last week (i think?) hillary introduced me to one of my new favorite spots in nashville, radnor lake. the weather has been beautiful the past week, so i'm happy to have somewhere wonderful like radnor to enjoy a little bit of outdoors. after church today i went home to eat lunch and change and then headed off to first go to radnor and then to borders to hang out for a bit. when i got to the lake i decided to go a little bit later - there was a line to get into the parking lot...and it wasn't moving. so now here i am at borders sipping a delicious unsweetened tea with lemon from mcalister's. not a bad sunday afternoon if you ask me.
this morning i went to immanuel church for the first time and can't say enough good things about it. finding a new church can be a long and exhausting process, especially when there are a lot of great churches in your area to choose from. since getting to nashville i've been around to a few different churches and really liked them all. every one of them have good, solid teaching and great ways of getting new people plugged in. i can't say any of the places i've been are better than the other, which made it especially hard to think about calling one of them home.
i've read the pastor's blog at immanuel for a month or two now and really liked him, but i didn't know what to expect, service-wise. i snuck into the back no more than 5 minutes late (check me out!)and was immediately intrigued. dr. ortlund was in the middle of answering a question from someone there - i have no idea if they do this every week, if he just asked if anybody wanted to ask anything, or what. but i thought it was cool.
after that was the part where they greet you and they ask who is attending for the first time, show of hands. i NEVER raise my hand because i hate drawing attention to myself. i sat in the back and looked around. then i heard "guy right there, first hand up, we have a book and a starbucks gift card for you!" then i was regretting not shooting my hand up in the air. however, then i heard "if it's your first time here we have a book and a starbucks card for you, hold your hand up until someone brings one to you." um, AWESOME! about 10ish people had their hands up, including the two people sitting directly in front of me. i'm glad i didn't know what was to follow, i may have passed up a free book and cup of coffee if i had. everybody that had their hand up got to introduce themselves...out loud, to everybody there. it wasn't quite as scary as i thought it would be. on their website is posted the "immanuel guarantee": nobody needs to feel new after their first visit. i was wondering how they could go so far as to guarantee that, and just how they would accomplish it. well, guarantee accomplished.
right away, i felt like i belonged, something i have sorely missed since living in tuscaloosa and attending trinity. several times throughout the rest of the service my eyes welled up with tears that i had to fight back because i finally felt a bit at home. even as i now sit and type this in borders i'm breathing deeply through my nose and have glassy eyes.
during the song that followed i was so excited about my free book that i couldn't wait until home to see what it was. i got even MORE excited when i saw the words "john piper" appear letter by letter as i tore a strip of paper from across the bottom. i am now the happy owner of "fifty reasons why jesus came to die."
so there i sit when the song is over admiring my new book by one of my favorite authors when it is announced that collin hansen is visiting immanuel today. i did a little "oooh!" out loud and then whisper "young, restless, reformed!" which is the title of hansen's book. it happens to be a favorite of mine. after the service i dorkily went up to him and his wife and told him how much i loved it and shook his hand. it was stinking thrilling.
the sermon topic today was "proverbs on emotions" and i very much enjoyed it. we are emotional creatures, especially women. i feel like it's not okay for people to be overly emotional these days - even if you're too happy you're criticized, and you definitely are if you have the audacity to go around crying in front people and showing how you really feel. it's part of the problem with the "american church" - having everything together all the time is a must.
dr. ortlund said that the gospel is emotional, and when christ comes to us we are an emotional jungle and he's not about to turn us into an emotional desert. then he talked through four different categories, each using verses from proverbs for context. it'll be way too lengthy to go through them, but they were:
1. fear and boldness
2. anger and restraint
3. jealousy and trainquility
4. cheerfulness and the gospel
at the end he said that god's power is greatest not in destroying sinners, but by freeing them. then he asked us to think about our darkest, most shameful sins. after pausing for a few seconds he said "that is what you are, and that is what god saves."
all in all, i absolutely loved the entire experience. i called my mom and told her i think i just went to my new church. then i told hillary i went and "am in love with it." then i said "that may be stretch since we've only been out once, but we're courting." i've decided to attend immanuel until i feel the need or desire to look elsewhere. i feel like there are two crucial points that i can make to show how great i thought it was:
1. i had to say my name in front of everybody and i still want to go back.
2. there were cute guys there, but really i wasn't concerned with them. obviously i noticed and thought "oh, he's cute" but that was the end of it because my focus was on the church. when you're a single girl in your 20's and are more taken by a church than a guy, you know you're at a good church. i'm gonna go out on a limb and say the lord had something to do with that - maybe offering a little contentment and peace to my heart? i was very grateful that i wasn't distracted.
next week i'm going to attend a community group before the worship service. i was too scared to go by myself today, but after leaving i wish i had gone. they split them up by ages, which makes me very happy since hillary, tori and i still haven't made many friends since moving to nashville.
one of the last things dr. ortlund said before the benediction was "yall are going to have a great week, i can tell!" and i thought "you couldn't be more right!" my time at immanuel today blessed my heart too much to put into words and i am praying that it will continue to bless me throughout the rest of the week.
thanks for reading! i'm off to radnor to hopefully spend some time outside in the gorgeous weather!
-meghan
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Sunday, August 8, 2010
guys...it's your turn to help us out
as i mentioned in my last post, the 4 pack was out to dinner one night when a giant metaphoric light bulb fell over our table. i'll do my best to explain it well - it was much easier to talk about in a group than it was to write about! first i'm going to talk about what guys struggle with and then how girls respond. then i'll talk about what girls struggle with and how guys don't respond. i hate to talk about something as broad as physical or emotional lust and apply it to men as a whole and women as a whole, obviously every situation is different, but i feel like the root of the struggle is the same for everybody.
part of being the body of christ is sharing our struggles and encouraging each other through them. the number one known struggle for guys is physical lust. apparently, they can't help it and it's an accepted part of life for them. from what i've read they think about sex anywhere from every 7 seconds to every other day. either way, it's excessive. and with the way sex is thrown into every media outlet there is, it's almost impossible to avoid. i've heard a guy say that there are times when he can't even listen to what a girl is saying to him because he's concentrating so much on looking at her face instead of her body. a man's desire should only be for his wife, and men that try to honor that don't have it easy.
as girls, we do what we can to help our brothers in christ. we don't understand their struggle, but we lovingly and gladly do what we can to protect their eyes and minds. this means giving up clothes that might not necessarily be inappropriate, but it might cause a guy to struggle. this means giving up attention that we would be getting from guys by dressing that way. this means that everything we wear out in public has gone through careful scrutiny, and has been given the answer "no" to the following questions: is this too low? is this too tight? is this too short? is this too low? is this too tight? is this too short? shopping for modest clothes is not easy. finding dresses that don't show any cleave or too much leg is not easy. if ever we find the top or skirt that we just can't pass up, we layer shirts under it or wear leggings to still make sure we are covered up. and might i just add that it's flipping hot outside? but that's no excuse for us to run around in skimpy clothes. and since the body of christ also calls for accountability, if we weren't guarding our brother's minds, we would be called out for it. i realize it's sounding like i'm kind of bitter about it, and maybe i am a teeny bit. but mainly, i'm not bitter and dress appropriately out of love and respect.
what's not as known and accepted is that girls struggle with emotional lust. while guys long to get naked with a woman, girls desperately long to fall in love with a man. before i jump into how we are led on, let me go ahead and right here state for the record that girls are absolutely 100% crazy. now that we got that covered, i'm going to attempt to explain emotional lust. in leslie ludy's book "answering the guy questions: the set-apart girl's guide to relating to the opposite sex" she talks about how when girls are attracted to a guy they can develop "an unhealthy emotional obsession with someone." this happens far more often and easily than guys know. girls will analyze everything and grasp at anything and take off with it. just like when a scantily dressed woman walks by, a man has an urging to turn his head and watch her, girls will start investing feelings in a guy when she thinks he might be interested. this is where the lines of friendship/romance are very blurred. when a girl likes a guy she pays attention to specifically him, makes excuses to be by him, talk to him, touch him, etc. so when a guy interacts with us in such a way, it makes us think there might be interest on their part. guys, through no fault of their own, continue doing little things (that they probably don't even notice) that cause us to furthur attach to them, and that makes it hard for us to know if a friendship or relationship is being established. even something so silly as a guy throwing me his jacket, tapping me with his foot or sharing his food with me can make me wonder if he likes me. i'm reminded of the movie "he's just not that into you" when jennifer aniston's character tells her boyfriend of several years "i just need you to stop being nice to me unless you're gonna marry me." i think men would see that statement as crazy (her boyfriend responds with "is this a trick? it feels like a trick") but what she's basically saying is if you're not going to commit to me then you need to keep your distance. i don't think that's such a ridiculous request!
when it comes down to it, girls just need to deal with their struggle, but if guys were aware of how they could help it would GREATLY reduce the problem. i really think if godly men were made aware of this struggle they would want to help their sisters by being cautious of the words they use with girls and backing up their intentions with their actions. if ever a guy finds himself spending a lot of time talking to a girl or hanging out with her specifically, a little dtr (define the relationship) conversation needs to happen. girls shouldn't have to wonder about a guy's intentions, and certainly they shouldn't have to ask. but it happens all the time, and it seems that often the guy is completely oblivious to the fact that there's even anything to talk about.
this has gotten a bit lengthy, so i'm going to stop here, though i feel like i've only touched the tip of the iceberg. i could go on and on, i mean, how has this been so overlooked and not talked about? to sum it all up i'll close with a quote that hillary and jb came up with the night we first talked about all of this:
"If, in an effort to protect our brother's hearts and minds, women forsake immodesty, attention and cute clothes, then men, in equal measure should purposefully consider their actions and words in attempt to protect the hearts of their sisters, even if that means terminating a friendship."
-meghan
part of being the body of christ is sharing our struggles and encouraging each other through them. the number one known struggle for guys is physical lust. apparently, they can't help it and it's an accepted part of life for them. from what i've read they think about sex anywhere from every 7 seconds to every other day. either way, it's excessive. and with the way sex is thrown into every media outlet there is, it's almost impossible to avoid. i've heard a guy say that there are times when he can't even listen to what a girl is saying to him because he's concentrating so much on looking at her face instead of her body. a man's desire should only be for his wife, and men that try to honor that don't have it easy.
as girls, we do what we can to help our brothers in christ. we don't understand their struggle, but we lovingly and gladly do what we can to protect their eyes and minds. this means giving up clothes that might not necessarily be inappropriate, but it might cause a guy to struggle. this means giving up attention that we would be getting from guys by dressing that way. this means that everything we wear out in public has gone through careful scrutiny, and has been given the answer "no" to the following questions: is this too low? is this too tight? is this too short? is this too low? is this too tight? is this too short? shopping for modest clothes is not easy. finding dresses that don't show any cleave or too much leg is not easy. if ever we find the top or skirt that we just can't pass up, we layer shirts under it or wear leggings to still make sure we are covered up. and might i just add that it's flipping hot outside? but that's no excuse for us to run around in skimpy clothes. and since the body of christ also calls for accountability, if we weren't guarding our brother's minds, we would be called out for it. i realize it's sounding like i'm kind of bitter about it, and maybe i am a teeny bit. but mainly, i'm not bitter and dress appropriately out of love and respect.
what's not as known and accepted is that girls struggle with emotional lust. while guys long to get naked with a woman, girls desperately long to fall in love with a man. before i jump into how we are led on, let me go ahead and right here state for the record that girls are absolutely 100% crazy. now that we got that covered, i'm going to attempt to explain emotional lust. in leslie ludy's book "answering the guy questions: the set-apart girl's guide to relating to the opposite sex" she talks about how when girls are attracted to a guy they can develop "an unhealthy emotional obsession with someone." this happens far more often and easily than guys know. girls will analyze everything and grasp at anything and take off with it. just like when a scantily dressed woman walks by, a man has an urging to turn his head and watch her, girls will start investing feelings in a guy when she thinks he might be interested. this is where the lines of friendship/romance are very blurred. when a girl likes a guy she pays attention to specifically him, makes excuses to be by him, talk to him, touch him, etc. so when a guy interacts with us in such a way, it makes us think there might be interest on their part. guys, through no fault of their own, continue doing little things (that they probably don't even notice) that cause us to furthur attach to them, and that makes it hard for us to know if a friendship or relationship is being established. even something so silly as a guy throwing me his jacket, tapping me with his foot or sharing his food with me can make me wonder if he likes me. i'm reminded of the movie "he's just not that into you" when jennifer aniston's character tells her boyfriend of several years "i just need you to stop being nice to me unless you're gonna marry me." i think men would see that statement as crazy (her boyfriend responds with "is this a trick? it feels like a trick") but what she's basically saying is if you're not going to commit to me then you need to keep your distance. i don't think that's such a ridiculous request!
