2010 Nashville Snow Event

Those of you who know my husband know he has been anticipating the current snow for some time. I believe he first mentioned this to me last week sometime, when the models were picking up some action in Middle Tennessee. Of course, this happens several time each winter (and every other season with storms and tornadoes, etc.), but often the weather changes before meteorologists ever mention the possibility of any precipitation. This time was different. The models continued to support this snow event, and Justin's wish finally came true. It started snowing in Nashville around 8 this morning, and hasn't stopped since. Some areas have gotten more than others, but it is safe to say that all of Middle Tennessee is pretty much covered with a couple inches of beautiful white snow. The count so far is 2-6", with more coming as we speak. I snapped a few shots earlier when we went for a quick walk. Hoping to get a few more tomorrow after we get even more accumulation. Here's what was going on in our neighborhood mid-afternoon:

Hope y'all are staying warm and enjoying a great start to the weekend. Stay safe if you're in the middle of this snow storm!

Our First Home

Justin and I purchased our first home on October 7, 2009. That weekend we moved across the street from where we had been renting. With help from several neighbors and friends, we got everything moved without a moving truck. It has taken quite a while to get everything settled, and we still have a little more to do, but we've finally gotten most everything in its place. This really feels like home. It is home. We plan to be here for several years to come. Here are several pictures starting with ones taken prior to purchase, during the renovation, then pics of the house when we moved in, and finally pictures after decorating.

First, pictures prior to the purchase/move...

Front of our house after they had finished the outside work, before it was on the market (we already had a contract on it before it was put on the market)

master bed

entry hall after being painted, before floors were refinished

kitchen during countertop installation (they installed pressed concrete, which we like, but chips easily)

guest bedroom before floors were refinished

dining room / 3rd bedroom

view of guest bath from the living room, mid renovation

living room...the mantel is gone, finally!

These next pictures are during our move...

kitchen - they "threw in" stainless appliances for us!

master bed

guest room

dining / 3rd bedroom

entry hall

view of guest bath from living room

living room

Here are a few pictures I've taken since the house has been arranged and decorated. Still a little more to do, but here's what we've got so far...

master bed

kitchen


kitchen


living room


living room


entry - Justin's parents gave us this mirror, and his dad and brother transferred the pew from the opposite wall to this one. Thanks Lynn, Don & Daniel!!


living room - this is probably my favorite spot in the house right now. Justin's parents gave us this and another bookcase for Christmas, and I love how it's decorated. I also love the picture on the wall - got it at TJMaxx with a gift card my students gave me for Christmas.


living room w/bookcases

Alright, friends. I think that does it for the house pictures. At least for this post, anyway! We are really loving living in our own home, and we have had no major incidents yet (knock on wood...). We've had some dinner parties that have been a blast; it's so much fun to entertain in our own place.

I'm off to post about snow and fix some supper. Happy blogging!

Catching Up

It's been over 5 months since my last post, so I figure it's as good a time as ever to update the blog. There is a lot to say, but I'll try to keep it concise.

In August, I started a new job. After interviewing at several preschools over about a year, I finally landed a position at a preschool where I teach two-year-olds. This was a pleasant surprise and it all happened very quickly. I've been very happy at the new job, and I love what I get to do every day. I did take a cut in pay, which has made our monthly budget tighter, but I think it's been a good trade considering how much I disliked my previous job.

Our biggest news of the year, and of our lives since the wedding, is that we bought a house in October. We moved literally across the street from where we had been renting for 18 or so months. This was particularly appealing to us in buying this house, because we've invested ourselves in our neighborhood and probably wouldn't have bought outside of this area, nor would we have been able to afford as nice a house anywhere else. Our place is an 1890s victorian with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, all on one level. I'll post some pictures soon (we'll see what "soon" means...). We've got a little more decorating to do before we are all settled, mostly because we received some bookcases for Christmas and have had do some rearranging. All in all, we are thrilled about our home, and we are looking forward to spending lots of years here.

