I'm Baaaaaack

Wow! That was so much fun! I'm glad to be home, but I miss it already. 

I told you last week that it was my daughter's 18th birthday, and I believe I promised you pictures. Well, here they are! 

Since you only turn 18 once, we decided to mark the occasion with a trip to our favorite place on earth...Nashville.

We took an extended weekend and spent 4 fabulous days having fun. We both had a blast!

We arrived on Saturday, and after getting settled into our hotel, took off to the Tennessee State Fair. She wanted to see JB Rocket, our favorite group from this season of the television show Can You Duet.

It was a great show. The guys really delivered! I have to admit, I was very disappointed with meeting them after the show. It would have helped if people weren't butting in line ahead of us so we could have gotten more than two words out of them and maybe some direct eye contact. But, we still had a good time and enjoyed the performance.

On Sunday, we went to the Hall of Fame.

All I can say is wow! There was so much to see. And I was thrilled to see a great display for one of my favorite singers, Hank Williams, Jr. Actually, it was for the Williams family, not just Hank, but it was great! So many interesting things. We saw Carrie Underwood's dress from the 2009 ACM awards. Holy cow! 

The train on that thing was huge! I couldn't even imagine walking in that thing. It was gorgeous, though.

Monday was her birthday! 18 years ago, on September 14, 1991, she nearly killed me...literally. Actually, we both almost died. I had Toxemia, and I was flown by helicopter to Barnes Hospital in St. Louis for an emergency cesarean. She was born two months early at 3 lbs 5 1/2 ounces and 17 inches long. Hard to believe that was so long ago. Now, she's a beautiful young woman.

We celebrated appropriately! We spent the day shopping! What could be more fun than that? The night was even better, though.

We went to see her favorite singer, Billy Gilman, at a writers night at the Copper Kettle. Wow! What a view! If you're ever in Nashville, you really need to check this place out!

Fabulous show! It wasn't our first time seeing Billy live, and I have to say, he always gives a stellar performance. Very sweet guy and always friendly.  

A member of Billy's band, Steve Hornbeak, also played some of his own music. Another excellent performance! (Steve is the keyboardist in the picture above Billy) Sorry, Steve. We did take more pictures of you, but they turned out blurry. :-(   Steve is a Christian singer, and I have to say, you can see he feels it when he sings. It makes me want to be a better person.

On Tuesday, we went to check out Belmont University in Nashville. My daughter is hoping to go to school there. She's so excited about it.

We bought her this t-shirt from the bookstore on campus. I have a feeling she would wear it daily if she could. Oh well, if it keeps her motivated, I'd wash it nightly. 

So, that was our fabulous trip. Can't wait to do it all again! (and again, and again, and again...)