thanksgiving and so forth...

the tuesday before thanksgiving, rylan and i left for nashville around 8am. armed with some maps, printed directions courtesy of google maps, and an awesome GPS (thanks nicki and jim!) we were almost positive we would not possibly be able to get lost. and we only made one wrong turn in the middle of atlanta! the drive was uneventful and the dog sat quietly in the backseat the whole time.  we made it to nashville by 3:30.  aunt jen and uncle tim took us on a beautiful hike to stretch our legs. we got to the top of the hill right at sunset, it was incredible. i now know the meaning of "purple mountains majesty." at this point, after being there for about two hours, lola had become best friends with their dog, moby (he's a poodle mixed with that bishon-frizzy kind of dog).  aunt jen made a delicious london broil for dinner, and then my cousin emalie and i went to see twilight (for the second time). fantastic movie.

wednesday morning i could not sleep in, i was seriously up by 7:15. so i curled up on the couch and read a book until everyone else got up around 8.  mom and dad got to nashville (from paducah, ky) around 10:30. my aunt mary jean and uncle kevin (from atlanta, ga) got there around 1:30.  uncle tim went to pick up aunt kathy (from cleveland, oh) and my cousin tommy (hartford, ct) at the airport. my aunts started cooking right away and rylan and i kept getting volunteered to load and unload the dishwasher, as well as peel potatoes and onions and apples and anything else that could've been sliced or diced.  that evening, all 12 of us headed to buc di beppo for a big ol' family dinner! **side note: we all got together not only for thanksgiving, but because it was my aunts 50th birthday, and she is technically the baby of the family** after dinner we headed back to the house for some birthday cake that my mom made! delicious. then we played cranium, which was hilarious. 

thanksgiving day was pretty mellow. rylan and i spent the morning avoiding the kitchen, but somehow we still got volunteered for the same jobs as the previous evening.  i would just like it to be stated for the record that i do not enjoy cooking. but since im a huge fan of eating, i guess i had to do my fair share.  it was beautiful and warm and sunny out so we all grabbed whatever lawn chair we could find, pulled them into a semi circle in the middle of the backyard, and we all worked on our tans for a while. it was gorgeous, we dubbed it "the nashville beach."  the meal was fantastic (it was all the peeling i did, i swear it was!) and i couldnt have asked for a better family than mine to spend thanksgiving with! after dinner we played apples to apples.  

friday everyone slept in. we all avoided "black friday" shopping.  the women of the family went to the spa for a refreshing morning of facials! i think i might have to do that more often! as we were pulling out of the parking lot, alison krauss (country singer, sings with the grand ole opry and her band "alison krauss and the union station") was pulling in. no one else in my family listens to country, so i silently flipped out from the back seat.  that evening we played rock band with my cousin philip. he is 16, cutest boy alive (zac efron hair) but im pretty sure hanging out with his lame-0 cousin (that'd be me!) was not on his list of things to be doing on a friday night, but he humored me well, he even let me sing! poor child.

saturday mom, dad, rylan and i went to cracker barrel for brunch and then went to downtown nashville.  i'm assuming this is common knowledge by now, but in case you don't know, i live for country music. we passed by the ryman auditorium and went to the country music hall of fame! they had an awesome exhibit about hank williams and the williams family legacy. i must admit, im not a huge hank jr fan (bocefus, who gives their child that kind of a nickname!?) but it was very interesting to read their story... i can now understand why people think country singers are so redneck. thank hank for that! then we walked down broadway, which is home to a ton of honky tonk bars and record stores. i was totally in my element (minus the bars).  we went into the wild horse saloon and my dad and i shared a beer. that evening we went to the mellow mushroom for pizza with my parents, aunt jen and uncle tim, and emalie and philip. 

sunday we went to paducah, kentucky for the day to visit pop. im absolutely convinced that he is the cutest old man ever. my cousin jarrod brought over his 2 year old daughter annsley. rylan was totally smitten with her, and vice versa. they flirted! it was so cute. i also got to see my uncle dave, who i hadn't seen in years.  we made a trip to walmart while we were there, cause there is really nothing else to do in paducah, trust me on this.  stopped over to see aunt carol and uncle gene for a few minutes. she just had major back surgery, but she looked like she was recovering very well! 

monday we were supposed to head back to savannah but i just couldnt bring myself to leave yet. so we stayed an extra day in nashville. we found a jcrew (hallelujah) and then we went to the opryland hotel.  it's right next to the new grand ole opry.  it also snowed. i like snow about as much as i like cooking (if you've been paying attention, you know thats now a good thing).  my mom made yummmmmy enchiladas for dinner and we had a nice quiet evening.

yesterday we drove home. besides the phone call from my mom telling rylan they found jack white's house, nothing exciting happened. i finished a whole book in one car ride (im a dork!). 

i was so not ready to be back at work today. one week away from those old bitches was definetley not enough. they are still fighting about the same stuff... it gets old so fast.  BUT i came home to clean laundry and christmas decorations!! i love when rylan is off from school :) our house looks beautiful, so here's the secret: live with an art student!  it's only dec 3, so i got at least 22 more days of beautiful christmas lights!!!!!  

we havent been up to much lately. rylan is currently in the middle of finals week at SCAD! bring on winter break, i want my house back! i know i say this every quarter, but he really did more homework in this quarter than i did in 4 years.  

