CMA Awards Show!

Well, I can cross another amazing experience off my bucket list! On November 9th, 2011, I got to attend the 45th annual CMA Music Awards Show!

Since I was a little girl, I have LOVED country music! Nearly every home video of me growing up showcases me singing Hank William's Jr.'s "Tear In My Beer" - which sounded more like "Tewl In My Bewl" - since I couldn't pronounce my "R's"...lol! Most kids want to be a doctor or a teacher when they grew up, but I wanted to be a Cowgirl, or "Cowgowl" lol - because I loved my country music so much. I grew up to the sounds of my man Hank, Dolly Parton, The Kentucky Headhunters, The Bellamy Brothers, Sawyer Brown, Shenandoah, The Judds, Confederate Railroad, Randy Travis...all those awesome artists who aren't making new country music any longer, but who will forver be my "Classic Country". I so badly wanted to be a cowgirl that I would dress up as one in my blue jeans, jacket with a horse on it, hat and of course my snow boots since they were the only ones I had being a Pittsburgh girl.

Throughout the years I have continued to love country music, even in those years where it wasn't the "hip" genre to listen to - "I was country, when country wasn't cool". Needless to say, a childhood dream came true when my friend Morgan asked me if I wanted to go to the show with her!

First, Patrick had promised me last year that if he was still in Tennessee this year, we would go to the show together. I asked Patrick about getting tickets the week prior, but he told me it would be too much with me leaving town the following day, and him having to get me to the airport so early before his longest day of practice. I understood it was going to be a lot for him, and said "Next year! No excuses!" and he agreed.

Morgan's boyfriend, Ryan, plays ball with Patrick and was in the same mind-frame. He also felt it would be too much to go to the awards show then practice the next day (Thursdays = 12 hour day for them!) so Ryan canceled on Morgan a few hours prior. Ryan's loss was my gain lol and I owe him a big hug for it! Morgan texted me at 3:45 asking if I wanted to go with her. My hair was in a ponytail, I had sweats on (needed to shave my legs!) and was about to go hiking...! I was like a mad woman rushing around the house getting showered, dressed and packed for my trip home, all before I had to leave the house at 5:20! I made it...must have been the adrenaline! Here's me and Morgs before the show :-) 

Morgan's dad is in the music industry, so he was able to get us amazing seats three rows up from the floor, where all the country music stars were seated! Here is a picture from our seat with NO zoom!

We had a birds eye view of all the stars who attended. We could see who was talking to who and what they were wearing...not gonna lie, I felt like a super stalker at times, but this was once in a lifetime experience! You may wonder what the stars do during commercial break...here you have it...they talk to other stars and take pictures!

Faith and Tim chatting it up

Taylor posing for a picture

Miranda and Blake chatting it up with Kenny

The show itself though, was amazing! Not one performance was disappointing, each singer/group did an amazing job! If I had to pick a favorite though, Luke Bryan singing "Country Girl (Shake It For Me) was my favorite! He performed right in front of us and looked up and pointed in the crowd, so I just felt so connected!

My second favorite would be Sara Evans "Stronger". She performed on the center stage, so she was a little further away than Luke Bryan, but she had girls that balanced themselves on a piece of cloth in the air! It was amazing! Words can't possibly do it justice, check it out for yourself!

Another memorable performance was Martina McBride singing "I'm Gonna Love You Through It". Each person attending the show was given a flashlight, and we were instructed to turn them on for that performance. It was magical looking in the arena!

I'm also a HUGE Jason Aldean fan, so seeing him perform was a highlight - even though I so wish he would have sang "Dirt Road Anthem" - my fav!

Also gotta love Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley singing "Remind Me"...loved Carrie's dress!

And the big winners of the night...The Band Perry

Aside from the performances, seeing the winners accept their awards was very cool!

The Band Perry getting their award for Best New Artists



Jason Aldean receiving award for Best Album...so deserved in my book!



Best Female Vocalist - two year streak!



Taylor snagged Entertainer of the Year for the second time in her career!

It was fun to see all the other celebrities in attendance. We spotted Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman and Terry Bradshaw (Aghhhh! Love him!)

A HUGE thank you goes out to Morgan and her Dad, Bernard, for allowing me to attend this awards show with them! That night was filled with memories that I will cherish for the rest of my life! Thanks for making one of my dreams come true! :-)

PB's BIG Play!

As many of you know, Patrick had a pretty big play 2 weeks back when the Titans played their division opponent, the Colts, at LP Field in Nashville. I waited to write this blog so I could find all the articles and interviews. I figured this is a neat memoir of such a special day in Patrick's career :-)

First, Patrick has NEVER blocked a punt before in all of his years playing football! Patrick explained to me how difficult it is to block a punt, so the fact that the Titans have two blocked punts this year is pretty spectacular! The first one was by Patrick's good friend, Tim Shaw, when the Titans played in Pittsburgh.

One thing that made Patrick's blocked punt so special was the fact that his teammate, Jason McCourty, was there to scoop up the ball and fall into the end zone. It was named one of NFL.com's "Can't Miss Plays of Week Eight". Take a look at it for yourself...

http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-cant-miss-plays/09000d5d82398d0e/WK-8-Can-t-Miss-Play-A-block-for-six

Here's another view that someone posted on youtube.com...I love the description..."Patrick Bailey blocks a punt but someone else gets the the TD. Oh, well." LOL!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZV1U0fJYwY&feature=youtu.be

NFL.com kicked off their "Top Plays of October" video with the play...pretty exciting!

http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-network-total-access/09000d5d823aa05a/October-plays-of-the-month

Also, ESPN named it #7 in their top 10 plays of the week!!! Can't find this video anywhere online though :-/

