Well, tonight I'm going to try and keep it short and sweet....you see, I am SICK! Last night I started feeling a little under the weather and I've had a sore throat & stuffy head all day long. It didn't keep me from enjoying my day - instead, I was thankful to God that I didn't get sick on my first day!



So, today was another busy day chocked full of fun activities. The first order of business was to meet with Kami and look at 3 houses. This was NOT for the purpose of buying, obviously...but more to see what some of these houses look like from the inside. We loved all 3 (of course there were things that did not necessarily meet our criteria, but again - just getting a feel for what's out there for our housing dollar). The first one was a house in our Royal Glen district that was just recently built (even though it was just built, there were still mature trees around this area). It was at the top end of our price range and it was HUGE! It's probably too much house for us honestly, but it was a dazzler. There were actually 2 master bedrooms - for what, I'm not sure!

The other 2 were great as well. Most notable tho was the 3rd one. See, we have this idea that we want an acre of land. Well to be honest with you, this city girl has never seen an acre (well, Green Acres maybe) so for me to say that I want one is just ridiculous! I suppose I'm just saying that because I know that it's doable. So, today we got to see what an acre looked like....and.....IT'S BIG! (click here to see a pic) This particular property was irregularly shaped, so it was sort of hard to tell what's yours and what's not. However, at the end of the property there is a little creek and trees and stuff - very cool.

It's probably a good time for me to tell you that Abby has a new career path....she is going to be a Real Estate agent (actually, she has been wanting to be an astronaut, so I suggested combining the two and being an agent on the moon). In order to make Abby feel more involved in the whole house-critiquing process, I gave her a notepad and pen. I caught her in the back of the car once with her legs crossed, her neck pinned to her shoulder (on her pretend cell phone of course) and writing on her notepad....her conversation revolved around a sales price. "Yes, it's 223,000...uh huh....uh huh". Each house we went into, she would help Kami turn the lights on and off. During one of the houses, Kami and I were looking at something in the kitchen. From the living room we hear Abby yell, "Come on girls, let's keep looking".

Our time with Kami finally came to an end - she even had a little parting gift for us! A gift bag with about a half dozen homemade corn muffins and some kinda nasty good candy (I forgot what they are called, but the word "goo" is in the name so you know they are yummy).

Next, we met with a lady named Kim from the World Outreach Church. We got to ask her questions about the church and tell her a little about our story, why we were here, etc. It was a wonderful meeting - she gave Abby a video and some really super nice mugs for us...then, she prayed for us before we left. We can surely see that being a church home for us...

After that, we got to visit the ICEJ (International Christian Embassy, Jerusalem - this is their US operational HQ ) and see where our friend Michael will be working as well as the house that Bonni & Michael will be living in with the kids. It seems like quite a few of us have seen their new surroundings before they have even set foot on US soil. Of course everyone was so friendly - it was a neat little stop.

We went on back to the hotel for.......................if you've been following this blog, you should know what comes next (if not, you really should start from the beginning!). Back at home base, I was able to take a much needed nap before our afternoon activities. Although Murfreesboro is only 30 miles away from Nashville, we decided that we really wanted to stay and do things locally in Murfreesboro. This is why we have not done anything in Nashville. However, we were picking Grandma Eva up at the Nashville airport at 8:30pm so we decided to head up early and spend some time hanging out up there...we are so glad that we did! We had the best time...

The first thing that really struck us was the fact that at 4:30pm there was hardly any traffic on the main interstate (which is 24) going out of Murfreesboro. As Vinnie Barbarino would say, "that was like, really weird". Mike had picked the place for us to dine (I can't see how he possibly could have topped my awesome pick from last night - "Mike's Catfish Cafe", but I thought I'd at least let him make an attempt...ha ha). The place was called "Aquarium" and let me tell you....it did not disappoint!



This restaurant had as its centerpiece an aquarium filled with 200,000 gallons of water (yes, that's 5 zeros after that 2). More than 100 species of colorful, tropical fish, small sharks, sting rays from the Caribbean Sea, Hawaii, South Pacific and the Indian Ocean – reside in the tank (there was something about them shipping in some crazy amount of salt in from Israel each month for the water, but I didn't catch the exact fact). There are even 2 moray eel (they were creepy!). At 5:30, one of the marine biologists that are on staff there come down into the tank to feed the fish and clean up a bit. He waves at people as they come to look at the fish...it's interesting. Abby was so into the aquarium that I could barely get her to pick her dinner item. I listed what was there and threw in "cardboard" as a choice and she wasn't even paying attention! At one point, she went up by herself to see the scuba diver - she took my camera with me and snapped a picture of him (click here for the album of our Nashville trip). Now, I was a little reluctant about the food...I mean, you can only have your "one thing" - you can either be this cool aquarium with marine biologists on staff.....or.....you can be a really good restaurant. Quite obviously their thing is the aquarium...so, I'm figuring they are throwin' some fish sticks in the oven and topping it with a little Pace picante sauce or something. It doesn't seem possible for it to be the best of both worlds. Well, I'm here to tell you that it was. I had the flounder and Mike had the mahi-mahi....both were incredible, as was the margarita I had with my meal (YUM-O!). Good job Mike! This blew the Catfish Cafe out of the water (get it....water.....fish.....oh, come on, just laugh).

This restaurant actually resides in the mall. Ok, I know when I say mall that conjures up images of a few shops with JC Penny and Sears bookends. NO. This was not just any mall...it was the "Opry Mills Mall" (please, call it the "Mills"). This was not only a huge mall, but it's home to the Grand Ole Opry! I never knew this was at a mall, but it is....there is a cute sort of "square" around the front where you can stroll, look at beautiful flowers and sit. Some of the rocks are actually speakers, so the whole while you are strolling along or sitting, you are treated to the sounds of country music from artists old and new. It was very neat to see (and hear)!

Since the whole front of my body was wet from trying to feel the sting rays after dinner at the "reef" (yes, I did this....and yes, sting ray have teeth and yes, it was creepy), we hung out in the nice warm evening and dried off. Of course, the music inspired Abby to get down and boogie. Please click here to see Abby dance in front of the Grand Ole Opry.

After this fun adventure, we headed off to the Nashville airport to pick up Grandma Eva. I have to say, this airport has THE best pickup situation I've ever seen! As you approach the area where normally (like at OAK or SFO) it would be congested and stressful, you are greeted with signs indicating flight numbers and arrival times....and, these cute little parking spaces where you can "pull right in", park and load up. They are situated diagonally and when you're done, you continue to pull forward and you're off. I suppose you really have to see it to understand....I highly recommend picking someone up there if you get the chance :)

It was great catching Eva up on all of our activities while we were here in TN. We dropped her off at her destination, then headed back to the hotel for sleep! Tomorrow, we leave our little extended stay haven at 7am and head off to the airport. We say goodbye - for now at least - to this great city. We are struck by how time has slowed down for us to really take things in and enjoy our time together as a family.

Our next leg of this vacation involves 10 days in Fort Worth with Grandmama & Grandpapa. I can't believe that we are not even half way through our vacation yet! When we arrive back home, we seek God for direction about putting our house up for sale....please stay tuned - I'm sure there will be new adventures to read about.