Nashville Day 5- Sunday

We woke up bright and EARLY (likkke 5:30am early) to get on the road back to Nashville! I think Abbey wanted to strangle us! But we didn't want to waste one minute of our last day! Luckily, not quite as much rain as the drive out! The scenery was so pretty.

We read lots of recommendations to go to Franklin, TN which is about 20 min south of Nashville. It's supposed to be a really cute, little town with fun shopping and restaurants. We had already gone to Biscuit Love, but there was another location in Franklin, so why not go again?!

The guy manning the line outside told us to try the Bill Neal which is a bowl of cheese grits, Gulf shrimp, applewood smoked bacon, mushrooms, lemon Tabasco sauce and green onions. It was named the #1 appetizer by Bon Appetite magazine. 

Guys. This did NOT disappoint. We were just going to share it, but SO glad he recommended getting our own. I could have licked my bowl. Who dreamed up lemon Tabasco sauce anyway? A god. That's who.

Had to throw a biscuit on the side. 

With our southern bellies full, we drove over to see the temple. It's right next to a church building where church was being held. It also happened to be COLD. Friggin' cold. We parked, walked over to take some pictures, then RAN helter skelter (think- the Phoebe run from FRIENDS) back to the car. Brrrr!

Attending a Baptist church sounded a heck of a lot more interesting than a Mormon church on this trip, so that's just what we did. Good ol' google helped us find one that was starting soon so off we went. 

It really was a fun experience! When we walked in they were saying a prayer, so we waited in the hall. I noticed this bulletin board and had to have a picture. I love learning about similarities between our religion and others. Our Primary theme for the year! Being a Child of God.

There's so much to say!! I liked how they had a video camera set up, recording the service and displaying it on a TV in the hall. Once the prayer was over, we filed in and sat somewhere in the middle. We were trying to be as inconspicuous as the only 4 white people in the room could be. There was a man in a regular suit who seemed to be conducting the service. The gave some announcements then the choir sang. They had a man on the drums in the back corner, in a sort of glass box. Don't know what that was about. Another guy was on the key board. The choir director was ANIMATED. He'd be leading the music fairly normally, then he'd get more and more excited. The more excited he got, the bigger his arms waved. Sometimes they seemed quite independent from his body, flailing about energetically as though they'd lift him right off the ground! I found myself swaying along, enjoying the enthusiasm and message of the verses. Very different than what we're used to. The songs were interesting... basically just the same couple of lines over and over again. They would last quite a while too. I would start to wonder how many times a person could sing the same 3 lines when all of a sudden, it was over! And everyone ended together like they just knew that after the 53rd time the song was done. I couldn't figure it out! Then came the tithing part. Or alms, I'm not sure what they called it. There was a slip in the program that you put your money it and there was a method to how you donated. First, the man conducting and the pastor put their envelopes in the baskets that the deacons carried up. Then the choir. Then the congregation all stood up and moved, row by row around the room to drop their envelopes in. I felt weird staying in my seat. Maybe we should have donated as a sort of thanks for being there that day. I don't know. Then it was time for the pastor's sermon. I think Shelley was ready to splitskies by then, but this was the part I was most excited for! And he didn't let me down, either! He led us all in a couple verses in Phillipines then waxed strong about Jesus Christ. He gave a funny real life analogy about having a bad day and related it to how we need Jesus. Everything he said resonated with me. What I loved most about it, was it really felt like WORSHIPING. It seemed like every other word was "Jesus". As he spoke, everyone in the congregation would murmur "amen" or " uh huh" or "yes", quietly or not so quietly. It was like constant encouragement or support and it unified the room and brought energy to the talk. I loved it. The pastor started walking around as he spoke and even accidentally knocked over a plant which he made a joke out of. He said we all need to be humble, not take offense and be self-less. Everything was related to Jesus Christ and His character. It was so different than an LDS sacrament meeting, but it was refreshing. It was inspiring. And I really left with a happy feeling of encouragement and like I had just spent an hour praising the Lord! I couldn't help myself, and I took a couple of videos. Sure wish I could have spanned the whole room though! The women had fun hats on and the men wore bright suits and you know what? They were SO friendly!! No one gave us a sideways glance. Actually, we got lots of smiles and they seemed genuinely glad we were there. I LOVED this experience. For sure, one of my favorite parts of this trip.  

From there, we drove about 10 min. to Leiper's Fork, a little rural village we were told you might spy a famous person at. No luck with that, but it was a cute place for antique shopping! We wandered through several stores but all I came away with was a bag of grits!

This was the view from the back porch of one of the antique shops. Amazing.

We were almost out of time, but stopped in at the Franklin Antique Mall for one, last looksie. SOOOO glad we did! My cousin, Molly, said we needed to try Five Daughter's Bakery and it just so happened they had one there! Plus, a Jeni's Ice Cream so I could get my beloved flavor! My only regret was not getting a dozen donuts!! I was so full and figured I'd better not break the bank, so I only bought three. BIGGEST MISTAKE. I tried the maple, bacon one on the plane and about died. It's a cronut!!!! That name is trademarked though, so they call theirs the 100 layer donut. It was absolutely one of the most delicious things I've ever put in my mouth. I couldn't even believe it was real, it was so yummy. I tried to research how I could make my own at home and after reading a copycat recipe I immediately decided flying to Nashville would be easier. I've never read anything close to that complicated before. It takes THREE days to make. Ugh. I'll just keep dreaming about my next visit!

 Good-bye Tennessee!! 

I am in love and wish I had a reason to move here. If I didn't like the fecal colored, box houses of Arizona before, this trip definitely convinced me we live in a stucco nightmare now. :( 

At least I had my amaze-balls husband and cute kids to return to!! Walking in the door of my in-laws house and snuggling my baby, completely beat eating a million cronuts. Travis was crazy awesome for taking off work and doing all the baseball games, dance classes, preschool carpool and bed time routines solo. How is he real? I am so dang lucky. 

Big fan of this country music boasting, green hill rolling, biscuit loving state!

Totally wasted good grits on my kids. They will no longer get any of this goodness! Don't know a good thing when it hits their mouth. 

I like the idea of buying Christmas ornament souvenirs, so here's my little guitar waiting for December!

 Olive and I making our modeling debuts...

 The boys got wooden, rubber- band shooting guns. I was stumped on what to get Travis. Seriously, what do you buy a man in Nashville? I decided on a few food items, but sort of bombed out getting him pralines. He doesn't like pecans. *face palm* I knew that.