November brought about some bittersweet events, but also a nice vacation to Virginia over Thanksgiving to see my family. Justin had been the part-time worship minister at a church in Nashville, and we knew that things weren't perfect. He figured out that they were interested in hiring someone to replace him, so he voluntarily resigned to avoid complications. There's a lot more to the story that isn't necessary to this blog, so I'll leave it at that for now. We have since gone back to our old church in Brentwood, which we are both really enjoying. It has changed a lot over the past two years, and we both feel more like we belong and are at home there. It is a relief, but it has come at a price. Justin isn't getting paid to lead worship anymore, so now our budget is even tighter. We are making it work, though, and I think we are both feeling much less stress and pressure, which really is invaluable.

We've gotten to visit our families over the holidays. In November, we went to VA for Thanksgiving. My mom's parents, my brother and niece, and Justin and I all went to my parents' place, where my other brother also lives. We were there for several days, and it was great to be with family for an extended time. The food, of course, was incredible, but the drive to and from left something to be desired. On the way over, we drove on a terrible highway that was poorly lit and shrouded in heavy fog, not to mention it was as windy as a corkscrew. The main problem was that there was a BEAR CROSSING sign on the highway. A bear crossing sign. Really, Virginia? Needless to say, I was horrified and white-knuckled from that point on. We arrived around 3am, and I don't believe I slept more than about 2 hours. I guess coffee at 1:30am is a pretty poor decision. It didn't stop us from having a great time, but I don't think we'll soon be traveling that road again, and certainly not that late.

This month has been full of family. My brother Jonathan graduated form Lipscomb with a Master's degree last weekend, so a lot of my family came into town for that celebration. Justin and I hosted a reception followed by a party in Jonathan's honor. There was a lot of preparation, done mostly by my mom, but it was worth it. In the way of receptions and parties, both of them went really well. We were up very late, but luckily I had the following week off work to catch up on some sleep. Justin's brother and our sister-in-law (who is carrying our nephew) came into town on Monday, so we were able to spend much of the week of Christmas with them and the rest of Justin's family. We had a really great Christmas with both families, but we are tired and ready for some rest! It's always a fun time of year, and this year was no exception.

We did have one surprise last week. On Monday, since I was off work, I took lunch for Justin and me to eat together. When I got to Brentwood, Justin found out his car battery was dead. I went over to his office to jump-start his car, which did not work, and I saw that one of his tires was flat. Double bad. Considering the unexpected expenses that were unavoidable, we came out well. The battery wasn't cheap, but didn't kill us. Justin found a place that had his tires at a wholesale price, which was half of the retail cost. (His car requires special-sized tires that most places don't have in stock, plus they're a LOT more expensive than normal tires.) I received a Christmas bonus from work, so we were able to use that to pay for the tires. You would be ashamed of Justin if you saw his old tires...they were absolutely bald. There are plenty of things I'd love to have spent the bonus on, but we both feel great about making Justin's car more safe with money that was pretty much free.

Well, I think that's about it. I'm sure there are more things I could ramble on about, but I think this has covered the major events since July. We have realized many of our blessings this holiday season and hope you have too. Continue to be looking for evidence of the Creator in all things.

MPH, Part III

We've had a very sad, dark last week. There have been some smiles and fun times, but overall, there seems to have been a raincloud drowning out those good things. However, I figure today is just as good a day as any to tell more stories. (Funny, the song I'm listening to right now, which I've never heard before now, is called "Beautiful Day for Bad News" by Andy Davis.)


I want to continue telling Patricia's story. I'll try to give you a better idea of who she is, who she's been, and who she is trying to be. If anyone's got a story worth telling, it's Patricia... She has been living with us for the past week, and she will probably continue to stay with us until we can together find a housing situation for her.


