Feel'n Southern

I've decided I can officially say "Y'all" anytime I want now that I've been to Nashville for the first time ever. So, y'all here is my rundown of a weekend stay in Nashville. I'm just going to put this out there...I'm not a country music buff, nor am I a Nashville buff. Not even a little.

The Crew

We (my sister, two aunts, and I) hit the road on a Friday mid afternoon and arrived in Nashville around super time. Thanks to a fantastic deal found online we were able to stay at the Opryland Hotel. OH MY GOODNESS! First of all, I've never stayed anywhere where the staff unload your luggage from your car and take it all the way to your room for you. Ok I lied, once on a cruise...but that's different. And secondly I've never stayed in a hotel large enough to house not just one gorgeous atrium but three! 

(Did you know the plural form of atrium is atria.Yeah me neither. I looked it up. I may have rewritten that above sentence five times just to not have to use the plural form. )

As soon as we hit the hotel lobby we were greeted with the sounds of live country music and enthusiastic hotel guests singing along. After checking in, the bellhop started us off on our journey to our room. Yes journey. The hotel is huge! We wound our way through the first atrium (atria??), through hallways, up an elevator, and then ventured through a couple more hallways finally reaching our room. There isn't much to say about the room. It was nice, clean, and had comfy beds. A lovely picture of the lavender flower, one of my favorite plants, adorned the wall.

The hotel had it's own map and app to help you get around!

After a quick freshening up it was time to hit the road for dinner. Thanks to my sister's researching we had decided to go to one of two festivals happening downtown. A Watermelon Festival or an Italian Festival. We opted for the Watermelon festival that was being held at a farmers market. We wandered around a bit to get an idea of what all there was being offered from the multiple food trucks. Deciding to keep it southern I opted for a chicken and waffle meal. It did not disappoint!

Farmers Market lit up at night. Photo courtesy of Kendrah

While checking out the farmer's market booths we noticed that there was something going on in the park next to the Watermelon festival (speaking of, there was basically one big booth serving watermelon and having seed spitting contests. Not much else). We then noticed there was Italian music streaming our way. Little did we know we were right next to the Italian festival! It turned out to be your average festival done Italian style. Options included grape stomping, wine tasting, canolies, etc. The live Italian music was a nice touch while walking under hung Christmas lights and eating dark chocolate gelato.

By the time we made it back to the hotel it was getting late but I was ready to explore! Seriously y'all, I could have spent the entire weekend just walking around the hotel admiring the flowers and plants! I don't even know the names of all of the flowers but I took enough pictures to fill a picture book! They even had orchids attached to and growing out of the side of trees! Not to mention the waterfalls, streams, ponds, and river! Any free moment I had at the hotel was spent exploring or relaxing on the many park benches while people watching.--or getting lost trying to find our room! To sum it up, I absolutely loved the atmosphere. If you've ever been to the San Antonia river walk, I'd say the feel was reminiscent of that. Seriously I could go on and on....

Ok, so Saturday morning started early with a trip down to the lobby coffee shop and more exploring. The plan was to hit up the city and eat at Pucket's for breakfast. The plan was executed precisely and we all left stuffed and satisfied. I was the only one to not have the brisket hash meal (which looked delicious), and opted for the country style eggs benedict served with a substitute of cheesy grits... It's a good thing we walked a lot all weekend!

Since we were already in the city and had paid to park the car, we took off walking. This is where I must confess I don't know much about Nashville or it's history, aside from a few basics. So walking around was educational and I probably missed some important things not knowing what to look for. I'll also confess that I did not love the "main strip." It was totally different from what I had envisioned by a huge margin. But that's ok! I enjoyed walking around the Ryman, watching Hatch Prints do their thing and admiring their work, and popping in some of the shops. My one purchase was a children's book with illustrations to John Denver's song Sunshine. The song is now stuck in my head.

We headed back to the hotel, ate some greasy oversized pieces of pizza, then cleaned up for the highlight of the trip; going to the Grand Ole Opry! Another confession...I had no idea what to expect again! It was different then I'd imagined, but completely entertaining.  I had only heard of two people scheduled to play; Vince Gill (!!!) and Crystal Gayle. Brownie points to Gayle for singing Don't it Make my Brown Eyes Blue (do you know how few songs there are written about brown eyed girls? I can think of two).

