Last trip to Franklin

As our time here is winding down we have been trying to get out to all of our favorite places knowing that it is likely we may never be in Nashville again. My eyes water up just thinking about it. They also water up thinking about how much packing I still have left to do even though I have been packing for two days now. 

 Franklin is a southern suburb of Nashville, where all of the famous country singers have their ranches and country houses. It is quaint and has a great downtown square. This time we stopped in the Factory, above, where there are antique shops and novelty stores. We decided to get dessert before lunch and shared a scoop of banana cream ice-cream, my favorite! Riley loved it too!

 We stopped and had lunch at Riff Burger, the decor was really retro and the burgers were pretty good. Overall, I would recommend to anyone heading out towards Franklin.

On a side note, Riley has apparently gotten too big for her swing. She never liked the swing, but it came in handy during showers. In fact, the swing is permanently in the bathroom because that is the only time she is ever in it. Well she has managed to wiggle her arms free, grab a hold of the top and pull herself up to a stand. I know this might sound silly, but where has my baby gone?

Goodbye Music City: 2

 Our internet wasn't working for the last couple of days, sorry for the lack of posts. On with the countdown!

Centennial Park

We have spent countless mornings, afternoons and evenings walking around the park, people watching and enjoying the scenery. Right next to Vanderbilt and about 3 miles from our house, it is the perfect place to go when we want to get out of the house and get some fresh air.

Here are some of my favorite memories from the park.



Goodbye Music City: 1

The reason we came to Nashville in the first place.

Vanderbilt University

When I started undergrad I wanted to be a teacher. I had volunteered in elementary schools in Mesa and enjoyed working with students and being in the classroom. The first semester of my freshman year I started volunteering in a school in South Phoenix that was located in a low-income area. I was shocked and disheartened to see the huge disparities in resources between the schools I had grown up going to and inner-city schools only a short drive away. That same semester I was given an assignment to complete a policy brief, a concise paper outlining a problem, possible policy solutions and a recommendation. From this point I decided that I want to make a larger impact on student achievement and study how policy is made and implemented. Driven by the belief that education is the means to achieving social mobility, the foundation of economic development and essential for democratic participation, I wanted to (and still want to) conduct research and draft policy solutions that make quality education more accessible to disadvantaged students. I knew then that I would have to go to graduate school in order to make a career out of my interests. I applied to schools all over the country and did not stumble across the program at Vanderbilt until shortly before applications were due. Vanderbilt offered the opportunity to study public policy with the leading scholars and experts in education policy. It was the best of both worlds, a public policy degree centered in education. After a few hiccups, I finally made it to Vanderbilt, which have I mentioned is the #1 graduate school of education in country for the third straight year in a row?! So now that I have gotten all of that out of the way (I know it is long, but I thought it would be good for future reference) let us count the top three things I will miss about Vanderbilt:

1. The people, my classmates and professors have challenged me in my beliefs and pushed me to be a more thoughtful and critical thinker. Plus who doesn't like being around people who care just as much about the same things you care about?

2. The gorgeous campus built in the 1800s, it is a national arboretum with huge magnolia trees everywhere and squirrels galore!

3. Undergraduate fashion. Seriously, these girls always look chic and stylish. And the guys, well they like to stick to their preppy uniform of polo shirts, khaki shorts above the knee and boat shoes. Oh and FYI, you are no one unless you have a Longchamp Le Pliage tote and Hunter rain boots!

There really is so much more I will miss, but this post is already a novel so I will cut it short. See you tomorrow with part 2!

Goodbye Music City

Wow, it has been like a year since I last posted. There is a lot to update you on, Riley's updates alone deserve a post of their own.

May was a crazy month, I graduated, our lease expired and I had to make a huge decision regarding my career and our life. Last week I received news that I did not get a position I had been in the process of interviewing for here in Nashville. It was a great position with a great organization that I was certain I had in the bag. After completing a 6 hour assignment I was moved on to interview #1. Three hour-long phone interviews and 4 long weeks later I found out the job wasn't for me. And to be honest, I am kind of confused. This is one of those rare occasions where my gut feeling was not right.

A couple of weeks back I was offered a position at Vanderbilt and turned it down. As plan A went out the window, and plan B turned out to be a bust, we are now on to plan C. Plan C is moving back to Arizona and staying with family while I continue to search for a job. So in exactly 2 weeks we will be packing up a UHaul, loading up our cars with dog and baby and heading west!

I have to say it truly is bitter sweet. Nashville has changed my life. I came here a newlywed with no experiences outside of my little East Valley bubble. On top of the amazing experiences I had at Vanderbilt as a graduate student, I learned so much about myself and what I am capable of while living 2000 miles away from home. I have learned that I can survive on my own, but that in times of need I have the best support system of family and friends. They inspire me every day to be a better person.

