CASHISM~the funny things he says

Cash told me tonight, "Mama I am gonna kiss you now and then we are gonna be married because I love you so much"! These really are the best days of my life!! :)

Vegas Baby!!!!!

As I am still trying to catch up on my blogging from February (sigh) I felt it was a must to include the trip to Vegas in the updates! :D  How could I not?   Patrick works very long and hard hours and Nationwide has been very good to him (us) because we have been to some really nice places!! Perks of his hard work.  In February one of the perks was a trip to Vegas, on my birthday I may add.  It was definitely not a trip for the babies so my parents, as always were eager (i think, ha) to keep Cash and Arden and poor Alese was left behind at her mom's because she had school. 

The biggest part of the trip was the actual Nationwide Series Nascar race.  I am no Nascar fan for sure but Nationwide pulled out all the stops on this.  We were given VIP passes, had access to the garage, the pit area and most importantly we watched the race from the "Black Jack Club" which is located in the center of the race track.  We were wined and dined and had special guest visitors like Danica Patrick and Joe Gibbs.  Master P (Patrick) and I had our picture made with Joe Gibbs, he is a pretty amazing man, if you aren't sure who he is you should take a minute to find him in the Wikipedia!  After the race was over we were able the attend the celebration in Victory Lane with the winning driver which was Kevin Harvick and he took a picture with the Nationwide group.  The best part of the race came when we all got to "suit up" and ride along with a driver on the track!!! That was pretty amazing I must say!  At first I was very leery of doing that, I actually told Master P that I wasn't doing it.  I am mother for goodness sake, who in the world will raise my children if I crash and burn (literally) on the Las Vegas Motor Speedway?  Patrick sometimes forgets they need to eat so the thought of them being stuck with him all the time was enough to make me not want to chance it.  However, I was convinced that it was safe and a once in a lifetime chance.  My drivers name was Mark and the minute I got in the car with him I started my spill "my name is Julie, I have 3 precious children that I have to raise so if you wreck and kill me, I will haunt you forever and you won't like it!!!!"  I didn't get much reaction out of him but he did manage to keep my heart beating. 

Did I mention we rode in a Helicopter to the race?  Talk about a way to miss the traffic?! :)

We also had the pleasure of staying in the Four Seasons Hotel which is the top 4 floors of the Mandalay Bay.  It was beautiful and quite and there was  a "Charlie Palmer's Steakhouse" in it.  That is worth a wikipedia search as well.  Being that I graduated in Hospitality Management I obviously had heard and read about Mr. Palmer so I knew I was not leaving Vegas until we ate there!!  We finally squeezed it in for my birthday supper!!  FABULOUS!!!! :)  Thanks Patrick for all your dedication and hard work!  It is not unappreciated.

WOW

Wow is the only word I can use to describe a recent experience I had!  As we all know I am a music lover, a very diverse music lover at that.  But "old country" is what I was raised up on and when I found out that Merle Haggard and Kris Kristofferson were coming to a casino in Tunica I knew I would be there.  This was a very last minute event, I think I bought the tickets on Tuesday for that Saturday.  I called one of my "top five" as we call each other ( aka one of my top 5 best friends) Jessi Marie and asked her if she was up for the trip! Duh, of course she was!  Jason warned me that Tunica was a "po-dunk" and depressing town and heavens alive was he right! BUT I stayed focused on why we were there. 

Kris and Merle are legends in anyone's book and the thought of both of them on one stage was almost more than I could stand!  When the two took the stage I found myself in tears, literally in awe of their presence.  It made me think "wow Julie if you feel this overwhelmed with emotions over this just imagine how you are going to feel when you see Jesus one day" Wow! That is my only word!! 

Being the crazy fan I am, I was DETERMINED not to leave without meeting Merle and Kris, I mean how much longer can those old cats live, they are pretty old! :))))  Finally I found someone that gave me a hint of advice as to where to go to catch up with them and the rest is history.  Kris loved me I must say, he put his arm around me for a picture and left it there, just like we were old friends.  It was pretty amazing and I stayed on cloud nine for, what am I saying, I am still on cloud 9!!  Thanks Jessi for coming along on another of my crazy adventures! Great friend, great memories!

