Father's Day

I know, I know…the cliche Father's Day posts are out of control. And I should appreciate my dad every day of the year. And I really do. I cherish our Sunday afternoon lounges in my bed under the skylight. I love swinging by his office during the week and the clipart pictures he texts me on the reg. But, today, I want to share a little more about what a difference Carlyle has made in the person that I am today.

Pooch is the man who has raised four kids, who were born in a span of five years, and constantly been there to encourage, forgive, coach, and support us along the way. You have shelled out more cash than anyone ever should have spent…but you have taught us to spend money on the good things in life. To not skimp on education and experience, but that "money doesn't grow on trees". And I am grateful for that.

I still remember sitting in my dorm room bed with tears streaming down my face the first time I read this article about Dad's adding life to their daughters' years. And, fortunately, they were tears of gratitude. I was amazed by how my dad had accomplished the vast majority of these items. The tears were filled with sweet memories and thankfulness that I have an earthly father who is a great example of who my heavenly father is. And I am grateful for that.

A father who loves to sit around and talk. He loves to enjoy good meals. He has fostered a sense of adventure in all four of us that has shaped the people we have become today. And I am grateful for that.

He is the dad who loves exercise. Who coached every sports team and still asks me about my (non existent) workouts. And who loves me despite my lack of athletic ability. And I am grateful for that.

A father with an incomparable sense of humor. Although some of his jokes aren't even worthy of a laugh, it is his fun loving personality that draws others in and and keeps the entire family always up to something entertaining. And I am grateful for that.

 

It is his worth ethic that is inspiring. Whether it is running marathons, "retiring" only to become a CEO, or constantly coming to my house for repairs, Pooch is always passionate about whatever project he is currently working on. And I am grateful for that.

 And his love of traveling. While he has bankrolled more trips than I can count which I truly do appreciate, it is the fact that he will travel any amount of miles to see us that is inspiring. I am thankful to live a quick 10 minute drive from my parents currently, I am confident that I could move across the world and my dad would be there to visit me. And I am grateful for that.

I love the ways we are similar. Your love of costumes, sugary drinks, naps, and meals out have certainly been passed down to me. Your inability to sleep at night and your terribly weak stomach have been inherited too, but I'll forgive you.... And I am still grateful for that.

I almost can't forgive you for the fact that Aunt Bea will always be the favorite child, but since she's cute and wasn't around til y'all were "empty nesters", I guess I can let it slide. And I am still grateful for her.

But it is the intangible qualities that make you an amazing father. It is the qualities that cannot be captured in pictures. The fact that I can call you with any concern at any hour and I know that you will still love me. The compassionate, patient example of loving kindness. The example of asking for forgiveness when you have made mistakes. The example of love that you have set with 34 year of marriage. The love of our heavenly father that you have shared and exemplified. And it is those things that I will be eternally grateful.

Happy Father's Day, Pooch.

I love you. 

xoxo

Rolling with The Rolling Stones

On Wednesday afternoon, I was just hanging out with (new nashville resident!) Emily at her parents house in Franklin when someone mentioned The Rolling Stones were playing that night in our GroupMe. I was annoyed because I wanted to go but had not been organized enough to get tickets. As the GroupMe continued to blow up, I was even more annoyed to find out that almost all of our friends were going to the show, so Camille and I briefly tossed the idea around of scalping them. Camille called me to discuss just as I left Emily's a little before 6. The problem was, she had a 6 o'clock hair appointment, and I was 30 minutes from home, in workout clothes, and we were both unshowered. The show was downtown at 8. We debated on the phone, debated when we got home, and I kept saying, "I just feel like we can go down there and get free tickets…" to which Camille responded, "You are the only person in the world that just thinks stuff like that is gonna happen for you!" Well, thinking it pays off, because a few hours later we found ourselves jamming out just a few feet from Mick Jagger and had paid exactly zero dollars to get there!

And let me tell you, at the ripe age of 71, Mick Jagger has still got amazing dance moves.

It really was hilarious the way this night played out, because I was pushing so hard that we go downtown and try, but when we got there Camille stepped up her game and sweet talked an old man into giving us a $397 floor ticket for free. And by sweet talked, I mean saw his OKC hat and used her extremely limited basketball knowledge to act like we were huge OKC fans (#lebronsucks). After we had one, we were on cloud nine and knew we had to get another. We bumped into our friend Jordan, who introduced us to her friend and the friend's mom, who not only gave us a free ticket, but also two bottles of Fireball whiskey!

