5, 4, 3, 2, 1

Ah New Years Eve....

Welcome to my least favorite night of the year! At least I have the UT Bowl game to look forward to! It should be a fun night because I love UT, football, and Chick-fl-a. 2009 was a great year and I am looking forward to a fun 2010! I will have to recap 2009 and make my list of resolutions for 2010 tomorrow. Perhaps I should add not procrastinating to my list of resolutions.

Happy New Year!

Holly Jolly

It has been a fun week full of lots of Christmas joy!! We had a Christmas party for Young Life leaders and it was a sweet time of worship and games. I am so thankful for these girls. Reems Creek love.
It was also the weekend for Christmas sweater parties. This might have been one of my favorites ever! I love my roommate!

And we LOVE to dance!
Such a fun group for such a fun night!!

Tender Tennessee Christmas

Tonight was one of those nights that I will remember forever! Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors is one of my favorite bands in Nashville. You can usually find me and Adrienne at their concert when they play here. They are just fabulous.

Tonight was their Christmas show and it was the best! They had so many special guests that came to sing with them like Dave Barnes, Gabe Dixon, and Amy Grant. That's right, I said Amy Grant! She sang "Tender Tennessee Christmas" which is my ALL TIME favorite Christmas song. She sang and I cried. Seriously. If you listen closely to the video you can hear my try and keep the tears back! (Well, it seems that my video is too big for the blog so instead you are getting this picture which is so not as fun).



Add this to the list of reasons why I love Nashville.

Fun December 2.0

School is finally out and I am ready for FUN DECEMBER 2009!
Lots of fun Christmas parties happening this week!! And it started with a trip to the Opryland Hotel with Ben to see Louise Mandrell! She was AMAZING! Loved the show, even if we were the youngest people there.
Louise Mandrell played like 6 different instruments during her show. The theme of her show was music around the world so she played all different kinds of instruments and songs from all over.
My favorite song of the night was when she sang "Merry Christmas Polka." Amy sang this in 7th grade when she was Suzy Snowflake. I think I was the only person in the audience who was singing along. Love this song. And Yes, she is actually playing the accordian here. Amazing.
Love the red cowboy hat!

Chattanooga

This weekend, I got to spend some quality time with my friends for Savannah's wedding in Chattanooga! I just had the best time this weekend, and it makes me miss them so so much. I am so sad that I forgot my camera for the wedding. It was so beautiful and we had a great time!

But I did remember my camera on Sunday when we went to the Tennessee Aquarium! Anna, Trell, Katherine, and I spent the morning at the aquarium and seeing the sights downtown!

Going Postal

I thought I would be so excited to be turning in my thesis today. I thought I would have a huge sense of relief, and lots of joy. Instead, I still had nightmares last night and felt panicked when I went to turn it in. My teacher lives in McMinnville so we had to have our thesis papers post-marked and sent to her by December 10th. I was feeling very nervous as I headed to the post office this afternoon. I have spent the past 4 months researching, writing, and working on this one paper. I have thought about this paper day and night. I was so ready for it to be over, but not ready to give it up (yes, I know that doesn't make sense. Just stick with me).

So I pull up to the Gree Hills post office. I pull out my camera, because this is a blogable moment. I was excited to ask a stranger to take a picture of me and my finished paper at the post office getting ready to send. After what seems like an hour of finding the perfect mailing combination (I decided on priority mail with a delivery confirmation) I take my hard work to the post office attendent. She takes one look at it and tells me that I can't have the clip on my paper or it won't go through the mail machine.

After what seems like five minutes of silence, I insist that I NEED that clip on my paper. Please note, this is not a paper clip. This is an alligator clip (I think) that you need for thicker documents. I just stood there and kept thinking of all those papers flailing about without the clip to keep them together. I tell the lady at the post office that I HAVE to have that clip.

And then it happens......

