Nashville

2 Comments Posted on car reviews, fatherhood, food reviews, marriage, parenting, People, Storytelling, Uncategorized, vegan

Despite the 1990s Sitcom Cliche, I Actually Really Like My Mother-in-Law (Featuring the 2017 Mazda 6 Grand Touring)

I feel like there’s this familiar cliche from family sitcoms of the 90s where the mother-in-law comes from out to town to visit, which inevitably yields 23 minutes of zany frustration for the husband and father of the household; accompanied by laugh tracks, of course.

Maybe that’s true for some men out there, I don’t know.

What I do know is I personally can not relate to this stereotype at all.

My wife and I have been married for nearly 10 years. I can honestly say that I have never once felt frustrated when my mother-in-law comes to visit or when we visit her in California. In fact, she has the opposite effect on me: I feel more relaxed with her around.

I assume I’m the typical American dad in that I am heavily involved not only with the kids, but also with the household chores. The only real free time I have is when everyone else is asleep.

During my waking hours, I’m either taking care of at least one kid or I’m helping clean up a mess. Because with young kids, there’s always a mess to be cleaned.

But when my mother-in-law is in town, I get a break from reality. I actually have pockets of time where I can do things like, you now… learn what it feels like to sit on my own couch for 5 minutes; thanks to my mother-in-law insisting on preparing dinner without my help, telling me, “Now Nick, sit down. I’m taking care of all this over here. You just take a seat and relax.”

This is all especially fresh on my mind, as my mother-in-law is currently staying with our family here here in Tennessee this week.

When the folks at Mazda heard about our special guest flying in from the West Coast, they dropped off a 2017 Mazda 6 Grand Touring with a full tank of gas, to make the week-long visit extra special.

It’s funny because despite only living about 40 miles south of Nashville, I only see that wondrous and trendy city a few times a year. But knowing we had a fancy car to get us there, we loaded up in the Mazda 6 and took our mother-in-law out for a magnificent lunch.

My wife suggested this cool Lebanese bistro called Epice.

Wow, seriously. It is now officially my favorite restaurant in all of Nashville. It was like being introduced to a whole new world of food. Not to mention, they were easily able to cater to me being a vegan.

The restaurant shares a parking lot with a very swanky “Nashvilley” shop called White Mercantile, which happens to be owned by Holly Williams; the daughter of Hank Williams, Jr.

I admit, the decor there was so cool, I took lots of pictures, made it into a collage, and debuted it as my new Facebook banner picture.

My mother-in-law just loved that store! Despite being born and raised in Oakland, California, she definitely has a fascination with the Southern motif.

After lunch, my wife and mother-in-law decided we would be stopping by an organic grocery store called The Turnip Truck; as it is soon to be a place frequented by Country Music stars.

Apparently, there were no celebrities there at the time, but at least I got a Mexican coffee out of the deal, and my daughter was able to enjoy one of her favorite snacks for the drive back home.

The next day on Saturday, my mother-in-law decided she wanted to take us out for dinner at our town’s official favorite restaurant, Viking Pizza Co. of Spring Hill.

Needless to say, it’s been a very enjoyable week for our entire family with my mother-in-law in town. Especially for me. I have enjoyed being able to remove myself just enough from the household chores, as my mother-in-law has assumed many of my roles this week, so though I could have some moments of sanity.

I don’t care what happened in 90s sitcoms. All I know is, I definitely like having my mother-in-law in town!

If you would like to learn more about the specifics of the 2017 Mazda 6 Grand Touring, check out another article I wrote; which as the title of it implies, will answer many of your immediate questions. Just click on the click below:

2017.5 Mazda 6 Grand Touring: Back Seat Space with 2 Children’s Car Seats, Fuel Door Release, Volume Knob for Stereo, Extra Trunk Space, Gas Mileage, Price

And don’t forget to catch up with me on The Lifetime Network’s “This Time Next Year” on February 20th, at 10 PM Central/9 PM Eastern; as I journey over the course of an entire year in attempt to find and meet my doppelganer!

Leave a comment Posted on fatherhood, Storytelling, Uncategorized

Why I Chose to Cover Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues”…. Yes, I Sing and Play Guitar.

When I moved to Nashville on September 11, 2005, it was because I wanted a chance at a career in music; writing songs, singing, and playing guitar.

The problem was, I had earned my college degree in English and was naturally thousands of dollars in debt. Therefore, I accidentally got a full-time job in HR; where I ended up working over a decade of my life.

Obviously, along the way, I found the love of my life, got married, had two kids, and moved to the suburbs.

But my love for doing music never stopped. It was just on hiatus.

Then when my office branch got shut down this past October, forcing me to become a stay-at-home dad, I had to find creative ways to exercise my mind while caring for my young daughter.

