Updates

So here is a bit of an update on where things are currently at:

My Teeth - I have a root canal this afternoon, yuk. But I keep telling myself I will feel so much better once this is over. 7 weeks of pain and 7 dentist/doctor appointments and we're finally getting somewhere. I'm nervous, but my dentist is a really nice guy which makes it a bit easier.

Jason's Music - Billy Currington came into Mortons last week for dinner with a few guys in the industry. Jason was able to wait on them. As soon as he walked up to the table, Billy asked Jason if he had "Right Where We Belong" cut yet. Jason said no, not yet. Billy said he thought it was such a great song and he hoped Jason didn't mind, but he had been talking with Craig Morgan about it the other day since Craig is cutting his new album in December. Wow. Craig has that single out right now called "Tough". Jason was pretty flattered. He thanked Billy for going to bat for him like that and Billy said that he was getting Craig a copy of Jason's song and that he really believed in his music and that when he believes in something he doesn't let it go. He really said that. Talk about a huge compliment. We knew Billy had an interest in that song for a while, but he didn't end up cutting the song himself, because in the end he decided to go with all songs he had written himself. His new album will be released on October 30th. Billy also asked Jason how the rest of his music was going and Jason filled him in on the hold with Rodney Atkins. He responded by saying telling Jason to hang in there cause it wouldn't be long. Lord, we're hoping so. That's going to be some exciting day when it finally does come along!

On a sidenote, there was a recent interview with Billy Currington by People magazine about some rumors that he was in rehab for drug abuse. It wasn't true, but in fact he actually underwent a trauma recovery program for abuse he had suffered as a child. I found the interview quite interesting as he mentions his relationship with God:

"Billy Currington discusses the child abuse he suffered from his stepfather in an issue of People magazine that arrives on newsstands on Friday (Aug. 10). He has completed a 30-day trauma recovery program and will meet with therapists who specialize in childhood trauma later this month, after he completes the recording sessions for his third album. Earlier this summer, Currington canceled all his tour dates for the remainder of the year and went on voice rest due to acute laryngitis. He told the magazine he had heard rumors that he entered rehab for drug and alcohol addiction, so he decided to go public with his abusive childhood to confront the rumors and help others heal from a similar situation. "People who care about me want to know the truth, so I'm telling them," he tells the magazine. "I feel like I'm being used by God now, and all I can say is, 'God, please use me,' because someone else might need to heal from this, too."

- People Magazine, August 10, 2007 issue

Family - Kati & dad are starting their trek to CA today to stay the weekend with the Keiths! Jerry Keith and dad are going to Promise Keepers together in Fresno, while Kati hangs out with Sherry. I think its awesome our dads are spending some time together getting to know each other better & experiencing God in a deeper way through the conference. I look forward to hearing how it all went. Then I believe the plan is that dad and Kati will drive back up the coast and meet mom & the girls in Oregon for a little vacation on the beach.

Friends - I'm very excited to say that my best friend Tina is coming out to see me at the end of September. A great deal with SouthWest Airlines popped up and being the spontaneous girl that she is, she bought her ticket that day!!! Jay is being amazing by staying home with the kids, so we can have a girls weekend and do fun things like get pedicures and go to the movies - yea!! There's also a chance that Jason may drive down to Florida to write with a couple of his friends that weekend. But that's not for sure yet.

Church - Jason and I were recently asked to help serve more within our home church, Harpeth Community. We had been waiting to be a part of the congregation for close to a year before diving into service, and as we come up on our one year there, we were approached by one of our dear friends Melanie McRay, who is also over the children's ministry, and asked if we would be willing to step in and teach the 3rd Graders every other month. It's not a huge commitment, but it is a start in getting involved & getting to know more people in the church. I'm looking forward to it and it should be a lot of fun.