So to celebrate/commemorate the end of my 2 year love-hate relationship with Nashville I invite you to follow my "Goodbye Music City" posts that will start tomorrow. Each post will be dedicated to something I will miss about Nashville. The city our sweet baby girl entered the world. And to all of myArizona loves, I hope you are ready for us :)

Sunset at the park

 A few weeks back Josh and I took the baby and our first baby to Centennial park for a stroll to get a glimpse of the beautiful cherry blossoms. You can see pictures of last year's blooms here.

 After the sun went down it was impossible to get a clear picture, but here is the Parthenon with downtown Nashville in the background.

 And here is Josh pushing the stroller and walking Lola around the front side of the Parthenon.

Like most people, I sometimes let the everyday stresses get in the way of enjoying life. This particular day I was home with Riley by myself and had been waiting for Josh to get home so I could get some stuff done and go grocery shopping. Josh came home and immediately suggested we take Riley to the park since it was so nice out. I fought off my instinct to ramble off every other thing that needed to be done. Instead, I let the laundry wait until the next day and had Josh run to the store later that night. After all it is nights like these that we will remember forever.

Spring in Nashville

 Down town Nashville from the pedestrian bridge. Isn't it pretty on the water? I think one of the reasons so many people love Nashville is because it is so inviting, and the city is not at all intimidating. I am one to get stressed out and anxious over traffic, one way streets and parallel parking, but something about Nashville just makes everything seem easier. The people hear move at a slower pace and as we noticed when we went home to Phoenix, the people down hear really are nicer.

It was in the 60's today, can you believe it? After a week of winter weather (highs in the 40's) the sun decided to come back out and let us enjoy the outdoors again. We had a little teaser a couple of weeks back and all of the trees bloomed, but then someone decided to roll in the clouds, rain and cold air and it was not very nice.

I love spring, and I love the seasons! You know the way you feel in Arizona in November when the weather finally starts to feel perfect outside? Well when you live in a state with seasons that is what you feel like in the spring when you have been stuck inside all winter. It's amazing and it is something I will miss if we move.

Weekend Bliss

I started to type "I love the weekend" as the title but then thought that was a little obvious. I mean, who doesn't love the weekend? We love it because it brings us the chance to get out of the house together. Today we walked the trails that wind around a golf course not too far from our house.

It was quite the work out pushing the stroller up the hills, and it I think I might have even worked up a little sweat. There were walkers, runners, bikers, and even rollerbladers out on the trail enjoying the 70 degree weather.

It was Riley's first time at a golf course, and Josh was excited to show her where the two of them will be spending a lot of time as soon as she is big enough to play. We found a set of ladybug golf clubs last night for 5years and under. Really kids smaller than 5 can play golf? Josh says as soon as she's walking she will have her own set of clubs.

Riley was kind of cranky again, and insisted of holding Daddy's hand for most of the walk. We need to get this girl some sunglasses if we are going to keep taking her out.

By the end of the walk we were all pretty tired. And now Josh and Riley are sleeping on the couch while I work on a paper (or a blog post).

I really do love the weekends. I wish they lasted 5 days instead of 2.

HUGE

38 weeks and 4 days

At the state capitol after our stop at Oktoberfest in Germantown

Sorry to all of the strangers who were touched by my tummy. What? It's not like I can suck it in and the crowd was tight, especially by the beer tents.
By the way, take special notice of the tree on the right. Yep, the leaves are changing. Fall is here. Just in time for visitors!

36 Weeks

Fall has finally arrived, and just in time for company! I had another busy week with the final installment of my weekend class wrapping up Saturday afternoon. Now I just have to get working on these papers and try to get them done before the baby comes.

 Josh and Lola enjoying the 60's on the balcony

My good friend Angelica and her boyfriend Jon were in town for the night on Saturday and I was sooooo excited to see her! She is our first friend to come visit and I loved having her here even though it was for such a short amount of time. We had dinner at Whiskey Kitchen and showed them around town Sunday morning before she had to jet off back to PHX. We had a little photo shoot on the terrace at our place, and this is the only shot I have of us. Hopefully Jon got some better pics with his pro self-timer skills.

 Jon, Angelica, Riley, Me and Josh

(Standing next to little Angelica you can really see how big this belly is!)

Less than 4 weeks to go...I don't think I can grow anymore!

This is becoming a habit

As I sit down to write this blog I am thinking it is going to look very similar to other posts. It seems all I can post lately is what I did over the weekend, baby bump pictures, or updates from my appointments. Well, I am stickin gwith my pattern for this post.

This weekend was crazy, like usual. Friday night Josh and I tried Pie in the Sky Pizza right by Vanderbilt. It was good, and really cute. We sat on the patio and while we were there a couple came with about 10 other people and were married! She wore a short strapless white dress and a flower in her hair, he wore jeans and an untucked white button up shirt. They brought 3 centerpieces, set them on the table, took their wedding license out of a manila folder signed it and then order pitchers of beer and pizza pies. I told Josh I thought they must have had their first date their or something. Why else would you get married at a pizza place?

