it's a great day to go to birmingham

so.

anthony is a nashville native.  but he went to school in texas.
and while he was there, he developed a love for whataburger.

especially the chocolate malts.

a couple of years ago we drove down to texas for a friends wedding and i had MY first whataburger

and yes, it was very good :-)

fast forward: last year a couple of girlfriends and i went to the beach.  destin, fl.
our hotel? right next to a...whataburger.  which until then, i thought only existed in texas.

this year when natasha and i planned out our trip
i specifically planned in a whataburger run
and asked anthony if he wanted me to bring him back anything
his request?
"if you can find dry ice, could you bring me a malt?"

on the way down there, we noticed something.
from birmingham to florida, there were whataburgers in nearly every city along the way.

whataburger is only 3 hours away from nashville.

anthony had NO idea.
when i brought him his malt, i let him think it was from florida.
he remarked on how well it had traveled
(3 hours in regular ice...but he didn't know that!)

meanwhile, my wheels were turning.

i planned this in freaking AUGUST, people :-)

but long story short, he now knows.
(it took 30 minutes of guessing on his part before he said
"wait...there's a WHATABURGER in BIRMINGHAM?!")

we're heading out this morning and hitting up whataburger for lunch.
followed by a visit to birmingham's zoo
(because we love zoos, and why not?)
and dinner at...whataburger again.

hey, we may as well make the most of the trip down there, right? :-)

have a wonderful day!

thursday's ten: the women of faith edition

so...this week is a bit different here at thursday's ten!  i'm so excited to be participating in a really cool program this fall.

1. because i review books for Thomas Nelson through Booksneeze, i was presented with the opportunity to apply to attend a Women of Faith event for FREE.
2. i immediately went to the website and filled out all the info.  i knew that atlanta was probably a pretty popular choice, so i tried not to get my hopes up that i would be selected.
3. a few weeks later, i got a great email informing me that I had been selected!
4. my requirements for going are to post at least 2 blogs about the event, one before and one after as well as to display the nifty little badge you see over there to your right on the blog for at least 30 days.
5. i will TOTALLY be life tweeting the event.  the official hashtag for the WoF Imagine is #wofimage so be sure to follow if you're interested in what's going on there!
6. i received 2 free tickets to the event, and I'm taking my future mother in law.  We will be staying with Anthony's Aunt Tammy while we are there, so we'll get a little family bonding in too :-)  i'm so thankful that God has placed me within such a God-seeking family...a little added bonus to marrying this man i love :-)
7. i honestly have a very limited grasp of what to expect.  BUT i'm actually pretty excited about that.  i'm praying that God will release His Spirit all over that place and that the worship and speakers will be out of this world amazing :-)
8. we leave today after i get off work.  events begin Friday at 9 am sharp, so we may be slightly sleep deprived...but i'm sure staying involved won't be a problem.
9. i can't WAIT to tell you all about it!
10. Have i mentioned i'm excited? :-)

i have wanted to go to a women of faith event since a few years ago when some friends gave me the women of faith devotional for a birthday gift.  i have so appreciated the wisdom and insight from these Godly women, and am thrilled to be able to experience all of this firsthand.  plus, you know me...any chance to take off a weekend and just worship my Papa is a chance i'm going to take!

thursday's ten: on my daily drives

today's ten is a photo journey...and unfortunately not all of them are mine.  as much as i find taking pictures from my car window fun, it's not always the safest thing ever...

photos obtained elsewhere are marked as such :)




please join me in this!  i'd love to see the strange and unusual things around where you call home!

1. batman building

photo from google images

it's the most recognized part of our city's skyline...and i still smile when i see it

2. traffic circle on music row

photo taken by me

natives have their own nicknames for it, but the official name is "musica"

3. "that awful mailbox"

photo by me

i discovered this mailbox years ago when driving to babysitting jobs. it's on a well-traveled street just off the interstate, and it's U-G-L-Y. i don't even know what it's supposed to be...a dead animal? a portion of one? any ideas?

4. krispy kreme

photo courtesy of google images

the original nashville krispy kreme was just down the street from my university (that's right. the ritzy universities got the starbucks and the eclectic shopping areas but WE had easy access to the "hot now" sign.)
clearly, i don't make it a daily stop, but it is nice to indulge every few months :D

5. front yard phonebooth

photo shakily taken by me

somewhere, on a residential street in our fair city, is a family who owns (and is quite proud of) a phonebooth from the UK. i played creepy stalker and took a night picture of it, but i didn't linger TOO long, so it's not a fantastic shot. sorry.