I broke down. Right there in the post office. I started to cry. I didn't just tear up, but I started to cry... hard. I tried to stop, but I just couldn't. I started to search frantically for a box to put it in. I needed to find a bigger package so my paper could keep the clip. I tried to discuss different options with the post office worker, but I would not listen to any options that didn't include this clip. I think I even used the phrase "I don't care how much it costs" more than during the conversation.

And then it got worse....

I can't stop crying. I can't even think straight. I just need to mail this paper and get out. But then she asks..... "Are you on your cycle?" I thought I could just die right there. I quickly stopped crying, got a regular paper clip that doesn't belong on a paper of this size, pay, and leave.

I really don't know why I started crying. I guess all the stress just caught up to me. I do know, however, that I will not be able to go to that post office for a long time. I am so happy to have mailed it off today. Hoping for a good nights sleep tonight!

Pioneer Woman comes to Nashville

What a fun study break tonight! I had tickets to go to a book signing by The Pioneer Woman! Ree Drummond (aka The Pioneer Woman) was one of the first blogs that I started reading. She is just hilarious and has one of the best blogs I have ever seen. Her cooking blog is amazing, but there is so much more to her website! She has pictures and stories and just lots of random fun. Her website is kinda like facebook.... totally addicting!

Today was a very yucky, rainy day in Nashville that I spent most of the day at the library. When I got to the signing I immediately regretted my outfit choice for this event. Everyone there was SO dressed up to meet Ree. I, on the other hand, was wearing rain boots. opps.


The Pioneer Woman is very popular in Nashville! There were TONS of people there, and I am so thankful I did not have to wait too long. She spent lots of time with each person and was SO NICE!!! Laurie, I asked if she was going to finish her story about Marlboro Man and she said she was going to publish it!! Get excited!

These two ladies you might know.... the one of the right is Ree's sister, Besty (or Betsy Wetsy for those blog readers). And the other one... well, I can't remeber who she i,. but she is a friend of Ree's so I had to take their picture! :)

Wacky Tacky Christmas

So last night's posting was a little on the down side, so tonight I am posting some fun things! We had our last Young Life of the decade tonight. We had an unBOWLeviable Wacky Tacky Christmas party! We went to the Franklin Family Bowling lanes and had a little Christmas Party! Here are some fun pictures to enjoy!

Here is a picture of ALL of the girls that came tonight... I guess bowling is a big pull for the boys. We had so much fun! Here is me, Kelsi, Lauren, Robbie, and Maddison. Love these precious girls.
The picture below is a picture of our team (minus Cam who is studying abroad in Spain.... can not wait till he comes back in 10 days!)

Raise your hand if...

- You are sick of working on your research thesis proposal
- You have had so much caffeine today that you feel like you could run a marathon
- All you can think about is how happy you will be when you mail in your huge semester long paper on Thursday
- You have been stress eating all day (ok all week)
- You have nightmares most nights about your computer crashing or your paper disappearing thanks to "technology"
- You have spent more time with your APA manual than real people this weekend


My hand is raised.... high.

Happy Birthday Jamie!

I met Jamie at UT when we pledge the same sorority. We both got involved in the same freshmen bible study and have been friends ever since! In college, Jamie was my go-to person if I ever needed someone to edit my papers, and one of my favorite snugglers. She is famous for her dance "the pancake" and for giving my dorm room and car a name. We share a love for musicals and tv shows (GLEE) and she is one of my favorite road trip buddies. She lives far away now in Austin, but she is still my go-to person for school questions and for a day brightener! I am so thankful for her in my life!

Thankful

I have so many things to be thankful for. I am so so thankful for my wonderful family.

We spent Thanksgiving weekend up in Virginia with Amy, Kory and sweet Kaitlin. It was a long trip for me from Nashville, but we had so much fun! We ate a lot of amazing food and watched a lot of football. I am also thankful for those things too! I must give a shout out to a big UT win and big Titans win this weekend! yay!

Kaitlin and I had lots of fun on Thanksgiving!


I can't decide if Kaitlin is scared of my turkey hat or if she loves it!

