Ask any of my friends. It’s my go-to show- the one I want to watch when I need a break, to relax, or if my heart needs to rest. I go to Walton’s Mountain.

[You can make fun of me if you want. I don't care. This is one of those things, like how much I dislike game nights, that I don't waver on even if the peer pressure is extreme.]

[Yes, I hate game nights. We'll talk about it later.]

BACK TO WHAT IS IMPORTANT. THE WALTONS.

This week, my dear friend Kyle is at a cable network convention showing the world how rad INSP Network is [and it is]. I watch INSP Network, like when I’m working a puzzle, because they show the Waltons.

So Kyle instragrams this picture on Tuesday. Can you see the very first comment? It’s me, freaking out that Kyle is standing beside John-Boy Walton.

[You can click on the pic to enlarge it so you can see my comment.]

See, Kyle is a dear friend to me, as close to a big bro as I’ve ever had. So I’m freaking out because I’m literally one very tiny degree from John-Boy Walton.

And then, my phone buzzes.

It’s Kyle, texting me to say that he forgot how much I loved the Waltons and I said “yeah, so much” and then he sent me this picture.

AN AUTOGRAPH. TO ME.

At this point, on a freakout scale of 1 to 10, I’m about a 5. Because that’s amazing.

So I text Kyle back, because I’m very grateful. And here’s our conversation. [I'm blue, he's white, just in case an iPhone isn't your jam.]

JOHN BOY WANTS TO TALK TO ME?!?! ON THE TELEPHONE?!?! HIS REAL VOICE IN REAL TIME INTO MY REAL EAR??!?

And now, on the freakout scale, I’m a 9. Losing control of my hands and my lungs.

I think, “I can’t. I can’t do it. I’ll act like an idiot. I can’t breathe. Oh heavens. Oh no oh no oh no….” But before I can text back, my phone is ringing.

MY. PHONE. IS. RINGING.

[And now, on the freakout scale, I'm a 26.]

Y’all. I have famous friends. I’m around famous people a lot in Nashville. I know they are human and just like us and blah blah blah. But nothing, no NOTHING, could have prepared me for this.

I. Freaked. Out.

When I answered the phone and it was John-Boy Walton, I freaked out like you [nor I] have ever seen me freak out.

I don’t remember a single thing we talked about.

I know I cried.

I know I talked over him.

I know I apologized for not being cool and collected like Nashville people are supposed to be.

And I know it was really him because, well, I’d know John-Boy’s voice anywhere and because Kyle snapped this picture.

Y’all.

Y’ALL.

That’s me on the other end of that phone. ME! Little ole AnnieBlogs. Who can believe it.

I talked to Richard Thomas, John-Boy Walton, on the phone for approximately 36 seconds. And there is photo proof.

I feel bad that I didn’t tell him how much my family has bonded over the show, how my Mom owns every season on DVD… well, maybe I did tell him? Who knows. But I got my family on a conference call as soon as John-Boy and I hung up [freaking.out.still.] and we all were in shock.

Mainly me.

Currently freakout scale is about a 5 and I’ve hovered here for two days.

So there is the story of the time when I turned into a massive fangirl in the middle of a Monday afternoon.

. . . . .

Your turn.

Who is one living person that you are certain, if they called your phone, you would lose your marbles? 

Like today.

There are days like today where I write something brutally honest on a bad day and while it is 100% true, it still makes me want to hide out for a week or month or an undetermined amount of time.

I am, if nothing else, terribly courageous.

[Read: sarcasm.]

Today I am writing over at (in)courage about this one day before Christmas when my friends and I went to see a movie.

And it is pitiful and raw and honest and it is how I feel sometimes and while I know you get it and have been there and maybe are still getting it or maybe get it in another context besides singleness, I’m still feeling some fear about posting it not because it is wrong, but because I wish it wasn’t true.

Also, apparently, I’m feeling the need to write run-on sentences. My word.

. . . . .

