PCS East to the West: Lots to See in Tennessee Part 1

This week has been AMAZING! I can't wait till I can dig deep and share the details of what's been happening in my and Jason's life (future posts) since we moved into our second temporary home. Just too much to capture in a few lines when it's a pretty big deal!

Lately, I've been running errands/exploring early in the morning and dropping Jason off to work on some days of the week where I need the car. This night owl is slowly but surely turning into a morning glory haha. The circumstances pretty much call for it. My typical nights have been going to bed around 9:30 or 10pm Eastern time unless there's an event that runs later. I wake up at 6, 6:30, and finally giving up the ruse that it's just gonna happen whether I like it or not, springing to life at 7am. Funny thing is I get very grumpy if I wake up too late when I've gone to bed earlier haha. JASON is the early annoyingly joyful riser. :D

ANYWAY diverging from that tangent...

I hope you all enjoyed our last blog post! PCS East to the West: Goodbyes and Moving Day.

Now for our first official day of travel! Tennessee!

How it all went down.

Jason and I stayed at his Dad's house before hitting the 10 hour stretch for Tennessee. One of his groomsmen came over and visited us to catch up and say some goodbyes. I happened to engage him into some great conversation!

Ladies...here's the skinny on this fantastic young man.

He's SINGLE and AVAILABLE. So if you're looking for a stand up Christian gentleman and you're a good Christian woman who is ready to be married...

If you see this, don't shoot me bro!! :D *Shameless plug*.

After a good night's rest we headed out EARLY to get on the road and try to make it before dark. The drive was partly very sunny and blue sky, but we also hit some cloudy weather too. We packed our car till it had zero room left. And yes I brought my cleaning supplies which I'm glad I did because it's saving us big time moving around! No judging zone! :D

The purple trees below are called "redbud trees" or "Judas trees". Though they are purple and not red at all, they are supposedly said to be the tree in which Judas hung himself. Such a beautiful tree for a tragic story. :(

I was so ready to arrive in TN after a long drive and because

we were staying with one of my bridesmaids and a friend I haven't seen

I think since the wedding!! She and her husband have such an inviting and

cozy home/family with their two beautiful dogs. It was so pleasant getting to catch up and

spend time with them. They even spoiled us with homemade margaritas and salsa!

Jason tried some! That is, with his aversion to sauces,

as Donald Trump would say: "YUUUUGEE"! :D

After a full night's rest we got up, had some breakfast, and headed to

the Franklin Farmer's Market. One of the biggest Farmer's markets in the area.

Jason had some friends there for me to meet who own their own farm!

It was excessively windy and cold so we went inside the buildings and browsed the shops.

Now to all my guitar nerd friends out there!

They have an artsy, custom madeguitar shop!

I should have known with it being Tennessee and all. We learned all about

this neat place and all the celebrity artists that come in to purchase guitars from them.

I couldn't keep my hands off naturally and had to try one.

This may look like a dobro but it's actually a full guitar with the best pickup

sound imaginable. It's LOUD. I got to jam out on it and

play and sing a worship song on it which was so cool!

If I'm not mistaken this model was designed back in the 40's.

Isn't it the cutest guitar you ever did see??

The Santa Cruz line of acoustic guitars below are the country artist Brad Paisley's preference! He comes in and plays theses and purchases these for his shows. They have a little blurb card showcasing his love for them! Collings is also a popular guitar brand for Nashville artists. :)

As awesome as all this is having been given a tour of such an awesome place, something even better happened which I do not have documented so you'll just have to believe me! :)

We were outside visiting our friends and their booth when I kid you not the Christian music artist of my parent's day Michael W. Smith and his wife came and bought LETTUCE from our friends!! I caught his eye and recognized him instantly from years of being a faithful fan and follower of his incredible musical writing talent. Plus he has one of those unique facial structures you can easily pick out from a crowd. :P

He seemed to notice that I knew who he was and quickly filled up a bag. They both looked very busy and there is this unspoken rule you might say, about not fan-girling over artists in their hometown area. Nashville is swarming with them.

I chose to respect him and his wife by not asking for a picture with him even though he probably would have obliged. I'm sure that has happened to him before, but you know it's his hometown and I don't think I'd like to constantly be bombarded with people approaching me when I was just trying to buy some groceries at my local Farmer's Market.

The important part is that I actually stood a foot away from him. Literally he was right in front of me! Aaaaahhhh!!! :D :D :D

It was very nice meeting some of Jason's friends from HSA and experiencing this with them.

An unexpected visit happened next! One of my family members mentioned to me that one of my relatives I haven't seen in years lived nearby where we were. I was given contact information and I called them up to see if they were in town. Turns out they had arrived a day before from their vacation and were able to meet up in Nashville! It was such a blessing to see them. This is my Great Aunt and Uncle on my Mom's side. I had no idea they lived so close! They took us out to the Rainforest Cafe for lunch as a late wedding gift which was so sweet of them! The time spent was priceless and what an experience that restaurant was! Kinda wild and crazy like the jungle! Oooh and the food: divine.

This place even had a talking tree!

After dinner they surprised us AGAIN and took us to a place we've been wanting to see! But I'm going to save that till next time because Tennessee touring was a big day and too much to stick in one post! Thanks for reading!