we are heading to nashville, tn in a week for a long thanksgiving weekend. i'm an only child and very rarely did we have a large thanksgiving, so this is a real treat for me! my parents are coming from AZ, and in total 12 of us are going to be enjoying thanksgiving together!! it is my aunt's 50th birthday so we have a long weekend of festivities planned! we're going bowling (i'm protesting for a bumper lane!), a girls day at the spa, and go kart racing. also, since nashville is music city u.s.a i think a trip downtown to my mecca (the ryman auditorium, aka the grand ol' opry) is quite necessary. i only slightly LOVE country music, so this is my town! but in my familys defense of why they don't want to go, i make them go every time i come... and im the only one who even remotely cares for country music.  

okay well me and my dorky giddy self are going to enjoy "heroes" and the warmth of the heater!

and to totally confirm my nerdiness, that book that i read a few months ago, well it's coming out as a movie on friday, and im so impatiently excited its embarrassing! i may be an adult (technically) but i am for sure not a grown up! i make peter pan SO proud :)

oh thank goodness!

i love this picture. 

i won't get political, but i for one am ready for this change, i think this country needs it. 

but don't even get me started on prop 102 (az) or 8 (h8 in cali)... 

i voted!

i'm a georgia voter, y'all!

i had every intention of getting up early and waiting in line with everyone else to vote, but then i overslept. i grabbed my ipod and cell phone and had a book in the car that i stuck in my purse. i was fully prepared for a looooong line. well, i was in and out of there in 15 minutes. 

and now i think im going to go take advantage of the free stuff! 

rylan and i had a pretty exciting day today! so im not going to tell you about it...

nah, just playin', here goes:

rylan met me at work, which is always a nice surprise! there is a new honey shop on broughton street that i've been dying to check out, and apparently they were giving away 

free ice cream (holla!) so we decided to walk over there to see what was going on. well we walk in and there is a camera crew but we just assume they are there filming the store cause it's new. so we're meandering around and all of a sudden SAMANTHA BROWN walks past. well i'm not a very cool person when it comes to celebrities (ask the deen's- i'm ridiculous!) so i scream "oh my god, i love your show. i watch you every day" and turn three shades of bright red! she smiles and says thanks and keeps walking. y'all don't understand, the travel channel is the only cable channel we get, so she and anthony bourdain are gods in our house. i'm obsessed with her. i want to be her when i grow up. so ridiculous. so anywho, we call everyone we know. and then we walk by the store one more time. and she's still there. so we walk down the street a few blocks to our favorite burger place. then we walk past the store again, and oh wait, she's still there! we're total creepers! 

okay, moving on from our stalker ways...

the sons played softball tonight! i'm not going to say they won, cause they didnt. but i can't say the lost, cause they didnt.  the other team never showed up! the sons are just that good, everyone's afraid to play them! but it was super cold and the wind was blowing but i got a jersey. i'm #13 and it says "chels" across the back! i'm going to wear it all the time!! 

okay well im off work tomorrow and hsm3 comes out! yes i am 24 years old going on 13. i swear i did not request the day off just for the movie coming out. i don't think that far in advance.

overcome with excitement

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so our week in phoenix was pretty exciting. i'm so over weddings, if i don't have to go to another one until may, i'll be perfectly happy.  

i got in on tuesday and went straight to serranos for the best mexican food ever. then went to get pedicures with the fam.  got to see all my cousins and their "others" which was a wonderful surprise! headed home and mom made chicken and dumplings! delicious.

wednesday mom and i got up early and went to target to get daniel and tamra their wedding gift.  then hung out with chelsa the rest of the day. we went to lunch at zpizza and then i made her drive me to the mall.  while heading out we ran into beau! he invited us to happy hour, so along we went! then chelsa and my mom, dad, pop, and i all went to margaritaville for dinner! it seems quite odd to me to have a beach themed restaurant in the middle of the desert, but whatever.  we had margaritas and cheeseburgers in paradise (with heinz 57). 

thursday we spent the whole day setting up for the rehearsal dinner.  everything looked beautiful. my mom has a real knack for that kind of stuff. all in all, everyone remained on their best behaviour, which is saying a lot for redneck kentucky folk! rylan arrived in the great state around 11pm.

friday morning i got a haircut and rylan bought himself a dress shirt for the wedding.  got to the wedding about an hour early, so we tracked down the boys in the bar! the wedding was beautiful and the rehearsal was a blast. my drunken cousins took over the dance floor. very entertaining.  danced with pop, danced with rylan. and no wedding is complete without the macarena, the electric slide and of course the chicken dance. my mother requested them, go figure. i was lucky enough to remain seated for two outta three of those! my cousins (probably flyin' high, if you catch my drift) did the chicken dance, so how could i not?! oh i love my stupid family!

saturday was spent relaxin, and then of course another trip to the mall! had dinner at guedo's, which is second best mexican food in az!  went to see "sex drive" with chelsa. way funnier than i expected.

sunday mom had some friends from church over to say hello. it was so nice to see everyone.  then we went to my cousins house in gilbert to say goodbye to the family.  

yesterday was eventful. we got the airport at 10:30 for our 12:40 flight. well, apparently the 9:30 flight to dallas was 3 hours late.  that meant that our flight was going to be at least an hour late which would mean we miss our connecting flight to savannah.  we would have to sleep in the dallas airport, which is fun for no one.  rylan got our name on the standby list for the (now scheduled) 12:40 flight and we thankfully got on... but our luggage did not.  so we made it to dallas with 40 minutes to spare! we knew the bags wouldnt make it, but we would rather have had the luggage spend the night in the dallas airport than us! the dog welcomed us home with lots of kisses. we also returned to cold weather! it's fall y'all.  i would love to take shower, but the hairdryer is in the luggage. in dallas. so im seriously debating the showering thing right now. did i mention its really cold?!