Some other things that you may/may not care about:

1. The boy in the story travels for his job and I am hoping beyond hope that he will just stay away from my corner of the internet today. Mainly because I admit that I had an inward crumble because of him. I don’t want boys knowing they make me crumble.

Melt? Yes.

Crumble? No.

2. I am feeling a little better about movies. Not great, mind you, but I did watch Hugo and loved it.

3. We are all allowed to have bad days in whatever life season we are living. I’m just not sure it is great to also have a writing deadline fall on those same days.

4. This is still really true, no matter how I feel.

Isaiah 41:17

The poor and needy search for water,

but there is none;

their tongues are parched with thirst.

But I the LORD will answer them;

I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.

I hope you share this (in)courage post because this isn’t one of those where you can go, “Barbie- read this- I know you are desperately sad about being single!” but it is one that, hopefully, a single gal will click on from your facebook feed and know that while she is hurting, she isn’t alone.

The run-on sentences. They are bountiful.

Thanks for letting me be me. I really mean that.

. . . . .

Are you new around these parts? Well welcome!

Hi. I’m Annie. I write books for my job.

You can read more about me here.

You can follow me on twitter here.

You can like me on facebook here.

You can follow me on pinterest here.

. . . . .

[PS- as long as we're single-talking, I wrote a guest post for my friend Sammy titled Silently Single. Feel free to pop over there and check it out- the comments are really awesome.]

[I'm such a weirdo.]

You know what’s great about summer for high school and college students? The schoolwork is gone. [Duh.] While sports or camps or part-time jobs may attempt to fill that gap, they never shall! No siree!!

Not completely at least.

[Dear adults who don't get summers exactly, you are totally welcome to keep reading. But dear anyone who is actually going to be celebrating a summer- meaning you, student, this is for you.]

Please don’t waste your summer.

I’m not meaning on facebook or twitter or pinterest though, I am certain, that we are all capable of losing months of our lives to the internet.

Here’s what I mean: with school work on hiatus and the pressures of the next test or the next book or the next football game out of your mind for a while, so much can be gained from reading books that have meaning for your personal growth, sitting in coffee shops or by the pool having conversations with some depth, taking naps in your room while non-cheesy worship music plays in the background.

Seriously.

I think summer is the perfect time to learn some new stuff about God, plain and simple. Your schedule is calmer, your mind is clearer, and God is awesome.

So, as I promised the West Cobb Church girls yesterday, here is a list of some resources that I am totally not paid to endorse, but that I think you might really dig this summer.

. . . . .

Books worth a read:

A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller - boyz love this book. So do girls.

The Divine Dance by Shannon Primicerio - for the ladies. Amazing book.

Jesus Calling by Sarah Young 

God Calling by A.J. Russell

Passion for Jesus by Mike Bickle - prepare to be rocked.

The God Chasers by Tommy Tenney - I haven’t read this one in ages, but I can’t get it out of my mind. So that must mean that one of you jokers really needs to read it.

Empty Promises by Pete Wilson

For those ladies who love fiction, let me also suggest Kristin Billerbeck or Francine Rivers.

. . . . .

Podcasts worth a listen:

Circuit Riders - All of them are awesome, but I would say, especially for you Nashvillians, listen to these two podcasts by Ray Hughes- they both talk, at points, about the spiritual history of Nashville. Beautiful stuff.

• Revivalists Remembered
• Carriers of the Sound

Pray As You Go - one short devotional for every day.

. . . . .

Worship CDs worth a purchase:

Reason To Sing by All Sons & Daughters

Aftermath by Hillsong United

Albertine by Brooke Fraser

Cutting Edge by Delirious – super oldie, but a super goodie.

. . . . .

I would also say to you, summer enjoyer, that you should spend time praying and journaling about stuff that is important to you. Get together with friends and go out to eat and talk about God for a few minutes between bites of your burrito. Hang out with your mentor. Hang out with someone younger than you, too.

Just don’t miss this chance, that goes away as soon as your schooling does, of having a season where you can focus solely on deepening your walk with God.  

