Lightning Bolt

So for whatever reason, this video wouldn't upload on the previous post in my account, so I had to hijack Jesse's. This is a pretty amazing look at what the storms were like in Tennessee. Thanks for sending this sis!

Oh yeah, I went to Nashville

The day after I graduated my mom, my younger sis, and me all loaded up a red Lancer and headed out for Nashville.  Call me crazy, but I LOVE to roadtrip.  I volunteered for this adventure.  My sis was moving to Nashville for the summer and needed some people to drive with her cause her husband had already driven the other car there a few days earlier.  I am now a firm believer in GPS. 

Only a few short hours on the road and we thought my Mom might go crazy!  She has a hard time sitting for long periods of time and we just so happened to get stuck in a two hour traffic jam in Wyoming.  As evidenced above, we thought we might be in for a long trip.  But once traffic got moving again, she became her normal chipper self.

We were originally going to make the drive in two and a half days, but on the second day we realized we were only about five more hours to Nashville, so we pushed on and arrived at 12:30 AM at sis's new place.  The driving went really smooth, there was only a slight mishap in following the GPS while passing through St. Louis, but the GPS quickly recalculated and we were only off for a few minutes.  Three girls in a car makes for some funny conversations and lots and lots of giggles.  I don't even remember what the sign in a nasty gas station bathroom read, but me and my mom almost peed our pants laughing at it while waiting to use the restroom. 

Once in Nashville, our first objective was to help sis get moved into her cute new apartment.  So we unpacked and found the gaint Wal-Mart and had a minor gas station incident where I was the only one not panicked that the car would run out of gas and we would never find a gas station. 

When in Nashville, there are a few things you must see, the first one being the Grand Ole Opry House.

I was so impresed with the Grand Ole Opry.  They were dedicated to putting on family friendly show and choosing members who were good role models.  I wish there were more organizations out there like that these days.  We took a tour of the opry house and got to go back stage and see all the dressing rooms and actually walk out on the stage.  The was going to be a show later that night, so all the equipment was set up.  An interesting tid bit that I never knew: Anyone remember watching Hee Haw?  That was filmed on one of the sound stages at the Opry. 

The Opry is filled with tradition, which gave the building a really cool feeling.  Another little known fact, is that every Opry member has a mailbox located at the Opry House.  So you can address a letter with nothing more than the persons name and The Grand Ole Opry and it will make it to the star (who they say usually checks their mail in person instead of letting it go through their fan club or agent.  Watch out Keith Urban!)

While on our sightseeing, we couldn't miss going to the Gaylords Hotel and seeing their Atrium in the middle of the hotel.  It felt like walking in a rainforest.  It was incredibly beautiful and filled with all kinds of plants that I had never seen before. 

They even had a few waterfalls and ponds running throughout the Atrium.  This would be the coolest hotel to stay in because there were rooms with balconies that opened right to the Atrium.  There were also a few restaurants on the edges so you could dine in paradise.  New life goal is to go back and stay in this hotel.

Luckily we were in Nashville pre-flooding (but only by a few days!).  All of the sights we saw were flooded and 1500 guests had to be evacuated from the Gaylords Hotel.  Here are some pics from my sis who was there.

This picture is taken in the parking lot of the Grand Ole Opry.

This picture is a bridge just down the road from my sis's apartment.

This just gives an idea of how deep the water was! My sis's husband and his brothers and friends took a video of the bridge flooding .  It is just amazing how much rain came down.

 All in all we had a great trip and were glad my mom and I flew home before the flooding came.  And I am so glad my mom now knows the ridiculousness of riding the Shuttle.

The HOOD

Probably my favorite part of being a Masters graduate was getting to wear the hood.  It was pretty awesome.  But I couldn't believe that while BYU was entrusting us with a Masters degree, they were pretty sure we were not capable of wearing the hood correctly.

First, I was sent this video. I rolled my eyes and thought okay, whatever.

I pick up my cap, gown, and hood the day before graduation and found more instructions about wearing the hood.  Of course they can't just give me the gown without instructions, so I cut them a break on that one.

I arrive at the line-up spot for the processional and am milling about with my cohort enjoying the graduation atmosphere and find myself being inspected by multiple ladies.  It was like they came out of nowhere and started grooming me like a pack of monkeys.  Very weird experience. 

But that was not the end.  The next day at convocation, each one of us was inspected by two separate ladies as we stood in the wings to walk across the stage.  It was all a bit ridiculous.  I couldn't believe how much effort they were putting in to make sure the hood was worn correctly.

But then again, they were correcting alot of people, so maybe we are smart enough to get a masters degree but not enough to read directions.

You may call me Master of the Universe...

or I will settle for Robin Hood.  

Yep I finally graduated from grad school.  It was a slightly painful process at times and my mother had to resort to bribing me last summer, but in the end I produced an excellent piece of research.  (Which by the way I just found out has been accepted to the Leisure Research Symposium.  That means I will give a 20 minute presentation about my research to top scholars from the leisure science field.)

Jesse made me a cute graduation announcement, but I can't get it to upload to blogger.  So if I figure it out, then I will add it to this post.  Here are some highlights from the graduations:

 

Where's waldo...I mean Shallie!  It is a little blurry but I am definitely there.

Walking across the stage after they thoroughly slaughtered my name.  So much for phonetically writing my name on the card.

I did it! Officially a graduate now.

 My family came down for the festivities.  It was a double celebration because my sister in law in the background also graduated.

My best supporter.  I love him so much.

Hoods should be worn right?  (PS I have an entire blog post I need to write about the hood).

Family Pictures

Thanks Cali Cottle Stoddard for some great pics!