Leaving Responsibility Behind

Hello everyone! So happy to blogging away on this foggy Napa valley morning. I feel like I really need to be soaking in every single one of these mornings, but more on that at a later time. I am finally on Summer vacation! Easter vacation was so early this year that it made the last 8 weeks of school absolutely unending. Normally we only have 4 or 5 weeks from easter to end, but wow... its amazing what those 3 weeks can do to a person. Anyways, how boring...sorry. But that's life right? Not always super cute and glamorous, and sometimes you don't wear make-up for two months, and you don't get your roots done on time.

Anyways, on to more fun stuff! Nate and I are beach people. We are California people to the core, and the past two summers didn't allow us much time to get to the beach, and it's looking like this summer might not be much different, so as we were laying bed Nate looked over and said "Do you wanna go to the beach tomorrow?" Music to my ears!

So here are some of our adventures. We went to Santa Cruz as we always do, and we definitely have our spots that we go to. "But first, coffee." That little buzz phrase just rings so true for me. We stopped by Verve Coffee (Nate isn't a coffee guy, but he insists we go to Verve every time. It's a major victory for me, but it really is that good). No pictures of coffee, but here are our gluten-donuts, that we probably the most delectable donuts ever (also, Nate posed for that picture on his own... He kills me with cuteness!).


Oh yeah, for those of you not following me on Insta, or Facebook (then how do you know this blog even exists?), I have pink hair now. I'm calling it my "Summer freedom" hair. If I've never bragged about my girl Amy James over at The Parlor in Napa, well, now I am. She is a master. I've been known to ask for some pretty crazy things on a whim... she's never phased. She's amazing, not to mention, she's a blast to be in the chair with. She's so fun and sweet, and adorable, and loves Jesus, and people. Seriously, She's a home-run. In fact, I've yet to meet a stylist at The Parlor I didn't want to be best friends with. They are all wonderful.

No waves today. I fact the beach was very very mellow, not a lot of people. I was able to read and soak up the 78 degree sun, and really just unwind. I'm currently reading Women of The Word by Jen Wilkins. It is seriously like sitting in coffee shop with someone telling you their journey of learning how to read scripture. It is just wonderful. Also, Matt Chandler writes the foreword, and even that is great. So, if you're looking for summer reading/study/practical advice on reading scripture, Women of the Word might be a good choice.

There are worse ways, and worse people to spend your day with.  I do love that man of mine. I've been recently reminded of how blessed I am to have someone to dream, and grow, and adventure with. It really was the most perfect day.


Stay tuned, more Women in Worship lined up, lot's of awesome news, it's going to be a great Summer! See you soon!

The Longest Short Season- A guide to having a meltdown

Hello there, and happy Tuesday to you! Today feels very much like a Monday to me. I had yesterday off, and Tuesday's are chapel days at work which means my precious students and I have to be at school at 6:30 AM, so long weekends come to a very rude end for us. But that's not really what I wanted to discuss today.

If you've been following along with the Parrish world, you may already know that we have been navigating through a bummer season with the cancelling of the most recent Kutless tour.  The Lord has been so good to provide for us through all of it, and he has been so very faithful in preserving mine and Nate's relationship, but I have to be honest; we have had our fair share of meltdowns. 

I had a major one yesterday. I have had more than one in this season, and so has Nate. We get set off from different things, that usually have nothing to do with what we're actually feeling in our heart. Yesterday I lost my debit card, and I just lost it. I folded laundry in tears and poured out my heart while Nate just kind of sat and listened. Nate had a meltdown last week, and I actually don't remember what set him off. But it was my turn at that time to listen. Neither one of us ever really knows what to say, we just sit and listen.

This season started for us around thanksgiving. Taking turns having meltdowns and taking turns listening and encouraging. What I'm continuing to learn is that these seasons are the cost of following your dreams. Never have learned better the importance of prayer and being in the word, so that I can have the strength and wisdom to keep on being Nate's number one cheerleader, and to remember that following your dreams and your calling is worth it. Serving Jesus and living out your dreams is a scary thing. We're experiencing the not so fun side right now, and I am just now after 4 months of this, starting to learn this marriage lesson that the Lord obviously had planned. What has probably hit me the most about all of this was that I didn't learn it from being an awesome cheerleader... I got it from needing/having one.

