Wicked Good is Wicked Good!

Wicked Good Sandwiches in Clarksville, TN, is definitely a college student favorite (this post being college student approved). I have been getting lunch and dinner from this killer sandwich shop since I was introduced to it a little over a year ago-- I have gone more times than I can possibly count. Being the adventurous person I am, I have tried about half the menu at this point and I can tell you right away that everything I have tried has become my new favorite. It's always such a struggle to decide what to get when I go! Should I go with The Green Monstah, featuring bratwursts and pepperoncini? Or maybe the College Street Burger, which was the first thing I ever had at Wicked Good, with crispy tortillas instead of a bun. One way or another, I know I'm going to get Gov's Sauce with my fries. I would probably buy Gov Sauce by the bottle if it was sold that way.

If you have doubts, though, I can give you my mother's raving review! After getting my hair cut last month, she decided we should go to the restaurant I called my favorite in town. "I want to see if it's everything my daughter has been telling me it is," she told the waitress who came to our booth. Of course, it definitely was. After my mom struggled with what to get, she let me order for us both. She got the College Street Burger, a good first Wicked Good meal, and I tried out the Southwest Burger because I was craving something spicy-- definitely satisfied by the cheddar-jack cheese and jalapeños! And of course, we both got our fries with Gov Sauce.

The first thing mom spotted was the tortillas. She was so inspired by those that she made our turkey burgers with tortillas the next day! But after that first bite into a College Street Burger, she was sold. When the waitress came by to ask how we were doing, my mother kept her a minute just to tell her how much she loved the food.

Wicked Good is also a great spot to check out up and coming musicians and bands. Just in March, their schedule shows six cool events-- a St. Patrick's Day dance party, a few bands, and Family Fun Karaoke? Sign me up! But if you're looking for a quiet dinner, don't worry, most events are on Saturdays, or you can even call and pick up your food for a movie night at home!

A two-time award winner of Best of Clarksville, and the Leaf Chronical's Reader's Choice Winner for Favorite Place for a Quick Lunch 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017, rest assured a lunch at Wicked Good is well worth the money. It's mom approved! So be sure to go and check it out at 605 Cumberland Dr. in Clarksville, Tennessee. It is open every day but Sunday, 10am to 8pm. And remember to ask for Gov Sauce with your fries!

"SPREAD THE LOVE"

This is February. The month of love. It is also the birthday month of myself, my sister, and my daughter, Ashley. I have always found it special that we showed up on this earth in the month of love. And in this month, some special things have happened to remind me what love is all about.

Our dear friend Brother Bill speaks to us about Loving each other. GOD commands us to LOVE your fellow man

On Sunday February 11th, we heard a lot about love. First from Brother Jason at Pardue Memorial Freewill Baptist Church, then from Brother Bill as we gathered with fellow Christians at the 180 Church for an evening fiesta banquet. Brother Bill told us GOD demands us to love each other. He does not ask if you want to, if you are in the mood, or if you feel like it. GOD commands it.

John 4:7 - Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and everyone that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.

John15:12 - This is my commandment, that ye love one another, as I have loved you.

I work with amazing people. Good hearts and kind hearts. Nothing was better than being there today to give our policeman some treats to say we love you for all you do!

Fast forward a few days, and I am reminded once more that love is expressed in so many ways. To show love towards our fellow man, we should always be thinking of others. At Crye-Leike and I realize I work with amazing people with such good and kind hearts. At the office we created goody bags to give to our Clarksville Police. It was simple, but it is a way of saying we love you all for your sacrifice. We appreciate you and you mean something to us. You’re our heroes! Clarksville is full of good people. Nothing was better than being there to give our policeman some treats to say we love you for all you do for the Valentine’s Day season!

Another way to show love for your fellow man is just think of different acts of kindness that you can bestow on your family, a friend, or even a stranger. I love going through the drive through and paying it forward to the person behind me. It is simple and, to be honest, it brings so much more joy to me than the person I am surprising may feel.

