The Ultimate Lamp

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

Ministry through Music

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

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

Sunday O' Fun Day

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

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

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

Great Pumpkin Patch...Charlie Brown

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

Weekend Fun with Family

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

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