We took some cute family pictures this weekend, but I didn't get any on my camera. Check out Amy's blog for some fun pictures from Thanksgiving. But I did get a cute picture of Amy and Kaitlin ready for Santa!
I am thankful for so many things, but I really thank God for my fabulous family, and friends. I am thankful for our health and for safe travel to get together to see each other. I am so thankful.

Happy Birthday Adrienne!

Happy 26th Birthday Adrienne!
I just love birthdays and I am so excited that I get to blog about my friend Adrienne! It is so fitting that her birthday falls on Thanksgiving because I am so thankful for her!! She is the best roommate and always so much fun! We met through Young Life and it is so fun to have friends who can encourage and support each other in this ministry! We share a love for celebrities, music, and almost all tv shows!
Adrienne was home for Thanksgiving for her birthday so I can't wait to celebrate it soon! Happy Birthday!!

Music City Math

Mom and Dad came to Nashville for a few days and we had so much fun! Dad had a math conference here in downtown Nashville, so they got to stay for an extended amount of time! It was so nice to have them here when I wasn't moving or going to a show at TPAC! We got to eat at ALL of my favorite restaurants like J. Alexanders, Cheesecake Factory, Maggianos, and Brick Tops! Mom and I got to go shopping and Mom and Dad got to visit the Country Music Hall of Fame!

One of the highlights of the time in Nashville would have to be Friday night when we went to visit The Big Bang. The Big Bang is a piano bar downtown and it is one of my favorites! We had SO much fun! I love my parents so much!
It was a very successful weekend of fun, food, and family! It was really nice to take a break from the craziness of school for a while! Can't wait to see them in a few short days for Thanksgiving!! I am so thankful for them!

Good Morning America!

It's CMA week here in Nashville and today Good Morning America was here promoting the awards show on ABC. It is always such an exciting week in Nashville, and there are always lots of fun things going on! Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood are the hosts for the award show this year so they did a free concert this morning downtown. My fabulous roommate suggested we go and we left our house this morning at 5:45am to be down there bright and early at 6am!

It was SO MUCH FUN to see the behind the scene things that go on for a live show like GMA. We got there in time for Carrie Underwood's mic check. She came out very sleepy and all bundled up to practice with the band.

After lots of waiting and lots of cheering for the cameras for commerical breaks, it was time for Brad and Carrie to preform! Carrie changed into an even cutter outfit than before and both Brad and Carrie did a brief interview with the GMA weather guy and then sang some of their new songs!

I kept saying "I'm so excited" and it was worth the EARLY morning wake up! It was so fun to get to experience this event!
Don't worry.... we got the classic Adrienne/Rachel self portrait.

Sharp Top 09

When I got back from Sharp Top this weekend, I sent Eve a text message that said, "Sharp Top was amazing! I am more in love with Jesus and Matt Wertz than ever!" That pretty much sums my weekend up! We REALLY struggled getting kids to camp this year because of Halloween. I was really discouraged and worn out before I even left. God really blessed our group and we had such a great time. I loved being reminded of the ultimate love story. The speaker, the program guys, and the music (Matt Wertz) were all amazing!
One of my favorite parts of the weekend was watching our BA students love on the Capernum kids. Young Life has a ministry called Capernum which is geared toward students who have mental and physical disabilities. Both the guys and the girls from Brentwood Academy really became close to the Capernum students and it was so great to be able to see that. I am really excited to continue these realtionships of these precious girls from this weekend.
Oh and did I mention Matt Wertz was there?!
I had a video but I am having difficultly getting it on here. Stay tuned for it... he is amazing!

What if we...

Got to meet Brandon Heath!!

It was such an exciting night for me! What a great trip to Memphis to see Lindsey and Anna, and get to meet Brandon Heath. I was a roller coaster of emotions from excited to nervous about meeting Brandon, and he was SO NICE! He is such an amazing artists and his music is fabulous! I think God uses Brandon's music to speak to me. This concert was part worship service and part concert so it was so amazing. It really got me ready and excited about Sharp Top this weekend!

I gotta go catch the bus to Sharp Top, but wanted to share how much fun I had at the concert! LOVE HIM!

