Kelly: "My brother from another mother"
These guys are like 2 peas in a pod. Here, they are demonstrating a wide variety of 'knuckle' bumps. The top one is "parallel parking" and the bottom one is in a garage...
Needless to say, these 2 are very entertaining around each other.

On our back porch!

Fi-Fi trying to be one of the girls...Cherie and Fiona bonded on Saturday night after she consoled Cherie with her sun burn..

We were in a shoe shopping mode - here, we take a moment to think of a great friend from TVFCU: Carla. She LOVES shoes - especially really cute, impractical ones like these Betsy Johnson ones!

Cherie really wanted to go out with us on Saturday night. She even bought some adorable "Betty Boop" shoes and decided that even though she wasn't going out with us, she was still going to put them on and lay on the couch. ha ha

(evidence of her sunburn is seen here with her little lobster legs - ouch!)

Melting Pot!! YUM

Kelly and Cherie from Chattanooga paid us a little visit this past weekend! We had so much fun hanging out.

That's right - we got to see our bestest buds for the FOURTH weekend in a row on Friday! Jimmy, Brittany and Ada were traveling through Nashville on their way to Memphis to see Jimmy's family and decided to spend the night with us!
We drove through some incredible neighborhoods in Brentwood. Brittany gave us a little taste of what it would be like to be in the paparazzi - she was fully utilizing her new telescopic lens for her camera, hnging out the window taking some incredible shots! They were great.




We decided on Bonefish Grille for dinner and headed to that direction: 1 1/2 hour way! WHOAH, but we knew we could kill some time talking and catching up.
Unfortunately after 1 1/2 hours the table STILL wasn't ready and the Montiker clan had turned into "grizzlies" over starvation. We decided pizza back at the apartment sounded more fun that waiting any longer.
The boys brought home Scholotzsky's and we had a fun, uneventful evening at home with our buddies!

Here's Ada - she's REALLY growing up and I realized I haven't posted a picture of her in forever:


and I think this shot just shows how much she's looking more and more like her beautiful mommy:



We've been really fortunate to get to see the Moncriefs quite frequently since we've moved to Nashville - in fact, probably more than we did when we lived 3 miles away from them!
Even though we had less than 18 hours together (8 of those sleeping), we still had a great time, as always!

Saturday was really uneventful for Brent and I - we went to Starbucks (aka FiveBucks as Brent calls it) with the Moncriefs, they headed out for Memphis and we drove around a few Community Yard Sales. I must say they were a JOKE!! Most of the houses had one puny little card table of "treasures" - we didn't even get out of the car.

We headed back home and took a "nap" - for THREE hours!! it was great.

Sunday we tried a few more churches - yes, I said a few more because we became over achievers and tried TWO churches this week! Neither one of them ended up being anything that we're looking for and we actually left both services early. For the sake of their ministry's reputation (and the fact that they are in fact ministering to people) I will leave out their names this week!
Brent played softball with his work team on Sunday and I got to meet a few of the fans, who are wives and family members of his co-workers. I think we have a new friendship in the making with a guy and his wife that Brent works with. They've already asked us out on a "date" but we couldn't go - plus, I think the relationship was moving a little fast to go out already... ha ha

I am sure this week will be eventful - I have a big decision to make about my job situation.
Stay tuned!

I officially received a job offer from the non-profit that I've been interviewing with over the past few weeks. The problem is that I'm working temporarily through a staffing company at a MUCH larger corporation in Nashville and it looks like they are going to offer me a great position.
I have until Tuesday to make a decision and for the big corporation to figure out what they will offer me.
I've updated the nonprofit so they know I have another offer on the table.

Thankfully I have a few days to figure it all out!
I just cannot believe that I've only been here in Nashville for 3 weeks and have not one, but two offers on the table.

GOD IS GOOD!!

So I was hoping Brent would post something about his first experience this week at Stand-Up comedy, but he hasn't.

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

So last night we decided to grill outside on our porch. This might not seem like a big deal, but in our lease agreement, it says we aren't allowed to do any grilling within 20 feet of the building. (When we moved in, Casey sat in the parking lot - literally - and grilled our moving crew hamburgers and hotdogs.)
Anyway, Brad and Casey live right down the road from us and they grill on their back porch (same rules) and have never gotten caught, so we thought we would try to grill without getting in trouble. There are a few differences: 1. Brad and Casey have a propane grill 2. We have a charcoal, open flame grill 3. we live in different complexes
But at any rate, we decided to try.
The building we live in faces the woods, so there are no buildings behind us which is really nice and gives us an even better chance of not getting caught.
So we sit down to eat and there's a knock on our door! I freaked out - Brent looked at me and all I said was, "it's the grill!!" He looks through the peephole and it's the dang UPS guy - we had a delivery!! We both thought it was so funny - and who knows if we'll try to grill again.


