Amy & Cheyenne

Our Land!

2008-10-15T07:52:00.007-05:00

A few weeks ago Cheyenne and I acquired 5.8 acres of land in Cedar Hill, TN! Cedar Hill is between Pleasant View and Springfield. We are very excited and hope to start building in the spring, but that will also depend on when we sell our house and how the economy is doing at the time. It's only 33 miles from downtown, so it will take Cheyenne and I the same amount of time to drive to work that it does now. Plus, it's only 12 miles from Granny! :)

In the meantime Cheyenne has been busy mowing and weedeating his little heart out. Needless to say, he is in heaven! We're very excited about this as there is no one on one side of us, behind us, or in front of us. There is one lone house to the right of the land, but they are tucked back a ways on their land, so you can hardly see them from our property.

Here are some pictures of the land, although it's just land, so it's hard to have a lot of good pictures that really show it well.

If you're driving down Ridge Road, you'll go around a curve. This is the beginning of that curve and our property. The driveway will most likely be here.

We have a ton of road frontage! Here's a view from the road. We plan to put the house far back on the property. It it were built now, it would be in the right corner of this picture.

Here is the view if you are standing in the back of the property and looking out toward the road. See how there is nothing on the land across the street? That's awesome! We know one day there probably will be something there, but right now it's zoned as agriculture, so I think we're safe for awhile.

Here's another part of the road in front of the land. Our land is on the right of the road....

My Super Handy Talented Husband

2008-05-27T15:43:00.008-05:00

Cheyenne has been working on a deck for a co-worker of his for the last few weeks. He finished up a few weeks ago. He built the entire deck himself AND it was the first deck he's ever built! Isn't he talented!?!?!?! I'm going to start pimping him out to other people for various household/handyman projects, so if anyone's interested, just let me know. :)

BEFORE PICTURES

AFTER PICTURES

Spring gardening!

2008-05-20T11:45:00.009-05:00

Two weekends ago, Cheyenne and I decided the outside of our house needed some sprucing up, so we did some gardening. It took us alllllllll day, but we got it done!

This is the front of our house before we started. There was an exsisting flower bed there, we just never really used it. There was once a small tree in the middle of it, but it died.

I also wanted to plant flowers by the mailbox, so I dug out a small flower bed next to it.

My thumb is so green I can even grow Labradors! :) hahaha!

And here's the after picture. You can't tell much here b/c a lot of what we planted still needs to grow, but we planted some Hosta along the sidewalk, those are the green leaves. We also planted a white azalea bush and a white rhodedendron (sp?) as well. We also planted the crazy little tree in the middle that kind of looks like bamboo, kind of looks like a palm tree, we're not really sure what it is, but we're excited to see how it turns out. :)

My dog-free flower bed

I took these pictures of our azalea bushes yesterday. They're already starting to bloom!

Ok, so this post was kind of lame with our garending and all, but that's what our life is these days! :)

Amy's 15 minutes of Fame!

2008-05-16T16:19:00.003-05:00

So here it is, I'm famous today! This article was on the cover of the Business section in the Tennessean today. My 15 minutes of fame have arrived! :) hahaha!

Although, they only used 1 quote from my interview! So they totally plaster this huge picture in the paper, but I'm only quoted once! They are totally using me for my stunning good looks! :) Kidding! hahaha!

Our lives have been fairly busy. I just started another homestand that will go until next Thursday, so I basically have no life until next weekend. This weekend Cheyenne is finishing a deck for a co-worker that he's been building for a few weeks. I'll post pictures of it soon, it's really good! Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Austin and Crystal's Wedding

2008-05-07T12:50:00.004-05:00

Wow, I'm so far behind on this stuff.... Well, here are some pictures from Austin and Crystal's wedding in April.

The happy couple at the reception

The first dance

Us at the reception. How good does he look in a tuxedo?!!

Birthday/Easter Weekend

2008-03-26T21:00:00.006-05:00

Last Friday was my birthday and it was a great one! I took a half day at work and went shopping, so I had great fun! When I got home Cheyenne had a small surprise for me, cupcakes! If you'll notice he so conveniently shoved 27 candles into the middle cupcake. He almost set the freakin' house on fire ! It looked like a blowtorch flame! I'm getting old....

After receiving my cupcakes we got ready and went to eat at Stoney River Legendary Steakhouse. It was good, but I think Cheyenne and I have realized that we're just not fancy eating people. We're too picky to truly enjoy the nicer restaurants. We figure we're just Logan's and Outback type people.

On Saturday a bunch of friends met us for a birthday dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings. We ate, watched college basketball, and just basked in the glory that is Amy. :) My friend Kali made some awesome brownies with this kick-butt frosting on them. It's a shame the picture turned out so dark...

The next morning we went to church and then it was off to Granny's house. Mom brought some easter eggs for Gracie and Jay to hunt. They're adorable!

Our life the last few weeks... :)

2008-03-13T15:42:00.006-05:00

Cheyenne and I celebrated our first Valentines Day at the Brad Paisley concert. I'm aware that Valentines Day was a month ago, but I just now downloaded my pictures. :)

Then, a few weeks later something amazing happened! We looked over and saw that all 4 animals were in the same general area of each other. We realized this could be our only opportunity to get the family picture we've always wanted. So pardon me for being in my pj's, but there was no time to waste!

No, they're not all looking at the camera, and Elvis looks possessed, but oh well. This is our family. :)

Last week we went to Woodbury to visit with Cheyenne's parents. Before we went though I decided to chop of all my hair! I had been thinking about it for a long time so I decided to finally do it. I donated my hair to Locks of Love, an organization that makes wigs for kids suffering from cancer. To be eligible to donate your hair you have to have at least 10 inches, so that's why my hair is as short as it is.

Here's me and my ponytail :)

This weekend I head to Gatlinburg with my friends Leslie and Kim from college. It will be a weekend of shopping and eating! Cheyenne is participating in Austin's bachelor party this weekend, so he'll barely have time to miss me.

