I DO NOT like spiders.

Today, my boss and I went to lunch together. That’s nothing out of the ordinary. We do that a lot. After lunch, on the way back to the office, she needed to stop by the bank. Cool.

Well, we are sitting at the stop light, getting ready to turn into the bank parking lot, and I see this yellow-ish spider drop from the ceiling, getting ready to land on the gear shift in between our seats. At this point, I have totally stopped listening to anything that Sara was trying to tell me, and I start to point and gasp and try not to scream.

Sara sees it. She doesn’t like spiders, either. Remember, we are in the turn lane as this is happening. People are waiting behind us… they are also seeing arms flailing and me jumping out of my seat as far away from the spider and as close to the door as possible… but they probably can’t see the spider… which is just making me look like an absolute nut-case. Sara is now laughing at me and panicking about the spider, too.

(I realize that my fear is completely irrational, but I can’t help it. They scare me.)

Sara has a cup in the cup holder. She grabs it, waits for the spider to land on the gear shifter, and then, smashes the spider, she thinks. Well, in the process, she drops the cup (remember, I am standing sort-of, in my seat trying to get away) and white grape juice goes all over my seat with Mr. half-dead spider. Yes. People are starting to honk… and probably getting on the phone with the local psychiatric ward – clearly, they are missing two patients.

Sara manages to turn into the bank parking lot where she proceeds to laugh so hard she cries, and finds me something to clean up white grape juice (everywhere).

That… my friends… is what happens when you come to lunch with me. Be prepared for an adventure.

A question.

Do you ever have moments where you stop for a second and ask yourself, “what am I doing? Am I supposed to be here, in this city, doing this job?”

Maybe it’s only me. I really think that I am supposed to be in Nashville… the second part – I’m not so sure about.

Who needs water, anyway?

This is going to be a short post. Frankly, I am tired and even though I have been up for 3 hours, I can’t seem to think straight. I got up this morning and was stumbling around the house trying to get ready. I may have still been pretty much asleep. I tripped over Palmer, tripped over a laundry basket, and also tripped over a bump in the bathroom rug.

Then… I went in the kitchen to make coffee, thinking that caffeine would work some wonders. I measured the coffee out, dumped it into the filter, and hit the on button. Literally, a minute later, the coffee maker beeped, to alert me that my hot coffee was now ready. I finished getting ready, ran into the kitchen to pour me a cup… and realized, once I picked up the pot, that I had forgotten to add water. Bummer. No coffee… and really? How could I forget that? It’s pretty essential.

It’s official: I am sleep-deprived.

Dead trees are good for…

Fire wood.

Yep.

So… Jes (only one “s” this time… I remembered, finally) and I moved into the new hizzle this weekend. Yes… I just said hizzle… a co-worker is listening to Snoop Dogg… Anyway… Jes lives in this cool building in the backyard. We affectionately call it “the hut”. It’s pretty stellar. You need to see it! The landscaping in the backyard is amazing… a little overgrown because the Kings of Leon (former owners) are on tour and didn’t have a yard man, I guess… There’s cute little walkways and arches, and a white picket fence. There’s also the start of a waterfall structure, or so the electrician told us this weekend. We weren’t sure what it was… we were going to make it a huge fire pit, but decided that maybe having a pond and waterfall would be way more rad. Anyway…She has to walk through my backyard… technically her front yard… to get to the house everyday. On the way down the walkway, she has to pass this little dead tree. Little being actually medium-sized. Not a hundred years old, but no baby, either. I named him Fred. Fred the tree.

Yesterday, after church, we went to SATCO with the crew. While pondering what we were going to do with the rest of our afternoon, we decided that we really did want a fire pit because we like entertaining, and bonfires are always fun, and we have a big backyard, so why not?

Then, the light bulb went on in Jes’ head. “Let’s tear down dead Fred and build a fire pit in his place.”

Super idea. Seriously.

Well, after a target run to get garden gloves and a rake, we end up in the backyard contemplating the best way of conquering dead Fred and his remaining mightiness.

