Pure Goodness

So there I was. I had run 4.3 miles, rounded up some moving boxes, taken a hot bath, eaten some summer sausage as a late dinner (I know – what on earth? WHY do I have two gigantic summer sausages in my fridge?), and was wearing my flannel duck pajamas (don’t judge), ready to turn…

In September of 2007, I was cruising through Kansas as a part of The Big Trip, en route to Nashville. My über-talented sister-in-law, Ashley, gave me the gift of some pictures to use for promoting my music – we spent hours in a field, and then at a barn, and then in a parking lot…

I am an introvert through and through. I love silence and solitude and being totally reclusive, blocking out the world and screening my phone calls and reading and writing and thinking, nesting and organizing and never saying a word. If I’ve had a week in which I’ve had too much going on or too many…

Last week, the stars aligned. First, my friend Debbie dropped me an email, seemingly out of the blue, asking me if I read any Annie Dillard. My reaction: does Rick Astley shake his groove thang? Annie Dillard is breathtaking – one of my favorite writers. Her “Living Like Weasels” makes me want to throw a…

It is 2003. I am at a Seattle coffee shop with the two boys I used to nanny for, then 3 and 5; I am ordering them hot chocolates. We find a Magic 8 ball by the cash register. Annie: Oh, you guys! Check this out – you shake it and ask it a question,…

It’s been a long time. I was starting to think that the day would never come. But finally, after days and weeks and months of absolute agony, the moment has finally arrived: I am in a good mood. A genuinely good mood. Welcome, Fall. You have been missed. The people of Nashville tell me that…

Confession: I haven’t felt like going to church lately. Blame it on the fact that this is the first time in my life when I haven’t HAD to go to church. As a pastor’s daughter, and then a student at a Christian university, and then a worship leader and church employee, it’s easy to think…

Many cool things happened this weekend. In what is becoming a regular occurrence for me, I met up with a blog stranger who turned out to be awesome in real life as well as on the interwebs. I went to the Bluebird, which never disappoints. I got my car washed for the first time in…

I knew I could count on you. The music suggestions that you gave me this past week have succeeded in breaking me out of my same ol’ same ol’ playlists, and expanded my musical horizons. I have been stretched, I have been grown, I have been challenged, and for this, I thank you. I also…

I have found my fair share of things to complain about here in Nashville. I’ve already talked about the heat – although I’m not sure that my words have conveyed the depth of my suffering. There are street corners that flagrantly (not fragrantly) reek of sewage – by the Wendy’s on West End, or across…