My friend Butch (a seasoned marathoner) came down for support. He drove me to my coral, which gave me the opportunity to escape the transit from LP Field.  I am in coral 8, ipod strapped on my arm, muscles limber, fully loaded with carbs and ready to finish strong.

As the coral moves closer to the finish line, I am bumped by the crowd, the excitement of everyone wanting to cross and begin their run. Finally, the gun goes off, and after inching our way to the front, we’re off. Coral 8 has entered the race.

As I started the run I was intrigued by the thought “Use each moment as your goodbye. What happened here? What are you leaving behind? What are you longing for to be different”?  Immediately there was a burst of sad emotions then overwhelmed with anticipation of what is to come.  Just 8 weeks earlier I had come to the end of my rope. I was stressed to the point where I did not want to be the main character of my life anymore.  I craved margin, community, change-a new canvas. A place to see what the closing of a difficult chapter looked like.  Have you ever thought “I cannot take one more night of my life the way it is”? The chaos of your soul asking for something more, but being so clouded by your circumstances that all you could offer was another day, hanging tight, praying for relief-surviving!   Something is stirring and I am obsessed with finding comfort, when comfort will only keep me on the surface of what is being asked of me. I was up all night and went for a walk in my neighborhoods Pinkerton Park. I watched the sun come up, snow on the ground and the lyrics from Shawn McDonald’s “Captivated” serenading my tired soul :

“The wind and the clouds and the blue in the sky
The sun and the moon and the stars so high
The sand on the shore and the waves in the sea
The air in my lungs and the way You made me”

Over and over I played the song. I walked through the cold, bundled up like an Eskimo. I daydreamed of change and thought “it’s time. It’s time for me to move on” Mixed with a cluster of thoughts and confusion as to whether or not I could make this change I immediately questioned God, “Is this You”?  My thoughts went straight to San Diego, along with that doubt, BUT I agreed if this were the plan, it will work.

FACT:

My home leased in 3 days… THREE days!

I decided to sell a few things. By a few things, I mean everything. Within 24 hours of my Craigslist post, I sold all of my furniture. .. And I mean ALL!

As I went through and prepared for my grand finale yard sale the next weekend, I only allowed myself to pack what would fit in my car, as if I were moving to San Diego right away. On March 15^th I got settled at my friend’s home and told him I would be there about 4 months as I start my job hunt.

I applied for a job that really excited me 8 days later. They contacted me the NEXT day. I had 2 phone interviews that Friday and confirmed a final interview on April 16^th. I flew out, leased an apartment, and 11 days later I was running my half marathon, prepping my thoughts of my last run through Nashville, and driving across country the next day…

I took a deep breath around mile 1 thinking of my first year in Nashville. I was 22 years old and started a job as a sales rep selling food to restaurants in downtown Nashville.  My boss from that job hired me as her realtor 8 years later.  I met friends from different churches I had visited, and some I had stayed in touch with the whole 10 years.  I thought about the marriages that had taken place, and the many times I served as a groomsmen or simply a guest.  I reminisced about my trips to Alabama, sometimes for the holidays where our “size of a small city” family would play charades, phase 10, or just gorge on my mom’s insane cooking. My godson Tyler was born, my Dad survived 2 brain surgeries, I sat with 2 of my closest friends as they divorced one another, I smoked a lot, I quit smoking a lot, I had a lot of blind dates, I stopped going on blind dates, I ate a lot of food with gravy, I faced many of my fears, I learned about what it means to accept God’s love, and that He is good, I grew enough to know when it was time to move on.

I felt the vision of a 32 year old looking back over the many years of a pursuit of a young man who desperately wanted truth.  He was so sloppy in much of his pursuit, but still brave nonetheless.  He is still sloppy, but has learned that sloppy is part of wholeness…

What I valued most in each thought were people.  I was deeply loved and cared for in TN. I had relationships with people that will last forever.  I was mentored by Ken, who reflected an image of God I had never known.  On our last meeting I was able to tell him that.  “You have been God to me when God seemed too dangerous. Now it is time for me to be one with Him, because I trust Him, and know how much He cares for me”.