A Summer Vacation For Real

Hello everyone! Happy Monday afternoon to you. Thought I'd share a few of he highlights of Nate's and my mini-vacation. You won't be shocked to hear that we went to Santa Cruz, our very favorite place in the whole wide world,  We went to our old favorites of course like Lulu Carpenters on Pacific Ave, but we actually did a little bit of adventuring out of our comfort zone and made new favorite places!

We went to the Santa Cruz flea market, and it was so fun, I totally forgot to take any pictures! Next time I guess, There will definitely be a next time. We ended up spending most our time in Capitola at the beach, it was a busy day at the beach, but not super crazy, and wow was it beautiful. I died over all the colors, and the houses were painted so amazingly. Nate and I found a favorite house and we appropriately named the house, House Goals. 

Also, For the very first time, I'm pleased to announce that I got Nate to go into Verve, the coffee place of my dreams. Good grief, that could have been the best mocha I have ever had. Caffeinated heaven, that little cup held! Even Nate couldn't stop stealing sips from time to time!

Eventually it had to end, but hey, calling Napa home isn't so bad after all!

Samosas and Italian soda

Seriously how beautiful is this walk way? So green!

Nate's a male model... Ridiculously good looking... And patriotic

House Goals

That little green camp mug though! Of course I had to have it.

In The Morning

Hello everyone! So, I realized that after 10 months of teaching more than one day of rest might be necessary! It's crazy how just hanging around the house and reading seems like the right thing to do. I told you yesterday about my Women in the Word bible study. I'm only on day 5, and I am all about it. Why don't I make more of a point to just sit down read my bible? I mean, I actually read It a ton to teach, but it is so much different you read to know God better. I know that... I mean, i know it in my mind, but my sad and silly heart convinces me otherwise... The curse of busyness... Or just being a human. 

It just amazes me that even when discussing the fall of man, Jesus comes to our rescue. The thing I probably love the most about this study, is the fact that scripture isn't necessarily about us, but about how much we need Jesus, and just how far he was willing to go to have a relationship with us... Even though he didn't have to. He wanted to! I've been a Christian for 17 years, and I never cease to be blown away by this fact. Crazy how every story or every woman mentioned in scripture points to this fact. The Bible is awesome.

Now, about the toys. Everytime we have guests someone asks, "Are you okay with Nate's action figures?" And I always reply "Yeah! Look how colorful they are! They go with our weird apartment!" And if I'm being perfectly honest, they're not all Nate's. The Star Wars, SpongeBob, And Muppets toys are mine. I think you can totally tell which side is Nate's, and which side is mine. I love our wall of weirdness. I feel like it says a lot about us as a couple... And why we don't have kids. We're adults with tons of toys.

Faith Is The Assurance of Things Hoped For... And Other Summer Plans

Hello there! 

I have very exciting news. The recording process is over. The mastering process is over. The CD Baby process is over. PARRISH EP is coming out next month, for reals! Nathan's and my labor of love over the past 6-8 months is coming to fruition

Nathan and I have a love for Americana, old country, and the Gospel plain and simple. I feel like our release is a good representation of that.

We got to record half of our EP in Topanga Canyon at Jackknife Lee's studio "The Garage". If you look closely, you can see Jackknife's Grammy for Album of the Year for How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb...yep. U2. My youngest brother works for Jackknife, and it was very kind of him to let us use his beautiful space.

Actually, my brother, Matt (Insta: MathBishop) helped us through the entire process, and for sure without him none of this could have been possible. It was such a great thing to see him truly in his element. He has such a huge talent production-wise, and such a great professional persona about him. 

A lot of love and caffeine went into this project... A lot.

So, what are my summer plans?! This is it. Play music, make music, lead worship, read, read at the beach, drink coffee, drink coffee at the beach... all with Nathan, or the Abina's, or the girls from Life (our college ministry). It's going to be glorious.

and now, I sit here pondering my school year. If you follow me on Instagram (ParrishTheThoughtBlog), you will see that I'm in sentimental mode. The first class I ever taught Bible 10 for is graduating, and they have voted for me to speak at their graduation ceremony. There are so many things I could say about this group of students, but I'll just say this. This is the class that taught me to teach, so I've grown attached. 