6. odd tours

photo courtesy of google images

photo taken (badly) by me

photo on company website

who wants to see nashville like a normal person? we have the nash trash tours as well as the redneck tours. i've seen both out and about, but only been able to snag a photo of the redneck bus--and in the rain at that! :)

7. walmart valet parking

photo taken by me

i have NO idea what the reason is, but there is a wal-mart in town that has valet service. hilarious...and i want to try it every time!

8. parthenon

photo courtesy of google images

complete with a huge statue of athena...it's a pretty impressive replica. it's also in one of my favorite parks!

9. casino style movie theater

photo courtesy of google image

i kid you not, it's a theater. it's obnoxious, but i don't think anyone in nashville would be able to handle it if it wasn't lit up like this every night :)

10. super secret target parking lot

photo by me

ok...i hesitate to post this. BUT there IS a target in town with a secret lot. i refuse to say which one, but it exists, and here's photo proof, kinda ;)

so...what's a bit different about where YOU live? :)

meal planning tuesday .4

tuesday (today)

breakfast: coffee
lunch: sonic (down the street from where we set the wedding date ;)
dinner: frozen pizza with a's mom (we were discussing wedding stuff)

wednesday
breakfast: bagel/cream cheese, coffee
lunch: leftover shepherd's pie
dinner: taquitos and rice (taking to church since i'm helping lead worship and THEN we're meeting with the minister we want to do our ceremony.  i think i'll have 30 min though to sneak in the kitchen ;))

thursday
breakfast: bagel/cream cheese, coffee
lunch: leftover poppyseed chicken
dinner: taco mac (my invention...i'll share it here one of these days ;)

friday
breakfast: bagel/cream cheese, coffee
lunch: chicken salad, hummus and veggies
dinner: on the road, meeting our friends angie and brian in evansville

saturday
breakfast: coffee
lunch: with my parents
dinner: hopefully at my favorite german place there

sunday
breakfast: coffee
lunch: with my parents
dinner: something quick, since we'll have traveled all afternoon...probably frozen pizza

monday
breakfast: coffee, bagel/cream cheese
lunch: at nanny gig
dinner: greek meatloaf, mashed potatoes

on the road again!

the month of september has been full of travels

and i've mentioned every trip here (i think)

but haven't really shared much about them.

so here's the very quick run-down.  if you're friends with me on facebook you can see the full photo albums!

first up was labor day weekend.  anthony and i climbed into a car and headed with our friends andy and mandy to the awesome city of st louis.

there we

stayed in an awesome hotel

 

(where we played cards -- and slept a few hours)

found angry birds

went to a cardinals/reds game

ate AMAZING food

visited the zoo

and got in a tiny tram and rode to the top of the arch

later that week, i traveled to downtown nashville

where i got to see a bunch of politicians

including...

bill clinton!!

(i'm such a political nerd.  and it doesn't hurt that i kinda love the clintons.)

the following weekend i went with our youth group to the annual retreat.

middle of nowhere

no connection to the outside world (no cell phone service or wifi)

and absolutely a blast

upon returning from the retreat, natasha and i went to our local barnes and noble

where we met

max lucado!

 

fast forward to the following weekend

where anthony and i jumped in my car and headed to indiana

we visited my parents

and hit holiday world with our friends brian and angie

(who got married this past may)

it was SO fun

and has changed a lot!

we'll definitely be back, hopefully once a year at least :)

 

and this past weekend natasha and i went to arkansas

where she showed me all around her college town

we got hit on at sonic

had some great cookies at her favorite little shop there

and shopped a little

and then

we saw jason mraz in concert!

and then

we got soaked by sprinklers

and THEN

we met jason mraz

and on the way home, we stopped by memphis zoo

where i saw penguins

 

 

(i dubbed these two anthony and lora.  heh )

so yes.  if you've kept track that means that in fact i have not spent one friday or saturday night this month in my own bed

and i gotta say,

it's been a FUN month

but i'm so glad to be settled down for the month of october

with only one possible trip out of state

(i think the cat might stop being mad at me too ;-))