Boom Boom POW!

On Sunday night DJ and I went out to eat with Cody and his girlfriend and then to THE best fireworks show either of us have ever seen. In fact, it is stated to be one of the best fireworks shows in the nation and I can now wholeheartedly agree with that statement. It was 20 minutes long and took place on the Henley bridge across the Tennessee River (the one Chace and I walked across in the previous post to get the football game).

http://www.boomsday.org/multimedia/2008/?KeepThis=true&TB_iframe=true&height=468&width=571

Click on the link and you can see last year's show (make sure you turn up the sound!) - it's an annual event called Boomsday.

I watched the link and it's pretty comparable to this year's show. There were some new things this year but a lot of the same oldies but goodies I'm sure.

If you don't want to watch the whole video on the link (and just want to see it in person with me), I provided a minutes/seconds tip below if you want to see the parts I highlighted. Some highlights of the show for me:

• The fireworks were choreographed to music and at one point everyone around the river were all singing "I'm Proud to be an American" while watching the red, white and blue fireworks - it would have been so cheesy but instead it was really quite touching. It made me a little sentimental.


• Ash started falling on us from the sky. There were sooo many fireworks going off at one time and we were so close to them that we physically felt the fireworks and that leads me to the next highlight.

• The finale was unlike any finale I have ever known. In fact the whole show was comparable to finales that I've seen at other fireworks shows so this could be called the finale of finales. The fireworks were filling the sky so quickly that the booms that followed them just seemed to reverberate against each other and be that much louder. I could fill the booms hit me in the chest over and over. Awe-inspiring to say the least. (18:45)
  


• "Free Falling" started playing and all of a sudden a literal waterfall of white fireworks started showering off the entire length of the bridge. (16:15)

Considering the fact that DJ and I made no effort to see any fireworks this past 4th of July, you could say that we are not particularly attached to fireworks shows but I will never miss another Boomsday if at all possible. It was so good.

I told DJ that if I don't have my camera by next Boomsday, it will be excuse enough for me to go buy it. I never want to be without a camera again - I was just itching to take pictures of those amazing lights in the sky.

V---O---L---S, V-O-L-S, VOLS, Go Vols Go!

What do you get when 99,000 people impassioned about football all looking like walking citrus fruits walk, drive and ride from miles around to converge into one spot?

Well I'll tell you.

You get the most high-energy, fast-action, heart-pumping activity you can imagine. It may sound like I'm exaggerating but I'm not. It really was that amazing.

Chace and I went to the football game on Saturday -- Tennessee played Western Kentucky -- and it was awesome. There were so many people and they were all wearing orange, I mean, I've never seen so much orange and they all loved football. They really REALLY love football here. Our first hint was this....

Everywhere we looked people were either going to the game itself or obviously had plans to watch the game on tv. I felt a little out of place because I had yet to buy anything orange. Chace bought a wrist band at the gas station but that was the extent of our orange. Once we got to the area of the city where we had planned to park we discovered we were going to have to pay around $20-$30 to park. Obviously we're too cheap to spend that kind of money so we walked from a far far away parking spot that we paid nothin' for. Nice huh? Along our walk we got to see the Volunteer Navy. This was one side of the bridge...

And this is the other side of the bridge...

These people take their boats and tailgate right there on the water. How fun! I need to find myself a boat owner. Here's the stadium from afar...

As we continued our walk, we ran into some traditional tailgaters. You know, the non-rich kind that just have their orange grill, orange tent, orange chairs, orange bean bag game, orange food probably too but I didn't get that close to check.

This is what the other side of the stadium looked like. This is the side where they did the Vol Walk which is a tradition in which the team walks from a little ways away to the stadium and everyone follows a long with them. It's one big giant mob scene, only people are pumped up not angry.

Orange for as far as you can see. After we finally made it to the stadium, waited in line for our (free!) tickets, figured out where our seats were (because they were not "normal" seats according to the event staff - they were in the special section, ha ha), we were ready to cheer on the Vols! Here was the view from our seats...