It never ceases to amaze and humble me; the goodness of God. His over abundant grace, and how much I do not deserve any of this. This school-year has impacted me in a major way. I had breakthrough many times over, I fasted for the first time, The Lord used me to bring a student to Him, and now I am giving the big speech at graduation. He is good, all the time. All the time, He is good.

See you soon.

Disneyland Forever!

Hello! Thought you might like to see a re-cap of what I've been up to since getting back from Spring break :) Let me tell you, I've been crazy busy...going to Disneyland!!

I really wasn't going for the dapper thing, but with short hair, and no ponytails, it just kind of happened to me. I've also been obsessed recently with my heart shaped glasses. Look how happy they are! Also, if you're drinking a mint julep in Disneyland, your glasses might just form themselves in hearts over the joy that fills your soul by being in Disneyland drinking a mint julep!

The weather was perfection, and the crowds weren't terrible! We ran into friends, that I  forgot to take pictures of because I was having too much to fun to stop and pull out my camera, and we ate the best food in the world.

My extremely sweet students made these glorious shirts for themselves with my face on them so that everyone could identify that we were a group. They also made me one...with their faces on it! I know they have to graduate, but I sure am going to miss these guys!

                                
Here's us looking all Choir-y...

Here's the real us!

So there you go, brief, but I feel like I got the job done... stay tuned for a real and more substantial post about needing creativity in my life! See you soon!!!

Spring Break Bucket List - Revisited

Welp... Turns out, the weather is going to be very "springy". In fact it's raining! What about my bible-reading-by-the-river plan? Darn! My New Girl DVDs are calling my name so loudly, but no! I refuse to just sit and do nothing! Well, anyways, so I've been forced to take a new look at my bucket list... They're a little less ambitious, but oh well!! Also, with spring break, we've decided to save gas and only use one car...so I can only travel to places that are within walking distance.

1) Clean my house.
2) Go to Berkeley (much more rain friendly than the beach)
3) Participate in one C2C Challenge (if you dont know what that is, look up the Coast 2 Coast Challenge Blog! The girls love Jesus and clothes and artsy stuff in general... what could be more fun!)
4) Paint something everyday
5) Read my Bible Everyday
6) Write one song
7) Drink a ton of coffee.
8) Post three blog posts

So, Thus far I'm on my second blog post for spring break, which means I'm on a roll! I'm really thinking about how to word my next blog post about obedience and peace of mind. It's about this time of year when "worst majors in college in all of American History" lists come out, and guess what, all of my degrees are on that list! It's gonna be a fun post! See you soon! Try to stay dry you crazy california weather wimps.

Good Friday-Death Was Buried In It's Grave

 

Hello There! Happy Good Friday to you. Today is the first day of my spring break, and seriously, I couldn't imagine a better way to spend the first day of my time off, thinking about what Jesus did for me, for all of us, on the cross. Nathan and I are very passionate about making sure people know that Jesus is Lord, and that they know that their guilt from sin and shame can be lifted. This is the song we wrote to express that day when Jesus took our sin on His shoulders and rescued us from what we actually deserve. Thank you Lord, for your salvation.

 

The lion became the lamb, so that you could be with Him in glory one day. Amen and Amen.

 

Santa Cruz, Not Beach Day: Battling Busyness

Hi Everyone! I know what you're thinking: ANOTHER beach trip?! The Answer is a loud and resounding and unapologetic, YES YES YES. Living in Napa, Santa Cruz is way more accessible than it used to be (and it still didn't stop us).  

The fact is, during the week, as a teacher there is no real down time. This sounds like maybe I'm not making an effort, but I can't leave work at work. I think and talk and live about my students. When I get home, I think and talk about school. So, weekend day-trips really do make all the difference for us. It allows us to get away and be a couple and talk about music, and Jesus, and life, and laugh and not wear work clothes or sweats. We get to catch up. If we're not very intentional about this kinda stuff, it's easy to slip away from each other and not even know it. Busyness gets the better of the both of us, and it really gets the better of me. This is how we battle it.

