Something New for Spring

Tennessee has never been more beautiful. I find myself drifting out of the city every weekend to head to the family farm. I want to swing on the porch for hours. I want to take walks to the pond. And, call me crazy, but I even want to pull a few weeds now and again. The air feels easier to breathe. The sun feels warmer and brighter. The colors – they just feel alive.

Aunt Em

Being an aunt is one of my favorite things in the world. And this winter, I will be an aunt three times over. My two little nephews are going to be big brothers. Best. News. Ever.

Covenant Groups

Spending time with my 8^th grade girls covenant group has been one of the highlights of my year. I have grown to love each of them so dearly. We ended our year of Covenant with dinner and Sweet CeCe’s!

The best part? Even though it’s over for the school year, I am with these girls through high school graduation! So we will be back together in the fall, this time as high schoolers!

Natalie Portmanteau Party

One of my friends recently hosted a Natalie Portmanteau party. I know what you’re thinking. What in the world is that?

I thought the same thing.

It turns out that a Portmanteau is a term for the meshing of two words or ideas into one. For example, spork (spoon and fork) or smog (smoke and fog).

So a Natalie Portmanteau party? Everyone picks two famous figures or ideas or themes and creates one costume to represent both.

My costume? Snow White Christmas.

I’m not normally a fan of selfies, but this closet photo that I sent to my mother is the only one I have of my full outfit.

Coming up with costume ideas was so much fun! Even more fun than dressing up? Guessing what my friends had dressed as. I could usually guess part of the costume but not the whole name (Okay, honestly I hardly guessed any right at all). Here I am with a few of my party friends!

Front Row: Emma Stone Cold Steve Austin, Lady Gagangnam Style

Middle Row: Honey Boo Boo Radley, Brittney Shakespears

Back Row: Bam Bambino, Kim Kardashiandiana Jones, Marilyn Monrogue, Whitney Houston Nutt, Snow White Christmas, Princess Diana Ross, Buddy Holly Golightly

I have the best friends.

Wedding

Speaking of my best friends, one of my best friends from high school got married! Yes, the friend that even took me to my high school prom.

We had a lot of fun at his wedding. I wish him and his bride all of the best!

 The crew from high school

There is nothing quite like your best friends' babies.

Royalty

Washington DC is one of my favorite cities, so I was excited to organize and host my company’s annual conference there recently.

 Senator Cruz

 Senator Bachmann

 John Stossel

 Senator Paul Ryan

Oh, and Prince Harry was staying in my hotel while I was there. This would be a much better story if I had actually seen him. I didn’t. But I would really, really like to be Princess Emily.

My Kind of Weekend: Parachutes and Hula Hoops

There are lots of moments when I am really thankful that I blog. Sometimes it’s when I know that it has connected with someone – a recipe made, an adventure inspired, or a heart touched. Sometimes it’s when I end up on other places in the blogosphere – like this post on author Melissa Lester’s blog. I also recently popped up on a popular home redesign blog – The Ugly Duckling House. She hyperlinked to my patio remodel on this post where she says “and after looking around the blogosphere a little” on her patio post. And sometimes it’s because I don’t want to forget a single thing about my story. And this weekend is one of those weekends that I never want to forget. I don’t know how I possibly could.

Sky Diving

On Saturday three of my girl friends and I went sky diving together in Waverly, TN. I went sky diving once last year, so I was super excited to go again.  

Ready to sky dive. I know, I look like a creeper.

The other girls were newbies – and it was amazing to experience it with them for their first time! There was some nervousness from a few participants.

Ashley praying...

But everyone jumped.

 Me, ready to jump!

 Linzi getting harnessed.

 Ashley practicing her jump.

Sarah listening to instructions.

Linzi and Sarah supervising the parachute packing process.

And everyone LOVED it!!

We were all able to go up in the plane together and jump (tandem with an instructor of course) from 14,500 feet. Because we free fall at about 120 mph, the air felt super cold! But it was so awesome. My favorite part both times has been the free fall. There is absolutely nothing like rushing towards the earth with nothing but 14,500 feet between you and the ground. It’s an incredible experience. I can’t get enough of it… I’m sure I’ll be going again.

(To read more about what it’s like to sky dive, read last year’s post or watch last year's video.)