We were four rows up!

And now lets play a little game. Can you find DJ?

And in this one?

OK that one was easier. But how cool is that, that out of allllll those people, we were able to sit close enough where we could see him and at one point, he even saw me!

And then we saw Peyton Manning!

He was there because he's given like a few million dollars or something to the team and so they dedicated the locker room to him. See?

Peyton looked just like he does on t.v. It was cool. And you can also see the Vols new coach above - Lane Kiffin. You may find it interesting that he just named his new son, Knox. I bet it's after Knoxville.

Ok now for the best part so far...

The band makes a giant "T" and then the whole team runs through it. That's another tradition. Very amazing. I had goose bumps and couldn't even hear myself cheer because it was sooo loud in that stadium.

Here's another shot from our seats once the game had started.

And me and Chacie...

As you can see we acquired some orange. It. was. so. hot. The game started at 12:20 in the afternoon and there was not a cloud in the sky so at half time, in desperation, we bought some hats. I also went in search of more sunscreen and finally found some at first aid. I was desperate.

So anyone who actually reads this blog is welcome to come with me to a game. I will always be looking for someone to go with because it was so awesome and I wouldn't want to miss another one if possible. Oh and the Vols won -- 63 -7. Go Vols!

Tennessee has welcomed me with open arms

I finally made it to my new home and I am happy to say that Knoxville,

unlike Albuquerque,

has yelled my name, ran to me with a big smile, given me a giant bear hug, and yelled "Welcome home!"

That's how I feel anyway.

My soul seemed to take a big sigh of relief when I drove into town. The city seems to be a combination of all the things I love.

Green plants. Everywhere. I think I stated at one point that it looked like the jolly green giant threw up all over everything. It amazes me that a city as large as Knoxville could be so covered in such lusciousness.

I also love big cities, which this is. I read somewhere that Knoxville was around 100,000 people but it seems larger so I'll have to get that figured out. All I know is there is much to be discovered and many adventures to be had.

I love heat. And that's something else that is perfect (at least so far). The warmth is just perfect. Not too hot, not too cold, juuuust right. I could be Goldilocks. Actually, literally, I could be Goldilocks. The humidity has done wonders for my wavy/curly hair. An instant volumizer.

So, as I do feel that I am still in the honeymoon period of this move, I will tentatively say that I really like (and am on the verge of falling head over heals in love with) Knoxville.

Now I must say that I am still in denial. So with all of this wonderfulness that is Knoxville and the adventures to be had, I feel like I am in the New Mexico mountains for a little vacay and will be headed home back to Albuquerque soon. I just can't wrap my mind around the fact that I. have. moved.

Permanently.

Until further notice.

No going back.

No siree. I guess it will start sinking in sooner or later but for now, I am just enjoying the denial so I can continue unpacking and not get all weepy or anything inconvenient like that. Hopefully that will never happen but I think it is inevitable.

I will start missing my friends. And I will wish that I knew where the heck I was going (even though I'm very happy to say, I am the new owner of Samantha, my GPS. She's great.) But I will start missing normalcy. (I know that's not a word but I'm making it one and have been for the last 10 years or so.) I will miss just feeling like I belong. But I hope the fact that having a consistent job and having DJ will help all that. I'll keep you posted.

Also I will soon have pictures! Get ready for lots and lots of pictures!

What's a girl to do

So I've been without my husband for over three weeks now and I'd have to say it's been quite the adventure. Besides all the moving drama, there's been...

...an anniversary.... Mine, actually. And I'll be honest, it was a bit sad. I thought I'd be able to handle being away from DJ on our anniversary but it was harder than I expected. But my sweet husband surprised me by sending me (by way of a secret messenger) the flowers above. Aren't they 'goigeous'?

...an ER visit. That would be for Maia. She ate a nylon, scared me half to death, caused an emotional breakdown (because it was the straw that broke the camel's back, so to speak) and learned her lesson. Wait, no she didn't, that's just what I wish I could say. She actually continues to eat inedible items and in fact, was trying to eat the directions out of my hand on the way to the ER.

