Art: God's creation | myMCMlife.com

New Home Update

04/04/2012

Yesterday Jason, Precious, Lucy and I took a morning walk around the block and stopped by our property to say check on it. Jason wanted to inspect our fruit trees—the cherries and pear we transplanted from our last yard—while I just wanted to admire our giant white dogwood tree.

We met with a team of contractors at Starbucks later in the day. They seem like really nice guys and we had a lot in common personally, too. They’re a family business and all three of them are married and have kids. One of the guys has six, two of which they’re adopting through foster care. We also know some people in common. One of the three original general contractors who were putting together bids has dropped out. We haven’t gotten numbers back yet from the other two yet and it’s been 2.5 weeks. We’re getting antsy. We want to get started!

1 Comment | Art, Art: gardening, Art: God's creation, Art: new home build | Tagged: bids, construction, general contractors, house, new home build, property | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt

Spring!

03/21/2012

Yesterday was the first day of spring, though it has been looking and feeling like spring for weeks now in Nashville. I’ve always been a summer lover. Bring on the heat! Spring temps here are reminiscent of the summers of my childhood in Pennsylvania and Michigan, but the flowers here are just amazing! Especially the flowering trees like red buds, cherries, plums, pears, magnolias. It’s decidedly the more beautiful time of year. Monday morning I snapped pictures during Lucy’s and my morning walk and on my drive to work:

2 Comments | Art, Art: gardening, Art: God's creation | Tagged: beauty, creation, flowers, Nashville, spring | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt

Mother-Daughter Adventure #1

02/01/2012

Precious and I went on a big adventure last week. Jason was in Florida for 12 days on tour so we decided we’d join him for a few days in the Tampa area. I’ve flown alone with a toddler once (Ladybug) so that probably took the edge off my fears, but it was still a little scary flying into an unfamiliar airport, renting a car and driving to meet Jason all on my own. Thankfully, Precious is an AHHHMAZING traveler! I didn’t really expect anything different since she’s super easy-going and happy in general, but wow. Not bothered by the pressure in the airplane. (She was sleepy and yawning through both flights and had a bottle as we started descending.) Not bothered by sitting in the Florida heat watching me wrestle with the rental car seat for 20 minutes. Not bothered by sleeping on hotel beds, cribs at random churches, or on the floor of the green room. Not bothered by all the strangers ooohing and ahhhing at her. Not bothered by getting shown off from stage in front of hundreds of people. (I was nervous as heck, though!) Not bothered by missing a nap here and there. Ok, maybe that did bother her a little bit… She had a few, “Hey, I’m freakin’ tired over here!” melt-downs but considering all we did, she did awesome. Best tiny travel companion ever.

Oh, and it’s wasn’t JUST a mother-daughter adventure, of course. We had a great time hanging out with Jason and the guys. Precious and I arrived in Tampa on Saturday and flew back to Nashville on Wednesday. The first three days were show days for the guys so us girls just went along with whatever they were doing and tried to stay out of the way. Tuesday and Wednesday were off days, though, so we all headed south to Sarasota and booked a night at Lido Beach Resort. It was gorgeous! The weather was perfect. Highs in the upper 70s to low 80s, sunny, breezy with lower humidity the whole time we were there. Precious had a nasty first experience at the beach. Right after we sat her down and took a picture, she face-planted into the sand. Sand was in her eyes, nose, mouth, ears. Poor baby girl! I took her into the pool to rinse off and she was happy again. It was her first time at the beach and her first time in the pool. I’m determined to get her swimming unassisted by floatation devices next summer (when she’ll be 2). We’ll be in the pool A LOT this summer since we’ll be living at my parents’ house. Knowing how to swim is a life skill and “waterproofing” is not an option in our family—all kids must learn to swim as soon as possible. Anyway, enough about all that. On with the pictures.

Right after we arrived, watching Daddy set up for sound check:

Representin’ Guy Penrod with the onesie my co-worker made for her:

Packed house at this one…lots of Q-tips

Pretty Spanish moss everywhere. It’s so romantic.

And palm trees everywhere too.

We’re happier than we look…the sun was just so bright!

Bare feet!!! I love Precious’ chubby little toes.

Outside the door of our room at Lido Beach Resort:

Lunch poolside:

First time in the sand at the beach…right before “the incident”…

The pool makes it all better

We ate dinner at the nationally reknown Columbia restaurant. It was as fabulous as everyone said it would be. I found it hilarious that all the guys pulled out their cameras to take a picture of our stone crab appetizer before we started eating it.

