So, apparently, if you have never been to the Gaylord Opryland Hotel, you have never really experienced Nashville. At least, this is what I overheard someone say while I was visiting Opryland for the first time with my boyfriend, Dan, on Thursday. I don’t know how I managed to live here for an entire year without ever experiencing one of Nashville’s most unique (and certainly largest) attractions…but I am so glad that I finally went!
Dan realized how important it was for me to be introduced to Opryland – especially during Christmastime – so he surprised me by planning a wonderful evening for us there. We started off the evening right by eating dinner at RuSan’s, one of my absolute favorite sushi restaurants.
When ordering sushi, Dan and I typically stick to the basic California roll, but we were feeling a bit adventurous and decided to try something different. Our waiter recommended two different rolls. The first was similar to a California roll, but it was topped with a piece of salmon and baked ever-so slightly. We also ordered shrimp tempura (you really can’t go wrong with fried shrimp). Between the crunchiness of the shrimp and the creaminess of the salmon…we were in heaven! Best part: the entire meal was only $15. I love RuSan’s!
After dinner, we headed to Opryland. I should preface this part of the story by saying that I am a huge fan of all things Christmas. It is, by far, my favorite holiday and I love to celebrate it as far in advance as possible. So when we arrived at the Opryland Hotel one of the first things that caught my attention were the trees leading up to the entrance.
Every single branch was wrapped in Christmas lights – it was breathtaking. Even more impressive was the inside of the hotel. First of all, it is huge! If Dan hadn’t known where to go, I would have had us lost within minutes. There are three giant indoor gardens, each filled with various (living) plants, rivers, waterfalls, jumping fountains, walking paths, and, of course, plenty of places to eat and shop, as well. It was a little overwhelming at first to take everything in! I tried my best not to gape, but it was so hard not to!
After wandering around for a while, and playing Christmas music on a few of Opryland’s Yamaha pianos, Dan told me that he had planned for us to go on a private horse-drawn carriage ride. Being a huge fan of Disney movies, and very impressed with Dan’s thoughtful planning, I thought this sounded like an excellent idea!
It was a bit cold, but we wrapped up in blankets and quickly forgot about the fact that our ears were freezing. We took tons of pictures (I had to limit myself to only posting four of them…) and neither of us wanted to get off after we had returned. After the carriage ride, we decided to walk around outside for just a bit longer. Then – as if the night couldn’t get any more perfect – it began to snow. It was really more like snow flurries, but that didn’t make it any less magical.
We eventually went back inside to warm up by one of the many opulent fireplaces. I didn’t want to leave Opryland…but knew that it was inevitable, so we took a few final pictures and headed out. Of course, the perfect ending to any evening is going to get dessert. A slice of chocolate peanut butter cookie dough cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory sounded pretty good to both of us, so we split it.
After my date with Dan, I met my friends at the movie theater for the midnight “Twilight” premiere. I loved the books, but I must admit that I thought the movie was a bit of a letdown. I still had a great time (actually, my friends and I had plenty of fun just laughing at how awkward the movie was!) and it was my first midnight movie premiere ever, so that was exciting. Thursday was just full of new experiences! It was a busy day and I was exhausted after we got back at 3 am…but it was completely worth the exhaustion.
Monthly Archives: November 2008
What I’m Thankful For.
Here’s a list of some things I’m thankful for this year:
All the Spiritual Life Assistant’s I’m over as a Spiritual Life Coordinator. The people in my community of SLA’s are seriously some of the most inspiring people in their desire to reach out to the men and women on their floors. I really appreciate all that they’ve given and sacrificed in order to commit to this position.
All the people in Service Year. The 6 people in that community have truly been a gift to my life this year and I’m appreciative of every laugh and every moment of growth. They’ve been extremely influential in helping me decide what is important to me in life.
Christy Ridings, one of my campus ministers has been extremely important to my growth in this past semester. She’s been there to talk whenever I’ve had difficulties or stress and problems I’ve needed to discuss. Also, Guy Chmieleski and Micah Weedman, the other two minister in University Ministries, have been extremely important in my life this semester as well.
Finally, I’m thankful for family and the opportunity to share a few days in their presence and enjoy some great food. I miss them all dearly and I can’t wait to sit down and catch up with them. Happy Turkey Day!
November
This is one of the busiest times of the year.
I have four papers due the week after Thanksgiving break and then finals.
Before I know it, I will be flying back home to cold-chilly Wisconsin.
Secrets & Illusions
Have you ever wanted to be a magician? I have frequently seen magicians or illusionist on television performing miraculous stunts, but I have never actually seen one in person. They always captivated me, being able to disappear or cut someone in half. Last night, Belmont hosted a well known contemporary illusionist, Jason Michaels. On stage, Jason Michaels performed many mind-boggling illusions that could not be explained.
