Friday, August 24, 2012

The Wilson County Fair


So Chad and I went to the Wilson Co. Fair last night, and it was really fun! I will say, it wasn't as much fun as I remembered when I was a kid, but still fun. We got there at dusk and I shot a couple of pretty picks of the sunset...beautiful!
Now Chad has warned me he doesn't like rides, and he wasn't kidding. I had to ride the Ferris Wheel by myself! He not only is afraid of heights, but he's pretty cynical about the equipment at the fair? Can't imagine why. He's like, "do you want that guy right there, hyped up on meth, putting together that ferris wheel you're about to ride?" Ha. Maybe he's right, but I still think I'll take my chances! We went on only one ride together. It was called the Music Train or something. You get in individual little cars and they whirl around really fast. We were definitely some of the oldest people on the ride!
 
Ready!
After that we ventured over to the livestock area where they were holding competitions. Chad was an Ag major in undergrad, so on the car ride over I said something like, "you really wanna go look at the livestock?" To that question, he promptly said, "if I go to a fair, by god, I'm gonna see me some livestock." Ooookay. :) That's my good man. Loves him some livestock. It was actually sorta interesting. We watched the dairy cow competition, and boy, some of those cows looked mighty uncomfortable...could barely walk, they needed to be milked so bad. Chad says they don't milk them on purpose. Ouch.

I was tempted, not going to lie
 
The fair is full of terrible and delicious foods. Fair food is the poster child for diabetes and heart disease, but I had heard so much about deep fried candy that I had to taste it! We got 2 deep fried Reeses cups for $4.00. Wow, they're making a killing! I'm glad I tried them, but I probably wouldn't get them again. They're just ok. 

Towards the end of the night Chad played some darts trying to win me a Bob Marley Banana stuffed animal, but he ended up winning a monkey instead! I won't tell you what he named him. Ha. At 10:00 when we left there were fireworks to end the night. Fun fun! I'm glad we went. This weekend we're going to the lake to hang out with Amanda and Taylor. I'm excited!

My monkey
      


Monday, August 20, 2012

Taco Soup

Found a great taco soup recipe! I tweaked it a little and it's perfect!
1lb ground beef
2 can diced tomatoes with chiles
1 can of pinto beans
1 can of kidney beans
1 can of black beans
1 1/2 cups of frozen corn (or 2 cans)
1 packet taco seasoning
1 packet of ranch seasoning
1/2 cup water- optional (bc I used frozen corn I didn't think there was enough liquid)

Brown ground beef, drain, and place in crockpot. Add packets of seasoning to beef. Empty contents of all canned beans into a strainer and rinse. Place in crockpot. Pour tomatoes and corn into the crockpot and add water if necessary. Cook on low for 8 hrs. Yum!

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Foggy Bottom Canoe




I've been pestering Chad to take me canoeing on the Harpeth River recently and today we finally went! This weekend has been so beautiful and today was such a perfect day to be on the river. Now, I am not a "roughin' it" type of girl, and I don't think I've ever been canoeing in my adult life, so I wasn't sure what to expect exactly. I know Chad was afraid I would tip the canoe, so I got a lecture on proper canoeing etiquette...like don't stand up in the canoe. Really?? I was also instructed on how to row...basically the rowing for dummies lecture by Chad Church.
Heading to the river

And we're off!

The river was pretty calm, so there were only a couple of times that Chad's expertise came in handy. ;) The first time was pretty early on in the trip, there were some small rapids and we were heading for a big rock. I said, "there's a rock!," but Chad didn't hear me so BOOM, our canoe was stuck in a second. He's like, "next time use your couch voice. Pretend we're sitting on the couch watching tv." Lately he's been complaining that I'm practically yelling when I say something during a tv show.


We saw lots of turtles, a couple of baby snakes, and some hawks flying overhead. They said that around the bluffs is where the bald eagles are spotted, but we never saw one. I was hoping we would. :(


The Bluffs where the bald eagles are







One of the places we stopped
These trees behind me are where everyone got caught!



There was a particular place toward the end of the track that everyone got caught up in. It is right behind me in the picture above. I was standing on the bank and the current takes you straight into those trees you see behind me. Me, Chad, and another lady had to help these two people who got their canoe stuck under that tree. It got a little deep for me, so Chad kept motioning me back and telling me to go to the bank, but I wanted to help! I didn't do much good though. Pretty much Chad and the guy in the canoe got it out. It seemed like every single person went into the trees, but actually Chad and I didn't. We managed to dodge the trees, but ended up going down river backwards for a short stretch, so Chad asked if we wanted to stop here (probably to save face in front of these people on the bank :) ha. I said sure! So I got out and swam some, even though it was kind of a bad place because of the canoe dodging I had to do. Water felt great though!


