Hello Andrew. So good to meet you.

James Andrew Parnell, Jr. graced us with his presence May 21, 2010 at 3:14 pm. He is a happy, handsome, wide-eyed little boy who likes to be called Andrew. Both he and mom are doing great!

He was begging to say "hi", so I told him I'd insert this picture. If you'd like to say hi in person, we are at Methodist Germantown Women's Pavilion until at least tomorrow - maybe Monday.

Thanks for all your prayers, love, texts, calls, and encouragement. We are truly blessed with an incredible group of friends and family in Memphis. Andrew will soon get to meet all these wonderful people and that is very exciting to us.

Earth, Wind, and Fire

We have lived in Memphis now nearly 3 years and have never really had the desire to go to the Beale Street Music Festival, mostly because it always rains, you stand in mud up to your ankles, the pot smokers outnumber the cigarette smokers, and you are forced to press your sweaty body against the decay of Western Society.



Well this year I heard that Earth, Wind, and Fire was coming. I happen to really like them (much to James' confusion - he believes I was born in the wrong musical era). Last year I added them to my short, but growing bucket list. James, being the super husband that he is, found us some 1 day passes for Sunday. James spent hours counseling me about the fact that we may have to stand in a downpour, whatever footwear we wore would have to be disposed of, and that if we had tickets - we would be going. He also threatened to deliver Andrew himself in the mud and rain should I go into labor at the Festival. I had a really great time and I think James had an okay time :).He was a good sport at least to take his 37 week pregnant wife to a concert. And, it didn't rain on Sunday!

Tennessee Tuesday

I recently found another Memphis Gem. No, its not a new flavor at Muddy's Bake Shop (although there is always something new to try). On Tuesdays with a Tennessee Driver's License you get in free after 2 PM at the Memphis Zoo. I've been twice in the last three weeks to enjoy the animals. I would've been batting a thousand, but one day I showed up without my ID. I know, all you have to do is show up with your ID, and I left the house with my ID laying on the kitchen counter.

The Polar Bear peeking through the "sniffing hole" at us.

Old Man. Check out that face.

Young Man with bottle some lowlife threw in. He filled it up with water from the pond and was drinking out of it.

Love that petting zoo.

The Rhino we got to ride.

Tennessee Tuesday proves to be another of Memphis' gems. I often say that Memphis gets a "bad rap" and isn't as terrible as people make it out to be. Let Tennessee Tuesday at the Memphis Zoo represent one of the reasons that this is true.

Recently my accompaniment to the Zoo has been Craig Wright and Brandon Lokey. I plan to go each Tuesday until Andrew comes, and maybe take him although I'm not sure what kind of zoonoses he might catch. Who's coming with me next week?

Nertz Weekend sans Nertz con ROCKBAND

Nertz Weekend 2010 was planned to follow Nertz Weekend 2009 that occurred last fall. However, after THE MAN made Heather work against her will, Nertz weekend 2010 featured no card games, but did prove to be a blast. Our time was instead filled with delicious BBQ, maximum bro-time (from 11-2 on Saturday), Buzzword, Jerry's SnoCones, buzzcuts, Muddy's Bake Shop, Super Mario Bros Wii, burgers with pimento cheese and grilled onions, Elvis sitings, and what may be pushing Nertz aside... ROCKBAND.

Brandon, Russ, Craig and James having Maximum Bro-Time at Central BBQ.

James, Liz, Meaghan, Brandon, Anna, and Craig at Muddy's.

I'd never played ROCKBAND before, but I'm hooked. I am convinced that when ROCKBAND is turned on, people morph into entirely different people with inhibitions thrown into the wind. Think about it: Who really gets in front of their friends and sings as loud as possible? And who grabs instruments they have never seen before and acts like they are Bon Jovi? This game is fabulous and the following pictures will tell you why.

Liz and I rockin' out.

Brandon and Kelsey. Brandon has transformed into Jimi Hendrix.

Craig "Pounding out some MBOD" Wright on the drums.

The ear-tingling crooning of Russ, James, and Brandon.

Meaghan tickling the twines on the guitar accompanied by Liz on the mic.

Nothing says "I'm feeling it" and "this is the real deal" like sticks in the air.

We had a fabulous weekend hanging out with some great friends we grown very close to while we've been in Memphis the last four years. We were glad Russ made it and missed Heather not being here. But Heather should see how much her presence was missed - as we couldn't even bare to deal the cards for a game of Nertz.

And no good weekend in Memphis passes without an Elvis siting. Seen below is a picture I snipped of Elvis at our local "stab 'n grab" Kroger on Poplar and Cleveland.

Friends in February

In February, we were glad to have lots of friends make their way through Memphis for a visit. We had a blast taking them to some of our favorite Memphis locations and teaching them to dodge bullets.

Thanks to Amy Stroup playing a show in Memphis and Lipscomb sending some friends to recruit - we had a great reunion of a lot of old friends. We went to our favorite Mexican Restaurant, Happy Mexican. Unfortunetly, the rest of Memphis also wanted to take their friends there which left us a 2.5 hour wait behind a party of 45. I didn't even know you could walk in with a party of 45 - but that was apparently what was going on. Instead, we had a fun dinner at El Mezcal (our former favorite Mexican restuarant). Afterwards, we took the opportunity of being in East Memphis (per normal) to make our way to Muddy's Bake Shop. Let's be honest. If you come to Memphis and you didn't go to Muddy's - you didn't hang out with us. That place is the glory.

Elizabeth, Amy, and Sarah at Muddy's Bake Shop.

James and Daley outside of El Mezcal.

On Valentine's weekend, Meggie, Caroline and Ashleigh came down for what has become an annual trip of Memphis fun. We had a blast with them doing Memphis things and planning for Andrew's nursery. For those of you who don't know, Ashleigh is an extremely talented artist and her canvases are starting to cover the walls of our apartment. We can't wait to see all the great things that will make Andrew's nursery so special and happy.

Elizabeth, Meggie, Caroline, James and Ashleigh at Muddy's.

It is always great to share our lives with friends and show them some positive things about Memphis. There really are a lot of things about Memphis that we will miss... Elizabeth may miss more than me - I spent way too much time inside the hospitals.