Election Day Party!
So, on November 4th, 2008, the United States of America selected Barack Obama as our next president. It was quite an exciting night. Most of it spent with my friends in Belmont Service Year watching the results come in, prepared for a late night and getting a really early one when at about 10pm CNN told us Barack Obama was the next president. Needless to say, it was a pretty exciting moment for us. I didn’t vote for either major party candidate, but I was still very excited to see the election of the nation’s first black President. It was very moving and John McCain’s concession speech was very gracious as well. What I thought was a really cool thing, though, was the part Belmont played in the selection of this President. While the debates may not have been the deciding factors for many, it is still really awesome that Belmont got to host one of the three debates in a historic election of enormous proportions. Belmont also offered a lot of election coverage through the Belmont Vision, several convocations, and an election night viewing party.
Bruin Blast!
It has already been 4 months since I have arrived at Belmont University. Time has truly flown by these last couple of months. The leaves on the trees are now changing colors, from green to shades of orange, yellow, and red. It has been getting much cooler lately so I have been making more trips to Bongo Java, the local coffee house, to get my favorite drink the “Apple Pie.” Although November brings new challenges such registering for classes, music juries, and many papers, I am looking forward to attending the basketball games and being a part of Bruin Blast.
Bruin Blast is the pep band that plays for several volleyball games and all of the home basketball games. The gym is usually packed with students cheering for the Bruins. The games are very energetic, particularly this year because of how well they did last season. Last year Belmont’s mens 
basketball team won the Atlantic Sun Conference and competed in the NCAA tournament. In the first round of the tournament, Belmont faced the number 2 seed, Duke University. Belmont almost won the game, earning high respect in the NCAA tournament. After this years first exhibition match of the season, Belmont appears to have a great chance of making it to the NCAA tournament again. Last Thursday they easily beat Sewanee with a score of 83 to 27.
Bruin Blast plays a large variety of music during timeouts and halftimes. Right before the home games, the pep band gets to run in as the the announcer introduces us. It is a lot of fun because we get to run in similar to how the actual athelets run in before the game. My favorite part about Bruin Blast is when the entire crowd sings along with our music. Bruin Blast is going to be an amazing experience. GO BRUINS!
Music City
Last Sunday (I can’t believe it’s already been a week!), I had one of the most amazing nights of my life. I had been looking forward to and counting down the days until November 2nd ever since I found out that Sara Bareilles would be performing at the Ryman Auditorium that evening. Raychel (my best friend and former roommate) and I are HUGE Sara Bareilles fans. Her CD, Little Voice, was the soundtrack of the road-trip that Raychel and I took to Branson over the summer. So there was (obviously) no question that we would be attending the concert. Fortunately, Raychel knows someone who works in the box office at the Ryman, so she was able to call him and get two, third row tickets at a very reasonable price. 
(Way to go, Raychel!!!) From that day forward I just had to wait patiently for November 2nd to arrive.
The evening of the concert was absolutely perfect. We both dressed up, ate a delicious meal at Panera, and enjoyed some coffee on our way to the concert. The opening act was an indie/folk rock band called Raining Jane, followed by the wonderful Marc Broussard. After a brief intermission…Sara Bareilles took the stage, opening with one of my favorite songs: “Vegas.” She had an incredible performance – every song was just as amazing as I had hoped it would be. Raychel and I sang along to every song, of course, but especially her hit song… “Love Song.” Actually, I would venture to say that the audience actually sang more of that song than she did! It was awesome. 
I enjoyed every minute of the concert and can’t wait for the opportunity to see her perform again!!!
Last night I enjoyed even more live music at the Urban/Pop Showcase here at Belmont. All of the showcases are fun, but Urban/Pop has to be one of my favorites. The artists that performed (all Belmont students, of course) were: Robert Kelly, Marie Hines, The Nerq Twins, and Future. It was a great night!
I must say, I do love living in Music City.
Happy Fall!
The past few weeks have been quite hectic. I am swamped with papers to write for interpersonal communication, newswriting, business law, and strategic management.
Sound crazy? Believe me. It is. Welcome to senior year.
Up All Night for the “Wright” Reasons
Living in downtown Nashville it isn’t difficult to be entranced by the music filled air of Broadway and seeing Keith Urban on a regular basis. Let’s face it… Nashville is an awesome place to live! However, when we see all of the cool tourist spots and the star’s homes so constantly, it’s sometimes easy to forget the other people who live in downtown Nashville… the homeless.
This past weekend I participated in two events that really changed my perception about homelessness. The first event was a rally to save a local area known as “Tent City” and the second was an event hosted by my staff in Wright Hall called “Up All Night for the Wright Reasons.”
“Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy” – Proverbs 31:8-9