explore

Welcome to Nashville | In Grams

i promise, one of these days kevin and i will adventure out so you get to see this city in all its glory.

that day is not today. however, i do have some pretty fun grams to share with you! just a little taste of the nash in small squares by my phone...which has no name so...

Jane and Ryan (who i have no pictures of...) came down to nashville for the weekend and we met up at barista parlor. which is on the east (ish) side of nashville and to be honest, in somewhat of a ghetto it appears. ( i am making myself so uncool with this) but the place was not ghetto at all, in fact it was fantastic and jane and i just kept looking around saying "i loveeee it." i wanted to take it all home. plus its an instagram hot spot so i felt like we were "in."

also the coffee was really pretty as you can see.

i didn't realize how much i missed janis until we were hanging out again. its been all of a week and i was so thankful to spend the day with her and all her spunk. she makes you love everything you are doing, even if its walking up a million and a half stairs.

next jane and i headed into the city to walk around and be tourists. she said we had new people tourist points and we were aloud to point and stare and be excited about everything. which we were so that worked out great. we saw a park, where they really love all things tennessee, and the capital building, which is was up on a hill. and we should probably climb stairs more than we do. because it was really hard to get up there.

if you are from tennessee, or have been to tennessee, you know about the summer humidity. its bad, and if you have curly hair, it gets really big throughout the day. we got really hot from walking around the city so we stopped at an ice cream place with a huge line. (huge lines means its good right?) when we got to the counter and the guy asked what he could get us, we weren't sure. after he suggested a couple flavors we both settled on a coffee ice cream with chocolate chunks in it. which was a fantastic choice. and so thank you ice cream man who is not a twin.

a sad thing happened when we were walking back to the car. jane threatened a bee ( or at least thats what google tells us.) and it stung her foot. and remember how i am a bit of a hippy? well there is a common weed that you chew up to help with the swelling and sting. so a chewed a little wad for her foot and she sat down to hold my slobber green weed on her sting. what a champ. bee stings hurt!

next we headed to find some thrift stores. we found a really neat one named cool stuff, weird things. it did live up to its name and its safe to say i will be back. i loved it in there. there was a lot of cool stuff...and a lot of weird things.

we had two amazing meals. the first, our (my new) friend Judson took us to a taco place called mas tacos. (i think.) all the tacos were three dollars and that was really cheep for what we got. i had a fish taco, (because its my love language) and it was large. and beautiful. and delicious. i wanted to eat five but all i could fit was one. its a cash only place so keep that in mind if you go. (there is an atm!)

the second meal, (dinner) was at burger up! which i honestly dont even know where it was, i just followed a gps. we met ryan's friend Troy for dinner. Troy works at burger up and i am happy to say that i met someone who has a burger named after them, and ate the burger all in the same day. if you ever go, and you are into veggie burgers, the troyathlon is a good choice.

it was really good to sit around a table, (both times) and hear peoples hearts and be in great company. food is a wonderful gift.

we met so many cool people that day. everyone was so welcoming and made me feel like maybe this place isn't so scary after all.

great job nashville. i'll keep you.

Summer Land | Spruce Pine, North Carolina | Noah Edwards

Hey yall! My name is Noah and I am excited to share a little bit with you all about the place where I grew up. I currently call Lynchburg, VA my home, but I grew up in the mountains of North Carolina in a small town called Spruce Pine. Chances are many of you have never heard of, or been to Spruce Pine unless you got lost on your way to Asheville or Boone. Spruce Pine only has a total of 2,030 residents.

Spruce Pine is located in Mitchell County, and our neighbor to the North is Avery County. Together this area is affectionately known as the “Christmas Tree Capitol of the World”. Christmas trees are grown year round and shipped out by the thousands each fall to bring Christmas cheer to homes around the country.

Our little corner of the world offers some of the best hiking and exploring on the east coast. The Appalachian trail is just a few miles west of town. The Blue Ridge Parkway also runs alongside of our town and makes for a perfect Sunday afternoon drive. These mountains look best in the fall when the Blue Ridge explodes in warm colors.

Spruce Pine is also known as the Mineral City. This is mainly due to the mining industry that exists there. From the 1800’s to the early 1990’s Crabtree Emerald Mine in Spruce Pine was one of only two significant sources of Emeralds for the entire country. At one point the Crabtree Mine was the exclusive supplier of Emeralds to Tiffany & Co.

Hope you have enjoyed this quick little tour of Spruce Pine, North Carolina.  Thanks Abbey for letting me crash on your blog this week!