As I hit the 3 mile mark, I realized Butch had driven to a stopping point to yell for me. I grew fatigued around mile 5 as I was approaching Belmont Boulevard. As soon as I would consider stopping I would see a friend of mine with my name plastered on their sign, jumping up and down yelling my name. My friends scattered themselves along the race to cheer me on. I was moved… I finished my race and shaved 7 minutes off last year’s time.

That night we gathered at a friend’s home to say our goodbyes.  Through tornado warnings and torrential downpours, 50 of my friends truly weathered the storm to come say goodbye! One friend brought me Dr Seuss’s “The Places You Will Go”. Another: a journal to track the memories of this new chapter.  At 9pm the host gathered everyone in the living room. They took the time to share about our life together. As each person spoke, I breathed deep taking in their words and well wishes. I looked at many of those faces who had walked with me over the past 10 years, and I also saw the difference in us all 10 years later. The sharing is coming to a close and they asked me to kneel. I shared a few words of how much they meant to me and how thankful I am for the impact they have had on my life. They gathered around me and prayed for my new chapter.

It was one of the most sincere outpours of love I had ever experienced. It was the perfect goodbye…

The lessons I learned were:

-When you are in a place of brokenness regardless of what you are facing God is moving you toward a place of knowing more about Him. Our pain can sometimes alter our perception of how good He is, but know as He guides us, His intentions are to bring us to a place of freedom and joy.

-No matter the time frame of what you believe you need to experience relief, if we can sit still and be quiet He moves us to change and opens doors we could not dream up on our best days. It is all planned long before the speed bump.

-No time is ever lost or wasted. Romans 4:18 said Abraham hoped against all hope, but in the end he became a father of many nations. So even when it made no sense to him, it all mattered to God and He had already worked out the larger design long before Abraham heard the voice of light giving him the truth of his future!

I am writing this from my apartment on the beach in Del Mar. My windows are open, and I am listening to the waves.  Many times I have missed my friends, knowing that we are connected through a woven design of experiences that will not be undone.  I carry their thoughts and words with me as I adjust to this new life here.  Each day I feel more distance from what was familiar, and more closeness to this change.  A time and a place that just 9 weeks before my move, I did not know existed.  I am so thankful He spoke to me at my darkest hour, and that He brought me to my knees to find the direction of my next step; Closer to the ocean, closer to Him.  What a run!

To new beginnings bigger than me…

Have a great weekend all!

Click on images to enlarge (once enlarged click again to see full size photo).

This room is primarily a sitting room. Formal living spaces many times are never used, but this particular room is directly off the right of the main entrance to the front of the home. Because it had built-ins painted green, it had a tendency to be more flexible and comfortable than a stiff sitting room. The problem areas were; the furniture layout, size of the clock on the mantle, and combining new pieces with old on the built-ins while maintaining a more formal flow. These are the guidelines I used to transform this room. Hopefully you can use them for your rooms as well:

1. With the clock on top of the mantle being so large, I needed to simplify the mantle pieces and add weight to the bottom. I added two round platters on easels, with a lit candle in front of them beside the clock. The glass is a nice contract from the rustic wood, and the candlelight reflecting off the platter is very calming. Anytime you have such a large piece you have to be careful not to add more distracting pieces with it. You can see in the before picture the vase with white flowers in it is not very noticeable, and the larger items with such a large clock tend to be over stimulating where you can’t focus on anything. The new vase placed in front of the fireplace has width and height that will draw the heaviness away from the top and balance it out.
2. I pulled the large chair and ottoman away from the corner in order to open up the room. You can see in the before picture that the 2 leather chairs are blocking the invitation to the room. When planning your furniture around small spaces, make sure the walk way is unobstructed in order to show space. Never place the back of furniture in a walkway unless it has much more open space to walk around the pieces. The round table was in the opposite corner. The floral piece was on the mantle, so I added some blue to create more contrast and color, and there you have a great view of the main wall.
3. The area rug was off centered so I pulled everything out and centered the rug. Once I added the new pillows to pop some color and distract from the heavy leather, I added a runner to the glass table to soften it up. 

