Well.

Last night I went to the Ryman. Which. I’m gonna say. Is quickly becoming my favorite venue. Ugh. It’s awesome. And who played at the Ryman? My Grammy date Hillary and Lady Antebellum. It. Was. Insane. Couldn’t have been more fun.

You know who else I saw play at the Ryman recently?

Dave Barnes.     and.     Matt Wertz.

And guess which two of my favorite Nash-dudes put out new music in the last few weeks?

Dave Barnes.     and.     Matt Wertz.

I just downloaded Dave’s album myself and I already can’t. get. enough. And Matt’s EP? It is absolutely springtime approved: windows-down-music-up-stress-down-thumbs-up kinda stuff.

And guess who is going to  get a copy of Dave’s new album and Matt’s new EP?

You.     and.     You.

Just head over to the giveaway page – I’m giving TWO of you TWO albums. I know. It’s crazy. But you know how I feel about weekends. I just can’t resist. And it’s daylight savings. So I thought you should save. Get it?

The giveaway is open until Sunday night at 9pm CST [cause I go to bed at 10pm. Don't judge me].

Of course. I haven’t *exactly* figured out how to get the downloads to the winners, but surely I can figure that out before my bedtime on Sunday. Even if I have to mail you $15 via USPS, we’ll work it out, don’t you worry about that.

If you don’t believe in entering giveaways, or maybe you just personally hate free stuff, here’s where you can buy the albums.

Dave Barnes.     and.     Matt Wertz.

[Sidenote- this giveaway was not endorsed, ie- the boyz didn't pay me to do this. I just thought it would be fun. Amen.]

Now, get outta here and go win you some new music!

because one of my besties, Betsy, is back in Nash for a few days.

I picked her up at the airport and we went straight to hang with our people and it was one of those nights where life wins over blog.

I’ll be back tomorrow with a weekend music giveaway! Yahoo!!

[Also, if you didn't get to see my Tour of Homes video, here's the link. And gracious, how much do you LOVE Annie Parsons? Ugh. Me too.]

I’m certain you all know and read Annie Parsons. Because, well, she’s one of the top Annies in the world.

Annie just moved to Denver [whah whah]. I just moved to a new house in Nashville. And it is weird not knowing where she lives. And it is weird that she doesn’t live in Nashville, but that’s neither here nor there.

But by the miracle of modern technology, here is Annie giving us a tour of her new digs.

[Hey subscribers, there's a video here, so click over if you can't see it.]

I’ll be honest, the first time I watched this, I cried. Because I miss this girl in my life somethin’ serious. And just look at her- so happy and beautiful and so at peace and at home. Ugh- I love her to pieces.

I gave her a tour of my place as well. If you’d like to see my video and my home aka Casa de AnnieBlogs, head on over to Hootenannie and it’s there for your viewing pleasure.

Oh, and by the way. Annie and I make some awesome videos on our own. BUT. When we put our powers together…. it gets nutz.

Proof #1

Proof #2

What. A. Pleasure. Now you can imagine my deep sadness at her migration out west.

[Oh. And if you LOVE the new music from Matt Wertz that I used in my video- get ready. Awesome Wertz/Barnes giveaway coming on Friday!!]

[First of all, a big HI and HELLO to my friends from the writing workshop on Tuesday night! Yay for bloggy talk and author talk and talking too much about car repair blogs! (This is your cue to say hi back in the comments, workshop friends.) Seriously- what a PLEASURE to meet you all and I hope to hear from you a lot in the future! Thanks to Denise and Shari for inviting me to speak.]

And yes, bloggites, of course I talked about you. And you. And obviously, YOU.

In case you’ve forgotten [you haven't, I won't let you] I’m involved in this Get Fit Challenge thing. And so I’ve been going to the YMCA a lot more.

Here’s the thing about the Y in middle Tennessee. It’s a BIG DEAL. Like, everybody in the whole city [ridiculous exaggeration] is a member. And in Nashville, there are probably 8-9 YMCA facilities within 20 minutes of my house.

I like.

