Week One

My first week back at LifeWay went by fast. I’m beginning to get used to waking up early. That also means that I have to go to bed early. It is worth it though because getting off work at 3:00 p.m. every day is so nice! I have a great view of south Nashville from my office on seventh floor. The Frist center for the visual arts and Union Station are right outside my window. The building pictured on the right is Union Station. Did you know that over 1 million U.S. soldiers passed through the station? It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1977 and officially opened as a hotel in December 1986. It has been a rainy week in Nashville, but today the sun is out.

Bluebird Cafe

Let’s see, I’ll give you a recap of my week. On Tuesday I went to the Bluebird Café, which is a famous place in Green Hills where many well-known songwriters perform. We saw Diana Kelley, Stan Webb, Pam Belford and Jeffrey East on Tuesday night. It seems like every time I go to the Bluebird, someone famous shows up! Last year I saw Jimmy Wayne, who sings “Do You Believe Me Now” and other country hits. Well, on Tuesday, Allan Hall of Selah was there! Jeffrey East, who was performing, co-wrote a song with him. I went with my friend Stefanie who might be singing and playing piano there this upcoming Monday at their Open Mic Night, so if she does I’ll be back soon!

MINI of Nashville

I took my car by the MINI Cooper dealership on Wednesday for them to check out my tires. They were very helpful and told me that my tires were WAY overinflated! I’m not sure who overinflated them unless it was part of the service at the car wash I took it to in Clinton. They were at a pressure of 50 when they are only supposed to be inflated to 25. All minor maintenance and service is free to me as a MINI owner. It was so nice there! They have such a sweet owner’s lounge to wait and they offer water and Starbucks coffee. Sometimes I wish I drank coffee, but I can’t stand the stuff.

Kairos and YMCA
Since I didn’t make it to Kairos on Tuesday, I went to Kairos Roots at Brentwood Baptist Church on Thursday night. It was a great set-up at round table and they had small group discussion at the end. I went to Kairos consistently last summer, but never got to know anyone through it because of the size. Typically there are about 1500 people in attendance, but on Thursday it is a smaller group that is able to dig a little bit deeper into the Word and discuss. I will definitely go back! I also went to the Downtown YMCA on Thursday after work and swam laps for about an hour. I'm going to try and swim at least once a week after work this summer!

Excitement of the day
Today I started out my day with my high school friend, Stefanie, who recently graduated from Vanderbilt. She invited me to join her at the Artisan Fair in Edgehill Village and they had some cute jewelry and neat art! We went into the Edgehill Studios and Cafe and then to Dulce Desserts for chocolate chip cookies. The shops were neat too! Whats-In-Store was my favorite and they were giving 100% of the sales price to flood relief efforts. After hanging out with Stefanie and her friends for awhile, it was time for me to meet up with Megan Fraiser and BethAnne Clark. I love these girls! They both graduated a year before me at MC(Mississippi College). I got to know Megan through the BSU(Baptist Student Union), and I taught children’s Sunday School with BethAnne at Pinelake all this year. They are awesome, and it was so great to be able to see familiar faces and to get to hang out with them. We ate at Panera at the Green Hills mall. BethAnne wanted to go into Tiffany’s, so we walked through there and felt way out of place! They were in town for a wedding, and had more time to wait so I took them to Las Paletas. I went a ton last summer since it was on my way home from work and all week I had been craving a popsicle. They both got the Strawberry fruit popsicle and loved it! After that I got a few things from ALDI and a pair of shorts from T.J. Maxx. I think I’ll shop at ALDI more often. They have great prices on eggs and milk. That’s all for now!

p.s. I love getting mail. Thanks to Charlotte and Callie for the letters! It was great hearing from you both my first week back in Music City.