Nashville Trip

On Saturday, we headed off to Nashville for the birthday extravaganza. I had heard that there were supposed to be some bad storms around 1, so we headed out early to try to avoid it. On our way down, we stopped and ate brunch at Crackerbarrel. We decided to head to the IMAX 3D version of How to Train Your Dragon. It just happened to be at Opry Mills. I had heard nothing but negative things about this place, so I wasn't really looking forward to scoping it out. When we got there, the bottom had started to fall out. We had discovered I had one messed up windshield wiper. It was not really wiping very well so it was fun to drive in the rain having to adjust my position constantly in the car just to be able to see. We finally arrived at Opry Mills and headed inside. It was then that I discovered how cool Opry Mills really was to hang out to avoid storms. We went through Dave and Busters (which I thought was something else at first but realized it was the coolest arcade EVER). I did think it was funny that several prizes included a blender and coffee maker. We made fun of the sign outside the place that had a woman with this goofy grin holding a bunch of tickets. We said that the caption should say "look I can now purchase a blender". It was really neat and I wish we had more time to play in the arcade. We walked around some of the mall too and discovered this aquarium restaurant that would've been so neat to eat in one day. Heather and Ryan kept talking about taking the kids (not anymore she said last night boo!) I told them I wanted to come back with them. Anything to have an excuse to act like a kid without looking like some strange person. Plus it would be fun to play with their kids. Opry Mills might not have cool shopping stores, but for a girl that doesn't like to shop and rather act like a little child in an adult body, I was loving all the kid entertainment. We finally went in to the movie to pick our good seats. That was when I got a text from Ashley that said "just checking on you" me-???? ash-"the weather" So I told Weston to pull up the radar and so did Heather. It was basically all red. Very red. We decided to forget about it and just watch the movie. I figured if it got real bad that they would stop the movie. We were in a safe place I thought. When we got out of the movie, I realized I had three missed calls, one text, and Weston had two missed calls from my Dad. The weather was bad. Very bad. It wasn't going to get better Dad said. We decided to go ahead and head over to Green Hills mall where the Cheesecake Factory was while it wasn't as nasty outside. On the way over even though it was only about 10 min drive, the roads were slick. I noticed water on the road, but I was still determined. At this point we even discussed that maybe we should've gone to Bham :) We finally made it to Green Hills. Thank goodness I had Heather up front with me keeping me calm and telling me where to go. She was basically my lifesaver on that trip. When we got to Green Hills, the boys waited on the table while we went to look around. We went in this cool furniture store with all these pretty things that I cant afford. Then we went in coach with all these pretty things I can't afford. After that I just decided to walk around the mall. Why go in a place that you can't afford? Heather and I just talked and walked around. We noticed the mall was leaking everywhere! I mean they had pots like every couple of feet. I also noticed all the cute styled girls. Everyone in Nville knows how to dress!!!! I wish I could dress like they did. I didn't see a bad looking girl on the trip. We finally made our way back to the Cheesecake Factory just in time to sit down. It took us forever to order bc it took me forever to decide. I narrowed it down to two and then told Weston to choose. I always do the opposite of what he says. Pulled pork sandwich or turkey burger. Well, I got the turkey burger. By the time the meal came, I wasn't real hungry after our Southwestern Egg Rolls. I wanted to save room for dessert :) I ate the fries and a couple of bites of the burger. I thought maybe I just wasn't hungry bc I didn't like the burger at all!! The cheesecake was DIVINE! It was a chocolate coconut cream cheesecake. OH MY!! YUM!!! The waitress was hilarious. She told us when we sat down that 65 had been shut down in several parts. Uh oh!!! She ended up totally crushing on Ryan. She told him that she would take care of him. Man she did. One point she walked by, squeezed his shoulder, and growled like a tiger. She took his food in the back and boxed it up while bringing Heather and I boxes. She really liked Ryan. It was hilarious. He was totally uncomfortable. After a somewhat satisfying meal (except the turkey burger), we decided to head home. We made our way back with a couple of more stops to try and win big bucks. Ryan was determined to win the lottery as part of his 5 yr plan. At least he has several more years because he wasn't lucky then. One of the gas stations was sketchy. Heather and I were determined the guy inside was making a drug deal. We drove down one more block to another gas station shortly after that was determined. We finally arrived home about 9:30. 12 hours of FUN! No one won anything, but fun memories and good food (overall).

I discovered later on that Opry Mills was surrounded by water. A flood came rushing in after we left. It is really sad to think about it. It makes me count my blessings on how lucky we were overall. We never ran into really bad weather. It took friends of mine 4 hours to get down to Nashville. We just managed to avoid everything. I am thankful we were all ok and thankful to everyone worrying about us. I am thankful for my two really good friends that were there to share the experience with us. Weston and I had the best time and I know they did too. I pray for those in Nashville who are suffering, lost a loved one, and have lost everything. I couldn't imagine and I am still in shock with the disaster they are going to have to recover from in the next months or years.

Next trip, to the beach!!!!! I can't wait!!!!

Posting

I guess I never increased my blogging. It is so hard to find the time.

So something strange has been happening in the world lately and I am not really sure what is happening. It is really dark though. The earthquake in Haiti, earthquake in Chili, the tornado damage, the mining accident, the oil spill off the coast... I have never seen so much disaster and heartache in the world in the past in such a short period of time. I really hope that all of this will bring the world closer together through faith. I hope people will find God in this time for comfort. My best friend's daughter was in an accident a little over a month ago. I thought we were going to lose her. It was a hard but prayer pulled her through. She was a miracle child. Then I found out a week from yesterday that another best friend's mother has the "c" word. She will be fine from what the doctors say, but it is still scary to think about it. In the midst of all of this, I celebrated a birthday yesterday. It just showed me that I shouldn't take days or people for granted. I am happy every day God gives me. You shouldn't hold a grudge. You shouldn't get into a petty argument. You should live each day as your last. I can't wait for the future to come.

Enough with the sadness. Hopefully positive things will come from it and it will all stop soon.

Welcome everyone!!! I hope to be a better blogger this time. I am not sure what happened to my past blog. I can't seem to find it now. I am hoping this will be a great way to catch up/keep up with my friends. I am not the best writer. I tend to get a little long winded (I am just like my Dad and his Dad), but bear with me. I hope to keep this interesting :)