Union University

2008-02-09T20:57:00.000-06:00

On Tuesday, February 5th, Union University was hit by an F4 tornado. The damage to Union was major, however, there was no loss of life. Once you see the pictures, you'll understand what a miracle that is. I never thought I could be so affected by something like this. If you had told me I would be so upset for my dear Union after something like this I wouldn't have believed you. Now that it has happened though I have experienced nothing but heartache for my old school. I've been pouring over every news report, every news story. I've been stalking the Jackson Sun newspaper sight as well as the UU Recovery sight for any new information. My heart breaks for my school and everyone that is there, yet at the same time my heart rejoices for the lives that were spared. It is amazing to me that no one died in this tornado and it just furthers my faith in my Lord who could be so generous and spare everyone at Union. How great is our Lord!!!

This is the aerial shot of the women's dorms, Hurt Complex.

The end of this building, the bottom floor is Patton 1, my room my Senior year. This is also the place where me and my friend Amy Getzen took cover during the tornado that hit Union in 2002. This picture breaks my heart and scares me at the same time. When we went through the tornado in '02 we were terrified! I cannot even begin to imagine how the students felt on Tuesday.

The end of this building, or the end of this pile of rubble is Wingo 11, my room my freshman year. Wow.....

This was the Hurt Commons after the tornado in 2002. There were huge floor to ceiling windows that were blown out. Back then it seemed like a lot of damage....

This is Hurt commons after Tuesday's tornado. There are no words.....

I ask anyone reading this to pray for the students, faculty, and administration of Union University. They are an amazing group of people with an un-dying faith. Please keep them in your prayers as they attempt to salvage what's left of the University and begin rebuilding.

Honeymoonin' in St. Lucia!

2008-01-14T19:57:00.000-06:00

So, for the honeymoon we went to St. Lucia. It is in the Carribean, in the West Indies. Our flight was at 6:30 am the morning after the wedding, so we basically took a 2-hour nap before having to get right back up and head to the airport. Here are our bright, shining faces at 5:00 am, we were waiting for the Burger King in the airport to open so we could eat.

We arrived around 7:00 pm that night. There wasn't much for us to do that late, so we had some dinner and walked around trying to get familiar with everything. Here are pics of our room. We stayed at the Sandals Regency.

The next morning we had breakfast at one of the resort's restaurants. This was the view from our breakfast table. Very refreshing...

After breakfast it was straight to the pool where we immediately tried out the swim up bar. Very convienient! :) The weather was ok down there. It was around 80 each day, but b/c of tropical storms we got some rain. It would rain for about 10 minutes, then be sunny for an hour, then rain for 10 min, then sun, etc. It did this the whole trip, but we still came back with some tans.

This bird stole this pizza crust right off my plate, right in front of me!!! These birds were not afraid of people at all....

Since we were at a Sandals resort, we were able to visit the other 2 Sandals resorts on the island as well. We went to visit the Sandals Grande and of course it started to rain, so we went up these stairs for some cover. About 10 minutes later it was amazingly sunny, so we headed back out to get some sun. So, on about the 8th step on this flight of stairs, I slipped, fell, and then proceeded to slide all the way down these stairs. Yes, all the way down. Is anyone really surprised? We all know it had to happen at some point during the trip.... In the end I had a major bruise that covered my entire left butt cheek. Not good at all...

We also played a lot of pool volleyball. Cheyenne was also red-carded in recreational volleyball b/c he spiked the ball in some girls face! I mean it bounced off her face really hard... That's when I had to explain to him that he's stronger than he thinks he is and he can't hit the ball that hard in the pool.

On day 4 we went on a little excursion. The first stop was Sulphur Springs, a volcano that imploded 100 years ago, but is still active. It smells like rotten eggs which we found out is a good sign. As long as it smells that way everyone is safe. It's when it stops smelling like rotten eggs that the island is in trouble.

The next stop was the botanical gardens. This is us in front of Diamond Falls, located in the botanical gardens. After the botanical gardens we had lunch and then went snorkeling, it was a busy day.

The Pitons are 2 mountains in St. Lucia. Here's a pic of the town below one of them.

This is what we did 90% of the time, sitting by the pool. If we weren't by the pool we were eating or napping. We were super lazy, even Cheyenne, and that's hard for him to do! Me, I'm an expert at being lazy... :)

Our last dinner... Look how tan we are!!

The next day we headed to the airport to go home. We were sad to leave. We didn't get home until 1:30 am Sunday morning. Our flights were delayed a bit and then we had to deal with the airline losing Cheyenne's bag (along with 30 other people's bags, Miami airport blows....). We were exhausted when we got home, but not too tired for presents! We sat in our floor and opened all of our wedding gifts as soon as we got home. We didn't get to bed until 3 am that morning, but it was worth it. Now we're back to normalcy. I'm slowly learning to sign my new name, but other than that we are just that ole married couple now. :)

The rest of our honeymoon pics can be viewed HERE

Wedding pictures I've gathered from people

2007-12-21T11:19:00.001-06:00

Here are some wedding pictures that I've gathered from people so far. There are so many pictures! Yay! Soon I'll get them all gathered into one place where everyone can look at them.

We want to thank everyone who came to the wedding. It literally was one of the best days of our lives!After the reception we went to Buffalo Billiards. We met at that bar in August 2005, so we wanted to go back there on our wedding day. It was fun to walk in downtown Nashville and into a bar in my wedding dress!

Shower Weekend!

2007-11-07T20:27:00.000-06:00

A few weeks ago was shower weekend! My Aunt Beverly threw a shower for me at my house on Saturday and Cheyenne's mom and friends threw one for us in Woodbury on Sunday. Here are some pics from the Nashville shower, I don't have any of the Woodbury one. Our house looks so nice now with all of our new stuff!

Cheyenne was coerced into staying for the shower. He was a good sport. :)

Yay!! A digital photo frame!

And a new microwave!

The family. Cheyenne's grandmother Winnie, his mom Dana, us, my mom and Granny

our yummy cake! It was strawberry and vanilla cake.

So, one month until the wedding!! We've pretty much got everything done except for little things. We're really excited and just ready to get married already!

Gatlinburg

2007-10-23T17:56:00.000-05:00

Last weekend we took a long weekend to Gatlinburg with some friends. We went up to the cabin and didn't leave until it was time to come home. There was a lot of eating and sleeping. It was perfect. :)

The view from our deck

This is the living room to the cabin. There was a bedroom up the stairs , along with a pool table, a bedroom on this floor, and 2 bedrooms and another living room area downstairs. We spent a lot of time watching football and playing Nintendo Wii (super fun!)

Brett and Courtney. The hot tub behind Courtney totally faded my bathing suit! It was brand new. It didn't fade anyone else's suit, so I'm returning mine.

