some sense to not attempt to cook while talking on the phone but it was too late. I pour my pancake batter into the skillet and notice quickly that it's rather liquidity. I am perplexed at this but it still seems to be cooking up. The pancake flip was rather tricky as it wasn't cooking correctly but I still managed to get 5 pancakes out of this mix. It wasn't until I took a bit that I quickly began to put together the puzzle of my pancake debacle. With the strong taste of egg in my first bit, I quickly realized that while talking on the phone I had halved all the ingredients EXCEPT the eggs. It tasted more like eggy-toast than a pancake but with a little syrup it wasn't that bad. I only ate two and threw out the rest.

I learned my lesson! So when I mustered up enough courage to enter the kitchen tonight to make Zucchini Bread I knew what had to be done....I left my phone up in my room :)

Weekend O' Birthday Fun

2009-08-09T19:25:00.000-07:00

What a great weekend I had back in Indiana. It was such a nice break to be able to get out of town and spend such quality time with my family. I pray that I never take my family for granted...they are such a blessing and a joy! Here's a little recap:

Had dinner with my mom and dad at Hacienda (my favorite local Mexican restaurant)
Enjoyed Starbucks and wandered around Barnes & Noble with my mom after yummy dinner.
Went to bed by 10 pm so that I could actually wake up at 5:30 am to run in Evansville Half Marathon 5k training race with my daddy-o.
Completed 5k race with an "unofficial" time of 31:45...not too shabby.
Spent about 5 hours with my mom shopping (my mom has a little ritual of shopping by herself for her birthday but was kind enough to let me tag along).
Visited with my grandma on Saturday afternoon while waiting for my mom to grill delicious steaks for dinner.
Scarfed down delicious steaks for dinner and then rushed to meet Tiffany to watch the new movie "Julie & Julia".
Was in bed again by 10 pm because of exhausting day spent with family.
Barely woke up in time (almost 12 hours of sleep, really?) to make it to church with my sister Holly.
Over indulged in Sunday birthday celebration lunch with my family and grandparents at Sirloin Stockade (think buffet on drugs).
Suffered death by birthday cake and ice cream...resulting in an hour "food coma" nap on my parents couch.
Still recovering from said food coma, I managed to drag all my belongings to my car and drive back to Nashville.

That pretty much sums up my weekend at home. Here are a couple pictures for your viewing pleasure:

I have the most beautiful niece in the world (ok...I'm a little bias)

Happy 57th to my mom (August 9th) and Happy 84th to my grandpa (August 11th)
The birthday father and daughter
Me and my sweet grandparents.

BonVoyage

2009-08-07T16:56:00.000-07:00

That is for my boss and her husband who have once again set sail around The World. This week did not disappoint with being extremely busy and sometimes completely insane BUT once again I was able to push through and survive! What better timing than to head back to Indiana for a little family time. I don't think there will be too much "down" time while home this weekend but it's still nice to get away from the recent busy-ness.

Tonight I'll just be vegging with my parents and Elaysha (Holly is working tonight). Tomorrow will start early with my dad and I running the 5k YMCA Half Marathon Training race. I am hoping that my weeks of consistent running and exercise will be evident and would love a decent time. Luckily this court is flat and I've actually ran it several times. And to brag for just a second, I got my fastest 5k time on this course 2 years ago. But TRUST ME...that will not be the case tomorrow. After running, I'm going to spend the better part of the day shopping with my mom. Her birthday is on Sunday the 9th and she wants to shop! Go ahead, twist my arm :) Sunday will be birthday celebration day because it will be my mom's actual birthday AND my grandpa's birthday is on the 11th so Sunday we will be celebrating their birthdays. FUN TIMES!

Hope to have some fun pics to post after this weekend.

Cravings for Singleness

2009-08-05T13:58:00.001-07:00

My friend Heather forwarded me an email update from a blog called Flying Solo which fit perfectly into some of our lunchtime discussion. Here is just an excerpt that encouraged me the most.

He knows the relationships we crave. He also knows how intricately He made us and the person who can fit into that perfectly. If we can trust Him with other things why do we have so much trouble trusting Him to bring us the person He designed for us? He looked at Adam and had no trouble realizing he shouldn’t be alone. And out of Adam’s rib he made Eve. Why in the world would we doubt that first, he doesn’t want us to be alone, (unless you know for a fact you’re called to singleness) or that he couldn’t stop the world, take out a rib if necessary and bring to us the companion He created. It’s not a prayer for the weak. It is a prayer for the one who desires to remove the distraction, and trust the Creator of the Universe to know us well enough and love us deeply enough to bring His woman or His man to us in His perfect time.

Fighting something...I suppose.

2009-08-03T09:59:00.000-07:00

Well I woke up on Friday completely exhausted, scratchy throat and just not well. I had suspected that perhaps the fatigue was a warning sign that I was trying to fight off something. I was hoping for a shorter work day but to no avail. It was after 6pm for I headed home and I did nothing other than rest and watch the last disc of "Mad Men" Season 2. I am now current in my viewing of Mad Men and can't wait for Season 3 to begin on August 16th. I got a good night's sleep so I proceeded with my plan to do my usual 1 hour spin class on Saturday morning. Perhaps I didn't feel as good as i felt because about 15 mins. in to class I was toast. I dug deep and somehow pushed through the hour class but when it was over, I was light headed and spent. I took a nice long shower at the Y and tried to regain my strength. I went out to the pool and took about a 30 minute nap and then ate some lunch but just didn't feel good so I headed home. I basically just rested the rest of the afternoon and evening at home.
Sunday I felt much better so I made it to church in the morning, had lunch with Crazy Amy at the Sonic (love the Sonic especially when the weather is nice enough to sit outside and eat), stopped by the new Sephora in Franklin where my friend Tammy is the store manager and indulged in some beauty products thanks to a gift card I had from my birthday, talked to my family in IN and then got in a 4 mile run before heading home. Since I seemed to have hit a plethora of energy, I did laundry, cleaned up my room and made a trip to recyclable drop. That probably explains why I had such a good night's sleep OR perhaps it's because heaven only knows this week is going to be INSANE.

So sleepy

2009-07-30T13:43:00.000-07:00

I don't know what my deal has been this week but I have been tired/borderline exhausted. I guess I am truly that person that needs 8 hours of sleep to feel rested. I am fortunate to be able to fall asleep easily and I almost always wake up to my alarm and not a minute earlier. The past couple of weeks I have been able to get up around 6:15 am and get in a run at the gym before starting my work day but this past week has seemed nearly impossible. I am dead asleep when my alarm sounds at 6 and despite it's annoying beeps, it's no mission for this top-gun snoozer!
Common sense tells me that I should go to sleep earlier if I want to wake up earlier but it's near impossible for me to be in bed, sleeping by 10 pm. My attempts at getting to bed early are usually fizzled by being online, being out late with friends, or watching tv. I guess the only way to solve this problem is to enforce upon myself a bedtime curfew...like no computer or tv after 10 pm! I guess if I was truly motivated to workout early, then I would figure out a way to get to bed at a reasonable hour. Of course, having a work event last night that meant putting in a 12 hour day plus not even getting home until 10 pm does not support the "early riser" plan. Nor, does this gloomy/cloudy/rainy weather support the "rise-n-shine" plan either.