Sidenote — here are ways I strongly endorse wasting your summer:

• lay by the pool
• sleep late
• eat lots of cheetos
• forget what day of the week it is
• wear the same flip-flops every day

. . . . .

Now share on, my friends. What are some of your favorite books that you would recommend for high school/college aged students? Podcasts? Albums? Movies? Resources in general?

Go.

. . . . .

My pal Lyndsay Rush wrote a great post this week about what she has googled lately. As well, a handful of us sat around the other night with our smart phones in hand, and giggled through the list of things we found important enough to google, or “googs,” on the go.

So keeping it short and sweet this Friday, here are the top 5 things I’ve googled lately.

. . . . .

1. “bake with salted or unsalted butter”

It seems that no matter how mature I get, I will never have this fact memorized. It’s what I call a Mom Fact- things that Moms just seem to know. Sadly, my mom was in France at the time of need, so google had to suffice.

By the way, the answer is unsalted.

2. “I can’t make you love me”

Great song. And it’s true- I can’t make you love me.

3. “China flag”

We were in an emoji war, trying to text as many Asian symbols as possible. I just wanted to make sure I got the Chinese flag right. I want to win, but I want to win fair.

4. “Vandy baseball roster”

Well, no one can be surprised about me needing these stats on hand right now. Love those dudes.

5. “Brentwood skating park”

It’s a complicated story. I needed to find the skating rink, I don’t know why I ever called it a park. Parks are for skateboarding. Skateboarding makes me fall down and cry. We wanted rollerskating, old school style.

But I needed to googs the location so that these things could happen.

It was a dream of a Saturday and thanks to google, we got there just fine.

. . . . .

YOUR TURN!

Look on your phone or computer and tell me what are the last five things you have googled! 

My Tuesday nights have gotten so quiet now that the gals have all gone home for the summer. No more recipes, no more small group snoozle parties, no more crying and laughing at the same time.

[Yes, we did that. Often.]

One of the hard parts of leading a college small group is that you spend lots of time together for months and then in a span of about 33 hours, they all disappear.

Because we are planning to continue meeting when they get back in the fall, I’ve racked my brain trying to figure out how we embrace the summer break while also staying in each other’s lives. I want this summer time to continue to build our relationships, not be a full on break from them.

[Also, let me remind you, I haven't led a small group of college women in a decade. So.... I am no professional, that is for sure. Every step of this is a new step for me.]

Here’s what we are doing so far:

1. Facebook 

Man, for all the ways that I think facebook is slowly killing our world [and I think it may be], it has sure come in helpful for our group. We have one of those secret group things where we post videos and comments and jokes and whatever else we want.

2. Letters

At our spend the night party at the end of the semester, everyone wrote their address on five envelopes and then I collected them up and randomly passed them back out so that each girl has five pre-addressed envelopes. All they have to do is write a note to that girl and mail it sometime in the summer.

3. Book study

For those who wanted to, we decided to read Empty Promises by Pete Wilson together. So each week of the summer, we are reading one chapter. Not the most strenuous schedule, but it’s summer, y’all! Sheesh. On our facebook page, we have running commentary on our thoughts on each chapter.

4. Social media chatter

I’m seeing lots of talks between the girls on social media, not involving me at all. I think that’s good because I want them to feel connected to each other independent of me. Mama like.

5. Enjoying the break

I think there is always something to be said for a bit of absence making the heart grow fonder. And with my writing work picking up, it’s good to have the extra time for a few months. I do miss having the girls pop around, but I know I will blink and it will be August and they will be swarming around my house like a happy little bee’s nest.

. . . . .

I know there are lots of you small group leaders out there. I would love to hear your thoughts on how to connect a small group when they are all living scattered across the continent. 

Also- know any good books about doing ministry with college age students? 

[That's a paraphrase, but I know he said "blog" and "cool." I know that.]

And I am worried because these poor guys keep having to hear about glitter and nail polish and being 31 and single and recipes for small group and really all manner of things that don’t matter to dudes.

And I bet there are more of you out there. Ahem, DAD. Ahem, others I do not know.

