H2O With BP

When Bobby heard that Brad Paisley was coming back to Nashville to finish out his H2O tour he knew that I'd want to be there. I don't know if anyone knows this, but I REALLY love a BP concert and my ultimate goal in life is to one day be friends with Brad and Kim. I'm pushing for racial diversity in their play group and I really feel that no play group is complete until it has a Hondurican.......just so happens I can help them with that :)

We started out our 2011 Tour of Concerts with our good friends Jeremy and Ashlee. I think they got more than they bargained for at this concert. No one is the same after they've watched a 19 year old and a 45ish year old meeting and making out all during one concert set. Blek.

Look closely here and you'll see my friend Christine standing RIGHT NEXT to the stage after winning front row tickets on a radio station. I personally think any REAL friend would've handed over those tickets to a true BP fan especially knowing my goal and knowing she also had the backstage passes that totally could've given me the "in" that I needed. I tried to slip her my family bio with my number but the pass off just didn't happen.
The first opener was Jarrod Neiman. I had never heard of him but had heard a couple of his songs. "Whaddaya want, whaddaya want, whaddaya want from me?" was one that I liked quite a bit. I'm sure that's not the original title but I never claimed to know it all. Most of the other songs were different versions of being overly intoxicated.....with the exception of the other song I liked "lover, lover, loverrrr you don't treat me no good no more". I probably wouldn't treat my lover very nicely either if he used such bad grammar. Moving on.

The next act was Darius Rucker and I was entertained from beginning to end with him. He toured with BP at another concert we attended but was even better this time.
He brought back some Hootie favorites and it was spectacular. I really could listen to his smokey voice for longer than just an opening act. Well done, Hootie. Well done. For me he finished off with "Family Tradition" and it was quite a treat. The rest of the crowd heard him finish off with Prince's Purple Rain and I'm sure it was fabulous but my dinner water got to me and I was in the bathroom during that ditty.
As usual, our self portrait concert shot:
Let's get to the main show. Brad Paisley. Did I mention my friend Kelly saw him the other day? It seems that I can't get any closer than one degree of Brad Paisley. I'll be honest though. I was glad I wasn't with Kelly. According to her he was sporting a bona fide jogging suit and frankly I don't need that image polluting the cowboy hat and jeans Brad Paisley of my mind.
I'm always awestruck at the amount of people cheering and screaming at the concerts we've attended. Can you imagine having all of those people paying money and going crazy just to see YOU?? I can't fathom what that must feel like.
There's always one (times a thousand) crazy kookoo in a crowd this large (and several bad hair do's, i.e. the reverse mullet on a woman and and total 80's hot roll) and lucky for us one was in our line of sight. It was Sultry Dancing Girl. She's below under the white arrow in the red hooker-esqe dress. Her sensual dancing was a little much for me but the topper was when she removed her underwear and, oh, I'm sorry? Yes. Yes, you heard correctly. I'll continue. She removed her underwear and placed them on the FOOT of the fiddler guy. His foot. On it. There he is doing his little solo ditty and there are her nappy thong panties. Ick.
I wish I had a picture of her friend wearing the backless jean jumper. Let me step out and say that if you currently own anything that combines the words "jean" and "jumper" please, for the love of mankind, take it to the Goodwill immediately. Back to Brad. Stellar guitar playing makes up for the utmost of fashion faux pas.
This is what happens when you accidentally have a shutter speed that's too slow. Work of art.
The last concert we attended (Carrie Underwood) was full of outfit changes. This time around it was guitar changes. I bet there were at least 10 different ones.
Brad announced that he was welcoming a great friend to the stage for a song and I just knew that my favorite Aussie guitar playing country star was stopping in for a "Start a Band" duet. Much to my dismay it was his bud John Jorgasomethingorother who was indeed a grand guitar player but not nearly as exciting as Keith Urban would've been.
Well isn't this a cool silhouette?!
Many lucky people in the crowd were given guitar picks. I was not one of them. I'm sure Christine was. Durn her.
It was another night filled with spectacular songs, good laughs, dear friends, and shocking moments. Concert dates are always my favorite.
Brad Paisley kept the bar high for concert standards for us. Good Lord willing we'll be there the next time he shows up in Nashville. If anyone runs into him before then, let him know you know someone that has a Hondurican baby that is looking for a playgroup.
Hats off to BP and his phenomenal concert!

Nuptials

This weekend was a culmination of plans underway since Christmastime brought about a diamond and a proposal! In order to mesh with a seriously tight schedule my sister had to plan quickly and efficiently. She did both well and ended up with a fabulous wedding weekend!

We started off the night before at Fleming's for a nice steak (chicken for me!) dinner graciously hosted by Jared's parents.

