My Quarter of a Century Celebration, pt. 1

On October 17th I had a milestone in life - this was the day I turned 25 years old. I had a wonderful 25th birthday and will use this post to tell you all about it.

The best part about my special day was that I was able to spend it with family and friends. My dad and Patty came into town, as did two very close friends of mine, Jeni and Elizabeth. I wanted to make sure that in addition to celebrating my birthday we also celebrated everyone's first time in Nashville, so we did a lot of touristy activities throughout the weekend. We ate at famous restaurants and spent time sight-seeing.

On Saturday we spent the afternoon watching the OSU game, then went to The Loveless Cafe for dinner. This was mine and Brandon's second time eating at Loveless, but a first for everyone else.

My Dad and Patty 

Elizabeth, Myself, and Jeni

On Sunday the six of us went to church and to The Dog of Nashville for lunch. After eating we drove to the Opryland Hotel and Grand Ole Opry to tour the hotel/grounds. We spent a couple hours on the Opry property and still didn't see everything, but what we did see was BEAUTIFUL! We will definitely go back one day to see the rest! 

Brandon, Dad, Patty and myself

My sweet Elizabeth and I

My dearest Jeni and I

Outside the Grand Ole Opry

There's so much to see at the Opryland Hotel - one could spend hours walking around there.

Elizabeth at the Orpyland Hotel.

The Opryland Hotel is beautiful! 

Sunday night Elizabeth, Jeni and I made dinner at home for everyone. We invited our friend Chris over too (who ended up being our tour guide that evening for a intense celebrity homes tour). 

Jeni and I eating brownie batter (dessert for Chris because he doesn't like cheesecake)

Our makeshift dinner table outside because we dont have room for one in our apt. 

I wanted cheesecake factory for my birthday cake, so we each got our own flavors/pieces.

Dad and Patty outside the Parthenon

Elizabeth, myself, and Jeni at the Parthenon.

Chris took us ALL around Nashville for a celebrity homes tour.

Monday, my actual birthday, I worked a half day. At lunch, my co-workers and I went out to lunch to celebrate my 25th. It was so fun to get out of the office and share a meal with them! Once I was home I took my family and friends downtown to experience "Nash-Vegas" and do a little  souvenir shopping. 

Brandon, Dad and Patty walking towards downtown.
(The tower on the right is Bridgestone Arena, where the Preds play, the ATT building on the left
is dubbed the Batman building)

Elizabeth with the Honky Tonk guitar - these guitars are all over Nashville, each having its own design.

Jeni & the Honky Tonk guitar.

Do we really need a caption for this one?

After we returned from our downtown excursion Dad and Patty had to leave to go back to Ohio. Jeni and Elizabeth staying one more night and we went out for my birthday celebration, but I'll tell you more about that in part 2's post. Stay tuned for that...

I feel truly blessed to have my family and friends visit for my birthday. I felt so loved and realize the sacrifice that each made to travel to Nashville for the weekend. I enjoyed every moment and didn't take one second for granted. I hope that each guest returns for another visit soon to share in more fun moments together! 

And so this concludes part 1's post of my birthday celebrations. I definitely started the year right (enjoying many joyful moments with people I love) and have a great feeling about what this year will bring!