A Trip to Louisville & Our Last Supper

This will be brief, but I've already passed a week since my last post...how does that happen?! Anyway, Dan & I were able to make a quick trip to Louisville this weekend to spend some time with Kelsey & Brent, and to see Dan's sister Mandee play softball. It was short and sweet - but very worth the time. It's always good to be with family! Here are a few pics from the weekend:

And tonight we shared our "last supper" together in our little Trevecca apartment. I decided to make one of my favorite meals - Fetticine Carbonara. I don't think I had ever made it for Dan before...probably because the fat content is, well, let's just say a little "excessive"...but we enjoyed it :-)

Even more exciting that our last supper...our last round of dishes! Now I know you're probably thinking, "Um, Kali...you're still going to have to do dishes in a new place." And you're only partially right. I'll have to "do" dishes...but really, I'll only have to load them and then take them out of my new dishwasher! Dan probably has more right to be excited about this than me...he's really been my dishwasher for the last two and a half years!

After packingup the kitchen, Dan decided we needed to have one last round of cookies here, so he made some yummy no-bake cookies!

And now I'm off to tape up a couple more boxes and get a little sleep. We get the keys to our new place tomorrow evening!

Change

I've been feeling the need to be more consistent with this blog, but I have also been feeling as though I don't have much to say. Let me rephrase that - I often don't feel like I have much to say that anyone else would care to listen to. Just an assortment of rambling thoughts that carry me through my day.

One of my re-occuring thoughts as of late has been the thought of CHANGE. Dan & I have been experiencing so much of this lately - the good and bad kind. For the first time since we've known one another, neither of us is in school. It's a good change, but still a change. We are now both working full time, which means our schedules shift, our priorities change a little, and our time with each other has slightly shrunk. It also means we have 2 paycheks - a great change, one that has also brought with it lots of decisions and responsibility.

At work things have changed a lot in the last month. In short, our company is in a very tight spot financially which unfortunately led to 2 layoffs and another position that left and is not going to be filled. When you take 3 people out of an already small staff (we were at about 15), that produces some major changes in work load as well as staff dynamics. Not really the good kind of change. I was able to change offices as a result of all of this, however, and I now have an office with a window. Good change. And now I have more than a hallway for an office, which is also wonderful!

Our friendships have also changed in the last month or so. Some of our best friends here in Nashville, Tyler & Annie & son Sam, moved away in August. That was a hard change. Some of our other good friends, Megan & Alan, had their second child around the same time. Good change...except when we want to do something that isn't necessarily "kid-friendly." My best friend Shelby got married a few weeks ago, which also changes the dynamic of our friendship.

At church we finished teaching our "Kingdom Kids" group of 1st-5th graders and have switched to 2 year-olds (me) and 2nd graders (Dan). It was a bit of a wake-up call when I realized that every one of those little critters came with a diaper bag and the need to be watched every second to avoid all manner of disasters! I also realized that I like knowing everyone's name in my old class...and I liked that they remembered mine. Once again...change.

And we're moving. For some reason, changing our environment can sometimes feel like we're changing our whole world. And it's just a few miles away! I'm hoping once the actual move takes place that this part won't feel quite so overwhelming. Why does it seem to change so much to have a 30 minute drive on each end of my day instead of 8 or 10?

All of this to say, there are very few areas of my life that have remained UNchanged in the past couple of months. I feel like I'm grasping at straws sometimes as I try to find something comfortable and familiar. How very grateful I am that I serve a God who NEVER changes...who is the same yesterday, today, and forver...and who reigns forever as the Ancient of Days.

Some New Music

Today at work one of my coworkers, after listening to some of my iTunes (we're able to share in our office - which is awesome), reccommended I listen to this girl named JJ Heller. Well I did, and she's great! And then I was even more excited to look her up and find that she's giving away her album for free right now. So I just thought I'd throw this up here in case anyone is interested. She's pretty mellow - some good stuff :-)

ADD THIS BANNER CODE TO YOUR PROFILE/SITE/BLOG!

And So It Begins

With only a couple weeks ahead of us before we officially move, we have begun the oh-so-fun process of packing. The organizing and culling isn't so bad, but it's living in the chaos that's starting to get to me a little! I am glad we have the time to really try and do this systematically, but I think the walls are starting to close in. Here are a few snapshots of the current state of the Johnston abode:

I do know, however, that on the other side of this lies a beautiful new place to live with LOTS more space. So packing...bring it on.

Jesus Is My Friend

Most days in the business we call the Christian music industry, we spend our time looking towards the future, looking for new artists, and trying to stay on the "cutting edge" of our culture. But every once in awhile we take the time to look back and pay our respects to those who paved the way for today's artists. Today I would like to give you a glimpse of some of our trail-blazers. I believe you will find this video quite inspiring and just plain awesome. In fact, there is really only one word to describe it...ZAP!

Please enjoy.

New Beginnings

Well, today was Dan's first official day of work as a PA. You know, it's kind of weird how there is so much pomp & circumstance that goes along with graduations, so many official markers along the way like diplomas & certifications & exam results, but not a whole lot of grandeur for the first day of work. But as I thought about it, today really felt like the official ending of the last 2 1/2 years of school & rotations. The official ending, but also an official beginning of sorts, too. The official beginning of employment, of 2 incomes, of a new routine (that will last more than 6 weeks!), of carpooling, of the responsibilities that go along with being a certified Physician Assistant. It may seem a little lame to some of you (it did to him!), but I just had to take a picture to capture the important landmark this morning. Here he is folks...doesn't he look official?!



It also marks the end of our time in our cozy little Trevecca apartment. While we don't have to be out immediately, we have been in the process of looking for a new place for a little while now. And last week, I think we found the place! We really were only looking at apartments, hoping to upgrade to a 2-bedroom, and trying to decide what area of Nashville to which we'd like to relocate. We had found a nice apartment and had all but signed the paperwork (actually, we'd even done a little of that) when one of my co-workers mentioned that their townhouse was available for rent as of that day. That day was the same day we intended to give our official payment to the apartment complex to reserve the place...so we had to make some quick decisions. But our friends are so great, they worked with us on the price and said they'd give it to us for the same price we were going to pay for the apartment!!! Hmmm....apartment or a WAY more spacious townhouse for the same price? Tough question :-)

While the final details are not completely nailed down yet, we are soon to be the new tenants of this lovely home! Here are a few pics from when our friends lived there...so this is obviously their stuff, but it will give you a pretty good idea:




Did you notice all of that beautiful kitchen space?! Yeah, I can't wait! We won't be moving until the first of October, but we are THRILLED to have this in front of us and so very grateful for the ways in which the Lord provides above & beyond. Now we have plenty of room for friends to come visit us, so please, book your trips to Nashville and come see us!

Watcha Think?

I have (obviously) been messing around with my lay-out a bit and am trying to figure out how to spruce this blog up a little. I thought that might entice me to write a bit more frequently...we shall see. One thing I've been trying to figure out is how to create one of those cute headers for my page...you know, so that oreo pic is actually centered and I can do something fun and creative with the wording, etc. Anyone have any tips? I need all the help I can get when it comes to something creative like this :-)