Is it possible that I'll be able to give up my late-night habits? One can only hope.........

Relaxing Weekend

2009-07-27T08:23:00.000-07:00

Aaaah....to be able to have a relaxing weekend was such a joy. Friday was a much longer day than I had anticipated with work but at least it was Friday. It was almost 7pm by the time I got home. Since I had spent the better part of my day on the phone with people, I immediately put my phone on the charger and then went out to dinner with roomie. We tried a new place out off of Hwy 100 called "Brewhouse 100". It was a great little bar/restaurant and the food was delicious. By the time we got home, it was about that time to prepare for Saturday's workout/pool time.

Saturday morning was the usual...9:45 spin class for one hour. My friend Tammy met up with me for spin and then we showered off and enjoyed the blue skies and sunshine at the Y pool along with my Jen and Mike. It was the perfect day to be outside...it was warm but we still had a slight cool breeze so it wasn't totally unbearable. Around 3:30pm, I made a quick stop to check in on my bosses dog and then headed home for R&R. I vegged around the house, made a grocery store run and then made a pizza and watched my netflix disc of "Mad Men" Season 2.

Sunday was church (class and main service). We've been looking at different teachings from the book of Proverbs and this week we talked about Contentment. It was great conversation and teaching. I am so thankful we have Becky and Jon Lowe's leadership in our class. After the main service, the Lowe's had people over for an afternoon picnic and what turned into afternoon conversation lead to dinner time conversation and it was 8:00 pm before we left! I felt somewhat bad for taking up their whole day but sometimes when the fellowship is that sweet, you don't want to leave. We left from there and went to Amy's to watch "TrueBlood" and then I headed home and tried to prepare myself for another work week. Good times!

Song of Solomon Study

2009-07-23T21:32:00.000-07:00

For the past four weeks now, I've been participating in a Bible Study of Song of Solomon. My friend Amy has been hosting this study at her home on Thursday nights and has been using the video teachings and study guide from Tommy Nelson. This exegetical study follows Solomon's relationship from attraction to dating and courtship, marriage and intimacy to resolving conflict, keeping romance alive, and committing to the end. We have covered the art of attraction, dating, courtship and marriage thus far. I have enjoyed dissecting this book of the Bible and translating the poetic style in which it was written. While I don't 100% agree with all that Tommy Nelson has said in regards to "being single/dating", I do agree with the foundation of the teaching and that ultimately GOD is/should be at the center of every relationship!

Being single has its challenges and I sometimes think that it's an added challenge being a Christ follower. It's easy to hand out sentiments and advice when your in a relationship. I believe Amy and I laughed out loud when Tommy said "Go where the good people are" meaning church, small groups, get involved, blah blah blah. Maybe that was once the case, but just because someone is in the building, does NOT make them a "good" person. I have experienced this first hand and sadly, sometimes I think you can find more decent men outside of the church than within. Finding a man that loves Jesus and longs to follow HIM, is a non-negotiable in my book. One of the questions on the application for "The Bachelor" asked you to describe what physical attributes you find attractive and what personality characteristics do you look for. My reply: I don't have a grocery list of physical attributes that I look for, I want someone that can openly communicate, be honest/trustworthy and have Integrity! The worldview looks at the outside and I look at what's on the inside. Don't misunderstand, I believe that physical attraction and physical chemistry is a must-have in a relationship...it's just one of many things that I think are needed to make a relationship successful.

If I wanted to get married for the sake of being married, I could be married. But my life is not my own (although mostly I selfishly act as it is) and I have chosen to not settle for anything less that HIS best. SO I find myself 34 years old and single. And as I continue to add life experience and settle into my own preferences, it feels that I'm only stacking the cards more against me. I don't know what the future holds. Maybe I'll be blessed enough to have someone to walk through life with, maybe I'll walk alone. All I can do is continue to put one foot in front of the other walking in faith and keep my HOPE safe and secure in His Hands!

Weekend recap

2009-07-21T07:52:00.000-07:00

My weekend started out superb because a group of girlfriends (mostly those that I once worked with at TMP) met for Happy Hour at a new place in The Gulch called Urban Flatts. I had never been in this restaurant before but it has a great vibe to it and a delicious variety of flatbreads. And well...let's not forget the fun of happy hour...drinks! And being the tea fanatic that I am, a Wicked Arnold Palmer(Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka and lemonade) was right up my alley. It had been close to a year since we had all been together last and we had all kinds of fun news to share. Melissa and Rebecca are now mom's, Cathryn just got married, Mary is going to be a first-time mom and Jennifer (my roomie) just got engaged! It was such a great night to celebrate each other and friendships and I am definitely thankful for these girls!!

Saturday morning took me to my usual routine of spin class at 9:45 and then pool time. Of course there was sunshine in the morning but seems like lately by the time spin class is over at 11 am the clouds descend and the sunshine is no more. Well this didn't detour me from enjoying the pool. I went to my friend Heather's place and we were out from about noon till 3:30. Clearly there was sunshine through clouds and despite use of SPF 15...I got a little too much sun :( I thought I pretty much had a base tan, but I guess after almost 3 weeks of no weekend pool time, I wasn't protected enough. Oh well! Around 4'ish, Heather and I ventured to downtown Franklin as I wanted to go to one of my favorite stores called Rock Paper Scissors. They were launching a new line of paper products called "Sugar Paper" and you could also enjoy cupcakes and champagne and a 10% discount. I also hadn't been in since probably around Christmas time so it was fun to see what all they had in stock and I managed to find some great stuff in their clearance section too! From there, we walked around downtown until our friends Stacey and Amy met us for dinner at 6pm at Puckett's, another new place that I had never eaten at. It's an old historic (like most of downtown Franklin) grocery store that is also a restaurant and because the weather was amazing (think crisp 70's with NO humidity) we took advantage and ate outside. Since I had nothing more than some pretzels for lunch, I was plenty hungry and enjoyed a real burger and sweet potato fries. YUMMY! What a great way to spend a Saturday.

So then Sunday came and I spent the day in bed :( I don't think I have any of the nasty sick bugs that I have heard going around but rather my own concoction of too much sun (more like cloud burn) from Saturday, along with a headache and a sore throat. That combination along with fatigue kept me home all day on Sunday. Of course, sometimes I think that laying around all day can make you feel worse and I found myself struggling yesterday to get through the work day. I just felt lethargic. Regardless, I pushed through my work day and forced myself to do 5:45 spin class despite having a substitute instructor.

I am so particular about my spin instructor's and last night's sub...well....I wouldn't take her class again if you paid me. Thankfully, I knew a sub would be there so I brought my own tunes to spin to. Her mix of tribal beats and voodoo music is NOT my motivator to spin hard. AND I don't like an instructor that is super chatty or peppy....like the fact that she said "Come on, guys" some 100 times made me want to poke my eyes out! I am just thankful that with spin you can control your own intensity and I was able to get a decent workout from it. I'll be glad when Charlene is back next Monday.