So you can either join ONE of the Ys or you can get a CITY-WIDE membership that is, understandably, more expensive TOTALLY AWESOME. Because then you can go to any Y- you can take a spin class from Marisa at the East Nashville Y and then meet Lyndsay at the Green Hills Y for a Zumba class.

[Nope. Not in the same day. I'm hard core, just not THAT hard core.]

But, because I live on a budget, I’m a one Y member. Just Green Hills. I joined about 10 months ago and have always and only been to the Green Hills Y, though the others have beckoned me from a-near [opposite of afar, obviously].

And as I was perusing the YMCA website the other day, I saw that the Downtown Y had a water aerobics class called Aqua-Burn. To which I said, “Thank you sir may I have another” because I heart water aerobics.

Problem = it was at a different Y. So I called and they said I can come ONE TIME AND ONE TIME ONLY to try the class.

I walk in and the man scans my card. I go into a lengthy diatribe [shocker] about how I’m visiting because I may want to get a city-wide membership and I know I’m young but water aerobics is actually fairly challenging…..

He stops me, points at the picture on the screen and says, “Is that you?”

To which I reply, “Uh, yeah, it’s me. I had a great hair day that day and it was summer so I was tan and…”

“Ma’am. You already have a city-wide membership.”

“What? No, I don’t. I’ve been a member for 10 months and I’ve always just had a membership to Green Hills.”

He laughed and said, “well, you’ve actually always been a city-wide member.”

I’ve been wrong. For 10 months. I believed that I had to live with limits that were not mine.

And in some crazy way, God has used this to bring up a lot in my heart. How many areas of my life do I live under false limits because I believe something that is not true?

And I’m reminded of how Jesus set me free.

And I’m going to go to a different YMCA every day simply BECAUSE I CAN.

I am free.

In so many ways.

First of all, I am watching Jimmy Fallon and he has reunited the cast of California Dreams. And if you think I’m clapping and singing along to the theme song, you know me well. I’ll admit, I have serious questions about the current life status of some of these cast members, but if they would have known ME in 1988, they would have so questions about my current life as well. So.

I have a favorite soup. That is actually good for you. And absolutely ridiculously easy. And with winter ending soon [please, God, can winter end soon?], I thought I better offer this recipe to you now while you still have the chance. Cause it’s March, people. It might be about time to dust off your flip-flops.

I’m going attempt to avoid writing another pointless paragraph and just give you the recipe.

[By the way, I just went to the kitchen to get the family cookbook and came back with a bowl of granola and milk. I sat down at the computer and realized I grabbed a snack and forgot the book. Classy.]

CAULIFLOWER SOUP

[Now, you may love or hate cauliflower, but I promise you will love this soup. Trust me. It's cheap and easy to make. If you hate it, oh well. Not a lot of time or money lost.]

Ingredients:

• 2 bags of frozen cauliflower
• 32 oz box of chicken broth
• 3 T ranch dressing mix

[Seriously. That's like $8 maybe. Sheesh.]

Combine all the ingredients. Cook until tender. Puree with an immersion blender.

[Seriously. That's like 12 minutes maybe. Sheesh.]

It makes 4-5 servings that are each like 80 calories. That. Is. Crazy. Low.

When you are done, it looks just like potato soup- it has the same consistency. That says one thing to me– “ADD CHEESE PLEASE.”

So I usually do. Add a little cheese, some turkey bacon, and you’ve got yourself a great low cal meal.

Speaking of low cal, there’s a new post up at the Annie Gets Fit blog. We are 6 weeks in and I can’t tell you how much I’ve lost, but you better love me while you can, cause I am disappearing in front of your very eyes.

Happy Friday. Heart you, bloggites.

It’s 11:37pm on Tuesday night.

Our church small group ran late [because we couldn't stop laughing at the boys- they were talking like mobsters from the 1930s. I was snorting. That is severe]. So I’m just now getting home.

And now, I don’t have time to blog because…. and brace yourself for this…. I’m trying to juggle my schedule tomorrow so I can fit in exercise.

So I currently have five tabs opened across the top of my screen in attempts to find a class that I will enjoy at the YMCA close to my office .