That will be it for today. Stay tuned for more tips, and the rest of the project, including the homeowners response. My goal is to provide you with easy steps to make your home more enjoyable. When you can’t figure it out, that is when you call me!

To get more design tips and see more pics from this job just subscribe to this blog by hitting the subscribe tab below my picture.

Until next time,

Nate from www.NatePostDesign.com

                WARNING: The following blog is meant for comedic relief, and requires audiences to be 18 and over.  Read at your own discretion. These are not spelling errors; they are representations of accents used by two of the characters.

                I came up with an “I don’t do blind dates” rule about 2 years ago. I think sometimes women think I am not open minded enough and I should exhaust all possible options. Notice, I said the women. Not one of my male friends has ever tried to set me up with someone.  It is typically married women. Now, I have a belief that married women have the best of intentions BUT after you have been married for approximately 3-5 years you lose the keen eye as to what may be appealing to a single man.  When my friends wives would say “Nate, I have someone I want you to meet.” I learned to turn to my confidant, her husband, my loyal pal and ask “Would you date her?”  99% of the time, his affluent speech stutters. It’s like a speech impediment kicks in and his ability to express himself has been locked in the abyss and if he finds it, I am the luckiest bachelor ever. Finally he spits out…”I mean, I don’t think I would.” And my response to his wife: “Then what makes you think I would?!?!” It is time to share my revelation! The truth. The journey. The shift. The one blind date that made me quiver like a boy and realize unless I am willing to become an alcoholic, and sell my soul to traveling evangelists, I can no longer embrace blind dating. 

                Before I was in real estate I was a consultant with a company based out of Los Angeles. A large majority of my clients were Dermatologists and Plastic Surgeons. The company I worked for had never had a consultant based in TN, and when I took over the territory it included a lot of travel.  One of my favorite trips was Knoxville. I loved the drive. I loved the people.   I loved my hotel down on the river on Hill drive. One of my largest clients had 4 locations, so I would stop at the first location which is west of Knoxville and ease my way toward North Knoxville, and then East Knoxville.  A lot of times I would get information about the other locations by starting at the main location which is where the owner of all 4 locations practiced.  On this particular trip I rounded the map, and was at my last stop.  I knew this client the least, and was winding down the day but wanted to make sure I stopped in on my monthly visit.  The main contact at this office (we’ll call her Sonya) always made me a little nervous. Sonya is deep in her “suthen” roots.  She is proud to live a country life, and I admire that, but she always talked really loud and would make comments about things that made my face red. I remember one day she said “Have you seen my man?” She pulls out a picture of this cowboy guy, sitting on a John Deere looking off in the sunset.  She said “He is a GOOD lover, you know what I mean?”  WHO doesn’t know what that means?!?! She talked so loud at times I was always looking around thinking “Did you all hear what she just said?, while my head is jerking back trying to take in the information overload. ”I am red in the face and headed for the door.  I say my farewells and she pulls me aside for the following conversation:

Sonya: “Do you gotta girlfriend?

Me: (THINK FAST NATE! You KNOW where this is going and sometimes it is OK to lie) “Yes.”

Sonya: “Oh, I thought you just said last time you was here that you didn’t?”

Nate:  (Way to go Nate! Don’t you have a counselor you can share this stuff with instead of crazy country lady?) “Oh, well yeah we are not serious, but I have been seeing someone.”

Sonya: “Well, I have a girl you HAVE to meet! You’re a Christian, aint you?”

Nate: (Crap! I can’t lie about that! Can I?) “Yes, but I really just…” INTERUPTED!

Sonya: “Great! Well, ya’ll wood really like each other. Her deddy’s a pentacostal pastor and she sangs in a gospel quartet.” (That was strike 1, 2 and 3 as far as I was concerned).

Nate: “I really just don’t think right now…INTERUPTED AGAIN!

Sonya: “You gotta meet her, even if yall just end up being freeyunds. Everyone can use anuther freeyund..”

Nate:  “Sonya, thanks for thinking about me but I am really just not interested.” 

                At this point I am thinking how strange it is that this woman does not know me at all, and is willing to put her friend on the line with a stranger. My gut was telling me “Don’t even think about it!” I felt like Sonya did not know me well enough to make a decision as to who would be a good fit for me. 