"Nashville" Show - A new reality show will be airing on Fox called Nashville. Some of you may have been seeing the advertisements already. It follows 8 aspiring songwriters/artists who are trying to make it in the music business. One of the artists is our friend Chuck Wicks, who sings and co-wrote the song "Right Where We Belong" with Jason, and if you remember, its the song we last danced to at our wedding. In this picture, he's the guy in the all white shirt sitting on top of the car in the upper left corner. Its kinda funny that this show is supposed to show his struggle in the music business, when he already has a record deal with RCA and should be finished wrapping up his album anytime now. Dan Huff and Monty Powell produced his album, who have also worked with Keith Urban and Rascal Flatts, so it should be a good one. From what I heard, Chuck will also be presenting at the Teen Choice Awards on Sunday night. That should be interesting, I wonder how they'll introduce him? "You have no idea who this guy is now, but you will." ???

Other news - School is back in here in Nashville and I've been surprised to see that Davidson County, which is primarily the Nashville area, has made uniforms a requirement for ALL public schools! I didn't know they could do such a thing! I've seen plenty of uniforms in private schools, but public? Every morning I drive by three public schools and see all the elementary, junior high and high school kids in their khaki's and polos. From what I heard they switched over to uniforms because they were having so many issues with the dress code & how kids were abusing it.

Weather - It's too freakin hot here. We've had close to three weeks of close to 100 degree weather. Today is supposed to reach 104. And in the evening it only cools off to like 93! I sleep with a fan blowing directly in my face and even still wake up sweating with a sheet on top of me. It's also been so dry and we've had very little rain, which is so sad because the trees are drying out and it might make for an ugly fall :-( Fall is my favorite season and it normally gets so gorgeous here, so I'm praying for some serious storms this weekend!!

Book Review - I've been doing a lot of reading lately, and I recently finished "Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas" by James Patterson. It was so good! I couldn't put it down and read it in only a couple days, which is fast for me. I'm currently reading "Bidding For Love" by Katie Fford, which is a cute story and I'm very much enjoying. But what I'm most looking forward to is reading "The Choice" by Nicholas Sparks which comes out September 24th - yea!!!! He is by far my all time favorite author and I can't wait for his next book!

That's about all the updates I have for now. I hope your all enjoying what's left of your summer. Can you believe, fall is just around the corner! We love you all - The Keiths!

LOVE THIS!

Mandy Moore did her own rendition of Rihanna's "Umbrella" and its amazing - I love it!!

This last weekend was so wonderful, I don't even know where to begin. Well let me back up and first explain what's been going on. I've had a lot of doctor & dentist appointments lately trying to figure out what's causing so much pain in my jaw and teeth lately. It's been almost 6 weeks now of appointments and very little answers. I've yet to see the same doctor twice...yea nice. I'm not real big on doctors, needles or anything of the sort, so every time I go, I get super nervous and have a restless night. Last Thursday I went to see an oral surgeon, because I thought maybe this wisdom tooth I know needs to come out, is what's causing all this pain. His name is Dr. David Malin and I thought he was wonderful. He gave me really no good news, but I still liked him a lot. From what he says, I have a molar that is cracked in two places and will more than likley need that root canal after all, then a crown, and another crown for the tooth next to it and when I'm all done with that - to come back and see him to get that wisdom tooth pulled. Lord have mercy. I go back to an endodontist specialist (another new doctor) tomorrow afternoon for the consultation on this molar - I'm praying that its not so damaged that they can still save the tooth. Dr. Malin warned me that if its cracked to the bone, they will need to pull the whole tooth and put in an implant. Just writing that makes me woozy. I was having quite a few nightmares there for a while that my teeth were falling out. Talk about making a girl feel old. I just keep telling myself that as awful as all this will be to go through, I'll feel ten times better than I have these last 6 weeks.

