Nashville!

In March (yeah, I've been a bit behind on the blogging), some of my friends from the Notre Dame alumni club and I took a road trip to Nashville. From the minute we walked onto Broadway, I was in love! The city is full of things to do, the streets are clean, and the sweet tea is that good.

On Friday we headed out to the main strip for some dinner and dancing. It's like a smaller, cleaner, safer version of Vegas.

On Saturday, we drove out to the Loveless Cafe where we had biscuits and grits for brunch. My favorite part though, was just sitting on the porch sipping sodas while waiting for our table. What else does one do in the South?

Dayna, Dee Dee, Kiki, Me, Tim (Kathleen's fella), Kathleen


After the Loveless Cafe, we drove through the suburb of Belle Meade (turns out this is Al Gore's hometown). It was one of the most beautiful neighborhoods I've ever been in. Old homes, stone walls, creeks, and trees everywhere.


Then we took a side trip to Greece to visit the Parthenon.
Okay, really, it was the full scale replica across from Vanderbilt. Still pretty impressive and it made for great photo taking opportunities!


Saturday evening was the Bluebird Cafe, a tiny hole in the wall where up and coming artists give performances.


On Sunday, we did a little sight seeing by the river before making the 5 hour drive home.
I enjoyed Nashville so much, I was scanning job opportunities there. Unfortunately, Nashville is big on music and healthcare, not so much on the defense and technology. It makes for a good road trip anyway!

More Adventures in Hoku Land

Sunday was my day to scrub the floors.

That made today Hoku's day to play in the mud.

St Patrick's Day Parade!

This past Saturday, downtown St. Louis celebrated St. Patrick's Day with the annual parade. The parade was started 40 years ago by a Notre Dame grad and now draws over 250,000 spectators. This year, I got to ride on the Notre Dame club float (last year, I accidentally slept through it). It was a great time waving to the crowds, dancing the Irish jig, and singing the fight song (over and over and over).

Eagles!

Last month, my friend Dayna and I drove up to Clarksville, Missouri for some Bald Eagle watching. Clarksville is a little antique town overlooking Lock and Dam Number 24 on the Mississippi River about 90 minutes north of St Louis. During the winter months, the area surrouning the dam is the only part of the river that doesn't freeze over making it prime feeding location for Bald Eagles. It was amazing. There were hundreds of them flying around the dam and napping in the trees along the river. Dayna and I had a great morning photographing them. Once we had enough of the cold, we headed inside to eat at the corner diner followed by an afternoon of shopping in the antique stores. It was a great little road trip!

Snow!

This is the snow storm we had last week. It's finally melted off. The forecast for this weekend is sixty degrees. It sounds down right tropical these days!

Back to School!

Seems like school just started, but I'm already 1/2 way through the first spring mini. Very exciting, as this is my second to last semester! I'm taking six 1.5 credit courses this semester:

Management and Corporate Responsibility
Strategic and Crisis Communication
Managerial Control Systems
Business Ethics
Money, Capital Markets & Economic Growth
Marketing Research I

I'm particularly looking forward to ethics and corporate responsibility (I think I'm a closet philosopher).

At any rate, when you wonder why my blog updates get behind, this is why!

Aloha Nui Loa!

I had another wonderful visit to Maui for the holidays. Emily and her family are so gracious to allow me to smother them during one of the busiest times of the year. I always have so much fun spending quality time with Chloe and Bailey, talking story with Brad, and dodging Emily's daggers as I try to help her in the kitchen. It's a nice recharge that helps me get through the rest of the year isolated from family.

Little Whirling Dervish