Fortunately, she didn’t mind playing on the floor while I played my guitar.

Just the week before I lost my job, I had taken a couple of days off work and met up with a new friend, out in Los Angeles. He also sings and plays guitar. As a souvenir from Nashville, I brought him a very Johnny Cash themed t-shirt.

That stuck in my mind.

So I figured, why not play a Johnny Cash song and put it on YouTube? And that happens to be the video featured at the top of this blog post.

I think part of the strange appeal of “Folsom Prison Blues” is that it’s told from the perspective of a convicted murderer who openly admits he committed the crime, despite his mother’s proactive warnings from the time he was even too young to understand he apparently was predestined for a life of crime.

The song challenges the listener to have compassion on the kind of person most people easily ignore.

As time allows, I definitely plan to record more songs on this new YouTube channel, Nick Shell Music; which is actually my 3rd YouTube channel. Eventually, I plan to release some new original songs of mine.

If nothing else, I am simply doing this for me. Just because I enjoy it.

Maybe you will too.

Leave a comment Posted on fatherhood, Nostalgia, parenting, People, Storytelling, Uncategorized

Dear Jack: Monster Jam Triple Threat Series 2018 in Nashville, Tennessee

7 years, 1 month.

Dear Jack,

Last weekend you and I made our annual pilgrimage to the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville for the Monster Jam truck show: Triple Threat Series. Mommy and I were planning on bringing your sister, but at the last minute we decided it might be best not to take her out in the cold weather.

While I would have been happy had our whole family attended Monster Jam, I have to say: I really enjoyed the monster truck show, just the two of us; father and son.

I feel you were definitely able to appreciate the competition and the action more, knowing that you had all my attention to yourself. So much of my time these days is occupied by caring for your baby sister; therefore, I truly appreciate getting to spend time with you alone.

And the Monster Jam event was the perfect way to do just that.

We saw the monster trucks do tricks during the freestyle event, which inevitably led to some of them flipping over. I filmed the process of how they get flipped back over, to share on my YouTube channel.

I was so caught up in the trucks flying through the air, meanwhile you were actually keeping up with the score. Just like last year, you were cheering for Zombie, with its arms sticking out.

I’ve been taking you faithfully each year to Monster Jam since you were 3 years old. It’s simply become a family tradition at this point.

And it’s so… American.

When you are an adult and look back on your childhood, I believe you will think of our trips to go see Monster Jam as some of the best times.

You’ve been playing with your toy Monster Jam trucks for 4 years now. It’s funny because even your sister is learning how to play with them.

Maybe next year she’ll be able to come along.

But as for this year, it was meant to just be you and me.

Love,

Daddy

1 Comment Posted on fatherhood, People, Uncategorized, Writing

Experienced SEO Freelance Writer for Hire: $1 Per Word (Or for $100, See Your Own Writing Featured on My Site as a Guest Blogger)

If you are considering hiring an experienced and proven freelance writer for your next press release, or would simply like to be featured as a guest blogger on my site, consider my skill set and history.

Begin by clicking on the links below, to get a feel for recent work I have been hired to do for high end brands like Lexus and Primrose Schools; as well as other household names like XFINITY and Moe’s Southwest Grill.

Primrose Schools Executive Function Skills

Lexus Father and Son Road Trip

Toyota Family Road Trip to the Boonies

XFINITY Entertainment on the Go

Moe’s Meals on the Go

I would like to highlight my skill in writing and knack for engaging readers in original compositions, as is demonstrated on both my personal website, FamilyFriendlyDaddyBlog.com, and my previous corporate sponsored blog, The Dadabase on Parents.com. Through these websites combined, I have been able to create content which has allowed me to connect with thousands of readers across the world, garnering over two million hits within the past several years.  I am solely responsible for determining topics of interest, researching for validation, authoring, editing, managing and updating all material on the sites.

If you would like to hire me to write your next press release, based on what other companies have already hired me to do over the past year, this is my rate:

$1 per word; minimum 350 words.

Or, if you simply want to see your own work featured here on my blog, which obviously has healthy SEO, based on the fact I am approached weekly by companies and fellow writers who request to be featured on my platform, as I am currently featured as CreditDonkey’s Best Dad Blog 2017, you can simply hire me for that option as well. Based on what other companies have already hired me to do over the past year, this is my rate:  

$100 per post.

Here are some recent examples of other companies and bloggers who hired me for that option:

Trail4Runner.com

Chicago Metro Home Inspections

Museum Hack

Superior Honda

Brian Leach

Are you ready to get started? Send me an email at nickshell1983@hotmail.com. I look forward to working with you. I will close by sharing some of my resume with you:

Nicholas Shane Shell, B.A.