So anyway - back to the wonderful weekend! On Thursday night I found out that Jason had Friday night off. I was so excited that we were going to have some time alone and trying to figure out something fun to do. Maybe a drive-in movie or dinner out. I get home from work and Jason tells me - "You've got 20 minutes to pack!" What??!! I was so excited I didn't know what to do with myself! I packed my stuff and off we went. He didn't budge the entire 45 minute drive and of course I kept pestering him to tell me where we were going. The drive was beautiful too - just gorgeous trees and landscapes the whole way there. Finally we pulled up to the Monteagle Inn in Monteagle, TN. Do I have an awesome man or what?? A weekend away at a B&B is exactly what we needed. He had booked us there for two nights and made plans for us to spend Saturday in Chattanooga. We had such a blast and we took tons of pictures too (and that's without Kati's help - amazing huh?!) We stayed in the Sequatchee Room, named after a nearby river. It was so cozy and relaxing, I could have stayed holed up in our room together for days. Doesn't Jason have great taste?

On Saturday morning we were up for an early breakfast (and I mean early y'all, like 8am early!) and then we headed off to Chattanooga. Jason had planned for us to spend the day at Lookout Mountain. And no, we're not talking a hiking trip either. This place is so very cool! It's three different attractions that you buy tickets for and go see. It takes close to 5-6 hours total to tour all three - Rock City, The Incline and Ruby Falls. First we headed up the mountain to Rock City.

And if you don't like heights or enclosed spaces, then this is NOT the place for you to visit. This part of Rock City was called The Needle's Eye. Originally the land belonged to Garnet & Frieda Carter, who back in 1932 had owned over 700 acres. And when the depression hit, Frieda focused on creating her "rock garden" with collections of plants & trees from all over the world. And thus began Rock City.

This fountain was inside one of the caverns of Rock City.

I was able to steady myself for a minute long enough to snap a picture of Jason walking across the Swing-A-Long Bridge, which stretches over 180 feet across. My legs were so wobbly by the time we crossed.

We saw this old firetruck right by the bird show - and yes, I'm being a dork. :-)

I was able to get a picture with this beautiful bald eagle who was a part of the bird show.

And here's Jason with a Screech Owl. The poor thing had been hit by a car and that's why its right eye is all messed up. We were able to touch it and I started to get a little attached. I thought maybe it would make a great pet. I know Banks would love it!

Jason got the camera for a while and kept saying, "Give me some!" as he took pictures.

This is Lover's Leap inside of Rock City. According to folklore, a young brave named Sautee fell deeply in love with Nacoochee, a beautiful Cherokee maiden. Nacoochee loved Sautee as well, but their tribes were engaged in a bitter feud. The two finally ran off together, but Sautee was soon captured and thrown from the tip of Lovers' Leap. The despairing Nacoochee quickly followed her lover, leaping to her own death far below.

This picture was taken on top of Lover's Leap. Jason is facing The Seven States Flag Court which is a lasting tribute to each of the seven states you can see from this view - Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.

One of the tunnels we walked through in Rock City, but this one was called Goblins Underpass, so Jason is doing his best impersonation of a goblin.

There's a section of Rock City called Fairyland. Frieda Carter had a thing for fairies and fantasy, so her husband built her an attraction within the caves of all the storybook characters and using blacklights. I've included a couple pictures of what it looked like inside.

And that was our trip inside Rock City!

Our second stop on Lookout Mountain was to The Incline. I don't have many pictures of this, because I was a bit nervous and too distracted to take any. It's a mile long and the grade gets up to 72 %, its also the worlds steepest railway. Thankfully it goes slow, because it looked too much like a roller coaster to me.

And finally, our last stop was to Ruby Falls. Leo Lambert drilled a hole for an elevator shaft and came upon an air pocket 260 feet below ground. He crawled through that tunnel which was only 18 inches high at the time and 5 feet wide. 17 hours later he returned telling of a huge waterfall that he discovered and named after his wife Ruby. After they widened the tunnel, he opened up Ruby Falls to the public and since 1930, visitors have been taking an elevator down 260 feet and touring the cave to see this amazing waterfall. It is huge and breathtaking.

These were some pictures that I took of the formations we saw underground in the caves on the way to the waterfall. The lights were actually added to give effect to the caves.

This was called Mirror Pool, it was pretty small, but so very cool. I have no idea where the water came from to form this little pool.

This was called the Niagra Falls rock formation.

