Sooo...

This weekend was...interesting, to say the least!  Nashville was DUMPED on for 2 days in a row.  We got 16 inches of rain in 30 hours.  I think the city is in a state of shock.  There is massive flooding everywhere.  The Gaylord Opryland hotel is under 6 feet of water.  Downtown, 1st Ave is completely submerged and parts of 2nd, 3rd and 4th Avenues are under water. The Cumberland river is currently 10 feeet ABOVE flood level.  

 I seriously have never seen anything like this.  It literally poured for 2 days straight.  Luckily we are not in any danger of being flooded.  Our place on 5th Ave. is at the top of a hill, so the water is in no danger of reaching us.  However, downtown is in a bad state of affairs.  What's unfortunate is that downtown Nashville is looking pretty good compared to other parts of the area.  These pictures was taken on Rosa Parks Blvd., literally blocks from our place.  The Farmers Market is under water.  We live off the top of the hill where the Capital building is. Unbelievable.

Good stuff

Usually the week after a great vacation is somewhat lackluster and dull.  I'm happy to report that my week has been a great one, full of happy things to report.

First of all, our loft is starting to look like a home!  We had our dining room table delivered, so the main living area is pretty much finished, and it looks great! The table looks huge, but we have the extra leaf in it at the moment. Hopefully we can find a place to store the leaf so that the table looks more...small. :) You can also see Will's birthday present in the background. Big ol' TV and entertainment center. We l-o-v-e it! (And amazingly enough, our entire DVD collection fits in that entertainment center...much to our disbelief. Our collection is rather extensive.)

Remember the TV dresser that we got awhile ago that matches our bedroom set, but that we couldn't get upstairs? Well, it's up there! FINALLY! (Amazing what a little bribe to a couple delivery guys can get you.) We actually have a bedroom set! It looks great.

We're finally getting all our pictures up in the game room, and my "vision" for the room is coming together.  We're going for a pub-like atmosphere in the room- cozy, comfy, and (almost) cluttered with pictures on the wall.  Most of our pictures we have are from traveling, so it's worked out well for that room. Now we just have to get some smaller frames up to fill in the holes.

If you look closely, you can see the hats that we plan to wear this weekend because Jimmy Buffett is coming to town tomorrow!!  Cari and Curtis are heading down from the "lake house" to stay with us for the weekend, and we can't wait to show off our hats that we worked so hard to make.  (We jokingly refer to Cari's house as the "lake house" and our place as the "downtown place".  It's great to have the best of both worlds- nice, peaceful, relaxing area to hang out at Cari's place on the lake, and then our place, which is right in the heart of everything downtown.)

In other exciting news, I got out of a parking ticket yesterday morning.  I was parked in a 6 AM to 8:30 AM loading zone and went downstairs around 7 to move my car...and a cop was standing right in front of my car.  I was totally ready to be handed a ticket...but he didn't! He was much more interested in having the car parked in front of me, in a tow zone, get towed. WHEW!

Finally, (and trying not to get too excited) I had an interview yesterday! It went really well, and they called me back for a second interview on Monday.  I'm really hopeful that this job works out, but again, I'm trying not to get too excited.  We'll see how everything works out!

Have a great weekend!

Seriously, allergies?

What a way to announce your arrival, Spring. Show up several weeks early and bring your friend pollen to the party.  While I appreciate the warm, sunny days we've had, I am downright tired of non-stop sneezing, itchy, watery eyes, and constantly needing to blow my nose.  Everyone can see that you've arrived (or at least I could see if I could wear my contacts instead of my glasses...which I can't stand!!). Can't you back off the pollen parade so that we can actually be outside and enjoy it??? K Thanks.

McRoad Trip

Will and I just returned home from our latest roadtrip- to Orlando for the Worldwide McDonalds Convention.  Not being ones to turn down a weekend exploring a new town or 2, we also added a couple excursions to the beginning and end of the trip.  (Warning: lots of pictures to follow.)

With the weather definitely turning toward Summer here in Nashville (Cari, Curtis, and I took the boat out a couple weeks ago! And got in the lake! And we've been golfing a few times now.  OK, technically Will has been golfing and I've joined him on a couple holes here and there.  My golf game is SO not ready for 9, let alone 18, holes.), we were craving some beach time.  I mixed some fun CDs full of summer songs, and we drove down to Fort Walton Beach for a couple nights before heading to Orlando.  Our hotel was right on the Gulf of Mexico, and our room, though slightly worn from a few too many Spring Breakers, had a gorgeous view.  We spent all day Saturday outside, shifting between the beach, the hotel pools and hot tub, putt-putting, and of course, a couple beach front bars.  Nothing completes a day at the beach quite like having a strawberry daquiri or pina colada in hand. 

On Sunday we said goodbye to the Gulf and headed down to Orlando, where we met up with Will's dad, their Stores Supervisor, Steve, and Cari.  Some highlights from our time in Orlando:

• 
  
  Cari and I spent a very rainy Monday afternoon at Margaritaville.  I'm a huge Parrothead, but Cari is bigger, if you can believe it.  We would have happily spent all afternoon there, but had to leave because the Canadian Division of McDonalds rented the place out for a party.  (I tried to get Will to get in with a Canadian at the convention so we could stay and party, but he did not oblige me. The nerve.)

Jimmy's Plane! The Hemisphere Dancer:

• 
  
  My college roommate, Beth, and her husband Travis drove over from Tampa on Monday night and joined us for dinner at the hotel.  I haven't seen either of them since their wedding 4 years ago, so it was great to catch up with them, and for them to meet Will.
• 
  
  The pool area at the Lowes Royal Pacific Resort was FANTASTIC! Cari and I spent most of our time laying out, reading, and working on puzzles.  We felt pretty pampered.  Employees offered to set up our towels and chairs, offered us frozen grapes, peach smoothies, and Lemon Ices, and kept the kiddos entertained by offering contests like best hoola hooper and biggest cannonball splash.
• 
  
  The pool also had some non-human guests.  These ducks were hilarious! They would walk through the restaurant area, nibbling at fallen food, and then would hop into the pool to cool off. I guess ducks need vacations, too!
• 
  
  The Canadians may have gotten Margaritaville, but the Americans got Sea World! The USA division rented out Sea World for a night.  It was awesome to walk around and see all the exhibits without fighting crowds.  And free food, drinks, and carnival games to boot!  I got in touch with my wild side that evening- I petted sting rays AND dolphins! Awesome!

• 
  
  The final evening of the convention included some more delicious food and drinks (and no, the food wasn't from McDonalds, either night) and a private concert from Sir Elton John! Is he my favorite? No. But is he a legend who played a lot of my favorite tunes? Fo Sho!

After the convention ended we headed to St. Augustine, FL, which was established in 1513.  We spent Friday afternoon exploring all the touristy areas of the town.  We drank from the Fountain of Youth, so we're going to live forever, which is nice.  We also observed a Spanish "soldier" light a canon (and later saw the "soldier" out while we were having dinner at a local brewery.  I don't think he appreciated me yelling "Viva Espana!" when he walked into the bar.) We toured the Castillos, and walked along St. George St., the historic part of town.  We found a cute little B&B in that area, which was a perfect central location for walking around.  The highlights of St. Augustine for me? Driving down A1A (Beachfront Avenue!), and visiting the St. Augustine Lighthouse, site of a Ghost Hunters episode! We didn't have any creepy experiences, but I thoroughly enjoyed visiting such an old historic town.

Fountain of Youth:

Viva Espana!

Top of the Castillos:

The Castillos:

This might be one reason why the Spanish lost control of America:

You know you want to yell it... A1A Beachfront Avenue!

Just one of many cute historic streets in St. Augustine:

Haunted Lighthouse!

Haunted Meaghan! (not really, but don't I just look like I'm glowing??) A-hahaha

Top of the Lighthouse, 219 stairs (and no ghostly encounters) later:

On Saturday we ventured on to another well-known haunted Southern city (sense a theme here??)  We rolled into Savannah, GA just in time for lunch.  We had a couple beers and some BBQ pork nachos at Moon River Brewery, site of a Ghost Adventurers episode, and housed in the oldest building of Savannah.  Again, no spooky episodes happened, but we did enjoy "talking" to the ghosts while we sat at the bar. :) Savannah is in a word, charming.  I actually applied for jobs in Savannah after college. I was ready to move there sight-unseen.  And visiting didn't disappoint. I loved everything about the city, as I knew I would.  It's a very walkable town, and we spent the afternoon wandering from bar to bar, exploring shops, outdoor art fairs, and watching massive ships roll into town from the ocean.  One great thing about Savannah? You can get "to-go" drinks at the bars and walk around outside with a cocktail.  So, while we didn't necessarily intend for it to happen, we sort of had our own pub crawl, just the two of us.  Good times. :) We didn't have nearly enough time in Savannah, and I'm already looking forward to our next visit.  Luckily it's a relatively easy drive from Nashville, only about 7 hours.  We'll be back soon, I hope!

A view of the steps down to the historic riverfront area:

The free trolley that runs through the historic district:

Bloody Mary (the locals were drinking them, so I figured they had to be good)

HUGE ships rolling in:

The (Haunted) Moon River Brewing Company:

Self portrait along the River (and mid-pub crawl):

Thankful Thursday Thoughts

Some random things that I'm grateful for this Thursday afternoon:

• Beautiful weather! It feels so good to walk outside and not need a sweater or jacket.  A ton of people are out and about, walking around and enjoying the sunshine and warm weather that we've been having the past few days.
• The courtyard at the Library- I've spent the past 2 afternoons basking in the sun and reading a book about Norway.  I love that there's a nice, quiet space outside that I can walk to in the city. 
• The slight sunburn I have on my arms and face (see above) It feels nice to have some color returning to my pasty pale body
• A surprise package in the mail last night from my friend Erica.  She sent me the first Twilight book as a Thank You for being her hair model a couple weeks ago.  She paid attention when I mentioned I have yet to read any of the books! What a great friend.
• The 12 pounds that I have lost as a result of giving up bread, pasta, and potatoes for Lent.  Woohoo! That's 4 pounds per food item!  It feels great to know that my "sacrifice" for the Big Guy resulted in a better scale number!
• As happy as I am about the lost pounds, I am even more excited that Lent is over in 3 days! YESSS! Oh goodness, it is going to be great to have pizza again. And some mashed potatoes.
• Hearing exciting news from an old friend that she and her fiance are expecting! At first I thought it was an April Fools joke and refused to believe her when she told me.  I made her send me a picture of the stick and some part of her body in it as "proof," which she did- her hand with her engagement ring on it and the positive sign.  Either she is pulling one very elaborate April Fools on me, or she really is going to be a mama! 
• Will just walking in the door which means I can start dinner because I'm STARVING!!

How To Draw A Dinosaur.

I had a great time watching Gracie, Luke, and Drew last week while Leslie unpacked.  We took some walks and explored their new neighborhood, colored a lot, played games, and read a LOT of books.  All 3 kids are so sweet and cuddly.  And creative!  I casually mentioned while we were coloring one afternoon that I only know how to draw bubble letters.  Luke was so surprised that I couldn't draw dinosaurs!  As I was leaving on Wednesday evening, he handed me "step by step" directions on how to draw a Stegosaurus. How cute is that?!  As he gave it to me, he reminded me that "Stegosauruses (or is it Stegosauri??...) have 17 plates on them- don't forget that when you're drawing them." Check. Thanks, Luke. :) And now I have a picture diagram to follow. Exhibit A: How to draw a Dinosaur-

Gracie also showed off her talents.  We're superstars, obviously. :)  Exhibit B: Gracie's Thank You note-

Notes like these melt my heart, and make me excited to someday have a funny little kid of my own that I can play with all the time. (Don't get too excited, Mom. I'm excited to have kids, but not extremely anxious at this point. And no, this is not a creative way to tell people I'm pregnant!) 

Kids are tiring, no doubt.  I crashed into bed each night after trying to keep up with 3 kids who have seemingly endless energy.  I have such respect for Leslie- she's up and atem bright and early every morning, keeps the kids entertained throughout the day while working on side projects like laundry and preparing a few delicious and healthy meals.  And after the kids are tucked into bed, she is STILL going- doing all the "grown up" stuff that she wasn't able to get to while the kiddos were awake.  E-x-h-a-u-s-t-i-n-g.  

I'm sure (for the most part, aside from that pesky unpacking of a new house) that it was just another day in the life for the Hedenberg clan, but I was happy to be there with them and enjoyed my time playing with the kids and observing a stay at home mom in action.  I will consider myself a lucky lady if my future kids are as sweet as Leslie's. 

Exhibit C- 3 sweet, adorable kids and their happy, tired babysitter:

March Madness

Welcome to my world! I plan to use this blog to keep family and friends up to date on what's happening in our lives...
...wait, what's that?  I have had this blog for a couple years now? Huh.  Perhaps I should resume writing on it.

The truth of the matter, folks, is that lately life hasn't been too exciting. March seems to have changed that, though.  Here's a run down of what is happening at Loft de Weaghan.

• The whole family spent a long weekend in Houston a few weeks ago.  We celebrated three separate birthdays, most notably my Great Grandma's 90th.  It was a fun weekend, full of lots of eating, drinking, hanging out, kick boxing, and watching embarrasing home videos, circa 1986-88.  Let me tell you- we. looked. good. back then. Ugly hair, ugly shoes, and ridiculously short shorts for everyone!
• Lent is upon us, and it feels like it's lasting far longer than the 40 days that it is.  Will and I decided to really challenge ourselves this year by giving up 3 of our favorite things- Bread, Pasta, and Potatoes.  GAH!!! Torture.  We further torture ourselves by talking, all the time, about what we can't wait to ear after April 4th.  Let's see, what have we drooled over in the past few weeks? Red Robin french fries, a Jimmy Johns sammie, PIZZA, sandwiches in general, PIZZA, Sister Schuberts rolls, just to name a few.  Good news? We're dropping pounds.  Bad news? No fish-n-chips to celebrate St. Patty's this year.
• Will celebrated his dirty thirty on March 2nd.  He was really not looking forward to hitting the big 3-0, so we didn't do much to celebrate.  But he did get a big present- the 55" TV he's been eyeing for a long time.  I guess he needed a big TV to compensate for his failing vision now that he's old. :)
• We are very excited for one Mr. Jimmy Buffett to come to Nashville in May.  He's putting on a concert right down the street from our place!  Cari and I are in full out planning mode.  We went shopping last week for accessories for our homemade Parrothead hats. One word- HIGH-larious.  We are going to look smashing.  Our goal is to make Buffett cam again.  I think we have a good shot.
• I'm proud to report that my boytoy now holds dual degrees- one in Business from The University of Colorado, and the other? A degree in Hamburgerology from Hamburger University.  Yes, Will was up in Chicago last week learning all about McDonalds.  One step closer to the goal of his dad retiring and Will taking over.
• I am going to be traveling our great state of Tennessee in the next week!  I'm heading to Memphis on Wednesday to see an old Chicago friend and her husband.  They literally JUST moved down here and she needs a hair model for a job interview.  Hey, at least someone is getting interviews in this state!  I'm happy to help her out, although she'll have her work cut out for her taming my mop.  Next week I'm venturing over to Knoxville to help out Leslie and Ben with their move.  I will be on "kid watching" duty while Leslie works her magic and gets their house in working order.  I admit I'm pretty excited to see Leslie in action.  Her house is always so organized- I hope to pick up some pointers while I'm there.  Overall, though, I'm excited to have friends and family join me in Tennessee, and even happier that I can help out where I can!

See? I actually do have a lot going on right now! Woo!

Oh yeah, still no job. Boo.