We stayed out of the sand the second day and everyone was happy

It was a short trip during a very busy season of our lives…but oh so worth it! Thank you, Lord!

1 Comment | Art, Art: God's creation, Art: music, Family, Family: Jason, Family: Me, Family: Precious/Ali | Tagged: baby, beach, Florida, guy penrod, pool, precious, swimming, Tour | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt

Phone Photo Friday

01/06/2012

Leave a Comment » | Art, Art: fashion, Art: God's creation, Art: Phone Photo Friday | Tagged: cell phone photography, january, Nashville, Phone Photo Friday, sky, sunset | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt

Phone Photo Friday

10/28/2011

Leave a Comment » | Art, Art: gardening, Art: God's creation, Art: Phone Photo Friday | Tagged: cactus, cell phone photography, garden, home, landscaping, Phone Photo Friday | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt

Beautiful Fall

10/24/2011

I love this time of year in Nashville. Summer is hands-down my favorite but the start of fall with lower humidity and cooler nights is usually a welcome change. Most days it’s sunny with highs in the 70s and temps dipping down into the 40s overnight. I decided to snap a few pictures of some beauty in our garden before the overnight frosts start. Check out how tall our banana tree got this year! The leaves don’t survive the winter so it starts out as a stump each spring.

It’s been warm enough that some plants are flowering a second time this year, including our pink roses, orange zinnias and yellow canna lilies.

I love the furry fronds on the end of our pampas grass.

Our black bamboo has really filled in this year. If you’re not familiar with growing bamboo, the saying is “first year sleep, second year creep, third year leap.” This has definitely been a leap year for it.

Jason is considering moving this agave to a pot through the winter. Juuuust to be sure it doesn’t die if we have several cold days in a row.

What is your favorite season?

1 Comment | Art, Art: gardening, Art: God's creation | Tagged: autumn, fall, garden, home, landscaping | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt

Phone Photo Friday

10/21/2011

1 Comment | Art, Art: God's creation, Art: mid-century design, Art: Phone Photo Friday | Tagged: cell phone photography, fall, home, mid-century modern, our house, Phone Photo Friday, ranch | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt

Winds of Change

10/10/2011

There is so much whirring around in my head but I can’t seem to organize any of it into a well packaged blog post.

There is everything and there is nothing.

Sorting through it is overwhelming.

I take a deep breath and keep going. Everyday.

One day at a time.

Looking too far ahead makes the butterflies in my tummy start flapping.

Reflecting on the past sometimes stirs up more pain than joy.

So I try my best to keep my head and my heart in today.

To be present.

To savor every moment I have with the people I love.

Last spring I wrote a post called On The Precipice as we were about to take the plunge into foster parenting. Right now, I feel like our toes are up to the edge of four different cliffs. It’s exciting times for our little family. And it’s a lot to take in. Jason’s mind is as full of spinning thoughts as mine…but it seems like when he’s pondering one thing, my brain is consumed with another. We’re doing our best to encourage and support each other. In some ways it feels like we’ve been disconnected lately with all that’s flooding in around us (or maybe just preoccupied) but at the same time, our foundation is as strong as ever and we’ve been holding each other up through each day. I’m so thankful to have my best friend right by my side.

It’s a strange season we’re in… or maybe it’s the change of seasons we’re feeling right now. Funny how the natural sometimes lines up with the spiritual. Driving to work through the park near our house one day last week, a shower of orange and yellow leaves rained down on my car as I drove under the trees. The beauty of it brought tears to my eyes. I love how God made the process of leavings dying into such a beautiful show.

(Image found through Google from here.)

3 Comments | Art, Art: God's creation, Faith, Family, Family: Jason, Family: Me | Tagged: changes, Faith, life, seasons | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt

Phone Photo Friday

10/07/2011

1 Comment | Art, Art: gardening, Art: God's creation, Art: Phone Photo Friday | Tagged: autumn, cell phone photography, fall, flowers, orange, Phone Photo Friday, zinnias | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt

Weekend Getaway

10/05/2011

I hate that my best friend doesn’t live in Nashville anymore but at least it’s only a 4.5 hour drive to Cincinnati. Jason and I got permission to take Precious out of state with us for a short trip up to visit our dear friends last weekend. We got to hang out with these amazing kiddos: