this morning i woke at 6:30 am. those of you who "know me" know this is sleeping in for me :O) i could have slept longer if my back wasn't aching. ahhhhh the joys of "getting older" lol! last night we had grand intention of bar-hopping in downtown nashville. this ended up being more like eating dinner at the "billy bobs of nashville" aka the wildhorse saloon, then heading over to the Stage bar. the band there was pretty good, the guy had a nice voice. well i say the "guy" but really all the guys in the band sounded nice. they would take turns singin. they did lots of covers we all know. "okie from muskogee", "give it away", "i'm gonna miss her", and some oldies by the legends we love. Hank, Johnny, Merle, George....loved it! i had one beer at this joint and got Jon some crown and coke. then i started drinking water and about 8:30 i was ready to head back to the hotel! wow! party animals!! lol we got back to the hotel and i immediately put on the comfy pjs, took off my makeup, and made coffee. Jon played on the internet for like 7 hours before coming to bed, i was in bed at around 11:45. and btw I forgot to mention how disappointing the food we ate yesterday was. not like night one at the sweet plantation place! Mere Bulles i think it was called. anywho, lunch yesterday consisted of chips/queso/salsa, salads, and fried catfish. we shared (again) the catfish----this was the worst fried catfish i have ever had. some weird batter....some weird spicing on it? the plate had 2 filets on it and we didn't finish them. the fries were yummy as was the ranch. then for dinner we went to the wildhorse saloon. the atmosphere was fun here and that is probably what you go there for. apparently they have some "big name" bands perform but not the night we went. we had spinach artichoke dip for appitizer. it was pretty good, but they didn't give you much for the $9 price. we ate it all. then we shared a bacon cheddar burger and fries....again pretty good but the burger had some weird spicing on it. i guess the nashvilleians like the spices? i ate all my burger (half) and then i wanted some dessert. mmmmm mmmmm apple cobbler! i thought to myself. ok, strangest apple cobbler ever. came in a bowl....my first thought when i saw it was "chicken pot pie?". i guess they mix the apples with some sort of bread and then put it in a bowl, top it with some crumb crust, and then ice cream on top. not the best. we ate a little of it...i guess that really isn't a BAD thing! considering all we have eaten on this trip!

country music hall of fame!

today we started out early and i'm glad we did! first off was the country music hall of fame. we got there at about 10 am, it opened at 9. there were hardly any people there which was nice. let me now explain the photos. the top three were from the "charlie daniels museum". it was free, we were walking by :O) i do like charlie daniels band, yes. i don't think i would have made a special trip to the museum! he seems like a nice old man. i took a picture of the lyrics to "swingin", by john anderson, for my mom. when my brother was like 3 years old, he would sing this song! the cool-pretty-colored mural is at the entrance of the country music hall of fame, i thought it was neat so there ya go. and of course i had to get my pic with The Hag! after the museum we walked around the downtown area. very neat, lots of bars, places to eat, and gift shops! lets see....yes! i already have 2 new t-shirts from today's adventures in Nashville!! a super-sweet Johnny Cash one and one from the cmhof. we are now relaxing in our sweet suite (hey, that's one of those.....things....synonyms? homonyms? sounds the same, spelled differently?) watching the football follies. in a little bit we are heading back to the downtown area to eat at the Wildhorse Saloon and then possibly visit the Stage, Tootsies, etc...
Jon keeps saying he's hungry. I say, are you really hungry? or is it just because we are on vacation you feel like you need to eat all the time? lol i know i'm not hungry. i just want to eat.

now that i've had a little sleep...

