Where did the end of summer go?

Not that I'm complaining. August featured 100-degree temps and next to no rain at all, plus I LOVE fall, so I'm very excited that the air is a little crisper and I can actually pull out the fall decorations this Sunday. Still, where did August go? I (Jessica) was just writing on my other blog what a pathetic blogger I am because I hadn't posted on it since March, and I used this blog as my excuse, and then realized I hadn't posted on it since the end of July!

The only thing I really recall from August was my business trip up to Granger Community Church, near South Bend, Indiana. Wow--what a cutting-edge congregation! They have got their finger on the pulse of pop culture and their young adult target demographic. I also recall a knot in my stomach during August because of general work stress hanging like a dark cloud over the office. (Good thing Granger's current sermon series, which I've been watching online, is on "The Office"--what did I tell you?!) I might have gone to the gym two or three times, too, but other than those things, August was a blur.

September has been cool so far, though. Rob and Courtney's wedding kicked it off right, then Tracy came to visit for a weekend and I helped her catch up a little on her scrapbooking (senior year at Furman??? I don't feel so delinquent on the blogging now :0) Last Thursday and Friday was MinistryCOM, a great church communications conference at which I was able to connect with a lot of awesome authors and potential authors from the most innovative and tech-savvy churches out there. Excellent. This past Saturday was Wine on the River, put on by the same people that sponsor the Music City Brewer's Festival, which we'd gone to the past two years (our tastes are growing more sophisticated, perhaps?) It was a lovely (if a little crowded) wine tasting event held on the Shelby Street Pedestrian Bridge. Here's a pic:














We're also approaching our first anniversary, and in honor of that fact, I'll include a couple wedding shots that we just recently got ahold of.

House Pictures, Part 1

So I finally got the house fixed up enough to take pictures of the main rooms, at least! First, our kitchen--note the beautiful peach roses on the counter, which Matt brought me for no reason!

Then, the kitchen opens into the den. The side with the fireplace is along the back of the house.

Along the front of the house is the combo dining/living room. Most of this furniture belongs to the house (which explains why there are two china cabinets--we already had the corner cabinet).

And, finally, the master bedroom. So, that leaves the guest room and our offices that are still filled with unpacked boxes and other random things.

In other news...the wild turkeys had babies! That was a fun surprise, to see the little turklings (like goslings, maybe? I don't know the real name for baby turkeys) wandering through the yard.

Just Beachy!

Matt got to lead a workshop (AKA a "Splatshop") at the quadrennial United Methodist youth event, Youth2007 (the theme of which this year was "SPLAT!: Seek, Pray, Learn, Act, Teach"). The event was held in Greensboro, NC, so we decided that if he/we were going to drive that far, might as well go on to the beach and make it our summer vacation!

So, we left Nashville on Thursday 7/12, and drove to Asheville, NC, where we spent the night in the mountains and enjoyed a nice Mediterranean tapas dinner. (We'd planned to eat at the Biltmore Winery, but found that it closes at 5pm! How crazy!) Friday morning, we drove a few hours further, to Greensboro, where I did a little shmoozing with UM youth pastors, trying to promote a particular Abingdon book we're wanting to push. (Might as well plug it here, too--see http://www.cokesbury.com/forms/bookstore.aspx?pid=446592 for the "Unofficial United Methodist Handbook," a humorous but insightful dummies-guide to the UMC!) Matt led the two sessions of his seminar, "Evangelism for the Rest of Us," in which he encouraged the youth (and their chaperones, who weren't all thrilled with this anti-prostletization look at sharing the gospel) to evangelize by sharing their own stories of faith, telling people how God has actually impacted their lives, rather than "four easy steps to escape hell and damnation." The sessions went really well; the youth loved having a good portion of the workshop time to just talk in small groups about their views and experiences, prompted by a list of 15-20 questions Matt posed to them about God, Jesus, hell, the Bible, etc. Kids are so much more insightful than we give them credit for, and it's amazing how deeply theological they can be when given the opportunity.

After dinner with a friend of mine from Furman, who now lives in Greensboro (though he's moving to Israel soon--awesome!) Matt and I drove on to Wilmington, NC, where we enjoyed three days at Wrightsville Beach! It rained a bit Saturday and early Sunday, but by Sunday afternoon, we were frying in the sun, so much that Monday morning, we went to the NC Aquarium to avoid the midday sun before enjoying some late-afternoon beach time.

It's good to be back home now, since we've only had about 6 days by ourselves in our new house since we moved in three weeks ago! It's time to get those books on shelves and pictures hung, etc., and THEN I will finally take some pics of the new house to post here! Ciao!

Turkeys, Bunnies, and Deer, oh my!

