4 FANTASTIC things that happened this weekend!

This weekend was absolutely fantastic.  There were 4 things that took place: 2 congratulations, 1 engagement and 1 awesome concert.

So it might be kind of a long post…but well worth the read if you’re a hopeless romantic like me.

First and foremost, congrats to my smart boyfriend, Garrett Honea….he GOT INTO LAW SCHOOL!!!!!!!!!  Woohoo!!!  I’m so incredibly proud of him.  He starts this fall and can’t wait to see where the future takes him. 

Second, one of my closest friends, Ellen Walker got ENGAGED!!!  She’s from Charleston, SC and is living here with me for 3 months because she’s doing her clinicals here.  FINALLY is all I have to say about that…I felt like her boyfriend, (now fiancé) and I had been having a secret relationship for about a month or so.  We had to talk behind Ellen’s back because we were planning how he was going to propose. And when I say “we”, I’m including Garrett in that as well, because he’s the one that came up with the idea of how the proposal took place.   

So do you want to know how he proposed???  Ok, good, because I’ve been dying to share. 

Just to give you a little background, Ellen and I went to college together and were in the same sorority so we’ve been close friends for about 6 years now.  Ellen moved to Nashville about a month ago to do her clinicals here for 3 months.  Her boyfriend, (not fiancé), Bryan Clemmons, lives in Charleston, SC.   He decided that he wanted to come up here and surprise Ellen and totally take her off guard and propose.

So this past Friday night, Garrett was going to take Ellen on her first real “tour of Nashville” and called it “The Garrett Honea tour of Nashville.”  Garrett was decked out in his “Nashville” attire too so he would look the part.

We drove by a couple of places and then Garrett decided that the next stop needed to take place at Centennial Park where the Parthenon is.  The Parthenon is a replica of the Parthenon in Greece so it’s super pretty and big.  As we were walking up, we decided to take some pictures before the big surprise.

As we are walking up the stairs to see the statue of Athena, Ellen gets a phone call from Bryan  and at that point, Bryan comes around the corner and completely takes Ellen off guard by popping the question. 

I’m not sure what all was said because Garrett and I backed out of the way to give them privacy and take pictures....but I did hear a loud YES!  How could she not with a ring that looks like this????  GEESH!

Here's a few lovely pics of the newly engaged couple.

 After that we all 4 went to celebrate!!!!  YAY for the Happy Couple!!!!

Third, Garrett and I went to the Tom Jones concert on Saturday night.  

The concert was held at the Ryman Auditorium.  (another thing on my Nashville to-do list)  I’m not sure if you’re familiar with Tom Jones, but he’s pretty much a legend and is known particularly for his powerful voice.  Since the mid 1960s, Jones has sung many styles of popular music – pop, rock, R&B, show tunes, country, dance, techno, soul and gospel.  Since 1965, Jones sold over 100 million records.  Some songs you might recognize are:

            It’s Not Unusual

            She’s a Lady

            What’s New Pussycat

            Delilah

            Hot Legs

            Green, Green Grass of Home

We had such an excellent time and both very happy to say we saw him perform.  After the concert, we met up with Ellen and Bryan downtown Nashville to go to “Honkeytonkin.”  These pictures pretty much speak for themselves as to how much fun we had.  Apparently I got a little “chatty” at the end and was driving Garrett crazy…but hey, that comes along with the territory sometimes. 

 And look how sweet and thoughtful Garrett was...he couldn't find all of the letters to spell out "Ellen & Bryan" so he decided to be creative.

And fourth..last, but not least, my very dear friend Jennifer called me on Sunday to say that her and her husband Sam are expecting.  YAY!!!!  This was such sweet news and a great way to wrap up a fantastic weekend. 

Did yall have anything exciting happen this weekend???  Please share.

RGL