The Past Week and a Half...

...has been a wonderful, exciting, fun, busy blur. About a week and a half ago (not this past Wednesday, but the Wednesday before), the girls from the Sunday School class Dave and I have recently joined (which we love, by the way!) met at Sopapilla's in Brentwood for a girls' night out and baby shower for two of the girls in our class, Whitney and Becca, who are each about to welcome Baby #3, both boys. They are brave gals! Also in attendance was Elizabeth, who at that point was expecting little Miss Caroline three short days later (although unfortunately for Elizabeth, she'd made baby Caroline such a nice home that the wee one had no intentions of entering the big wide world in a timely fashion...they finally induced yesterday, so many congrats to the Saffle family on Baby #1!). It is truly "baby season" in our little class and makes David and me look forward to jumping on the baby train with the others in a couple of short years. I think we're one of only two couples who doesn't have children (or isn't expecting), but our time will come (I can't wait!). It was so fun to catch up with these ladies over sangria and yummy Mexican. Sopapilla's is one of our favorite spots, and a highlight that night was Carrie Underwood and crew dining at the table behind us (!!!!). They are a great, fun group of women and are awesome wives and mamas, and I look forward to getting to know them better in the coming months and years. In spite of the fact that most of them have seven to ten years on Dave and me age wise, we feel like we connect with them in a lot of ways, probably because our "stage" (selling house #1, buying house #2, almost done with grad school, in a career, married for a year, thinking towards kiddos) is ahead of our ages.

That Friday night, Dave and I went out to celebrate! He received an unexpected, unscheduled, merit-based raise that Friday (April 22), which definitely deserved a celebration, and to top it off, he was turning 24 that Sunday (Easter Sunday, the 24th!). Guess where he wanted to go? Sopapilla's, of course. Good thing they have lots of options on that menu and I was able to change it up from Wednesday.

Sunday, April 24 was Easter. It's always one of my favorite holidays, especially since my daddy has been in Heaven--what could be better than the promise of eternal life, which assures that we will be reunited with those we love who have gone before us? David, Mom, and me were up bright and early for the sunrise service at Brentwood United Methodist, which took place outside in the garden adjacent to the Columbarium, where my dad is buried. Kaye Harvey, the minister who married us, did the service. Oddly enough, she and my mama are about to be neighbors when mom moves to Westhaven next week. After the service, Dave and I got the lily that we had bought in memory of our dads from the sanctuary and put it on my daddy's grave. Dave was such a good sport, donning a lime green silk tie and pink and white paisley handkerchief (not his favorite, hah!) with his tan suit to match my Lilly Pulitzer dress (aqua with pink and green roses--such fun!). I wish we had taken pictures, but I think we're recycling those outfits for our church directory photos this week, so you'll get to see them then. After church, Dave, mama, and me had coffee at Panera. Later in the afternoon, we all re-convened at Boxwood Bistro for Easter/birthday brunch, which was INCREDIBLE (especially the fresh mimosas--yum!). I gave Dave his little gifts, which included two pretty ties and a hanky (NOT pink, hah) from J. McLaughlin and the Vineyard Vines flip flops he'd been lusting after for a year. I also told him about his big gift--I broke down and decided to grant his wish for a DSLR camera. I'm thinking it will be an investment in our family's future, as a great camera will allow us to get wonderful pictures of the little ones down the road. He was shocked and SO excited. Mama had given him her gift a week early--a Smart Pen that he'd been wanting for work. Oh, boys and their gadgets :).