Thankfully, I feel back to myself this morning and am already counting down the days until the weekend!

A little adventure

2009-07-17T11:18:00.000-07:00

From time to time, I'll get this little tugging at my heart to do something adventurous...and well...last night was one of those times. I went to an open casting call for an upcoming season of ABC's "The Bachelor/The Bachelorette". Now, I realize you might be thinking "That's not adventure, that's a bunch of crazy" as that very thought crossed my mind more than once. Here's the thing: if I actually thought there was a serious possibility that I would be selected, I would have never done this. Honestly, I did it for the experience!

The casting call was hosted at Dwell, a new luxury apartment home community, in Franklin. The event was from 5-8 pm along with a pool party and dinner/drinks for those participating. We (did you really think that I would go alone?) arrived around 6:15 pm to a pretty full room. You were required to complete a 6 page application, provide 5-15 photos and sign a release/legal waiver, etc. We turned in our paperwork and were assigned the number 73, 74 respectively. My guess is that there was probably about 125 girls that turned out and about 15 guys. I don't know that I had set expectations but one thing I did expect to enjoy was GREAT people watching...and that did NOT disappoint! The process was this: they called at random small groups of 5-6 people into a conference room where they took individual photographs (2 head shots and 1 full body shot). You were then escorted as a group into one of the model apartments where they had transformed the two bedrooms into interview rooms. You waited as a group in the living room until the interviewer called your name and escorted you into the interview room. Once in the interview room, they miked you and had you look in the camera to give your name, age, occupation and where you live. Then you were asked a series of questions (it varied in quantity) like "Tell me about serious relationships you had", "Why did those relationships fail", "Why are you still single", "Do you believe in love", "What are your hobbies", "Why do you want to be on this show", blah blah blah. You get the idea. They double-checked the video to make sure the sound recorded and then you were done. I got called before my friend so I had to wait for her get through the process. It was about 9:45 pm when she finished and we left.

When I told a couple friends today, they asked me "When do you find out /When will you know the results?". Seriously people, I have NO idea and don't really care. Like I said, this was just a fun new experience to add to my life list of things done.

Weekend = Foiled Plans

2009-07-13T07:03:00.000-07:00

Plans change...clearly...thanks to the overcast/rainy/stormy weekend weather we had. So much for enjoying some R&R time outside while basking in the sunshine. Oh well....it was still a weekend with out work....then again...I had to take care of the dog (my bosses dog)....oh nevermind! Argh! That's just life!
Because of said weather, I had to transition to indoor activities like watching movie(s), reading, doing laundry, playing on the computer and hanging out with friends. Not a bad alternative by any means, it's just that I had built up my hopes of pool time and that didn't happen at all! I still managed to get my rear kicked in spin class on Saturday morning despite finding out that the Sat. morning instructor I totally enjoyed has given up that class. What?!?! (this should have been my first indicator that the weekend would not go according to plan) However, the new instructor still taught an hour class (normally they are only 45 minutes), had decent music and did a good job of kicking said rear!

Sandra McCracken Music

2009-07-09T14:07:00.000-07:00

Thursday Night Fun

2009-07-09T13:57:00.000-07:00

I can't tell you the last time that I had this much fun on a school night and I was so happy to be able to have some quality time with my roomie Jen. We met up in Green Hills after work and started the fun with pedi's at The Venetian. We then headed to El Palinque for a delicious dinner of cheap mexican food. Deliciousness! Then we headed downtown to 3rd & Lindsley to see Sandra McCracken. And despite the late show time of 9:30 pm...I know...but it's late for me on a school night....it was the best way to end the day and kick off the weekend. This was actually her cd release party for her new cd "Live Under Lights and Wires" and if you are a fan of acoustic/singer/songwriter/folk music then this cd is a must have. Sandra, along with fellow musician Derek Webb (her husband and former member of Caedmon's Call) played alongside her on the record and provided BGV. They both played the live show last night which consisted of playing the new record in its entirety. AND along with our admission to the show last night (an inexpensive $10 cover) we also got a free copy of the new record. SCORE!

We actually made it through the 10th song (the record consists of 16 tracks) before having to head home (It was 11:00 pm). Listening to the music was definitely like a breath of fresh air and has rekindled my fire to continue with my guitar lessons (I've taken a summer hiatus from lessons).

Hump Day & Update

2009-07-08T13:59:00.000-07:00

I've always wondered why Wednesday was called "Hump Day"....so I did a little online investigation and I absolutely loved this definition that I found at http://www.urbandictionary.com/ . I've listed it below:

Wednesday, or the hump of the week
The absolute BEST day of the week, the day of maximum hope that maybe, you might make it out of this week alive. A particularly good hump day can last you the rest of the week, and by Doomday morning (Monday) you survive by anticipating hump day. Nothing goes wrong on hump day

This week has been fairly uneventful and I am enjoying the quiet before my boss and her husband return next week. It will definitely be "Doomday" Monday when they return and I buckle back up for another crazy busy 4 weeks before they leave again on August 7th.

I had mentioned vaguely that I was dealing with some health issues...but things are starting to get better. When I was 25, I was diagnosed with Hypothyroidism...while it's completely manageable by a daily regimen of thyroid replacement drugs, it can still tinker with my metabolism, energy level (for me bouts of extreme fatigue), etc. It's been regulated for a while but I was starting to feel "off" again...sluggish and noticed that weight gain had occurred despite workout efforts...back in April. So I sought out Dr. B (the best doctor in the US...in my opinion) for guidance. The scale confirmed a gain of 20 lbs and she ordered bloodwork. Results led to an increase dosage in my thyroid meds. Three weeks later, I was feeling better energy wise but still stuck with the 20 lbs. Dr. B prescribed me another drug to help jump-start my metabolism along with instructions to workout and eat right. I heeded to her advice, managed to not experience any crazy side effects and had my monthly weigh in today...10 lbs dropped (doing the happy dance). I am holding up my end of the deal by working out 5 days a week (also started training this week for another half marathon in October) and trying to eat better and eating fast food less. Clearly, it's working and it definitely helps me feel better on many levels. I'm feeling very motivated these days and am determined to work hard to lose another 10 lbs by next follow-up on August 6th. Fingers crossed!

4th of July Celebrations

2009-07-04T21:29:00.000-07:00

Today we had a family reunion of sorts and celebrated the 4th of July at my Uncle Jeff and Aunt Tammy's house. They have a great place out in the country. We had all of our family in for the holiday weekend and it was great to catch up and see our cousins and their families. Of course, family gatherings means lots of good food, games galore and if your lucky, you can sneak in a nap. Here are a bunch of pictures from the festivities:

Me and Michelle (my cousin)

Michelle and her husband Ron

Amy and Bryan came up from Florida for the weekend

Mom and Dad
Holly, Elaysha and Chanel

Grandma and Grandpa Quirey

My Uncle Jeff and Uncle Mike and Aunt Sandy

Elaysha and other kids enjoyed the pool

Cousins Seth and Sara enjoyed Bocci Ball with Amy and Bryan

Cousin Tiffany and I enjoyed our lollipops before the fireworks began.