I know. [insert blog post title here]

- – - – - – - – - – - – -

One quick thing: Yesterday, Sarah left a comment on The Best Date post from earlier this week asking a great question. Her bestie sometimes seems uncomfortable hanging with her and her husband. And Sarah asked, “Any suggestions as to how to make her feel comfortable or welcome would be much appreciated.”

Sarah, and all you other awesome bloggites out there, I. Have. The. Answer. [insert blog post title here]

The answer is: just talk about it. If you will express how much you genuinely want the singlet around, if you (like Jane Anne mentioned in the comments as well) worry that the singlet doesn’t want to be in a noisy house, just talk about it. [And trust me, Jane Anne, sometimes a busy loud family is just what the doctor ordered- chaos has an element of healing and a huge helping of laughs. Usually. ]

So I could (maybe?) give you some tips of stuff to do or something like that, but the truth of the matter is that if you just have open communication, it’ll all work out.

I don’t love talking about being single. Y’all know that. But I DO love talking about this- how God uses us in each other’s lives, single or married, to express His love.

Let me share a verse with you-

Psalm 68:6 –> “God sets the lonely in families.”

I have loved that verse and prayed it over my life in every city I have ever called home. And God has been [and will be] faithful to me in every city. And He will be for you too.

If you are a singlet, ask for a family.

If you are a family, ask for a singlet.

And watch as God’s word comes alive in your home.

- – - – - – - – - – - – -

Well, now I’ve gone and done it. Blogged on accident.

And I’ve sat here on the couch for over 20 minutes trying to find a HILARIOUS closing to the blog post where I can write “[insert blog post here]“.

But I can’t think of anything funny. [insert blog post here]

ZING!

[First of all, I love all your thoughts from yesterday- if you haven't gotten a chance to check out the comments, head on over. Also, if you are married and DO hang out with singles, maybe throw out some ideas for hanging with singlets. Now, for your feature presentation.....]

- – - – - – - – - -

I haven’t talked about my authordom lately [I made up that word, but I think it would be like an author's kingdom or maybe... I dunno] and today isn’t the day I’m talking about it.

But.

I will happily talk about Mary DeMuth’s authordom. Because if it is like a kingdom, hers is large with lots of great buildings and horses and fields and probably a castle with a moat because I would bet Mary loves castles with drawbridges.

I am patiently waiting for the third book in her Defiance Texas trilogy. The first one (Daisy Chain) I read in about 35 minutes and the second one (A Slow Burn) almost cost me some friends because it was my priority the entire time I was reading it.

Sorry, friends. It happens.

On a side note that is going to loop back around here for ya in just a minute, I am really appreciating honest people right now. People who aren’t afraid of others, or afraid of themselves, past and present.

So back to Mary’s authordom. She just released a new book titled Thin Places: A Memoir. And Mary sent it to me about a month ago. I’m just finishing with it. Because that little puppy is HONEST. Phew. I could only read a little bit each night because I found that smaller bites were more delicious. Know what I mean?

This book is Mary’s memoir of times when she felt the nearness of God. Oh. Y’all. It’s just beautiful and hard to read at points and a tear-jerker and I think I know God better now that I’m done with it. It’s not super long, so it’s not some serious investment page wise.

But Mary weaves her beautiful storytelling in with the deep places of her own life. It’s amazing. And that’s probably why they gave her such a fine authordom in the first place.

Thin Places. I think you should read it. Like, for realz.

(Part A. I will say that some of the stories are tragic and abusive and hard to read. Probs not something your teen should read without your knowledge.)

(Part 2. Mary didn’t pay me to say any of this. She did give me the book, so I guess she paid shipping costs. But I am writing all of this of my own free will, I do solemnly swear.)

(Part III. See y’all tomorrow.)

Friday night, I went on the best date of my Nashville life.

I’m not going to put all my former dates in order from greatest to least, because then, honestly, you would know how many dates I haven’t have been on.