Courtney and Me

Other people took more pictures, so I don't have too many. There were 8 of us all together, so you can see that I missed a few pics of some people.

Bachelorette Party, Part II

2007-10-23T17:48:00.000-05:00

2 weekends ago, I had my final bachelorette party. The party was a lingerie and bachelorette party. We started at my friend Emily's house, then went out on the town for a bit.

Each person brought a Christmas ornament and I had to figure out which person brought which ornament.
Everybody at Emily's house.

We finished the night at Buffalo Billiards

Predators Meet the Team Party

2007-10-11T09:04:00.000-05:00

Through Cheyenne's mom, Dana, we got tickets for the Predators Meet the Team Party. We went with my brother Bryan and his girlfriend Chelsea. Bryan was able to get a few autographs from the team while he was there.

This is Bryan getting the autograph of David Legwand. He was super excited about this. It was such a frenzy there and people are everywhere. By the time I realized half of his face had been cut out of the picture he'd been ushered to the next player.

There was also an opportunity to go onto the ice and take a shot at the goal. Here's me and Cheyenne on the Predators ice.

Bryan's shot on the ice ----->

This is us in the penalty box... We felt like we needed to act the part

Bachelorette Party in Atlanta

2007-10-01T19:51:00.000-05:00

Two weekends ago me and some of my friends headed to Atlanta for the Braves vs. Brewers game. The Braves won in 11 innings! Good times!

Kali, Courtney, Me, Becky, & Kristi

This is me doing the tomahawk chop!

After the game we visited a local bar and danced the night away

One of my many killer dance moves.... :)

The Handiness of my future Hubby

2007-09-25T15:51:00.000-05:00

For those of you who don't know, my future husband is super duper handy! He's turned around the entire house in over a year. I'll have to get some before and after pictures to show later.

This past weekend I went to Atlanta with my girls (pics of that to come later) and when I got back I had a surprise waiting for me. Cheyenne built this while I was gone this weekend.

A built in magazine rack! How cool!

We'd seen something like this on an HGTV show and I commented on how I wanted one of those, I never knew he'd build it while I was gone! I've gotta say, it's really nice to have someone as handy as him around the house! :)

Save the Date!!!

2007-08-09T09:29:00.000-05:00

for more information you can visit: http://www.theknot.com/ourwedding/AmyAlder&CheyenneSmith

More Disney World Pics...

2007-08-02T11:23:00.000-05:00

Here are more pictures from our trip to Disney World.

The boy, Stich, Me Me and the boy at Typhoon Lagoon

If you look closely in the back row, you can see us laughing at mom. :)

Disney World

2007-07-26T09:30:00.000-05:00

Here are some pictures from our Disney World trip a few weeks ago. I don't have too many to share b/c the LCD screen on my digital camera broke right before we got there. So I just kind of had to guess and hope that I had the camera in the right spot.

Bryan, Dad, and me in front of the Rockin Roller Coaster (featuring Aerosmith) at MGM

Just outside the Buzz Lightyear ride at the Magic Kingdom

Mom and Dad, we were waiting in line for the 'It's a Small World' ride. Mom wanted to ride it....

The mid-day parade

At Mickey Mouse's house

CMA Fest

2007-06-23T16:39:00.000-05:00

Here are pictures from CMA Fest. It was June 7-10th. We got the 4-day passes so that we could go to the concerts everynight. We saw Leanne Rimes, Josh Turner, Reba McEntire, JoDee Messina, Rascal Flatts, Little Big Town, Martina McBride, Montgomery Gentry, and so many others that I can't remember right now. It was great!

Kristi, Becky, Me, Courtney, Erin, and Sarah on the Pedestrian Bridge. Doesn't the Nashville skyline look cool in the background? :)

Reba McEntire. We're good friends ya know.... :)

Day 2 on the Pedestrian Bridge... Yes, we took a pic on the bridge everyday

Rascal Flatts. They were the "surprise" guest on Saturday night. They were not on the schedule to play, so it was definitley a fun surprise!

The token group picture in our seats. Kristi, Me, and courtney, Erin, Becky, and Sarah

We're getting Married!! Woo Hoo!!

2007-05-30T13:43:00.001-05:00

Well, as many of you may already know, I'M GETTING MARRIED!!!! Who would have thunk it? :) So many people have asked for the details so here you go...

Last Wednesday my boss told us we could have a 1/2 day on Friday. When I told Cheyenne this he asked if I wanted to maybe have lunch in the park that day once I was off work. I said "sure..." Friday comes, I get off work and get to Centennial Park before Cheyenne does. I find us a nice shady spot on a bench under a Weeping Willow tree. Cheyenne comes, brings us Subway, and we eat. After we eat Cheyenne goes "oh man, I left dessert out in the truck." So he goes to his truck and comes back with a Sonic bag in one hand and a small black kitten in the other! (many people here have gone "a real kitten?" yes.. a real kitten!) I've always wanted a solid black cat and here it was! I immediately named him Elvis.

So for 20 minutes or so we play with cat. I'm like "I love this cat! This is the best day ever!" (little did i know...). Then Cheyenne makes me put the cat up so that we can eat dessert. I'm like "I can hold a cat and eat dessert," but he still makes me put the cat back in the kennel. He then gets the Sonic bag and instead of pulling out dessert he pulls out a box. He then got down on one knee and proposed! I started immediately crying and said "Are you serious?!?!!!" (this was said with excitement, not doubt :) ). I just couldn't believe it! He'd had me fooled that he wanted to wait another year or so. Plus we've never talked about rings or marriage really, so needless to say I was completely floored. I mean I've been ready to marry him for awhile now, but since he's a bit younger than me he gave me the impression that he wanted to wait. So we never really talked about marriage b/c I didn't want him to think I was pressuring him. Little did I know, he was playing with my head! :) Once I got over the shock, I said YES put my ring on! it's so beautiful, here are a few pics...

So now we are an engaged couple! We (mainly me) would like a Christmas wedding, so we are looking at dates in December. Once we can find a place that is open we will let everyone know the exact date. I'M GETTING MARRIED!!! Yay!

A busy weekend!

2007-05-14T19:14:00.000-05:00

Yes, I'm trying to be a better blogger. This weekend was super busy! Friday night was a Kats Arena Football game (they lost) and then on to Decade's to meet up with some friends.