It always takes Patrick awhile to come out to the parking lot after a game, but this particular week it took him even longer, due to the fact he was being interviewed. Check out the video posted on Titansonline.com...

http://www.titansonline.com/media-center/videos/LB-Patrick-Bailey/cc9d9354-26ec-4b4d-8cc2-5ecd4804d8a3

There were also a few newspaper articles we found. The first is from the Tennessean.

http://blogs.tennessean.com/titans/2011/10/30/baileys-first-block-a-big-one/

Here's what Fox Sports had to say...

http://www.foxsportstennessee.com/11/01/11/Titans-Insider-Bailey-comes-up-big-with-/landing.html?blockID=594196&feedID=3731

And Titansonline featured this article...

http://www.titansonline.com/news/article-1/Notebook-Blocked-Punt-for-TD-Sparks-Titans/40837f92-a0ad-4cce-917b-f3884a9ff3a5

USA Today also posted a picture in the newspaper which was super exciting! Below is the photo they posted in color!

 One more cool shot I found online...

One of the above articles mentioned Patrick's battle wound - lol. Nearly two weeks later, he still has a mark on his arm from where he came down on the ball...although it is getting better. Here's a picture from day one...this one is mild compared to what it turned into.

Aside from the blocked punt, Patrick had three tackles on Special Teams - so needless to say, this was Patrick's biggest game of his career thus far!

I'm so proud of him, each and every week, whether he has a great game or a not so great game. It's so exciting to watch him out there doing what he loves to do. Sometimes I pinch myself, thinking "Is that really my husband out there?! Is this really our life?!" We are tremendously blessed and I thank God for all the gifts in our life each and every day. 

What amazed me most about my husband that week was the fact that he is so humble. To Patrick, that game and those plays were him just doing his job. Yes, he was excited and he knows it was a big game for him, but it's just business as usual. He knows one play isn't going to secure his job on the team this week or next year, so he's constantly trying to get better. I love his drive and work ethic!

The Titans give out a game ball for Offense, Defense and Special Teams each week they get a win...Patrick was awarded his second ball of this season...yay! What a special memoir for such a special play!

In The Woods With The Woods :-)

Patrick and I recently celebrated the Titans BYE week with a trip to Gatlinburg, Tennessee. One of his coaches told him about the neat little town in East Tennessee. With Fall in full swing, we got to enjoy the sights of some beautiful country!! Literally, we saw the leaves change color over the weekend - which is one of my favorite parts of the Fall season :-)

Patrick had a specific idea of what he wanted the place we stayed at to look like - that mainly being he wanted a cabin feel. Normally I would think small and musty with a cabin, but not that case with this place!

Try large and luxurious! This place boasted three bedrooms, each with their own bathroom and whirlpool tub in the room...

An indoor pool...

A hot rub room...

An arcade area...

And quite possibly the coolest part, a home cinema room!

Talk about beautiful!

Our friends, Ryan and Erin (The Woods) joined us for the weekend getaway. They live in Atlanta and were able to drive up, which was so nice, because we threw the entire trip together so last minute. It was SO good seeing them! Patrick and Ryan played football together at Duke, and they lived together their Junior and Senior years. I have always enjoyed Erin, she is such a sweetheart, not to mention we have a ton in common! We both scrapbook, she was my inspiration in starting up blogging, andddd she now has me addicted to the site "Pinterest" - much to our husbands dismay lol! (If you haven't yet, check it out...Pinterest.com...it's an online bulletin board, so any time you like something anywhere on the web you "Pin It" to your personal board! Best part, you get to see what your friends are "Pinning" - it's an ongoing circle of creativeness! Love it!) Needless to say, we loved seeing the Woods and had a great time with them!

Friday night we headed into the downtown area of Gatlinburg for the evening. What a cool spot! These aren't my pictures, but here are some views of the town.

The town is lined with places to shop, eat, and things to see and do. Our first stop was Ole Smokey Tennessee Moonshine Distillery...fun! We got to see all the moonshine being made AND we got to sample each flavor. They give you a tiny shot, and I'm not going to lie, I was feeling a little buzzed just from trying the little bit of each of them. Patrick and I recently made our own apple moonshine, so we decided to buy the peach moonshine...good stuff!

Another cool spot was the lift up the mountain. I wanted to do this, but lost to goofy golf, which was also a good time!

We got beat on by the Woods, who thankfully didn't keep us to the bet of "losers run around the outside of the cabin soaking wet in their bathing suits" - I was sweating it!

After, we got some ice cream and fudge at Kilwins...YUM! Pumpkin Fudge - Love! We then wanted to take advantage of some of the amenities in our cabin, so headed back for some fun and games in the arcade room.

Saturday we went for a 4 mile hike in the woods to a waterfall...which wasn't quite the waterfall any of us had expected - lol - but beautiful none the less! We were a bit scared when we saw a sign saying "Stay at least 50 feet away from bears"...comforting! And we could control that how?! Fortunately, we had no run-ins with bears! Or any animal for that matter. Just us and the beautiful views of Mother Nature...

The other highlight of the day was going boot shopping! Erin told us about The Boot Factory Outlet - which has an all day, every day special of "Buy One Get TWO Free!" Patrick was upset that one of my findings was a pair of Harley Davidson stiletto boots (Don't judge! They don't look like biker boots!) - he wanted to put his foot down (pun intended!) - but I talked him into them :-) I think both Ryan and Patrick regretted stopping at The Boot Factory Outlet, but I say a happy wife makes for a happy life!

Our last night in the cabin we grilled some burgers and spent some time in the pool and hot tub before catching "Dukes Of Hazard" in the cinema room. What a fun night!

Our time in Gatlinburg was wonderful! My only complaint was that we didn't have enough time there! I'll wrap with some pictures we took before heading out of town :-)