“We need to break apart the roots. If I pull one way, and you pull the other… surely we can rip dead Fred out of the ground.”

(I think that I forgot to mention that we didn’t have a saw or an ax… keep that in mind.)

Here goes. We threw our body weight into dead Fred. He started to crack. Then, we took turns hanging on him. Literally. Hanging. We did have a shovel. We took the shovel and cut up the roots… And finally, dead Fred gave in and he decided that it was time to move on to his next phase of life – fire wood.

(Another side note: Pulling a dead tree out of the ground with your bare hands and a shovel while it’s 100 degrees outside is a really good workout… just in case you’re wanting to try something new.)

Dead Fred is now laying in our backyard waiting to be chopped up. It sounds morbid. It’s not. He’s ok with it. The fire pit is done. We finished it yesterday. We would have had a fire last night, but we thought that we had to have a fire permit since we live inside of Davidson County. I googled it last night. You don’t have to have one. You’re actually just supposed to call the fire department and let them know that you’re going to build a fire in the backyard.

(Yet, another note: I am pretty sure our neighbors – super sweet people that do not speak a lot of English – think that Jes and I are crazy. I’m not sure I blame them. If you were sitting at your kitchen table, having a glass of tea… looked out the window and saw the two new neighbor adult girls throwing their bodies into a tree and then hanging off of it… what would you think? Exactly.)

All of that to say… our little home is coming along slowly but surely. We’re going to have a bonfire soon… I’m positive that you wouldn’t want to miss it.

Another thing… Jes has pictures to document dead Fred’s transition yesterday. I’m sure she’ll post them on her blog.

Happy Monday, people.

Home Sweet Home.

Here it is… our new house. I am so excited to live with these two fantastic girls – Jes and Sarah! AND… Palmer gets to move in with his Best friend, too! How rad is that?

We can’t wait to have people over for cook-outs… (and maybe camp fires… we’re checking on the fire code as we speak!)

I slept at the house for the first time last night (thank you Kenny for helping me move furniture) and I got a great night’s sleep. The house has LOTS of character inside… fun door frames, tin ceilings, amazing chandeliers, and best of all, a ceiling fan in my room. It’s glorious! I haven’t had a ceiling fan in my bedroom for almost 10 years… and I love them! Dorky, I know… but I don’t even care.

We have interesting neighbors. I have met one of them… she’s really sweet and has two dogs that are closer to Palmer’s size… both girls… Palmer may end up with a girlfriend

Anyway… come and visit! We can sit on the porch swing and drink ice tea!

30 before 30.

So… my BFF and roommate read this book and it made her think about what she wanted to accomplish before she turned thirty. I read her blog, and it got me to thinking… what do I want to do?

Here’s the list:

1. Sky dive. This one’s funny, because I am TERRIFIED of heights.

2. Run a full marathon (if my knees allow it).

3. Start a family (this, of course, requires a husband… so this is sort of an “if, then” statement).

4. Own a house.

5. Be completely debt-free (almost there)!

6. Get my personal training/group fitness license.

7. Visit Australia and Italy.

8. Go to Hawaii.

9. Send my parents on a dream vacation.

10. Teach a small group for high school girls.

11. Play my cello more.

12. Learn how to play the guitar, drums, or piano.

13. Go on a trip with my family.

14. Spend a full week at home with my parents. I know some people complain about their parents and don’t like spending tons of time with them. Not me. I LOVE being at home with my mom and dad. They are so fun and funny and it’s so peaceful… I don’t even know where my blackberry is half the time when I am there…

15. Take a cooking class.

16. Paint a new picture.

17. Become a column writer for a magazine.

18. Learn something new about my faith.

19. Quit liking chocolate so much.

20. Find a way to stay in one of the Presidential Suites at the Opryland Hotel for free!

21. Spend a day with Donald Miller. I know that sounds weird… but I love the way he writes and I think that he would be fun to sit and talk with… he has a new book coming out soon, too! I can’t wait! (He wrote Blue Like Jazz, one of MY favorites).