This is Sarah, her boyfriend Mark, Cheyenne, and Me. Apparently me and Sarah didn't get the memo that we were supposed to match.... (look at Mark & Cheyenne....)

Then on Saturday it was off to Bowling Green, KY. Cheyenne had a friend graduating from Western KY and a couple of other friends coming down to visit, so we went up there for the day. This was about the only picture we took. I apparently forgot I had my camera on this day... :)
We came back late Saturday night just to arise again on Sunday and head to Clarksville for Mother's Day. We got to see everyone including Gracie & Jay, who apparently were the only people I took pictures of... :)

Gracie & Heather

Cheyenne & Jaybird

Dad, Jay, and Gracie

So apparently I took no pictures of my mother. Sorry mom! :( I'm sure there will be plenty of pictures next weekend after the boy graduates high school... it seems like only yesterday he was born...ok, now I'm weeping....

I'm a horrible blogger....

2007-05-07T19:53:00.000-05:00

So yes, I know, I'm a horrible blogger. The season has started and my life has become super hectic. We just finished up a homestand today with a 10:30 am game that had 11,500 children in attendance! Lordy! Last Friday was super hero night, so we got pretty festive with that.

We still had some old Halloween costumes, so it was perfect for that night. This is Sarah, Becky, me , & MacyOther than Nashville Sounds games, life is good!

What I do....

2007-03-12T19:54:00.000-05:00

I've told a lot of you about my job, but sometimes I feel like people still don't really get it. Well, part of my job is going to schools and performing assemblies for them to get them pumped up about reading and about going to Sounds games. We took some pictures the other day and I thought I'd share...

Me and Ozzie in front of the kids. We do assemblies in front of crowds ranging from 125-1,000. Just depends on the size of the school

Me and Ozzie explaining the game. We play a game at each assembly. There are 2 teams and each team has the same letters, each kid gets their own letter. Ozzie then holds up a word and we see which team can spell that word the fastest.

More game pics. The girl in the Sounds jersey is our intern Macy

And one last pic of me and Ozzie. That's all I got, just thought I would share.

An Interesting tale....

2007-02-22T11:46:00.000-06:00

As many of you know, part of my job includes taking Ozzie, our mascot, to elementary schools. We perform assemblies for the kids to get them pumped up about reading and about coming out to the Sounds games.

Yesterday I began the assembly with Ozzie and noticed that the small kids in the front row were exceptionally rowdy. One girl kept screaming "kitty cat" over and over again while pointing at Ozzie. Then I noticed that another girl started barking at Ozzie. Yes, I said barking. I guess she thought Ozzie was a dog (he's a cougar for those of you thinking right now.. "what exactly is Ozzie?"). I thought this was kind of funny, but kept proceeding with the assembly. Then i realized that this girl keeps barking, and keeps barking, and keeps barking, and no one stops her!!!!!! Not once does a teacher come up to her and go "my dear, please stop barking at our guests..." nothing (sidenote: It is a HUGE pet peeve of mine when we go to schools and kids act up and teachers do nothing about it... HUGE pet peeve.....). By the end of the assembly, this girl was on all fours, barking and moving toward Ozzie. It was the funniest, craziest, most annoying thing ever!

Here are some answers to questions I'm sure you have:

* No, the girl was not a special needs child. She was normal...well, she looked it anyways
* No, though the girl was barking and moving toward Ozzie, she never did actually attack
* No, Ozzie did not bark back
* And yes, she must do this often b/c I noticed that even the children seemed to block her out. Not one child pointed or laughed at her (which is exactly what I would have done in school if one of my classmates barked at people).
* Yes, she does have a bright future ahead of her of being the town twit that stands on the corners and barks at cars (according to Cheyenne this actually happens in Woodbury...)

I wish I had pictures or videos to show, but all I can do is tell the tale and let your imaginations do the rest.

Good day

Patton 1 and Friends Reunion

2007-01-31T10:20:00.000-06:00

So this past weekend some college friends and I took a weekend together in Branson, MO. Now, I know what you're thinking... "Branson, MO??" Yes, they have cabins there and some good shopping, so we thought that could be an interesting place for our 1st Annual Patton 1 & Friends Reunion. (Sidenote: Patton 1 was our dorm room in college) Here's a helpful hint for those driving from West TN to Branson, MO...DON'T DO IT!! It was like taking the "Scary Movie Death Route." As Haylie, Kim, & Tristan put it "it's like expecting the Children of the Damned to be standing in the middle of the road up ahead..."

So here are some pics from our weekend together.

Here is our lovely cabin

Here is me starting a fire....just like how the pioneer people used to do it. :)

These are all the bags from our day of shopping! For once the Coach bag is not mine :( Leslie bought her first Coach bag!

Patton 1: Haylie, Leslie, & Me

Patton 1 and their friends! In the back: Haylie, Me, & Kim. Tristan & Leslie in the front

I'd also like to send a special shout out to Leslie Robus who provided me

with all of my Branson Pictures :)

In Chicago with Cheyenne

2006-12-18T23:03:00.000-06:00

About 2 months ago Cheyenne asked if I could get the 14th and 15th of December off from work. I told him I could and asked why? He just told me to take it off, we were going on a trip. When I asked where we were going he would not answer. For 2 months I wondered and finally he gave me a series of presents that were clues to our destination. Chicago!! I have always wanted to go, so that's why we went. We arrived last Thursday morning and stayed until Sunday night. It was a great time! Here are a few pictures. Cheyenne has more pictures, so I'll post some of those as soon as I get them from him.

This is us next to a Santa and sled built of Legos.

The Art Institute of Chicago. We walked this whole thing! Very tiring, but also pretty cool.

The bean thing at Millenium Park. I don't really get the significance of it, but it's pretty cool.

This is us standing in front of the bean and we took a picture of our reflection. Pretty cool....

While walking down Magnificent Mile we saw David Schwimmer of Friends!! We stalked him for about 3 blocks and then I took this picture. It was awesome!

The view of Chicago from the Hancock Building Observatory----------->

The lions at the Lincoln Park Zoo. I love lions!!!

The Christmas lights at the zoo

Merry Christmas!

2006-12-07T09:39:00.000-06:00

Just wanted to say Merry Christmas and share some Christmas decorations from 1105....