Quirey Cousins hanging out waiting for fireworks.

Just being silly....

Saturday Stuff

2009-06-29T11:36:00.001-07:00

Back to the summer Saturday routine...an hour long spin class at the Y followed by relaxing pool time. It was a real scorcher on Saturday...weather channel said 92 but felt like 100 degrees. HOT HOT HOT! I finished reading a book while hanging out in the pool and also spent some time under one of the big umbrella's. I don't know how anyone could be outside without a pool to dip in and cool off. I also kept my nalgene bottle full with cold ice water! I managed to last almost 4 hours at the pool (Yes, I used my SPF quite generously along with umbrella shade as to not burn).

Saturday night I went to a birthday dinner for my friend Katie at The Yellow Porch. I was excited to try a new restaurant and spend a summer evening outside with friends. The downside to sitting outside is the hot and humid weather but we only had about an hour of sunlight and there was a slight breeze after that helped a little. And another way to stay cool, is to enjoy a bottle of a refreshing wine like the Riesling that Amy, Brianna and I shared :) I think Katie enjoyed her birthday festivities and I enjoyed a Saturday night with friends, old and new.

I enjoyed my refreshing glass(es) of wine and meeting Katie's friend Missy.

Patrick (Katie's Boyfriend) organized her dinner with friends. Great job Patrick!

Hooray for another Friday!

2009-06-26T12:44:00.000-07:00

I am SO glad that it's Friday and I have survived another insanely busy week. I survived the past two days of packing up all the goods that my boss and I have purchased over the past month or so for their apartment on the ship. Thankfully, my father gave me excellent packing skills and the fact that I am super organized only makes it that much better. It's almost like working a puzzle. Anyways...7 boxes, 2 suitcases, 1 large duffel bag, 1 cooler and 3 carry on bags later (i packed everything except the carry on bags) and a trip to the airport this morning, and they are on there way back to their ship. Once again the hard work has paid off and I can enjoy a little down time (with the exception of having to take care of their dog twice a day...hmmm...down time?).

Anyways, because I have been working at their house and packing and organizing all the last minute trip details, I am back downtown and have stuff to work on that I haven't been able to touch because of the packing! BUT I will still get a bit of a break...a much needed break. I am looking forward to a good weekend. Tomorrow's agenda, spin class at Y at 9:45 am and then to Amy's pool to soak up some sunshine. My friend Katie has a birthday dinner tomorrow night so I'll be attending that too and I am excited to eat at a new place, The Yellow Porch. Sunday will consist of church and then possibly some more sunshine time at the pool. Overall, should be a pretty relaxing weekend!

As Promised....

2009-06-25T20:48:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple pics from last weekend while back in IN. Who doesn't like a little time with sidewalk chalk?!? Elaysha and I had a little fun with our nicknames. Elaysha goes by E and she calls me T-Bear. :)
We had just got back from our movie and I had to snap this pic. I can't believe how tall she is.

And on our way home from Target and Starbucks. This is what happens when you give an 8 year old a sip of your drink from Starbucks. EEK :)

Saturday Fun

2009-06-20T20:32:00.000-07:00

I must say that my Saturday started much earlier than a typical Saturday in Nashville but since it meant getting quality one-on-one time with my daddy-o, it was totally worth it. We got up around 5:45 am and went for a little run through the neighborhoods. And at least it meant that I got in a little exercise too!

I got ready for the day and enjoyed some delicious breakfast treats from The Donut Bank including their delicious coffee (so much for the workout efforts) and then ran a couple errands with my mom when the stores opened at 10. From there I had another quick errand to run and then spent about 2 hours midday hanging out with my grandma. Those two hours were the most precious 2 hours I've spent all month. I figured that I should let her rest and I was getting a little hungry so I headed back to the parents house. Elaysha got there around 3:00 because Holly had to work that night so we got to hang out and play. I even took her to see the Disney/Pixar movie "Up" in 3D. It was such a better movie than I had ever thought it would be. (Thanks Jen for the recommendation....so cute). When the movie was done we had good dinner of grilled hamburgers and the fixins. Nothing like a REAL burger. I played some more with Elaysha after dinner and then the girls (me, E and mom) made a run to Target and Starbucks.

Nothing like quality time with the family to lift the spirits!

*I'm having some issues getting my photos loaded at home but will post them when my computer cooperates*

Hip Hip Hooray...It's FRIDAY!

2009-06-19T08:12:00.000-07:00

I am soooooooo happy that it's Friday. I am heading back to Indiana this afternoon to hang with the family this weekend and also celebrate Father's Day on Sunday with my Daddy-O and Grandpa. The plan is that we'll be able to check my grandpa out of the nursing home so we can all be together on Father's Day. I think I'm more excited that usual, because of all that's been going on in my life, nothing is as comforting as being with those that love you unconditionally!

Be on the lookout for some photos after this weekend!

Brokeness

2009-06-17T17:52:00.000-07:00

I know that it's easy to be happy and thankful for all the good things that happen in our lives. Maybe it's a new job that comes along after being unemployed, or a big life event like that of marriage or bringing a child into this world or maybe it's something small like seeing the sunshine after days of rain or just a smile from a stranger that passes you by on the street. I think that at times of happiness it's easy to look up and give HIM praise. But what is our response when the times get tough?

For me, I think I instantly try to "fix" what's broken. Work is busy and you get behind, so you push harder and work later. You have unexpected and unexplained health issues, so you seek out help from a doctor or perhaps try to eat better, work out harder. Maybe you experience conflict in relationships or are treated unfairly, you can take the high road or deal with confrontations head on, forgive and move on. And I've said before, for someone like myself who prefers to take control and "fix" things, I often in the process, regardless of my efforts, come away still feeling broken.

This is where I am actually thankful for times of brokeness. Yes, you heard me correctly, I said that I was thankful. Thankful that even in my midst of trials or sorrows, HE is with me and I have faith in HIM to see me through it all. For I know that whatever circumstance that has lead me to this season of brokeness, that I am NOT alone. This verse was just shared in our class on Sunday but I like how it's written from The Message:

"I know what I am doing. I have planned it all out - plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for." - Jeremiah 29:11

It's the promise from my Creator that HE actually cares about me and what I am going through (the good, the bad and the ugly) and that HE's not yet finished with me. And this brings me HOPE to keep on keepin' on.

Fridays & Frustrations

2009-06-12T07:38:00.000-07:00

I don't know about you but I am SO thankful that another Friday is upon us and that means two days of hopefully some much needed R&R will happen. And I love having a weekend with no set plans. It's nice to not be committed to having to be at a certain place at a certain time or required to spend time with certain people. You get the idea....

My blogs have been scarce lately...I know. It's just that I've been working through some personal frustrations and rather than bore readers with the "Whoa is me" act, I've thought it best to be silent. I know that this is just one of those seasons of life where things aren't all sunshine and roses BUT I am feeling more hopeful these days. And I think that HOPE is a great place to start!

