Birthdays and Brad

What better to do on a rainy day than post a blog entry?? I stayed up until 1:30 am cooking a caramel cake from scratch for Kevin for his birthday (which was actually yesterday) and then got up this morning at 5:00 to go fishing, only to find a downpour of rain. I quickly picked up my phone to call and cancel my plans with Kevin, though he chose to go on anyway, and went straight back to sleep. So, I guess my caramel masterpiece won't be enjoyed until later tonight. We have been SO busy this week. As most of you know, our birthdays were both this week, mine on Wednesday, and Kev's on Sunday. We also threw in a trip to Nashville to see Brad Paisley, Darius Rucker and Deirks Bentley. It was an amazing concert...and was the last night of the tour, so I think we even got a little extra for our money. It has been a great week, but I will let the pictures tell the story, as I usually do.

I was scheduled to work on Wednesday, but took off to spend my birthday somewhere other than the hospital. Mom, Carly and I met for lunch at FIG, one of my absolute favorite restaurants.

Me and Mom at lunch

Me and Carly
Me opening presents. Mom and Dad gave me money and a hot pink purse.

After lunch, we went shopping!!! My favorite past time! I got leopard print chairs for my dining room and I am so excited to get to put them together tonight!!!! Yay! I also got new stuff for my room at home to make it look like a 27 year old lives there and not a 16 year old. I officially packed up all the high school and college stuff....my stolen road sign, Alabama shakers, stuffed animals, old pictures, etc. It was a little bittersweet, but I adore the new look of my room and will post pictures as soon as I get my luggage unpacked and out of the floor!!!

After dinner on Wednesday, Mom gave me cupcake with a candle, since I didn't have a birthday cake! Most of my wishes have come true now, so I made a wish for someone else. Hope she knows who she is!!! Hint hint!

I had to go back to work on Thursday, and was a little sad about that. However, when I got to work, Shannon and Amanda had gotten me a birthday cake to help brighten my day!!! Shannon also gave me a gift card to "El Kmart," that she and I plan to use soon for MARGARITAS!!! I have the best friends, and love them both soooo much!!!

After working on Thursday, I came home to pack and get ready for our trip to NASHVILLE!!! I picked Kev up at 10 am on Friday and we headed out! Our first stop was in Birmingham. We went to Mark's Outdoors and then to the Summit for lunch at the Cheesecake Factory, one of my favorite restaurants. While I was so close, I had to stop in at Swoozies, my absolute favorite store in the entire world!!! I got a cute cup that says "Bride," the "Bridal Shower Box of Questions" to use at one of my events, and a notebook that has a bride on it and says "All of this and a new husband, too?" I also found several things that I told Mom I wanted for a couple of my showers. Hopefully we can go back soon and do a little more shopping. It is hard to do serious shopping with Kevin waiting in the car!! He was a great sport though!!

Next, we were off to Leeds, AL to the new Bass Pro Shop there. I have to say, this was one of the highlights of the trip. For those of you who haven't been to Leeds to see it, I urge you to do so. It is right off the interstate, and is only about 15 miles from the Summit. Not a bad drive. Once you exit off to go to it, you go through a huge gate and start a 2.5 or 3 mile journey through the woods, over stone bridges, and even around a big pond. It is absolutely breathtaking, and I can't imagine how pretty it would be in the fall when the leaves are turning colors. It is definitely worth the drive, and we plan to take Mom and Dad up there really soon.

After leaving Birmingham, we headed to Huntsville to see Jennifer, Cade, Noah and Taylor. We spent a couple of hours with them and ate pizza for supper before starting back on our voyage. It was so great to see Jen and the boys and spend some time with them. We hated that Kengi wasn't there, he was out of town on military business, though. We had a great time playing with the boys and hated we couldn't stay longer, but the drive looming ahead of us put a damper on it.

We finally got to Nashville around 12:30 due to rain and pit stops and hit the hay! The next day, we went to Opry Mills mall and spent the day shopping. They also have a Bass Pro there, so Kevin was content while I shopped at Blacklion, Off 5th, and a really cute flag store with lots of flags for the yard.

After shopping, we ate lunch at the Rainforest Cafe. I love it there and they have the best food. We ate until we were stuffed, and then the waiters and waitresses brought Kevin out a "VOLCANO," their signature dessert and sang "Happy Birthday" to him. He was not thrilled with me to say the least!!!

After all the shopping, it was time to get ready for the concert. We headed out to downtown early. I made this picture of a beautiful house in downtown Nashville.

Downtown Nashville.

Kevin pumping gas! (We were bored)

Me

Thought this was a cool picture.

And that is when the camera died!!!!!! My battery went dead!!! How irresponsible and unprepared could I be???? After two uneventful trips to stores trying to buy a battery, I came to grips with the fact that I would have to photograph the rest of the day with my iPhone!!! UGHHGHGHHGHHGHHHHHGHHHHHH!!!!!!! (I will not make this mistake again!!!)

This picture is out of order, but it is the beautiful Coach purse Kevin gave me for my birthday!!! Tell me that I am not marrying the right man for me!!!!

So these are the pitiful excuses for pictures from the concert....by the way, we rednecked it out with tshirts, jeans, NB's, and raincoats due to the rain!

Darius Rucker

Darius Rucker singing "Let Her Cry." This is for you, Amanda!

BRAD!!!!!

The concert was amazing! We had such a great time! We got up early yesterday morning and were home by lunchtime. I have to admit that I slept most of the afternoon away!!!! I was exhausted!!!

Hope you all enjoyed the pics. Check back soon for pics of the leopard print chairs, coffee table, and my new room!!!

P.S. This is the photo of Cooper I attempted to post on a previous entry. Hope it works this time! Isn't he precious??!?!?

Thanks also for your continued prayers for Libby. Please remember her as she is still in the hospital in Birmingham. LOVE YOU LIBBY!!!