Play On, Nashville!

Jon got me a ticket yesterday afternoon for yesterday nights show at the Grand Ole Opry.
So I went.. alone... and it was AWESOME!!!
The show commemorated the 1yr of the Nashville flood... just 1 yr before, the Opry house was under 4ft of water! Crazy to think that!
The line up was amazing!!!

Started with Luke Bryan (YUM)





Then of course the adorable and funny as heck Little Jimmy Dickens!



Dierks Bentley took the stage next and I just love love love him!!!




I loved him on Apprentice and I love him now! The VERY big with a very deep voice...Trace Adkins!



Then a band came on that I have been listening to since I was a little girl... and fell in love with again watching Coyote Ugly. Charlie Daniels Band!!!
And they did Devil went down to Georgia! Timeless!!


And last but not least... okay I will admit he's not my favorite singer but seeing him live and so close was pretty unforgettable!
Brad Paisley!!!





It really was amazing!!! Thank you Jon for getting me the ticket and for taking such good care of the kids while I was away!

My town!

With company being in town, we decided to show them some of our favorite sights in Nashville. This truely is a beautiful city! I love it here and had a blast seeing it from tourist eyes!
Here's a few of my favorite places in Nashville!

The Parthenon








Gaylord Opry Hotel






The Grand Ole Opry house




We also went to the Loveless Cafe.. no pics there but it's our usual place we like to take out of town guests. YUMMMY southern food!

Country Music Marathon Weekend

Wonderful weekend full of medals and goal achieving..
starting with Reese running the ING Kids marathon for the 2nd time. They run 25miles at home and then the last mile together. It is always so fun.. thousands of kids do it and they treat the kids like they just ran a full! Shirts, medals, swag bags, etc!

The next morning was a super early start for us. At at 4am, left the house at 4:45 and after an hr waiting in traffic, we finally got to the LP Field to be able to park and catch a shuttle to Centennial Park and the starting line.

Finally made it to the starting line.. us and 25,000 other people! It was insane!! The lines for the port-a-jons (sorry honey) seemed almost as long as trying to get started! And they were nasty!! I couldn't do it but the others were stronger than I! They should have gotten medals for that!




Jeremy was in a different coral so he got a start earlier than us. But once we got going, it was on!

First timers!

Karissa had a sprained ankle and I didn't train so we were quite the team! Slow and steady. This was Jons first half and so we did it together which was wonderful for us. Because never in our wildest dreams would we have ever thought to do this!

Only 3.1 more to go!

Blurry but 10miles was Jons longest run.. he was about to do something never done before.

The signs cracked me up!!

We walked in memory of our dad

Jeremy made it in 2:15, Karissa in 3:25 and Jon and I crossed hand in hand in 3:30. Not my best time BUT the point of us doing this is to finish. And we did!!
We started together and we finished together!

Exhausted and so glad it's over
First finishers medal!
OUCH!!!!!! -Karissas ankle!

After we got rested up, we got a sitter for the kids and headed downtown for dinner and a post-race concert with Montgomery Gentry!

Hold On

I needed this today.
Whoever wrote this... thank you!

Hold On

What you've got to do is
Finish what you have begun,
I don't know just how,
But it's not over 'til you've won!

When you see the storm is coming,
See the lightning part the skies,
It's too late to run-
There's terror in your eyes!
What you do then is remember
This old thing you heard me say:
"It's the storm, not you,
That's bound to blow away."

Hold on,
Hold on to someone standing by.
Hold on.
Don't even ask how long or why!
Child, hold on to what you know is true,
Hold on 'til you get through.
Child, oh child!
Hold on!

When you feel your heart is poundin',
Fear a devil's at your door.
There's no place to hide-
You're frozen to the floor!
What you do then is you force yourself
To wake up, and you say:
"It's this dream, not me,
that's bound to go away."

Hold on,
Hold on, the night will soon be by.
Hold on,
Until there's nothing left to try.
Child, hold on, There's angels on their way!
Hold on and hear them say,
"Child, oh child!"

And it doesn't even matter
If the danger and the doom
Come from up above or down below,
Or just come flying
At you from across the room!

When you see a man who's raging,
And he's jealous and he fears
That you've walked through walls
He's hid behind for years.
What you do then is you tell yourself to wait it out
And say it's this day, not me,
That's bound to go away.

Child, oh hold on.
It's this day, not you,
That's bound to go away!