So much for a restful vacation

2009-06-03T15:10:00.000-07:00

All my rest and relaxation from California has been flushed down the toilet in the past week. Work has exploded and I dont mean in a good way. It's been one major, time-consuming project after the next on top of all the daily to-do's that are expected of me. I have been wondering lately, have I allowed myself to be run over by my job? I do have a life of my own although sometimes I don't think that's a shared viewpoint. Ugh and Blah and Yuck and Argh!

I don't really have anything else to write about since I'm kinda in an all out funk right now. Perhaps the light at the end of the tunnel will appear soon and I will be back to myself! Here's hoping!

Cali Day 4 & 5

2009-05-27T20:13:00.000-07:00

Sunday...another sunny day....I absolutely LOVE this weather. I went with Amy to the church she used to attend while living in Cali and then we drove over to Malibu to enjoy lunch. We went to this place right on the oceanfront called Dukes. We had a little wait to sit outside but it was so worth it :) The view was great and the seafood was delicious. We drove back through the Pacific Palisades and Brentwood...I love looking at all the homes in the hills. We enjoyed a relaxing late afternoon by the pool at Patrick's house and then we all headed to a movie that evening. Just a relaxing Sunday.

On Monday, we once again enjoyed the perks of Patrick's connection because he scored us "Front of the Line Passes" for Universal Studios. We did a backlot tour and a couple rides. It was so fun and took some pictures below:

I love being in the hills and all the viewpoints

You can see the Warner Bros Studios from Universal

We grabbed an early dinner at Outback (Amy and Patrick's favorite restaurant) and then made our way to the Griffith Park Observatory. Talk about an amazing view of the cities. The actual observatory was closed but it was still great to be out in the amazing weather and to see all the views.

Griffith Park Observatory

You can see the Hollywood sign in the distance
Spectacular view of downtown LA

One last shot of the Hollywood Sign on our way back home.

I actually had the best vacation that I have had in a loooong time. I rarely gave a seconds thought to work stuff and pretty much had my blackberry off (well at least the sound was off) the whole time. The weather was perfect and I really felt relaxed despite all our fun activities. I definitely hope to get back out there again! I think I left my heart in Cali.....

Cali Day Three

2009-05-23T17:56:00.000-07:00

I am serious when I say that I can totally get used to this sunshine thing every day. It ROCKS! We headed out this morning to cover some shopping ground in Los Angeles by starting at The Grove. We enjoyed a delicious breakfast outside of course at this restaurant called The Farm. I had the most delicious french toast and latte that I think I've ever had. That's the best fuel for shopping :)
We then headed straight to Nordstrom's and lucky for us it was their annual Half Yearly sale. I got a great deal on a pair of shoes and picked up a couple other things in their BP department. I also had to visit The American Girl Place and got something fun for my niece. Mostly I just enjoyed walking around the outdoor mall. From there we drove over to the Beverly Center (another mall) to hit H&M but I was surprised to not really find anything that I really liked. I did pick up a fun necklace and bracelet. From there we drove over to Robertson Blvd to check out some of the boutiques. It was fun to walk the couple of blocks and pop into stores like Kitson and Lisa Kline. All of this shopping had worked up our appetites so we decided to get a late lunch at Barefoot Cafe. We once again took advantage of outdoor seating and enjoyed their brunch menu including $5 mimosas. After refueling, we made the drive to Beverly Hills, down Rodeo Drive and all the way to the Sunset where we came upon the infamous Beverly Hills Hotel
We got back home earlier than we planned so we vegged around and then got ready for a night out on Sunset Boulevard. We had reservations at 7:15 at hotspot
Ketchup and we scored a table with a view...view of the Hollywood Hills to be exact. It was perfect...great people, food and conversations.

Amy and her friend Patrick (our great host)
Amy and I at Ketchup

The night was young and we decided to venture a couple blocks and check out one of Amy's favorite bars called Skybar. You have to check out the link to see how amazing this bar is....nestled uptop a building with a fabulous view of the city, we settled into comfy seating up in the bar area and enjoyed the evening. We also got to have a bit of a celebrity sighting by seeing actor, Michael Vartan seated at a table next to us. If any of you watched Alias then you know him as character Michael Vaughn. If your like me and never watched Alias, you might recognize him from a movie called "Never Been Kissed" where he played the love interest of Drew Barrymore. Nevertheless it made the night fun.

Patrick and Amy enjoying the evening at Skybar

Amy and I enjoyed our little bungalow at Skybar

Cali Day Two

2009-05-22T18:13:00.000-07:00

I could most definitely get used to sleeping with the windows open and waking up to blue skies and sunshine every day. Why can't we have great weather like this in Tennessee?!? Oh well....today we drove up to Santa Monica to get some beach time in. Of course we grabbed a quick coffee at The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and then walked to the beach. This picture was before we crossed over to actually get to the beach but you can see the Santa Monica Pier.
You can't really see through the smog but this is looking up the coast to the town of Malibu.

And this would actually be the fun from my towel were we spent about 2 hours in the sunshine. What a beautiful day at the beach and I finally have something that resembles a tan :)

From the beach, we drove up Wilshire to eat lunch at one of Amy's favorite places The California Chicken Cafe. I have a yummy salad with chicken and she enjoyed a wrap. I have been in CA before and everything tastes so much better....more fresh for sure. We got home around 2'ish which was the perfect time to take a nap. Nothing says vacation like being able to take time out to nap. This vacation has been so good and much needed.

Of course you don't want to sleep the vacay away, so we got up and dressed and headed to Burbank to pick up her friend Cindy for a night out in downtown LA. We went to this great place called Edison . It was such a cool place and we were able to partake in this thing they do on Friday night's called "Friday Soup Kitchen". This entitles you to $.35 cocktails and tomato soup and grilled cheese. Deliciousness!

Cali Vacay Day One

2009-05-21T21:31:00.000-07:00

I can't even begin to tell you how great it was to wake up to nothing but blue skies and sunshine :) It doesn't get much better than that....well sleeping in too was nice, especially with the time difference. Amy and I walked a couple blocks to enjoy breakfast at Marmalade and then came back to Patrick's (Amy's friend and our most gracious host) so she could take a quick conference call and I got ready for the rest of our day.

Today's Agenda: Hang with Patrick at Warner Bros. Studio (his employer) in Burbank and attend a live taping of The Ellen Degeneres Show. Patrick gave us a great tour of all the back lots which included seeing what's left of the ER Ambulance dock and the many cityscape's that have been used in shows like Dukes of Hazard and Gilmore Girls. We grabbed a quick bite for lunch at the studio cafe and then we headed to our tv taping. Patrick used his connections to get us VIP tickets to the show. We were greeted with a goodie bag of Ellen souvenirs and personally escorted to the holding area. The show was such a fun experience and the guests appearances included author, Dr. Wayne Dyer, Queen Latifeh and musical performance by Rob Thomas (former Matchbox Twenty frontman)...and of course Ellen's wife Portia de Rossi was there as well watching the taping. It was just a cool experience.