Chandler under the tree. His new favorite game is to run up to the tree, grab it with his front paws, and shake it as hard as he can. I come home everyday to find at least one oranment in the floor.

Anyhoo, Merry Christmas!

Habitat for Humanity

2006-11-12T20:34:00.000-06:00

Last week 5 of us from work were able to participate in the Habitat for Humanity/Whirlpool Building Blocks event. A group of 300 volunteers built 10 houses in 6 days! Here are a few pictures from that. This is what we started with at 7 am on Sunday. Just a slab of concrete.

This is a view of the houses being built on the block

Oh yea, that's who you think it is in the picture. Reba McEntire is a partner in the Habitat/Whirlpool gig and she was on site the first day. They wanted to get a shot of her talking to a volunteer and I got to do it!! We chatted briefly for a moment, talked about Habitat and such, and then I told her I loved her show. We're best friends now..... kidding.... :)

The house at the end of day 1. We basically did 2 days worth of work in one day...very tiring.

The house at the end of day 4

The finished product, built in 6 days. When it was worked out into hours we actually built this house in 46 hours. How cool is that? I can now typar a house, nail in plywood on the roof, install insulation, hang a door and its frame, and paint like a motherfu.... well, I can paint well now. :)

and more from the cruise....

2006-11-02T20:12:00.000-06:00

blogger keeps cutting me off, so that's why I have so many cruise posts. :) So to start at the beginning scroll down to "Ah, a Carribean cruise" that's where the story begins.

A rainbow over St. Maarten! How beautiful!

Crystal, Kristi, me, and Sarah on the ship.

All in all it was a great time. I highly recommend cruises to everyone!

2006-11-02T19:54:00.000-06:00

More from the cruise.... to the left: Me floating in the Bahamas! Fun! Above and Below is our cruise ship, the Carnival Valor.

Just me and the open sea! :)

Sarah, Kristi, Crystal and Me atop Maegan's Bay in St. Thomas and below in St. Maareten

Me in St. Thomas at night. The four of us at Orient Bay in St. Martin. Yeah, it was a topless beach but we only participated long enough to take a few pics, pics from the backside of course. :)

Ah, a nice Carribean Cruise....

2006-11-02T16:56:00.000-06:00

Here is the pictures and small tidbits of information from the cruise I went on last week.

The girls of apartment 1105 awoke early Saturday morning to get ready for the airport. Our flight was at 7:30am, so we hoped to be at the airport by 6:00. I walk out to my car around 5:35 and see this....

yes, that is my car on the right there. MY BRAND NEW CAR!!! I'VE ONLY MADE 2 PAYMENTS! But I digress... So this car has backed into mine. The car is still running and still in reverse! Whoever backed into me couldn't even put the car in Park! The car is there, but there is no one with the car. I start honking the horn hoping that whoever hit me will come out of there house so that I can fight them. A man walks out of his apartment. I go "IS THIS YOUR CAR!!!???!!!" He says no, but that this truck has sat here, like this, backed into mine, for hours! He says he thinks another lady had called the police already but no one had come yet. So I call the police again. They come quickly. Apparently some people had been breaking into cars in our complex. They think they had stolen this truck and apparently just abandonded it when they hit me.... (yeah, it doesn't make sense to me either). The cops had seen the guys at one point and chased them into the woods, but never caught them. So after awhile I go "um, we have a plane to catch, can someone move this truck please?" They move it and we head to the airport. The crash looks way worse than the damage. Just a few scratches on my bumper. If it had been my Camaro there's no telling how it would've been. Anyways...on to the good pics!

This is us on the ship before it left Miami... Me, Crystal, Sarah, and Kristi

FINE LESLIE AND ROBUS!!!!!!

2006-10-10T09:16:00.000-05:00

Ok, so I'm dating someone. I haven't said much to anyone b/c I didn't know if it was going to be a long time thing or what, but it's gone on for awhile now, so I guess I'll give up some details. And since he doesn't know about this blog I feel more comfortable writing it here. ;-)

So here are the details:
1) His name is Cheyenne
2) He's 23 (but a little more mature than me) :)
3) I've known him for about a year and a half, not sure how long we've been dating, it just happened. Me and my roomies met him and his roommate last year at Buffalo Billiards. It turned out that they lived in the apartment complex right next to us. They don't live there anymore, but that's how we all started hanging out.
4) He's from Woodbury, TN

That's all I got for now. I'm sure everyone is shocked by this, so I'll give it time to sink in for you guys....... Here's a picture of us from the Journey/Def Lepard concert......enjoy

What's the deal?

2006-10-09T14:19:00.000-05:00

I know, I know. You're all wondering where I've been. Well I broke my digital camera in January (yes, I know that was awhile ago) and it's hard to blog a lot without pictures. I've had to beg the pictures I do have off others. Well come Saturday I will have a brand spankin new digital camera! Yea!

In the meantime, here's a brief synopsis of my life past, present, and future:
1) I went to the Rascal Flatts concert a few weeks ago. It was awesome!
2) I have learned that Chandler Bing (my cat) does not like other animals. Last week I dog sat for the guy I'm dating. I tried to have the 2 animals bond and it was not a pretty sight. It seems that a short hair domestic cat and a chocolate Labrador were not meant to be friends. My roommate Kristi also had her Yourkie dog over at the house and Chandler stalks it like lions stalk food in the wild. It's kinda creepy actually...... So, the morale of the story is: Chandler is definitely a loner cat.
3) Only 2 weeks until I'm cruising around the Carribean!! Woo f'ing hoo!! I'm so excited to be on a boat that has food accesible to me 24 hours a day! This is also the reason I've broken down and decided to finally replace my digital camera, so there will be many pictures to share later.
4) Only a week and a half away from the Aerosmith concert! Me, Dad, and Bryan. This will be Aerosmith concert #5 (i think, could be 6) for me and pops, it will only be #3 for the boy. Good times.

Well, that's about it for now. My life in a nutshell. Soon as I get the new camera I will begin to post more. I love you guys! Have a great week!

An interesting morning at church....