So.

I told them I would write a post for dudes in my best dude voice.

[I'm sorry and you're welcome.]

Here goes nothin’.

. . . . .

Yo. [Terrible start] So, like, how are the Clippers and the Lakers and the Kings all going to play in the same arena this weekend? That many teams in the playoffs? LA is sick. [I'm terrible at this] I’m glad I’m not in charge of flipping the Staples Center from ice to court. You know what I would do? Put the wooden floor on top of the ice. Added level of challenge, having the floors freezing cold and all.

I mean, if the Dodgers would put together any kind of season this year, LA might have the sports year of their dreams. They deserve to get pumped about these teams since the Oakland Raiders are the worst.

Speaking of the NFL, wanna be in my fantasy league? Draft will be in the fall. Go ahead and make up an inappropriate but hilarious team name.

You know what’s awesome? Mexican food. Tons of chips. It’s just awesome that you can sit down and order and for like, $8, get piles of meat and cheese and guacamole. I mean, it’s one of the only times I feel totally full. Usually I get home and I’m all, “what’s to eat?” even if I just ate. [Girl Annie isn't like this at all, but Dude Voice Annie totally is.]

By the way, girls are crazy. [I don't know how to expound on this because I, for one, am actually crazy. I just know Connor confirmed that Dude Voice Annie should talk about it.]

Also, you know what’s cool? Wearing shorts. Every day.

And.

Fast cars.

And.

Fart jokes.

. . . . .

And scene.

Well, I think that went great, if you are into stereotyping and all.

It actually went horribly. Apparently I am a disaster when I have to talk to boys like I’m a boy. I can handle myself when I’m talking to boys like I am a girl [in fact, I am a girl], but when your brain doesn’t work like a boy [mine does not] then it is hard to talk like one.

. . . . .

For realz, I am going to start making an effort to have some gender neutral posts every blue moon so the fellas don’t always have to suffer through my constant femaleness.

So male readers- are you out there? Will you identify yourself? Tell me what kind of blog posts you want me to write for you. Questions? Comments? Wanna guest post? 

Ladies, you can comment too… what topics should I cover for the dudes?

So these hours shall henceforth be known at The Wasting Hours.

. . . . .

It seems, that in my new full-time job as an author, I have fallen headfirst into a pretty regular schedule, for better or for worse. It goes a little something like this:

7am: attempt to wake up, think about waking up, realize that there are authors all over this globe that wake up and write genius pieces of literature in the early morning hours, then realize that my alarm isn’t screaming at me anymore.

7:30am — “Seriously, Downs. Move it.” And I shower, get ready, dilly-dally, etc.

morning — Working. Seriously. These morning hours are my jam. Super productive, flying through work, writing stuff about stuff. Listening to classical music.

Also, I tend to have biz meetings in this window. I’m the best biz-Annie at this time, so I can yell “BUY! SELL! BUY!” and “I WON’T SETTLE FOR LESS THAN A MILLION!” and “THAT GRANOLA IS DELICIOUS!” with gusto.

12pm — Honestly, I usually have lunch with friends. Or a friend. Or I make friends with people sitting near me wherever I am eating lunch.

1pm – 2:01pm — Finish my Living Social writing that is due everyday at 2pm. [I write the content on the deals for Atlanta and a few other rando cities around the USA.]

2:02pm-5pm – The Wasting Hours.

5pm-7pm — Hard-working time again. Usually while listening to music with words, I bust through emails, blog posts, and get some writing done.

Then it’s dinner and friends and social life until 10ish, when it is back to writing [if I have more to finish] or to reading before bed.

. . . . .

But those Wasting Hours. Man. I don’t know what happens to me. Is this normal? Having a mid-afternoon slump like this? Maybe it is because I used to teach school and we’ve been trained since we were five years old to work from 7am – 2pm [school hours] then rest?

The Wasting Hours always sneak up on me. I will be working on something and then slowly my brain starts to drag. I start clicking from one social media site to another and not really be getting anything accomplished. I look up at my computer clock and it almost always says something in the 2 o’clock hour.

