New chapters.

Adventurous. Spontaneous. Heartbreaking. Unimaginable. Overwhelming. Tough. Joyful. Blessed. Full of the unknown and unexpected.

Just a few adjectives that could describe my life.
I love photography. I know you all know this because my obsession with photos is evident by the constant flow that takes over my twitter and facebook.  What can I say, I'm a visual, creative person....things sometimes are just better describe in photo form than written form.
I've learned that this can lead people to have a skewed idea of what my day to day life is like and I can understand this.  It's easy to see life as this happy-go-lucky, no care in the world thing...when you see photos of smiling kids having fun, beautiful scenery, etc.  I've lost "friends" because of it and gained some "friends" because of it.  This "glamorous" life that I live is filled with sleepless nights, no social life, oatmeal down my back, snotty noses, sticky fingers, half packed suitcases, laundry I don't have time to do, family that lives miles away....life is messy and exhausting...and yet....beautiful.

I'm going to be honest here. I'm heading into probably one of the hardest chapters in my life and although I can see already how God's hand is in it, I am heartbroken, hurt, and tired.  I don't want to face it, but I am choosing to walk forward in the knowledge that God has never left me hanging.
As some of you know my best friend, Jenna, has decided to follow her dream and go to PA school. SO so proud of her. So excited to watch her walk into this new journey.....so so so sad though to have to say goodbye.   We have been roommates and best friends for six years. We have walked through each other's darkest times, moved to a new city together, have had too many adventures to count, raised two, brother, puppies together, share everything, went from being broke and crashing at people's houses to building up a pretty snazzy looking place to live (after moving a billion times)...cheesy, but, she's the sister I never had.   I'm going to miss her and her pup Tonka so much. I'm going to have to re-learn how to live life without my best friend by my side.
That's just one of the changes happening. So many other things that I really can't talk about on here are going on and other than staying with the jobs that I have I am completely re-starting.   It's exciting and exhausting just thinking about it. Especially because we have moved 5 times in two yrs....and I just unpacked and threw away our last box this week....only to find out I will begin packing again next week. I'm learning to be content where I am, but always ready to go when God throws a curve ball.  He has already been faithful by providing a temporary home (thanks Brit and Jer) for me for the next few months and by sending extra work my way in the slow season to come. He is faithful.

It's times like these that I am beyond blessed and can see how faithful God is by sending me the incredible families I work for.  Although the past fews weeks have been rough and I apologize to anyone who has interacted with me in those weeks (and the weeks to come), because I feel like I am not present or able to engage, when I'm with "my" kiddos I have the adrenaline and drive to continue forward.  They are what make me excited for the future and give so much purpose to my day to day right now.

I don't write this to be a downer or seek pity. I am truly excited to see what God has in store around the corner, but I want to be honest for those of you who sometimes think that it's greener on the other side.  Life will be messy no matter where you are, no matter what your job is, or where your location is, it's messy if you are in the spotlight or beyond the scenes.   But I wouldn't trade the messiness for neat and controlled. I wouldn't trade the sticky fingers, snotty kisses, tearful goodbyes, or overwhelming piles of laundry for anything. It's through the heartache and exhaustion that God has always shown me His faithfulness and His amazing way of piecing the puzzle of my life together.
Be present where you are, but hold things loosely, enjoy today, and always know that you are not alone. Everyone has a story and a struggle.

For Now I'm choosing to soak up the little moments....

Make messes...

Go on adventures...

and stop to breathe in the beauty that is Life.

Blessings to you my friends. Forgive my ill-written post, if I could have put it in photo form I would :)

Nashville Christian Family/Nanny network

Calling all nannies, babysitters, moms and dads. Especially within the Christian community/musician community here in Nashville/Franklin...I need YOUR input!

I spend a lot of my time helping people find babysitters, trying to find fill-in's for my families when I am not available, and discussing with people appropriate pay, how to interview, etc.   One of the ladies that I nanny for threw out the idea the other day that I should start something similar to the nanny agencies here, but do it specifically as a Christian agency.  I've been thinking through the idea and although I'm not super excited about starting a new business or anything, it has occurred to me that I spend much of my time doing what those agencies do and if I made it official I could do that job even better.
I would like to get some other people's input on the idea and see if there would even be enough interest and also would love any ideas for thing you would like to see.

Here is a general description of what I thought would be helpful for families and nannies/babysitters:

• Conduct interviews of all incoming nannies/babysitters and have all their information on hand
• Interview/meet with families to hear what they need, what their routine is, and what they are looking for in a third-party caretaker
• help match care-takers with families (like match.com but for babysitters and families...right?)
• Set up a "classifieds" so that when you find yourself needing an emergency babysitter there is a list of already approved, responsible babysitters to contact.  This works to the benefit of everybody, babysitters can chose to be available for last minute calls and pick up extra work and families know they aren't just getting some random person they know nothing about. 
• "Shared" nannies would be much easier to come by with this system...I am a shared nanny and can at times be juggling three or four musician/traveling families....this works because I end up knowing I have full-time work...this doesn't always work because I need to find fill-in's for certain days.  If we had a network of nannies within our community it would make scheduling easier on everyone.  As it is my friends and I have our own little "network" and fill-in for each other and pass off jobs when needed. 
• I would also make this blog more consistent (now that I have Internet) with tips on working out confrontation, nanny searching tips, and other helpful tools for families and nannies alike. 
• As much as I'd like to do it for free I would need to be making some income for my time being the "go-between" person so there would be a percentage cost from either that babysitters/nanny income and possibly a one-time fee for the families to join

So what do you think?

Input?

Additions?

Throw the idea out?

Keep it?

Run with it?

You tell me...