No Excuses

I am not gonna go through the details of why I have not had a blog post in over a year, other than LIFE HAPPENS. I will just try and catch you up on the goings on of my life as of late. The biggest change happened not only to me but everyone who lives in Nashville and surrounding counties. On May 2, 2010 Nashville was hit by the most severe flooding in 100+ years. Our downtown was hit as well as many of the outlying areas, as the water continued to rise over the banks of the Cumberland River. My home was spared in the flooding but my place of employment was not. As most of you know I had been working at Gaylord Opryland Hotel and Convention Center. Their damage was extensive and employees and guests were evacuated to a nearby High School. The water continued to rise and the entire Opryland property was soon under water (including the Grand Ole Opry, The Opry Mills Mall). The act of nature left Thousands without a job, myself included.




The Flood of 2010 left me swirling with what to do next. The re-open date for Gaylord was not known at the time and I was not sure where to begin looking for a job, when the disaster had effected so many. So, I did what people in the "Volunteer" state do, I volunteered. Nashvillians worked hours and hours to help their neighbors in need, it made me so proud ot be part of this community. Though the fact we were on water restrictions for weeks got old, but hey, we got the famous "flood beard and legs" out of it. LOL.

My mission of looking for a job began to change somewhat. I began to focus more on the idea of making my own business take off. Not an easy task in this economic environment and following such a large natural disaster. I knew making a name in the community would take networking and such. So I once again returned to The Artrageous team (I volunteered last year). This year I was asked to take on a larger role. I eagerly agreed and became the Volunteer Coordinator for the event. Within the week, after knowing of my experience in events, my title also included Event Manager. So for the next 6 months I worked very hard to plan and prepare for Artrageous 23. Not always an easy task I must say, but on Nov 17th it came off without to much of a hicccup. It was a wonderful night, for a wonderful cause. I must shout out to my friends who I roped into volunteering and I could not have done it without them.




Now I am not going to go into detail about the other events that took place. I would hate for you to be reading from now on. But to sum it up, I turned 30 and my friends (43 in total) came to my house for a wonderful night. I enjoyed it so much. My friend Justin moved to Nashville. Enjoyed many nights out with Justin, David, Lora, Andrew, Chuck, Peg and SO MANY MORE. Those nights included Cheekwood (gardens), The Frist Center for Arts, TPAC (theatre), Tribe(bar), Play(bar), Stirrup(bar), Country Music Hall of Fame(museum), Live on the Green(live music), CMT Awards Show and so much more. I am going to include some random photos to entice you all to visit me here in Nashville...Where the Music Plays On!