  I am terrible at skipping rocks but Chad is pretty good! The picture to the right is the bridge at the end of the trip and I took a photo of the limbs underneath it, which we figured got caught there when the flood happened 2 years ago. It's crazy this river got to 20 feet!

We made it! Can't believe 4 hours flew by that fast. I could've gone longer.

Tuckered out after a long day of paddling :)


Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Saturday, August 18, 2012

Lost in Percy Warner

So Thursday night was Nashville Sports League's Thursday Night Adult Kickball Championship and guess who the winners were??....Chad's Team! I guess their overly serious attitudes towards a fun, kid's sport has really paid off! :) They really played their best game ever that night, so I was really proud. Sorry, I have no pictures of this momentous occasion. That night a huge thunderstorm rolled in right after they finished though, and I found a great picture of it on fb someone had taken.



Today is a BEAUTIFUL day in Nashville, so I decided to go for a walk in Percy Warner park. It's about 80 degrees here, and when you get under the tree cover at the park it's probably even cooler, so it was perfect! I called my mom when I started on the trail and we just started chatting away.
 I sometimes feel like I'm being hunted walking through the trees at the park b/c there's so much wildlife. Here's a colorful little turtle on the paved path I was walking on.

Steep hills...
...forks in the road.

Yeah I got lost. For 2 hours! About 40 minutes into my walk I turned around and it took me about an hour and 15 minutes to get back! I was so glad to see this little entrance sign where I had parked my car. Whew!




Never so happy to see this sight! :) It was actually a lot of fun though. It didn't seem like I was walking for that long. Mom stayed on the phone with me the whole time, probably b/c she thought I'd never find my way back. Thanks mom!

Just to give you an idea, that whole mountain in the back is just part of Percy Warner. Easy to get lost in!





Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Tires, Tires, Tires...A Good Man is Hard to Find

So I bought my first car all by myself almost 2 years ago. I loved it! I still do, but since then I've had a slew of problems with it..not the mechanics of the car, thank the Lord, but mostly cosmetic and TIRES.

 About 2 months after I rolled off the lot in my brand new car, I got a nail in the side of one of the tires- which is not repairable, of course, so new tire #1 was purchased. Not a great sign, but my tire problems laid low for 2011, and instead I had a girl back right into my little Rogue while I was walking towards it in a parking lot. Bummer, but not too much damage was done, about $500 bucks worth. This year, however, a fierce hailstorm did some nice damage with its golf ball sized hail. Yay, and I ran over another nail in March of this year, which was patchable. Whew. Unfortunately, when you run over a wheel weight on the interstate 2 months later, that's just not able to be patched. New tire #2. (which the bf came and changed during a thunderstorm, bless his heart)


So Chad noticed some shaking when my car hit certain speeds this week, and got me an appt at NTB. The verdict: you need 3 new tires and it'll be about $700. Both times I had to replace tires, it was for the same wheel, so I had 3 factory tires still on my Rogue from when I bought it. It only has 30,000ish miles on it, and no warranty on the tires. Super. We get home and Chad gets on the google...apparently it's a common problem. Some guy had to replace his tires at 20,000 miles! So a little advice to those car shopping, I love my Rogue and if I had the chance to go back, I'd buy it again, but it would've been nice to know that the tires (which are Continental brand) do NOT last! Apparently, same for the Muranos, so says the internet. Anyway, after a brief meltdown, which Chad just did not understand, about how much it would cost and how I hate dealing with car stuff and not knowing what I'm doing, this good man found me some good, reasonable tires in Hendersonville (with an 85,000 mile warranty!) and is planning to take my car to work with him and have them put on. Not only that, but maybe even swing by the car place that all of his coworkers use and see what they can do about my hail damage! I'm a lucky girl. I got a good one. :)



Best Homemade Smoothie and Guacamole Ever

Banana Smoothie
Smoothies are my new obsession! I have figured out the best tasting smoothie ever! (if you like bananas, if not, it's probably the worst tasting smoothie ever)

3/4 c. skim milk
1 T. honey (I'm not really sure exactly how much I put in)
3/4 T. peanut butter
1 banana
1 scoop of Aria protein powder (before I bought the protein powder, I used 3/4 T. of plain Chobani yogurt)
6 ice cubes
1 splenda (optional- I usually don't put it in, but it makes it taste super sweet!)

