Up Late...

I've been having trouble sleeping lately. I'm not sure what it is, I'm blaming the Springtime in the air, and that I've caught Spring Fever! I find myself sleeping with my windows open and fan on-listening to the rumblings of life outside my window. Listening to little girls and their daddies going to the park, the birds trying to find a tree to land on. The occasional security beep of a car, signaling that they are through for the evening, and the tick tick tick of heels headed home. Ahh...life.

Life Lately. I've been staying busy with CrossFit, going faithfully to three classes a week. I'm tellin' ya, they are KILLER! I've successfully flipped tractor tires and raced against my time to get better and faster. I'm not as sore today, which I am thankful for although I'm sure it will hit me hard tomorrow. I've recruited another to CF-my friend Jon. I'm excited to have him come and get tortured with the rest of us. He's getting married in two weeks, SO crazy! I'm super excited and can't wait. I love them both!

To do a brief recap of last weekend, we (the girls and I) thoroughly enjoyed ourselves at the Biltmore. I loved it's rich history and well preserved essence. We wandered through the gardens and investigated the Conservatory (Which was incredible, it was the Festival of Flowers while we were there), explored the four floors of the 175,000 square ft. house (not all of it, of course). It's hard to say what my favorite part of the house was, seeing as I could totally (and will!) return for many more tours of the building and grounds. We were able to go to the Winery, which used to be the old dairy farm; and have free wine tasting. I purchased a great bottle of Riesling for some special occasion, who knows when.

I've had a pretty busy week, working and various evening events. Friday Trish and I headed to Murfreesboro to purchase Trish's new bedroom furniture and to do a little shopping (taking advantage of Tax Free Weekend...) and dinner at Red Robin. Saturday I endured my CrossFit class and then after showering (we were really dirty) Katie, Preston and I hit the Main Street Festival in downtown Franklin. Can I just say that I love living in Franklin? I love the festivals, the small townness- the quaintness of it all.

Preston and I finally learned a valuable lesson at the Festival, that Carnival rides and Roller Coasters are NOT the same thing. We set out to conquer a few carnival rides (after our King Corn Dog and Funnel Cake, of course); and after deciding on the Boat (you know, the one that goes back and forth) and "Superman", we were sold. The Boat should have been our first red warning flag. The six year old who sat in front of us was completely unaware that there were two twenty-somethings about to lose their lunch right behind her. After recovering from the Boat, we chose Superman for our next adventure. Sharing a uni-seat should have been the second red flag, and coming in a close third is the "uni-belt" we had to share. Preston turns to me and says: "tighten that up. we are going to die." I'm so glad that I have an encouraging friend with me! We start out backwards (never a good thing) and are quickly lifted to the top and spinning quite fast. What did it for me was the music that was playing. I had originally been excited that there was music on this ride, but as we were spinning faster and faster, the music was becoming more and more distorted, reminding me that I was stuck at a freaky carnival out of a movie or something. My hands were sweaty, both Preston and I are vocalizing the noises our stomachs were making...you get the picture. We finally stop and we both almost keel over from the pain. We finally meet back up with Katie (who said, "Told ya!" when we walked up) and relaxed for a bit before heading to Pinkerton Park to chill. What a great day!

Today we kicked off our youth Small Group at church, we are totally pumped about it! I'm excited for the summer, it's gonna be good. I had dinner at Kyle's to meet a great couple (friends of his) who are thinking about moving to Nashville. I was able to catch up with a few friends that I haven't seen in a while and just laugh. We shared old stories (mainly some of my series of unfortunate events...) and enjoyed each other's company. It was a great time and I'm glad to meet Chris and Jaclyn!

I have the next two days off, and I'm up entirely too late, but hey, isn't that what days off are for?


I had an absolutely wonderful time with the girls this weekend at the Biltmore. I'll post more later, but enjoy these snapshots for now.

Lately I've been loving answering some of the email "quizzes" I've been receiving. Here's on I got just today, and thought it was interesting.

What I was doing 10 years ago:

-Finishing my first year of High School
-First knee injury
-First date

Five things on my to-do list this week:

-Send in my tax payment
-Go to the Zoo
-Decide if I am going to the Dove's
-Make a hair appt
-Be tortured by CrossFit

Places I have traveled:

-Mexico
-Japan
-Carribean
-VA Beach (my fave so far in USA)


Things I would do if I were a billionaire:

-Have a ROCKIN' house
-Have an car that works :)
-Travel
-Share money with family and church family
-Enjoy a vacation:)

Five of my bad habits:

-Popping my knuckles occasionally
-Slight OCD (it even annoys me)
-Don't like to drive. Ever.
-Running out of gas
-Wearing flipflops too much in the summer

Five places I have lived:

-Louisville
-Taylorsville
-Franklin
-Nashville
-Brentwood

Five jobs I’ve had:

-Chiropractic Assistant
-Nanny
-Membership Coordinator (YMCA)
-Lifeguard (My fave)
-Wedding/Reception Coordinator



I'm sorry it's been a few days since my last post, but I've been hoppin'! I'll start with last weekend :).

Friday Katie Carr (good friend from home) was in town visiting, and my schedule worked out so that I could see her and her new baby for a bit! Katie and I were able to catch up and run some errands before she headed out on the earliest Saturday morning flight back to Colorado. After hanging with Katie and Lily, I caught up with Trish for a late night chat. Our great idea to walk to the top of a hill in her new development was quickly aborted when Trish tried to "dash" across the mud-leaving her shoe in it! We got some good laughs and just sat on the front porch talking and enjoying the nice weather.

