SO EXCITED.

I cannot WAIT for Baz Luhrmann's version of The Great Gatsby. Leonardo Dicaprio? Carey Mulligan? Yes, please.

Nathan's New Toy

Anyone who knows my Nathan knows how adorable nerdy he is and how much he loves space. I remember him wearing his jean jacket covered in NASA patches the first time we kissed. And I remember thinking how awesome that jacket was (babe, why don't you wear that often anymore?). I remember the giant moon poster hanging next to his bed in his old apartment. And, of course, I remember all of the computer backgrounds of space photos rather than photos of his girlfriend/fiancé/wife. So he must really love space, right?

Well, for his birthday this year, a much-deserving birthday boy got a big ol' telescope through which to look at all sorts of cool stuff out there in space. And tonight he took it out in the lawn to gaze at the sky. He showed me the craters of the moon & the rings of Jupiter. It was really neat. And he looked super legit doing it:

Finally.

After 3 years of an fruitless and somewhat discouraging search for a church, Nathan & I have finally found one that we are eager to make our home. For a while now, we've been trending toward the Episcopal Church; I just knew I couldn't be a part of a demonination or church that excludes people based on gender or sexual orientation. I will never feel a full part of the body if I am in a congregation that doesn't value my sex as leadership material, or that bars my gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered friends from joining in worship. These are priorities for me. And St. Ann's, like many Episcopal congregations, is dedicated to inclusion and social justice.

We visited St. Ann's one time before (where I met Sarah & Lauren, actually!), but we didn't really go back for a while. A couple of Sundays ago, though, we visited again & I had a sense of hope & joy that I haven't felt in church in a really long time. It was exciting. Our friends Allie & Will are actively involved in the church community, and they've been very welcoming. We met the parish Rector & are going to grab coffee with him sometime soon to talk about our interest in the Episcopal Church & confirmation.

I'm really excited to have found a church home; a place where I feel welcome and included; a church I look forward to attending; a church with a diverse congregation where all are welcome. I'm excited to get more involved & learn more about St. Ann's.

Big Love.

I've been a Big Sister with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Middle Tennessee for over a month now, and I am loving it so much. My little, J (not going to use her full name) is the most darling little 8-year old, and I feel so lucky to get to play and hang with her every week. She's very friendly & talkative, but she seems to have a bit of a guard up, as if she's afraid of not being liked for who she really is. I'm hoping that with time that guard will fall so that we can become even closer friends.

J and I have already had lots of fun adventures: going for ice cream, outrunning a storm in the park, reading together at the library, coloring pretty pictures, Sonic drive-in snacks. Most recently we went to see the Nashville Children's Theatre's production of "Click Clack Moo: Cows that Type". It was a cute play, and J seemed to enjoy it. Then this weekend we went to the SPROUT garden party for The Nashville Food Project. J seemed very interested in the plants & she loved getting to eat black raspberries right off the bush. She had her face painted like a mermaid, and we decorated bricks together. She chased a big hen around the yard trying to feed it grass, and she marveled at the couple speaking sign language to one another. She isn't afraid to ask questions and learn more, and she has adorable theories: for instance, all farmers have gaps between their teeth (it's a prerequisite, I believe).

I am loving my role as a Big Sister and look forward to becoming even closer and more open with my Little. This week, she's coming over to my house to make dinner... and probably do a little finger-nail painting. :-)

I wish I could post an actual picture of her.

Birthday Boy.

Happy 24th birthday to my wonderful husband, partner, best friend.

I'm amazed & thankful every day that I get to share life with such an incredible person. And he deserves a perfect day in celebration of himself!

Favorite New Toy.

So, remember my last post about how awesome my mom is? Well just one more reason... She got me the PERFECT birthday present. She sent it as a gift thru Amazon, so one would assume that they would put it in a separate box, rather than the box plainly stating what it contains. But, no. I came home to see a big ol' Singer box containing my dream sewing machine. And, given that I already knew what was in it, I figured there wasn't really any reason to wait until my birthday to open it... right?

Well, I did. And I'm in love. First I made a cute little simple curtain for the awkward window in the downstairs bathroom. Then, I got resourceful and grabbed the two pillows & shower curtain out of the giveaway box.... And, now we have two beautifully recovered pillows! And they match our living room decor. :-)

Ugly pillow before:

Shower curtain with nowhere to be used:

A little cutting, a little sewing, and a couple of new-looking pillows!

I used a simple envelope-style enclosure, so we can easily take the covers off & wash them.

I'm so pleased with how they turned out! And they were SO fun to make. :-) I made something else that I'm going to share with you later, when I make a few more.

I'm also back in the swing of knitting again. I'm working on a beautiful bolero lace top, and have another pretty summer sweater next up on my list. And, I'm currently teaching Nathan how to knit, too. He's catching on really quickly!

I'm so happy to be busy with crafting projects. It's always been something I've enjoyed, and I'm so grateful to finally have the time & resources to do more of it! I'll be sure to share upcoming projects with you. And I have some other recent cooking adventures to share, too... Now that we have our kitchen all set up!

Happy Mother's Day

Happy mother's day to the best mom in the world. 

I don't know what I would do without my mom, or who I would've become without her leading me through life. She always has been & continues to be my best friend, for which I am so incredibly grateful. My mom is the most caring, compassionate, selfless woman I have ever known, and I aspire to be more like her every day. I can't even find the words to say how much I love my momma, but I hope she knows without me having to say it. She has had a rough few years, with losing her dad & watching her mom struggle through Alzheimer's, but through it all she has never stopped caring for others. When she is down and hurt, she somehow seems to find her strength by working even harder and more devotedly to the people around her in need. I honestly don't know how she does it, but she keeps doing it with grace, kindness, and an incredible amount of strength. My mom truly is one of the greatest women, and I will continue to learn how to be a better person because of her. 

I love you so much momma. You are still my best friend, and you deserve all the happiness in the world, on Mother's Day & every other day of the year. 

Home Sweet Home

It's hard to believe we've only lived here a week, considering how much work we've already done to get settled in. I'm so happy with how our new house looks & feels. It is a very life-giving space... So many windows, grass all around us, friendly neighbors. Oh, it is so wonderful. I hope that all of our dearest friends & family can come spend time with us in our new home, but for those who are too far away, here's a peek at what it looks like:

So, we'll start at the front door. Here is the living room (my favorite room right now), just inside the front door:

Next, we'll move into the kitchen...

Past the kitchen, we have a laundry nook that leads to the backyard:

Back through the living room, we have a hallway that leads to a full bathroom, a tv room, and our office. First, the bathroom (with an awkward window into the laundry room. Haha):

Then, the office, which is not finished yet, so I'll just show you our awesome DIY wall bookshelf:

And then, the TV room:

From the TV room, there's a stairway up to the master suite!

On the right, the oddly-shaped bathroom:

And on the left, the oddly-shaped walk-in closet (which I love):

And of course, the master bedroom:

From the bedroom, we can step right out onto our balcony and down the stairs into the backyard:

And when we walk around from the backyard to the side of the lot, we'll soon have a big garden full of veggies!...

And back around to the front porch:

So, that's our lovely home! We hope you can come by sometime :-)