Part-Time Tennesseean

Hello Friends! Life has been hectic these past weeks, mainly because I've been living between 2 states that are 9 hours away from each other. In the past month I've made 3 visits to Tennessee (2 by car and 1 by plane) to see my hubs, who is in training camp with the Tennessee Titans. Aside from those trips, I spent a week at my parents lake house in Conneaut Lake, PA...so I've really been a traveling machine!

The Titans are located in Nashville, Tennessee, and I am absolutely loving learning the city! I've explored the different neighborhoods trying to find a home for us this season. We initially wanted to be in the Green Hills/West End area, which is super trendy and close to everything, but everything that we found there was coming up a bit more then our budget. I can only justify spending so much on our place of living!!! We instead opted for the more quiet and country area of Bellevue. Patrick lived in this neighborhood last year so we know there isn't too much traffic to get there and back during rush hour - which is a huge plus in our books! We won't be totally disconnected, there is shopping nearby, just not a mall (It's only 20 minutes tops away...this is probably a good thing because it houses ALL of my favorite stores! I'd be in big trouble if we were any closer!!!) The townhouse we found is charming! God-willing we will get the opportunity to call it our home in the coming days :-)

Many don't understand how cut-throat the the NFL is. It's a business. Talented guys are let go from teams every day. These are guys who uprooted their family, purchased a home or signed a lease on an apartment, with no real guarantee of their spot on the roster. Guys are given contracts, but those contracts can be broken any day of the year. This week in particular is a big week in which lots of contracts are broken all across the league. It's quite scary actually. This is why Patrick and I have been playing it safe and waiting until he officially makes the team to make a move on our living situation.

The distance isn't easy. I miss waking up beside him, and I miss kissing him goodnight. I miss cleaning up after him (Shocker right?!) and cooking for him too. Plain and simple, I miss every little thing that I got accustomed to while living with him for the first four months of our marriage.

Anyhow, back to the trips! While in town, I got to enjoy both of the Titans home games verses the Minnesota Vikings and the Chicago Bears...

 

 

 Patrick has been playing well! It's so exciting to see him play on Special Teams again, and I'm loving his opportunities to play at Linebacker! I'm so proud of him!! :-)

On the latest visit, my Mom and Godmother traveled with me and we took a road trip to Memphis to visit "The King" at Graceland! What a cool experience! Below are some pictures of the mansion.

Us out front of the mansion

Loved the peacock stained glass windows!

The Jungle Room!

TCB Room...Takin' Care of Business

Pool room...the walls, ceiling, and couches all had the same fabric...not my favorite but neat none the less!

Elvis played at that piano the morning of his death.

Amazing to see how much one man can accomplish!

We also visited the exhibit housing all of Elvis' cars...very cool!



My second fav...gold snakeskin top and suiscide doors...pretty sweet!



Elvis' car for his mom

The last vehicle Elvis rode onto Graceland

My personal fav!

A gift for Priscilla

And we even got to tour his airplane called "Lisa Marie". Patrick would have loved seeing this! All of the seatbelt buckles and sinks in the plane were made of gold...fancy schmancy! We don't fly this fly....maybe someday!

Elvis' bed on the plane

My Mom, Godmother and I all enjoy a casino every now and then and decided to ask where the closest one was. We almost crossed it off our list when we learned it was in Mississippi. When I put the address in the GPS I found it was only 20 minutes away so it was off to Mississippi for us! I had never been there, so it was a fun experience!

My mom was the big winner. She won $120 by playing a machine that she thought was nine cents...turned out she was betting $4.50! She also won $40 on scratch off tickets in Tennessee, and another $290 on scratch offs on our way home in Kentucky! Oh, and she won $70 at my nephew, Blayze's football game 50/50 raffle prior to the trip...talk about lucky!!!

Thursday night is Patrick's final pre-season game of the 2011 season. It will be played in New Orleans. On Friday we should know if he made the Titans roster. All prayers are welcome in the meantime!!! I'll keep you posted on the results :-) Until then...Hugs!