nashville

while we are on the subject of cities, yet another stop on my summer travel circuit was the fabulous city of nashville to reunite with precious friends from wake. (the 2 months we had been apart was too much).

first of all, the friends were amazing and wonderful and i love it that we can just start back where we left off.

second of all, i love nashville. like maybe my 2nd favorite city in the southeast (to b'ham, obviously, and with winston in a close 3rd)



what is not to love about a city with a building that looks like batman?

so, let's run a few highlights from this eventful weekend. thanks for the pics, carrie!

we went to a beautiful park, percy warner perhaps? where we hiked, i mean walked, a nice little trail. we looked like the girls in madeline walking in two straight lines.



we saw the parthenon (exact replica, built in 1896, i believe, which blew us all away)


we went to some classy bars like: tootsie's (dance on stage, check), paradise park (mingle with bachelor party of 30 year olds, watch married man in party almost swallow wedding ring, chastise him for said action, then be asked if i am preggo, big check), and finally lonnies (watch funny karaoke, be harassed by bartender to order drinks, and watch twins try to sing rascal flatts butchering it so much that it sounded more nasally and twangy that rascal flatts themselves, ew, check again)




i'm sorry, are you as hung up on what that guy asked me as i was? let me repeat it, "what is going on down there, pointing to my stomach?" this is after i said "i've been married almost 4 years and i have a 3 year old" hoping to shock the guy just a bit.
i indignantly replied nothing and he proceeded to tell me he has a baby due in october (good for you, you should be taking care of her instead of hitting on us at a bar) which i think he was trying to recover with. i didn't let him off the hook, and proceeded to tell him that you NEVER ask a woman that. EVER.

(clause: for those saying, well if he thinks you look like you are pregnant, then maybe you need to suck it in or slim it down, i agree whole-heartedly. i don't want to appear that i don't know why he would ask that...that being said, the issue is in the process of being taken care of thanks to a lack of sweets, chips, and foods that are too many points on WW. :-). i think i will blame it on the delicious meals and desserts at MH Ranch! haha)

dear men- out- there- who- haven't- got- a- clue,

unless it is totally obvious that she is pregnant (as in she is 8 or 9 months and there is no mistaking it), she has told you she is pregnant, or you are at a function celebrating the upcoming birth of the baby she is so obviously carrying, DON'T SAY ANYTHING. if you feel you must, just go ahead and start bringing your foot up towards your mouth. we will let you know if we are pregnant by shouting it on the rooftops, but don't take it on your self to become a sleuth and determine prematurely who has a baby in their belly and who does not. it won't turn out in your favor.

sincerely,
all- women- who- are- not- pregnant- and- don't- want- to- be- told-they- look- like- they-are.

now that my rant is complete. the weekend was unseasonably cool for the south which felt so good. (70's and we are freezing in the south during the summer).

on sunday, we attended christ presbyterian church with maddie and her dad, and we heard some fabulous music and an even better sermon about worry which really hits home with me. (It was on I Peter 5:1-11 "Leading and Living Humbly on the Way to Glory" by Dr. Niel Nielson. Check out the link and you can listen or download!)
Of course, i promptly began worrying and being anxious, oh about 5 minutes after leaving that church, but thankfully, as the song, Before the Throne, says (and that maddie wrote about in her blog):

When Satan tempts me to despair
And tells me of the guilt within,
Upward I look and see Him there
Who made an end of all my sin.
Because the sinless Savior died
My sinful soul is counted free.
For God the just is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me.

now, there is some encouragement for this worrier and despair-er. thanks be to Him for loving me despite me and thanks be to Him for the most wonderful group of girl friends. amen.