New Jobs

I am no longer unemployed! Yay! I just finished my first week as a 3rd-4th grade ELL "Push-In" teacher in Metro Nashville Public Schools. I am working with 8 students who are in 3rd and 4th grade who are English Language Learners a.k.a. English as a Second Language students. I have 3 students from Somalia, 2 from Kenya, 1 from El Salvador, 1 from Puerto Rico and 1 from Mexico. I have two 1-hour reading sessions when I pull them out of their classroom. The rest of the day, I am going between both grade levels and supporting the teacher and students in the regular education classroom. It's such a blessing to have a teaching job...but one that is WAY less stressful than managing an all-day kindergarten class. Even though I loved my kindergartners...I miss those little munchkins!

My second job is an independent distributor of Shaklee products. (See previous post) I would love to talk to you about these products if you're interested! You can visit my personal Shaklee site at www.shaklee.net/tennessee.

I'm also working a few hours a week as the assistant to Don Chaffer of the band Waterdeep. Don and Lori have become great friends of ours and moved to Nashville from KC just a few weeks before we did. I am a longtime fan of their music. If you don't have their latest album, Pink and Blue...you should! It is a super fun album with melodies I have become addicted to. They are amazingly talented people and have some other great things in the works. Stay tuned to www.waterdeep.com.

Please Pray!

These are my grandparents, Roger & Sara Williams. They are two of the most important people in my life and are the foundation of my family. Last week, we found out that my grandma has a brain tumor. We are hopeful that it is not cancerous and that it is operable. She has an appointment on Thursday, 10/8 at the Mayo Clinic. Please pray that God gives the doctors and surgeons there wisdom. My grandma knows Jesus and is an amazing prayer warrior. She has peace and faith in the midst of this scary situation. She is a beautiful, vibrant, fun, energetic and active woman of God. We pray that she can be healed and return home to the people and life she loves. Thanks for praying!

Going Green

Hey, friends. So...I'm up to something new. I am now an independent distributor of Shaklee products. Ever heard of Shaklee? It's the #1 Natural Nutrition Company in the U.S. I love what the company stands for and believe in the products so much, that I have decided to sell them.

"Going Green" does not only mean recycling, conserving water, and driving a hybrid car. Green living can really have a huge impact on the health of your family. Many household cleaners and personal care products that we use everyday can be contributing to common health problems. Your shampoo, for example, might not be as safe as you think it is! Not to mention that bleach you are using in your kitchen! Shaklee are proven safe for your family and safe for the environment....and they are proven to be more effective than many green products you will find in stores. All products have a 100% money back guarantee. You can return anything you are not satisfied with...no questions asked!

Please click here to visit My Shaklee website and see what you think! I'd love to talk with you more about making your home safe and investing in your health! It's all about prevention!

My Porcelain Perspective

Some people might call it a "staycation". A vacation at home away from work and other bothersome things....like showering, eating, getting dressed, and stepping into daylight. You could also think of it as an intense detox, rapid weight-loss program. A stomach boot-camp, if you will. I just call it food poisoning. Not fun, people. Not fun. I lost 8 pounds in 4 days and logged in 72+ hours of HGTV...which happened to be the only channel that did not nauseate me. It's amazing how much food there is on TV when you're trying to avoid seeing anything resembling food. I do not wish that upon anyone. However, Billy was the best nurse and diligently took care of me and brought me Gatorade and US weekly.

This is a picture of my first outing back among the living. We went to Arrington Vineyards (owned by Kix Brooks) which is about 30 minutes away from Nashville with our friends Luke & Rebekah. It is a gorgeous area of land where you can do wine tastings, listen to live music and pretend to fit in with incredibly fancy people. We brought our own picnic dinner and just sat on the hill with the other peasants and enjoyed the beautiful scenery and music. Wineless, but free. It was soo relaxing and fun. Yes...I did shower.

Yeah...I'm crafty

Several of my friends have had birthdays recently. I love remembering birthdays and sending cards and gifts. Mostly because I know how happy I feel when people remember my birthday! It's September 25th, by the way. (Wink!) Funds this month are extremely tight, so I had to get creative with cards, mix CD's, cheap candy etc. Here are a few of my recent creations.