2006-08-28T16:34:00.000-05:00

So yesterday I decide to actually get my over-worked butt out of bed and attend church. Seeing as none of my roomies were home, I went by myself, which I think is a feat in itself. I went to the ever-growing Brentwood Baptist Church for my Sunday dose of church. This church is huge, 6,000 members huge. Well at the end of the service the church honored their pastor, Mike Glenn, because it was his 15th Anniversary at the church. They did all of their hoopla and then we prayed. Well after the prayer I look up and see this guy on stage.....

yep, one Mr. Brad Paisley was on stage.....at church! We (my roommates and I) had heard that he was a member at that church, and we actually had seen his wife once (a Mrs. Kimberly Williams Paisley of Father of the Bride and According to Jim fame) but I never expected this! He sang "How Great Thou Art" and his recent hit "When I get where I'm going." It was awesome, it was such a moving and surprising moment that the whole time he sang the church was silent. And it was great just to hear him sing with only his guitar and not all those other instruments they use at concerts. I just kept thinking that only in Nashville, TN does a country music artist sing at church!

The End of an Era.....in picture form

2006-08-27T23:23:00.000-05:00

This is me saying goodbye to my baby.....it really was a good car, but a girl comes to a point in her life where she needs more space....and needs to not feel like she'll die in her car one day during a rain storm....so for the new.... my 2004 Chevy Trailblazer. I love it! It has tons of room, drives well in the rain, and is a nice smooth ride.

The End of an Era.....

2006-08-10T16:52:00.000-05:00

So, dear readers of this blog, I spoke yesterday of some big news. I still don't have pics yet, but I figured I'd share.

Over the last few years I have noticed that it is kinda dangerous to drive my Camaro in the rain. It is also rather small, which was great in my younger, care-free college days, but I've began to want a little more room. I've always wanted to be rich enough to own 2 vehicles myself, the Camaro and possibly a rain day vehicle. Well, I've come to the conclusion that this will never happen, so I had to take some actions that were hard, but still good in the end.

The last few months I've been looking at Chevy Trailblazers. I didn't really think it was something I could do soon, but I'd been looking. Well on Monday I found the exact Trailblazer I'd been looking for! It's a 2004, hunter green, and it has a sun roof. So I went and got it! I traded in my Camaro, which was hhhhaaaarrrrddddd to do ( I even cried as I signed the title over to Carmax), but I'm also very happy with my new car!!!! It has so much room and I'm now sitting so high!! It's so pretty, which is important to me b/c I'm a girl. =] So now dear friends and family, when you ride with me you will now have more leg room AND a window to look out of!

So hopefully soon I can get some pics of my new car. It's pretty sweet!!

Extreme Home Makeover comes to Nashville

2006-08-09T13:57:00.000-05:00

So, as many of you know Extreme Makeover: Home Edition was in the Nashville area last week. Apparently one of the rooms is a baseball room, so Paul and Preston came by the stadium to take a few things. Since our game was rained out on the day they came, they filmed a segment looking like they "broke into" our stadium. They took a little bit of batting practice and such. I didn't get to meet them, but we got to watch them film it.

Then on Friday we actually went up to the house to pass out free Sounds ticket vouchers to the volunteers. Well because my boss Brandon can talk his way pretty much into anything, we got to get a little closer to the house than we expected. Here's the house, and this is not a close-up pic or zoomed in at all.

This is the side of the house, that's where we were with other volunteers. Then we took a pic with the house in it.

Sarah, Kali, Jen, & Me

Well, then because of this sign and our feet we got booted from our area......

So then we had to go across the street, but it ended up being a good thing because we got to see Ty and the family coming home, so that was cool.

These are all the pics I have from this. I had some of Paul and Preston on the field, but they're on my other computer at home. After this shot of Ty, Sarah's camera died, so we didn't get anymore.

NEWS FLASH: Stay tuned for upcoming Amy Alder happenings. Big stuff happend yesterday, I just don't have the pics yet. =]

Kenny Chesney Concert

2006-07-09T19:52:00.000-05:00

On Saturday, Me, Kristi, and Courtney went to the Kenny Chesney concert! It was awesome! There were a ton of opening acts....Little Big Town, Dierks Bentley, Big & Rich, and Gretchen Wilson. We had seats in the lower level and it was great!

Dierks Bentley...he was awesome!

How the stage looked before Kenny came out

Kenny popped out on this tiny stage in the audience first.

Uncle Kracker came out and sang a song...and that was cool and all...but then he introduced Keith Urban!! Keith came out and sang "Love Somebody Like You." What a fun surprise!

A Summer full of work

2006-06-20T12:11:00.000-05:00

So, I know I haven't put anything up here in awhile, but with no digital camera and no time to do anything fun, there isn't too much to show or talk about. I've been working a bazillion hours and cannot wait until July and August when our schedule slows down a bit. However, in desperate need of something to look forward to , my roomies and I have booked a cruise for October 22-29!! We will be visiting wonderful places like the Bahamas, St. Martin, and St. Thomas! I am pumped b/c I've never been on a cruise before and I now have a reason to get a Passport!! So, I've included a pic of the joyous boat I will be on at the end of October. Hopefully nothing Titanic-like will happen! Hope everyone is well! Love you all!

Steeplechase

2006-05-16T12:14:00.000-05:00

On Saturday, Kristi, Sarah and I donned our best sundresses and hats and headed toward Nashville's version of the Kentucky Derby, Steeplechase. Some friends of ours had some tailgaiting spots in the infield so we joined them there. I only saw one small part of a race and this was purely by accident. I had left the infield in search of a lavatory and alas when I came back they had shut the gate so the race could go through. So I saw about 10 horses race by, twice, and then I got to go back to my tailgaiting spot. I also bet $3 on a horse named Scuba Steve and lost. Other than that, the rest of the day was filled with good drinks and good food. I highly recommend this event to everyone!

This is us with LuLu from 102.5 Venus FM. She's the nice lady who lets me and Sarah go on the radio with her from time to time. We love her!

Look who else happened to be there! My good pal Nick Jones......Scuba Steve....this horse owes me $3..........

It was the end of the day, and I'd had a drink or five....so I'm not really sure what posessed me to take a pic like this....but I think it's funny....

Happy Belated Easter

2006-04-18T09:39:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone had a great Easter! I spent it here, at Greer Stadium. Here's a fun pic from that day. Sarah, Kristi, me, & Melissa. We thought with our shirts that we kinda looked like an Easter basket.....we told Kristi she would be that fake grass stuff that's in the bottom of the basket.....

So, hope everyone had a good weekend! So far the Sounds are 4-0 at home....let's see if they can continue that...... Love you all!

Opening Day!!