Fast forward 2 days. I have a new voicemail on my corporate voicemail.  That was very odd, because normally my clients just called my cell. As I am trucking down the road I hit one to retrieve the voicemail and all of the sudden the circus is yelling in my ear.

We will call her Sarah (Sayrah), because that is her name. 

Sarah: (Voice in slow motion)“Hey Naythun, this is Sayruh! Sonya gave me your number and told me she thought we need to meet.  She told me sum good thangs about you and I look forward to talking with ya soon. Here is my number…. INTERUPTED  (by me hitting delete). 

The next month I am back in Knoxville and I am at my last call. I have not thought about Sonya, Sayrah or the gospel quartet she sings in since I got the call. I have finished my presentation and I am headed out the door when Sonya very calmly says “Can I talk to you for a minute?”  I go back to her treatment room. She is very calm, collective and a bit worrisome. She was speaking…softly?

Sonya: “Did you not git the call from Sayruh?”

Nate: “Yeah, I did.”

Sonya: “But, you aint called her back?”

Nate: “Yeah, I told you I was not interested.”

Sonya: “But, whats a big deal?”

Nate:  (By this point, I am not worried about losing the account and was ticked that she felt the freedom to give Sayruh my phone number)“I just am not comfortable with set ups. They’re awful!”

Sonya: “But Nate, you have to help me!”

Nate: “With what?”

Sonya: “Her sister is my boss (plot thickens).  I told them I was settin ya’ll up, and gave her your number before I talked to you. Now her sister is frustrated with me, because you won’t call her back! Please, just call her. Even if it’s a group thang, just hang out with her one time Nate. Please, I am new here and they aint happy with me.”

Nate: (As ticked as I am at this woman, she clearly realizes the error in her ways, and I decide to help her). “Ok listen. I will call her and she can come to one of the dinners that I host for one of the Drs. But that is it. You owe me big time!”

Sonya: “I know, I know!! I really do!” Thank you!!” 

That night I call the manager from the main Drs Office and share the story. Now, I am hosting a dinner for them the next night.  I have yet to speak with Sayruh but I am guessing she will come. As I continue explaining the situation Mrs. Allen says “Who is she setting you up with?” I tell her her name, and she starts laughing. I say “Is it really that b…” and before I can finish my sentence I hear her whispering (as if I am deaf) through her giggles to Lisa, another client about who I am getting set up with. They are literally having a ball, and I am thinking “This is not joy that 2 creatures are coming together for a holy throw down kind of connection.” They both were honest and said “I really don’t think youre a fit”, they giggle and then agree to be my relief so the evening ends early. 

That night I call Sayruh.  I am thinking -get off the phone as quick as possible, and invite her to the dessert part of your time with my clients (who clearly know her).  As we are on the phone Sayruh wants to talk, and I mean hardcore talk. Not so much a lot of talking, but SERIOUS information. Here are some of the moments I remember from the conversation:

Sayruh: “So, how long are you in town for this time?”

Nate: “I am probably leaving tomorrow.”

Sayruh: “Oh, I wish you had called last night then.”

Insert crickets here.

Nate: “Well, we will see you tomorrow.”

Sayruh: “Hey!  Are you close to your family?”

Nate: (I’m a little irritated so I choose a different path): “Somewhat. My sister is in Atlanta which is about 4 hours, but my brother is only  1 ½ hours away.”

Sayruh: “Naw, I mean like do yall get along real good silly! I am real close to mine. I cant wait to have my own family with kids and all.”

Nate: (Sonya, you owe me BIG TIME!) “Oh ok, we, we will see you tomorrow. Have a nice night.” 

The next night we have just wrapped up dinner and both of my clients are smirking. The more they smile, the more I remind them that I am human and no one deserves this. I can’t tell you the feeling of knowing you are meeting someone that you KNOW you have no desire to meet, and you will have to somehow with your actions express to her that you’re not interested. At any rate, dinner is over and both of my clients look up smiling and say “Here comes Sayruh.”

