Humor Me

So every now and then I like to dream a little and peruse the real estate listings in Franklin for a big gorgeous home on a big ol' piece of land.

And then I stumbled across this insanely cool home on 12 wooded acres out in Leipers Fork, an area where Jason and I dream of living someday if we can ever afford it.

How amazing is this house?
Walkway out to the garage? Not sure if that's the garage or a workshop.

Huge wrap around porches. I'm drooling over those plantation shutters.

A modest but beautiful stairway with gorgeous molding and trim.

I'm dying over the clawfoot tub & his & her vanities in the master bath!

Um hello dream kitchen. I could make all kinds of amazing food there while looking out that incredible window!

I mean seriously, do you see that window over the farm sink? Geeeezzzzz... And that's the family room just beyond with french doors to the back porch.

Another view of the family room with the kitchen of paradise beyond.

A cute bedroom with his & her closets and a fireplace between. LOVE. Someday I dream of having his & her closets, don't ask me why because I can't answer you.

I see built-in bookcases and is that a window seat in the background? Sigh........

More built-in bookcases!! This house was meant for us. Darn that pending contract.

From the entry, a view into the formal living room and hallway down to the family room & kitchen.

Another view of the formal sitting/living room. The hardwoods throught out the house are drool-worthy.

And this looks to be a playhouse, but I would make it a guest cottage, for all of our wonderful friends and family to visit us. :-)

I mean is it just not the cutest on the inside with the arched ceilings?

4 Bedrooms, 4 Full Baths, 3 Half Baths, 4 Fireplaces, A Playhouse/Studio ect... all for $800,000. Which is A DEAL for all this house on all that land. Wow. Someday...someday.

Grief

The last couple weeks have been emotional ones. 2 weeks ago I found myself invited over to the youth pastor's house, along with some other friends, to support him as he was grieving the sudden loss of his father. Then this week one of my best friends miscarried at 10 weeks of pregnancy.

I've brought food, prayed, texted, facebooked and called to support the loved ones in my life during this difficult time. Grieving is such a process and the best thing one can do is just listen and love. Well that and maybe feed them. :-)

I love cooking for people. Just last week I baked an entire lemon bar/tart to satiate my friend's pregnancy cravings.....

and then just days later I found myself bringing her homemade mac & cheese as comfort food.

This weekend I'm hanging out with some friends and have been asked to bring my molasses cookies (obviously I've developed a bit of a reputation and honestly I don't mind one bit!)

Part of our journey in life is dealing with the extreme ups and downs of joy and sorrow. I've been fortunate thus far to not have to grieve in such a personal way through the loss of a close family member or friend. And when I think of possibly experiencing that myself one day, it truly scares me. But then I look at my brave & strong friends and realize that God is always there through those valleys and His supernatural peace will bring comfort no matter the trial.

These last two weeks have been a time of remembering what's most important in life - the relationships we've been blessed with and the love of our Father. I'm grateful that we serve a God who comforts, heals and loves. And that the time we have on this earth is not where life ends, but where it only begins.

Dream the Dream

Some close friends of mine were talking about how they saw Wicked on Broadway in New York a couple weeks back and how they had caught the Broadway bug. It immediately brought to memory all those wonderful times my parents have taken me to the 5th Avenue Theatre in Seattle (thanks mom & dad!).

Jason has yet to see a Broadway show, and I thought what better show to see first then Les Miserables! I have seen it several times myself and hands down believe its the most amazing Broadway experience out there. So this last week I was perusing around the TPAC website (our local Nashville theatre) and saw that the Broadway tour of Les Miserables is coming to Nashville in May of 2011!! AND not only that, but its the 25th Anniversary Edition, Dream the Dream tour which has been getting rave reviews where its opened in London. Last Friday tickets went on sale and I bought Jason and I tickets!!!!!!

I'm bummed our friends Dana & Julie won't be able to join us now that they are expecting a little one in April, but they are by no means getting the short end of the deal. I'm looking forward to being an auntie once again :-)

5 Years

In August of 2005 I headed out to Nashville, TN with my sister Kati to see Jason for a week. I had a hunch something might happen that week, since Jason and I had been talking about him moving out to Seattle once we were engaged. I just didn't know exactly when and where he might propose.

Earlier in the week before my sister Kati had left town, we got some great pictures of the two of us out at Steeplechase, dancing outside the Grand Ole Opry, smooching outside The Loveless Cafe and snuggling over the Harpeth River. I'm SO glad we got these taken because it is a week that I will cherish forever.

5 years ago today (has it already been 5 years?!!), Jason asked me to marry him on top of the Shelby Street Bridgein downtown Nashville over the Cumberland River after a romantic dinner at Mortons Steakhouse. He proposed with his grandmother's wedding ring and the evening was perfect in every way. Wellll....except for maybe the horrible putrid smell that we had to avoid by crossing over the bridge the first time and then coming back when it had passed :-) Now we get a good laugh of how I made him cross over to the other side of the bridge just when he was about to propose because I was about to gag from the stench! But we got some great pictures out of that little diversion and this one of Jason with the flowers, is really one of my favorites!