A pre-show photo not far from the stage before the pews started filling up.

Y'all I can't say enough about the atmosphere and chills I got while attending the Opry. The intimate feel that was created by guests sitting on church pews next to complete strangers was oddly satisfying. Watching other attendees enthusiasm and pure enjoyment made me smile with renewed appreciation for what music can do for the soul. There are very few places left in this world where people can speak openly and genuinely about their faith in God and share the message of Jesus while in front of a huge secular crowd.  I'm not naive to think that other crazy songs and sinnin' (southern y'all) doesn't happen on the same stage, but it was completely refreshing to go to a show that made you feel like the world wasn't such a crazy place after all--unless you spend some time in the gift shop before the show--talk about intimate!

One last thing about the Opry. You can take a shuttle from the hotel to the show and back. We laughed on the way because it literally took less than 2 minutes to get there. It was so close that Kendrah and I chose to walk back to the hotel in an attempt to beat the shuttle. Even if we hadn't of power walked part of the way we still would have beat it!

Returning back to the hotel we were all hungry and decided to have a late night snack at one of the hotel's fifteen million restaurants. I did a little more exploring/unwinding from the day and then it was off to bed.

A sampling of the 100 layer doughnuts

Sunday mornings agenda included one thing...then it progressed to two. But first let's talk about the original plan: Eat at Five Daughters Bakery. We may have done some of our own sinnin' with the amount of doughnuts we purchased and devoured. The entire time we were there the line never died down. It'd be easier if you just checked out their website ( www.fivedaughtersbakery.com ) for a description of the tasty treats. I ordered a maple glazed 100 layer doughnut and a regular chocolate glazed doughnut with a side of milk to drink. I don't know how I managed to drive the entire way home because I'm pretty sure I was close to hitting a sugar coma, carb ready nap. So worth it!

The second thing added to the agenda for Sunday was to find my aunt an Eclipse shirt. Did I mention that we went the weekend of the eclipse and they were promoting it everywhere! My aunt remembered seeing an outdoor pop-up shop selling shirts in the city so we headed that way. Our first mistake was not thinking through the logistics of how not to have to pay to park just to get a t-shirt (paying to park everywhere was not something I planned for. So be prepared if you go). So we hopped in the car with my aunt driving into the city when it dawned on me...I should be driving so she can hop out and get the shirt while I drive around the block... "Ok!" I heard...I said that outloud?? So we proceeded to do a quick Chinese fire drill while pulled over on pretty much the sidewalk. She got her shirt. I drove for the second time in the big city (I was driving my aunt's very nice vehicle so the nerves were a little high).

After finding the shirt, as the designated (semi-awake) driver I pointed the car home and hit the road. Two out of four stayed awake. One out of four snored the entire way home. Overall I loved Nashville and want to go back for some more out of the city exploring and another trip to the Grand Ol' Opry.

That's my take on Nashville, y'all. Below y'all can find some pictures. I didn't take too many aside from the flower pictures.

OH! I forgot about our visit to McKay's Bookstore! Why do we not have one closer to home?! I bought three books, two of which were like brand new for a total of nine bucks! It was only that much because I bought a leather bound NIV (1984) Study Bible that I've been searching for (I'm kind prone to the NIV 1984 like that guy was to his KJV who ended a very short relationship with me because I didn't use the KJV...true story for another probably never time).


I got a little lazy trying to get the pictures in some sort of order while still working on figuring out how to easily format this blog.

100 layer doughnuts are  lip smack'n good!

A sassy little Bird of Paradise showing off

Orchids growing on the side of a tree!

Magnolia flowers hold a special place in my heart.

Vince Gill y'all!

Guests arriving outside of Five Daughter's Bakery. Photo courtesy of Kendrah

A little punny humor for the trip.

Looking up in the atrium. Photo courtesy of Kendrah

Water works in one of the Atria. Photo courtesy of Kendrah

A waterfall inside one of the atria

Kendrah checking out a waterfall from the opposite side

David's Encouragement

Just something I wrote a few weeks ago...

The other evening I sat on my couch crying. Lack of sleep, silly hormones, and a pity party may have contributed to the cry fest, but if I’m being completely honest I was fighting with God over the reality of a situation. Of course I wanted my way!