And finally we saw the great Ruby Falls. It was so amazing. You could walk around the base of it and droplets were just floating through the air. This weekend was just simply so amazing and wonderful. We had such a great time and so much fun together. We had dinner & dessert at a little outside cafe in downtown Chattanooga and eventually headed back to the inn. Sunday was very mellow with sleeping in late, a slow drive home, touring a few homes in East Nashville, dinner at Rafferty's and a movie before bed. I absolutely had the best weekend and I'm so blessed to be married to such an amazing man. I love you sweetie and thank you for being so wonderful :-)

Hope Deferred

Yesterday was hard. I didn't sleep much the night before because I was so anxious about having to say goodbye to my youngest sister Kati. After only getting a few hours of sleep, I was overly emotional and cried off and on most of the morning every time I thought of her leaving. Jason was so sweet to bring both Kati and Rosie down to my work one final time to have coffee together, which helped ease the departure. After all of that, her flight ended up being so delayed that she would have missed her connection and ended up in Salt Lake City overnight. I told her NOT to get on the plane and ask if she can get her flights switched to today (Wednesday). They were very sweet to her and even upgraded her to first class for part of her trip and she heads out at 2pm this afternoon. When I called Kris to tell her that Kati would be here another day she said "Hope deferred makes the heart sick". I asked her what she meant and she explained "Kati is hope, her plane was deferred and it makes my heart sick" awww...

We have had a wonderful time these last five weeks and I've so enjoyed the company all those evenings when Jason is away at work. Its been so nice to carpool into work together, watch So You Think You Can Dance together, stay up late and watch movies, cook dinners...I'm so sad to let her go.

If you haven't already been to her blog, then these pictures will seem new to you. I had to steal a few that she took off my camera, since I don't have it with me right now. As she had explained, we did a lot over the weekend - the fair, the pool, Opryland Hotel and mall, Ted's Montana Grill, Loveless Cafe, Alan Jackson's mansion, saw Bourne Ultimatum... it's been crazy busy and thankfully I was able to take Monday off to make the weekend last even longer! If it hadn't been so hot lately, we would have done more outdoor things like canoeing, but its been a 100 degrees for the last few days - which is really hot!

I'm back at work now, trying to get back into the groove of things, sipping hot coffee out of my Seattle Starbucks mug, tending to my boss's whims and knowing full well that I'm going home to an empty house tonight. I'll probably end up cleaning to take my mind off things...that tends to be the Kelly way :-) But hey, there's always ....So You Think You Can, So You Think You Can, So You Think You Can...Dance, Dance Dance!

I hope both Kati & Rosie enjoyed the last few days they were with us and that we were able to give them a good idea of life in Nashville. They were so much fun to be around and are welcome back anytime. I love you both and look forward to seeing you when we come home at Thanksgiving!!

Well it seems that every time I have new pictures or stories to post, my sister Kati has already beaten me to the punch. For those of you that don't already know, Kati's friend Rosie Pucchio is flying out tomorrow to spend the next few days with us before both her and Kati both fly back to Seattle on Tuesday. And don't even get me started on that - it makes me a little sick to my stomach to think I'm going to lose her in just a few days. These last five weeks have flown by and its been so nice to show her around Nashville and to have her around the office. Now if I can only talk my other sister Kris into coming out for a visit to see me, my year would be perfect!

We have tons planned this weekend - but whether we actually accomplish all of it remains to be seen. So far I have planned a possible outdoor movie in a park, Cracker Barrel, the Williamson County fair, Loveless Cafe, Opryland for shopping and to see the mall, a possible canoe river ride, hittin the honkey-tonks on Broadway, hanging out at the pool and a chocolate chip cookie bake-off between Jason and I. Its a lot to cram in just a few days, but we'll find a way!

I've included a couple pictures from a little walk we took up a trail from one of the sites from the Battle of Franklin. Obviously you can see quite the sense of humor my husband has. :-)

And no, I'm not pregnant....but I thought it would be fun to see what it might look like someday!

I hope everyone's summer is going well - don't forget to leave a comment, its so nice to hear from y'all!