I heart Nashville

I love a good road trip... who doesn't?  My mom and I set out for a little weekend trip to the Nashville area to visit my sister over Memorial day weekend.  I love Tennessee specifically Nashville so very much and I mean a way down deep in soul sort of love. It's beautiful!!

Trip highlights:

--Family time is always a winning situation. We went shopping, sightseeing and tried out some new restaurants.  We basically just went the full blown tourist route. 

--Coffee at Fido in downtown Nashville.. I know it's silly but i've always wanted a coffee with one of these fun designs in the froth. 

--Finally seeing the I believe in Nashville murals.. this was a bucket list item. Not for any particular  reason other than the fact that I love Nashville and wanted to see them in person. 

--Downtown Nashville at sunset. I love this city with all of my heart..it's fun and vibrant yet still holds that unique sweet southern charm.

--American Picker's. Sadly the store had just closed but we did get to see the famous Antique Archeology from the show American Picker's.  It's in the coolest old building that used to be home to Marathon Motor Co.  We did get to peek in the windows and see some of the fun items. Actually going during business hours is a must do for my next trip! 

Fun Facts about Nashville:
Did you know???

--The AT&T tower, located in downtown Nashville, is the largest building in Tennessee with 33 stories and a maximum height of 617 feet. It is affectionately known as the “Batman building” because of the two towers shaped like Batman’s ears
--Nashville has a full-scale replica of the original Parthenon in Athens. It was built in 1897 as part of the Tennessee Centennial Exposition.
--Nashville is the home of The Standard Candy Company. The confectioner has been making the sweet known as the Goo Goo Cluster, a cluster of peanuts, caramel, marshmallow, and milk chocolate, since 1912.
--Nashville's iconic Music Row is where Elvis Presley recorded more than 200 of his songs at RCAs historic Studio B.

Celebrating

I know I talked about joy in my last post, but this is where my heart is over pouring at the moment.  My recent wake up call came in an unconventional way that I wouldn't have chosen. It was a long process of realization, healing and understanding, but it's funny what the Lord will use to wake us up and draw his children back in.  I have been so beautifully aware of just how much I need Jesus lately. I've been so aware of his presence and consistently felt him holding me together when I felt I was raveling away. What a peace and joy it is when we realize we are not alone but yet cherished and adored by the King. He is always refining us and because of him we are FREE and that is something worth celebrating indeed! I have been truly rediscovering "the art of celebration". Big thanks to the band Rend Collective for helping me embrace this art. Wrapping my mind around what this means and should look like in my life has not only brought me joy but drawn me intensely closer to Christ. I try over and over to do it myself, but I always fail because without him I am an empty vessel.  I stumbled upon this video recently that Rend Collective filmed discussing the concept behind their album The Art of Celebration  They painted a beautiful picture of what this might look like and it got me really seeking and digging into the word to find what joy really looks like.

"Happiness is not the same thing as joy.Happiness is a superficial response to pleasant circumstances. But joy is deeper. Its a spiritual discipline"

That is why we must fight for our joy.

"I have come that they might have life and have it to the FULL" --John 10:10

                                                        The Art of Celebration story


I highly recommend their album! All of the songs speak Biblical truths and the instrumentation and melodies are simply contagious.  It just makes me want to have a party and dance and celebrate life with the people I love!

I pray that you are not only happy but that you daily seeking Joy!

XOXO,
Amber

A testimony of life at 26

"on this earth, we are always seeking beauty. i seek the things that take my breath away. snow glistened mountain tops, enchanting sunsets, star-filled skies, wind-swepted plains, drives down empty roads with the windows down. we want something to take our breath away...something more. something that makes us feel alive. i don't want to just see the beauty, i want to feel it, and i want it to fill my very soul. it's these things, the glories of nature, formed by my Creator's hands, that fill up my heart."