Hula Hooping a 5k

As if my weekend wasn’t already interesting enough, today I hula hooped the Mayor's 5k to fulfill one of this year’s resolutions. My friend Yvonne has hooped several half marathons, a Susan G. Komen walk (20 miles a day for three days), and done tons of hoop performances and fitness classes. Yeah, she’s awesome. But even more than being an awesome hooper, she’s an awesome friend! We typically exercise together anyways, but she spent the past couple of months teaching me to hoop walk. We trained once or twice a week together and then hooped on our own at home. I do recognize that it probably seems hilarious to imagine me standing in the middle of my living room hooping for 30 minutes at a time while watching tv. I had a huge bruise on my hip for a while, but my body is finally getting used to it.

Me and Yvonne

Today our hoop team included about 25 walkers (no, we don’t run). I hooped around my waist for most of the walk. But, as you can imagine, my abs got pretty tired so I hooped on my hand sometimes too.

I hope my face looked like that the whole time... not.

Hoopers take up a lot of space, so we started the race in the very last corral. I’m not sure exactly how long it took us to do the 5k because we didn’t start with everyone else and took a couple of photo ops, but I’d say we did the race in about 70 minutes.

Thanks for hooping with me, friend! You are incredible!

A few notes on hooping:

We use custom made hoops which are larger and heavier than the plastic hoops that they sell for children at Target. Trust me, I can’t really hoop with those things! Heavier hoops are much easier.

You might think that you can’t hoop, but you can. I’ve never seen anyone try for longer than ten minutes and not get it. Don’t move your hips in a circle or it will fall. Move front to back or side to side.

If you walk around with a hoop, lots of random people will talk to you. I’ve never gotten so much attention from strangers in my entire life. Be prepared. My favorites were the people who would walk up and say “Is that a hula hoop?” (Duh.) And the man that kept cheering “Hoopity hoop. Doopity Doop.” My least favorite were the dogs that barked at and wanted to chase the hoops. I am so not an animal person.

Mayor Karl Dean does not want to try to hoop. He was asked, but just looked awkwardly down at his sneakers and power walked past us.

I have never taken a hoop fitness class, but the team that I was on today for the 5k was organized through Happy Hoops. If you are a local Nashvillian and are interested in taking a hoop fitness class, I’d start there.

This weekend was so incredible! (And thank goodness, because tomorrow morning is my arm surgery... ugh...)

Settling In: A Weekend Harley Trip

I was in fifth grade before I learned how to ride a bicycle without training wheels. It's true. I was embarrassingly old. So I wasn't much of a bike rider, okay?? But I was something else. A daddy's girl. (Not an exclusion of my mother - because I was a momma's girl too. Who says you have to be just one?? I was - and still am - both.)

As an adult I am making up for lost time on bikes. But this time I go for the motorized kind... And always with my daddy. Dad and I ride his bike around town pretty regularly, but we recently decided to go for a weekend trip. So we rented a Harley Electra Glide (with a big, comfortable back seat) and took off for the weekend. We picked the perfect weekend. After all, it is my favorite time of year.

Dad and I had the best ride. We started out on Saturday morning in Nashville and headed south east. We took back roads and highways through the hills of the Tennessee countryside, through Fall Creek Falls, and then headed north up to Lexington. We bunked with my cousins for the night and then headed back down south on Sunday.

In all, we rode about 650 miles - 8 hours on Saturday and 6 hours on Sunday. And the bike was so comfortable! Of course, we had to stop and stretch our legs every couple of hours, but mostly I just settled in to the back of the bike and enjoyed the views. I did, however, get very cold on Saturday! I was bundled up in layers, but the temps never even made it into the 60s which is a bit chilly on a bike! But was it totally worth the shivering? Yes! I could do a ride like that every weekend and be completely thrilled!

I recently met a guy from Brazil who is now living in Nashville and is experiencing fall for the first time. I just can't imagine that! Not because I take it for granted and would appreciate a fresh perspective on fall, but because it is so much a part of me that I can't imagine living without it. Its the kind of beauty that gets in your heart and settles in. Kind of like motorcycles.

Fall - A Perfect Time for Adventures

Fall is by far superior to all other seasons. The weather is phenomenal – the warm afternoons are perfect for going for a walk and the cool evenings are perfect for bonfires and hayrides. The food is the best. Caramel apples. Roasted Hot dogs. Chili. Smores. And I don’t exactly see people lining up to walk through summertime gardens proudly harvesting tomatoes and zucchini. But a pumpkin patch? Sign me up.  Fall even has its own smell. It’s something like nutmeg and cinnamon and pumpkin and a bonfire all bundled up together. And the Tennessee trees? Don’t even get me started. The colors alone are enough to make you believe.