It’s like, ahem, well, clockwork.

Here are some things I end up doing during The Wasting Hours:

• Nap. Especially if I am going to working late that night, a nap is just what the imaginary doctor ordered.
• Eat a bowl of cereal. Multi-grain cheerios, please.
• Walk outside. Even if I just go check the mail [which I actually have a PO Box, so this is never my mail], I feel like I’m not wasting my life. You know, during The Wasting Hours.
• Read blogs. This is a great time for me to read other blogs and comment.
• Get lost in the basement of the internet. Tell me you don’t, but I won’t believe you.
• Feel like I’m throwing away my career because I cannot for the life of me get focused.

. . . . .

Am I a total freak for having The Wasting Hours? Am I a total idiot for thinking I’m the only one who has The Wasting Hours? Does anybody else deal with this? What do you do to get out of your slump?

Teach me your ways, effective afternooners.

. . . . .

I love instagram. [I also am growing to love phonto, thanks to Adam Buzard, but that's beside the point.]

I think instagram is fun because it makes you feel like you can legitimately take pretty pictures. That may be why photographers, the real kind, don’t love instragram. I dunno. Also, I just plain like looking at what other people choose to photograph.

And since we’ve been quite wordy this week, with all the job talk and alarm talk and all, I thought today we would just focus on pictures.

So I went back through my instagram feed and picked my top 5 favorite pictures… in random order.

. . . . .

1. The lake /// http://instagr.am/p/Jp57YRGyMQ/

I love when we get to spend an afternoon on the lake. It’s probably one of the best parts of a Nashville summer. Our first outing was about two weeks ago with one of our pals who is a member of the boat club, so I took this one off the back of the boat while we were floating around.

2. Cloudy Edinburgh // http://followgram.me/i/212470302_1271735

This picture beautifully displays how nasty days in Edinburgh look and feel. This was out the living room window of my flat, that has since been sold. It’s strange to think of this picture as once-in-a-lifetime since it was my everyday view for six months, but alas. It is.

3. Jett + Annie /// http://instagr.am/p/KY1-_dGyLi/

At this week’s Vandy baseball game, my buddy Jett went with us. When we decided to take a picture, he said, “When we are both famous, we’ll be glad we have this.” Awesome, huh? This kid. I like him a lot.

[BTW... I got parental permission before posting this picture. I'm not a monster.]

4. Glitter is my favorite color. /// http://instagr.am/p/IYSjApmyM9/

It’s just true. And this glitter polish is so cheap, with tiny sparkles, that it doesn’t cement to your nails the way the fancy stuff does. Happy girl.

5. Aiden’s boots /// http://instagr.am/p/HChViOGyA5/

I was watching Aiden while his folks were busy the other week, before we had dining room furniture. He brought his cars, I have lots of poker chips, we made a road. Plain and simple. I love his little boots.

. . . . .

I wish I was smart enough to tell you what each border and filter were for each picture, but I can’t remember. I will tell you this- Brannan is my go-to favorite filter.

YOUR TURN!

Link us to your favorite instagram picture [of your own or someone else's if you don't have instagram]. Or write a post today on your own blog with five of your favorite instagrams and link us to that! 

What is your favorite filter to use? 

Since August of 2008, Mocha Club has been a weekly part of my life. I started as a volunteer for a few months and then I got a tiny part time job there, calling members, for five hours a week. Five turned to ten turned to twenty and a year had passed before I knew it.

I love Mocha Club. I love what they are doing in Africa. I love the integrity of the people who work there. I love the innovative ways they are raising money and making a difference overseas.

In May 2010, I started a real part time job at Mocha Club as their Social Media and Communications Director. It was a much needed role but the boss Barrett and I kinda made up my job as we went. We would figure out new cool things to do using social media and then boom, that was my job.

It was fun. Really fun.

Meanwhile, for another 40ish hours a week, I was writing and blogging and speaking and etc. So it wasn’t like I was laying by the pool most of the week and only working 24 hours a week.

