Moving (on)

Moving is never fun. It doesn't matter where you're moving from or where you're moving to, the process of moving sucks life right out of you. After an exhausting graduation weekend filled with the stresses of speaking at the ceremony, cleaning out my office and apartment and all of my family coming into town, I moved into a room at DP's townhouse. But moving into DP's townhouse represented so much more than just another moving experience. It represented moving on from college. In so many ways I was ready to move, but for so many reasons I was content to simply live in Wise 1 and 2 for the rest of my life.

Needless to say, I did move on. And I'm glad I did. It was healthy and I feel like I'm where I need to be right now. To have that peace is a wonderful feeling and I love where I'm at in life right now!



oh yeah, this happened close to graduation too.
"Glow with the Flow"

A Happy Camper

One of the only things I can think of more fun than going to summer camp, is going to summer camp as a counselor. Over the summer, I had the privilege of working with two summer camps, Tennessee and Kentucky. On top of that, I got to work at these camps with five of my best friends. On top of that, we were given the keys to golf carts and basically raised heck for a solid week. (Hopefully somewhere in their kids lives where changed) We weren't the typical camp counselor's but rather we had been hired to help ensure everything behind the scenes went smooth. Which meant service production, meal time, late night activities, etc.

Some of my favorite memories from those camps came late at night after the campers were asleep. We would take the golf carts out and basically trash them. We would do wheelies, sled behind them in the mud, and race through a foot of standing water. We also played our own version of Mario-Kart, with our own made up weapons of choice.

Races around Trevecca's campus has almost killed two of my friends. I honestly thought I had chopped off Will's head with the roof of the golf cart when I flipped it. Luckily, Will is a shifty little son of a gun and somehow managed to survive. I thought Jake died when he willingly jumped out of a kart I was driving to try to win a race. Below is a sweet pic of his war-time injury.

If you've never been crazy with a golf cart, I highly suggest it


Jake with the lovely Mrs. Rita Storey

The Scene

Nashville has a reputation for good music. And not just country music as the stereotype often is. I love going to shows, even though I don't do it often enough. Over the Spring I went to one of my favorite shows I've been to in Nashville as I saw Fiction Family. Fiction Family consists of Jon Foreman (from Switchfoot) and Sean Watkins (from Nickel Creek). Both are extremely talented performers and musicians. I saw them at the Historic Belcourt Theatre which made the experience that much better! I also had the opportunity to hear Thad Cockrell open and he has become one of my favorite artist. Also it didn't hurt to be surrounded by some of my best friends at the show. Here are a couple awesome cell videos and photos... enjoy.




Sean Watkins covering a Nickel Creek's 'Somebody more like you'

Family Times

I just got home from spending the afternoon and evening with my Aunt and her family. I truly love spending time with my family during the Holidays... heck, I love being around my family just about anytime, especially my immediate family. I think it's amazing that even though we all live different lives that when we come together we seem to pick up right where we left off. Sure we have some new stories to tell and pictures to show, but the plot line is the same. I love that security and that feeling. I often take for granted the family I have, but I truly am thankful for my family...

Which brings me to one of my favorite events of the year... thanksgiving in Sea Level, NC. This year we had a Taylor Family reunion in Sea Level, NC. (Sea Level is the name of the little town) That little town has great connections to my family heritage as 3 or 4 generations of Taylors, prior to my grandad, had lived there. It's just like any rural small town, but it's on edge of the Atlantic. My great-grandfather owned the only general store, and from the stories seemed to have been the entrepreneur and business man of Sea Level. So whenever we go there, I feel a sense of entitlement as we roam the streets, because my great-grandfather was once the well-to-do man in town. Funny the way your mind works sometimes I guess. But this thanksgiving we went there and I got to hear all the old stories again. There's nothing better than hearing an old aunt tell a story about the good ole days. Sometimes I think I was meant to live in that time period... (other times I grateful I wasn't!)