2006-04-14T15:15:00.000-05:00

Well, today is Opening Day here at good ole Greer Stadium! Yeah! Woo Hoo! I'm so excited!

Here are some of my favorite things about the baseball season:
* I get to watch 72 games of baseball!
* I get to meet new people out and about the ballpark
* Sluggers is open again!! This is the most exciting!
* Concession Stand pizza, it's the best!
* BBQ Nachos
* It's comission season! Oh how I heart comission!

Here are some of my not-so-favorite things about the upcoming season:
* I have to watch 72 games of baseball....
* Working 100 hour weeks
* Not getting to see my family/friends as much...
* The 10 lbs I gain from Concession stand pizza and BBQ Nachos

So, to all of my non-Sounds friends and family, we've had a great off season. I will see you all again in September (unless we make playoffs again, then October). If you want to see me, you gotta come to me. =] I hope to see all of you at the ballpark at some point this summer. I will try to post pics from Opening Day later. Until then, enjoy these championship celebration photos from last year....

My 25th Anniversary Celebration

2006-03-26T19:54:00.000-06:00

My 25th Anniversary Celebration was held at Decades on Friday! I was like a 6-yr old that was about to have a party at Chuck E. Cheeses! I was ready before everyone and it was all I talked about all day!! A ton of people showed up and it was an awesome time!!! My friend Peter got me a crown to wear, so that is what is on my head in most of these picutres.

Above: Me starting the night out right! My roomies got me a flask and had it engraved. It says "Happy 25th Anniversary Celebration of Amy. Love, Kristi & Sarah" Isn't that awesome!!

Most of the people at my party! I tried to get as many people together for a group picture as possible.

Brad About You, Me, & Ed

We're dancing to Michael Jackson's "Thriller." We're zombies.....

It was a great birthday!! So good in fact, that I'm told I had to be drug out of the bar because I wouldn't leave and "was having so much fun, and it's my birthday, and I don't want to leave..." hahahahaha!!

My Championship Ring!!!

2006-03-20T17:59:00.000-06:00

So we finally got our Championship Rings!!! They are huge, obnoxious, and fabulous!! I tried to take closer pics, but they just came out blurry. One side says "Alder" and has the Sounds logo and under the logo says "Staff." The other side has says "Sounds vs. Rainers" and has the Brewers Logo and the PCL trophy logo.

And yes, we rocked those bad boys at the club all weekend!

Below: Me and PJ, we interned together in '04, and that's what we're trying to do with our hands, instead it became '40.....=]

Funny Story: So, I'm wearing my ring at the Stage. I put my hand down in a very dramatic fashion for some reason and I feel the ring FLY off my finger!! So I freak out and I go "EVERYBODY STOP!!! I'VE LOST MY CHAMPIONSHIP RING!!!" So me, my friend and her boyfriend are on the bar floor searching for my ring. I find it and decide that I'm not mature enough to wear it and immediately stuff it in my purse and zip up my purse. The ring now resides in it's box in my dresser until the day I'm responsible enough to wear it! =]

And it's my 25th Anniversary today(this is what I'm calling it instead of my birthday...it sounds funner)!! The party's on Friday, more pics to follow then.....

1st Annual H.A.M.M. Convention

2006-03-08T20:05:00.000-06:00

What a fun weekend in California!!!

<-------Michelle, Heather, Me & Melissa

We spent the first few days just hanging out at Melissa's house

and catching up. Then we went to LA on Saturday.

It was very weird for me to see desert and mountains all in the same view

Us at the local Karoke bar on Friday Night

RODEO DRIVE!!!!!!

We were in Hollywood the night before the Oscars. This is the red carpet that they were setting up.

Heather at 'The Watson Family' star. We're still not sure who the Waston family is, but it was a nice coincidence. Me and Raphel at the Hollywood Wax Mueseum.

Above: Me and Heather on Mullholland Drive. The Hollywood sign is behind us, it's very small....

<-----Me at Elvis' star!!!!!! We searched for this star all fracking night!! Thanks to Michelle's good eyes, we found it!

There are so many more pics, but these are some of my favorites. Not only did we visit Los Angeles, but we also went to Santa Monica and Venice Beach. Both were beautiful! It was a great time and I'm looking forward to the 2nd Annual H.A.M.M. Convention. =]

I said it's great...to be...a Z-T-A.....

2006-02-21T12:26:00.000-06:00

So, as usual, ZTA won Variety Show again! That's 7 wins out of the last 9 years of Variety Show happening....what a legacy!

It was great to see old friends again. The weather totally sucked, snow and ice (and you know Tennesseans cannont handle snow!) and all Homecoming activities were cancelled, but we still got to mingle and enjoy the basketball game. All in all it was a great weekend! Good to see everyone!

Kari Mynatt, center, coordinated and choreographed Variety Show. Good Job! I don't know those other two randoms though.....I stole this picture off someone's Facebook page....=]

Me, Tristan, Leslie, and Kim........that sweater didn't look so Oscar the Grouch-ish when I put it on that morning......

Rachel and Brent's son Drew, with a straw up his nose at Buffalo Wild Wings.

What a cute kid!

2006-02-17T11:11:00.000-06:00

So let's see, I have already started off the weekend with an exciting note....I totally saw the Blue Collar Comedy Tour last night!! Those guys are hilarious!!! I was basically crying all night because I was laughing so hard! There were 19,000 people in the Gaylord Entertainment Center (the first time it has ever been sold out). And there's nothing like watching the Blue Collar Comedy Tour in the prescense of real Tennessee rednecks! I very highly recommend seeing these guys live if you ever have the chance!

Today, I leave for good ole Union University in Jackson, TN for Homecoming! Tonight is Variety Show, where I will watch my Zeta ladies kick some a**, then on Saturday to hopefully watch our basketball team do the same. Hopefully I can weasel some pictures out of my friends to post on here later!

I hope everyone has a great weekend! I love you all!

I'm California Bound!!!

2006-02-07T16:37:00.000-06:00

In 23 days I will be on my way to Cali-for-NI- A!!!! Me and my cousins Heather & Michelle are going to visit my other cousin Melissa! We will spend one fabulous day in LA and I have recently found out that we will be there during Oscar weekend!!!!

