Welcome to Nashville, TN!!

This year alone I'm getting to add EIGHT new states to my list. That's EIGHT states that I'll be going to for the first time this year...how cool is that!? Seven of those states are because of our Chicago trips; but one of them is because of Women of Faith! I'll tell (those of you who don't know about WOF) more about it as it gets closer - April of this year. But for now All-Access is on my mind!

All-Access is a free weekend trip provided by Women of Faith (WOF). This is for group leaders only (those who sign up to bring 50 other women to a WOF). My mom has been doing this ever since I can remember, but this is just my 2nd (and last) year. Last All-Access was held in Dallas, TX. This year's All-Access is in Nashville, TN. WOF provides the airfare, hotel, & food for the whole weekend.

They had us travelling out of Billings at 7:30am, which means that we have to leave the day before, because no one in their right mind would wake up at 4am to drive 2 hrs to Billings to get on a plane. (Ok...well there's no way my mom or I will do that!)  So we left Lewistown last night around 8pm, drove to Billings, & got a room. Well had we known that the front desk lady would put us on the 5:20am shuttle.....!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! We might as well have stayed at home in our own beds & gotten up at 4am...because that's what we had to do anyways!!!!!!

So we got up (Mom at about 4:15am & me about 4:30am) so we could get ready & get down for the 5 flippin 20 AM shuttle. You've got to be joking. There shouldn't even BE a 5:20am! Yeah so I'm really not a morning person. We were walking down the hall to the elevator when I realize it's going to be a very long trip. You see, my mom had the bright idea of us SHARING a suitcase so we didn't have to pay double the fee with the airline. Great idea.....IF YOUR SUITCASE WORKS!!!!!!!! Not so great of an idea if it's broken & I'm the one that has to carry it! Super. So the handle that you pull up is broken, so when I am wheeling it down the hall (and in the airports and in the HUGE hotel in Nashville) I have to totally bend over to hold it by the top handle that's attached to the actual suitcase. This makes me cranky cause I have to put both my carry-on & my purse on my left shoulder so that I can bend over to the right & drag this horrible piece of heaviness that we call a suitcase.

Ok so we get on the shuttle, drive up to the airport, check in, give the big x-ray people our broken bag (thank GOODNESS), & then start to go through security. Word of advise for any potential terrorists out there: NEVER START YOUR TRIP FROM BILLINGS, MT! THEY WILL ALWAYS CATCH YOU!!!!!!!!!! Never fail...my bags are always checked. Always. Not sometimes, not often....but ALWAYS!!!!!!! So here we go again...my mom puts her 40 things in FIVE bins...& I put my stuff in 2...just to have the big bad security lady tell me that everything has to be in it's own separate bin. THEN she takes my purse, puts it on it's SIDE, & proceedes to wiggle it around with her hand to get it as flat as possible. SERIOUSLY?! (Ok side note here...I am Miss Anal-Organized. There is a place for everything & everything has it's place. Good motto for me! So my checkbooks are in one place, my wallet is in another, my little pouches are in another, etc etc. My point is....I DON'T LIKE MY PURSE BEING SCREWED AROUND WITH!) Alright...so the big bad security lady totally messing up my purse was negative action #1. I proceed through security only to have them say "Excuse me, ma'am...is this your bag?" Yup...sure enough, they needed to search my purse. Go figure. What kind of a trip through the Billings airport would it be if they didn't search my purse. Go right ahead. UGH!

So...no weapons of mass destruction found there...& off we went. We went to the gate & I realized that this is the same gate we used to take when we'd take the little mini toothpicks they call a plane to Lewistown from Billings. That was by far the worst flight I'd ever taken. It was Aug 7, 1993 & my grandma & I were going home for me to meet my brother, Curtis, for the first time. This plane today was almost just as bad. They announced that it was our time & they said that you could take 1 personal item on the plane. Haha yeah right. I need my purse & I need my carry-on! I don't take a carry-on just to have it gate-checked. My mom does that, not me. ;) The lady told me that I'd have to gate-check my carry-on (with my laptop, Kindle, Nintendo DS, journal, all my flight/hotel info, etc in it). Grrrrr. Negative action #2. Hahaha I even tried to put them both on my shoulder so that she wouldn't notice....the little sneak. We walk out into the horribly cold morning only to find that the place where we drop off our bags is in a huge snow pile. Not happening. Thankfully there was another "pleasant" girl who took my bag & put it in a wheelchair that just happened to be sitting there!