when it comes down to it, girls just need to deal with their struggle, but if guys were aware of how they could help it would GREATLY reduce the problem. i really think if godly men were made aware of this struggle they would want to help their sisters by being cautious of the words they use with girls and backing up their intentions with their actions. if ever a guy finds himself spending a lot of time talking to a girl or hanging out with her specifically, a little dtr (define the relationship) conversation needs to happen. girls shouldn't have to wonder about a guy's intentions, and certainly they shouldn't have to ask. but it happens all the time, and it seems that often the guy is completely oblivious to the fact that there's even anything to talk about.
this has gotten a bit lengthy, so i'm going to stop here, though i feel like i've only touched the tip of the iceberg. i could go on and on, i mean, how has this been so overlooked and not talked about? to sum it all up i'll close with a quote that hillary and jb came up with the night we first talked about all of this:
"If, in an effort to protect our brother's hearts and minds, women forsake immodesty, attention and cute clothes, then men, in equal measure should purposefully consider their actions and words in attempt to protect the hearts of their sisters, even if that means terminating a friendship."
-meghan
Friday, August 6, 2010
ah, life
i've had A LOT going on lately! i'll try and give a brief yet entertaining update on life in nashville.
a couple of days after my family left hillary and tori's fam came into town for jameson to compete in the national fbla competition. jameson winter and taylor malone are two of my favorite people, and i was so excited they got to come and see our apartment and sign our wall!
i saw inception twice, which led me to my new celebrity crush, joseph gordon-levitt. i wonder if the idea is my own or not, though.
the x games came and went too quickly. i took an interest in todd potter for the sole purpose of his last name and ended up voting for him for best whip. he won! shaun white competed and got second in skate vert and then dropped out of best trick. lame.
our next visitor was joy beth, which is always fun because you never know what you'll end up doing when jb is around! one of the first things we did was hang out at borders, where we found a ball on the floor and spent hours throwing it back and forth to each other. we also wore matching t-shirts to the movies to see eclipse and stayed when the movie was over because "sometimes i like to dance to the music during the credits." it didn't top joy beth's initial rolling around on the floor after the traveling pants 2, but it was definitely our best collaborative dance to date. after the movie we ended up having a marshmallow spitting contest in the parking lot. like i said, anything can happen when you're with j biz! :)
one of my favorite outings with jb was our dinner at loveless cafe. a shocking epiphany was had at the table that resulted in me throwing my hands out in the air and holding them there for several seconds. to sum it up, girls struggle with emotional lust just like guys struggle with physical lust. more to come on that later, it's a whole different post entirely.
the same day we took joy beth to the airport melinda came for a visit!! melinda was the very first friend i made in tuscaloosa that wasn't my roommate and she's always had a special place in my heart. she was here long enough to celebrate her birthday, and we celebrated by having sushi and vanilla bean ice cream with oreos in it. happy birthday mel!!
we checked out a new church, christ presbyterian. while walking to the main building (late, might i add) we saw an area outside set up from a wedding and it immediately got our attention. the style the service was done in is something i haven't really seen before. a couple of verses were preached and then we would sing. after that a couple of more verses, and then singing again. it would take some getting used to, and being on time would definitely be a plus. i can easily see myself not liking it, but i can also easily see myself liking it, if that makes sense at all.
i started work the day after melinda arrived and really loved getting to spend my days with kids again! eva and jackson (or, as i like to sometimes call them, big red and little red) are precious children and i had a wonderful week! here's a few cute quotes from big red:
"i think i love my brother"
"i think i like this song" she said this while i was playing "thy mercy my god" by sandra mccracken. i was also happy to see her dancing to explosions in the sky.
"i pray for mommy and daddy. and jackson too. and sometimes i pray for you too." this kind of made me tear up, and i smiled and told her that sometimes i pray for her too :)
i bought the new arcade fire album, the suburbs, and watched the live stream of their concert from madison square garden. this is also a whole different post entirely, so once again i'll sum it up. I. LOVE. THEM.
my work schedule has changed a little bit and is leaving my mondays and tuesdays open. i'm making a list of places to check out for a part time job. it's quite a random list, ranging from the dunkin donuts down the street to florists to see if they need a delivery person. how fun could it be to make people happy by delivering flowers to them?! we'll see what happens and i'll keep things updated on here. or at least, i'll intend to and maybe get around to it one day.