This weekend was even more fantastic than the last one! I had a rare treat: my college bestie, Tom, was in town! He has been like a brother to me for years now, and I hate hate hate that we don't live closer (he's still in STL), but we try to see each other at least a couple of times a year (last year I think it was three--he came up to Nashville for my bachelorette/shower weekend and again for the wedding, and we were in STL for my one year college reunion). He brings out a side of me that absolutely no one else has or does, and I always rediscover a part of myself when I'm with him, a part that I first discovered when we became close in college. Friday night, we had dinner at Cabana with him, his boyfriend, and another couple of friends of theirs, John and Jeff. We then hit the bars for a late night that lasted till around 2 a.m. Although I don't remember dropping them back off at Opryland Hotel, Dave tells me that Tom and I were both asleep in the car--go fig. Because Tom had failed to mention that he was bringing along two friends in addition to his bf, we were not prepared with sufficient vehicle space, and, as a result had six people crammed into my little Ford Escape, with one in the trunk at all times. I sort of thought we'd moved past that stage of life when I graduated college, but then again, being with Tom does a lot to turn me back into a college girl. We had the best time catching up and talking about EVERYTHING, as we always do. Aside from Dave, he's the one other person in my life with whom I feel like there are "no holds barred," even more so than with my mom. At one point in the night, a frank discussion of a problem I'd had and my determination to seek help for it as opposed to accepting the status quo led to an immediate hug from him to which, when questioned by the others (given the content of our conversation), he responded, "Hey, she's my sister. I want this for her." And it reminded me for the ten millionth time of why I love him like I do. We went through a lot of emotional turmoil together in college and have since emerged from it all to develop healthy, stable relationships, successful careers, and happy lives. I think hanging on to one another through all of that and getting the joy of experiencing each other's success and stability at this point in life bonded us in a way that I am not bonded to anyone else in my life. He will always be my "bestie," my "lovie," and my "Thomasina," and I can't wait until David and I make him Uncle Tom with the arrival of Miss Emma in a couple of years. We woke up late on Saturday, as you might could have imagined, had a lazy morning around the house, and then met Tom and crew (including Tiina, who was in Nashville for the half marathon and is another college friend I hadn't seen in ages) in downtown Franklin for the Main Street Festival. I hadn't made it to the festival in five or six years, and I'd forgotten how much I loved it. Much to Tom and Jason's chagrin, the rest of their crew didn't want to stay as long as they did, so Dave and I stuck around after everyone else took off, and Dave indulged my need to move through festivals slowly, seeing every. single. booth. (let's just say I'm no one's favorite person to attend festivals with, hah!). We picked some great things, including a puzzle, a Titans dress, and a St. Louis Cardinals bib and burp cloth for Miss Emma (I'm starting her football/baseball season collections early!), Franklin Theater re-opening t-shirts, a couple of cute signs for the new house, and an amazing Mother's Day gift for mama (a big stone fountain with a bunny for her new backyard). We also bumped into Callan, my good friend from high school, whom I hadn't seen since the wedding. After heading home to get cute (because the initial plan was to hit the town with the boys again last night), we grabbed a quick bite of dinner at Nick's (our favorite, cheap, hole-in-the-wall Italian place that's just a mile from our house), followed by fro yo (yes, I know that's not how Southerners refer to it, but I refuse to let go of all my midwestern ways!) at Sweet CeCe's in downtown Franklin. As it turned out, several members of the boy posse were sick, so they had decided to stay in for the night (which, of course, broke my heart). Dave and I then stopped by mom's to take her Sweet CeCe's and a small Mother's Day gift (a little sign for her office about starting a new chapter in life that we also picked up at the festival). We didn't get home till around 11, and I was badly sunburnt from the festival and exhausted, so we crashed and skipped Sunday School this morning, refusing to crawl out of bed until an absurdly late hour (around 11:30). All in all, this weekend was so healing for my soul. I've been wading through an identity crisis of sorts lately, trying to figure out what direction to take with my career post-grad school and my place in this big wide world. It's nothing that the counselor in me doesn't believe to be totally developmentally appropriate, but it's emotionally draining nonetheless. Being back with the person who was instrumental in my "finding myself" in college helps remind me of who I am and of all I have to be proud of, which does wonders for my self-esteem and somehow allows me to take comfort in the fact that however life shapes up, it's going to be just lovely.

Now I'm off to finish this semester, which has probably been my most difficult one in my education thus far. Two more assignments and one more day stand between me and summer. And a fabulous weekend gave me just the boost I needed to get there!