One of my favorite fall trees outside of my condo just beginning to turn a beautiful shade of red.

And seriously. No other season is so great that it deserves two names. Fall. Autumn. Winner.

Disclaimer: I have heard rumors of something called ‘football’ that many people really enjoy in the fall, but I wouldn’t know anything about that.

The Fall Lineup

So every fall I get excited. When the weather starts to change I feel like a kid again. I look forward to weekends in a way that I don’t any other time of year. But this year? I’m even more excited. Because on top of all of the normal Fall goodness,  this year my calendar has been quickly filled with more fun than ever. 

My next few weekends are back-to-back adventures with: 

Touring through the Smoky Mountains on a Harley

Hang Gliding

Sky Diving (again - see last year's post and video)

Hula Hooping a 5k (one of my 2012 resolutions)

Oh, and I am going on my covenant group girls' middle school retreat at church. I haven’t been on a middle school retreat in a long time, but I’m going to go ahead and call that an “adventure”.

I apparently have a fascination with being really high in the air. And adrenaline. YOLO, baby.

And all of this is happening before Thanksgiving. Here’s hoping for some B-E-A-U-tiful weekend weather.

A note to my mother: Yes, I will be careful. Yes, I will call you after every adventure to let you know that I am okay. Yes, I know, I take after my father. Yes, I know, I love you too. And YOLO means You Only Live Once. Save yourself a google search.

Hot Air Balloon Ride Food Truck Burgers

On Friday my sister and I went to a fall festival to meet up with some of my friends. We were supposed to go on a hot air balloon ride there, but the line was forever long and the balloon ran out of propane by the time we made it to the front of the line. But it was tethered anyways, and you know how I like being really high up in the air, so it wasn’t too much of a let down.

The picture that we took in preparation of our non-existent balloon ride.

Anyways, we ate food truck burgers while we waited.  We almost had another burger disaster when my sister's bag ripped down the side, but she had a much smoother save than I did.  Her burger fortunately never hit the ground.

Big Burger. Small Bag.

A Real Hike

On Saturday morning, after walking around an awesome Franklin neighborhood looking at yard sales with some friends, my sister called to tell me that she was headed to Percy Warner Park for a hike. I threw on some yoga pants, a fleece, a random OU tshirt, and my rarely used North Face hiking shoes (that I had purchased for my Yellowstone trip because they were the only hiking shoes that I could find with a touch of pink on them) and hopped over to the park. If you will remember from my Two Truths and a Tale, I’m not a hiker. And if you know anything about my sister, you know that she is. 

I expected a greenway. Pavement. Mild, rolling hills. Rest areas with water fountains. But this trail? It was dirt and grass and rock and sometimes water. There were steep inclines and areas where I had to sit and scoot to get down off of the ledges. And we hiked for 6.5 miles. And... I liked it! I actually really liked it!

Mossy Ridge Trail - part of our hike at Percy Warner Park

The whole time I kept reassuring myself in conversation my sister:

This is a real hike, right? 

Yes, Emily.

So I can tell people that I went on a hike in the wilderness? 

I mean, you can still hear cars on HWY 100, but sure.

People are so much nicer on nature trails than they are in malls. 

People are nicer when they are in nature. It makes them happy. It's proven.

Hey look, I am climbing a mountain. 

This is just a big hill, but sure.

You have a backpack. You look like such a serious hiker. 

Where do you think that water that you keep drinking is coming from? My backpack.

Look at me! I am really hiking!

Emily, seriously, when is the last time you went on a hike like this?

That one time when I was 14 and we went backpacking….

…Why? When was the last time you went?

Like yesterday.

I loved it. And I didn’t even complain once. AND I asked to go again! I’m a hiker. Who would have thought.

Note to self: Don’t wear any sports paraphernalia unless you actually like the team. People that we passed would see my OU shirt and say things like “How are the boys doing?” or “Boomer Sooner.” or other sports phrases. Next time? I’ll be sure to wear something more appropriate like a "Don't ask me about sports because I like sewing and baking and sky diving and motorcycle riding" tshirt.

I ended my weekend with some hoop practice for the 5k.

And a ride on a child-sized scooter.

I really want a vespa now!

Add in a couple of upcoming holidays, our second annual friendsgiving (with promises of an actual cooked turkey this year), a Nashville visit from a Bestie, and a whole lot of family time and I’ll say that by the time this is over 2012 might just rank pretty high on my “favorite years” list!