I will never forget when someone tried to ‘pay it forward’ while I was at Walmart. I had $200.00 in groceries all bagged up when I reached into my wallet to find my debit card was not there-- oh no! I took a deep breath and wondered what to do. Thankfully, I had Ashley with me and had asked her to run to the car to check if my card had somehow fallen onto the seats. As I stood there waiting, a kind voice spoke from behind me in line. He said, "I got this." Now, to have this man offer to pay my $200.00 groceries bill shocked me. I had to turn to look at him, thinking I misunderstood, but he gets out his card and starts to put it in the card reader! I was so surprised, and I was also a bit frazzled at the idea. “No, you shouldn’t do that,” I said. Of course, I wasn’t letting him pay! I would not accept it, but he was so insistent! I thought fast and had the clerk close the order until Ashley got back. I couldn’t accept something I could pay for myself, even with the gentleman saying he didn’t worry if I had money or not. He had seen me in distress and wanted to help. Ashley came back pretty quickly. That girl can run under pressure! She had found my card. I paid the bill and did not stop praising the man for his kindness. Even though I paid myself, I was awestruck at the generosity of this man and kindness of his heart. I think God was playing with me that day. I was rushing through the store and not really thinking, kind of like we always do. Then a wonderful act of kindness was unleashed and made me feel good. Kindness is magical like that. It fills your heart and leaves you feeling a love for strangers you didn't know were there. His act made me a better person from that day on. He let me know that this world has so much good in it.

One of Our finest

 Another way to spread the love is by helping others that are in a bad place in life. I attend Pardue Freewill Baptist.  We were making prayer books for ourselves one day. I thought I might make some for gifts. One of our members brought up an idea of starting an outreach program. Now we are making prayer books and going out into the community to share these prayers books and help other get started. places that could use some uplifting with prayer might be women's shelters, prisons and other places where people might be down on their luck. Sharing the love of God with others is sharing his love. We invite others to join us in this rewarding effort as well.  #WarBookOfPrayers

During this month I have thought dearly back on my Mother. Mom was always showing acts of kindness. She would make all of Ashley elementary school teachers a quilt at the end of each year. Mom's way of helping Ashley understand how wonderful Teachers are and how we show our love to them. Mom always baked cakes and took them to the staff and even made many of the staff quilts.  Mom would make those that were retiring from her place of work "BACH" quilts and was always doing so much more. It was aways my mother's way to show love.

My Father was also a Godly man and often found doing good deeds for our community. Dad was in the Civitans and a member of  "The Immaculate Conception church". Dad was an Usher in the church and would always welcome everyone with a kind heart. He would always be the one to ring the bell at Christmas, always standing in the cold. Dad also reminded me of how important it was to help others by taking baskets of food to the needy during the holidays.

Tour of Nashville - Best Places to Visit

Happy father's day



Ashley made a specials father's
 day card for her daddy

 My father is in heaven, but he  is still here with me. I wish my Dad a happy father's day. I wish my father n law a happy fathers day in heaven as well. I thank my husband for being a great father to our daughter. You have always been Ashley's knight in shining Armour. We have been blessed to have such great men in our lives <3

 

 

Fun times!

Daddy's girl forever <3

Tim with his dad and siblings

My dad  and me <3

Sunday Post

Winnie and professor are enjoying the Koi this morning. They like when we spill a little food.

Not so close Winnie!

Sunday's post

This is a favorite of mine The Stella De Ora day lily. I love this plant because it is a perennial so it comes back bigger and better each year. To keep those blooms going you must be sure to remove the spent blooms as quickly as you notice them. Removing old blossoms before they have a chance to produce seeds encourages flowering plants to put their energy into producing more blossoms, this extends their beauty in the garden. I have so many I miss a few and then they can get raggedy by late Summer. So prune ,prune, prune!

The deer also love theses plants so remember this when planting. If you plant without spraying deer away or maybe hanging some dial soap near by you will wake up to a small mound of green.

If you love that splash of color in your garden go ahead and plant this beautiful favorite of mine!

These beauties need partial to full sun.




For more info on deadheading and keeping those daylilies blooming check out this on UTUBE  Daylilycare

 

House + Love = Home

There is nothing the Cash Team likes better than getting our clients to the closing table. Congratulations to Darrin N. on the closing of his home last week! You can now start that new chapter in your life. We pray the future holds great things for you and that you find that next adventure. We thank you so much for allowing us to work for you. The nice part about clients like Darrin is they make our job so easy!

Yesterday I was happy to see the Wilbrandts close on their dream home! So again, Congratulations to their sweet family! I enjoyed working with this wonderful couple! I know many memories will be made and I hope that pool gets in soon so you can start enjoying it.

Call the Cash Team if you need to buy or sell. "Making dreams come true one home at a time" http://www.cashsofclarksville.com/

 

The journey is never too hard when it is home

What is important to you when it comes to your home?  Is it the kitchen, the master bathroom, a nice den, flooring, fireplace, maybe location? And we can go on-- don't forget the yard! Maybe it is just the feeling of HOME. Getting back to the old house post I did a couple weeks ago, I want to talk about what you can do to improve an old home. Sometimes we want a home that is move-in ready. Other times, we find what seems like could be a great home, but we just don't think it is move-in ready. Maybe the floor needs replacing, maybe those old cabinets look tired, or that pink bathroom is just not your taste! Just because a house is not perfect is not always a good reason to walk away. Maybe that home is a great future investment.