Fleming's is my favorite "big" date night restaurant and never, ever have my kids been invited to join us. This time was an exception. They were well behaved (for the most part) but it's just really never safe when large steak knives are readily available and Rhett is around. In his defense, as soon as we sat down he handed a couple to me and said, "I don't think these are a good idea." However, it didn't stop him from slashing around the butter knife and acting a fool.
Grant was nice and calm. He ate almost an entire steak on his own but turned down all offers of any sides. Probably because he had eaten an entire loaf of bread upon our arrival.
This particular dinner was in no way, shape or form missing out on having youngins running about. There were plenty to go around. This is why Tracie and Jared also had to have a table to themselves. Can you imagine what their dinner would've been like if all the kids that wanted to were able to sit at their table??

The next morning most of the gals headed out to lunch and to get our nails all dootied up. My mom got more than she had bargained for when she turned on the chair massager. It was poking and prodding in some very.......awkward places.
After nails and toes we had to make a quick turn around at the hotel. It was only a couple hours until ceremony time! My aunt Marietta did my hair and Tracie's.
A nice surprise for Trac was that her longtime best buds were able to make the trip down from Kentucky to share the big day with her.

Rhett was the lucky guy who got to be the ring bearer. Cade and Grant both had their day in the sun as the ring security in other weddings so he was next in line. He was excited to be a part of everything but it was that excitement that was nearly the death of me.
Bobby got him fixed up with his little flower.

Then posed for a quick shot with the handsome dude. I got a quick pre-wedding shot with him myself.
Then there was the waiting. It wasn't long but when you're five "not long" is always really long. Long enough to almost drag Mr. Pointer finger right through the cake (nice save, Sonj), almost get your foot snagged in the curtain hanging from the altar holding at least 50 glass votives with lit candles.....nothing says holy matrimony like a wildfire (nice save, Dear Lord in Heaven).
Then there was the little clay thingy that the rings were to be carried in. Let's just say it was happy and whole for approximately 5 seconds before it got dropped on the concrete floor. (Nice save green floral tape left behind). It's now just full of.....character. Not long is really, really long enough.
Pic with my boys.
And one with the Mother of the Bride.
And, of course, a few of the Bride herself.

Another key player in the wedding: The Groom. And a really handsome ring bearer.
Finally Rhett's big moment had arrived. My cousin Stephanie, the wedding photographer, gave me this picture of him completing his task. I didn't get to take half of the pictures I wanted since I was part of the wedding party. Rhett did an awesome job and managed not to destroy anything during his saunter down the aisle.
The ceremony was heartfelt and sincere with self written vows and much emotion. I was honored to be able to stand by my sister and be a part of this day with her.
The reception was in the same place as the ceremony. So, after a quick change of tables the room was transformed and ready for dancing. Here's my dad and his eldest (no matter what she says) daughter dancing:
Lanie got to be at the wedding as well. She was so well behaved during the ceremony. I wasn't able to see her beforehand because she has turned into quite the Mommy's girl and she would cry when she saw me and I couldn't take her. She was happy at the reception though!
Thanks a million to Bob and Elizabeth because without them she wouldn't have been able to be there. They did a great job keeping up with her and keeping her ( and me!) content!
I (for some reason) didn't get a picture of the bride's cake but I DID get a picture of this one. If you know my sister at all you know that she bleeds blue and is a true Kentucky Wildcat fan. I know Bobby's dad is loving every second of her marrying a UT fan. It's a jab from him that can live on forever!

The kids were mesmerized by some singing taking place......
I guess mesmerizing is about the only word that would describe this duet :) I'm pretty sure that JLo, Randy, and Steven would not have given them their golden ticket to Hollywood.
It gave us some good laughs though!
Before the night was over Cade snuck in a dance with the Bride. Rhett pulled out his dancing moves for a few songs as well and I wish I'd have had my camera handy for that.
I grabbed one very prom-esque picture with Jared before the night ended.
And one last one with my sister.
Bobby and I left the reception with two boys bouncing off the walls and one sacked out ring bearer. It was a great weekend of time spent with family. We couldn't have asked for things to go any smoother. I wish Tracie and Jared a lifetime of happiness from this day forward!

No Bow

With all of the warmer weather we've been having, I decided that it would be a good day to do a little photo ditty with my little gal in the back yard. Unfortunately, it didn't turn out like I had envisioned. I had two things working against me. The first was Lanie's right arm.
I'd put the bow in, she'd pull it out.....and look me right in the eye while she was doing so.
Bow in. Bow out. Bow in. Bow out.
Finally I gave up on the bow thing and decided to just proceed. That's when the second obstacle reared it's head.
The wind. One stiff breeze rolls in and the LanieBugs can't keep her mouth closed. Literally can't. It always takes her breath!
After the initial shock of the breeze, I replaced the bow and quickly snapped ending up with some pretty cute pics of my baby girl.
The truth is, it's really hard to NOT get some cute pics of her. I know I'm totally biased, but I feel confident in saying that she's got to be the cutest thing I've ever seen.
And I can say that without hesitation because I had nothing to do with her cuteness. That's all God's hand there and I'm just lucky enough to be able to claim her. Here's to better luck with my next photo shoot. In the meantime I'll be checking The Weather Channel for wind speeds and I'll be initiating serious hand off bow training.