How Lucky We Are

I am exhausted.

It has been a long time since I have had to function on so little sleep.

Roger and I got to the hotel room 4am our time,  3am Nashville, Tn time.

The Zac Brown Band concert was great!

I loved the energy of the big venue. 

I have never before experienced that. I have always wanted to attend a big concert but people have always discouraged me, saying that I wouldn't like it, that the performer would look like an ant and that the concert goers would annoy me. Basically everyone has always told me that I would have a miserable time. In fact, when Roger gave me the tickets for Christmas he even said "now you'll finally learn how absolutely misrable attending a concert in an arena is."

I ended up loving all the things that everyone told me that I would hate.

I knew I would!

The concert made for some WONDERFUL people watching and I LOVE to people watch!

The people behind us were wasted before they even got in their seats. They were a bit younger than us and VERY loud. They yelled out "WOW!" (in a really funny voice) all through the concert when the lights changed and "oh shit, oh shit",  exchanging friendly punches, anytime the band started singing one of their favorite songs.  They danced the ENTIRE time. At one point they started discussing the solo cups that their beer came in and decided to collect the cups and take them home "these cups look sturdy enough for the dish washer. Hey and they look like GREAT cups for beer pong!"

To me, the drunk country dudes were all part of the experience, and I was eating it up.  

I laughed sooooo hard.

I'm not quite sure Roger thought the same.

In the stand right below us stood 3 young guys dressed in jeans, plaid shirts and baseball caps. They too danced all......night......long. They kept getting so excited that they would exchange hugs 

with one another and high five each other after each hug. They reminded Roger and I of our friends Nathan, Colt and Justin.  At the end of the concert the three guys decided to hug any and everyone that they could reach. This also included the event staff that they managed to chase down.

singing along

trying to chase down the event staff

she wasn't really that into getting hugged

For some reason some strange rapper dude came out on the stage with the Zac Brown Band (it was really weird), all three of the guys stood completely still, saying "what the hell is THAT."   

Roger and I had a blast watching the 3 dudes stop dancing and exchange awkward glances amongst each other.

"hey Rog, the country boys don't like the rap."

The warmth of the concert made me feel as if I were at an old fashioned front porch picking.......with THOUSANDS of people packet on the front porch.  

Once the concert was over I was a bit nervous about the logistics of getting that many people out of the arena. It was packed. A sold out concert. 

Roger and I had to hold hands tightly to keep from being pushed apart by the sea of people heading towards the stairs and exits. I will admit that I got a tad bit panicked and started feeling a little claustrophobic.  But I ended up relaxing and thoroughly enjoy the experience of it all. 

It was amazing to see that many people in one area.

Once outside of the arena the sea of people completely filled up Broadway in downtown Nashville,Tn. 

It was incredible.

There were people all over the place.

The police, in anticipation of the concert being let out, had shut off the roads to traffic. 

Our good friends Amanda and Travis attended the concert as well.

In fact, before the concert began Amanda and I stood and waved at one another from across the arena.

"Hey can you see me?"

After the concert was over at 11pm we decided to meet up with Amanda and Travis for drinks at my new favorite place on Broadway, Layla's Bluegrass Hillbilly and Country Inn.

Earlier that day, way before the concert, Roger and I took to hopping in and out of each music venue, sampling music. We both fell in LOVE with the music that was played in Layla's.  

Me- "Roger THIS is the kind of music that I adore!  THIS!! THIS!!!  I LOVE THIS!!!!"

Roger- "Jessica, you need to stop telling people you like country music because what you really like is what they call roots music." 

Me- "WHAT?  ROOTS WHAT??   who cares. Let's dance!"

 In Nashville, as you might imagine, any place you walk into, at any hour of the day, on any day, has someone playing live music. As Amanda said at the end of our evening, as she stepped out of Layla's Bluegrass Hillbilly and Country Inn and onto Broadway "Welcome to Nashville!  Where dreams come to die."  

So many musicians fill all of those little stages and so few of them actually "make it."

Amanda and Travis were having their first night away from their 11 month old daughter. My duty was to make sure Amanda didn't try to sneak away with her phone to check on the baby "amanda, the baby is fine!  no need to call. If something were to happen I'm pretty sure your mom would call you. Now put that phone away and lets dance!"

On the drive to Nashville, Tn I wrote this in my journal

"Roger and I are on our way to Nashville, Tennessee! We are listening to the song January Wedding by Avett Brothers. The sun in shining vey brightly. I kinda feel like we are going on our honeymoon and our life is some sort of indie film. This moment is so beautiful. I want to package it up nicely and put it in my pocket. I am so in love with the man to my left. He gets me when no one else in the world does. I love sharing my existence with him!"

Roger surprised me with a hotel room in Nashville so we were able to stay out as late as we wanted and not worry about having to drive all the way back home. 

Roger -"Merry Christmas!"  

Me- "you are too sweet!  now that is pretty darn hot, getting me a hotel room for christmas, don't ya think?!?"

It is always so nice to have those long dates with my husband that extend for several days. 

When you are trying to raise a little family,  your relationship often times gets put on the back burner. These long dates away from the demands of child rearing are vital to our relationship. 

Keeping this marriage strong is one of the most important things to Roger and I. 

(I'm so appreciative to our parents for watching our children.)

This morning the hotel was having trouble with the water heater so we got a BIG discount on our stay and a FREEZING cold shower.  

But I'm tell ya, the cold shower was well worth the money that we saved.

I kinda feel like we cheated the system!