Sometimes In College...

you get so bored that you prank yourself.

Finals are coming up and studying is at an all time high...

and for some odd reason I finished everything I needed to do yesterday at 4:00 in the afternoon.

What the heavens to Betsy was I gonna do for the next 8 hours??

That's when my mind teamed up with Kenzie's mind and we decided to prank ourselves.

What a fantastic idea we said as we began stringing our whole apartment.

We were almost done when we heard a door from upstairs open.

We immediately knew we had to hid because how on earth would we explain this nonsense to our roommates.

They would call us stark mad!

So we flung open the door and dashed into Kenzies room in a fit of laughter

*All the while Hannah is hiding under the counter*

and when we dashed and laughed Kenzie's roommate Cami got a glimpse of what had happen to our apartment and Kenzie quickly blurted out "Carl did it. Carl came in here and pranked us. We were at Wal-mart."

So as the story has it... Carl pranked us.

And when someone pranks you, you can't just let that slide by like nobodies business.

So we did the only logical thing there was to do.

We hopped in the car and headed over to Carl's to prank that punk back.

Needless to say we were successful and we had a grand ol' time.

Side note: today I got pulled over for the first time in my life.

I was kinda disappointed because over Thanksgiving break I was bragging about being the only driver in our family who has never been pulled over.

So much for that honor... I am no longer worthy of it.

But I can't be mad about the ticket, I did run a stop sign... and I was going 5 over... and I didn't have my seat belt on... bad driving day... to say the least.

I will commit to being a better driver from here on out.

I cannot afford any more $90 tickets.

As for calling my mom and telling her about it, she was awesome.

She just laughed, which is good, cause when you know you've done something dumb you don't need that reenforced you just need to know you need to be better, find the humor in it, and move on.

And that is why I love my mamma so much!

Be Still My Soul

A few nights ago I got to lay in bed and felt the magic that comes with a rainstorm. I remember I had so many feelings I had to write them down to understand them. Then I tucked them away never to be seen or heard. But all week the words "be still and know that I am" keep coming up. I thought it was interesting because that's EXACTLY what I wrote about. So I reread my thoughts this morning and decided to share them.

I'm lying in bed with the widow open. The cold breeze is pouring over me and I'm listening to one of the best thunderstorms God has ever created. I am still. And I know that he is. I will never cease to be amazed by the wonderful sound small water droplets make as they travel to earth and hit the ground/roof. I will never cease to be amazed by the way lightning can light up the whole sky on the darkest of nights. I will never cease to be amazed by the way the rolling thunder sounds like melody to my heart. I will never cease to be amazed that my God can turn me into something incredibly beautiful when I feel like my world is crumbling down and I am a lone rain drop tumbling to the earth. I will never ceased to be amazed by the way God can light my pathway if I but only exercise faith in Him and know that He is. He has turned some of my darkest nights into my brightest mornings. I will never cease to be amazed by the way God knows how to directly speak to my soul and how strong I can feel Him in the midst of a thunderstorm. He knows me and he loves me more than I could ever know, and if I could it would amaze me. So for now I let the breeze chill my cheeks and sprinkle my nose with cool water droplets and lie here in the dark. And let my soul be still. And know that He is.

silly ol' me

There was a free car on campus yesterday for 7 hours.

That car was my car.

Why was it free?

Oh, just because I left my keys in the ignition all day, doors unlocked and all.

All that calculus is going straight to my brain and frying it like a pancake.

Not only that but my underwear was on inside out.

It's seriously weird and slightly concerning to me.

I have this one pair of underwear that no matter how hard I try it always ends up on inside out. Without fail.

I never notice until half way through the day but when I do my eyes bug out like a cartoon character.

It's a conspiracy I can't figure out.

My week is just headed that way, and we all know what I mean by "that way".

It's called by Saturday I'm going to be shipped off to the looney bin.

AKA pray for me.

Ps I love my mommy

The Happiest Place on Earth Is...

not Disneyland.

It is Nashville Tennessee :)

It is incredibly beautiful and the people are so kind.

In a year from now I will be living in this wonderful place :)

I'm off to the land of Oz where dreams come true!

This is Broadway street.

 Broadway is the happening place.

Bars and shops line the street and live music spills out into the open air.