i'd like to elaborate a little on what we did yesterday! there are not a lot of pics taken with me and/or Jon in them. hopefully today i will get more with us in the pic, so i don't get home and ask "why did i take a picture of this?" :O) the top pic shown here is a small sample of Elvis' (MORE!!) gold/platinum record trophies....this room was once his racketball court. that may give a picture in your head of how tall the walls are. we were not allowed to use any flash photography in any room in graceland or any exhibit. apparently the flashes break down the fabrics and paint over time? okey dokey, i'll follow along. that is me in front of somebody's car. i think that is a rolls royce? anyway, i figured "what the hey" take my picture Jon! :O) i wanted to tell you more about what we ate for dinner. started off with a cup of tomato soup topped with parmesan cheese. omgosh this was THE BEST tomato soup EVER! lol idk if it really was the best or if just cuz we are in a different city, eating at some cool restaurant that made it seem so. we shared it and also dipped the rolls (yummy rolls) in the soup. you would have sworn we had not eaten "all day"!!! the butter was also yummy, a sweet style of butter, and we ate it all up too. "can we please get some more bread? we've been driving for 15 hours and are starving!" ok, no, we didn't say that. but that is what we must have looked like to the other patrons. so next we had salads. i had the caesar (delish!) and Jon had a bibb leaf salad with cajun shrimp (added on). props to my husband for not being afraid of trying new things! i have no idea what was in the dressing on his salad, but it was (again) the "best salad ever"! it had bacon in it too. mmmmmmmmmm! so we ate alllllll the salad, and we shared the chicken fettuccine. we have been trying to share food at restaurants all the time now....not because we don't want to pay for it....just because all the portions are way too big. we are trying to watch our figures (heehee!). so we shared the pasta dish. it was really good as well, it had a mushroom based sauce or something. i think we liked the soup and salads better than the main dish. we could have eaten, excuse me, WOULD HAVE eaten, a pot of that soup---had it been placed in front of us. i told Jon, "this is a really cool place! i feel like such a tourist because i'm like wanting to take pictures of it and i'm sure everyone else in here eats here all the time." :O) i'm sure that was the case. i don't care, i'm on vacation! also just wanted to elaborate on our very nice Hilton suite we are staying in! pretty sure it is bigger than our apartment (in square footage). we have a mini fridge, microwave, coffee maker, bar sink, desk, and high speed internet. yay! the carpet is a deep purple, the couch is purple velvet. the walls in the bathroom are a pretty shade of green, and i think tan in the living room, and a mauve-ish in the bedroom. today we are going to the country music hall of fame!! i'm so very excited! i think we will do as much walking around and seeing little things in nashville as we can during today, and tonight hang out in the "district"? i think that is what it's called, that's where all the nightlife/live music is. miss you dear friends and family back home!

Nashville!

hey everyone! my phone says it is now 10:35 pm. i have been awake since 3:30 am in texas, we left our house at 4 am. :O) just a couple of things i'd like to share with you all:

1. we arrived safe, thank you little blue car, you did so good! :O)

2. do not, ever, for any reason, drive to nashville from Texas. there is really nothing to "see". my thoughts were "oh i'm excited about the drive, it's going to be fun! i'm sure it will be so pretty!" .....uhmmmm.....or 15 hours later you get to the hotel???? lol

3. graceland is pretty cool. i will never need to visit it again! i love how it is still decorated like 1970-something. it still smells like an "old" house. it's kinda neat to think "he was in here" or whatever, but hey guess what? it's a dead guy's house. that's really all it is.

so, that's all the diary tonight, our hotel is awesome. it is in Brentwood, and since it was dark when we arrived, i'm thinking it's "pretty" outside!! please enjoy the pics. that's Jon in front of the neon "elvis" from the automobile museum. i thought that looked cool. i took that pic of us on the stairs in the mirror above us on the way to the basement of graceland. i put the pic of the martin guitar case on here just because that was pretty cool to see....my dad has the same case. my dad has a martin guitar that he used to play "big iron" by marty robbins on to me when i was 2. that's obviously me in front of just a SMALL portion of the record collection of elvis, i'm talking all his millions of albums sold, etc. Jon and I ate at an AWESOME restaurant this evening, it used to be a plantation and now it is a restaurant. the guy that took the pic did not do justice to what i was imagining in my head, he did thankfully get us both in the pic. and in focus. that staircase is neat and there is a super cool chandalier there, my thought was to have us and the light in the pic but what do i know. :O) we ate entirely too much today, driving brings out the evil snacker in me!! and then we shared everything at dinner....it was all very very yummy!! that's all for tonight, i'm off to sleepy land!