So, if anyone would like to donate to the "Amy needs a new digital camera b/c the one she has is broken and the pictures are blurry and it blacks out the right side of the picture" Fund

please send all donations to :

Nashville Sounds
c/o Amy Alder Digitial Camera Fund
534 Chestnut Street
Nashville, TN 37203

HA HA HA HA!!! =] I don't know why I put that pic up.... I just think it's funny!

The 3rd vote for the Metro Council to approve our new stadium is tonight! I will post the outcome of this meeting later.

Barnum & Bailey Circus!!

2006-01-30T11:06:00.000-06:00

Yesterday we went to the circus!! It was me, Sarah, Kristi, and Brad About You. And in answer to your questions:
* Yes, we all went without any small children in tow
* No, it never occurred to us to invite any small children
* Yes, we got the tickets for free
* And yes, Brad told the ticket takers we were meeting our kids inside (so as not to look pathetic) =]

The Elephants were my favorite!

The small Chinamen...they just hang from these polls like it's natural!! Amazing!Due to an unfortunate event with my camera and a bar room floor, I don't have many more pictures. =[ I had to get these from Sarah. But we also saw tigers, some tight rope walkers, and some trapeze guys who for some reason are now called "Sky Surfers." I found this to be totally gay and refuse to refer to them that way. Other than that, the circus was a great time!

A New Ballpark for Downtown

2006-01-23T03:13:00.000-06:00

Well, for those of you who are not aware, the Nashville Sounds have been trying to get a new ballpark built in downtown Nashville for years. If anyone has ever been to AutoZone Park in Memphis, you can realize the importance of this for our team (and my job). Last Tuesday, the Metro Council voted 'yes' to the second reading of the bill that supports the new stadium. We only have one more vote to pass through and all of our dreams will begin to become reality. So keep your fingers crossed and I'll update when we get the final word. In the meantime, if anyone living in or around the Nashville area would like to write their local councilman, there is a link from the Sounds website (www.nashvillesounds.com) to the Metro Council website. Blow 'em up with emails!!

Christmas and New Years

2006-01-05T22:02:00.000-06:00

Here are some pics from Christmas. It was a great time to see everyone. It was also filled with great presents, like a Coach bag, for yours truly.

Heather, Jay, Gracie, and Jeremy

Yes, I played dress-up with Gracie

Even Chandler had a good Christmas....

A few days later I ended up getting some tickets to the Music City Bowl from my friend Cheyenne. So me and Kristi went with him and his friends. We tailgaited before the game, it was a great time!

Later that night we all went to the Stage and guess who I ran into? It was so much fun!!!!

That was Christmas and New Years for me. I hope everyone had a great holiday season!

New York City

2005-12-22T15:43:00.000-06:00

I returned from PA and NY City! What a fun trip! Sarah's family was very nice and welcoming to Kristi and I.

We decided that Tuesday, the day of the first transit strike in 25 years, would be the perfect day to venture into New York City. After working our way through the billions of people walking the streets of NYC we soon discovered that our hotel was indeed right around the corner from Times Square. We were not affected too badly by the lack of transit options because of our sweet hotel location. We visited St. Patrick's Cathedral, Rockerfeller Center, and of course 2 very important places..... Macy's and Saks 5th Ave. On Wednesday we took a $45 cab (now we are affected by the strike) up to Canal Street on a mission to buy designer knock-off purses. After following a very shady Asian to a very shady place, we walked away with some sweet Prada bags. It was fabulous! On the way back to Times Square we rode with the world's happiest cab driver. After a chorus line or two from "Leaving on a Jet Plane" (yes, the 3 of us and the cabbie were all singing) we were invited to visit him in Egypt anytime we wish.

Rockerfeller Center

The tree is on the left, this is the fountain and ice skating rink that is below.

This is me imitating the trumpet guy at Rockerfeller Center =]
<----------------

St. Patrick's Cathedral
--------------->

Another good pic of Rockerfeller Center

and another good one of Times Square

Pennsylvania & New York City!!!!

2005-12-18T15:47:00.000-06:00

My roomies and I head to the airport soon to begin our journey to PA (Sarah's house). We will then spend one fabulous day and night in New York City!! We are so excited to go! I will post pictures and stuff when I get back. Have a great week everyone!

And a special Happy Birthday to my cousin Heather!!

I love you! Happy Birthday!

A Brent High Christmas

2005-12-06T23:33:00.000-06:00

Here are a few pics from the Brent High Christmas Special. (Brent High was once my boss at the Nashville Sounds, but has now moved on to bigger and better things. We miss him =[ ) We had a wonderful dinner cooked by none other than Emily High and later had some singing time down by the fire with some Brent High questions mixed in-between. For those who are not aware, Brent High questions are deep and serious questions, example: If you had only 10 min. to live, what song would you play on your radio and why?

<-----Brent on the violin

Alex and Rob provided the music. There was also a Best Christmas Outfit Contest and the winner was...........................me! (Although there wasn't any competition, but I do love a time to be goofy and weird).

*outfit provided by Goodwill

Adelaide, Sarah , & Kristi

Anoosh, Kelly, & Me

Courtney, Chase, & Matt

Jared the Subway Guy

2005-12-01T12:07:00.000-06:00

So I know there seems to be a theme in the picutures I've put on here so far, but I just have to put this one up! On Halloween we met Jared the Subway guy on the streets of Nashville. Apparently he was in town to make apperances at new Subways opening up all over Nashville.

This is what happens when I get bored at work....

2005-11-30T16:44:00.000-06:00

This is how myspace started and now this! But this is for all of you folks who alway say "Why do you not call?" "Why do you not visit?" There are reasons for this:
A) I'm not a chatty kinda girl
B) It takes money to travel and visit.

But I love you all!

So, for those I haven't seen in a while, here's a brief synopsis of my life. I am living in Nashville and working for the Nashville Sounds. I live with 2 girls, Sarah & Kristi ( who work at the Sounds with me), and my cat Chandler Bing (yes, you read that right).

This is us on Halloween
Batgirl== Kristi
Supergirl== Sarah
Wonderwoman== yours truly

We are gearing up and saving money for our trip to PA (Sarah's house) over our Christmas Break. (Since we work a million hours April-September) we get 2 weeks off at Christmas. We are going to her house and on one of those days we're going into New York City. I will be buying many, many, fake designer purses here. I can't wait!!

This is about all now. I'll post often and keep people updated.

I'd like to shout out to John & Leslie Robus for getting me started on this..... I just loved their blog so much!