Gone Country

Pay no attention the 8 month pregnant woman...the no make up on the face is scary enough at least you did not have to see the rest of the body!
Our hotel!

Andy had a seminar in Nashville and I got to tag along. It was so fun. We had wanted to go somewhere before the baby came, just him and I, and although he was gone most of the day, it was still time away. A nice little break that was well needed. My plan was to eat, sleep and visit the spa and that is exactly what I did.

We had such a great time. When we left Thursday night I was a little too emotional. I even had tears because I was so sad to leave the kids. Then at some point on our 4 hour drive I decided I had to enjoy myself. This was the second time I had ever left any of my children, so it was hard, but I was determined to enjoy myself and relax. So luckily I was able to calm down and we arrived there and it was so nice. The hotel was SO cool. It was way high scale and everything involved music. SO fun.

The next day I had a day planned at the spa, first I have to thank H* Dental Care for making this all possible. It was wonderful. Although I have to admit doing a day at the spa is not the greatest when you are 8 months preggers. I had the envisions of being so relaxed when I got home and the whole day there, but I wasn't. The first thing was the facial and it was WONDERFUL, then the massage, again wonderful and I should have stopped there, but when someone tells you you can have a day at the spa you want to go the whole day, right? I was there 7 hours and when I got home I was beat. They served lunch too which at the time I thought was so great, then on the way back to the hotel I got REALLY SICK. So sick that I had to pull over at a grocery store and threw up like 6 times. Then the contractions started followed by horrible back cramps...lovely right. I am pretty sure just all the "relaxing" and sitting in weird positions and all the rubbing was just aggravating the baby and my uterus, is that weird to use that word, sorry to my one male reader! Anyway I got back to the hotel and fell asleep. Andy came back and we had plans to go to dinner and a show and I was sacked out. I woke up and felt a little better so we went.

The delicous and well presented food!



We went to a fun little restaurant that had amazing sea food. It was surrounded by a huge fish tank. It was so fun to be there alone. I didn't cut any ones food up but my own. I did mention like 6 times how much the kids would have loved to have been there. After that we walked across the street to The Grand Old Opry. Let me tell you a little bit about that place. It is an experience that is for sure. I remember being little and staying at my grandparents house over the weekend and we would listen to the show every week. I have heard so many people sing on that stage. I created a love for country music because of it. My grandparents live in a tiny little town with all of 400 people in it. They are country folk for sure and because every moment I was with them I heard country music I became quite a fan. I love the old country/blue grass and I love the current more modern country/pop music too. There is something so real and innocent about that genre. It was a real honor to be there and see the stage that I had dreamed of standing on one day. There had been so many songs sang on that stage and so many power house singers it was a little overwhelming. The whole time I wished I had my grandparents sitting right by us, that was the only thing that could have made it more special, my full circle moment. One thing that is really cool about that theatre is that they are so laid back. You can take food in there and drinks and there are people walking around and people all over the stage and you can walk right up to the performers and take pictures and shake their hands. It is really neat I think.

Well anyway, we had 4th row tickets and it was awesome. They had 12 different performers. Several very famous singers and several old style country performers. My favorite of the night was Sawyer Brown. The were so good. Really really good. Josh Gracin from American Idol was there too. We were one day too early to hear Martina McBride. It was really fun. By the last singer though I had to go to the bathroom because I was so sick. Throwing up again and the contractions were horrible. I was actually a little scared at this point. I just thought of me having this baby in Tennessee. I am pretty sure the name Tim or McGraw would have had to be incorporated in the name if that was the case. I went back to my seat and when the show was over I explained to Andy how I felt. We went back to the hotel and I was going to lay down for an hour and see how I felt then. I fell asleep and woke in the morning feeling a lot better. I think I just over did it that day. So instead of shopping like my original plan for the whole day, I ordered room service, watched tv, and slept most of the day. I was determined to now have little McGraw in Nashville.



YUMMO! OH SO GOOD!!!

Later I ended up going to Country Music Hall of Fame and on a recording studio tour which I have to say was amazing. We went to the studio that Kelly, my fave, Clarkson records and Carrie Underwood and Reba records and that was fun. Then we went to the first recording studio there that is still up and working. I played the most amazing Steinway piano. The sound was amazing and let me tell you Elvis played that piano and recorded in that studio every single song he recorded other than the last two in the room where I stood. I played his piano...that is cool I have to say. We were lucky because normally you do not get to go in the actually recording studio, but the owner gave us the tour and there were only 5 of us compared to the normal 35 so we scored. It was so neat. The studio was huge, I have never seen a recording studio that big before. Everyone who is anyone has recorded in that room. It was a little surreal. Fun Fun I have to say!





Then I came home and we had dinner out and that was really good and just walked around for a bit downtown. I have to say the city is a lot more fun and clean that I thought it would be and it is pretty small too. It really is nice. We had a great time. It was so fun being there with my husband. I felt so grateful for that time with him. I just love him so much and our time together I really do cherish. A big huge gigantic THANKS goes out to Michelle and my MOM. Thanks for watching the kiddos and taking such great care of them and thinking enough of us to let us have some time to ourselves. We are truly grateful.

All the kiddos at home which we missed!



So who knows when we will be able to do that again, but it was so much fun it should hold us over for a very long time. Thanks Nashville and H* Dental Care for a fun, free, fabulous weekend!