22. Go on a ski trip.

23. Visit New England.

24. Go to Seattle. I REALLY REALLY want to go to Seattle. Three people in the past day have told me about it… and I want to be there yesterday.

25. Own season tickets for Kentucky Basketball. Just one (preferably good) season…

26. Get another puppy. Palmer needs a sibling.

27. Get involved with Big Brothers, Big Sisters… or Preston Taylor Ministries. I love kids.

28. Take a photography class.

29. Improve my golf swing. This one’s weird… I hate to play the whole game, but I like the driving range.

30. Swim with dolphins. Seriously. I loved to watch “Flipper”…

What do you want to accomplish?

8 days… and counting.

UNTIL… (drum roll….) we move into our new house in Sylvan Park. I cannot wait.

My friend, Sarah, and I have been running in the mornings the past few weeks. I have told you about her before. Anyway… She and I kinda changed up our routine (that’s good to do every now and then…) and we run and meet at the 2 mile mark. Then, we run 2.5 miles together… and then split up again and run a mile back to our houses. I never ever ever thought that I would be running 5-6 miles before work, but, here I am… doing it. I don’t take an iPod with me on morning runs… for numerous reasons really, but mainly because I don’t want to have to carry it while running the 2.5 miles with Sarah (we talk while we run…). This is huge for me, because I really like to have good music playing to keep me motivated.

All of that to say that in the morning, at 5 am when the sun is coming up, Nashville is beautiful, and cool, and peaceful, and I have started talking to God on my runs. Sometimes, it’s, Lord, please help me make it to the 5 mile mark… and sometimes it’s, Lord, help me listen to you. Help me HEAR you.

Here’s what I am about to admit to you… that I am a little bit ashamed of saying out loud: I get up to run at 5 am. But, when I try to get up, solely to spend time with Jesus, I hit snooze. I can’t get up at 5 am to sit and study my Bible… but I can get up to run 5 miles. It’s not that I don’t desire to spend time with God… I do… and I enjoy it while I am on my run. I do know, however, that I need to spend more time reading the Bible… I just don’t know how to make it work… and I know that if I don’t do it in the morning, before I go about my day, then I probably won’t make time for it. Horrible? Yes. Honest? Yes.

Here’s my question: How do you make time?

Because someone else said it better…

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Philippians 4:4-6

Happy Birthday Dad, No keys, and Brentwood’s finest.

1. Today is my dad’s birthday. I love him and couldn’t ask for a better father. Seriously… don’t know where to start. I can’t wait to celebrate his birthday in August when my mom and dad come and see me. CANNOT WAIT.

2. This morning, I was actually on time. I was grabbing all of my stuff, and digging through my purse for my keys. They were… MISSING. WHAT? I always always ALWAYS put them there. Seriously. Always. Where are they? After searching for 30 minutes… I found them sitting on my bathroom counter. I have absolutely NO idea WHY there…

3. Because I was now running extremely late for work, I was speeding. I come around the curve on I-65, and what do I see? Blue Lights. Yep. The following is the conversation I had with Mr. Brentwood Policeman:

Officer: Ma’am, I need to see your license and registration. Do you know why I pulled you over?

Me: Yes sir. I was speeding, going 77. I am running late for work, which I understand is a lame excuse… but that’s my fault… and I am really going to be late now… so, I am not even going to argue my way out of this ticket, I will gladly take it as quickly as possible.

Officer: (now laughing at me) Ma’am, that’s the most honest anyone has been with me in the past week. There were people definitely going faster than you, but you were the one that I clocked. I am going to let you go with a verbal warning. Just try to leave a little earlier next time.

Me: (mouth hanging open) THANK YOU. Seriously, you just made my morning.

Officer: Have a good day, ma’am!

Are you kidding me? I wanted to jump out of my car and give him a hug…

Today is going to be a good day…

Rock n’ Roll. Seriously.

This is an amazing blog, by Pete, the Pastor at my church. It’s about his time backstage with C.C. DeVille from Poison. Go read it and watch the video.