When we bought our old house we had just about all of the above to deal with, but when we stepped back and looked past all the bad things, we realized the good outweighed all the bad. Good location, and old houses are built so well! We had space and we knew we had a great neighborhood! Although when it came to what we needed to do... everything needed something. And I mean everything! Maybe youth makes you dream about what you have many years to do. Maybe we just fell in love with an old house that made us feel like it was going to be part of our life's journey together. We were still pretty young and could have never afforded anything like our house if it were new or in good shape. This old house needed a whole lot of love and a lot of work!

It is not always possible for someone to see past the work a house will take to be what you dream of. If it were not for my father egging us on we would have never taken that step. As a realtor working with buyers and sellers I see how couples can jump right in to a home seeing the future and I see how others stress over the thought of remodeling a home. I am not sure why but when I see a home needing tender loving care, I can envision it's future. I especially can imagine a yard as a future retreat!  When we moved in to our house I remember cringing over the very sad looking yard! My mind was full of ideas, but how long would I have to wait?  Luckily I had a dad who was retired and a husband young and excited about getting to work on everything we could right now! The first thing we did was add the driveway. Yes, there was a little bit of grassy gravel but no driveway so here comes the concrete truck. As the driveway was being done we decided we really needed a cover to  park under, so the carport was added. The sixteen windows in the front and sides were broken or rotten so all of them had to be replaced. Together my dad and Tim replaced everyone of those floor to ceiling windows. The back windows would be the last to go 5 years later. Our hardwood floors were all sanded, we put new kitchen flooring in, and there was a lot of painting to do. We had not really considered the columns at the front of the house. They all had to be stripped and painted, and all the trim needed to be painted because back then everything was wood. The back brick patio was caving in and had to be rebuilt. Soon we realized the bathrooms were going to have to wait. After some paint stripping and wall paper removal and new décor they would do just fine. At least nothing was pepto-bismol pink! There were times I asked myself, "how did we get into this?" The appliances were painted with the correct paint and look just fine. My dad fixed the screen patio and all the leaky pipes. The yard would wait until fall, and we did some finishing up in the basement where my workshop would be. It sounds like we did a lot and we did. I have to give credit to my father. My dad was here at our home every morning like clock work. Dad was retired and this was like his job. He enjoyed it and all he asked for was a tuna sandwich and he would head back to his home around two or three each day. As dad came by we saw the pipes in every bathroom replaced, doors removed. Closet doors were fixed and there was daily work on trims and windows. Dad kept an eye on the men we hired to do a lot of the work we could not. We did so much so quickly we had to stop and recoup. We took a long break. Not much else but yard work would be done for a few years.

I guess when you are young you can live with so much still undone because you have a dream and you know in time-- with a lot of hard work and sweat-- you can take a house that was neglected over the years and truly make it yours. These older homes are our history, and when you take them and add love, they will give you back all you put into them. I never worried much about the kitchen not being done right now, I knew it would be someday. I was just happy to walk through my old house with the knowledge that we loved it and it loved us back.

Years have gone by. Tim and I would always save to do something else needed to be done. We did not take as many vacations as friends did and many nights were spent sitting outback enjoying our yard and talking about what we would do next. This old house and all it problems became our  forever home. When you find a house you love, you become patient. You can envision what you plan for and eventually you can make it come true. Nothing comes easy.

Tim and I put a lot of time and work into our yard before we even did the kitchen. It might have been the dread of going through the renovation or maybe just the fun of working in the yard. Over the years we added ponds, walk ways, trees, gardens, and finally a garage. It is funny to me now how I would walk through gardens when I was in the garden club and wonder how people get all this done! Now here we are always messing around in the yard and now I know it took years of hard work, days of caring and having your spouse thinking the same ideas or at the least being by your side cheering you on.
The  kitchen was my biggest dream! It took years to get to ,but  eventually we gutted to the kitchen and it turned out just how I had always wanted it. We took a turn and did something not planned and  renovated Ashley's room to give her more space as she went into college (and to store her growing collection of shoes).  The bathrooms have had some minor fixes, but full remodels are what I see in the near future.

It has been a journey with this old house. We could have just stayed where we were or found a house with nothing to do but live in. If we could go back, we would not change a thing. This old house has been part of our lives, all the good and the bad. The wintery day we moved in and the heater would not turn on, the day the leak poured from the upper bathroom down to the kitchen. It does not matter if you buy old or new, you will have issues.