Busy busy weekend

I have a very busy and very exciting weekend coming up! I am getting ready to head to Memphis to see Brandon Heath in concert tonight! I got meet and greet passes and I am beyond thrilled to "meet and greet" Brandon. I also get to stay with Lindsey which is always so much fun!

On Friday I am headed to Sharp Top Cove for the weekend with a group of BA Young Life students. I could really use your prayers that this weekend! Young Life camps are some of my favorite places so I am excited to get to share that with these students.

Can't wait to share the stories and pictures with you soon!!

Confession

I LOVE going to the Green Hills Kroger after I work out. The Green Hills Kroger is one of the nicest grocery stores I have been to. They have a Starbucks and two sitting areas with flat screen tv's. Whenever I go, I get caught up on the news or football game that is playing. The Green Hills Kroger is also filled with many young professionals like myself. When I was in college, I felt the same way about the UT Library. Yes, I would be going to "study" but I was also going to be social. That's how my grocery store is. I go to buy groceries, but also see people there whenever I go. It is the cheapest grocery store around now that Whole Foods has moved in the next block down. When I moved to Nashville, I was surprised about how many people wore their workout clothes around town. I am not sure why, but it almost seems like a dress code on weeknights at Kroger to wear your workout clothes. It is located right by the YMCA that I go to, so it is very convenient for people to work out and then get groceries. I have class and Young Life most nights so I am usually not able to do this, but I got to go last night and it made me so happy. I went to work out at the Y, and then headed to Kroger to buy some things to cook dinner. It sounds really weird now that I am writing all of this out, but I won't stop doing it. Happy Krogering!

Fall is here!

The temperature is falling, the leaves are falling, football is in high gear, and pumpkin foods are incorporated in most facebook status updates. It must be fall! Adrienne and I got fall fever and we decided to have our own personal Fall Fest! Chili, apple cider, and carving pumpkins were the goals for Saturday. We had such a fun time!

My favorite part is getting all the stuff out of the pumpkin. Gross.

Classic pumpkin carving mistake. The teeth fell out of my pumpkin, but it still turned out cute!
Pumpkin Carving in Tennessee would not be complete without a power T pumpkin!
Happy Fall, Yall!

All for the Hall

I love Nashville and country music! Tuesday night Keith Urban and Vince Gill put on a benefit concert for the Country Music Hall of Fame. This was Keith's idea to do something like this so he and Vince put it together. Keith played for about an hour with his band and then we had an intermission. After the break, Keith Urban, Vince Gill and friends played for a few more hours. I took about 100 pictures of all the guests, but instead of putting all the pictures on here, I will just name them.
Little Big Town
Brad Paisley
Lady Antebellum
Dierks Bentley
Jason Alden
Faith Hill
Taylor Swift

Here is a picture of the whole group during the finale!
As you can see, our seats were really close.... ha! And it was pouring down raining so we look like we swam to the concert!

UT vs Georgia

I could also call this game the Battle of the SEC's cutest coaches! This weekend was amazing! I love blogging so I can remember things like this weekend. This weekend was a little reunion of our college friends! I got to see so many of my friends from UT and it was so wonderful.

Friday started out with a fun car ride with the Kuhlmans and Lindsey. Jamie and Ricky are in Austin, TX so it was extra special to have them come in town! We sang and laughed and the car ride just flew by. Such a fun time to catch up with people too! (I am sad I didn't get a picture of this).

I also got to spend a lot of quality time with sweet Lindsey. Lindsey is such a trooper for staying for the entire game! She is having twins in January and is the cutest little thing ever!! It was the twins first UT game and I think they liked it. Hopefully they will be there as students in 18 years! We had so much fun at the game and all weekend together! And UT won the game!! It is way more fun when we win!
Sunday we threw a baby shower for Lindsey. It was great to be able to celebrate Lindsey and help her out with the babies! Did I mention she is having twins?!

This weekend was just incredible. I am so thankful for my amazing friends and sweet family. I wish I could go back to this perfect weekend! GO VOLS!!!