The Full Report

OK...So, many friends have been requesting an update on our jobs, house, church, etc. So here's the skinny. We have been in Nashville almost 6 weeks. It has been a really hard transition in some ways. There have definitely been some tears and hard days. But we are so excited each day to wake up and see what is going to happen! We have found encouragement in many unexpected ways.

For me, not having the safety net of a consistent job has been very stressful. I have to pray daily that God will help me trust Him to provide for us. We know we're in the right place. We have seen Him move in small, but powerful ways. Not the least of which is already having a small network of great friends that are here to help us, give us advice, and have fun with.

Job: I have been on many interviews and have put out many resumes. I was offered a really great teaching position at a wonderful school in Williamson County (a suburb of Nashville) but decided to turn it down. I feel that I would just be taking a teaching job for the security that it would provide. I have other passions and interests that I would like to pursue and am trying to find a job that will better suit my gifts and need for creativity and interaction with people..for now at least. Now is the time to try to make a change. I can always go back to teaching next year. SO....I'm still on the job hunt!

Church: There are many awesome churches in Nashville so it was exciting to visit several of them over the past 6 weeks. I believe that we have found the perfect fit at Strong Tower Bible Church. Our friends, Luke and Rebekah, are members there. Luke is the music director there so Billy already had the opportunity to play last week, which was a huge blessing. We absolutely love it there and are excited to get involved and meet more people. Click here if you want to visit the church's website.

House: We are renting a house in an area of town called 12 South. We are just 3 blocks away from 12th Ave. South which is a row of really hip boutiques, restaurants, coffee shops and other businesses. We are just 5 minutes from downtown and 5 minutes from Vanderbilt University. We LOVE the location and have great neighbors. The house was built in 1950, so it's old and has some issues...and some gigantic spiders. However, we are so thankful that God provided us with a safe, affordable place to live. Here are a few pics.

Below are a couple of projects I completed last month for our house that would make Martha Stewart proud. I made a curtain to cover our pantry opening in the kitchen with clearance fabric from a store near our house. I also painted and put new hardware on an old desk that belonged to Billy's step-dad, Harty, and it looks brand new! Both projects cost less than $35 combined.

Celeb Sightings: And now...the important stuff. "What famous people have you seen???!!" Here are the sightings so far in order of appearance.

1. Leigh Nash: Sixpence None the Richer

2. A Jars of Clay dude

3. A Kings of Leon dude

4. Buddy Miller: Famed Guitar Player, most recently played with Robert Plant & Allison Krause

5. Jeremy Cowart: Photographer

6. Dave Barnes: Singer/Songwriter

7. Matt Wertz: Singer/Songwriter

8. Vince Gill!

9. Justin Gaston: Model/Miley Cyrus' ex-boyfriend

10. Toby Mac: DC Talk

11. Kevin Max: DC Talk

12. Reeves Gabrels: Guitarist for David Bowie

13. Audley Freed: Guiarist for The Black Crowes

More updates to come!

Green Day Show

On July 31st, Billy and I were VIP's at the Green Day show here in Nashville. Yes. We are that famous already. Oh, and a longtime friend of Billy's, Jeff Matika, is now a guitarist for the band. So, he might have had something to do with it. I did some self-reflection during the concert. Here are my thoughts in a nutshell...

Top 10 Things I learned at the Green Day Concert:

1. I'm old.

2. The dudes in Green Day are older.

3. There are a lot of teenagers in Nashville who are filled with fake "political angst".

4. I didn't realize I knew the words to so many Green Day songs.

5. The Green Day stage banter is exactly like stage banter at a Third Day concert...only it's the opposite of that.

6. I'm annoyed with crowd participation and screaming.

7. Once again, I'm old.

8. Hearing "I Hope You Had the Time of Your Life" in a large arena will surprisingly bring a tear to my eye.

9. I'm a sucker for fireworks and confetti falling from the ceiling.

10. I could get used to being a VIP at concerts.