Saturday was a early morning! Mark and Natalie Munden were married on Saturday afternoon, so the ladies and I attacked the main room at Woodbine to prepare for the reception. The wedding was great, and the reception (which I coordinated) went off smoothly. Those of us who were left after the reception tear down opted for a calm dinner at a local Mexican place, and I was spent!

Sunday-MY BIRTHDAY! I had a great morning at church, breakfast with a friend, and then lunch with my parents who came in town. We ate at a little place in Opryland Hotel, then did a little shopping at OpryMills. I had just enough time to run home and freshen up before heading to San Antonio Taco Co. (known around here as SATCO) for a birthday party. I picked up Katie (whose birthday is also on the 13th) and we headed down to party. I was so excited to see that almost everyone had made it out! My favorite was that my pastor and his whole crew made it out-even the little Lamb, Wilson (their last name is Lamb..ha ha) You can see the photos here.

Monday was the start of my CrossFit training that my employer's so amazingly gave me as a birthday gift. It was another hard workout, my legs are still hurtin! I went again yesterday (wednesday) and we flipped tractor tires. Now that, I'm proud of. Those things were darn heavy, and I did it!

That's a quick wrap up of last weekend, and I'm sure next week I'll have much to say about this weekend as well. The girls and I (Trish, Katie and Lindsey) are headed to Knoxville and Asheville to see the Biltmore Estate. I'm so excited, I've always wanted to see it!

I love Starbucks, I do. I'm not into the "frou frou" drinks if you will; I enjoy a nice medium roast tall coffee ( with cream and sugar, please!) almost daily. As I was stopping in for my morning treat, I noticed my favorite house blend wasn't on the menu; it was replaced by the new Pike Place daily brew. I'm always up for an adventure, so I asked for the new brew. As I was driving away, I noticed the signature brown sleeve was gone as well. "What on earth is going on?" I thought. I looked down, and noticed (and felt) a change in the cup. Seems as though Starbucks is revamping it's look to promote a new "old" feel, look and brew. You can read more about the changes here. The Pike Place blend was ok, not my favorite House Blend, but better than some I have tasted.
Also with the changes on the cups, the adored "The Way I See It" quotes are missing from their walls.
In their honor, here are some of my favorite quotes I've read over time:

The Way I See It

I used to think that going to the jungle made my life an adventure. However, after years of unusual work in exotic places, I realize that it is not how far off I go, or how deep into the forest I walk that gives my life meaning. I see that living life fully is what makes life – anyone’s life, no matter where they do or do not go – an adventure.

-- Maria Fadiman
Geographer, ethnobotanist and National Geographic Emerging Explorer.


Playing in an independent rock band will eventually make you equal parts truck driver, gladiator and mule. Glamour is for those with trust funds.

-- Neko Case
Musician.

Music is what I always turn to when I’m feeling a certain way. It’s my reason for everything.

-- Josh Groban
Musician.

Well, I'm a day late in posting this, but HAPPY BIRTHDAY JON! Yesterday (April 8th) was my good friend (and basically brother) Jon's 26th birthday. Bethany (his fiance) got a group of us together to celebrate last night at Nacho's, a great Mexican place in town. We enjoyed laughing, listening to awesome music the DJ played, and played Trivia! We actually won...GO TEAM!
The funniest part of the night was when I was just chattin' away, and suddenly my back was wet and cold. A waiter accidentally spilled water all over me, my chair and the floor. I had the momentary shock while everyone was laughing, but then happily joined it. It was hilarious, and I mean, c'mon. It was bound to happen to me with my luck. The best part is that later in the evening I stood up and noticed that right behind my chair was a large, yellow CAUTION: WET sign. I mean, seriously? :)
After Nachos, just a few of us were left so we headed to Downtown Franklin for a little bit o' Red Pony. We sat on the back deck and enjoyed listening to Bethany and Jon tell hilarious stories about each other. Can I just say, I'm SO glad they are getting married??? I LOVE her!

I'm a believer now. My friends have talked about Crossfit for some time now (ok, like two years) but there hasn't been an actual Crossfit studio in my area-until now. Katie told me that she had signed up with some friends, and it had been kicking her butt ever since. I went today on my first free visit; and became a follower.
"CrossFit is a strength and conditioning system based on functional movements performed at a high- intensity while incorporating variation among planes of movements and metabolic pathways. CrossFit is designed for universal scalability."

Basically, it means an hour of intense pain. At least, that's how it was for me. Todays workout consisted of:
500meter row
40 squats
30 situps
20 pushups
10 pullups (I did assisted, I was weak)
THEN- we went outside to do more strength training.....
20 Kettlerows (weighted things you swing from a squatted position to over your head)
10 single leg step ups onto a plyo box
20 "focus" jumps (jump and "stick" it)
Lunges down the pavement.
Oh, and did I mention that the second part, we did THREE times?
Yeah, OW. Holy OW. I was DYING. But, I'll be back on Monday evening! And I can't wait. The trainers that run CrossFit (ironically both named Steve) are incredible. They are super encouraging and fun to work out with. I'm doing to enjoy my times of pain with them.
After we were all moaning and dying of pain, the trainers suggested we all go to brunch. I loved it! I am so excited about this new venture on many levels. One, it's a great and fun way to get in shape. Two, meeting new people. Just today I met a new chiropractor which I'm SUPER excited about. Three, just having fun in a different way. I'm a person who loves to see change, and I'm excited it's going to happen in my body! Everything was timed today, so I'm looking forward to Monday and beating my current time.

Until then, It's no high heels and wobbling as I walk. I'm THAT sore.

Just a quick shout out to my cousin Nick, and his wife Lara. They welcomed their first baby boy, Ari Nicholas Brown into this world yesterday afternoon. He weighed 7lbs 10oz and has a head of dark hair. Both mom and Ari are doing well.

I'll post photos soon!

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