A funny thing happened in the dressing room...

something I never thought I would hear come out of my dear friend's mouth:

"Misty, I think those are too BIG? Do you want to try a 4?" (insert "open-mouth emoticon" here)

cool! now i have cute new jeans that actually fit! I almost wore them out of the store, like when you're little, and you get new shoes, and you wanna wear them out the door? I really wanted to, after I had put the cute jeans on, that fit, then put on the super-big-parachute jeans I have been wearing for way too long! Girls, you all know that shopping for jeans is NO FUN! you'll find a pair you "LOVE", they fit great! next time you go back to the same store (because you wore holes in the other pairs) to get the same style in the same size (the ones that fit great, remember??) they are NO LONGER THE SAME!! I swear, sometimes they just alter the "size" a little. or they add stretch. or they don't have the "boyfriend" cut anymore. and what's up with trying the same SIZE on at the SAME STORE...but in the different "styles" they fit differently???? talk about confusing and often frustrating! These are just a few of the reasons why I just kept on wearing the baggy jeans for so many months. Now to totally change the subject. Jon and I have been visiting a "new" church, Willow Park Baptist. It is 30 minutes closer than Pleasantview, where Brother Moody is the Pastor. Brother Moody married Jon and I, and he is the reason we visited WPBC. He informed us that his very good friend is the sr. pastor over there! yay! Needless to say, i really really really like this church. I love the worship, the preaching, the people, so far not one negative thing has occurred. Most importantly I have felt the Spirit of the Lord moving there, and I feel Jon and I are growing closer to God and each other. It is something very special, to pray with your spouse, and to feel in the Lord's presence and know that He is real and He is there! I am feeling today drawn to possibly (BIG on the "possibly") audition to play acoustic guitar for the worship team. This is something WPBC is just about to start, so far they don't have any "live" music, they have a big choir and music with words on the screen. This morning on the way to work I felt a little tug in that direction, and also towards the youth group....doing something with them. I have honestly always felt the Lord pulling me towards the youth, and to get involved and do something! I will now ask ya'll to just pray for me about these things. Also please keep in your prayers for Jon and I to make good choices about where to live, and if we should build a house or buy a pre-existing one! Well there ya have it. I have bared my heart to you all this morning, my friends. Please be patient with me on blog postings, ya'll know I don't have internet at my home. I am still waiting to get the "professional" pics back from Mindy. When I do there will be more posts of pretty pics! I will also try to get copies to many of you of ones you will want to have. I love you all dear friends!

Me and my HUSBAND :O)

Here's a couple of shots that Elisa took from the wedding. As you all have probably heard from talking to me, my wedding was AMAZING!!! It was everything I imagined and then some. I was fine all day up until I put my dress and veil on in the chapel. Then I started the heavy-breathing, edge-of-passing-out stage. I was upstairs in the bridal chamber alone with the bridal attendant. She opened the door so we could hear the music from the piano as the processional began. She would then tell me little updates "the groomsmen are walking out now", "the bridesmaids..."...then I was told to stand up and await the lighting "cue". I saw my two Daddies at the bottom of the stairs waiting for me and I about lost it! I made it down the stairs no problem and tried to remember everything I was supposed to do from rehearsal the night before. Then when I got on "stage" with Jon and was holding hands with him I was alright. The whole ceremony was beautiful, emotional, and spiritual. Brother Moody laid his hands on our shoulders and prayed after the ring exchange (i think) and I wept. Then after "amen" Jon was wiping a tear or two as well. :O) I am still GIDDY from it all! I didn't want my wedding to ever end! I think I may go into "post-wedding depression" lol! I am so happy with the pictures I have seen so far, and I know there are a million more out there that are awesome! I will post more info, stories, and pics later. For now I gotta get on home!

so what?

ok, having VERY limited time to blog....here is a short list of my "so what"'s! thanks Jess for getting this started lol

*so what if I shop at wal-mart!

*so what if I spent 2 hours IN wal-mart last week, the first 30 minutes of that being spent organizing the "cards with sound"....i'm sorry but that just bugs me! "THIS isn't the theme song from HAPPY DAYS! IT goes over HERE!"

*so what if i'm in my 30's and watch hannah montana.....or the world premiere of high school musical 2!

*so what if i'm in my 30's and still buy the soundtracks to hannah montana or high school musical! i've always enjoyed disney songs! they lift you up and get you happy! ok, most of them. i must disclaim here that DUMBO is the worst disney movie ever. i mean depressing!! so i didn't get the soundtrack to it. "baby of mine"....that's all i have to say about that.

*so what if i have faith like a child!

*so what if i don't believe "scientists" or "the scientific proof" for stuff! like evolution. or the earth is 55 gabillion years old, it's proven by carbon testing! i believe faith means you have to step out on that ledge and just believe God IS. just trust in HIM. i'm not trying to find the proof of why stuff is the way it is. i just believe in God. one day, when i'm in Heaven with Him, he will explain all my questions!

how could i forget this one!?

*so what if "i think i'm just gonna go home" HA!