Patricia was abused as a child and remembers seeing her father once, when he showed up at their home when she was a kid. Then, just as quickly as he came, he disappeared. I don't know many details about her upbringing, but I know she was eventually placed in foster care. As a young adult, she and her then husband or boyfriend were in a motorcycle accident, which killed him and left her in a coma for 6 months. Due to injuries suffered in the accident, Patricia is mostly unable to read, and she seems to have some problems with memory (I think mostly short-term memory, just based on what I have noticed). Sometime after the accident, Patricia got some help from an aunt and boarded a bus headed for somewhere in Florida. She got off at the wrong stop in FL and met a man, we'll call him William. She and William have been together ever since, which we're told is about 17 or 18 years. They lived in Albuquerque for a while, and they ended up here in Nashville to be with William's mother who had been ill. After they had been here for a while, William found himself in trouble with the law for drug-related reasons, and has been in jail for about 2 years. During that time, he has been bettering his education has been living in a Christian pod, I'm told. We're hoping he is released next month. We're really, really hoping...


There's so much more to Patricia's story, things that are hard to put into words, things that you would just need to her from her. But I want you to know about her. She is trying so hard to be a good person, to do what's right, to trust in God, to stay away from drugs and alcohol when it's really hard to say no. If anyone has a good reason to escape her problems, it's Patricia. And I wouldn't blame her for falling back into the trap of substance abuse. Afterall, it's pretty much right at her fingertips in our neighborhood. But, she is trying, and so far she has done pretty well.

A couple more things to tell you about Patricia. She once gave the only thing of monetary value, a gold chain, to some people she didn't know to keep someone else she didn't know from getting hurt. Talk about sacrifice in the face of fear and showing love to a stranger... How many of us would have been willing to do that? The person she was helping to protect owed these people money and didn't have it, so Patricia gave all she had to clear the debt. Another time, Patricia found herself in a not-so-great situation in which she owed something to someone and was trying to pay back what she could. The people wanted what she owed plus interest, which she did not have. To punish her for not paying, they ran over her foot with their vehicle, causing four broken bones and a long healing process, and sped off. She has been in a foot brace ever since this incident, which is detrimental for her, since she needs to be able to walk in order to work and make any sort of living (she had been doing odd jobs, like cleaning out cars and sweeping the porch, to make a few dollars here and there to get by).

To add insult to injury in a very literal sense, as Patricia was walking through an alley in our neighborhood yesterday, either on her way to or from playing with her dog down the street, she was attacked. A boy kicked her broken foot out from under her and took one of her crutches and began beating her. He got away with her purse, after ripping it from her grip and gashing her hand in the process. Patricia, sore and beaten, having almost nothing left to her name, crawled through the alley as she tried to find someone who could help her call the police. She was denied by people from her neighborhood who have known her for years. Finally she was able to find someone to call the police. Justin had already found out about the crime via a crime list serve email, and was walking the streets searching for her. He found her shortly after the police arrived, and they later made their way back home. Patricia is in a lot of pain - her foot is still injured, and now her hip (on the same side, no less) is very badly bruised. We don't think it is (and pray it's not) broken, but she is having a hard time getting around right now.

Today, Justin has taken Patricia to discuss options and what to do next with a case worker. That's a "whole 'nother" blogpost in itself....the lack of efficiency of the government agencies which are supposed to be helping people like Patricia. (But, I find myself being reminded that we as followers of Christ are being put in situations in which we can be the answers to people's prayers simply by being the hands and feet of Jesus and searching for him in the lives of those who need him.) We pray for some answers as we search for what to do next and how to get Patricia on her feet (very literally!) again while she awaits her husband's return.

Do you not just wonder how she has the wherewithall to get up each day and keep going? It seems like the world's got it out for her, yet she keeps pushing through and pursuing something better.

So, that's where we are these days. Living a life radically different from the one either Justin or I envisioned for ourselves a few years ago. And to be honest, we wouldn't have it any other way. It seems like there's something we should be looking out for, some message or something, some big picture... but I think the biggest thing we can be learning right now is the true love of Christ - he loved 100% without condition, and I am learning more each day how to do this. And, just so you know, it's not as easy as I thought it would be. Try loving someone who sometimes takes advantage of you and disrupts your sleep in the night and is needy... it's hard to love in the face of all that other stuff. But boy is it worth it. We'll never be the same.