I walk up the steps to this plane telling my mom that I'd rather just be shot now cause I really didn't want to go through the terror of free-falling through the sky in a mini-toothpick. But I got on anyways & took my seat. On the right side of the plane was just 1 seat but there were 2 on the left. I was in seat 1A. Lucky me. But thankfully no one was sitting next to me so I could freak out in 2 seats. I was surprised however to see that the airline has it's priorities in line:

Yes...that says that the Whisky is held with the Infant Flotation Devices....just to make that clear. And here is my mother all cozy in her seat:

They start the propellers & all I can think of is the movie The Proposal with Ryan Reynolds & Sandra Bullock. You know...when they're going to Sitka, Alaska? Yeah...that was my flight to Denver. The propellers made the plane move from side to side before we even left the ground. They made the seats & plane vibrate SO much. You know those vibrating belts that you put around your mid-section or your butt to make the fat go away... well I should be 100 pounds right now with how that plane was vibrating. I did what I do best though...pray. I prayed & prayed. And then I thanked Got when we landed safely on the ground. I did get a chuckle though when the pilot came on & said that now that he turned off the fasten seat belt sign that we could "Now move about the cabin". Um, excuse me mister pilot sir, but there are NINE rows in this plane.....WHERE ARE WE GONNA GO?!

So we landed, walked off the plane, got our stuff (yes, from the snow-covered ground), & speed-walked inside, and then walked alllllll the way down the hall to our next gate. Thankfully the rest of the trip was very uneventful. I "got" the middle seat (cause I'm a nice daughter & my mom wanted the window) and we arrived safely in Nashville. Thank you Lord.

We found baggage claim, got our broken bag, followed the other 40,000 women in their fine outfits to the busses, loaded up, & were driven to the Opryland Hotel. WOW...this place is phenomenal! It's huge, & gorgeous, & very big, & beautiful, & wow the floor plan! LOL We checked in, somehow found our room, unloaded our stuff, & were off! Mom had breakfast this AM but I hadn't eaten anything all day so both of us were pretty much famished. I took some pictures as we were exploring places to eat.



Some guest rooms & the little canal. You can ride a boat on it for just $9/person! ;)

 

Delta Island - shops & restaurants. This is in a center area of the hotel.

 

The Garden Conservatory - basically a garden with lots of plants & a walkway...but pretty cool!

We found a make-your-own-burger place & sat down to eat. I never eat a whole burger. Never. Except for today. That thing was so good & I was literally starving to death, so I was eating it pretty fast. Well...until my permanent bottom retainer came off! LOL Yup...you read me right...the retainer that WAS along my bottom 5 teeth for the past SEVENTEEN years came off. I'd had one side of it glued back on about 5 times in the recent months; & just in the past couple days another chunk of the glue came off. I have an appt next week to get it fixed again...haha, I guess not anymore. I felt bad throwing that little piece of wire away. I mean...it was a part of me for so long...for as long as my brother has been alive! 17 years is a long time. LOL ok kidding...I pitched that thing in the trash so fast! But, for those of you who've had braces know, it feels soooo weird without it there. We walked around just a bit but came back to the room ASAP so I could brush my teeth. Ok enough about my mouth...



On our way to our dinner reception

 We went to the dinner reception but couldn't eat anything at all cause we were still so full from our 3:30pm "snack". Then the show started. Here's the room that the event is in:

...and that's only the left part of the room... This place is huge. And it's full of 2,200 women! It was short, but great. Natalie Grant opened the night with a little mini-concert. What a treat. She has the most amazing voice, & she's just so gorgeous too. This is the first time she's sang in front of an audience since her new daughter was born 7 weeks ago. Then 3 of the original 4 WOF speakers went up & just talked & answered questions. It was great, & hilarious! Then a 2-sister group, Mary Mary, performed for us all. They're just amazing to hear.

And now it's bed time. I need to type recipes like crazy but my eyes are pretty much red & blood shot cause I'm so tired...so off to bed I go. Tomorrow is a long, fun-filled day & I'm looking forward to it.

And of course I can't forget....today is my husband, Dustin's, birthday. Yes, I missed his birthday. Thankfully birthday's in his family aren't as big as in my family cause he was totally fine with me coming. I did give him his gift though before I left & told him not to open it until today. He got to spend the day with the girls, & they all had a great time together. ;o)

Here's to a good night's sleep - un-interrupted!!!