Need a good laugh...

Watch this! You don't even have to have the sound on...start watching about 1:09 and again 4:49!



This makes me laugh out loud!

Sugarland

Last night I got the privilege to see Sugarland in concert. I got tickets through the fan club....WOW...5th row aisle. Steve Kellog and the Sixers along with Billy Currington opened for them. If you missed the show, you missed out! I have never seen that amount of energy and joy come from a band or artist as I saw last night...even in as many different concerts as I've been to in the past few years. It was an incredible show! I wasn't able to take my nice camera in, but the Sony point and shoot pulled through for me! Enjoy!

Steve Kellog and the Sixers


Billy Currington


Sugarland












One of Jennifer Nettles's crazy faces!


I love country music because of groups like Sugarland!

Plugging Musicians On Call

As I said in my last post, I won an autographed Kenny Chesney guitar from Musicians on Call. I checked out this organization after a couple of emails with their marketing manager. It seems like a pretty cool organization.....check it out and donate if you feel led!

I'll post a picture of my guitar when I get it! I hope you all are having a great week!

The fat lady has sung

It's official...my vacation is over! I had an amazing and fun time the whole week I was off! Sunday was the last day of CMA Fest, and they really put on a show! I had a great time dancing, singing, and visiting with those sitting around me. As a side story, two younger guys sat in front of us. We learned a lot about them while chatting with them waiting on the concert to start. They had just gotten back from Iraq 3 weeks ago. Their job in the military is to clear buildings by going through each room that they enter....talk about scary! One guy had what appeared to be callused hands. I asked him what he did in the military because his hands looked like he was a hard worker. He told me that he had gotten burned in Iraq. The truck he was riding in caught on fire. He grabbed the hood of the car when he jumped out, and it burned both of his hands. The calluses were actually scars. I just have to say thank you to our armed forces out there! I don't think we realize what goes on day to day to protect our freedom!

On to the show...Jack Ingram opened the show on Sunday.


Heidi Newfield played an acoustic set.


Montgomery Gentry...who are slated to be the newest members of the Grand Ole Opry...played next.


Miranda Lambert followed. I like her. I don't think she gets as much recognition as she should, but she's good. I particularly like her song "Famous in a Small Town".


John Rich came out in a full length fur coat...did I mention that it was 90 degrees during the day?


Cowboy Troy and John Rich


Taylor Swift was the most popular of the night.


Ok..I admit...I'm not a big Taylor fan. I will say that she is an amazing songwriter, and is multi-talented with her instruments. However, I think she is dramatically awkward when she performs. I hope these next 2 pictures prove my point. Have you ever seen the classy ladies of country music like Faith Hill, Martina McBride or even Reba head bang?




Sugarland was the surprise guest of the night. I can't wait to see their full show at the end of the month!


Kenny Chesney closed out the show and CMA Fest. Speaking of Kenny...I got an email today that I won an autographed guitar signed by him from Musicians on Call...how cool is that?


So...it's over. I'm back to my daily routine. I had a wonderful time, and I can't wait until my next adventure!

Friday's fun

Friday was as eventful as the other days! I met my friend Betty and her family for breakfast at the Loveless Cafe. It was an awesome visit. That is a pretty cool family if you ask me, and I'm thankful that I had a chance meeting with Betty back in December! Be sure to check out her blog by clicking on her name! Her husband took a pic of us...I'll update the post when I get the picture!

After breakfast, I went to Martina McBride's fan club party. I am not a member of her fan club, but I was asked to go by my friend Cynthia who won a chance to go...and could bring a guest. It was really neat to hear her do some of her old stuff, and be about 50 feet from her. I've been able to rub elbows with a lot of country musicians this week. It's nice to finally realize that these celebrities are just normal people (that make more money than me) instead of being Miss Star Struck like I used to be. My perspective has changed...and it has made me appreciate my life!

Martina at her fan club party




Before the big nightly concert, I went to rest at my sister's house. Daphne and Ben came to town to hang out with some people they knew who had also adopted. They stayed with my sister to save money. I hadn't seen Ben in about a week since I've been in Nashville celebrating country music...that little kid missed his Auntie! (His Auntie also missed him!)

Look how cute we are!


The lineup at LP Field was full of the newest, hottest artists. Luke Bryan opened up the show.


Two of my FAVORITE bands played next...Little Big Town and Lady Antebellum. I posted pics of LBT from the Opry so check out Lady Antebellum!




Jake Owen followed.


I hadn't seen The Zac Brown band until Friday night...WOW...these guys are gonna go a long way!


We left after The Zac Brown band (I heard Kid Rock and Martina sang together after I left) because I had tickets to a Songwriter's Round in which Jason Matthews, Luke Laird, James Slater, Karyn Rochelle and Jonathan Singleton played some of their songs and told the meaning behind them. It was a pretty cool little show to raise money for Musicians on Call. My favorites of the night were Karyn Rochelle and Luke Larid.

Karyn Rochelle has written songs for Kellie Pickler and Trisha Yearwood among others. The girl can sing in addition to writing songs!