I love you baby! And I am beyond blessed to be married to the hardest working man I've ever known. You continue to sacrifice and work unbelievably hard to make our dreams come true and I love you for the husband you've been to me. Thank you for 5 wonderful years since asking me to be yours :-) You will always be my dreaming buddy, best friend and love of my life.

Freakin Loved It!

SO I'll admit it, I'm a shameless fan of The Bachelorette and The Bachelor! And last night I was beyond thrilled to watch the season finale to see if Ali would choose either Roberto or Chris, both class-A guys.

And seriously, it was the most perfect season finale EVER. Loved every minute of it!!

Roberto is so dreamy and in the After the Final Rose show, he mentioned how he & Ali would watch movies together over the phone and I got all warm & fuzzy remembering that that is what Jason and I did when we were dating long distance ;-)

And when Ali broke it off with Chris N, yup, I admit it - total tears. What an awesome guy too - I hope they make him the next Bachelor!!

In other news - we have a bit of a mouse problem in our back yard. Yeah, awesomeness. And last night when I was calling the boys in from outside I saw something dangling from Jeep's mouth. It was pretty dark by this time so I couldn't see what it was quite clearly and he put it down for a minute. When he looked back to pick it back up, it was no longer there. UH YIKES. That's when I decided it would be a good time to get back in the house. NASTY. So I get the boys in the house and notice that Jeep has blood on his front legs, and that's about the moment that I almost gagged. Fun times oh yes. We have some traps we'll be putting out tonight....duh, dun dun dun...to be continued.

Round The World in 365 Days

A year ago, Jason and I said goodbye to some dear friends of ours who did what only few people get the opportunity to do, by following their dreams and taking an entire year to travel the world. I know, you're drooling aren't you? Matt & Amy Walter packed up their backpacks, a laptop and a camera and off they went on the adventure of a lifetime. This last year took them to Africa, Thailand, India, Laos, Cambodia, Israel, New Zealand, Ireland, Egypt and Vietnam (just to name a few). From staying in tiny hostels, to huts on the beach and even a brief stay in a Thailand hospital when Amy came down with Dengue Fever.

They are an amazing couple, with a huge heart for others to serve, so even while they were gone they planned some missions work along the way. Matt has an insane gift in photography and took some pictures that are beyond breathtaking. I hope at some point he turns his photos into a coffee-table book, because I definitely think people would love them! Shoot, I'd buy some of his photos just to frame in my house!

Here's just a sample of some of the pics from their year! (copyright of Matt Walter of course!)

Vietnam

Uganda

Thailand

Laos

Israel

Ireland

India

Hong Kong

Egypt

Cambodia

To see LOTS more photos and read up on Matt & Amy's adventures, visit their blog RTW 365!

Cicada Snack

The other night as we were letting the dogs in the house, a cicada fell onto the porch from a nearby tree. And without any hesitation, Jeep scooped this big nasty bug up into his mouth and casually walked into the living room and laid down. He had no intention of eating it, he just wanted to sit there holding it in his mouth with the vibrations of this insect on his tongue.

It was seriously disgusting and I thought at any moment he would release this winged beast into my house, but no - he just held it in his mouth for several minutes while it buzzed away quite LOUDLY. Jason and I were ROLLING on the floor laughing as Jeep looked at us like, "What? It ain't no thang." Seven was sitting right next to Jeep with bated breath waiting for Jeep to release his prisoner and give him a turn. After a few minutes, he did release this little sicknast critter & Seven held it with his paw briefly before scooping it up into his own mouth to also hold it while it buzzed away.

Finally, after Jason caught his breath from laughing so hard, he started telling Seven, "Eat it Seven! Eat it!" To which, Seven obediently started chomping away like he was chewing on a walnut. I almost gagged.

I couldn't find a video on youtube where another dog would actually hold a cicada in his mouth without immediately eating it, but I did find one where you can hear how loud the buzzing is when its being squeezed. Cicadas are no joke the size of a cockroach, but with wings. I freakin hate these things and they are everywhere in the trees here in the South. Yuck!

Life Before, During and After Vegas

A couple weeks back, I took a trip home to Seattle for a few days to see both my sisters graduate from The University of Washington. To say I was proud, is an understatement. It was one heck of a rough ride to even get to Seattle in the first place with horribly turbulent flights through Denver and delays from a nasty storm. I didn't get in to Seattle till almost 2am. Dad was the only one still awake to pick me up from the airport & take me home - I of course in no way expected my family to still be awake that late at night. Kati groggily said "Welcome Home" as I crawled into bed with her and proceeded to pass out.