We were beyond pumped at this point, but in my persuasion of Camille to go downtown, I said that we could just see our friends and eat burgers at Acme if we couldn't get tickets, so we decided to still indulge in those burgers (and skip the opener, Brad Paisley). We also needed time to devise a plan of how we were going to enjoy this show together, since our two seats were very far apart. 

Acme was delicious, as always. We ordered cokes and poured in some Fireball, while passing it around to all of our friends we saw on The Walking Bridge, new friends we met at Acme, etc. As you can imagine, we were high on life and really not in need of any alcoholic beverages. 

Our game plan was to use both tickets to get into the arena, then Camille would go down to the floor and stealth pass the ticket back to me, and then I would go down to the floor too and we'd find an aisle to stand in somewhere. Well, they Xed the ticket when Camille went down. Luckily, the Xed the bottom so we ripped it, passed it back, got the top Xed and we were both in. We sweet talked the bouncers at the next ticket check, made it to our seat, which just so happened to be next to the old man who had gifted us the ticket. And luckily I am so tall (and Camille has been making tall jokes for the entirety of our 15 year friendship…) so we stacked doubly at our seat and could both see and enjoy the wonderful, classic music of The Rolling Stones. 

Cheers to this old man who made it all possible!

 xoxo

Emily's Homecoming

It is rare in life to have a best friend that has literally been there since day one. That is true of me and Emily Crane. Well, I guess technically I have only been there since day three for her, since we were born three days apart to parents who were friends and have been besties ever since.

 

 Despite the fact that we have been close friends for so many years, we have no lived in the same city since 2008. Auburn, Winston-Salem, Kansas, Mentone, Uganda, Kenya, Cape Town, Wald-Michelbach, Nashville, Chongquing, Cheungdu…needless to say, we have been keeping Skype in business. But those days are over, Emily and I are both officially Nashville residents. And we could not be more excited about it.

We welcomed her in style upon her homecoming from East Asia on Tuesday night.

And, in typical East Asian fashion, she flew across the world with a bike! Poor Tyler had to carry it to the car while the rest of us celebrated Em's arrival!

We sure are glad to have you stateside again, Em!

xoxo

The Pitches #backinaction

Summer nights are here and kickball season is upon us. Pitches Be Crazy are ready to play. We took a break for the winter months (an to let the dust settle on a little team drama…) but we are back in full force! Tonight was our first game and we dominated.

I even scored the first run, which is a rarity for sure. 

I forgot how much I loved some hilarious competition and kickball action on these long, warm nights.

Heres to another great season, hopefully ending in another championship!

xoxo

A Boston Weekend

Back in cold, dreary January, my friends Meg and Jamie presented the idea that we plan a trip for Memorial Day Weekend. Boston was a city on all of our radars, so we booked flights and then went on with our lives. May rolled around and we were all thrilled to have this little trip in the plans.

Boston was beautiful, and this was the perfect time of year to visit.

We stayed in an adorable Air BnB in Beacon Hill, which made us feel like locals as we dined in local hotspots and wandered around the neighborhood.

We did not feel like locals when we went on the Duck Tour, but it was absolutely hilarious and a great way to get an overview of the city.

We stopped by all the must-sees, like the Duck statues and the marathon finish line. We asked this little girl to move for our picture, but she wanted to be in it so we obliged.

The food we consumed was absolutely amazing. Dinners each night were a highlight. And watching the sunset on the river with a bottle of wine before wasn't too shabby either.

Renting bikes and heading over to Cambridge was a great decision. 

 We stopped by the Red Sox game on our way, and loved the breezy ride around Harvard.

The weekend was a breath of fresh air and I cannot get over how much I loved the city of Boston. Cheers to a wonderful mini-vacation!

xoxo

Home again...

The past couple of weeks have been a wonderful whirlwind. I just hung up the phone with my dear 88 year old grandmother who said, "Darling, your life is always exciting!" I don't know that it always is, but the adventures of the past three weeks have been exciting and so much more.

Boston was beautiful and refreshing and full of heartfelt conversation with friends.

Peru was enlightening and colorful and filled to the brim with adventure.

I cannot wait to share details, photos, and tidbits from my travels.

Until then,

xoxo