So last week, my friend Fred called. Fred is dating one of my dearest friends, Katherine, and I Could. Not. Love. It. More. You know when two cute people start dating and it just causes the cutest little cloud of hearts to float all around them? Yeah, they have that. Cloudy. Majorly heart-cloudy.

Anyways, Fred called. And he and Katherine asked me to go on a date with them.

They wanted to pick me up, take me to a nice restaurant, pay for it, and just hang out with me. I didn’t blink. I didn’t pause. I said YES DUH YES!

And on Friday, we did just that. They knocked on the door, both standing there. Fred opened our car doors and held the door open at the restaurant. He had already made reservations, so we passed by the lines and lines of people [because this is THE BEST FOOD in Nashville]. We sat and laughed and serious talked and not-serious talked and three hours later, my stomach was blessed and my heart was full. Or the other way around. Whatevs.

And for those 3 hours, and about every hour since, I felt totally, unequivocally, unabashedly lovely.

As an older single lady, I don’t think Fred and Katherine had any idea what kind of deep work that one event did for my soul. Looking outside of themselves, instead of spending a romantic night alone- maybe at that same table with those same meals- they chose to love their single friend. And let me come along.

It was a great night, but more than that, it was a gift to me. An investment of hope into my heart. It was life-giving. It was a tide-turner. It was a pleasure. And it was a kindness that I hope to someday return to some single friends.

I wonder… are there single girls/single guys in YOUR life, my married friend? Do you invite him over to dinner? Do you invite her to hang out? Do you make space in your life for the 29 year old single girl in your church who loves to play with your kids and loves to talk to you but maybe needs some TLC? Or the 24 year old college dude who could really benefit from hanging with your family?

I dunno. I’m not here to put pressure on you or make you hang with people you don’t love. And maybe you, like my friends, already splash love all over the singlets in your world.

But I just had to share this story. Because an Annie could live in your town, be in your life. I don’t want you the miss the chance to step into that place with her. For her.

She’ll never forget it.

Cause this is where I’ll be.

So, here’s the thing. There are a few albums that I pretty much spun to death in 2009. Jars of Clay (check), Mat Kearney (check), Switchfoot (Jon Foreman – check).

And then there are people that I am just plain in awe of their music skillz and voice. Alison Krauss (check).

And then there are the Mocha Club Live guys who can’t quit singing for a good cause. Dave (check), Matt (check), and Brandon (check).

And then there are bands that everyone else in Nashville is TOTALLY into but I just haven’t gotten into yet but I fear a massive album purchase after the concert tonight. Needtobreathe (check).

And there at the bottom? That “and more” text? That has me excited.

And, the real cool part, is that it’s for such a good cause. [I mean, hello. Can we discuss the amount of earthquakes going on right now? Talk about the rocks crying out! Sheesh.]

I *think* there are a few more tickets if you are in Nashville, but if you aren’t, no biggie! You can still watch online at http://helphaitilive.com/. It’s starts at 7:30 CST. So do whatever math problem you need to do in order to be there on time.

What an awesome way to spend a Saturday. See you there.

Disclaimer: What you can’t tell from the sunglasses is that most of the time I am looking at the road. I promise.

Here are the two videos I made in the car. It’s kinda stressful to have two big videos due on the same day, so forgive the lack of bells and whistles.

Video #1- with cape. For the Get Fit Challenge. Cause. You know. It’s RUNNING MY LIFE. I mean, my flipcam. [I'll be honest, I got bored rewatching this video tonight. That's a long 2 minutes of talking. So don't feel bad if you get bored. So did the girl in the video.]

On a not-boring note, there’s a new blog post up at the Get Fit Challenge and I would LOVE to hear your input. Yay for the iPhone and its many ah-mazing apps.

Video #2- sans cape. For SheSeeks about controlling your tongue in anger [A little longer than I usually like to make a video. Someone needs to teach me to control my tongue on long boring car rides.]

If you only have time for one video, go for the one sans cape. Because it gave me a reason to type “sans” again.

[Inside scoop: I'm tired of making videos. I miss the words. All the words. So I'll get back to that soon. Maybe tomorrow. I dunno. Happy Friday.]