Last Thursday, I left the office and headed for Nashville for one of my favorite Christmas traditions--The Behold the Lamb of God concert at the Ryman Theater with Andrew Peterson and others. This is my 3rd year going to this concert and it just gets better every time! Something that I love just as much as the music itself is that this serves as a mini-camp reunion. Alex, Forrest, Chris and myself have gone up together the last several years and I have yet to go that I haven't seen at least 4 or 5 other CVP friends from summers past.
Literally as soon as Andrew Peterson sang the last note, I had my coat on and was out the door, running through the streets of the city like a crazy person. It was 10:05 and the Garth Brooks concert was supposed to start at 10 PM. Fortunately for me, the 7:00 GB concert was getting out and we were trying to get in, so once I found Joe in the mass of people, we made it inside with plenty of time to sit before Garth made his appearance. It was hands down one of the best concerts I've ever been to in my life. Top 5 at least. I knew every single one of his songs and you could tell that he was loving every minute he was performing. I am so glad I have a best friend like Kasey to give me such a great birthday present!
Kasey and I drove back to Bowling Green so I could squeeze in a few hours of sleep before getting back on the road to head South. Sloan was in Nashville and thanks to her commendable stalking skills (aka my overly -media-broadcasted life of facebook, blogging, and twitter), I got to meet up with her for a breakfast at the apparently famous Pancake Pantry. There was a line out the door in very chilly weather, but the line moved fast and the wait was more than worth it!! It was good to see her and I can't wait to see her with several more PC '05 girls in less than a week! 
I made it to Kirby's house just in time for a quick visit before she dropped me off at the airport. Note to self for future travels: check the liquid amounts that are "acceptable for carry on items" before packing. I had to check my bag before I had too many liquids. Ridiculous. Even more ridiculous was the $30 is cost to check a tiny little bag. But, I made it safe and sound to Orlando late Friday night! Kristel was nice enough to take me in for the night and spend a greater part of the day entertaining me on rainy Saturday. It was so good to see her and catch up!
And then my Disney vacation began! My parents and I stayed in Port Orleans Riverside Resort that was beautiful! My dad's agreement with me was that if I bought my plane ticket and Disney World Park tickets, then he would cover my lodging and food. Turns out that Disney costs a pretty penny....in case you were wondering. But it was all worth it! Sunday was spent with just me and my parents at Epcot. It was much chillier than Florida should ever be, but we sucked it up and enjoyed our day riding rides in the morning, eating lunch at "France", getting some snacks in "Germany" and strolling through the rest of the countries.
That night, my mom's knee was hurting so my dad and I went to Downtown Disney for our dinner reservations at Captain Jack's and even made time to go back to Epcot to ride one or two more rides before calling it a night. 
Monday and Tuesday were our days with Charlotte (Lee's parents had her on Saturday and Sunday at the parks). Monday was a day spent at the Animal Kingdom. We went on the safari, which Charlotte loved seeing all of the animals, attempted "It's Tough to be a Bug", but the special effects scared her quite a bit. My parents rode kiddy rides with her while Katie, Lee, and I rode some of the bigger attractions like Dinosaur, Primevil Whirl, and of course Everest. 
For all Disney resort "residents", they offer Magic Hours at the parks on certain nights which meant that Magic Kingdom was open until 3 AM on Monday night! While I was waiting for Katie and Lee to meet me after their dinner date, I watched the parade and Christmas Show at Cinderella's Castle. Although I felt a bit like a creeper because I was standing myself with lots of kids running around, I really enjoyed the "magic" of Disney and realizing you can never outgrow, or never should outgrow the feeling you get when you're there. 
Even though I was running off only 5 hours of sleep my last day at Disney, I was so glad I had stayed at the parks until 2:30 the night before. Since we rode some of the "big kid" rides that had shorter lines the night before, I didn't mind waiting in line to ride Winnie the Pooh and It's a Small World. Charlotte was so fun to spend the day with too--She never ceases to amaze me how smart she is for a 2 year old and how opinionated she is too! 
I probably could have done a few more days at Disney World, but I don't think I realized how exhausted I was until I stopped moving!! I went out with a couple of high school friends last night and felt like a zombie as the night winded down.
These next few days will be focused on lots of time with family and hopefully some chances to spend with old friends...and lots and lots of being lazy! I am so blessed to have so many wonderful family members and friends that I got to see this past week. I felt like all of my worlds were colliding--seeing old camp friends and one of my best friends in one night, a sorority sister the next morning, Kirby and Felicity to take me to the airport, staying with Kristel who discipled me at Georgia, lots of time with lots of family (and Mickey) for several days, and high school friends to finish what I can simply put as the best week ever.
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