-meghan
a couple of days after my family left hillary and tori's fam came into town for jameson to compete in the national fbla competition. jameson winter and taylor malone are two of my favorite people, and i was so excited they got to come and see our apartment and sign our wall!
i saw inception twice, which led me to my new celebrity crush, joseph gordon-levitt. i wonder if the idea is my own or not, though.
the x games came and went too quickly. i took an interest in todd potter for the sole purpose of his last name and ended up voting for him for best whip. he won! shaun white competed and got second in skate vert and then dropped out of best trick. lame.
our next visitor was joy beth, which is always fun because you never know what you'll end up doing when jb is around! one of the first things we did was hang out at borders, where we found a ball on the floor and spent hours throwing it back and forth to each other. we also wore matching t-shirts to the movies to see eclipse and stayed when the movie was over because "sometimes i like to dance to the music during the credits." it didn't top joy beth's initial rolling around on the floor after the traveling pants 2, but it was definitely our best collaborative dance to date. after the movie we ended up having a marshmallow spitting contest in the parking lot. like i said, anything can happen when you're with j biz! :)
one of my favorite outings with jb was our dinner at loveless cafe. a shocking epiphany was had at the table that resulted in me throwing my hands out in the air and holding them there for several seconds. to sum it up, girls struggle with emotional lust just like guys struggle with physical lust. more to come on that later, it's a whole different post entirely.
the same day we took joy beth to the airport melinda came for a visit!! melinda was the very first friend i made in tuscaloosa that wasn't my roommate and she's always had a special place in my heart. she was here long enough to celebrate her birthday, and we celebrated by having sushi and vanilla bean ice cream with oreos in it. happy birthday mel!!
we checked out a new church, christ presbyterian. while walking to the main building (late, might i add) we saw an area outside set up from a wedding and it immediately got our attention. the style the service was done in is something i haven't really seen before. a couple of verses were preached and then we would sing. after that a couple of more verses, and then singing again. it would take some getting used to, and being on time would definitely be a plus. i can easily see myself not liking it, but i can also easily see myself liking it, if that makes sense at all.
i started work the day after melinda arrived and really loved getting to spend my days with kids again! eva and jackson (or, as i like to sometimes call them, big red and little red) are precious children and i had a wonderful week! here's a few cute quotes from big red:
"i think i love my brother"
"i think i like this song" she said this while i was playing "thy mercy my god" by sandra mccracken. i was also happy to see her dancing to explosions in the sky.
"i pray for mommy and daddy. and jackson too. and sometimes i pray for you too." this kind of made me tear up, and i smiled and told her that sometimes i pray for her too :)
i bought the new arcade fire album, the suburbs, and watched the live stream of their concert from madison square garden. this is also a whole different post entirely, so once again i'll sum it up. I. LOVE. THEM.
my work schedule has changed a little bit and is leaving my mondays and tuesdays open. i'm making a list of places to check out for a part time job. it's quite a random list, ranging from the dunkin donuts down the street to florists to see if they need a delivery person. how fun could it be to make people happy by delivering flowers to them?! we'll see what happens and i'll keep things updated on here. or at least, i'll intend to and maybe get around to it one day.
-meghan
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
i've got the blues
i'm not saying i want the band to break up, but i really feel like ben g and jake should be making some blues music together. can we say side project?!!
the sound isn't great, you can hardly understand the lyrics, but really, that's not the point of the video. this 10 minute improv is the support for my above statement.
-meghan
the sound isn't great, you can hardly understand the lyrics, but really, that's not the point of the video. this 10 minute improv is the support for my above statement.
-meghan
Saturday, July 24, 2010
i'm the next vg
after moving to alabama i realized how much i tried to be just like my friends all throughout high school, and it was very evident in my clothing choices. now, i'm not saying my friends couldn't dress, they could and they always looked good!! but i realized my style wasn't my own. after about a year in alabama i went through my clothes and realized i didn't really like any of them. i promptly chopped my hair off, pierced my nose (sorry mom, it was only for a few months!) and wore things that i hadn't before. if you had the (dis)pleasure of being my roommate at the time, you knew better than to ask for my advice when getting dressed. i can't count how many times hillary asked my opinion on something she was wearing and my response was "do you like it? that's all that matters. if you like it, wear it, who cares if nobody else likes it?" her response was "me, i care if i look okay or not. the answer i want is yes it looks good or no it doesn't."
i've since quit wearing just whatever because it's different and though sometimes i do refer back to "if i like it i'm going to wear it and i don't care what other people think," i also ask for advice. in our apartment we usually leave the words of fashion wisdom to tori, but i had a few today while we were helping hillary pick out some clothes for tonight :)
"you can wear your shirt as a skirt, your skirt as a shirt and you're set!"