From there we left Patrick who needed to get some work done and Amy and I headed over the hills to the Hollywood Area. Here are some pictures:

Amy and I with the scenic view of LA behind us

The infamous HOLLYWOOD sign
Mann's Chinese Theater

Legendary Roosevelt Hotel

Home of the Academy Awards

We did a little shopping and then headed back to Patrick's house. I got to eat the yummy In & Out for dinner as we made our way back to Sherman Oaks. Tomorrow our agenda holds a visit to Santa Monica and the night life of downtown Los Angeles with some of Amy's friends. Vacation is GOOD so far!

Magic Trick

2009-05-20T21:24:00.000-07:00

I guess you could say that I've been a bit of a magician lately as some people feel like I've perfected the disappearing act. I'm not going to lie....I have felt like disappearing lately as life has been a bit blah as of recent. I haven't really felt like blogging or talking or hanging out with people and work has been so insanely busy this month, that it hasn't left me much time to think (which is probably a good thing).

So my vacation comes at a perfect time. I am checking out of work for almost a week and am heading to California...the LA area to be exact. I am flying out with my friend Amy (who lived in LA for about 9 years) and we are going to see the sights. This trip comes at a perfect time :) PTL!

Insanely busy week.....

2009-05-07T22:00:00.000-07:00

Well I think this week has been better but honestly I couldn't really tell you because I have been so consumed with work stuff that it hasn't left me with much time to stop and think about anything else (maybe that's a blessing in disguise). And maybe it hasn't really been all that busy, it just feels busy because it's been awhile since I've had to work 11+ hour days. Whew....I am wait out of practice and with Friday right around the corner, I'm feeling a little exhausted!

I probably could take tomorrow off but with two events next week and new things to-do each day, I am hoping to only have to work half the day tomorrow and then I am heading back to Indiana to be with my family, to celebrate Mother's Day with my sister, Holly, Mom and Grandma and will also be visiting my Grandpa. I'll be home in time tomorrow to catch my niece's soccer game at 5:30 and look forward to just hanging with the family the rest of the weekend.

NOT a great week....

2009-05-01T20:51:00.000-07:00

I am so glad that I have made it through this week....it's not been the best of weeks so naturally to see it come to an end...well it couldn't come soon enough. I had such a great time last weekend with my friends in town and accomplishing the Country Music Half Marathon. Its never fun to say goodbye to friends but it seems like after dropping my friend off at the airport, things slowly started to overwhelm me.

I found at that my grandfather who has been experiencing the onsets of Dimentia and Alzheimers for a while now was fast approaching the point where he was going to have to be under constant care (ie. nursing home) thus putting my mother under a great amount of stress because she is the Power of Attorney for both her parents and these decisions weigh heavy on her. But to understand the whole picture, you'd have to know my grandparents. My grandparents have been sweethearts to each other for the past 64 years. They truly embrace that "can't live without each other" kinda love that I pray to one day find. It breaks my heart to think of how this transition affects my grandmother and my grandfather, regardless of his state of mind. I have spent much time in prayer for our family this week and am trying to find my peace in HIS arms.

And if that is not enough, I then had some "boy drama" get dumped in my lap. Mind you, I am NOT in a relationship with any boy, so the fact that there is even drama that I would have to deal with is almost laughable. My emotions are already heavy because of the stuff my family is dealing with so clearly this was neither the time or place for me to try to sort through said drama. I'm not even going to dive into details but the fact the "drama" gets this much space on my blog is RIDICULOUS! All I will say is that without trust and honesty, a friendship cannot exist, let alone a relationship.

This weekend comes at a time when I really need some rest....emotionally, mentally, etc. I don't have much planned so that helps and I think some "alone" time will do me good!

Live Music - British Style

2009-04-29T10:28:00.000-07:00

So last night I went with a group of friends to see James Morrison (a British artists) play at the Cannery Ballroom in downtown Nashville. I had only a heard a song or two from Itunes but if you like the styling of Rod Stewart laced with some soulful sounds and rifts, then you should check him out.

Half Marathon FINISHERS!

2009-04-26T09:22:00.000-07:00

Country Music Half Marathon

2009-04-25T14:47:00.000-07:00

We awoke in the morning darkness at 4:15 am to get ready for the Country Music Half Marathon and Marathon. I can't even tell you the last time that I was awake, intentionally, at 4 am. We got our gear and headed downtown to begin this adventure. It was going to be a hot and humid day with temperatures in the high 80's. The course was hilly and hot but we all accomplished our goal and crossed that finish line.

My goal...was to finish in 3 hours. My official race time was 3:00:46.

Mission accomplished!

Sunny Friday with Friends

2009-04-24T15:31:00.000-07:00

Thursday night, my friend Suzanne flew in from Colorado for the weekend activities (Country Music Half and Full Music City Marathon). We enjoyed a delicious dinner at Jonathan's Grille in Bellevue along with my roomie, Jen. It's so great to catch up and her all that is going on in her life. Friday morning we enjoyed sleeping in and grabbed a late breakfast at Le Peep before heading to pick up Krishana at Vandy. We then headed downtown to the Race Expo and to pickup our packets and from there we decided to drive the race course to see what we had gotten ourselves into (Hills....lots of hills). After a quick stop to Target and lunch, we headed to historic downtown Franklin so Suzanne could do an interview with a child star for an upcoming issue of Clubhouse Magazine (A Focus on the Family Magazine for kids).

It was an absolutely gorgeous day with plenty of sunshine and much warmer weather. After Suz's interview, we headed back to Nashville with a quick stop of Trader Joe's and then met up with Amy for dinner at Jacksons Bar & Bistro in Hillsboro Village. It was a perfect evening out so we enjoyed our dining on their outdoor patio. Here's a couple pics:

Krishana, Suzanne and Me

Crazy Amy and Me

After dinner, we headed home and prepared ourselves for the big run on Saturday. It was the first time that I have been in bed, asleep at 9 pm in a long time. Have to get a good nights sleep if we are getting up at 4:00 am.

Finally some sunshine.....

2009-04-21T15:17:00.000-07:00

Well here's hoping that the sunshine we have finally seen will stay around for a while. Actually the forecast for this weekend (Thursday into next week) is looking like mostly sunny with temps in the 80's with lows in the mid 50's. This makes me smile and also hold my breathe should another cold front come out of nowhere. Either way, their current predictions should give us great weather for the Country Music Half Marathon and Marathon on Saturday. :)

I know it seems like all I blog about is the weather but lately it's been determining my mood...sunshine = good, cloudy = not good. This past weekend..well at least on Friday and Saturday the weather was great. It made for good times hanging out with friends on patios and perfect for a 10 mile run on Saturday morning. Sunday it was back to the rain and super windy. Regardless of the weather, we watched a good video in Sunday School class from Rob Bell entitled "Today: Can we become so consumed with our past that we can't see the beauty of today?" It was a very thought-provoking video and led to some great class discussion. I am probably going to miss quote him but this resounded in my mind "Are you holding on so tight to something in the past, that your arms aren't free to be open to what He has for you right now".

