nashville.love

7am.June 12, 2011. (wedding day). shelby street bridge. 

nashville.

we could not have been happier.

hey sister

can i just say that amanda is the most amazing artist i know.

her true passion is painting and paint. her website is www.amandabrazier.com  pretty amazing stuff.

laurie is the smartest person i know. 

just like an encyclopedia (or wikipedia)

she's gonna be a doctor---check out her school http://www.etsu.edu/com/

and she dates a finnish guy named paavo. 

what the heck is a paavo?

                  

                     and little baby sister. 

      

when she was born, i thought (and still think) she was (is)          the cutest girl in the world.

she just graduated from www.fhu.edu 

now she helps the elderly all day long. such a sweet, sweet girl.

"Sisters is probably the most competitive relationship within the family, but once the sisters are grown, it becomes the strongest relationship"  Margaret Mead

speaking of perfect

sweet jailen sue mckay.

she has his heart. completely.

wore out

well. on easter sunday, tony and i signed up for the country music half marathon (6 days before the race).


it was a beautiful, chilly morning in nashville on race day. tony's friends craig and kevin met us there, along with craig's sister samantha.


the course was pretty hilly and pretty challenging. but we all completed it...

yes. i did look that rough and yes, my wonderful fiance was taking pictures during my little visit to the medical tent...

this picture speaks for itself.

proud of these fellows!

my sweet, fast, athletic, perfect future husband! 

the lovely kathryn williams and her handsome half-marathoner kevin criswell!

despite my little episode at the end of the race, all of us did our best times, which you can check out at  http://running.competitor.com/cgiresults_search?eId=34&eiId=41&seId=89

i love running. really i do.

faceplant

before me and tony went down the buffalo river, he asked me if i liked rope swings. i told him i did, and so he was very excited because he thought he had a cool girlfriend to do cool things with. so, we go to this lovely venue...

and rent an equally lovely canoe, and start our journey. we come to a HUGE tree with a tiny little rope attached to it, and that, he informs me is the one we are going to jump from.

you see tony gracefully gliding through the air? that was not me. i promptly let go of the rope and face-planted in the water. it was not cute or photo-worthy. we finished the trip and had an awesome time. a few weeks later (after running the women's half marathon), we took off again. this time with his cousin jon and his friend leah. 

 once again, we see tony about to leap gracefully from the tree. me and leah watched politely from our canoes. and at the bottom left, you'll find jon hitting the water to "scare away the snakes,"  yet another reason to avoid the killer tree. they had an awesome time, and i saved my dignity that go around. anyways, we camped out and when leah and i finally woke up, there was a sweet little carving in a tree (pictured below)

so, i'm looking forward to this summer when we can get out on the canoe and camp and hang out with whoever wants to brave the 21 miles down the buffalo with us...i can't wait!

climb on

 for St.Patrick's Day, my fellow adventure-seeking friend, morgan, and i headed to www.climbnashville.com-- the actual place, not the website. 

 we had not been in a good while, so it took us a minute to get into our gear correctly. if you are not totally confident in your ability, they provide a "refresher course" in belaying (which is how to maneuver the rope in such a way so that your partner doesn't go tumbling to the ground). i think we scared the friendly worker because he stayed around a little longer than usual to watch us practice...we got it eventually..

i'm gonna miss my little friend morgan when she moves to seattle to work on a farm for the summer. we had a good time climbing--it is a great workout--and it is super fun! if you ever want to go with me, i'll be happy to show you the ropes (my mom would be proud of that pun).

real

 

friday night was my last night on 8N. for 2 years and 2 months, i have had people ask me where i worked. when i told them general medicine, they would always say..


"Oh, so you have it easy"
"You must be so bored working nights"
"When are you going to a 'real' floor?"


let me just tell you, that group of women (plus several more plus a 6 good men) you see up there are the hardest working, most patient, most compassionate people i have ever been around. 


Medical-Surgical nursing is not easy, is definitely not boring, and it has been the most challenging, rewarding experience of my life. 


i have been honored and privileged to be a part of this team of excellent nurses, care partners, and medical receptionists.


so thank you 8N for the experience. and thank you for showing me what "real" nursing is all about.

biblical

we love hiking. and challenges. so, when we stumbled across the website for the "Walls of Jericho"(aka the "Grand Canyon of the South"), we had to go. named by a traveling minister who was impressed by its grandeur, it is a hike that is well worth the effort.

intimidating. but we persevered.

one of two bridges we had to cross. (the second one had no rails whatsoever). we watched a mother with her 3 year old son clinging to her back for dear life scoot across this one. 

check out the "walls" behind us. this was at the bottom of the gorge. we had our dollar general lunch special of handi-snacks, mini pecan pies, and cereal bars. and camelbak water.   

the very beginning, and/or headwaters of the paint rock river. last place i would want to be in a thunderstorm.

these were all taken on the hike down. about the (strenuous) hike back up...we were in survival mode and not worried about pictures...at all.

according to tony, the (entire) appalachian trail is coming up on the agenda soon. 2,175 miles...i'll keep you posted on that one.

explanation

we met at church camp in 1999. i had on shorts overalls and he had on a mariners jersey. i thought he was the cutest guy i had ever seen. he "saw my potential to look good one day." we always said we were going to get married one day, and 12 years later, after a long road, it is finally about to happen.

tony went to alabama, talked to my grandmother, and brought home her engagement ring. i was unaware of any of this, so subsequently, when he asked me, i thought it was a joke. needless to say, it was very real, and it is happening. 

i love it.

and no, we don't have a date set...