-hill "he'll be wearing a t-shirt."
-me "a halter top is like a t-shirt for a girl. what? it is. so are tank tops."
i feel certain those quotes probably aren't as funny as we thought they were, but oh well, hope you enjoyed it anyway!!
-meghan
i've since quit wearing just whatever because it's different and though sometimes i do refer back to "if i like it i'm going to wear it and i don't care what other people think," i also ask for advice. in our apartment we usually leave the words of fashion wisdom to tori, but i had a few today while we were helping hillary pick out some clothes for tonight :)
"you can wear your shirt as a skirt, your skirt as a shirt and you're set!"
-hill "he'll be wearing a t-shirt."
-me "a halter top is like a t-shirt for a girl. what? it is. so are tank tops."
i feel certain those quotes probably aren't as funny as we thought they were, but oh well, hope you enjoyed it anyway!!
-meghan
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
funtastic family times in nashville
i had such a fun time when my family came to visit! they all left loving nashville, and lindsey even wants to come here for college. (what do you think, becky and jim?)
i was so excited about their arrival that i woke up at about 5 thursday morning, which was about when they got ready to head this way. they kept themselves entertained in the car by introducing my aunt carol to the wonderful world of twilight. they watched the first two movies in the car on the way here and arrived early in the afternoon. after taking a brief tour of hotel preston we headed off to see eclipse!
after the movie we went to have dinner at loveless cafe, which is famous for their biscuits and fried chicken. i always want to try new things there, but i also have my favorites that i can't miss out on. a couple of things that i tried were the meatloaf and the hashbrown casserole, and both were very tasty!! we had so many leftovers that i'm pretty sure i can get 3 meals out of my take out box!
this may have happened friday, but i think it was thursday that we watched funny videos and becky and carol were introduced to tracy. carol has a great, loud laugh and she didn't hold back - she had to watch it again to catch everything.
friday morning we toured the ryman, which is something i've wanted to do since i moved here. i LOVED it!! lindsey and i had fun singing to everybody!!
they had posters up from past concerts, and it was really cool to see all of the performers that have played there.
after that we went souvenir shopping on lower broad, a must for anybody visiting nashville!!
for lunch friday we went to fido and all loved it!! i got the eggplant tower and definitely plan to go back soon. after lunch i took them to the parthenon so they could see the beautiful park and amazing statue of athena. the park is one of my favorite places in nashville, and i hated that it was raining while we were there.
for those who haven't seen athena in real life, this pic with a person standing in front of the statue is to show how gianormous it is.
after that we went to the mall at green hills to do some shopping, but we all left empty handed and counted it as our exercise for the trip.
saturday morning we woke up and went to have breakfast at one of my favorite spots, pancake pantry. we got there at about 7:30ish and didn't have to wait in line very long, definitely a plus! they got to experience the deliciousness that is sweet potato pancakes!!
after that we went shopping at the galleria in franklin and had much more success than the day before. there were a lot of great sales going on and we definitely took advantage! thanks mom for getting me some new shoes, jeans and cute shirts!!
for dinner saturday night we turned to my book where the locals eat since all we had left on our restaurant list were coffehouses. someone mentioned mexican, which is something i stay away from when i'm not in texas. we found somewhere that claimed to be tex-mex and decided to give it try. it didn't disappoint!! they even brought us some butter for our tortillas and hot sauce. becky and carol got some ah-mazing nachos that i'll be getting next time!!
sunday came too soon, and they packed up and left for texas verrrry early in the morning.
mom, becky, carol and lindsey, thank yall SO much for coming all the way to tennessee to see me! i'm glad yall got to see nashville and fall in love with it like i did! i miss yall already!!