Ella gets snowed in!

Ella came home with us and was going to spend a night or two but she ended up being snowed in for three or four days! ha!!  I think Jason was relieved that I was the one that had to bundle them up and build a snowman! :) haha.  Alese didn't have school and trust me, stuck in the house all day long gets pretty wild with 4 kids.  Alese and I baked a home made mississippi mud cake, a recipe that came from my great(and sweet) Aunt Allie.  She use to make it for me when I was a little girl and I have the recipe card she gave me when I was probably a little younger than Alese.  I can still remember baking this cake at mama and daddy's house! It was the perfect snack for warming us up after our snow excursion.  We waited until Arden was napping because let's face it folks, it just isn't fun to have a 1 year old out in the freezing snow getting soaked! So she missed it, I am sure she will find a way to forgive me one day. 

So it has been a while.......February trip to Nashville

Wow!! Hello friends, it has been a LOOOONG time hasn't it?  Did I mention earlier that this was my blog and I would post when I wanted to?  Good then because I have taken my sweet time.  I am actually sitting at the computer while i pressure can my green beans that I spent the entire weekend doing.  P Daddy (aka Patrick) went to a Nascar race in Nashville and the little people all went to the farm for the weekend.  Mama enjoyed the peace and quite!! :)  Since I have to be at the gym for my 7a.m. workout in the morning what I really want to be doing is sleeping but  when fresh produce calls we must answer or else! I am not sure how much catching up I will do tonight but I will start where I left off! 

In February Patrick had a business trip to Nashville which just happens to be one of my favorite cities so of course we tagged along. One day at our hotel we were having the car parked and there was an ambulance delivering on a stetcher, none other than Little Richard.  He actually lives in a suite in the hotel we were staying at.  He looked awful, a lot like Micheal Jackson which is ironic since they use the same plastic surgeon!  It was interesting to see him up close. 

Patrick had meetings all day so me and the kiddos got out and experienced the freezing cold snow. We got to catch up with a dear, old friend of mine Bridgett, who I miss very very much!!  We had supper with her one night and she shared with me for the first time that she is having a baby! Baby Faith Elizabeth will be here in August and I can not wait to meet her!

 As all of you know I am a huge Johnny Cash fan and that is where Cash's name came from so I thought it was only appropriate to take him to Johnny's grave.  I have been before but we were so close and had plenty of time so what the heck.  Cash, Arden and I made the drive to Hendersonville and found us a little florist to buy some roses.  I had no trouble finding my way right back to the grave sight.  Cash seemed intrigued although he isn't old enough to understand any of it, he will probably appreciate the gesture and the pictures when he is older.  When we got back to the hotel that evening Cash proudly told his daddy, "we look for Johnny Cash today but we not find him because he get dead and he went to live with Jesus.  But we took him some flowers."  hahahaha  He cracks me up all the time!!  Cindy Cash had left something on her daddy's grave and I included a picture of it because it made him seem less of a "hero/legend" and more of just a "daddy".  It moved me and made me think of J.R. Cash in a way that I hadn't before. 

We made a visit to the kids Discovery Museum which Cash LOVED! He had a blast and even I learned a thing or two like, what my face will look like in 10 years if I keep tanning it(not pretty and I have since sworn off the sun on my body, spray tans and lotions for me from now on).  Cash's favorite thing was the "digestive slide".  When you came out of the end of the tunnell slide your feet hit a giant whoopee cushion and let our a loud "man sound" (as I politely call them).  Cash went down that slide a hundred times and everytime he would say "it pooted"!! :)  He is his father's child!.

We also took the kids to the Grand Ole Opry which they loved for a little while!  My children love music and the Opry is a sacred place as far as I am concerned.  We got to see Little Jimmy Dickens, Josh Turner and Chris Young and of course all the Opry "regulars".  When we came out after the show it was snowing again although there was still snow all over the sides of the roads from the week before.  I can't wait to take them back again, maybe Alese will be out of school and get to go next trip, I know she would be glad too.