I have to be honest and tell you I honestly debated what if there is a connection?” “What if this is a total surprise and we really hit it off?” When Sayruh walked through the door, all of those thoughts…vanished.

Sayruh was dawning a tight, tight, tight denim mini-skirt. She had a silky type blouse that was very revealing of her, you know…her chest. She had on boots up to her knees. As she walked toward the table, she was making a sultry face. You know what I mean? Like, “I am the stuff and look at me in my glory.” I almost didn’t want to interrupt the moment and see her keep walking. Her bangs were about 6-9 inches from her forehead. I remembered when my sisters did that to their hair…15 years ago. 

Sayruh looks at me dead in the face and with a guilty, kind of sly tone she says “So, youre Nathan aintcha?”

Nate: “Yeah. Hi Sarah, how are you?”

Sayruh: “Good. Yall done ate dinner?”

Nate: “Yeah, we wont be here much longer.”

The evening goes on and lucky enough for me my clients are both mature and graceful and decide that they want to help the evening move along with as few awkward moments and statements as possible. We learned that was not possible. As each of us would share a story about our day, or life, we would finish and Sarah would interrupt and say “Oh, I know what you mean! I…” She talked about herself a lot. I (along with everyone in the restaurant) could not help but notice that every time she started to say something to me she said “Naythun.” As soon as I looked her way she would ease her eyes my way, and literally ease up closer to the table, and squeeze her arms on the side of her breasts, and then lean in on the table.  Sayruh is bringin down the house and literally putting her boobs ON the TABLE!

Now, in Sayruhs defense she did not know me or my clients as well as we knew each other, but we were all sharing our jokes and laughing.  Sayruh decided it was her turn to bring some fun to the table. She explains a prank call she made to a salon:

Sarah: And theyun, after they said can I help ya. I saiyad, “Heeey. I was wunderin if yall do waxin.” They told me they do and I saiyad “Well, I need da make me un appointment. But, I need to make sure yall wax buttcracks cuz mines hairy.”

DISCLAIMER: This is not meant to make fun of anyone who may choose to share this type of information, joke about it, or choose to share it on a blind date .

There certainly were laughs all over the table but very little had to do with thinking Sayruh’s joke was funny.

After an awkward time we are finally ending the evening.  I pay the tab, and we are all four headed out the door.  I turn to my client and say “This is going to take a while.” My client chimed in as soon as I said goodbye to Sarah and said “Nate, I need you to bring some samples to my car.” Ah, relief!  I say goodbye to Sarah AGAIN, and walk away. She just smiles and looks at me as if I said “Im in love with you,  its love at first site, please stay!” I take the samples to my client, and realize Sarah has perched herself at the drivers side door of my car. My client looks at me and says “Well, theres not much I can do from here.” She is laughing!

I go back to my car. I tell Sarah again, that it was nice to meet her. She is literally smiling. At this point I am shocked that this girl truly did not pick up that we are nowhere near a good fit for one another. We have nothing in common, but she has not even picked up on a hint of that. You know how I know… 

Sarah: “So…whut hotel you stayin at?’

Nate: “Uh, the Marriott downtown.”

Sarah: “You stayin there alone?”

Nate: (I realize what is going on and cant help but laugh inside a little, and also think WHY cant I have this kind of confidence?!?!) “Yeah. Well again, it was nice to meet you. I have to get going.” I hug her and as I am getting in the car I hear “Next time we hang out lets go bowlin or sumthin.

Nate: ”Bye!”

There you go. That is my G Rated worst blind date ever.  Oddly enough another employee from the same office set me up with  someone I dated, but over the next few years the blind dates just got so bad.  I would walk away from blind dates and think: “How do they think were a fit.” I have literally heard many times from women that have set me up: “I just thought you were both single, and even if you don’t hit it off you can be friends”.

I gladly proclaim that I am single and very content! I smile as I sign off with the hopes that you are able to laugh with me, and what a mess we can make of this stuff…

Signing off…Until Carrie Underwood says “I do”,

Nate

obliged and left him something in his mailbox. He sent me a picture with his prize today. I will ALWAYS win Fletcher!!!!!!!

Welcome to my blog!

       I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.  My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.