The Minister's House: World's Largest Treehouse

Yesterday I mentioned that we made an extra stop on our way home from the Smoky Mountains... can you believe your eyes?? It's the world's largest treehouse in Crossville, TN. Apparently, in 1993 a minister named Horace started building a treehouse because he received a vision from God. Today, it's eight to ten thousand square feet and in the center is a beautiful chapel. Since we were there on a Sunday, we actually got to hear him preach. He seemed very down to earth and genuine, from what I could tell by overhearing his sermon while we explored the multi-story structure.

It was really an adventure! Certain boards are pretty creaky, the stairs rarely have hand rails, and some are outrageously steep. Children run through at their own risk while all the adults we ran into were amazed by the maze of paths and stairs and dead-ends and hidden passageways.

Notice the tree swing? A lawn chair attached to ropes that are duct taped together. We didn't take a ride on it, but it looks like everyone was having a blast!

All throughout the treehouse are surprises - a beautiful stained glass window, random furniture (that I would have LOVED to take home with me!), wooden statues, a guy playing a flute, and so much more.

Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but I was inspired by Horace and his dream and what he has done. He felt called to do something and he didn't just slap something together (well, I mean, in a way, he did... some of it feels haphazard!) but he went ALL OUT. He could have built a normal-size treehouse but instead he built an enormous one and opens it to the public and shares his dream and vision and faith with those who visit. I am inspired by him!

See all the photos (including large size versions) on flickr.

Our Weekend

It's Tuesday, but I'm gonna go on and re-cap our weekend!

Friday, Andy went to see Cowboys and Aliens but I'm scared of aliens so I planned an alternate outing and saw Midnight in Paris with girlfriends. If you haven't heard of this movie yet, please watch the trailer below and then go see it! Don't ask anyone what the plot is, don't try to figure out the twist/surprise, just go see it! It is so delightful and magical and as a former francophile, I loved it! (I took french for about 10 years and was obsessed with anything Parisian in high school!)

Go see this delightful movie! You will love it!

Saturday morning, we went to the Nashville Biscuit House in East Nashville. Yum! Then we headed to an estate sale on Andy's old street. It was a little overpriced but Andy found an amazing decanter from the 40s with 5 brass rimmed small glasses and the decanter even pumps out the whiskey into the glasses. It's great! I found a viewmaster with 8 packs of vintage cartridges, some vintage craft books, and some really cute vintage schoolbooks.

I headed out to more estate sales and ran into Ro, who has a booth down from mine at the antique mall. We discovered that we are fun shopping buddies and we went to 2 more estate sales together and both found some great items!

Saturday night, we went to our neighborhood bar, Twin Kegs, to celebrate Andy's birthday. It was a fun mix of friends!

Sunday, we went to Andy's grandmother's house to celebrate his and his uncle's birthdays. Our sister-in-law brought Annabelle, the chinchilla she bought for her second grade classroom! I had never seen a chinchilla in person but quickly fell in love with Annabelle!


Sunday night, we went to an informational meeting about our church planting a new congregation near our neighborhood. I've been going to Midtown Fellowship for 7 years but it has changed and grown and I'm ready for something smaller where we can really dig in. Andy and I are both excited about this new congregation of our church!

All in all it was a great weekend... hope you had a great one too! :)