-meghan
i was so excited about their arrival that i woke up at about 5 thursday morning, which was about when they got ready to head this way. they kept themselves entertained in the car by introducing my aunt carol to the wonderful world of twilight. they watched the first two movies in the car on the way here and arrived early in the afternoon. after taking a brief tour of hotel preston we headed off to see eclipse!
after the movie we went to have dinner at loveless cafe, which is famous for their biscuits and fried chicken. i always want to try new things there, but i also have my favorites that i can't miss out on. a couple of things that i tried were the meatloaf and the hashbrown casserole, and both were very tasty!! we had so many leftovers that i'm pretty sure i can get 3 meals out of my take out box!
this may have happened friday, but i think it was thursday that we watched funny videos and becky and carol were introduced to tracy. carol has a great, loud laugh and she didn't hold back - she had to watch it again to catch everything.
friday morning we toured the ryman, which is something i've wanted to do since i moved here. i LOVED it!! lindsey and i had fun singing to everybody!!
they had posters up from past concerts, and it was really cool to see all of the performers that have played there.
after that we went souvenir shopping on lower broad, a must for anybody visiting nashville!!
for lunch friday we went to fido and all loved it!! i got the eggplant tower and definitely plan to go back soon. after lunch i took them to the parthenon so they could see the beautiful park and amazing statue of athena. the park is one of my favorite places in nashville, and i hated that it was raining while we were there.
for those who haven't seen athena in real life, this pic with a person standing in front of the statue is to show how gianormous it is.
after that we went to the mall at green hills to do some shopping, but we all left empty handed and counted it as our exercise for the trip.
saturday morning we woke up and went to have breakfast at one of my favorite spots, pancake pantry. we got there at about 7:30ish and didn't have to wait in line very long, definitely a plus! they got to experience the deliciousness that is sweet potato pancakes!!
after that we went shopping at the galleria in franklin and had much more success than the day before. there were a lot of great sales going on and we definitely took advantage! thanks mom for getting me some new shoes, jeans and cute shirts!!
for dinner saturday night we turned to my book where the locals eat since all we had left on our restaurant list were coffehouses. someone mentioned mexican, which is something i stay away from when i'm not in texas. we found somewhere that claimed to be tex-mex and decided to give it try. it didn't disappoint!! they even brought us some butter for our tortillas and hot sauce. becky and carol got some ah-mazing nachos that i'll be getting next time!!
sunday came too soon, and they packed up and left for texas verrrry early in the morning.
mom, becky, carol and lindsey, thank yall SO much for coming all the way to tennessee to see me! i'm glad yall got to see nashville and fall in love with it like i did! i miss yall already!!
-meghan
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
meghan poppins
no more job searching for me! i've been browsing craigs list since i moved to nash for daycares and families that were hiring. i came across an ad the other night when i just happened to notice "ETC" at the bottom of the jobs section. there was a brand new posting for a family that was looking for a nanny and they sounded just wonderful. is it too cheesy if i copy and paste their ad here? i don't think so either. this is why i immediately jumped on it:
We are a family of 4 in need of a experienced, fun, loving, and intuitive nanny for our 2 kids (equally fun and loving!) while my husband and I work (full time).
Our daughter is 3.5 years, vibrant, energetic, smart, and loves all imaginative play from cooking to flying airplanes.
Our son is 9mos, sweet, an "easy" baby, and enjoys exploring, crawling, and getting into everything.
We are most interested in someone who:
- has some experience babysitting/nannying
- has strong Christian morals and values
- is vibrant, energetic, and will interact with our kids on their level
- is creative and intuitive
- is available Monday - Friday (aprox. 7:30am - 5:30pm)
- is willing to watch our children at our home
they sound great, don't they!! i sent my resume and references and was very excited when i had an email from them the next day. since i have already done this a couple of times with other families and not heard anything back, i didn't really get my hopes up. in the email they asked me a few questions they wanted answered before interviewing in person. again, i tried to not get too excited since i wasn't guaranteed an interview yet. when they called me to meet in person, i couldn't help but to start wanting it pretty bad.
the only setback i had was that they live right outside of nashville, so it's about a 20-25 minute drive. selfishly, i thought of the money i would be spending on gas. i was quickly convicted about wanting to try and hang on to my money, and realized that spending the money on gas to drive to this family every day to serve them and care for their little ones would be much more glorifying to God than saving it or spending it on crap that doesn't matter. the pay has nothing to do with why i want this job anyways, and it will provide more than enough for necessities. (this conviction was largely in thanks to joy beth having the same conviction about her car being broken into a few days ago.)