Freelance Writer on Family Friendly Daddy Blog Since September 2009

  • Create, design, and maintain all website content, consisting of over 2300 individual posts written since the website’s inception.
  • Prepares photo gallery using Fotor to incorporate several photo collages per post.
  • Applies SEO techniques to selectively tag content to increase visibility by Google and carefully crafts titles for posts to drive traffic to site and ultimately increase readership.
  • Website has garnished over 2.1 million hits and currently averages 16,000 hits per month.
  • Invited multiple times to special events sponsored by Lexus and General Motors to feature dozens of vehicles both locally and regionally.
  • On rotation to receive and review vehicles from a “Family Friendly” perspective from a variety of companies, including, Lexus, Toyota, Scion, Fiat, Buick, Chevrolet and Nissan.
  • Invited to serve as the official host for Annie’s Homegrown during a scheduled Google Hangout session.
  • Featured three times on Word Presses’ Freshly Pressed homepage within the span of a year.
  • Sought out and hired on a regular basis for my SEO skills
  • Awarded with Best Dad Blog 2017/Top Parenting Experts by CreditDonkey

www.Parents.com/dadabase created through www.Parents.com

Freelance Blogger, May 2011- June 2014

  • Recruited by chief editor, Michael Kress, of Parents magazine’s website to become the official daddy blogger for Parents.com based on the independent success of personal blog.
  • Developed creative concept, researched, wrote and edited content for each individual (400-word minimum) post while incorporating a minimum of two photos to accent the subject matter.
  • Personally promoted each post using social media sites, such as Facebook and Twitter.
  • Has had nearly one million hits since inception; averages 13,000 hits per month; most hits in one day: 9,900.
  • Coined the title of the blog The Dadabase.

EDUCATION

Liberty University, Lynchburg, Virginia

Bachelor of Fine Arts

May 2005

Major: English

Honors:  Dean’s List

TRAINING AND CERTIFICATION

Lipscomb University, Nashville, Tennessee

Certificate of Achievement, December 2012

       Course: Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) Learning System

Global English School, Bangkok, Thailand

ESL Instructor, June – July 2003 & June – July 2004

  • Instructed and prepared daily lesson plans covering a variety of subjects for approximately 25 elementary students.

Leave a comment Posted on parenting, Spirituality, Storytelling, Uncategorized

Why My Next Car Will Have a Metallica Sticker on the Back Window, Not a Christian Fish Symbol

Whenever I eventually do trade in my 2004 Honda Element for a newer SUV with a 3rd row seat, I have already decided I will not be putting a “nice dad” sticker on my back window: No stick figure family, no logo from my kid’s school, not even a Christian fish symbol.

It’s Nashville. I’m a commuter from a bedroom community. I typically spend a minimum of about 2 hours a day, navigating through chaos from the congested back roads to the often stand-still Interstate.

Being perceived by other drivers as a “nice guy” is not what I’m interested in when I’m on I-65 or Columbia Pike. Otherwise, I’d be in danger of also being perceived as a hypocrite in other drivers’ eyes when I am either driving too fast or too slow for their liking.

Other drivers’ personal perception of my driving ultimately serves a reflection of the legitimacy of whatever sticker is on my car.

Yeah, I know that sounds obtuse and illogical. But it’s true…

If a non-Christian driver perceives that I selfishly pulled out in front of him, then sees a Christian emblem on my car, that driver is placed in a position where he can theorize: “There’s another one of those self-centered, hypocritical Christians! Why would I ever want to be like them?”

Instead, I’d rather be known as the guy who other drivers don’t have high expectations for. The easiest way I can think to accomplish this is to simply have one black sticker on my back windshield:

Metallica.

That way, when I have to hurry and pass another car real quick on the Interstate in order to reach the exit lane in time because of how congested all 4 lanes are, I’m not a jerk. Instead, I’m simply what they expect from a guy who listens to the legendary heavy metal band Metallica: I’m assertive, intimidating, and unpredictable.

However, when I do something courteous, like when another driver is trapped trying to make awkward turn and I let them in (which is something I do several times per day), and then I eventually catch up to them when that one single lane transitions to a double, and I’m now in the other lane and they can see the back of my vehicle…

Now, I’ve suddenly become the Good Samaritan. Why?

Because, hey, the Metallica guy was nice to me!

I’d rather be perceived as a nice Metallica fan rather than a “hypocrite” with a Christian fish symbol on my car. I

My ironic theory is that it’s easier for those fellow commuters to see the grace and kindness of a Christian when there is no Christian label, as I’ve learned that people naturally have higher expectations of Christians; meaning it’s also easier to be disappointed by Christians.

No one is disappointed by a guy who listens to Metallica. But as a commuter, I say the Metallica guy has got a better chance of being seen as a saint, compared to a guy with a Christian fish symbol on his car.