Things We Don't See Coming: More Parrish Announcements.

Good morning everyone! It's July! Can you even believe it?! I have to mention it every single time, but I LOVE wake up to overcast chilly foggy Napa mornings. It gives my morning routine just a little something special. I don't know, my coffee tastes just a little better.

ANYWAYS! Thats not what I wanted to blog about! I don't normally blog on Saturdays, but today I have not so normal news... or maybe it is... I don't know.

I don't think we really understand our absolute inability to know the future. We make plans, and we think we might know how things are going to go down, but we literally have no idea. At this time last year we were really excited about Nate joining a band called Kutless. This past year with them has been nothing short of adventure, and we are looking forward to as many adventurous years as the Lord allows. But if you've followed the Parrish's on social media, you have seen that this past year has also handed us it's fair share of serious challenges (you can read about that here if you're curious). These past six months have forced Nate and I to really look at our life and seriously pray about what God has for us. For most of that time, I never once gave a single thought to the fact VCS may not be the plan for my entire life. I loved my kids, I loved my co-workers, I loved my principle, I loved my classroom, I loved literally everything, and I rocked at being a teacher. There was no thought of leaving. Until Nate said that we should put out a resume´, so thats what we did.

We thought we'd get some feedback, but we really had no idea that God would put Hingepoint Church in our path. Our first interview with them was weirdly great. We knew that this wasn't a chance meeting, we knew that God was up to something. Our three Skype interviews were more like conversations (I've never laughed so much in a job interiew). But the deal was sealed for us when we actually met them all in person. Hingepoint people were our people, and without even knowing it yet, in the hard times, God was actually molding us and making us into Hingepoint people.

So, the original idea in the beginning was that Nate would be "the" guy and I would help. BUT our actual position is a gift that only God could have given us. What sold us and confirmed in our mind that God was putting these pieces together, was that we were BOTH being hired. We were offered the position of Worship and Creative Arts Directors of Hingepoint Church on June 20th, and with happy and grateful hearts, we have accepted :)  Nate and I are for reals walking into our dream job. Our deepest desire forever has been to make music and lead worship together. yay!

Finally, the last piece of this CRAZY puzzle, is that Hingepoint is in Bakersfield CA. So while we are CRAZY excited, we are so so sad to leave our loved ones in Napa, Vacaville, and Sacramento. Bakersfield is about 4.5 hours away. We are embarking on a WHOLE NEW ADVENTURE. New people, new city, new house, new church, new everything. We would absolutely appreciate your prayers as we go forward into this next step. We leave Napa July 16th, and will be in Bakersfield early August.  These next few days will be such whirl wind. Packing, Getting dinners in with good friends, Kim Kardashian level ugly crying, so much to do...

Wow, guys. Who knew? WHO. KNEW?!  See you soon!

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!

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!!!