If you are someone getting ready to renovate just prepare yourself for what is to come. Take a deep breath! Do not be afraid because I can tell you it is all worth it! After you get a little more silver in your hair and fuss to anyone who will listen, the dream becomes reality and you slowly forget for a while about all the mess that you put up with. You're so grateful and glad it is over! You swear you will never use that fix-it guy again and you can't deal with any more remodeling... until the next plan.





We had a lot of sanding to be done and all the floors were beautifully refinished.
 The dining room flooring had to all be taken out and the man we hired put a few old
 and a few new all the way through. You would never know.

 

believe it or not I lived with this for years! For some crazy
reason Tim and most men thought this was pretty nice.
Something about real wood and custom. It is all gone after 15 years!

All olive oven and sink .We were stylin'

 

This was just horrid! Lavender flooring and these cabinets!

 

 lavender trim! Was this ever in style?

 

The back patio was old and broken

We ordered all the windows and dad with

some help from Tim put them all in.

Yes, it was THAT bad!

Everywhere we looked we found crazy stuff. Like the way
 the previous owner cut a dog door into the storage area.



Looking back and remembering how it all started out.


 Dad you gave us the courage to take
on a challenge.

 

Bloom like a rose

Who does not love the beauty of the lovely rose? There are three species: (wild) roses & their hybrids, Old Garden roses, and Modern roses. Over the years I have enjoyed rose bushes, blankets of roses that are like ground cover, and climbing roses that sometimes grew where they were not suppose to. Tim's mother was a huge fan of roses. Because of my mother-in-law, Landa, I learned so much about roses. In our early years of marriage, Tim and I had a little garden of roses and some beautiful climbers that went up our deck. I mixed in some clematis and enjoyed the beauty all summer long. I always have a spot in my gardens or a pot for a mini rose or two, and I love rose vines! Oh how I wish I could have them everywhere!

Roses are some of the most beautiful flowers to look at. A single rose can stand out in a garden and grab everyone's attention. But roses have a few enemies and if  not watched after they can be nibbled on by bugs that make the leaves look like lace and the buds deformed. They can get black spot, caused by the fungus from hot, humid, and rainy days, and the destructive disease  can spread from one plant to another. You may walk by and not notice the sad plant at first, until suddenly all the leaves start to fall to the ground and all that is left is a sad looking image of naked limbs. I bring that up because my climbers were always demanding attention. Even though I did all I could to control disease, the black spot was always trying to take over. I loved those roses too much to give up and right up until the day we moved, I would rake away the bad leaves, mix up special ingredients for spraying them, and I paid plenty of attention to them. The love came shining through every year when they would bloom in all their glory. I am happy to say that today  you can purchase easy care free and disease free roses such as the Knock Out Series and the Oso Easy Series.


This is my rose bush that was too

beautiful to die!

As I take care of my gardens I know that how they are treated determines how they will thrive. Where you plant your roses will determine how they grow. Look at this simple rose bush to the right. We had it out in full sun before we had to move it. The rose was always beautiful. I would prune and take care of it. When we decided to build a small pond and dug this pretty rose up, we felt the spot we replanted it in was perfect with the right sun and drainage. The first year it was fine, but after that, the small trees around this vibrant rose bush started to tower over it and the shade darkened the rose bush's light. After a few years, the rose bush just melted into the shade. We all knew it was there, but because it was not reaching out and showing off those beautiful blooms we just did not stop to realize it was dying. 



The struggle of the rose bush reminds me how people might be living in society. The rose, I realized, was still trying to live. I started to look at it more and saw the trees that once allowed this rose to flourish and bloom were not this rose's friend. The rose was never meant to be planted there. I made a mistake in thinking it would be happy there, but I could not move it because it was too weak! So I trimmed some of the trees up that had grown over it. I started to look at it, realized it was trying hard to live again. I fed it rose food and I watched over it and admired it every time I walked to that area that I had once just passed by. Then one day, I noticed something that I hadn't before--  it had stretched it branches out, twisting around the tree branches and it was growing up past all that darkness. It had curved over and felt like a tunnel of roses! This rose could not be stopped! As if to say "I am here and nothing you can do can stop me!" Everyone is in awe of the beauty that is shining bright and more beautiful than ever! When I realized it is hurting for life, I started to help. It had to start over, it had to be loved, and it had to know it could bloom again, that it could stand alone and do things no one ever expected.



Tranquility

Closing

We would love to say CONGRATULATIONS to the Snyder family on the sale of their home today.  They were amazing to work for.  To the buyers, CONGRATULATIONS, on your new home! We are so happy for you.
On a side note, CONGRATULATIONS to Mr. Numbers on your home being under contract today.  Looking forward to closing on your home in two weeks.  We are happy for you.
Being an agent to these wonderful people, has been our jobs one of the best things we could do!  Thank you guys!