Though we are theoretically in a suburban neighborhood, we have a good bit of wildlife here, which is a delight to Charlotte, as you can imagine. In the cat's-eye-view picture below, you see three wild turkeys just wandering through the yard, which is an almost-daily occurance. We also see deer and brown rabbits every couple days--which I get very excited about every time, despite the fact that I'm terrified I will hit or run over them!















Also, here's a few photos from moving day, including Jessica's "so-sad-to-leave-our-first-home-together" face, our crystal seat-belted into the car, and Charlotte enjoying her new digs!

The Kelley Clarksvillians (not to be confused with Kelly Clarkson)

Sorry we don't have pics of the new house up yet--we don't have Internet there yet, but that is coming tomorrow, so we'll post some soon! We moved into the parsonage on June 30, using professional movers (I vowed after moving Matt into our duplex that I would never U-haul it again!) and a bunch of people from the church helped out, getting the house clean and ready for us, then helping carry boxes and furniture in once the moving van arrived! They brought tons of food, too, so we're still feeding on Subway sandwiches and Capri-Sun over a week later, now!

The next day we received a "pounding"--a church tradition in which parishioners stock the new pastor's pantry (traditionally, with pounds of staples like flour and sugar). We did receive some staples (including 14 pounds of sugar!) but also a bunch of canned goods, pasta, cake mixes, some fresh fruit, and even a Starbucks gift card! The folks at Bethlehem are so thoughtful--someone who knew we had a cat even threw in some kitty treats!

The house is great, with brand new carpet and paint, and enough bedrooms for us to have a master bedroom, guest room, and his and hers offices! (My--Jessica's--office also has a spare bed, so we have plenty of space for visitors!) I can't wait to post pictures, and even better, to have people over for a cookout or cocktail party! Matt and I drove in to Nashville together last Thursday and Friday (after I took Monday through Wednesday off to unpack and celebrate my 26th b-day on the 4th!), so today was my first day of solo commuting. The traffic wasn't bad at all until I got inside the outer beltway, when it came to a standstill! (I am still looking into carpooling, to reduce my smog contribution.) It took me right at one hour to get to work (42 miles, door-to-door), but 25 minutes of that was within the city limits! Hopefully, if I get out the door by 7am, I can avoid the tardy-worker rush that I hit today!

Our First Sunday at Bethlehem

Well, Matt's survived his first week as a Senior Pastor! VBS was last week, so he drove up to Clarksville every morning (we aren't moving til this coming Saturday) to participate in that and to get to know the children as well as the youth and adults helping to make "Lift Off--Soaring to New Heights with God" (the Cokesbury VBS this year) a big success. All this commuting was complicated by the fact that by the end of the week, we were down a car in the Kelley household: someone ran a red light and slammed into our car Wednesday night! I saw that this big red SUV wasn't stopping and alerted Matt, who floored it and swerved enough that she hit the rear door of Matt's Saturn ION, rather than the driver's door. The impact crushed the door and spun us up onto the sidewalk, where our passenger-side rear tire burst and the hubcap dug into the dirt like a meteor, spewing dirt over 15 feet! It was pretty scary, but we are fine, and the car isn't quite totalled, so we'll get it fixed within a few weeks, I guess.

Yesterday, we drove up to Clarksville (delayed a bit because Matt couldn't get his sermon to print--and he ended up just making some notes by hand and preaching from them) and enjoyed Bethlehem's weekly pre-Sunday School breakfast. I attended the younger of Bethlehem's two adult Sunday School classes while Matt both tended the one baby in the nursery and went over his sermon notes. Worship went well, though Matt accidentally skipped the prayer time and had to backtrack! People were amused and all was fine. Matt preached on Isaiah 43--"Behold, I am doing a new thing." The people at Bethlehem had told us they were ready and willing to grow, and even have some extra land that was given to the church, on which they might end up building a new facility! I think exciting things are in the future for this historic and wonderful congregation!

We have a lot of new names to learn and family trees to remember, but this looks to be an exciting new era in Matt's ministry career and in our life as a couple. Though I'm still wary about having to commute an hour each way to work, I'm definitely excited about moving into the parsonage and getting all set up there. We'll post pictures once we get settled!

The End of an Era

Jessica and I said goodbye to the folks at Crievewood this past Sunday. It was bittersweet because while we are excited about going to Bethlehem Church, we will miss everyone at Crievewood. Still, a pastor doesn't always have the luxury of going out while (almost) everyone still likes them, so we greatly value the time we have had there and the opportunity to go out on top.

Our last Sunday was especially meaningful because it was also confirmation Sunday. Jessica got to be Allie Cate's mentor, and she and Allie found the experience to be very meaningful. Allie couldn't have picked a better mentor and role model!

Here are a few pics:

Allie and Jessica

Serving Communion

During the farewell liturgy

At the reception

We have two Sundays in between churches, so we're taking the opportunity to attend services together as ordinary people, rather than as pastor and spouse. Our first Sunday at Bethlehem is June 24! Pictures and stories will follow.