-Meg from Rivers and Roads

No one ever really tells you when you are young that life might not go the way you imagine. Sometimes dreams don't play out and you might fall on your face multiple times before you get your wings to soar and prayers might go unanswered at the time but you'll be thankful in the end. They forget to mention things will be hard and cut throat and there will be pain and bitterness and maybe even jealousy along the route. They don't tell you that you might have to face the world as a single adult and how important it will be to carry yourself with grace and dignity through it all.  As a teen I had no reality as to what life in my 20s might look like.  If you would have asked me ten years ago what I'd be doing today, I would have spouted out dreams and plans and I would have surely told you that by now I'd be married and starting a family because that was always MY plan. Some of those plans have happened and others have not.  I didn't ever stop to think if the plans I was making lined up with God's. I didn't always stop and prayerfully consider the decisions I made and looking back oh how I wish I had. 

       At 26 I've learned a lot and I'm still learning. Life can be tough but man it's also so short and so beautiful and we MUST soak it in and LOVE it with everything we have.  I'm really working on loving my life more. Part of that means daily choosing joy and I do believe its a choice. That's no easy task. I'd say i'm a pretty real person... so in saying "I choose joy" please do not think that means every day I'm a "bundle of smiles" as Jason has recently coined me.  One of my favorite quotes from the book i'm reading says,  "The Experience of sorrow in no way diminishes the joy of living". I love this quote because I think as a Christian woman I sometimes forget that those hard days are not out to get me but simply to strengthen my faith. I say this to be honest because I have faced many days in my life where I just feel i've hit rock bottom and I don't know what my next step should be. The amazing thing is I have a God that has long before planned out those steps for me.  Choosing joy can be a daily battle and there will be moments that knock you on your knees in desperation, but the cool part is there are always great moments to come.  Lately, there have been a lot of knock me to my knees moments in my life and i've had to make the daily decision to not live in fear and self pity, but to rise up and cling to the hope and promise God has offered me. Back in Novemeber I really started dealing with God about contentment and priorities and his message rang clear...be content right here, right now, just where you are.  Contentment has been a long battle for me the last few years, but once I finally welcomed it intense contentment and peace have both filled my heart. His plan is perfect.  
       When I think of a lady who daily made the choice of  joy in life, Linda Monroe so clearly comes to my mind. I know she had bad days.. I know things in her life weren't always perfect, but she used every chance she could to love on and invest her time in other people. I will never forget our last Super Summer together.. We were suite mates and I walk over into her room and caught her dancing her heart out and singing "Dancing Queen"! She didn't know I had caught her until much later and we had a good laugh about it, but man that picture just sticks with me. She was totally alone and just enjoying life and living it out!! Her legacy continues to inspire me! Why don't I do that more? I have so much to dance about! 

         I've been reading "Captivating" by John and Stasi Eldredge.  I highly recommend this book to any young woman.  To quote the book, "After all isn't it what all of us as woman desire..to be captivating?"  This book will rock your world.  One of my favorite parts so far talks about how God desires to romance us.. if you have any doubt just look at a cotton candy sunset, a field of wild flowers or a starfish swept ashore by the crashing waves.  He loves us so deeply. He made this earth and life so beautiful and oh how we forget to appreciate it.  I've really reached that point in my life and walk that i'm just so desperately in love with who God is and all the little things i've been missing rushing through this life. As I go through my day now I notice things I've never noticed before and as I look back I see God's provison over me in every situation that's happened. I've decided to choose carefully how I use my time and carefully evaluate the priorities in it. I will tell you that I haven't been disappointed yet by how God had used my time since I fully released control over to him and stopped planning it out myself.  Jeremiah 29:11 

I will be the first to admit i've messed up a lot of things in my life and missed a lot of wonderful moments by rushing through and not enjoying it as it happens and by grasping so tight to my timeline on when I thought things should be happening....  so i've decided to REALLY settle into the fact that life is meant to be lived and lived well. That means letting go of my plans and my timeline and giving God full control.  Part of this for me personally is using this time to be more intentional in my relationships. I love people.. i might even say I have a passion for them. There is nothing I love more than spending time in good conversation/sharing life with people from all walks and stages. I have been so blessed by the people who have come along side me and poured into me over the years and from that I could turn around and pour out into others.  God made us to be relational and to love each other intently...I think that is one of the coolest things!