(abbey now!)

thanks again Noah for being a part of this project! i loved the view of North Carolina! it truly is one of the prettiest places! if you want to read more from Noah you can check out his blog here!

Summer Land | Taiwan | Ulmer Brothers

Hello Everyone! This is Jarrett, on behalf of the Ulmer boys here in Taiwan.
A little background. Our family moved to this beautiful country back in 1998.. 16 years later and I continue to be amazed at the place the Lord has allowed me to call home each and every day.

This edition of "Summer Land" will be told through the voices and lenses of my brothers Gabe (older), Zach (younger), and myself (shout out to middle children!). Taiwan means so much to each of us individually and we each love it for our own special reasons. Enjoy!

-------------------------
Gabe


Taiwan is an island that is roughly the size of Florida, without the panhandle, and is home to almost 24 million people. As the population continues to grow, so do the numbers of high-rise apartment and office buildings, but tradition and culture can be seen very clearly in everyday life.

There is beauty in the contrast of old and new scattered all throughout Taiwan's cities.

----------------------
Zach-

One of my favorite things when I lived there was the view. Every day the sun would set right outside my window. It was awesome to come home and see the city silhouetted against the sky. The city waking up as the sun goes to sleep, so to speak.

This was taken from the 85 Sky Tower in Kaohsiung (at the time of it’s completion in 1997 it was the 5th tallest building in the world). We lived in Kaohsiung for the first 7 of my 15 years in Taiwan, and it’s cool to see how much it has grown. I took this from the 74th floor observation deck and I think it really captures the city coming alive at night.

This was also taken in Kaohsiung, in an alley near the train station. One of the things I love about Taiwan is that there is always something to find. One of my favorite things to do my last few years on island was to just explore. You’ll see a lot of things like this in the city, just a person selling food or other merchandise out of a cart. These are most often the best places to eat!

This was taken on a street in Taipei, the capital city. I like it because it captures the hustle and bustle of city life. There’s always a lot of motion. People are always trying to get somewhere, and it can seem pretty chaotic sometimes. I especially like this picture because of the couple you see in the middle. In the midst of all the motion their faces are in focus and you’re reminded that the chaos is made up of real people, each with their own stories. That’s what makes this country great, is the people.

Back when the Portuguese found the island that is now Taiwan, they gave it the name “Formosa” - Beautiful Island. Living in a city of upwards of a million people, it’s easy to forget how much natural beauty there is on this island. It really is one of the most beautiful places on earth. Just outside the massive concrete jungles, you have places like Sun Moon Lake, where you can get away from all the chaos of city life and just soak in the beauty of God’s creation.

----------------------
Jarrett

If I could sum up my love for Taiwan in two words, it would be: Food and People. If you know me, you know that I am always down to go eat food pretty much anywhere at anytime. Taiwan is known for its great food, and I want to share with you some of my favorites:

Assorted Breakfast foods. Conveniently available at anytime of the day (pictured: dumplings, fried radish cake, and a bun filled with meat and vegetables).

Beef noodles. I wish that this picture could do justice the the greatness that is Taiwanese Beef Noodles.

Last but not least, Mango Shaved Ice. Nothing says summer eats in Taiwan like freshly cut mangoes topped with shaved frozen milk covered in sweetened condensed milk.

Typical Night Market scene.

The older generation of Taiwan can always be found congregating in the local parks just kicking back and relaxing.

Let me take a minute to brag on Uncle Rock. It is guys like him that make me love Taiwan more and more each time I come back home. On a late night adventure Zach and I took we happen to stop at the restaurant he worked at. For no other reason than that we were American, Rock sat down and began talking with us, telling us about his family and the best way to eat the dumplings you saw earlier. When I asked him for a picture, he wholeheartedly agreed. I love Taiwan.

-------------------

When Abbey asked me last month if my brothers and I would be interested in helping her out with her "Summer Land" project (which, by the way, has been incredible), I could not have been more excited. Taiwan is an incredible place that holds a special place in the hearts of the Ulmer family, and I love that we have had an opportunity to share it with you all.

-------------------

(abbey now!) thank you so much Jarrett, Gabe, and Zack for being a part of this! i have no idea why but i kept crying reading this! your love for your country is so evident and this was just a beautiful time seeing your city! what did you guys think? maybe we should explore Asia more?!

also Jarrett that is a hideous shirt you have on in that last picture. (wink wink.)