five moments in five years

as of this past saturday, i have officially lived in nashville for five years. and so, i've compiled a list of my top 5 nashville moments.

(in no particular order)

1. my friends katie and jess are from the north, like me, so this past december we had no problem bundling up and heading out into one of the worst winter storms i've seen in nashville. to us, it was nothing. we hopped in our car and drove to katie's friend andrew's apartment, where we decided to make our first caroling stop. only, we had the wrong apartment number. so we got a practice run of caroling for strangers. we finally found the right one, appropriately made fools of ourselves (in the best way possible), and drove back to our neighborhood. we stopped in on a few friends and also went door-to-door to old neighbors and strangers. we even got free hot chocolate from our favorite coffee shop. we had so much fun that katie (who no longer lives in nashville) promised to come back around christmas this year just so we can do it again.

2. nashville is obviously known for its live music, and a few years ago the mayor helped get a new, free, concert series going, called live on the green. they have pretty well-known artists perform on the lawn outside the courthouse, in the heart of downtown. there was one night in particular where the artist had the crowd sing part of the chorus. and as we did, he backed away from the mike and the band stopped playing their instruments. it was just the sound of 500 or more nashvillians singing... and when nashvillians sing, it might as well be a giant professional choir. listening to that while surrounded by the night sky and the city lights, it definitely ranks as one of my favorite moments in nashville.

3. easter 2010. there wasn't anything super magically about that day, but my family came down for the weekend and it was my first time ever hosting a real holiday. we had absolutely perfect weather the whole weekend (minus the massive amounts of pollen jaundicing everything it landed on). we also all piled in my car and drove down to the jack daniel's distillery in lynchburg, which is an absolutely gorgeous drive.

4. i previously wrote about how i got to be an extra on the set of a movie based off one of my favorite books. after writing that blog entry, i got to go back 3 or 4 other times, and so i have a feeling i might be all over the film. it's set to release this fall and i can't wait to see it. (you can watch the trailer here). also, here's a picture from a scene i'm in:



5. the flood. it seems strange to consider a natural disaster which killed over 20 people one of my favorite moments in nashville; but the way this city pulled together to help out neighbors, friends, and strangers really struck a chord with me. i think it's rare to find the kind of community this town has, especially in a city. nashville has always been a big small town, and that's one of the things i love about it. the flood gave proof to the old saying that it's when we are at our weakest that we are our strongest. if there was ever any doubt in my mind that nashville was home, the city's reaction to the flood changed that forever.