I was a funeral recently and heard this story... A young man was sent out on a class assignment to a cemetery. He was asked to find and trace the most important part of a headstone on a piece of paper. He looked around and decided it must be the persons name so he traced that and went back to the classroom.  He quickly learned that was indeed NOT the most important part and sent back out to the cemetery. He walked around for quite some time looking at the different headstones and thought that maybe it was the year the were born or the year they died or maybe the various other inscriptions left on the stones. After pondering for awhile it suddenly dawned on the young man that it wasn't the year they were born or even the year they died that was important. The most important part about each of those stones was the dash - between the date they were born and the date they passed away. That dash represents the life they lived. You see.. after we are all gone from this earth, that dash is time that we can't get back. We have to make the most of that time we are given by making  sure that we are living our dash well.  The reason Ms Linda Monroe continues to to inspire me is because she lived her dash well.  
      So this is my heart cry..I'm seeking to live my dash well and choose the joy and peace Christ offers me. I'm choosing to have sincere faith and use my time wisely.  My prayer for myself and whoever else might be reading this is to be intentional, love this life and always be willing to say "Yes" to God. 

Welcome 2014

2014 is in full swing and I haven't stopped long enough to just sit down and get some thoughts together for the year..so here goes.  It happens to be my one year of blogging mark! I started blogging this time last year, but was pretty lousy at it and had to completely redo my blog half way through the year. I'm going to try to be better at taking time to really enjoy my blog this year. I love the little community i've found through doing swaps and links.  I didn't really make any resolutions this year. I did however bookmark some thoughts and ideas on Pinterest that reflect the way I want to look at this year...
                                                                     So Welcome 2014
I know there will be some good and some bad, but mostly I hope that through whatever this year brings I remember to truly LIVE this life and make wonderful memories.

 Not always my first instinct so I want to embrace this more in 2014

This year I want to take time for all of those little things that sometimes get pushed aside

 I want to travel to atleast one new place.

 I want to make memories and capture them in photos and record them here, but yet at the same time not focus on that so much that I actually miss the moment itself. Sometimes enjoying a moment means putting the cellphone down. Every good moment doesn't have to be on Instagram.

I want to take more time for reading. I'm currently reading the Divergent series....I'm only a few chapters in, but it's great so far!


Here are a few shots of the start of my 2014! 

 "Greens picking" with my grandmother one saturday and of course I couldn't resist snapping a few blog worth photos

A huge bonfire at my Dad's along with some wonderful company and great food!

Dinner at Santa Fe with some of my favorite people 

The Snow Queen & Annual Tacky Christmas Party 2013

Life had been so good lately.. very busy, but very good!



Ashli, Jessica and I went to see The Snow Queen ballet to celebrate Ashli's 25th birthday. I was really beautiful. This was the first time i'd been to a ballet.. i enjoyed getting all fancied up and going!

Later that day we had our Tacky Christmas Party.......





For the last 7 years my friends and I have done a Tacky Christmas Party. We like to do this each year as a way to all get together and celebrate the Christmas season. It's really hard to spend time together through out the year since we are spread all over the place so this is our way of celebrating not only Christmas, but our friendship.  Its something very special to me and I hope it continues each year even as we age and our families grow.

This year we celebrated with a spaghetti dinner and lots of treats and snacks to enjoy before and after the meal.  We decided to each bring a game for our Dirty Santa swap.  We've been trying to take turns hosting a game night once a month to help us get together more often so we thought it would be fun to bring games to add to our collections. After Dirty Santa we decided to open up some of the games and try them out. PS:Heads Up and 5 Second Rule are really fun! I am incredibly thankful to have these people in my life. My friends are really incredible and I love getting to have this annual tradition with them.


Here are some shots from the night:

                                                        Our attempt at a group shot!

Thanksgiving

There is so much to be thankful for this year, but I guess as i've gotten older the more i've really appreciated my parents so I wanted to share a few shots of us from Thanksgiving day because they are truly wonderful and while i've always loved them.. i haven't always understood and grasped the magnitude of what all they have done for me and now that I do all I can be is thankful.  

26th Birthday

I am SO BEHIND on posts, so I'm going to try to catch up!

My 26th birthday was all of 2 months ago, but i've got to include a few snapshots from that day.. it was a lot of fun! It was spent surrounded by friends at a halloween themed costume party complete with a chocolate fondue fountain! Duck Dynasty characters, Ellen, Sophia Grace and Rosie and the cast of New Girl and Star Wars were all in attendance. It was truly an honor ;) I was instagram..via Pinterest inspiration!