You never know who you'll see at Tootsie's

The past three weeks have been totally nuts. My life has been an emotional roller coaster. After my first drive to Owensboro and then all the way back to Nashville I melted down. I couldn't handle that much time in the car when I had been up since 5am. I was convinced I had to move. It had been a week and I was SURE I couldn't really live out my dreams here in Nashville because I was too crippled by the process of commuting to Bowling Green. I spent the weekend following on the phone with my Dad and talking to some close friends in Bowling Green, only to realize that what I needed was a serious nap, some good food and a few deep breaths. By the next Sunday I was really ok. I determined that I was going to have to crash in Bowling Green on Thursday nights because the drive was too much. And really, it helped me get my work done before my long weekends. I would have Friday's to work IN Bowling Green if I needed it and re-charge my "friend" battery by meeting up with a couple of people every week. Diane is the first friend I ever made in college, we lived on the same floor of our dorm and then 6 weeks later we both initiated into Kappa Delta. She has been there for me with every dumb decision, bad boyfriend and moment of triumph. And she is there for me again this semester, by allowing me her spare key on Thursday nights and my own little camp on her living room pull out. She is saving my life is so many ways. I am very grateful for her friendship.

I know we've all heard everyone say that "Everything happens for a reason" but here is some awesome proof. Not 24 hours after making my decision to stay in Nashville, I got a phone call from Jett Aaron who is the band leader at "Tootsie's Orchid Lounge" downtown. Sunday night ammiture night had an opening. His brother, Chris Aaron, the talent manager at State Street in Bowling Green (where I had played in the summer of 2008) had sent him my tape, told him I was in Nashville now and asked him to call me and give me a shot if they ever had an opening. I was thrilled! I had a two hours of time and an open set list, he said they would play anything I wanted to sing. As soon as I hung up, I burst into tears, probably because I was exhausted but also because I was overjoyed. I was going to sing in Nashville on a stage where Toby Keith and Kenny Chesney had both played, just a matter of months before! I mean, Roger Miller wrote "Dang Me" in Tootsie's and Willie Nelson was hired as a song writer in this bar....It was unreal.

Sunday night came and went much too quickly. It was oddly enough the night that Kanye West humiliated Taylor Swift at the MTV VMA's and the show was on in the background of the bar. I remember looking up during a break and seeing her on stage and thinking "Oh Taylor, help me out girl, don't let me puke my guts out during my first Nashville show..." Before I knew it, the show was over. The guys in the band told me that on your first night in Nashville you take home all the tips. But from then on, it's evenly split. When they asked me what I was going to do with my first Musician's paycheck...all $75 dollars of it... I laughed and told them that the drive costs were really catching up with me and that I had to use my money for groceries because I was out of milk...and lunch meat....and cereal and well, everything! To which Jett replied that that meant I had made my first mark, he said that you're only a true struggling artist if you spend your first paycheck on a guitar or groceries. I felt fulfilled :-)

25 facts.

This little project made its way around my friends email so I decided to make my own list of 25 random facts, and now I'm sharing it with you all!

1. To begin...I do not believe in the use of hangers. My clothes were made to live on the floor. If you don't believe me please ask any of the women who lived in the Kappa Delta House from the Fall of 2007 until the Spring of 2008.
2. On the political spectrum, I am somewhere to the right of Atilla the Hon, however I am working on being more tolerant.
3. I love Chris Rice's music, if you don't know who that is, YOUTUBE him!
4. My sister is the bravest woman I know. She has held my hand through so many battles and now that she is fighting battles of her own I hope that I can be the support she has always been for me, and more!
5. That being said, I believe that one of the most important things college has taught me is that I do much better with ONE sister....atleast one at a time.
6. I'm obsessed, OBSESSED with FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS(the show, not so much the movie)
7. The matching scarf-hat-glove combination(in all colors) from Old Navy is this little Florida girl's best friend.
8. I took Bowling last semester, it was horrible, I am a terrible bowler.
9. The next person to back into, rear-end, side swipe or so much as sneeze on my car will face my wrath.
10. Luckily, I am not from a small town.
11. My cat is the bomb-diggity, if you don't know Jeremiah then you need to come over, he will entertain you, bite you, chase you, knock over your glass and win your heart in one short visit.
12. Football Season, I love it.
13. When I get married, my wedding with be EPIC. Come one, come all you will never experience anything like it again.
14. I put chocolate candy in the freezer, I like it better cold.*BONUS: I also put egg shells in my disposal NOT the trash can.
15. If I am alone in a room at night, I have to play the radio softly, otherwise no sleeping for me.
16. If I could be just little bit more like Emily Lueken, Staci Miller Lester, Leslie Nowlin, Amanda Evans Walton and Stacey Adkisson Forsythe I'm pretty sure I would be content for life.
17. I find it so irritating that my 23 year old high school sweetheart insists on getting married FOR THE SECOND TIME since he graduated from high school. What is it with people who HAVE to get married?!? ....poor guy.
18. My Initials are E.E. I and it depresses me that someday I will have to be something else like E.J. or E.L. or E.H.....
19.I have no idea what I want to be when I grow up. Yikes.
20. I like my pizza on a soft thin crust with minimal sauce and good cheese.
21. I have sung the national anthem at over 100 school functions since 8th grade, I'm pretty sure I know the lyrics better than I know my social security number.
22. I have to BEST KD FAMILY, it starts with Julia Bodine, Krisin Hartley, Stacey Adkisson, Julia Howes, Staci Miller, Sara Puckett and Jessica Meibers, that's a freakin dynasty! Be jealous.
23. Cancer Survivor. It has been a long 5 years of good and bad reports and as private as my family and I have been, I am proud now to say that I am a Cancer Survivor and I look forward to sharing my story with as many people as possible.
24. I wear proudly the letters of 2 outstanding Greek organizations, Kappa Delta Sorority: the home of my Mother, Sister and Aunt and Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity: the place my future husband and the brothers I've never had all call home.
25. I am the luckiest person in the world.