nashville = change.

i'm a california girl, born and bred. and this is the country. 

(omg. this is the country. take deep breaths, deep, deep breaths...)

thought you might like to see. 

 

 

 

A Little Bit Broken.

I don't usually write blog posts on my feelings. Most often, they're about the fluffy/fun parts of Los Angeles, and the crazy extended family that makes their home up in the Bay Area. This week, however, I left my family in Tennessee. And that's no laughing matter.

It's roughly 2,004 miles from my front door to theirs, and sometimes I think I can personally feel every foot of it. Whoever came up with the term, "homesick" wasn't kidding. There's a pressure on your chest, and tears feel like they hide right behind your eyes. Sometimes I catch myself walking on eggshells around the office/home as to not jostle the delicate nature of my heart.

Is that strange? To be twenty-years-old, and completely broken over being so far away from home? It's a bit odd to come to terms with. I've washed the floors of the bathroom at work with tears that came too fast to stop, and listened to country music that strikes a sudden, hidden chord. I woke up on Monday morning much too early (I was still on Dad/Tennessee time), and watched as the sky bled colors of light blue and pink. It's beautiful, but different. And it hurts.

When I went away to college, everyone was missing home. We were all torn away from the people we loved, and thrust into a dorm with a hundred other girls in the same situation. It's different, now. At school, the other students go home to their families, and I hear people at work talking about plans for the weekend with siblings, or dinners with mom and dad. I'm happy for them, but there's a little chink of envy in my heart. I wish I could do the same thing.

I fought tears the whole plane flight back, and finally managed to let go once I found a note from my Mama tucked away in my carry-on bag. On the outside she had written, "Meg: Open in LA." She tucked in a little love note somewhere in Tennessee, and I was lucky to find it before I went to bed late Sunday night. She wrote about how much she loves me, and God's plan. It was her last line {paraphrased, here. some letters are too personal to share} that hit me hard. "God has a great plan for you...but I pray he always leads you home."

It's in moments like these that I realize the inevitable.
Sometimes, it's okay to be a little broken.

 {dad and mama}

 {a night out for live music//love the lady smiling in the background}

 {playing games at starbucks}

leaving a mark on the ryman.

{inside the ryman}

when i think of classic country singers, there is no one more iconic than johnny cash. then i think about june carter, and dolly parton. patsy cline gets thrown into the mix, as well as hank williams. there are quite a few names that are more than easy to drop, and they all made their tennessee performance home at the ryman auditorium.

it was the first grand ole opry. the acoustics are excellent, rivaled in the united states only by the mormon tabernacle choir. my mama and i were able to take a backstage tour and hear all the stories that echo through the wood paneled halls. the hall is still in use (martina mcbride will be there in september!), and everyone from garth brooks to the kings of leon wait in line to get a concert date.

i guess it's a bit hard to explain in a couple of disjointed words how amazing this historical landmark truly is. the ryman is where quite a few contemporary country stars perform on a monthly basis, and the grammy award nominations will be held here in the late fall. i have a feeling taylor swift will be honored...as well as quite a few of the main pop and rock singers as of late.

although the grand ole opry was rebuilt in the middle of the seventies far away from downtown nashville, the ryman is known as the home of country music. mama loved it, and i thought all the history was exciting and almost eerie. the tour guides (who personally knew johnny and june) talk about the ghosts in the hallways, watching the acts from the wings.

i'd take the old over the new any day.

 {cowboy boots of the stars + me}

{johnny/june/meg. it has a ring, doesn't it? ;) }

 {downtown}

 {the tour guides. who know everyone. literally.}

{mama and her favorites!}

 {timelines}

{tall ceilings for the acoustics}

real country.

{a hot air balloon surprise}

i always thought that i knew what, "country" meant. it was somewhere along south shingle, tucked away beyond highway 50. it was anywhere that was nowhere, someplace that's far beyond the access of any car that doesn't possess four-wheel-drive.

or i guess it's in tennessee.

i've been out visiting my family for the last couple days, and we're getting ready to head out to puckett's now (the reason for the short post..). before i run out the door though, i thought it would be neat to show off a little bit of this amazing state. it truly is beautiful.

 {railroad tracks under a blueblue sky}

 {natural tree canopy}

 {hay bales}