On Saturday we attended "New Beginnings: Childbirth Preparation Crach Course" from 8:30-4:30! I didn't learn anything new about birth, but I did like learning about standard practices at Vanderbilt. I think it was very informative for daddy though, and he even got to try on the "empathy belly". He said it wasn't bad, but try carrying that around all day every day!

On Sunday morning we attempted to go to Pancake Pantry for the 5 millionth time, but the line was even crazier than normal so we went to Frothy Monkey instead. It is a trendy coffee shop in the 12 South neighborhood. I am going to take my sister here when she comes next month (only 4 more weeks, Chels!)

*I wrote the post like 3 days ago and forgot to post it...I will update with new baby bump (bulge) pictures soon, I promise!

Weekend Happenings

Warning: the following post is a random compilation of this weekends happenings. It is all unrelated and disjointed but I am too tired to creatively tie it all together or do separate posts. Deal with it. : )

This weekend was one of those rare occasions where I found balance in recreational activities and chores. Chores including housework, shopping, and homework (blah).

Aside from finishing the third disk of Dexter Season 4, Josh and I took advantage of the nice weather and tried a restaurant that we had yet to experience. Taco Mamacita is in the Edgehill neighborhood, has a huge patio and the margaritas looked so good (no I did not have one, or even try Josh's). Also, there is a super cute baby store next door called Tweed, which I will be visiting the next chance I get!

We spent Saturday running errands, watching college football and eating wings.

Belly shot thrown in for no good reason.

Sunday morning I met with some friends and classmates to work on homework. Of course we were distracted by baby stuff and spent a good hour going over alternatives to the name we have picked for baby. Josh and I settled on name early on simply because it was the first name we agreed on and it just seemed to work. But, I do not particularly love it. The problem is that Josh only likes one other name that I am not a fan of and the names I love he will not even consider. I am also extremely picky about names. Not just the sound of the name, but also the aesthetics. I want a name that is visually balanced when written or typed. For instance I would never spell her name Rylie or Rylee because there is more going on on the left side than the right and it bugs me. The Y needs to go at the end! Is that crazy? 

So it looks like this is still her name:

Riley Jo Chapa

(Notice the balance of letters)

After a homework, baby talk and breakfast at Frothy Monkey, Josh and I took a drive through Percy Warner park with the windows down and the sunroof open, and talked about all the fun things that will come with having Riley here, outside of the womb.  

We finished off the drive with a stop at Whole Foods where we bought and devoured mini cupcakes and chocolate covered cheesecake bites. It was a sweet end to a great weekend.

More pictures...

These pictures are all taken from within a mile of our condo buidling

pictures from the Tennessean

The past 72 hours in Nashville have been like a disaster movie.

Over 13 inches of rain in 36 hours has broken records in the state, and has caused creeks and rivers to overflow into neighborhoods reaching over 20 feet in some areas of town. The river is at record levels, and flooding is of historic proportions. People have abandoned cars on highways and there are hundreds of cars and trucks that have been stuck on the I40 for over 24 hours.

Now that the rain has stopped, the creeks are dumping into the Cumberland River that has yet to crest and is spilling over into downtown. The markers, light posts, and flags that adorn the river front are all completely submerged. There are five levels of steps that lead down to the river are all under water.

Luckily our building has not been threatened by the water, even though we are so close to the river.

This is just the craziest thing ever. Thoughts and prayers are requested for the tens of thousands who have lost EVERYTHING.

"Oh, Oh, Mexico"

Rocky Point is sounding really nice about now. Lounging on the beach, not taking off my swimsuit for days at a time, wading in the salty water, Mexican food, and La Michoacana our favorite popsicle stand in town.

So Josh and I had lunch at Baja Burrito today, I had chicken tacos with guacamole, it really hit the spot.

Then, after a little shopping and driving around, we went to the 12 South neighborhood to check out Las Paletas for gourmet Mexican popsicles. The modern little storefront with chalkboard walls displaying the days menu was not quite as authentic as La Michocoana, but the popsicles did not disappoint. Since they were cash only and we could only scrounge up enough quarters for one, Josh let me (the pregnant lady) get whatever I want (isn't he sweet). I got butter pecan and it was delish. Next time, coconut, or lime, or Mexican caramel or maybe hibiscus?

Now if only I could find a beach and a mean shrimp cocktail...that would be jackpot.

Popsicle Image

Zoo Day

Josh and I went to the Nashville Zoo at Grassmere, and did not expect the crowds that accompanied us at 10 am. I forgot school was out for Good Friday, and since it is only the second week since the weather has been nice, the masses headed to the zoo. I told Josh I felt like we were part of a herd migrating through the park. I attempted to get some sun, as you can see in the top picture I am glowing with paleness. There were so many trees everywhere, we were mostly shaded and I don't even have the hint of a tan line. Boo!

Overall we thought it was a lot like the PHX Zoo, not all that exciting as far as animal exhibits are concerned. But, it was nice to spend the day in the sun with Josh!