We did, however, venture out of our comfort zone! We went to this little cafe that I don't remember being at the end of Pac-Ave last time we were there. It's Called LuLu Carpenter. Nate isn't a coffee shop person (I know, very sad), so I knew I was taking a risk. It was so worth it. I had one of the best mochas I think I have ever had. The in-house whip cream is the perfect amount of sweetness (which for me isn't very sweet). And Nathan liked it too! It was so wonderful. 

Nate and I are also Boba or Bubble Tea fans. Some people don't like the texture, but I say, if Boba is wrong, then I don't want to be right! Also, How cute is this little cat, and the picture in the back! The shop is so bright and colorful! I just love it!

Northern California people! Do you have a place you love? I want to know! Do you have a coffee shop that you can't live without? Where's "your place"? Where do you go to get away for the day? I would love to hear about your favorite date places :)

See you soon!

Friday Night

Hello Everyone! I may have shared with you before that Nate and I serve as the heads of our college/young adult ministry at our church in Napa. Nate and I have been at our church for about 9 months. When we first got to Hillside, there was a college ministry, but no Pastor. There was fellowship, but no leader. We were burdened for this group that wanted to grow and come together, and also serve the young adult community, but really didn't have anyone to steer the ship. Nate had a meeting with our lead pastor, and in October of 2014, We began to the lead the group/

Since then we've seen serious growth! Not only number wise, but in worship, in enthusiasm, in responsibility and vision, its been so very excitign! We're seeing people excited about their walk in Christ, and excited to see other people come to know Him, and start growing themselves!  

It's been a wonderful and challenging season for us. Running a ministry is such a fun and hard thing to do. God has been taking care of us this whole way! He has blessed us with new friends, who also have a passion and desire to see the young adults come to Christ! He has blessed us with His Word. He has blessed us with confirmation after confirmation that we were really hearing from the Lord and moved out of comfort and safety into unknown territory.

These are a few pictures of the Friday afternoon routine: 

Coffee (recipe coming soon), Worship practice, Prayer, Message. 

 I actually ended up being exact twins last week with my friend Marissa. I only have a polaroid of it to document it, but we were really feeling the denim on denim.

If you do find yourself as a young adult, having nothing to do, and you live near or in the Napa Valley, you should come out! We would love to meet you and be your friend!  See you soon!

I'm a 'bound book' kind of girl

Hi Everyone! I got a new toy that I'm absolutely smitten with! The Polaroid 300 camera. It's virtually the same as the fujifilm instax camera except different colors. They also use the same film. I take it with me everywhere!

Nate and I went on a little walking date to Small World Cafe in Downtown Napa, Look at Nate's face! He's such a doll!

Aren't these so fun! I love the ones of my students. My chapel leadership kids were playing Mafia as a bonding game. Let's just make perfectly clear, I'm awful at being the mafia!They love each other so much, it does my heart so much good to be such sweet people to one another. Being a teacher is the best!

I count these last few weeks (only ten left) as fleeting blessing. This senior class means so much to me, I always say that is this is the class that taught me how to teach. I'm not emotionally prepared to see them move on. Oh no! I'm getting all proud and mushy, I have to stop. Have a fantastic weekend! I'm going wedding dress shopping with my brother's new fiance! I love adding girls to our family! Yay!

Before you go though... I am all about this song right now! This is Mount Zion by Cageless Birds. The end... Jesus is so awesome! See you soon!

Everything Is Worth It's Weight In Time

Hello everyone! Nate and I took a little day trip to the beach for Valentine's Day. Despite the fact that we already live in a place that happens to be very romantic, we needed a little getaway. Here are a few pics of the day. 

Here's to our 6th Valentine's Day together, and infinity more.

Every couple has their place they love to go, Santa Cruz is definitely ours. We've made a little tradition of going Santa Cruz for Presidents' Day weekend, it just happened to be the same weekend!

This guy. I really couldn't ask for a more wonderful husband. We have endured through a lot, and more is coming, I know it. Our day was filled with great food, grat weather, great shopping, and great first conversation about our future and our family and all sorts of great stuff. God is so good, and his timeline is perfect. Can't wait to see what these next few years have in store for us! See you soon :)