Early that morning I had completed a devotional that challenged my heart and thoughts. I didn’t like the question I was asked and felt fearful and uncertain of what the answer could be. Fear- isn’t that often the underlying problem with our poor reactions when it comes to facing unknowns?

Recently having returned from a mission trip, one of my ‘take aways’ was that I wanted to be more mindful of how God is working in my life and those around me. Little did I know that I would also come back from the trip with an unexpected take-away. One that would lead to my aforementioned cry fest.

You know what happens when we set a new goal? Satan. That’s what. He is aware of our weaknesses. In my stupor, I definitely let him get a foothold. I was blaming God for waving something desirable in my face and then taking it away. When in reality I’m pretty sure my weaknesses and unfulfilled desires gave Satan a chance to say “look at what God hasn’t done for you…” and I listened. Even as I type this my heart is still wrestling with acceptance. However, thankfully I came across a scripture that once encouraged me in a different time of searching.

In the book of Psalms David demonstrates many heartfelt moments with God. In Psalms 27 David opens with these words “The Lord is my light and Salvation- whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life- of whom shall I be afraid?” We can read of David’s struggle against his enemy and his confidence in the Lord’s ability to prevail over his enemies. David isn’t shy to ask for God’s mercy. He is quick to claim God’s goodness in this passage. David recognizes the ultimate reward and greatest desire to dwell in the House of the Lord.  As great as all this is- my favorite part is found at the end in verses 13 and 14:

“I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” (NIV)

The NASB translates it as:

 “I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living…”

I may not have a true physical enemy in my life wishing me harm as David did, but Satan is definitely my enemy. David recognized that his hope is in the Lord. He set his eyes on the Land of the Living. So when Satan whispers words of doubt and bitterness and exposes my fears, I want my answer to be such as David’s. When I find myself listening to Satan I want to shut him up with confidence because I choose to dwell on the Lord and his goodness.  Though I may be confronting real issues of the heart, I don’t have to be in despair or be fearful.

God promises that all things work for the good of those who love him (Romans 8:28) It may not be in the ways we imagined or dreamed of, but he has our best interest in mind. When I find myself in times of waiting or growth I want to make God my stronghold and set my eyes on the good things he does. Let us hold tight to his promises and remain confident in belief that he is indeed working in our lives. It is not always easy, but it’s something worth working towards!

Grape Jam

Saturday afternoon began the official start to preparing for winter at mom and dad's house with the first gathering of firewood. Loaded up in the truck, we headed over to my Uncle Dennis and Aunt Jill's house. They recently cleared out several trees and had gathered the logs into a large pile prepared for future cutting.

Dad began the task of cutting the logs into manageable sizes to load into the truck. As he was working, Uncle Dennis made his way out to us and informed us the grapes were ripe for picking if we wanted any. Yes!

Mom, Raleigh, and I made our way to the grape arbors and right away tasted the goodness of the harvest! In actuality I think if we had been a week earlier we may have had even more to pick, but we gathered two bags full of sweet treats. While picking (and eating) Raleigh and I had a discussion about how they made

seedless grapes. The grapes we were picking were not seedless. Neither of us had a good answer. It was fun to speculate and hear some of his explanations anyhow!

With two bags of seeded grapes in hand we needed to make a decision as to what to do with them. With a few recipe searches I decided we would make grape jam. Raleigh was in on the action with me! --Except for going to Walmart to get some supplies. I even tried pulling his own puppy dog look and begging trick on him and to no avail I went to the store by myself! 

We picked and sorted all the good grapes from the branches. Added them to a pot of water on the stove and let them simmer for a bit to release their juices.  Raleigh enjoyed the next step he called "jamming the grapes." We cranked and cranked and cranked the juicer to separate all the seeds and skins from the juice. 

Satisfied that we had pressed out all the juice we could, we added the fruit pectin and sugar to boil into a delicious syrupy thickness. There was some debate as to what step to follow next for proper sealing of the jars. I've never made jam on my own and with mom present she advised on the techniques she remembered doing with her mom but we didn't have what was needed. The technique I wanted to try wouldn't work either because I didn't have the proper equipment. The deciding factor ended up being neither technique!