Luke Laird co-wrote 2 of Carrie's #1 hits including "So Small" and "Last Name". He has also written for Tim McGraw, Jessica Simpson, and Rascal Flatts just to name a few. The dude is talented....and cute too! Don't you think so? Too bad he wouldn't be interested in a girl like me!


I finally made it home around 1:00 AM! I have been going nonstop the whole time I have been in Nashville...that, of course, is how I like to do vacations. However, I needed to rest, so I took Saturday to do that. I'm sitting around waiting on time to pass so I can go to the last of the shows tonight. There is a 50% chance of rain, so who knows...but stay tuned because I'll tell you all about it in the next post!

Worth the Wait?

Thursday marked the official beginning on CMA Fest despite all of the activities earlier in the week. One of the activities that people look forward to is getting to meet their favorite artists at the convention center. People spend all night in line in order to make a mad dash toward the ticket line of whomever they want to meet...then they must wait until the designated time to meet their favorite. I hoped that I could get to get my picture taken with Carrie and also meet Caitlin and Will who won "Can You Duet" last summer. I think you stand in line more at CMA Fest than you do at Disney World! The doors of the convention center opened at 10:00. I succeeded in getting a ticket, amongst chaos, to see Carrie at 1:00. As soon as I got my ticket, I made my way over to meet Caitlin and Will...they were very nice! If you haven't checked out their music, go listen on ITunes!

Here I am with Caitlin and Will


After I met them, I had time to kill so we checked out the other things in the convention center since it was pouring rain. I saw this mechanical bull...that you could ride for free no less...so I thought Id give it a try. What fun!



Of course I got thrown off after a short ride!


I got back in the "waiting to meet Carrie" line around 12:00. I must say...all these lines are definitely worth the wait. It's fun to meet the others in line who are as excited as you are! My turn came, we had a quick, but engaging conversation, and I got my picture made with her. I will tell you that she is truly happy. Happiness exudes from her, and it's infectious when you are in her presence. Everyone who walked away from that booth was pretty happy and excited!

I am thankful to my new friend Shayla for capturing a couple of pictures of our brief conversation.


Don't we look engaged in conversation!


The picture I had been waiting for


Doesn't she just look happy to you?


After all the excitement of the morning, I picked my sister up, and we went to LP Field for the nightly concert. We, of course, waited in another line to get in because Reba was doing a sound check.

The show opened with Brooks and Dunn


Reba came out to sing "Cowgirls Don't Cry" with them.


Reba did a small set after Brooks and Dunn finished.


After Reba performed 3 songs, management came on stage to tell us that we would have to leave the field because the weather was supposed to get bad. They told us to wait in the concourse under the seats. So we waited....for 2 hours...for the weather to start and then end. Celia and I were definitely entertained by a couple of people I had met waiting in line to meet Carrie. I laughed to my sides hurt at them! At midnight, they pulled us back into the stadium to finish the concert.

Daruis Rucker welcomed us back with his 3 hits along with "Family Tradition"


Darius was followed by Dierks Bentley


Rascal Flatts and Juliane Hough skipped out on us; however Brad Paisley closed the show. We didn't leave the stadium until after 2 AM. Waiting was the name of the game Thursday, but Im not sure if it could get any better than this...I'm having a blast!

Futsey, Cupcakes, and Softball

Wednesday was a fun day too....they all have been! I went to visit my friend Linsey whom I haven't seen in over 5 years. She and I went to Auburn together, and were great friends in school. It is so nice to visit with a friend and it still be easy after 5 years. She has a 2 year old son who is adorable! She tried to teach him my name all day, so when I got there, she asked him to say "Buffy"....he said "Futsey"....and he called me that the whole time. I had a blast with them, and it was so nice to catch up!

Here is Mr. Jake. Look at his beautiful blue eyes!


Since I was in Franklin, I decided to treat myself to one of my favorite Tennessee guilty pleasures...don't they just look delicious!


Wednesday night, I went to the City of Hope Celebrity Softball Challenge. The Grand Ole Opry played After Midnight With Blair Garner to raise money for the City of Hope which is an independent biomedical research, treatment and education institution, who is the leader in the fight to conquer cancer, diabetes, HIV/AIDS and other life-threatening diseases. There were many country music stars and Tennessee athletes there to play. Many of them also signed autographs for the crowd. It was pretty cool to see many of the celebrities in one location. Below are a few of the pictures I took that night.

Josh Gracin


Darius Rucker


Juliane Hough hoping she'll get a hit!


Josh Turner


Chuck Wicks


I'm sure you are all waiting to see if Carrie was there...of course she was! Here are a few of my favorite pictures!




This is her reaction after hitting a double!






A coworker attended the ACMs in April in which Carrie won Entertainer of the Year. She brought me back the program. I was able to get it signed at the softball game by passing it through a couple of nice helpful people! Here is my program...see what you think!


In case you were wondering....the Grand Ole Opry team won!

Peace out for now...there is much more to tell so hang in for the next post!