Our Last Day

I've been hearing about "Puckett's Grocery" for years now. Tonja has talked about this place where she sings on occasion, and that also has the best food around. It's in Franklin, TN and today I experienced it. I had an awesome burger on a wheat hoagie bun, and some scrumptious onion rings. Mike had some incredible pulled pork. We had a great time, although nobody famous came in. Tonja used to work there and has waited on some celebrities, including Brad and Kimberly Williams-Paisley!
After Puckett's, we went through the Opryland Hotel. It's absolutely beautiful and HUGE! Then we walked to Opry Mills, a huge mall that had a big Gibson guitar store. Luke especially loved that.
It was a long day and we walked a lot, so we enjoyed coming home and chilling out and watching American Idol.
Enjoy the pictures of our fun day with the Roses!

Songwriters and Cupcakes!

Here's the two highlights from our vacation yesterday: first, I went with Tonja to her writing appointment in downtown Nashville. She writes for Identical Entertainment. There were two guys there to write with her, and both of them have already had success in songwriting. Very nice gentlemen. Anyway, I got to listen in while they began writing a song called "Think I Met An Angel". Very cool experience.
On the way home, we stopped by "Gigi's Cupcakes", and brought some home for dessert. Oh my word. These weren't just cupcakes. They were colossal, gourmet treats from heaven! And with a cup of fresh coffee....mmmmmmm. 'Twas a good day.

God, Friends and Music!

Wow, I enjoyed today! It started with some good coffee and leisure time with Tonja, then we got ready and went to worship at Franklin Christian Church. Then we went to some friends of Ward and Tonja's for a cookout and some other people came to hang out too. Rob Harris, the music minister at FCC was there and he is also a songwriter here in Nashville. A group called "Fletcher" was there, which is three brothers who are phenomenal musicians. Check them out at www.fletchermusic.net. They all sat around playing and singing, mostly original stuff. It was very cool. God was so generous when He gave us music!
Tomorrow Lindsey, Tonja & I are going to a local tea room for lunch, then Tonja is taking me to one of her writing appointments. Maybe l'll witness the writing of a future country hit! Whether or not that happens, I'm just grateful for the opportunity to hang out with such creative and talented people for a few minutes!
Oh! One other cool thing...the gal whose house we were at today is the niece of Linda Hunt, the academy award-winning actress! Linda Hunt's sister was there too, and she resembled the actress. It's such a small world.
It was a very enjoyable day, and I've had a lot of coffee...I hope I can sleep tonight!

Vacation!

We're heading to Nashville, Tennessee in the morning and I am excited! We'll be visiting some friends that we knew when we lived in Virginia, Ward and Tonja Rose. They moved to Nashville a few years ago so Tonja could pursue her dream of becoming a recording artist. She works/writes for a publishing company, and she's is going to take me with her to one of her writing appointments with Mark Naramore, a guy who has already had some of his songs recorded! I am looking forward to seeing them collaborate.
We're going to see some sights around Nashville, hit some good eating joints, and we're looking forward to worshipping with Ward and Tonja at Franklin Christian Church on Sunday.
Then Wednesday, it's north to Clinton, Iowa to spend a few days with Mike's family. They're supposed to be getting 5 inches of snow tomorrow! Hope it's melted by Wednesday...
I hope to blog all about our trip when we return! Or maybe I'll check in while we're there!