You can be listening to a wonderful rendition of a George Strait song and then five steps later a modernized version of Hank Williams has caught your ear.

It is one of the coolest things I've ever experienced.

It was so hard to decided where to sit down and listen, everyone was great.

The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. I spend 7 hours in this place!

Backstage passes and tickets

This is the very piano Elvis sat at to warm up and record

Studio B. The Place that Elvis and many other greats recorded.

This was a wall in the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum

 No matter where you go in Nashville there are awards and posters signed by stars flooding the walls.

Nashville has such a rich music history it's practically tangible.

Fried pickles. I guess it's a southern thing?

Wild Horse Saloon

 The second night in Nashville we ate at the Wild Horse.

The first night we got there it was too late to do anything so we went to Wal-Mart and ate lunchables for dinner.

Not super exciting so we will just skip right to the good stuff.

The Wild Horse was a really clean bar with a family atmosphere.

I line danced to a live band (which was cool because I've never done that before).

I met them after the show, their band name is Brother Trouble.

They won a talent show that Kenny Chesney put on.

Rock on.

Brother Trouble. They were really cool and down to earth.

I present to you music city!

Ryman Church Auditorium

 The Ryman was the fifth home of the Grand Ol Opry.

It was used for many years.

At one point its lack of air conditioning, restrooms, and inadequate dressing rooms left it vacant.

No one wanted to play there and to the dismay of many it was shut down.

Almost 20 years later in 1992 renovations were done and it is now running as a successful concert hall and historical landmark.

Ryman stage

When the Grand Ol Opry left the Ryman the Grand Ol Opry house was built.

It was flooded in May 2010 and the canvas below is one of the only things that was salvaged.

It was able to dry and still look nice but you can still see a water line.

The Opry house was submersed in 4 to 8 feet of water.

People worked around the clock for months to get it back into running condition.

The radio show didn't stop, it continued to air, and it is actually the longest airing radio show in the world.

The canvas that survived

A backstage tour of the Grand Ol Opry House

May the circle be unbroken. When The flood of 2010 hit this piece of stage floated and had very little water damage.

 The old circle in the middle of the stage may look tacky if you don't understand its significance.

When the radio show moved from the Ryman to the Grand Ol Opry house a piece of the stage was cut out so that future musicians could stand on the exact same stage as the music legends that came before them.

Elvis, Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline, Garth Brooks, Carrie Underwood, and many others have stood here and sang for many to hear and enjoy.

The Bluebird Cafe

This is probably one of my favorite places in Nashville... or the world for that matter.

It is one of the only listening rooms left in the world.

You go in and order your food, your waitress brings it to you and then the show starts.

This is a place where songwriters come to show off their stuff and hope that a label will sign them or someone wants to record their songs.

Everyone is hush hush and you just sit and listen for hours.

You laugh, you cry, you clap, and you listen.

I heard some amazing songs there that I hope to hear on the radio some day.

This is also the place where Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood, and Taylor Swift were discovered.

The Bluebird can only fit about 100 people so you have to come early and wait in line.

This was a Christian rock benefit concert we went to at a local park

When I go to Belmont I will go to church right across from this beautiful stream.

The Nashville temple

Belmont University's grounds

Belmont Mansion

Belmont's campus is extremely beautiful and I love it.

I met a girl from Italy who was visiting just like me.

She and I had a lot of the same career goals and it was cool to know that I'm not completely insane.

Moving half way across the country is an intimidating thought but she wants to move half way across the WORLD!

Kudos to her and kudos to us for dreaming big :)

This is Belmont at first sight. It took my breath away.

The gates at Graceland

Just a few of Elvis Presley's awards

The front of Elvis's house

Going to Graceland I wasn't a huge Elvis fan but by the time I left I was head over heels.

There is a cool feeling there and the impact Elvis left on not only the music world but the hearts of many is astounding.

We went to a Grand Ol Opry show

Little (4 foot 11 inches) Jimmy Dickens

 I decided if I can play the guitar as well as legendary Jimmy Dickens then I'm set.

I can play as well as him, therefore I am set.

Oh did I mention he strums and changes cords super slow?

Steve Warner

Lisa Marie Presley

Rascal Flats

What better thing to do on a bridge than spit over the edge?

The famous bridge of Nashville

Nashville's Skyline

Bye bye Nashville. I will be back in no time :)