Then Saturday & Sunday was pretty much a blur! Two days of graduation at the U and back to back hours of sitting through speeches...but you know what? It was completely worth it! Every minute of sitting, flying & spending :-) My mom has some great photos on her camera from the graduations that I hope to get copies of soon, so I can post them here (hint, hint, Kati!).

The 3 days of running from place to place was a complete blur and then finally Kris, Kati & I boarded an early morning flight on Tuesday for Vegas!~ We were quite worn out and slept for 16 hours with an hour break sometime during the middle of the night. But seriously, that was the expectation all along - sleep, relax, sit by the pool and read. And we even squeezed in a Cirque Soliel Elvis show and some great meals! It was truly a lot of fun and very restful - and our room was as amazing as I had hoped it to be.

We did see a few nearby hotels, but seriously it took SO long just to walk to one hotel it would have taken the entire week to see all of it and it was EXHAUSTING and HOT going from hotel to hotel. The ones we did see were all very cool, but I would highly recommend people be allowed to rent golf carts to get from hotel to hotel and they should also install those moving sidewalks like they have in airports - boy would that ever help! My favorite hotel by far was probably the Wynn ~ ah-mazing. If Jason and I ever go to Vegas together, I would definitely want to stay there with him. This atrium was in the lobby and from those trees are giant multi-colored flowered balls. It was so breathtaking.Then we found this cute little pizzeria and decided to sit outside on its patio which was surrounded by water & waterfalls. Incredible!

Here's another part of the Wynn hotel where these giant umbrellas hung over a seated lobby.

This was probably my favorite meal from the 5 days we were there. I was dying for some good Chinese food since we have hardly any here in Nashville and we found this restaurant called FIN inside the Mirage. The service was impeccable and the food was INSANELY amazing. The prices weren't too bad either (surprisingly) :-) And it was so worth every bit of indigestion afterwards!

And of course it wouldn't be Vegas without trying the slot machines. Our hotel gave us a $25 credit on the slots and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. I. So. Don't. Get. It. People sat there for HOURS playing slots and for what? No way would I spend my hard-earned cash pulling a level and throwing it down the drain! As you can see, I was quite the slot-virgin, so Kris had so show me how it's done.

Two days after returning from Vegas, I was still having nightmares that I was trapped inside a casino and couldn't get out. The bells from the slots were "cha-chinging" through my mind for days - I likened to what it must be like stepping off a cruise-ship and still feeling the tilt from the waves.

I'm so glad we did this as sisters, though next time we all agree that a beach vacation with little to no distractions would be a much better option! :-) I love you sisters - congrats on your hard earned & well deserved degrees!

Good Deed Gone Awry

This little dude (let's call him Romeo) showed up on our porch Saturday night as I was reading by the front window. Always secretly hoping for an opportunity to reunite someone with their beloved pet, I took him in and tried to find his owners.

He looked to be a mixed beagle with beautiful tan spots & speckled coloring and had a leather collar on with a chewed through lead. He wasn't hungry or dirty, so I thought maybe he had recently escaped. Seven was in the house, where we've kept him most of the time to keep an eye on his stitches and away from Jeep so they don't wrestle. Jeep was in the backyard and is our more social dog so I thought the two would get along fabulously. Not so. Apparently this little 15 pound beagle was intruding on Jeep's territory and Jeep pushed the guy off the side of the porch and growled at him!! I've never seen that side of Jeep before! He just wasn't having it. So I brought Jeep in the house to join Seven and left Romeo in the backyard.

Then I proceeded to post Found listings on a couple different sites anticipating my moment of being some little kid's hero at saving his little puppy and reuniting them once again. Well at 2am that all began to change. He tried to dig out of the yard and started barking incessantly, which made my very large and very loud dogs start barking from within the house. Not exactly your ideal sleeping environment. So Jason gets up and puts Romeo in the bathroom. Now our boys are really started to get peeved, cause this intruder is in our house. Then we hear more barking and the scratching of our bathroom door. At this point, I'm feeling horribly guilty for taking away much needed & precious sleep for the both of us and so I offer to take Romeo into the guest room so Jason can get some sleep. Jason heads to the couch with the boys in the living room, in order to calm them. This "adorable little beagle" was quickly wearing on my last nerve as the clock started nearing closer to 3am. He kept jumping up on me trying to have his passionate way with my arm. Sick! There was just no way around it, until this un-neutered friend of ours found a female, he was not going to be deterred & was going to make this one heck of a long night!

At that point, I figured this dog is safer on the streets than he is near me, cause I'm going to end up smothering this canine with a pillow! So out he went back on the streets at 3 o'clock in the morning. Then I just PRAYED that no one would respond to my listings online. I felt HORRIBLY guilty all Sunday until I started to receive a couple emails from fellow neighbors who had the same experience with the same dog. Apparently he knows his way around and was on a mission, so who was I stop him?

I just might have learned my lesson on trying to rescue a pup, but who knows if the next little guy is even cuter it might be harder for me to resist.