a place to land: September 2009

Well, we made it back from Nashville in one piece. What an excellent city to spend a week in. For those of you who haven't been to Nashville, I think if you mixed Austin, Omaha, and Kansas City you'd end up with something pretty similar. Completely unique, but similarly comfortable. If you haven't been to all of those cities, well, then I can't help you much. But anywho, the landscape is absolutely beautiful. It's not quite in the mountains, but it's definitely hilly. You know, like you'd want to make sure your bike brakes were in really good shape before cycling your way around the city. And even though it rained almost the entire time we were there, it was still lovely.

When we got to TN we spent the afternoon in Memphis. It started pouring though, so our visit got cut a little short. But we managed to make it to a rather quiet Beale Street and Sun Studio before we had to make our way East.

Our friends, Paul and Lisa, moved to Nashville right around the same time we left Iowa and they were kind enough to show us around some of their favorite parts of the city. Nate and Paul recorded some music (why the heck not, it is Nashville after all), and I do believe that Nate now has himself a "long distance band." I know we're both looking forward to hearing the new tracks.

Most of our time was spent driving around exploring the city. We went down music row and Nate showed me where the label he (38th Parallel) used to be on. And I finally got to meet his friend Anita, from back in the 38th days (and his Springboard Entertainment internship).

The highlight of the trip (for me anyways) was definitely our trip to Financial Peace Plaza to watch the Dave Ramsey Show live. This has been something I've wanted to do since we started listening to the show over a year ago. It was pretty spectacular. Everyone that worked there was super welcoming. There was a little cafe, and an area where Nate and I could hang out and watch the show for a bit. I was like a geeky, giddy, little kid. I admit, I was ridiculous. But then...I got to meet Dave. Yep, we met him. It was awesome. Really really really awesome. Best part of the trip.

The second highlight of the trip...Waffle House...mmmm diner food.

On our way home from Nashville we met up with Nate's mom and sister for a family wedding just outside of Dallas. I got to meet some of Nathan's family members I hadn't ever met before. I'm still working on everyone's names...but I think I'm getting it down. We were glad to get to spend the weekend with everyone. Getting to see family is always nice. :) Especially when it's for a giant party.

Upon our arrival back to the real world (Corpus Christi), Nate and I had some dachshund business to take care of. Izzy had her second round of shots. We avoided any allergic reactions this time so it looks like splitting the vaccines will probably work for her from now on. Bean had a slightly more major vet trip this past week. She had some baby teeth pulled that had refused to fall out on their own over the last year and a half or so. Not exactly pleasant for her...but necessary none the less. The meds of course made her a little slower than usual, but they didn't stop her from running strait to a bone she'd secretly hidden away the instant she got home. We put a quick end to that. Apparently two holes in her mouth doesn't even slow her down...