Friends in Low Places

Garth Brooks is doing nine concerts in Nashville this week for flood relief. I had the privilege of going to the show on Friday night. It was absolutely amazing.

I went with Treydrienne and they were so much fun. I never knew Adrienne was such a country music fan!

Garth puts on such a great show. He is a great entertainer and we had awesome floor seats (thanks Trey!). Tricia came out and sang a few songs with Garth. She sang my favorite song "She's in Love With a Boy." Loved it.

The best part of the concert was the very end. We were lucky to go on the night that only had one concert. So Garth came out after the encore with just his guitar and took requests. I felt like I was the only one in the room. My friend Lindsay does a great job of explaining it.

As I was shopping in downtown Nashville on Saturday morning, I met lots of people from Florida, Minnesota, and Oklahoma. All of these people had come to see Garth in concert. They were all shopping downtown and supporting the businesses that were so badly hurt in the flood. Garth was helping Nashville so much more than just doing some benefit shows.

And look who I ran into..... Anna! I was so happy to see you!

Nashville Flood

I have been having a hard time trying to find the words to write this post. Last weekend, Nashville got a massive amount of rain and flooded. Some people described this event as "devastating" "catastrophic" and "daunting." It is the worst natural disaster to hit Nashville and the death toll is still rising. Nashville and 52 other counties have been considered disaster areas. According to Mayor Dean, the damage assessment (so far) is 1.5 Billion. Yikes!

So I was out of town last weekend during all the storms. I was with some of my sweet friends in Atlanta for Marcy's Bachelorette party! Thanks to twitter, I was aware of what was going on, but did not know the full extent. Sunday, we couldn't make it back to Nashville because all the interstates were closed. I finally made it back on Monday to find the water STILL rising into downtown and Opryland. I also came home to find Nashville on a water shortage! So many of my friends and co-workers lost everything.

It makes my heart so heavy to see hear these stories and see these pictures. It has really affected me, and I am sure I will have more posts and stories from this event.

Smashville

Our company had a little work social at the Predators game last night! We got the privilege of sitting in the all-inclusive zone. It was a great time with co-workers and a really exciting game! I am surprised to say that I am starting to really get into Hockey! Especially on the heals of the Olympics, I am starting to understand it and enjoy it much more!

Highlights of the game: Getting on the jumbrotron, seeing Scott Hamilton (olympic figure skater), and a Predators win!

The Drowsy Chaperone

Tonight I went to see The Drowsy Chaperone at TPAC. I did not know much about this musical before I went to see it, but I was blown away with the humor in this musical! It is a spoof of old musicals, and was just so cute and funny! I love musicals and love TPAC has so many great shows that come to Nashville.

I am glad I got to see it before I leave on my mini-vacation tomorrow! I am headed to see two of my best friends in Austin, Texas! I can not wait to see them, and to get to warmer weather! So excited for this weekend! I will have LOTS to post when I get home!

Things I learned in snowapoloza 2010

News flash: It snowed in Nashville on Friday. It was more snow than I have seen in a long time. I have been snowed in ever since. I learned a few things during the snowapoloza 2010.

1. A good pair of boots is vital. This morning, we decided to try to make the trip to church so I thought hard about what shoes to wear. I thought heals are too slippery, so I opted for my flats. I took one step outside of my house and fell down the icy stairs and flat on my rear-end. This fight with the ice continued the entire time till I got back home.

2. This big scraper is my new best friend. We got about 4 inches of snow, then about an inch of ice on top of the snow. That is a very difficult thing to get off the car. This big scraper helped out so much! And yes, I took a picture of me and the scraper. Lame I know.

3. Sometimes you have to get out and push the car when it gets stuck in the snow. I've seen it done when people get stuck in the mud, but never thought about it in the snow. Usually a boys job, not today. We had to push Adrienne's car, three times during our trip to church. I wish I had gotten a picture of this, but I was too busy freaking out.

4. Snowapoloza brings out the best in strangers. The last time we got the car stuck, a random neighbor came over to help us. He was so nice to help three girls who were in trouble. I've heard of other stories like this, but it was so nice to see it first hand.

5. Now I know why people raid the grocery store. Snow days make me hungry. I guess it was boredom. But I ate everything in my house this weekend.

6. Sleds and shovels will be on the list the next time I go to the hardware store. Those would have been good to have this weekend.


So I learned a lot during Snowaploza 2010. I am sure I will have more to add after I try to actually drive tomorrow!

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.

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.

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!

Team Taylor

This has been one of the most fun weekends I have had in a long time! This weekend was very busy and very full of fun activities! Earlier this week, I was a little disappointed about not being able to go to Knoxville for the UCLA game. I had class on Saturday from 8-3 and most of my friends were all going to the UT game. But, this weekend turned out to be fantastic!

Friday night Lauren Sutterfield came in town on her way to Knoxville for the game. I was SO glad to see her and hang out for the night. We got sushi at Virago and then went to Red door.

Saturday after class, I watched the UT game (which was sad) while I got ready for the Taylor Swift concert! Adrienne and I went to concert and had the best time! I don't know how to explain how much fun it was! Glorianna and Kellie Pickler were the two openers for Taylor and then Taylor played for over 2 hours! She had about 6 costume changes, walked through the audience, and had special guests Faith Hill and Tim Mcgraw sing with her! It was so much fun!!

We got to see lots of our sweet Young Life girls during the show! This picture is half of our Reems Creek cabin from Windy Gap! Such a fun reunion!!

Katie came to sit with us for the last few songs! So much fun!
This is a picture of me, Adrienne, and Taylor! If you look closely at the tiny blue figure at the top right of the page, thats our friend Taylor! Here is a picture of Taylor and Faith. I remember going to a Faith Hill concert back in 1999 when I was in high school! This was very exciting!!

During the course of the night we heard that Taylor and Kellie were having their after party at a club called Lime. Since the average age of concert goers was probably 13, we thought we had a good chance of seeing them at Lime! Although this was not one of our best decisions, it was one of best parts of the night. We did not end up seeing either of them (because Taylor got on a plane to go to the VMA's) we still had a blast trying to be like the paparazzi. This is a picture of us during our "steak out."
Sunday was also a sweet time that consisted of church, gossip girl, ice cream, and the VMA's. I didn't get any pictures of those events, but it was still a fun day!

The weekend ended up being so much fun! I am so thankful for fun friends and lots of fun memories!

So Nashville

I have lived in Nashville for over two years and I finally had my first experience at the Ryman! For a huge country music fan like myself, the Ryman Auditorium is like the Mother Church of country music. The Ryman was the origional home of the Grand Ole Opry and is so historic and wonderful. I have been wanting to go there for so long, and finally had the opportunity during the Bluegrass nights at the Opry. I was so excited about being at the Ryman that I cried when I walked in. Seriously. It's lame I know.
I really enjoy Bluegrass music so Ben and I went to the Ryman to hear Rhonda Vincent and the Rage. We were in for such a surprise when Bobby Osborne and the Rocky Top Express came out to preform before Rhonda. Now, for those of you who are about to fall asleep about this exciting post about Bluegrass music, let me tell you that Bobby Osborne was the guy who actually wrote Rocky Top! You know when you hear Rocky Top on the radio? Yeah, I saw that guy in person. It was SO EXCTING! Again... more tears.
Can you see him in the orange jacket? I want to add that to my list of favorite things... people who wear orange jackets! Enjoy this little video I took of the LEGEND Bobby Osborne!