[Well, I do like to lay by the pool in the summer. But, I mean, I write a lot too.]

When I moved to Scotland last fall, I kept my part time job and spent some hours every day online working and skyping with America. Namely, with the Mocha Club staff.

. . . . .

I came home from Scotland and didn’t know that Zondervan was on the horizon. But when that opportunity arose, and some other things started to shift in the atmosphere, Barrett and I realized that it was time for me to move along, little dawgie.

It was the perfect storm of what I needed + what Mocha Club needed + what I wanted + what I was too scared to do + Barrett pushing me out of the nest and making me fly.

So as of April 1, I am a Mocha Club artist, but not a staff member.

. . . . .

WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN, ANNIE??

Let’s do this in a list form.

1. When someone says “What do you do?” my answer is now “I am an author and a speaker.”

2. I work from home every day.

3. The blog and anniedowns.com are getting a major makeover that you will see really soon. Then when new people come along and say, “wow, this place is really pretty and fancy” you can say “she might have been born just plain white trash, but Fancy was her name” because you’ll have been here when this place wasn’t so fancy and you know how much I love Reba.

4. I need your help to make this full-time career work. I need you to tell your friends about my books when they come out, I need you to come hear me when I speak and bring your friends along, I need you to get me a speaking gig in your town, I need you to pray for me, and I need you to hug me when I get super scared that I am not going to make it full-time in this thing.

[Because I do get scared. Really scared. But God is orchestrating all of this, so I throw the scared away and only hang onto the thread of faith. I tie a knot when I get to the end of my faith rope and I hang on.]

5. You know what it really means? It means we’re really doing this thang, y’all. And after four years of trying, I’m pretty giggly that it is finally happening.

. . . . .

Your questions / comments / etc about this new season of my full-time career are totally welcome. I just like keeping y’all up to date on what’s happening on this side of the screen.

I pick one day a week and I don’t set an alarm.

Every other day of the week, I make myself wake up at 7am and actually get moving. [I know, some of you have to get up way earlier... don't hate me for sleeping until 7. When I taught school, I was up at 5am and interacting with small people by 7am. I know this is a luxury that won't last forever.]

[Sidenote: why does telling you I sleep until 7am make me feel insecure when I am about to tell you a whole story about REALLY sleeping in? I'm a complicated human.]

Because I rarely sleep in on Saturdays and we go to the 9am service at Cross Point on Sundays, my weekends aren’t the time when I get to sleep as long as I want. I used to do “No Alarm Monday” because we had college ministry stuff until 10pm-ish on Sundays, but now I go to the chiropractor at 8:30am on Mondays, so that isn’t an option anymore.

[Sidenote #2: Would you pray for my neck and back? Nothing serious, just some continual pain that makes it hard to sit for a long time... which is unfortunate when your job is sitting and writing.]

So each week, I strategically plan a No Alarm Day. This week, it was today. No Alarm Wednesday.

I don’t know why this feels like the most delicious freedom in the world, but it does. And I also don’t know why I insist labeling it. I’m a freak.

Since my working life [that I'm gonna tell you all about tomorrow] has some pretty weird hours, and I’m not doing a 9-5 job, there aren’t really OFF hours either. You know what I mean? So it’s not like a Saturday feels like my day off of work. In fact, I worked/wrote for seven hours last Saturday.

So when I left the Vanderbilt baseball game yesterday [which, some of those boys have started frequenting the blog and I'm all, "uh, I better write a dude-centric post every now and again"] I got home and realized, “TOMORROW IS NO ALARM WEDNESDAY!” And I did a jig.

I still was up by 8:30am. I don’t have the sleeping in skillz of my teenage years where I could snoozle until lunch. I wish I did.

So on average, not on No Alarm Wednesday, I go to bed around 11pm and I’m up at 7am. But today… oh it was nice to never hear the bullhorn that wakes me up most mornings.

Here’s what I’m curious about: on average, what time do you go to bed and what time do you wake up? How many hours of sleep do you need to feel human?