Double the Fun

I had the pleasure of finally attending a "Shields Wedding"!!

Joel and I drove down (and flew back) to Tennessee with his parents on Joel's 22nd birthday! We left at 5:30a (Thanks to Joel due to the face that his parents alarm didn't go off!) and were in Nashville by 2:30. I slept for most of the drive so it really wasn't half bad. Mostly in part to the sound machine I found on my iphone apps.

We made it!

On friday night we crashed Annie's ceremony. I hadn't even met Annie at this point and was brought to tears by her touching wedding. Her brother Corby is a youth pastor and married Annie and Trent. At the end of the ceremony the five of us (joels fam & me) went and had dinner at Barbra's Down Home Cooking. Barbra doesn't joke about the "home" part. The restaurant is actually in her home. We sat in her front yard and had some reeeeaaaallll southern food including and not limited to: fried chicken, fried catfish, fried ohkra, sweet tea, and mac & cheese. It was all delicious. We were just finishing up dinner when I heard screams coming from the side of Barbra's house. An old woman had fallen and couldn't get up. Joel, Andrew, and Mr. Shields sprinted over and lifted the woman to her feet. She was shaky but her response was priceless. , "Ya'll just picked up 200 pounds, such strong boys!". Clearly she was in a stable position. After dinner we went to a Honkey Tonk bar on Broadway and got to meet up with my cousin Anthony. Minus the fact that he had to make a trip to the E.R. (He had cut his ankle in the morning and it wouldn't stop bleeding), we had a great time dancing to country music and hanging out.

Ya gotta do, what ya gotta do

Annie's lovely ceremony

Roberts - The bar

Saturday Joel and I went to Vanderbilt University where Anthony goes to school to check things out. Anthony gave us the official tour and I was in awe. It is hands down the prettiest campus I have yet to see. Anthony insisted on taking us to the best bbq in Tennessee, Jacks. We stood in line for 45mins but it was most definitley worth it. It was so great to get a chance to visit Anthony on his turf and it's been great to become friends with him after years of not seeing each other.

Saturday night was the big reception. Their family yard had been transformed into a beautiful location for a wonderful weeding. The food was so amazing, (clearly this was not a weekend to do ANY kind of dieting!) food that included shrimp and grits, a meal Joel had been insisting I try. Overall we had a great time dancing and catching up with Joel's fam. The Tennessee Shields' were nicer and taller, than I would have ever hoped for! :)

Tennesse, California, Nevada, & Illinois!

Broadway in Nashville
:)

The twins sharin' a dance

The goregous party