This thanksgiving was filled with fun and laughter, fishing and catching, as well as family and eating. All of which are my favorites. Being around family for a solid week is trying at times, but the memories created are worth every moment of tension. Watching my little cousin eat three honey buns while fishing was great and seeing his eyes after somehow pulling up an eel are memories worth millions. Catching fish constantly at the "Blue Fish Rodeo" was worth the freezing rain and miserable conditions. Staying up ridiculously late to fish and only catching a cold, was worth every minute.

Needless to say, I love my family and I'm thankful for every moment I have with them.
Oh, and Merry Christmas.

Sea Level, NC on a map. "A"


Dolphins were swimming beside the boat!

Cape Lookout on the OBX

Tay Tay and his mom fishin!

"Lay off me, i'm starving"

Friday Night Live is a tradition at Trevecca unparalleled. I absolutely love this event and it is one of those nights where memories are always made. After being in charge of the event my Junior year, I was happy to simply participate and watch the show this year. This year we did our own version of "Gap Girls" staring Chris Farley, David Spade, and Jeff Daniels. It was probably one of my favorite skits that I was apart of at Trevecca. It's hard to describe the events and videos that took place but FNL is always so much fun and the memories from that night will stick with me for years to come.

Here are a couple of my favorite videos from years past:






And a picture from this year

San Diego, Spanish for...

One of the perks of going to a small Christian College is getting the opportunity to experience some great opportunities. Trevecca flew me to South Korea my sophomore year. I also traveled to Boise, Chicago, Oklahoma City, Kansas City and San Diego. (I know I'm pretty lucky) Each of these trips brought with it work and conferences, but also quite a bit of fun.

In January I traveled to Point Loma Nazarene University in sunny San Diego, California. It's the perfect cure for the Nashville winter blues. San Diego is usually mid-60's and absolutely gorgeous this time of year. I wish I were there now, actually. This last trip to California involved a lot more work then play. In fact, I did a lot of growing up that extended weekend. I was Co-Chair of the organization which was having it's annual leadership conference and at this meeting it was recommended that we basically rewrite the constitution. I'll be honest, Robert's Rules and Orders is not my best friend, yet that week it became so. After many hours of working through the constitution, it was finished. While no lives will ever be changed because of it and no one might ever appreciate the work we put into it, I did feel accomplished. During that process I realized how important it is to have people around you that are strong in the gifts your not. It also helps to have good people, whom you enjoy being around, to help in the process as you are stuck in a conference room overlooking the Pacific Ocean... but seriously... we were on a cliff overlooking the ocean.

The view from the conference room:


Outfield of PETCO park, where the Padres play:


We drove to Anahiem one night to visit Andrew's Parents:


I miss these people:

A New Beginning

Going to Trevecca, I never really experienced the 'usual college experience.' My dad, mom, and sister had gone to Trevecca. I had visit Trevecca with my youth group probably 5 or 6 times while in High School. I had visited Trevecca during Homecoming with my parents several other times. My first Trevecca roommate and I were good friends in High School.

Starting Vanderbilt was completely different. While I did know Jacob and Andrew, I had none of the perks of my previous experience. It got pretty overwhelming at time, and sometimes I questioned what I was doing, but luckily I met some pretty great people.

Ever Friday morning, the Divinity School has what they call, 'Coffee Hour.' Basically that means free coffee, bagels, and doughnuts as well as community announcement and a chance to make friends/be with friends. It was the second coffee hour and I still had not really made any other friends. Jacob and Andrew weren't there that day and so I was floundering to see a familiar face. I saw one guy, Ben, that I had met so I went and sat with him. (It didn't hurt that he was sitting around the pretty Div school girls either.)

Well after shooting the breeze and talking about nothing for 30 minutes with the people at my table, I think it was Ben that brought up the TV show 24. We all agreed that we should rewatch one of the seasons in preparation for the new season in January. I really didn't think anything would come of it, but it did! I ended up having them over to my place the first time and we all really clicked from the get-go.
Pretty much every week since, we have gotten together, someone has cooked dinner and we've watched 24. We've become close friends and I am very thankful for our friendships! They have made my first semester at Vandy absolutely wonderful.

a few of my vandy friends