Guacamole
So it's avocado season and since these little fruits are so good for you I've started making guacamole more.

1 avocado (finding the right avocado will make or break your guacamole- Harris Teeter has good ones right now. I like them to be more brown in color, and a little soft)
1/2 fresh lime
diced jalapenos
salt to taste

Mash up the avocado and squeeze half of the lime in. Put in the diced jalapenos to taste. I like a lot of them, so I put a couple of tsp fulls in and a little of the juice as well. Then, add salt to taste.

I'm a pretty simple woman, so these are all the ingredients I use in my guacamole, but feel free to throw in diced tomatos, cilantro, onion, etc. 

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Beth Moore Conference

On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand, All Other Ground is Sinking Sand!


What a wonderful and powerful weekend! This weekend 4 girls from my bible study attended the Living Proof Live Conference with Beth Moore, and it was great! I have loved Beth Moore's studies for a long time, but have never seen her in person. She was awesome! She always delivers such an amazing message and this weekend was no exception. There were about 13,500 people there, and it was held in UT's basketball arena. In fact, Pat Summit was there. She spoke about our witness and how that is what brings believability or credibility to the gospel. Us. We are living witnesses of our faith. All of our past sins and regrets are part of our testimony, and are also very important to it.

April, Me, Meredith, and Charity. Fun Trip!

One of her most profound points was about bondage. I wrote a whole blog about her Breaking Free study and bondage, and once again she touched on it at this conference. She said, "bondage at its deadly best is trading repentance for regret." She explained how regret by itself is worldly grief, which produces death, (2 Cor. 7). But repentance never condemns us, it only sets us free. Guilt/worldly regret is a huge source of despair for people and it's one of Satan's fiercest weapons, some people even take their own life over it. If we could just wrap our mind around this truth! Jesus has paid the price, He has washed our sins away, He has made us whiter than snow. So repent, then walk away from it and don't look back. Satan will sure try his hardest to lure you back.

Beth also explained the year of the Lord's favor. (Isaiah 49:8) She showed a clip of the moment when we landed that spacecraft on mars and how ecstatic everyone in that control center was. Jumping up and down, yelling, high-fiving. That feeling must have been indescribable for them. She was like, you see how excited we get over landing a on an uninhabited planet, it's truly amazing. When Jesus, who was destined to be our Redeemer before the earth was even created, when the living God wrapped in flesh hit His feet on this earth, the heavens were roaring! Absolutely roaring! Such an interesting way to describe it I thought.

At the conference there were two charities that Living Proof Ministries partners with. After explaining why they chose these two charities, Samaritan's Purse and Compassion International, I decided I wanted to sponsor a child living in a poverty stricken area. Sponsorship through Compassion International allows for the child's basic needs, as well as education, bible classes, income-generating activities and evangelism for the parents also. So as all the cards were scattered across the tables, I went to the Africa section and picked up the first card I saw, which happened to also say "high priority, needs immediate sponsorship," and signed up as a sponsor. So I am now the sponsor of this cute little boy... :)

  Amadou is 7 years old. He lives in an AIDS affected area and has been waiting for 9 months, so he was designated 'high priority' as many of the children were. I'm so glad to be a part of the organization, and I pray the Lord blesses these children through our gifts!

So all in all, it was a great weekend, and I am so blessed I was able to go. On the way out the first night I walked right by this and was like "Whoa, my old preacher!" (3rd from the left) So glad that David Platt has come so far in his ministry. He was always an excellent preacher when I attended Brook Hills. Loved hearing him every Sunday!



Last thing I wanted to touch on was how amazing the praise and worship team was! The worship experience was truly great and powerful. Travis Cottrell was the leader. Here's a little taste I found on YouTube for you guys!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjR_A2pGPrY&feature=related

No guilt in life, No fear in death, This is the power of Christ in me
From life's first cry, to final breath, Jesus commands my destiny!

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

So I'm in love...

...with a beautiful, blue topaz gemstone surrounded by shiny diamonds! I love, love, LOVE this! But it's in Seattle. :( I'm trying to see if someone can make it for me for a reasonable price. No luck yet, but isn't it purty?!

DIY centerpiece

My first DIY Pinterest creation! I love it. It was actually a bit of a challenge finding everything that was exactly the right size, but after hitting up several stores I finally found everything!