As Christmas is approaching, Erik and I have been talking about what to buy for all of our family, and most importantly, WHERE? We were thinking it would be really great to support the local economy here in Knoxville by shopping in locally owned boutiques, shops, and restaurants. Then I found this ad in the Metro Pulse, asking Knoxvillians to pledge to spend $100 of their Christmas shopping at local retailers. It's a great initiative with a lofty goal of helping to keep $12 million in our local economy. I just signed up with my pledge...now it's time to go shopping! (Well, first I have to take a few final exams, write a paper, perform a comprehensive video-taped physical assessment, do the write-up, etc...) So, hopefully I'll get to it next week! :)Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Local Holiday Shopping Tuesday, November 25, 2008
As Christmas is approaching, Erik and I have been talking about what to buy for all of our family, and most importantly, WHERE? We were thinking it would be really great to support the local economy here in Knoxville by shopping in locally owned boutiques, shops, and restaurants. Then I found this ad in the Metro Pulse, asking Knoxvillians to pledge to spend $100 of their Christmas shopping at local retailers. It's a great initiative with a lofty goal of helping to keep $12 million in our local economy. I just signed up with my pledge...now it's time to go shopping! (Well, first I have to take a few final exams, write a paper, perform a comprehensive video-taped physical assessment, do the write-up, etc...) So, hopefully I'll get to it next week! :)
Monday, November 17, 2008
The Board Room Monday, November 17, 2008
Our friends, Nathan and Regina Phillips, just opened up a new board sports store here in Knoxville. We're in awe of all of their hard work this past year - they have successfully opened the sweetest board shop in town. Skiers, snowboarders, skateboarders, Long boarders, and wake boarders, should be very excited! They've got loads of unique apparel as well as gear. If you live here (or even if you don't), you should check it out. Open Monday thru Saturday 10am-8pm on Kingston Pike on Bearden Hill, next to Calhouns.
Below, Erik and Nathan practicing their high-five.
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
What's so funny? Wednesday, November 05, 2008
This was the shot we were going for:
Not sure how we digressed...
Laughter from Sonya Luchauer on Vimeo.
Not sure how we digressed...
Laughter from Sonya Luchauer on Vimeo.
Election Reflections Wednesday, November 05, 2008
It's been extremely difficult for me to concentrate on school work these past few days. I've been on the edge of my seat, mesmerized by the most important election in our lifetime. For example, this morning, I got up at 8am (despite not going to bed until 2am) and had high aspirations for getting some good studying done. In actuality, I have watched a few morning shows and scoured the internet in pursuit of the different reactions of Americans across the country as we woke up this morning to a new President-elect. Barack Obama! I must confess, I had tears in my eyes as I watched his speech last night.
A few interesting facts I learned this morning; despite the majority of the country going "blue" in this election, the state of Tennessee actually voted even more "red" than it did in 2004. Here's a local newstory about the phenomenon - wbir.com. I think Erik and I have definitely felt that we were in the minority here, especially in East Tennessee, but when you look at that electoral map, county by county, it's pretty astonishing to see how little blue there is. I guess I didn't realize it, because there were pockets of Obama supporters, especially in the urban areas. So, what caused our state to become even more polarized from the rest of the country? Perhaps many people felt that voting was a lost cause, as Tennessee had been considered a lock for McCain from the beginning. The voter turnout, state-wide, was down by about 125,000 this year. Who knows. The important thing is that our country as a whole is moving on toward better days.
Regardless of how you voted, I think we can all be proud of the fact that we have elected an African American into the highest office in our country. I spent some time in prayer this morning for Mr. Obama as he takes on the challenge of a lifetime. I am going to commit to continue praying for our leaders (something I never have really done). I will continue praying that God will become more real to those who don't know Him, and that our country will come together for a more peaceful and united United States of America. Even more specifically, here is a GREAT pledge of prayer and accountability from Sojourners.
A few interesting facts I learned this morning; despite the majority of the country going "blue" in this election, the state of Tennessee actually voted even more "red" than it did in 2004. Here's a local newstory about the phenomenon - wbir.com. I think Erik and I have definitely felt that we were in the minority here, especially in East Tennessee, but when you look at that electoral map, county by county, it's pretty astonishing to see how little blue there is. I guess I didn't realize it, because there were pockets of Obama supporters, especially in the urban areas. So, what caused our state to become even more polarized from the rest of the country? Perhaps many people felt that voting was a lost cause, as Tennessee had been considered a lock for McCain from the beginning. The voter turnout, state-wide, was down by about 125,000 this year. Who knows. The important thing is that our country as a whole is moving on toward better days.
Regardless of how you voted, I think we can all be proud of the fact that we have elected an African American into the highest office in our country. I spent some time in prayer this morning for Mr. Obama as he takes on the challenge of a lifetime. I am going to commit to continue praying for our leaders (something I never have really done). I will continue praying that God will become more real to those who don't know Him, and that our country will come together for a more peaceful and united United States of America. Even more specifically, here is a GREAT pledge of prayer and accountability from Sojourners.
Monday, November 03, 2008
Be a tourist in your own town Monday, November 03, 2008
Saturday, we decided to explore downtown Knoxville by bicycle. We love downtown, but we rarely do "touristy" things. There is this thing called the Sunsphere. It's leftover from when Knoxville hosted the World's Fair in 1982. Too awesome. There's an observation deck, so we went up for a look-see. It was a beautiful fall day, and we needed a break from our ridiculous week, so Erik slapped some new tires on his bike, and we were off. We had never been to the UT gardens (off of Neyland Dr.), it was great. Here's a photo log of our day...
View from a swing in the gardens.
ha ha, I caught the yawn!
Observation Deck
Our church is actually in Oak Ridge, but I love the sign! We have loved being a part of this church since January. It's a warm place filled with people who love Jesus and who are constantly seeking out ways to serve others. It's great.
View from a swing in the gardens.
ha ha, I caught the yawn!
Observation Deck
I love to pick up the weekly Metro Pulse.
Biking on the campus of UT. Lots of HILLS. I don't know what happened, but all of a sudden, the trees exploded with color this weekend. We thought it was going to be a brown fall. Not so!
Our church is actually in Oak Ridge, but I love the sign! We have loved being a part of this church since January. It's a warm place filled with people who love Jesus and who are constantly seeking out ways to serve others. It's great.