Weekend in Review: Tennessee

What a wonderful weekend! It was a time to be proud of my loved ones and realize just how happy and lucky I am to have them all in my life.

My brother graduated on Saturday from undergrad with a degree in Mass Communications from MTSU. He is currently working towards spending a year in South Korea teaching English as a second language. And I believe the plan is still to apply to law schools after that. We didn't have the best relationship growing up, but as we've both matured, we've grown closer. He has grown into such an amazing guy. Smart and caring, and the funniest guy I know. I am so proud of him, and so happy that I can call him a friend as well at this point in my life.

My boyfriend, as reported earlier, made the snare line with the Atlanta Falcons Drumline for the 2010 season, something that he has been working so hard at for the past few weeks. I couldn't be prouder of him. (Though, to be honest, I had absolutely no doubt in my mind he could make it. Without sounding like I have a bias as his girlfriend, he truly does have this will power and determination that just allows him to achieve pretty much anything he puts his mind to.) I am so happy to see him achieving something that I know he will truly enjoy.

And the rest of my family- I am just so lucky to have them. To have a family that has the ability to send their children to school, to visit them and celebrate their accomplishments with them. Not everyone has that, and I am just so happy that I do. I can't imagine how proud my parents were of my brother to see him walk across that stage. Even though I am proud of him, he's not my son, and I know it means much more to them than it ever could for me. It makes me wonder about when I have kids of my own and all the things they will go on to accomplish. I just can't imagine what it must feel like to see someone you brought into this world going out and making something of them self.

The ceremony itself was long and pretty much like every other graduation ceremony people go to. It wasn't a HUGE graduating crowd, because they had multiple ceremonies that day, so everyone got to walk. I did think the president plugged the school a little more than necessary. I understand the need to talk about the school to some degree, but he talked about the school more than he did the actual graduates really. Oh well. The speaker wasn't bad, and I did make a note of at least one quote he used in his speech- "All that lies behind you and all that lies before you is inconsequential to what lies within you." (A rewording of a Ralph Waldo Emerson quote, I believe.)

After the 3 hour ceremony, we grabbed a bite at a burrito place, Blue Coast, ran back to the hotel to change and then headed out to Nashville for the evening. Davey took us and his girlfriend, Claire, by the place he worked on Music Square. We walked around a bit, took pictures and contributed to the Geocache that was located under the back stairs leading up to his office. Very cool! Then after that we headed off to The Cheesecake Factory for dinner, dessert and celebratory drinks. I think we ended up leaving with about 10 to-go boxes between everyone!

Sunday morning we got to sleep in (past when they stopped serving free breakfast down in the hotel lobby) which was nice, since we were all EXHAUSTED by the time we fell into bed Saturday night. Davey and Dad ran off to get food for a picnic lunch while Mom, Sunny and I packed up and got ready for the day. Davey picked out this absolutely perfect place to spend Mother's Day. When they got back with the food we drove out to Arington Vineyards for a wine tasting and a picnic! The drive out there was gorgeous (though I didn't get to appreciate it on the way out due to a combination of cramps and the medicine I took that did more harm than good.) But the vineyard itself was just gorgeous! The pictures on the website don't even BEGIN to capture how beautiful this place is. The weather on Sunday definitely didn't hurt. The sky was blue, the grass was green, and the lawns were filled will families just out having a good time. There were dads and sons throwing balls, kids chasing each other, mothers pushing strollers. Not a single screaming child. They had live music and carts that could drive you up if you had to park down at the bottom of the hill (by the time we left the place was packed and people were just parking on the side of the road.) It really was kind of ridiculously idyllic. Whoever does the marketing for Tennessee's tourist industry really needs to get out there and get some footage. I was ready to move up there by the time the day was through.

The wine tasting went well. Mom and Dad have a more mature palate for wine, but we managed to agree on a few and ended up selecting a bottle of the Gewurztraminer to have with lunch. They purchased several more bottles to take home, and both Davey and I got a bottle of the Raspberry dessert wine to take home with us. Then we headed up to the top of a hill overlooking the vineyard and the surrounding area to have our picnic. We exchanged Mother's Day and graduation cards and gifts and had some awesome McAlister's for lunch.

After strolling around a bit and taking in the day, it was time to hit the road. We dropped Davey back off and were on the road by 5, home by a little after 9. I grabbed my bags and Gus and we were back home at my little apartment and in bed by about 10:30! Talk about a busy weekend!