Monday, July 7, 2014

New House and Nashville

If you are a frequent follower of our blog, you will notice that I've changed the background.  No more London red telephone boxes...makes me a little sad :)  The last month has been extremely busy for Josh and I.  We spent the first weekend in Nashville, Tennessee at a family friends wedding, Amanda arrived from England for a visit, we closed on our house, Josh bought a truck, we moved stuff out of my parents basement and our household goods arrived from London. 


I've been catching up with friends I haven't had much time to talk to or hang out with since moving to London.  One night I went out with my friend Amanda, to a creperie here in town called Aviary.  It was delish!  We ate, drank, talked and then shopped!  What a fun night :)

Sangria!

Amanda loved her martini

So fun to catch up with Amanda!
Fresh berry and lemon curd crepe that we shared.  Delish!

We arrived in Nashville (well, technically it was Franklin, a suburb of Nashville) but for the sake of ease, I will call it Nashville, on the Thursday before the wedding.  We enjoyed some snacks and drinks at the hotel before picking up Amanda from the airport.  Sam was suppose to join her, but a few weeks prior he had been sent to an "unidentified location" for an Alpha alert.  Unfortunately, the alert was still ongoing when he was suppose to be flying to Nashville, so he wasn't able to come to the wedding (he was suppose to be a groomsman!).  It was sooooooo good to see Amanda!  She brought a little bit of England with her when she landed, including some proper tea for me :)  We had a fun night catching up.  The next morning, Amanda and I went to have pedicures, which was wonderful.  Afterwards, Josh and Dad picked us up and we went to Carnton plantation, Carnton was built in 1826 and was the site of one of the bloodiest battles in the civil war.  Known as the Battle of Franklin, it lasted only 5 hours but left up to 9,500 soldiers killed, wounded, captured or dead.  Of those, over 7,000 were confederate soldiers. The Carnton plantation house served as a hospital for the wounded for the better part of a year.  There are still blood stains on the floor that mark that terrible time in history.  Carnton has a cemetery dedicated to the soldiers who died there, it is a sobering sight, especially the large number of graves that contain the bones of unknown men. 

"Reunited and it feels so good!"  Amanda and I were so happy to see each other!  This was post-pedicure :)

Carnton Plantation

Beautiful hydrangeas at the plantation

The kitchen garden at the plantation

Josh and I in the garden

The biggest Osage orange tree we have ever seen!

After our tour through Carnton, we drove through Franklin downtown and found a local place for lunch.  It was great!  Delicious food and good atmosphere.  We headed back to the hotel to reconnect with mom.  That evening, while mom, dad and Amanda were at the rehearsal and dinner, Josh and I met up with a high school friend who happened to live in Nashville, Sam and her husband Don.  We had sushi at a freezing cold restaurant.  We had some good conversation and good food.  It was so nice to catch up!  I hope they enjoyed it as much as we did!

Lunch time!

The restaurant we ate at in downtown Franklin
Beer tasting!

On Saturday we had a relaxing morning before the wedding.  The ceremony was beautiful and they had a fantastic bagpipe player which was fun and unexpected.  It reminded me of our visits to Scotland where bagpipe players would be out in the streets playing for money.  Loved it.  The reception was lovely, they had a limo shuttle from the hotel to the reception which was great.  We ate, we drank, we danced!

Dressed up and ready to go!

Super packed limo on the way to reception

The guys enjoying a celebratory cigar at the reception

Sad that Sam couldn't make it :(

The Bairdbrook's in their best!

I love my SIL!
The Thursday after our trip to Nashville, Josh and I closed on our house.  It was a pretty smooth transition and it was great to get the keys and start moving our stuff over.  We decided, since Amanda was visiting and our London stuff hadn't been released from customs yet, that we would wait to move in.  So a few nights a week we would head over the house after work and bring a few things over and work on something - like cleaning or clearing out the garden area.  We spent the following Saturday moving our stored items out of my parents basement, a big thanks to my parents for the help on that one!  Despite not having any pots and pans, linens or utensils, Josh and I moved out to the new house.  We managed for a few days before our London stuff came.  Now we have most of what we need (still no couch, dining room chairs or tv!)  We still have a lot to unpack and find homes for.  In our 'spare' time we have been working on putting in a small garden, pulling the zillions of weeds, mowing, and lots and lots of planning and list making.  Our project list is endless...there is so much that we want to do on the farm and in the house.  Just one thing at a time though, I suppose!  It is probably a good thing we don't have a tv or a couch yet...no time for resting!

We have a house!  Thanks to the best realtor in the world!
Creep kids on our moving truck, haha, someone whited out their eyes and made these kids look scary!

While Amanda was still in town we had a girls night out, dinner at Cheddar's (Amanda's favorite) and drinks at Houlihans.  We all had a fun night and the weather was fantastic.  We also had a get together at our house for Father's Day.  We had fried chicken and an open fire outside where we enjoyed making smores and playing cornhole.  I'm so excited to be able to entertain again!

Mom and Pam enjoying their teas

All of the girls!

Amanda and I and our delicious beverages!

Marla and I at Houlihans

Amanda and Sarah 
Josh and I in front of our new house!

Apples on our trees

Mom and I enjoying the swing on our front porch.
That's all I have to say for now!  Live is good and busy.  I'm having some London withdraws but I really am enjoying being back in America.  Just for fun, here are some pics of Amanda that she took while I was away from my phone at the wedding reception :) 
Sorry Amanda!  LOL! 

Rachel