Once the jam had boiled the correct amount of time it became all hands on deck. I ladled the jam into clean jars (sloppily!), mom cleaned the rims of the jars, and dad followed behind to screw the lids on tightly. This is where the internet made the ultimate decision for how to seal the jars. After the lids were placed the jars were turned upside down and the heat (and some science I don't understand) would create a vacuum seal.

There ended up being too much jam to fit in the small jars so what was left I poured into a larger mason jar. At this point we were all licking the leftovers from the spoons and pan. What would go with this left over still warm and oh so good jam? Ice  cream!

Friends, it may sound like an odd combination to put grape jam on ice cream, but I'm here to say...don't knock it til you've tried it! I may just have to create a new ice cream flavor....

Anyhow that's the adventure of grape picking and jam making from the other day! The bottom picture is to prove I did still help with the wood gathering and loading! A tractor driving lesson was also given. Let's just say I need a few more lessons. Preferably on a tractor that has more then just 3rd gear and reverse!  Oh and for those worried about the dog so close to the tractor with me driving...I had already parked the tractor and it was turned off.

I have decided I will just never be photogenic. Look at Raleigh crank those grapes though! He meant serious business!

Give Me Jesus!

 I love mornings when I get to wake up early and begin my day at a leisurely pace, usually with a cup of coffee. This morning I sat down to drink a fresh cup of the heavenly goodness from one of my favorite mugs. This mug is my favorite because it is large (more coffee! Yay!),and a simple cross adorns it. It’s a reminder to me that not only do I want coffee to start my day, I more importantly need Jesus! While enjoying the first few sips I was reminded of two things as I watched the steam rise.

First, just as the steam lifted from my cup, I’m reminded Jesus is not on that Cross any longer. He arose from death (Luke 2, Acts). With purpose, Jesus permeates the lives of those who invite him in (Acts 2:38). The first delights of his goodness promise something rich and fulfilling as we taste what he has in store.

Secondly, when that pot of coffee starts brewing and I breath in the aroma of coffee as it fills the house my desire to drink of it grows with anticipation. Even people who claim to not like coffee (how can this be?!) often comment that they enjoy the smell-- some even going as far as to say they wished they liked coffee. I was reminded of 2 Corinthians 2:15:

“For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.”

Coffee has a distinct and pleasurable smell. If I were to spend my morning in a coffee shop, I’m pretty sure I’d come out smelling like coffee. At the very least my breath would smell of coffee. Though I fail miserably and often, I want my life to smell like Christ. Do I spend enough time with Christ to become HIS aroma? When we are filled with Christ, the way we live should be as such that others are drawn to him. Not because of anything we’ve done, but because of the change that Jesus makes within us. How can we change so that others recognize that our lives smell distinctly and desirably different?

LOL

Typically while on vacation at our "island home" various sentiments are spoken from the family with a common theme. They vary from, "I wish we could move here," "I wish we could stay here forever." "This is Heaven," and so on.

This year conversations were held with the little ones. It was made clear that if we moved to the beach then everyone else could to! We would miss everyone- family and friends. We couldn't leave anyone behind!

That got me thinking though. We have a large family and we love everyone of em'! Aunts, uncles, great aunts/uncles, cousins, grandparents they would have to move! Then we can't forget the friends. We have a LOT of friends. Especially if we consider all 10 of us that went on vacation...we each have lots of friends! It's safe to say we love everyone of em' too! And well, they would have to move to the beach too! We really would miss everyone.

It's a pretty big island and we would all fit on it for sure. But if we moved there and all the people we loved and  wanted to be there moved, then, well I suspect they have family and friends they love and would want to be there too...AND then they would have people they loved....and then those people would have people they loved! At some piont the island would be full of people- and way full of people who love people. I wonder what it would be like to wake up and realize that my neighbor was someone I didn't know but that somebody I loved asked to move to that island with me loved! Confused? It's simple really! LOL! There's Lots of Love in this world. What if we chose to love people we don't even know because we are all connected by other people who love?

What if we take it to an eternal level and strive to make it to Heaven with all those people? What if we made Jesus the most common love theme and made his love known. Because that stranger we meet is indeed loved by Him! 

That's enough soft and cuddly for now :) 
It's a little uncomfortable to make my thoughts known sometimes. They aren't always the most polished or sophisticated...so remember LOL! please :)