Opportunity Knocked

I've been looking forward to this past weekend all week! That might sound strange, but I knew it was our first weekend to not have to drive all the way back and forth to Chattanooga and not have a ton of plans.
For starters, Friday was my first day on a temporary job at a healthcare company here in Nashville. It went really well and I'm looking forward to seeing how it pans out. Brent got off work early on Friday so we headed downtown to Nashville to eat dinner and hang out. It was one of those nights that we really missed having our BFFs in town to call up at the last minute to go hang out with us but we got over it and just enjoyed spending the time just the two of us. (Besides we knew we would see them the next day! WOO HOO)

We went to the Old Spaghetti Factory for dinner then walked around the heart of the city to all the different bars and places with live music. All the live musicians in Nashville are basically up and coming country artists, and they are INCREDIBLE. We ended up at this place that had a pool table so Brent and I played pool for a while, then hit up the dart board. We had a great time just hanging out together enjoying the fact that we are official Nashvillians! We ended the evening by having dessert at the Melting Pot which was INCREDIBLE. I can't even find the words to describe the amazing chocolate fondue experience, just know if you ever have the opportunity to go - DO IT! check out their website if you're interested: http://www.meltingpot.com/


Saturday was another incredible day! We were so fortunate to be invited to share in Brittany's First Mother's Day. Jimmy is so great and creative - he planned a special day for her as a complete surprise. Saturday morning we woke up and drove about 1 hour away to Cumberland State Park which is on Monteagle Mtn. We decided to take Fletcher with us for his first hike. He was so dang excited he wouldn't even abandon his "post" as Brent's co-pilot:




We had a great time - we got to meet some interesting characters at the visitor's center (Britt and I didn't think we'd ever get away from her sweetness) After following her directions, she turned around a few times and EVENTUALLY found the trails we wanted to hike.
We arrived at Foster Falls and had a little picnic lunch. We started out on our adventures on the trails and had a blast. To make the day full of more firsts, we took Fletcher with us on his first trail hike and Brittany and Jimmy brought Ada for her first hike as well! Here's a great picture of Jimmy and Brent with their "children":



We had so much fun just taking our time on the hike, talking and enjoying the beautiful day. Fletcher did really great as did Ada - she fell asleep in fact! It was so sweet.
Here she is packed up and ready to go for her first hike:

After seeing our first "critter" - a snake - we were all on alert to pay attention for any other unwanted fellow hikers, but we had no problems for the rest of the day! We kept walking and came across a group of rock climbers which was REALLY neat to watch. Very impressive.

We hiked back up the trail and decided we were all getting hungry. We stopped a little outdoor supply store that Jimmy had heard about in Tracy City which is where we found out about Shenanigan's - supposedly the best hamburger around the area! We were excited as Brittany and I were both ravished.
Shenanigan's was incredible - just within walking distance from Sewanee's campus, the quaint restaurant was great. Brent was little nervous about the overall soundness of the building, but the food was well worth it! We all sat on the front porch and ate our hamburgers and friend zucchini while Ada snoozed away and Fletcher took a break from barking in the truck.




It's always difficult for the four of us to ever find an end to conversation, so we continued our time together with a little ice cream from the Mountain Breeze. Ironically enough, this cute little ice cream shop (literally in front of Shenanigan's) carried ice cream from Clumpie's, which is a Chattanooga-based business. They also had dog treats from Bone A Petit - another Chattanooga-based business! This cute little place had an AWESOME front porch with more rocking chairs, which became our "camp site" for the next three hours as the five of us (Ada was awake now) sat outside ate ice cream and eventually coffee, and just talked and had fun together - just like we know how!



We all decided that this might become a great meeting place for the "Montikers" as it is exactly at the half way mark for both us - from Nashville and from Chattanooga - not to mention it was incredibly beautifully and so much fun!

Sunday we we visited a new church - we're still on the hunt for a church. There are literally different churches on every corner in Nashville. We've visited Brentwood Baptist during their Tuesday even service - Kairos - which is INCREDIBLE! Brent and I both decided we wouldn't jump right into church membership, but instead take our time and find the right fit for us. We know there's not a perfect church, but we know there's a perfect fit for us. We visited Bethel World Outreach today and really enjoyed it. They had a special Mother's Day service - they sang Boyz II Men's "Mama" as a special and it was great! Brent and I both thought that was really neat, but of course it made us both miss our Mamas.
Anyway, it's been a great weekend - we are both so fortunate to live in this wonderful city with the support of all our friends and family.

I liked Brent's tradition of three things I've learned, so I'm totally copying him and doing it here now.
Three things I've learned this week living in Nashville:

1. The storms here are REALLY scary! They are literally a whole 'nother animal - the trees outside our apartment are literally bending in half with all the winds. It seems like we have tornado watches all around us every time a storm system comes through.

2. Dave Ramsey comes on every day from 1-3pm and I love it.

3. Traffic on Old Hickory Blvd is RIDICULOUS at any given point during the day, no matter what day, no matter what time. Bottom line. It doesn't change - EVER