Happy New Year - 2010!!

Happy New Year Everyone!! Wow I cannot believe how fast 2009 has flown by! This NYE Ryan and I were excited to spend it at home in Music City! And Preston, Aletha, Nick, and Sarah came to ring in the new year with us. Our friends Josh and Heather Chesser had a fabulous party at their downtown loft off 3rd. Heather must have been cooking all day because there was plenty of food and drinks to go around all night long.

Then about 30 minutes before midnight we all walked downtown to see the guitar drop! This was the first year for Nashville and hopefully it will become an annual event! There were only three cities that the Hard Rock sponsored guitar drops - Nashville, Memphis, and Niagara Falls. Here are some pictures from the night...

Ready to ring in the new year

Our hosts for the evening

Preston and Aletha

Sarah and Nick

Girls with our party favors on

Josh and Nick

All the lovely ladies

3 musketeers for the night

Our boys

Downtown was so pretty!

Bring on 2010

The guys

Is this the ambulance that almost ran over us?

Waiting for the countdown

Trying to stay warm

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And the crowd goes wild

I'm excited to share another great year with you! xoxo

It was a good night ;)

Lots to Catch Up On!

I'm back! I have been a horrible blogger lately, but I promise to catch you all back up on what we've been doing lately.

Let me sum up December before I even start on January!

First, we saw Guy Fieri at TPAC... it was such a fun show! It was his Roadshow where he traveled to 21 different cities in 30 days. Ryan is a Food Network junkie, so it was fun to see someone we watch on TV in person. This was Ryan's surprise date night and I got us seats on the fourth row!

Great seats!

Ready for the show to begin

Some opening acts - this was an awesome flare bartender

There he is!

The Guy Fieri Roadshow - "rockin' the culinary world"

Now that the holidays are upon us, Ryan and I decided to get in the holiday spirit by going to the Gaylord Opryland Hotel (aka me dragging him out to look at the lights). The Opryland Hotel is the largest non-casino hotel in the world and the largest hotel in the U.S. outside of Las Vegas. It is well known for its Christmas lights - millions of them! They start installing them in July each year. It's even hailed as "The Most Christmassy Hotel in the Nation" by the Travel Channel.

Gorgeous!

Inside the atrium

Merry Christmas!

Home for the Holidays...

My two loves

Flurries on Christmas Day! Can you see them? :)

A new meaning to table tennis

Me and Sam

What would Christmas be without a little Makers

The Gray Christmas minus Dennis :( (he got stuck at the fire hall) but don't worry Ryan and I paid him a visit before this

All the Gray boys the day after Christmas

Christmas at the Miser's

Mrs. Debbie and her boys

Me and my handsome hubby

Christmas at the Redick's... actually this was from last year since we didn't take pics this year :( -- GWEN! This is your payback since you look like you're in such a good mood here. hehe

Where we eat our Christmas dinners

Ryan and Mark with their Titans and North Carolina tumblers

Happy Holidays!

I know I've been an absent blogger lately, but don't worry I'm going to pull together an update post soon. As for now I just want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas! And since my blog needs a little more holiday spirit... here are our Christmas photos...

Christmas card :)

Me and my sweet puppy

Our little family

"The love of a family is life's greatest blessing". I hope everyone has a wonderful time with their loved ones this holiday season, while keeping in mind the true meaning of Christmas...

Love you all!

Stay Strong Sister

Today my sister is having surgery on her hip for the second time this year. And this one is a big one. She has still been having pain since her first one earlier in the spring so something else needed to be done. The procedure is called derotational osteotomy, and here is my attempt to briefly describe it: they will be re-angling her joint by cutting her femur and creating a wedge using plates, screws, etc. This will hopefully dissolve the pain (eventually) since the ball-and-socket joint will not be rubbing (ouch!) and wearing away the cartilage like it is now. As for the recovery... it will be a long one. She'll be non-weight bearing for 3 months and on crutches for another 3-6 months after that.

On a good note, she is about 1.5 hours away from the Hughston clinic, which is a great place to have this procedure done with very knowledgeable and highly recommended surgeons. She has a proactive physical therapist that is already researching away while awaiting her return. And most of all, my mom is able to live down there with her until she can be more independent, and we are all thankful for that. Her boyfriend, Mark, and other friends are more than eager to help in any way they can, whether that be bringing casseroles or giving car rides to/from work and therapy. As for me, I am grateful to have the opportunity to come down there in about 2.5 weeks to help out! And I'm bringing the Wii!! Sonic the Hedgehog here we come... just like the old days! I'm excited to spend some good ole quality time with my sister! And I can't wait to catch up on all the movies I've been wanting to watch-- slumber party central!

Props to my sis - It was just last month that Gwen found out this second procedure is necessary, and she has been so optimistic. I can't imagine how hard it would be anticipating such a long recovery, but my sister is so strong. She has chosen to focus on the good things. She told me that she feels much more prepared for this one and has been doing pre-surgery exercises so that she can go in as strong as possible. She has also been getting the house ready, accumulating practical clothing and knows what she needs. She even moved apartments 2 weekends ago so she can be on the first floor and have more accessibility. I'm so proud of her and know that she'll be so strong through all of this. My mom even told me this morning when they were ready to take her back that she wasn't nervous at all. I guess the hard part is yet to come.

PLEASE PRAY that she will have a successful surgery and a speedy recovery. It's going to be a tough road, but we are all here to support her.

Count your blessings!

Happy Wednesday

Happy Wednesday everyone! Are you as ready as I am for Thanksgiving holiday next week!?!

I just wanted to tell you that I updated our Chicago (Day 2 and 3) pictures since some of you had trouble viewing the slide show. Check them out if you haven't already!

Reunion Weekend

My beloved Auburn Tigers defeated Ole Miss last weekend, and Ryan and I were there to witness it all! It was so great to be back on the plains and in Jordan Hare Stadium for the first time this year! And to top it off, all my besties were there! We had such a fun weekend re-living our college days. We went to Skybar Friday night just like old times. And yes, we are still on "the list", but you have to ask them to get out the "original" list. We woke up early Saturday morning to make sure we could get a mimosa in before our early kickoff of 11:21 am. The game was so exciting and we came out with the 'W'. WAR EAGLE! I just love signing "It's great to be an AUBURN TIGER" on my way out of the stadium while shaking my shaker proudly! We then met up at the tailgate for food and drinks... and of course flip cup. Despite the cold, dreary weather we had a great time with all our friends! Gosh I miss college!


More pics to come!