Here's a picture of our grill on our back porch:

When Becca and I decided to do a blog the name fit perfectly with our story. Dictionary.com states that the word Opportunity is an appropriate or favorable time or occasion or a good position, chance, or prospect, as for advancement or success. There comes a time in life where you have to wonder is there more in life than what I am experiencing. Becca and I have always been ones to take risks and Nashville is one of those risks. I remember walking back from lunch with a very successful CPA and I asked her, what would you do different in life if you could be 26 again? What I wanted was to learn from someone who was a success and since I was 26, I was going to take this lesson to heart. She looked me directly in the eyes and stated, I would do more things afraid. She continued to tell me that she didn't take risks when she was young because of the fear of failure. Wow, I was just making conversation but ended up taking a nugget of truth from someone who had experienced this life lesson. I promised myself that I would start doing things afraid and every since then it has been a blast! I took Becca to a really nice steakhouse the other day just to thank her for the encouragement she provides while chasing opportunities. I was handed the bill and I was afraid! Just kidding, it was totally worth it! You can't put a price on encouragement, especially from the love of your life.

So here is the deal. Becca and I wanted to move, I applied and received a really neat job. Becca provides details, I provide the summaries and the deep thoughts. God has been good to us and he has opened doors that have been really neat. I will keep you updated on our adventures and our exciting events!

Things I like about Nashville:
1. Steve Harvey morning show (freaking hilarious!)
2. Dipping Dots that is located 1/4 mile away from the apartment
3. The huge houses everywhere!
4. There are 122 restaurants within 1 square mile of my office building!

Opportunties that are coming:
1. Stand up comedy open mic night....this will be blogged!
2. Tennesse Titans Football games!
3. The opportunity to learn about this game they call hockey!

We've had a crazy busy last 2 weeks as I'm sure you can imagine! Brent was in Nashville for one week without me starting his new job and trying to get adjusted to a new city. In the mean time, I was in Chattanooga with plenty to do!! Not only did wrapping up my job take much longer and become more difficult than I could have imagined, but my grandfather became unexpectedly ill and admitted to the ICU. I ended up staying with grandmother the last 2 nights I was in Chattanooga just to make sure she didn't get too lonely home alone.
(he's doing MUCH better - he's at home and it appears after a mis-diagnosis of gastric paresis, that actually he just had a SEVERE stomach virus)
SoI've been in Nashville for 11 days now! WOO HOO I went on 2 interviews last week for a great opportunity at a non-profit here in Nash-town. Hopefully I'll hear something about that in the next 2 weeks.
It still doesn't seem like we're permanent residents of this huge city - especially after a crazy-busy past few weekends.
I am pretty sure just about all my closest friends are pregnant right now, which can only mean one thing: BABY SHOWERS!! It just reminds me of those few years post-college when it seemed like every weekend was spent at either a wedding shower, a bachelorette party or the actually wedding itself! Now, pretty much the same thing but it's all about babies!! My great friend, Melissa, is due in July (aren't you proud - I remembered the month) so we headed to Chattanooga this past weekend for her baby shower. It was really nice - her girl friends hosted a BEAUTIFUL tea and everyone was dressed up, "derby-style" to make the shower even sweeter.
After the shower, Brittany, Ada, Jessica and I headed downtown to search for Jimmy - I love to brag about having a good friend who is a triathalete. He is amazing and you should check out his blog (My Path to the Ironman) which chronicles his amazing journey as he trains for his first Ironman this fall.
Ok done with the sales pitch - anyway, we were successful at finding him on his bike after riding for almost 8 hours as he completed the 3 state, 3 mountain century. For my fellow non-bikers, that means he biked 100 miles!!! He's a hoss and I'm proud to claim him as a friend (Even though the feeling might not be mutual and he might not claim me... ha ha)


These pictures are from our wedding day three years ago. Left to right: Mel, Britt, Me, Katie and Kristi.

And of course, the other halves that help make up the "UTC couples" group: Kevin, Jimmy, Brent, Dusty and Nathan.
Hard to believe that all but Brent and I will be parents before the year is over!!


We were able to round the majority of the UTC clan (sans Antonio, Straits and Cranes) and eat dinner at Blue Plate in Downtown Chattanooga before we headed back home to Nashville (that's still strange to say). Unfortunately, Ada wasn't up for partying with us at BP and the Moncriefs were forced to cut the evening short. Poor Ada got off schedule early on Saturday due to all the day's festivities and the partying caught up with her due to MAJOR lack of sleep.

Anyway, Jessica, Brent and I headed back to Nashville - we had a great short road trip. Jessica and I have known each other for more than 5 years and it's sad to say that this trip was the longest she and I had ever talked...it continues to solidify that this crazy group of friends I have from college makes absolutely no sense at all, yet we continue in our friendship after all these years and somehow our differences make us even greater friends! I love my "UTC girls" - Katie, Kristi, Mel, Jess and Britt!!

I promise I'll try not to make all my posts novels - I'm trying to get caught up to the last few weeks adventures.
I also have to work on posting pictures - my cable for my camera to upload pictures is M.I.A :( but I'll figure out something!