Weekend Update

I had a very full and fabulous weekend! I'll just start from the top...

Friday
After work I headed to the salon for a haircut. Fun to catch up with my stylist, Amanda, and even better to get a much-needed trim. From there I headed home to quickly change before meeting the girls at Katie's house before driving to downtown Franklin. We put our names in at the Mellow Mushroom for the outdoor seating and then walked down to Bink's to do a little shopping while we waited. I thought it was great that the restaurant actually called us to tell us when our table was available! I couldn't leave Bink's without a purchase (although sometimes I actually do, I promise!), so I walked away with a great new North Face beanie. It's warm, it's comfy and it's North Face...how can you go wrong?

Saturday
Stacey & her dad picked me up and we spent an incredibly fun afternoon driving through Leiper's Fork and Natchez Trace in her dad's jeep with the top off and windows down. It was a BEAUTIFUL day in the mid-70's, and driving with the wind meant we got to bundle up a little and feel even more autumn-like. We bought Pop Rocks at the country candy store and finished off our afternoon at Puckett's downtown Franklin.




Saturday night we headed out to the Arrington Vineyard for some wine & jazz. Again, it was a perfect night weather-wise. We brought blankets and picnic baskets and found a spot on the hillside. There were fireworks shooting off in the distance and jazz playing in the background...and after enjoying our wine & cheese, we just laid on the blankets, watching the stars and talking about life. I went home that night with a sigh of contentment and a smile on my face.


Sunday
I was really looking forward to church Sunday morning. I had missed the past few weeks due to NYC and WV, and was looking forward to a time of worship & teaching. Plus, I knew whatever was going to be shared was going to be exactly what I needed. I was anticipating a great service and it was exactly that. He spoke on worship - both as an individual and as a community. He talked about how we are all individuals and we all have different ways of drawing close to God and feeling that intimacy with him. He began to talk about how some people feel closest to God when they learn & study and have a great intellectual understanding. Some people worship the Lord through serving, and others through spending time with people in fellowship. Some people are drawn closer when they are in his creation, amidst the trees, rivers and mountains. Pretty sure my name was on that list. There are a variety of ways that I am drawn to the Lord - serving & fellowship are definitely a few of them, but the greatest by far is when I'm in God's creation. I had the hardest time being back in the office last week because I just feel like I don't make sense when I'm sitting behind a desk. I don't really know how to explain it, I just know that I feel like I "fit" when I'm outside. I can't help but have conversations with the Lord when I'm marveling a the beauty of his creation - even in the midst of intensely paddling through class V rapids! Without going into the entire service, I will just say I was so uplifted, encouraged, and excited when I left. I'm actually looking forward to downloading the podcast and listening to it all over again. Top the service off with an amazing time of food, conversation and laughter with people I know and people I met just that morning...and already I'd had a perfect day.

After lunch I went home and Stacey met me at my place to go for a walk and grab stuff at the grocery store for the bonfire that night. My roommate was making an amazing pot-o-chili, so we plopped on the couch and enjoyed our soup while watching The Office. Not too long after that we took off for Travis' house for a bonfire with people I knew and some people I've never met, but enjoyed getting to know. Scotty brought his eukalalee and Travis pulled out his acoustic, and we just had a great time chatting it up with each other with some nice campfire music & ambiance.




So, that was my weekend in a nutshell! Tonight I was invited to dinner at a friend's house, so that should be fun. It's just Monday, so who knows what may still be in store - lookin' to be a great week!