Living United

Back in March, Nathan accepted a job with United Way of Metropolitan Nashville. It has been a great experience so far, and we have made a ton of friends through UW. One of Nathan's best work buddies is Jim. When Jim moved here this fall, he had to leave his family behind for a few months. Because he knew no one in Nashville, we took him under our wing. I think we may have even turned him into a UT fan. 

Here's a picture of Nathan and Jim at Jim's first UT game.

Jim's wife, Beth, and their two kids have since moved to Nashville. We love hanging out with the Mullens! UW has provided us with so many friends here in Nashville, a benefit that I did not anticipate from Nathan's new job. We are thankful for all of our UW friends!

Love,

Katie

Home Sweet Home

Well, we are officially Nashville residents!  I hate that it has been so long since we have update our blog, but we have been so busy the past six months! Between the two of us, we have moved to Nashville, bought a house, studied for and taken the bar exam, started new jobs, made home improvements, and adopted a puppy, among other things. More updates to come, but for now, here is a tour of our new home...

These pictures were all taken on the day of our home inspection.

Future Man Cave

Guest Bathroom

Guest Bedroom

Living Room - we love the original hardwoods!

Kitchen

Dining Room

Closing Day!

My first meal in the new house after closing (Nathan had to go back to work). It's kind of special because I remember being 3 years old and eating pizza in the kitchen floor of my mom's house on move-in day. It was fun to do the same thing in our first house!

Moving Day! We were so appreciative for the help from Andrew, Eric, Dad, and Pam. We learned that Andrew is quite the acrobat!

Sending love from Nashville,

Katie

A Week of Blessings and Changes

What a week! They past 7 days have been filled with a ton of blessings, fun, stress, highs, lows, and prayers.

Earlier this week, Nathan accepted a job as the Associate Director of Major Gifts for United Way of Metropolitan Nashville. He will start on April 11th. This is a great career move for him, and we are pumped about making the move to Nashville!

I am still looking for a post-graduation job, but I did make some progress this week. The firm that I currently work for, Dale L. Buchanan & Associates, has generously offered to let me work a few hours a week from their Nashville office this summer while I study for the bar exam. Even more generously, the firm has offered to let me keep my law clerk position on a full-time basis after the bar exam until I find a permanent attorney position. The Nashville DBA office does not have enough work to hire another attorney, but they are so kind to take care of me until I find another job. Aside from DBA, I met with a few other Nashville attorneys this week, so hopefully something permanent will come out of that.

Also in the past 7 days, we have found a real estate agent and looked at about 25 homes. On Friday, we made an offer on an adorable house! We are on pins and needles waiting to hear whether they accept our offer :)

While all this is super exciting, we will be saying many prayers for patience over the next several weeks. We are praying for patience while I wait to find my post-graduation job. We are praying for patience in the home buying process, as it could take a while. We are praying for patience with each other, as Nathan and I will have to live apart for 5 weeks while I finish school.

When we finally make our move and get settled, we expect visitors!

Love,
Katie

Sunbeams

Over the past several months, we had been praying that God would help us find a new way to serve our church that we would both enjoy. As it turns out, the children's Sunday School program was in need of a new set of teachers this spring. So, we are now the teachers of the "Sunbeams" class of 3 and 4 year olds. It is definitely an interesting, fun, and rewarding experience. Nathan is GREAT with the kids! He came up with "the beanbag game," where the kids throw beanbags in a plastic bin based on his instructions. It's wild what can entertain 3 and 4 year olds :)

Happy Saturday!

Katie

Our First Married Valentine's Day

Here's a picture from our first married Valentine's Day. We've never done much to celebrate on Valentine's, and this year was no different. Chicken alfredo pizza and salad at home was perfectly fine with us!

Two Great Deals

You all know that I love a good deal. Well, here's TWO good deals:

2 Movie Tickets for $9

$25 for $55 worth of food and drinks at Baker Peters Jazz Club

Love,
Katie

What I'm Reading

Rebecca asked me the other day for some book suggestions, and as you all know, I'm always happy to give them. Here's what I've been reading over the past 6 months or so.

Heart of the Matter

By: Emily Giffin

Emily Giffin's latest is fabulous, but happily married women beware. While some parts are touching, others will make you a little sick. I've found that this is truly Emily's trademark - making you like and hate her characters all at the same time. If you don't know what I mean, you need to get off the computer and go straight to the bookstore to purchase Something Borrowed and Something Blue. My favorite two books of all time!

Love, Rosie

By: Cecelia Ahern

My first read from Cecelia Ahern (creater of Samantha Who?) was P.S. I Love You. I wasn't crazy about the movie, but I thought I'd try the book. It was surprisingly good! I couldn't wait to get another book from Cecelia, and I found Love, Rosie at McKay. I could not make myself put it down. The entire book is a collection of letters, e-mails, IMs, and texts between Rosie, Alex, and their family and friends. It tells the story of Rosie and Alex's lifelong friendship and how love just keeps passing the two of them by. It's a must read!

Disclaimer: I do NOT recommend Cecelia's If You Could See Me Now.

Fly Away Home

By: Jennifer Weiner

Jennifer is one of my all-time faves. I've read every one of her books, and you should too. Fly Away Home is based loosely on the stories of women like Elizabeth Edwards, who stood by their husbands for many years only to be humiliated by their husbands' affairs. I read it on my honeymoon (maybe not the best idea...) and it was pretty powerful.

Safe Haven

By: Nicholas Sparks

This is one of Sparks's best in recent memory. It's his typical setting, coastal Carolina, and his typical characters, rough-around-the-edges widow and new girl in town, but the story is quite unique. I also very much enjoyed his recent The Last Song.  The movie was alright, but the book was so touching!

I'm a big Sophie Kinsella fan (she also goes by Madeline Wickham), but her latest Twenties Girl was weak. I also recently read her Sleeping Arrangements and The Wedding Girl, both of which were cute. One of her best is Remember Me, the story of a twenty-something that wakes up after a car accident and can't remember anything about her life. The story follows her as she learns all the good and the bad of the life she leads.

And you can't mention Sophie Kinsella without the Shopaholic Series. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this books! If you haven't read them, you must! They will keep you laughing and laughing. The newest, Mini Shopaholic, is out, and I will be ordering it this evening.

So excited about this!!

I'll also be ordering

Last Night at Chateau Marmont

By: Lauren Weisberger

Lauren is the author of The Devil Wears Prada, Everyone Worth Knowing, and Chasing Harry Winston, all of which should be on your list. She hasn't had a new book out in a long time, so I was thrilled to see this!

What are YOU reading?

Love,

Katie