Tennessee Weekend

I'm baaaack!

Last week Thursday, my mom and I ventured on down to Tennessee to visit my cousin and her husband for a few days. I was a little unsure how well I would do traveling (even if it is only 9 hours) given the constant urge to pee and/or get up and walk around, but it wasn't bad at all! We stayed overnight near the Edinburgh outlet mall so we could do some shopping in the morning before hitting the road again. The weather was awesome...80-85 degrees & sunny every day! 

Cruisin through Kentucky

We stayed with my cousin Tammy & her husband Ken just outside Nashville in a town called Goodletsville. They have the most gorgeous home nestled up in the hills of a private golf course--I couldn't believe the view! It was so refreshing to see the trees and flowers in full bloom as Michigan hasn't quite reached that point yet.

views from K & T's

Turns out, we went down there at just the right time....the grand reopening of Opry Mills indoor outlet mall :) I swear we shopped 12 hours on Saturday, I literally had to buy new shoes (of course they are leopard print Sperrys) because my feet ached so bad! We scored some major deals!

Ken played tour guide on Sunday, and after church we got to see where all the stars live in Sumner County. We saw Reba's estate & riding stables on the Cumberland river, Loretta Lynn's family home (literally a 1/2 mile from my cousin's), the school where Taylor Swift shot part of one of her videos, Conway Twitty's, Lorrie Morgan's, and my favorite--the remains of Johnny Cash's estate that burned after one of the Bee Gee's tried to renovate it. It was so weird to see that these celebs lived so close to us "normal" folk. I'm not sure what else I was expecting though.

Reba's horse barn

Side view of Reba's property

More of Reba's old farms...named after her label, Starstruck

Some random house, but this is what I think of when I hear "Southern Homes". Just like in Sweet Home Alabama...close nuff.

Shoot...I forget who lives here...

The sign in Johnny Cash's brother's house...next door

The Cash estate...burned

Strange, you could still see much of the burned remains after all these years.

This was once Lorrie Morgan's Liberty House

Conway Twitty's "Twitty City"

Ugh. Such a sickening picture. It was about 2pm and I hadn't had lunch yet...not happy! {Outside Conway Twitty's}

Hard Rock Cafe downtown Nashville

Great American County drive by

Tootsies on Broadway--apparently lots of celebs are spotted here

Loretta Lynn's family home. Guess she was just a coal miner's daughter?

random..Loretta's grandbabies' treehouse

The Ryman!

All in all, we had a great time. We left Monday afternoon, and stayed overnight near Indianapolis on the way back. I could have probably made the whole trip, but my mom was pretty pooped too. So much traveling, driving, shopping, and family time! I need a vacation from vacation! Next time I will be taking Ross, he was so bummed he couldn't come along--Nashville is right up his alley! It was my first trip away from him {usually he's the one going on hunting/work trips away from me} and at first I wasn't sure how it would go over. The day I left he wanted nothing to do with saying goodbye, and told me he needed a vacation from me! Crazy boy must have gotten over it, because my phone was ringing a couple of times a day with him "checking in". He must have done ok...I got home and there was a new work truck in the driveway and he had cleaned the entire house, including the nursery! No joke, I thought I died and went to heaven...absence must really make the heart grow fonder...did I mention I love vacation?



nice weekend!

We had such a big weekend over here! Nice weather, family time, and some much needed chill time with friends too. Some highlights:

1. i finally went to the chiropractor! what a godsend, really. no sooner did i hop up on the table with my big preggo pillow than the doc literally laughed at me for not coming in sooner. turns out, my right leg is an entire inch longer than my left. how did i come 24 years not knowing this? he wants to see me a few more times this week, then once a week until S comes to make sure my hips are aligned correctly {enough} for labor. holy macaroni i cannot wait for my appointment tonight! he did say it was a good thing i have naturally very loose joints, or else i would probably be hurting even more down the road.

2. some friends of ours, kate & kurt, came over for dinner on friday night to plan our other pals' bachelor party. kate was previously a birth center tech at the hospital we will be delivering at, so she was able to give me some nice pointers and "what to expects" while the guys were making out the guest list. it was so great catching up with them!

3. the boys started on the shop! my hubs & brother-in-law started "Schutter Bros Builders" back in 2007 {you know, at the worst time economically} and are finally building their own barn after years of storing their equipment at our parents', uncle jim's, or my favorite--our front yard in the "city". doesn't everyone have a kubota in the front yard? anyways--we've had a couple of great years, and are looking to expand the business. a few big jobs last year and this coming summer have given the guys the confidence to start investing in more tools-and of course a place to store them. we spent friday finishing up the site, and saturday the guys we already setting poles. by saturday night they had the perimeter up and the family marveled at their work over some yummy steaks out on the deck.

4. saturday night ended with a bonfire at our friend kyle's, where we all found out about john & katie's engagement! the way this spring has been going, we're going to have so many weddings this year! it was great to catch up with more of our pals--you know, since i don't really get out all that often anymore!

5. on sunday, ross & i took a little drive after church to go check out a truck he's been lusting over. since michael gets to have the barn on his property, ross gets a new truck. not a bad deal, i'd say! somehow we ended up at the baby superstore, where ross just about had a "panic attack" from all the preggos running around. we were going to register there, but i think it's much safer if i just do it myself online!

6. speaking of which, the schutters finally got the internet this weekend! i found out on friday if you ask the right questions on charter.com "chat" you can get a pretty good deal. smoking fast wireless for $39/mo installed the next day with 1/2 the installation fee? too good to be true. our Dish subscription is up next month, and i will need to have internet access for my company to allow me to work from home leading up to, and after S comes. helloooo online shopping, blogging, facebooking at all hours of the day and night :)  

7. lastly, we found some property we might be interested in {long term future}. it's way out off a dirt road in BFE, with few neighbors and lots of wildlife. there's plenty of room to grow and play, and it's even in our favorite elementary school district. ross keeps calling the place "God's country" and telling me we need to "move closer to home". the lot is literally 5-10 minutes down the road, ha! we meet with the realtor on wednesday to talk lot lines, road access, and all that good stuff.

ok one more...my boss is on vacation all week {hello, working from home!} and i'm headed to tennessee with my mama thurs-tues! can't wait for a little break!