If you know of resources that could be of interest for Patricia, please leave a comment. We are working with Doug Sanders from Otter Creek (www.oc-reachout.org/) to come up with some solutions, but as with everything, it takes time. (If you aren't familiar with Doug and the work he's doing with OC, you should check out the link.)

McFerrin Park Happenings, Part II

I've mentioned before that we've become good friends with some of our neighbors. These friendships are in many ways quite different that "normal" friendships than we've had with others. One way in which they're different is that these friends really rely on us to help sustain them, and we rely on them as well. Here's the story of our friend Patricia (not her real name)...

Justin met Patricia several weeks before I did. She was living in an apartment a couple lots up from our house, on the same block. At that time, she was living with her mother-in-law, and her husband was in jail (for reasons unclear to me). I didn't meet Patricia until she showed up at our house one evening. She had stopped by earlier in the day, explaining that she had been kicked out of the apartment she'd been living in, and that she might need a place to stay that night. Justin told her that if she was unable to find a place to sleep, she could stay with us. We had a couch that no one was using. She went on her way, and we didn't hear from her for a while. In the meantime, Justin and I went out and about town for a while, and when we arrived back home, we noticed there was some commotion on our street. We were unsure about what was going on, but soon the story began to unfold. Some of our neighbors (teenage boys) have two aggressive, mean pit bulls. They're as pretty as they can be, but, unfortunately, they are vicious. Metro Animal Control showed up at their home and eventually took one of the dogs, and we heard from neighbors who were walking up and down the street discussing the previous events that the dog had bitten some lady who was provoking it. We sat by and watched, unable to do anything to help, and sad for the boys across the street who didn't know a better life and whose dogs had become in some way their weapons. All that excitement eventually settled down, and Justin and I settled in together and fell entrenched in a movie. Around 11:30pm, we hear knocking on our front door, and, of course, Booge explodes with barking. It was our friend, Patricia, all alone, with her left hand wrapped in white gauze, and obviously in pain. Very quickly, we put two and two together and realized that Patricia had been the victim of the dog biting incident, which sent the boys' dog off with Metro. After hearing Patricia's side of the story, which varied only slightly from everyone else's (she says she had not been provoking, but placed her hand on the fence and was asking the boys if she could do some yard work to earn a couple dollars to make her way for the evening, since she had recently lost her only place to call home), we invited her to stay with us, as she surely had not been able to find anywhere else to stay that evening. It was so late by the time she left General Hospital, and the person who had offered her a place to stay would not answer calls and had her gate locked when Patricia returned to the neighborhood. She endured the looks of those around her on our street who knew she was "to blame" for the dog being taken away and bravely found her way to our front porch. She got some rest that evening, and she went to church with us the next morning. She's been going off and on with us ever since then, and we have continued to build our friendship with Patricia over the last several weeks.

I am sure you'll get a chance to hear more about our relationship with Patricia as time goes by. We've had more interesting encounters with her, some heartbreaking, and some which show us the incredible love of Christ in ways we haven't witnessed before. She shows us how we are broken, but through Christ restored. And she loves us--I think more than we know--and we love her, too. It's funny how such a frightening neighborhood can be the place where you experience more truly relational, communal living and loving. I just keep remembering what Justin has said more than once... this process is separating the followers from the admirers. Sometimes I'm not all together certain that I'm not just an admirer, but I strive to be a follower.

Cilantro

Anyone want some home-grown cilantro? I've got 5 bunches like this:


I'm freezing it, because it's been in the fridge for about a week. I washed it tonight and dried it for a while before putting it in the freezer. Let me know if you'd like a bunch or two. Pretty soon I'll have onions and tomatoes, too, so you could get some of those and make some delicious salsa!

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