My week didn't start out all that great but I can say that as it keeps on going, it's getting better. I won't get into the details of why Monday was a tough day...I think several negative things fed on each other and ultimately I was left feeling a little wounded. But, I did my best to look to the One who loves me the most and has given me real TRUTH along with some great friends that let me vent and make me laugh. I am truly blessed!

Come on Sunshine...You CAN DO IT!!

2009-04-16T12:36:00.000-07:00

I know I feel like all I do these days is complain about the weather BUT I am so ready to see some sunshine and warmer weather. I would totally beg if it would even make a difference. These temps hoovering around 50 degrees and dreary gray skies need to move on out and make some much needed room for the delight and joy of sunshine.

The family I work for is back and I am buckling in for a fun and busy summer. I continue to get to work on a lot within their foundation and I love the balance it brings to the long list of many things I work on. The biggest thing I've been working on is developing a website and it's been so much fun thus far and I actually feel like I'm learning alot along the way. We are also getting into the season of another graduating class from their scholars program so we are back to event planning for the two high schools. I'm just super blessed to be able to say "I love my job".

A week from today my friends Suzanne and Krishana (Colorado friends) are coming to Nashville and we are all participating in the 10th Anniversary of the Country Music Half Marathon. Do I feel prepared to run 13.1 miles? NO! Am I going to cross the finish line and enjoy a weekend with my friends? ABSOLUTELY YES! My training has been well hard to call "training" but I am going to push through a 10 miler on Saturday morning and pray that I don't die come race day! Any and all prayers will be greatly appreciated :)

Happy Easter

2009-04-12T18:41:00.001-07:00

I enjoyed the Easter weekend back in Indiana with my family (well almost the entire family...we were missing our Amy doodle). My friend Crazy Amy came home with me since all her family is in Minnesota and we enjoyed a rather relaxing time with my family. Here are some pictures we took after church:

Girls with Guns...

2009-04-11T18:36:00.000-07:00

Saturday afternoon, my dad took us girls to the gun range to get in some shooting time. Amy and I have been shooting before but this was a first for Holly and Tiffany. I must say I felt more comfortable this time and can't wait to get my permit and own my own.

April Showers brings....

2009-04-03T10:26:00.000-07:00

Well you know how the saying goes but that doesn't mean that's what happens at least not in the state of Tennessee. April showers brings floods, storms, tornado's, mudslides...okay will not that extreme but you get my point. I know that I should be thankful for the rain especially when the past summers have brought droughts but seriously....a little break from the rain would be great! AND I am not finished...April showers should NOT bring colder weather. Do you know that the weather people are calling for snow showers next Tuesday?? Come again?? I'm done with weather winter....the gloomy gray skies...the multiple layers of clothing...warming up the car....let me repeat....D-O-N-E! So regardless of what the weather people want to predict, I am moving forward with spring. I'm going to do my spring cleaning this weekend....so long sweaters....hello tank tops and shorts! I have missed you.....

Sisters in the Sunshine State

2009-03-30T19:46:00.000-07:00

I had to wade through the storms of Friday and Saturday morning before the sun actually showed itself but it's been nice ever since Saturday afternoon. Amy and I drove over to Malbis, AL to a new outdoor shopping center and I absolutely loved these fountains they had throughout the center so we had to stop and take a picture.
Yesterday was the nicest day and after working most of the morning, we grabbed some lunch and headed to Pensacola Beach. There wasn't a cloud in sight so it was the perfect day to enjoy some sunshine.

Ready for a little vacay

2009-03-25T12:02:00.000-07:00

That's right...I am ready for a little down time. I am ready for a day or two or three that I don't have to deal with anything work related (the mini-mansion, the dog, the computer...you get the idea). Just give me an ocean with some sandy beaches throw in a little sunshine and fresh seafood and I will be a happy girl. And even though I am excited to see my sister and other friends in Florida, I am also looking forward to some quality "alone" time....it's been quite a while and my internal gauges are telling me that I am overdue!

F-U-N

2009-03-20T21:07:00.000-07:00

After a rather "blah" day on Thursday, I needed a day of F-U-N to recoup! Of course on Friday you still have to work and I actually traveled to Parsons, TN to work for the day but being able to enjoy the hour and a half drive with nothing but blue skies and plenty of sunshine was therapeutic in and of itself. It was such a productive trip even if it meant getting back to Nashville much later than I had hoped. I promptly came home, took care of dog and got ready for dinner with my friends Jen and Amy. Amy was nice enough to come and pick me up which was great after driving the hour and half back. We went to DaVinci's Gourmet Pizza off of West End Blvd for delicious pizza and wine. We were there almost two hours and it was some of the best conversation I think I'd had all week! I am so thankful for my good friends Jen and Crazy Amy :)

Just one of those days...

2009-03-19T10:10:00.000-07:00

The sunshine is gone, yet again and dreariness is back. Perhaps that explains why I feel sleepy and gloomy today :( And let me tell you that it's hard to be productive when you feel sleepy and gloomy but I am trying to push through as best I can. I even walked to a local downtown coffee shop called Dunn Bros. Coffee in hopes that a Non-fat Vanilla Latte would jump start my day but I haven't seen the best results although it was quite tasty.

This week has been good thus far. Monday night's concert was SO much fun and then seeing sunshine and blue skies made for a great Tuesday and Wednesday. Tuesday night I did my Pilates class at the Y since i missed on Monday night. I have been taking one class a week for 6 weeks now and I am starting to feel a little stronger in my core and somewhat better posture because of it. I still find myself incredibly sore the two days following but it's such a great head to toe workout that I hope to keep up for a long while and eventually do two classes a week. Last night Jen and I decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and go to Percy Warner Park and climb those stairs. I was able to finish up with work a bit early and so I was able to get in a little 2 mile run on the boulevard before she arrived. I mile marked the loop on Sunday afternoon so I guesstimated that we did about 4 miles last night (not including our 3 trips up the stairs). This would explain why I can barely move today :) And yet I have the Country Music Half Marathon in about 5 weeks....how on earth am I going to make it? I feel pretty discouraged with my runs lately and just cant seem to get in the groove. Argh! At least I have 3 friends that are running the Half so I am counting on their motivation/inspiration to pull me through.

Work has been steady and productive thus far. I am on the brink of some big work stuff so I am trying to enjoy any little "down time" that I have. I have a feeling by April 1 it's going to be crazy!! Just the calm before the storm!

I guess I should look on the brighter side...tomorrow is Friday, the sun will be shining again, I travel to West TN so the day will be busy and go by fast, I am having dinner with my girl friends and then my family will be here on Saturday. Should be a good weekend!

