Doors may open

I know I already went on about the weather in my last post, but there's something special about the April sunshine that gets me nostalgic. Reminds me of the days of unbelievably drawn out hours of the long last few weeks of my elementary and high school years, final exams at Lipscomb (time to watch Love Actually again!), and most of all, of Fish Fry time in Paris, TN.

Every small town in Tennessee has its big festival that they celebrate annually, whether it's the Strawberry Festival in Humboldt, RC - Moon Pie Festival in Bell Buckle, or Winterfest in Gatlinburg. My hometown claim to fame is the World's Biggest Fish Fry, which always happens on the last full week in April. There's all-you-can-eat fried catfish and hushpuppies every night as well as a carnival, arts and crafts, rodeo, parade, and even catfish races (you have to see it to believe it on this one). If you've got the time, you should definitely make the trip and check it out - I'll even show you around a little if I'm in town when you go!

This year, the week signifies something different for me. Last year, immediately following my return from a great weekend at the Fish Fry, I received the unfortunate news that my position at Centerstone was eliminated and I was out of a job. The anniversary of such a significant event in my life has made me look back on the past year and all the changes that have come along, and man, has it been a crazy one.

Of course, it was a huge challenge to cope with losing my job and the uncertainty that goes along with being suddenly unemployed, but I see plenty of rainbows that have come from that dark storm. The most significant is undoubtedly my trip to Europe. It's crazy how perfectly things worked out to make that trip happen - with my job, the lease expiring on my apartment, money I had saved up while working, and a moderate dose of gutsy craziness. I was so fortunate to have the ingredients for the perfect opportunity all dropped into my lap at the same time. It was the trip of a lifetime and I'll never forget it.

So all in all, I'm okay with how everything turned out. Sure, it's been difficult to deal with seemingly never-ending unemployment and the constant stream of rejection letters from applications, but who else gets to spend so much time without a 9-to-5? I'm excited to see how my job with the Census Bureau goes and the doors it may open. Not to mention, I've got great friends and family to share my ups and downs with. Thanks, all, for listening to my gripes and cheering me on through the past year.

A walk in the park

It's officially springtime! The trees are blooming, the sun is shining and everyone is out at the park enjoying the weather. It's such an exciting time, it seems like, and that is only made better by the little things: riding with the windows rolled down and music turned up, busting out the skirts and dresses, springtime thunderstorms and fresh bouquets of flowers. (No doubting my tree-hugging tendencies when you read that sentence.)

The warmer weather also makes it a perfect time to get my amazing bike for a spin or jaunt down to Shelbyville for a PHOTOSHOOT! I promise I don't typically get to go out and have these fantastic pictures made quite so often, but I've been fortunate lately.

Kyle, my fake boyfriend/co-model for the day

It's almost impossible for me to just post this one photo; they all turned out fantastic! Make sure to check out Jenna Brie's blog for more and have a look around at the rest of her work while you're there.

In other news, today I began training for a supervisory position with the US Census. It's temporary, full-time work, but I'm excited to back to the workforce for a decent paycheck and a challenge.

That's all for now, so get outside and enjoy the sunshine!

Ooh la la!

Since I've been in the black hole that is my experience with unemployment, I don't feel like I've been an exceptionally interesting person. Nothing much going on except application after application, which is far beyond boring. So I've decided to take on a project: learning French.

This finally arrived for me in the mail today

I've always loved the subleties and complexities of languages - some of you may remember that I minored in Spanish at Lipscomb, and I recently started reading The Story of English, which chronicles the history of our own language. But now I'm going to attempt to wrap my head around the sexy beast that is French.

My goal is to spend at least 20 minutes a day in some effort to learn French, whether it's working through this book, listening to podcasts or whatever other means I can find. Any suggestions for picking up another language are more than welcome. I'm excited about this new venture and hope you will hold me accountable with this!

Making headlines

Ok, so maybe not headlines, but how fun is it to show up in other people's blogs? A couple of weeks ago I made an afternoon trip to Murfreesboro to meet up with Jenna Brie, who was giving fellow photographer Tracy Anderson some pointers and practice with photography techniques and such. I had a great time playing model, as always, but it was COLD!

Make sure to check out Jenna Brie's blog and Tracy Anderson's blog for more about the day and some pics! (My favorite is with the old Case tractor.)

Unemployment blues

Here I am, scavenging free internet at Panera Bread after spending half of the morning doing the same thing at the local library. Job hunting. Do you have any idea how frustrating, stressful and ENDLESS job applications are? After months of doing this, it's fair to say I'm tired of it.

Gainful employment, find me soon. I miss you and your benefits.

Firestone 500

The holiday season has come and gone, and now that the newness has worn off on most people's Christmas gifts, I'll make some time to brag on mine a bit.

After exchanging gifts with Luke, we went to the garage to check out the progress he had made on the motorcycle when .... SURPRISE!! My real present was waiting for me and I could absolutely not believe it.

1960s Firestone 500

I found this gem in one of the old barns on my parents' farm some time in early November. And let me tell you, it looked rough when I discovered it. At that time, it was just a silly idea to get it fixed up and back in working order someday. Luke took that idea to a whole new level.

After stealing my mom's number out of my cell phone, he made a sneaky trip to Paris to pick up the big project (and meet my family for the first time). He had no idea what he was getting into.

Love the stars, but some major rust to work against

So Luke spent some major time and took everything apart, did some major rust removal, driving all over Nashville to hunt down new wheels and did other fix-it-up stuff that is over my head.

Needless to say, I was completely blown away by the final result. I can't think of anything that would have been more surprising or perfect. I still can't believe it. Best Christmas present ever. I'm pretty lucky to have such a sweet guy, eh?


In other events, Tina and Jenna Brie came to Nashville for the weekend so we had a great night on the town. There's always a fun to be had with these girls around.

Me, Tiner, Jenna Brie and Luke

Happy birthday to me!

On November 13, I turned 25! My mom warned me that she and my sister both cried all day when they turned 25 because they felt like they were so old. Thanks to a sweet/sappy email from my mom, I started out a little teary, too. :)


Jenna Brie came up from Shelbyville to spend the night with me, so we hung out in Nashville all day and got fancied up for a birthday date Friday night. After drinks at Patterson House, we had a nice long dinner at Flyte World Dining & Wine. It was a happy and laid back 25th birthday!

Fantastic drinks at Patterson House