To Infinity and Beyond!

My goodness! What a fun, exciting, busy weekend. I am worn out, fo reals...it will be a very long week, but it is worth being this exhausted! Friday when I got off work, I had to come home to let my brother into my apartment. His daughter had a cheer competition here in BG on Saturday and so he came to stay here. It was nice to get to visit with him if even for about 15 minutes. Just seeing him makes me feel like all is right in my little corner of the world. Do you have anyone in your life like that?

Matt got to my apartment and we packed up the car to head out. We stopped and picked up David so he could ride with us up to Paoli Peaks in Indiana. When we got there, we hung out around the cabin for a little while and then went tubing for a few hours. It was a lot of fun! I had never been before and we had a blast. It was hilarious watching grown boys act like they are 6 years old, giggling and laughing and screaming the whole way down the mountain! I didn't get a group picture and that makes me sad, but I captured some other moments.

I made my ear warmers...what do you think?

On Saturday, Matt and I got ready and headed to Louisville. We stopped on the way to visit with my cousin, Melody. It was great to get to see her for a few minutes. She is fostering a seeing eye dog. She got him when he was very little and she keeps him for a year. She teaches him commands and potty trains him. Then she will have to give him back, so that they can train him to become a seeing eye dog. His name is Baxter and he's just the cutest thing!!

We met up with Matt's step-brother, Adam and his girlfriend, Jenn for dinner and drinks. Then we went back to Adam's condo to get ready for the concert. I didn't take any pictures there. We were up pretty high in the arena and I was just enjoying it so much. Jerrod Neimann was just as good live as I had anticipated! LOVE LOVE LOVE! Darius Rucker and Brad Paisley were both amazing, as well. Great night! After the concert, we met up with our friend Clay, so that we could document him proposing to his girlfriend, Mitsy. It was neat to see and so sweet! I'm really happy for them.

I love that you can see Clay wiping away tears. That was one of the sweetest moments, I thought.

All in all, a really wonderful weekend away from BG. I can say, though...I can't wait for this coming weekend, so I can just sit on my behind and do NOTHING but school work all weekend! I need it. I hope that y'all had a great weekend, too! Anything exciting?

And They Call the Thing Rodeo

Growing up, Garth Brooks was always the norm. His music was everywhere I turned. My Mom had all of his cassette tapes and while cleaning on Saturday mornings, his music would blare throughout the house. There's no way to sleep through, "Friends in Low Places". That's for dang sure. Take my advice. I can vividly remember staying with my aunt and her playing "The Thunder Rolls" on her record player. In high school, the dance team that I was a member of, did a kick routine to "Ain't Goin' Down 'Till the Sun Comes Up". Great routine. My friend, Michelle fell in the mud during this routine. I'll never forget it. When I went to the Christmas dance my senior year with a friend, my ex-boyfriend (who was a freshman in college at this point), brought me our pictures back together with a letter that actually read, "I'm glad I didn't know, the way it all would end, the way it all would go. Cause I'd of had to miss the dance (Snowball)." Yes, sirree...he used Garth in a bitter letter. Since high school, Garth has become more of a memory. He retired and has since gone to Vegas to perform alone. No band. My friend Anthony and I even contemplated going to see him, just because we thought we'd never have the chance. That is, until Garth decided to help out good ol' Nashville with flood relief efforts. Yep, a concert to raise some money. Then he kept adding and adding and adding shows. When it was all said and done, he had planned 9 shows. In the beginning, I didn't think that I was that hell bent on going to see Garth. I didn't look into tickets and didn't really talk to my friends about it. The closer the show got, the more I wanted to go. I put a plea on facebook and my great friend, Erin pulled through! She called me a few days before the show and asked me to go on Friday. The last day of school before Christmas break, and the day before I have to drive all the way to Frankfort (2 hours away). Sure! I'm in!

On Friday, I gathered my things and jetted out of school. I came home, changed and freshened up, got into my car and drove the hour down to Nashville. Once I got there, I parked and met Erin and Nick for dinner on Broadway. While eating, Erin gives us our tickets. Nick's face was priceless. He attends a lot of Predators hockey games and knew that we had great seats. I was oblivious. Just happy to be going, regardless of whether I get a nose bleed from being so high. We get into the arena, get an adult beverage and make our way to our seats. This is what we saw:

SIX ROWS from the stage. We were on the side of the stage, but it didn't matter. Remember the old Garth? The one that ran around like crazy in his videos of his concerts? Even though he's older...he's still got it! He was breathing a little heavy at some points and moved a little slower, but he was bound and determined to put on a good show. And boy did he!

One of my favorite things about some of the pictures that I have, is not only Garth, but the look of joy on all of the people's faces. He sure put a smile on my face. I was taken right back to my childhood in listening to some of his songs. WHOOWEE, Garth. I sure have a rekindled love for you. And my love sails like a vessel.