Blast from the Past

2009-03-17T07:06:00.000-07:00

So Amy and I went to see NKOTB - New Kids on the Block - last night. Talk about a blast from the past. I used to have most of my bedroom walls covered and I mean covered from ceiling to floor with posters, magazine clippings, etc. I had buttons, all of their cassette album's, puzzles, tshirts,etc. To think that 20 years later, I would be going to see them in concert....bizarro! I will say though that it was a good show filled with fantastic people watching. Here are a couple pics:

Crazy Amy and Me

New Kids on the Block
We had great seats and good zoom on Amy's camera

Friday Nite Fun

2009-03-14T20:33:00.000-07:00

Friday night I went to see a band called "Eureka Gold" at Mercy Lounge with some of my friends AND I finally got to see my friend, Tammy Tuley, who just moved down here from Indiana. Here are some fun pictures:

Tammy and Me

Me and Mike

The girls: Katie, Tammy and Me
The boys: Mike, Tim and Patrick
And more friends: Heather, Holly and Andrea

Weekend Guests

2009-03-08T11:19:00.000-07:00

I had my sister Amy and her friend Erin visit this weekend and it was so much fun. The weather was so nice despite a fun clouds so we took full advantage of it. We started Saturday with a little visit to Percy Warner Park. Amy had been looking forward to introducing Erin to the stairs. After our little workout, I took the girls to LePeep for brunch. From there we spent the rest of the day shopping, getting Stila makeovers and wandering around historic downtown Franklin. We grabbed an early dinner at McCreary's Irish Pub and then made our way back to Green Hills where we once again shopped, enjoyed yummy cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory and then caught the 9:50 showing of Taken (good movie). It was just a great day!

Erin and Amy at McCreary's Pub

Erin, Amy and I at The Cosmetic Market after makeovers

Busyness

2009-03-05T08:39:00.001-08:00

Well this week has been quite a busy week, as I somewhat expected. The family has left the country until after Easter and that always generates lots of work getting them ready and then lots for me to maintain and accomplish while they are gone. I am also becoming more involved with The Ayers Foundation and am thoroughly enjoying working in the business-realm of stuff. I am learning alot and I find it challenging which is good for my personality. I mostly am acting Executive Assistant to the President (my boss) but I am also involved in the marketing aspects and am currently working to get a website created for the foundation. (I know, it's 2009 and they don't have a website). All very exciting stuff!

I am also in the midst of training for the Country Music Half Marathon which is April 25th. I am continuing through with Tuesday night Guitar Lessons which have also been fun and challenging. Who would thought one would learn so much about themselves but learning something new. It's so exciting! Wednesday nights mean hanging out with friends and getting lost watching LOST. And then in the month of March, I have things planned for every weekend including visits from my sister Amy and friend Erin, my family and then my own trip to FL. This month is totally going to be BUSY!

Another weekend comes and goes

2009-03-02T07:46:00.000-08:00

They go by so fast...weekends that is. It was a fairly relaxing weekend which was rather nice. On Friday night after work, I met up with Jen and we enjoyed pedicures at one of our favorite places in Green Hills. Now if the weather would just warm up already. I enjoyed sleeping in on Saturday morning and just getting some things done around the house. I then ventured to the Y to get in my 5mile run since it was cold and wet outside. Afterwards I headed to Franklin, to hang out with my friend Amy. Jon and Becky (our Sunday School teachers) came over around 1pm because Jon was helping Amy install a new light fixture in the guest room. Becky and I made ourselves useful by staying out of the way and it was so great to catch up with her. Amy and I ventured out in the cold, drizzly evening to grab dinner, quick errand run to Target, speedy shopping at the mall and then to see the movie "He's Just Not That Into You". She had already seen this movie and I was on the fence about wanting to see it, but she had free passes to use and wanted to see this again so we could discuss. It's not your typical romantic, feel-good, chick flick and I don't think I would see it again. There was definitely much to discuss and dissect and there is no better way to do that then over a beverage from Starbucks.

Sunday we awoke to ice/snow and thanks to Amy's stock of salt and her car ice scrapper, we were able to make it safely down her hilly driveway and on to Sunday School and church. I will say it again, I am SO ready for warmer weather! After church, we had a yummy breakfast at The Cracker Barrel. We watched another episode from the mini-series "John Adams" and then I headed back home. I enjoyed a relaxing evening at home, watched a movie, practiced my guitar and tried to mentally prepare myself for another work week.

Sicky germs....

2009-02-26T11:07:00.000-08:00

Well everyone knows no matter where you live, there are all kinds of sicky germs floating around. I've seen my boss, friends and family battle the flu-like germs, bronchitis, laryngitis and the lovely stomach flu. I have been clinging faithfully to my Vitamin C but I think the sicky germs are persistent and trying to take over. I've felt really fatigued since Sunday night and had small boughts of feeling feverish, chills, etc. Tuesday was the worst but today I feel the best I've felt all week. I have sick time with work but don't really have the flexibility to be sick. There is always so much to get done. I hope that I can keep these germs from manifesting and thankfully the weekend is right around the corner and I plan to get lots of rest (that is besides getting in the runs that I need to do).

I had a really busy week planned but made some minor adjustments due to the fact that I have not felt well. No need to over do it since I don't have time be sick (like anyone ever has "time" to be sick). Last night, I went with my friend Amy to see The Four Kicks. We saw them a couple weeks ago at The Rutledge and got free tickets to last nights show at 3rd & Linsley. I like there sound because I can't really compare them to anyone else but if I had to try, I hear remnants of The Beatles :) The crowd might have been small but I sometimes prefer that and it sure didn't stop them from rockin' out!! I went home and promptly bought their cd on itunes. I just love hearing live music and it only makes me that much more excited to be learning guitar. I have another lesson tonight since I wasn't able to make it on Tuesday.

Change O' Plans and a Tire

2009-02-24T09:01:00.000-08:00

Well last night did NOT go according to plan....typical! The plan was to drive to Cathryn's house and then we would ride together to "Legends & Lyrics". However, I clearly didn't see the curb coming up the hill to Cathryn's condo and promptly busted (or perhaps a better word to use would be slashed) my front passenger-side tire. As soon as I parked the car and got out, I heard that lovely "ssssss" sound of air escaping my tire and knew that I had done a good job. Not to worry, since I have AAA, let's just go to the show.

So we headed downtown and took our place in the snake-shape sort of line of other general admission participants...the time was 7 pm (doors open at 7 pm, show starts at 8pm). Cathryn and I enjoy conversation and good people watching and watch the minutes tick tock on. We go through production assistants, producers, security guards telling us that it will be another 15-20 minutes before we are shown to our seats. Excuses of delayed sound checks, technical difficulties and missing band members are thrown out. It's now 9:15 and we get the latest "sound check" excuse...my back hurts, our feet are on fire from standing on marble floors in heels for over 2 hours, and we call it. Not too mention, that if we did stay and get to the show, we commit to being locked in for 2 hours which would then put us out after midnight and let's face it....we don't have the luxury of skipping work the next day. So much for audience variety because I guarantee the crowd will look like a college classroom.

As soon as we get back to the car, I place my service call to AAA for them to come change/fix my tire and the timing was perfect because they arrived as soon as we got back to Cathryn's house. The service man was prepared to fix the tire but realized that my "slash" was not really fixable. He put on the spare time and gave me my cautious warning about driving home and to try and avoid the curbs. Very funny!! Thankfully, there is a Firestone store right by my house so first thing this morning, I promptly took my vehicle in and purchased my new tire.

Nothing like a new tire for a new day!