Father's Day and Week of Concerts in Nashville...

Happy Father's Day! I'm so blessed to have such a great dad.

My dad and I have been on many fun adventures together. I really like these pictures, mainly because of the stories behind them. My dad and brother visited me while I was in Alaska, and I went with them to work a sports camp with my church. The picture on the left was taken in Alaska on an 8 hr. raft trip. We were stuck on the river and didn't think we would ever get off of it, but thankfully we made it! The other picture on the right was taken in Hawaii :) We went on a 38 mile downhill bike ride with Maui Downhill. It was definitely the most adventurous thing I have EVER done in my life! I have so many wonderful memories of fun times with my dad, and I am so thankful for the leader he has been in my life. He has supported me in all my endeavors and most importantly, he has set an example for me. I admire how he honors and serves the Lord in all aspects of his life. Know that you are very loved and appreciated, dad!

The Grand Ole Opry

  

On Tuesday night I went to the Grand Ole Opry, and saw the following individuals and groups perform:
-Riders in the Sky
-Terri Clark

-George Hamilton IV

-Del McCoury Band

-Justin Moore

-Jimmy Dickens(who is 89 yrs. old)

-Lady Antebellum

Justin Moore and Lady A were by far my favorites. I went with two of the girls that are interning at LifeWay this summer. I am pictured with Tiffany and Lauren on the right. It was such a great concert, and neat to hear some of the old traditional bluegrass/country music, as well as some of the new and upcoming country artists. Lady Antebellum performed a new version of their song, "Need You Now" that was awesome!
Justin Moore is also pictured(on the right). The Grand Ole Opry is being held at the Ryman due to all of the flooding that affected the Opry. On Tuesday night they must have had a prior engagement scheduled at the Ryman, so the Opry was held at the Allen Arena at Lipscomb University.

Then, on Thursday night I went to a FREE concert at The Rutledge. Alyssa, who I'm living with for the summer, found out about this concert. She works at LifeWay with a devotional magazine called Bible Express, and gets to interview so many awesome Christian music artists. She recently interviewed Audrey Assad, who happened to be performing in Nashville this week, along with Chris August, Mistletoe Project, House of Heroes, Poema, Brandon Heath, and the Newboys. So of course we went! I'm so glad we did too, it was a great concert. I really like Brandon Heath's song "Wait and See." He didn't end up playing it, but he did sing "Give Me Your Eyes." Brandon is pictured to the left. I also really enjoyed Audrey Assad. I heard her for the first time at Mississippi College in the fall when she came and played. She is such a talented pianist and she has a great voice.

This summer is flying by, it's so hard to believe that I've been here for over a month. I still love it, and really hope to be able to make a permanent move here soon. One last picture to include from Thursday's concert. I'm living with Alyssa this summer. She interned at LifeWay last summer at the same time I did in Childhood Ministry Publishing. It has been such a wonderful summer. She has a cute house that is convenient to work and a neat little cat named Miles. One neat fact about Alyssa is that she is a triplet! Yes, the first and only triplet I've ever met! To read more about Alyssa and to see the great blog that she updates regularly, see http://www.alyssainnashville.com/ That's all for now, this blogging stuff takes me way too long!