i'm so thankful that i was convicted about this and my heart was in the right place before i met them, but it made me want the job even more. driving to their house was spent praying that i would cling to the sovereignty of God whether they hired me or not.
if i didn't really want it before meeting them, i certainly did afterwards. they told me they would call later after they finished all of their interviews. i told hillary that if they hired me i might have tears of happiness! (i didn't, but i think it's only because i don't cry very much.) i usually leave my phone lying around the apartment, but last night it was glued to my hand. the first time it rang after i got home i gasped and hillary and i both became a little more alert. however, i looked to see who it was and go "oh hillary, it's your mom." (sorry vicki, i was happy to hear from you!) the whole winter clan (with the exception of hill, obviously) is at the lake right now, so we ended up skyping with them so we could see everybody. while we were talking to vicki and tori my phone rang again, but this time it was who i had been waiting for! i yelled "it's them!" and jumped up to answer it - as i was saying hello hillary was still excitedly going "it's them" in the background. trying to control my hope and excitement at this point was nonexistent, so i was very happy when they offered me the job!
please join me in praying for this time of transition for me and the family. they've just moved to TN and are still getting settled.
this is a great week - fireworks, a job and my mom, aunts and cousin will be here tomorrow!! i have lots of stuff planned and have even made lists of places to go, complete with addresses and hours of operation, and i think the fun is going to begin with dinner at loveless cafe tomorrow night!!
-meghan
We are a family of 4 in need of a experienced, fun, loving, and intuitive nanny for our 2 kids (equally fun and loving!) while my husband and I work (full time).
Our daughter is 3.5 years, vibrant, energetic, smart, and loves all imaginative play from cooking to flying airplanes.
Our son is 9mos, sweet, an "easy" baby, and enjoys exploring, crawling, and getting into everything.
We are most interested in someone who:
- has some experience babysitting/nannying
- has strong Christian morals and values
- is vibrant, energetic, and will interact with our kids on their level
- is creative and intuitive
- is available Monday - Friday (aprox. 7:30am - 5:30pm)
- is willing to watch our children at our home
they sound great, don't they!! i sent my resume and references and was very excited when i had an email from them the next day. since i have already done this a couple of times with other families and not heard anything back, i didn't really get my hopes up. in the email they asked me a few questions they wanted answered before interviewing in person. again, i tried to not get too excited since i wasn't guaranteed an interview yet. when they called me to meet in person, i couldn't help but to start wanting it pretty bad.
the only setback i had was that they live right outside of nashville, so it's about a 20-25 minute drive. selfishly, i thought of the money i would be spending on gas. i was quickly convicted about wanting to try and hang on to my money, and realized that spending the money on gas to drive to this family every day to serve them and care for their little ones would be much more glorifying to God than saving it or spending it on crap that doesn't matter. the pay has nothing to do with why i want this job anyways, and it will provide more than enough for necessities. (this conviction was largely in thanks to joy beth having the same conviction about her car being broken into a few days ago.)
i'm so thankful that i was convicted about this and my heart was in the right place before i met them, but it made me want the job even more. driving to their house was spent praying that i would cling to the sovereignty of God whether they hired me or not.
if i didn't really want it before meeting them, i certainly did afterwards. they told me they would call later after they finished all of their interviews. i told hillary that if they hired me i might have tears of happiness! (i didn't, but i think it's only because i don't cry very much.) i usually leave my phone lying around the apartment, but last night it was glued to my hand. the first time it rang after i got home i gasped and hillary and i both became a little more alert. however, i looked to see who it was and go "oh hillary, it's your mom." (sorry vicki, i was happy to hear from you!) the whole winter clan (with the exception of hill, obviously) is at the lake right now, so we ended up skyping with them so we could see everybody. while we were talking to vicki and tori my phone rang again, but this time it was who i had been waiting for! i yelled "it's them!" and jumped up to answer it - as i was saying hello hillary was still excitedly going "it's them" in the background. trying to control my hope and excitement at this point was nonexistent, so i was very happy when they offered me the job!
please join me in praying for this time of transition for me and the family. they've just moved to TN and are still getting settled.
this is a great week - fireworks, a job and my mom, aunts and cousin will be here tomorrow!! i have lots of stuff planned and have even made lists of places to go, complete with addresses and hours of operation, and i think the fun is going to begin with dinner at loveless cafe tomorrow night!!
-meghan
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