...football camp...

...and new shoes.

DJ is now going to be standing on that field shown above surrounded by all those thousands of seats filled with fans. Huge huh? I will be attending my first game there on September 5, a week from this Saturday. I will definitely have a post about that. That will be great.

Heart-pounding.

Exhilarating.

Energy driven.

Hm, hope I can handle all that action.

And DJ is now wearing orange. Lots of it. I've always wanted to expand his color versatility to include orange.

Just didn't know I would have the help of Tennessee.

So lots going on. But the biggest news of all is...drumroll please!

I have a job!!

See happy dance below.

Actually to re-phrase that, I am not losing a job. KPMG is transferring me to the Knoxville office. That is a ginormous prayer answered. I no longer have to job search, resume revise, interview attend or any other craziness associated with job hunting. For me that is a perfect example of the greatness of God and His perfect timing. I will be doing the same type of work that I am currently doing but for a different client.

I will be continuing my Albuquerque break-up saga soon but those stories are taking me a little longer than originally expected so stay tuned!

Someplace to be missed

Have you ever heard that quote from some movie (or maybe it was a book) where... A man looks deeply into a woman's eyes and says

"You (she waits anxiously)... are someone (oh yes, he's going to say it!)... to be loved."

What??

What does that mean??

I'm someone to be loved?

Don't you love me?

All these things are rushing through the girl's mind. I guess the man thought that saying THAT would make the woman feel good, you know all warm and tingly and such. I mean she's so great, SOME one will love her.

But the fact of the matter is the woman wants that man to love her and instead he just provides her with what really amounts to an insult. Ugh.

Well even if you haven't heard of that one, that's ok.

I had a point.

Yes I did.

Uhh...

Oh yes, my point is that Albuquerque is like that. The city looked me in the eyes 7 years ago, told me I was someone to be loved, I was insulted and then I cried. I didn't feel like the city really LOVED me back then and so I was insulted.

I mean really insulted,

by the crime rate,

the far far distance from my family (which I guess wasn't the Q's fault but I still blamed it),

the lack of personal connection with the people you see on the street,

the lack of seasonal diversity,

the different looking people (I mean , come on I was used to all-white, no color, from those parts up yonder wheres I come from).

Yes I was feeling unloved by that mean ol' Albuquerque.

But now we've built a relationship. Even though Albuquerque told me up yours (in not so many words), I decided that wasn't going to stop me from making it love me. And now here we are and we are breaking up.

After all these years of trying to make it work, I am moving on. But now I have to go through the painful process of reliving all the fun moments in my head, the heart-warming memories, the compliments that Albuquerque has paid me over the years. I will be sharing these over the course of the next few posts. Through pictures, through stories.

They will be precious memories that I will create closure with.

Tennessee Trek - Part Deux

I've been a little lackadaisical (I love that word) with my duties as a blogger but never fear, I've been thinking about it. Here's a few highlights from the past 5 days...

•  DJ arrived in Knoxville, started his job, moved into the dorms (temporarily) and started running. (He said he wants to get buff for me, tee hee)

•  I officially resigned from job at KPMG and will be unemployed as of August 27. Yikes!

•  I am getting more excited about moving to Tennessee and sadder to leave New Mexico. Who knew I could be pulled into two vastly different directions?

I have also been house hunting, resume revising, possession packing, car fixing, budget buffing, application filling, pet planning, and the list goes on. But I keep reminding myself that I don't have to get every little thing done RIGHT NOW. It's a tough mind change but I'm learning a lot and I like it.

My Deep Thought for the Day: When God opens a door, He'll walk ya through it too.

Poison Proofing Maia

It's getting to the point where I realize that I talk about my dog to everyone. She really has become the center of our lives. The bad part is she knows it. We're trying to work on that, I promise. But it's just so hard when she looks like this...

So lately we've been practicing her poison proofing. We picked a word that we associate with everything we want to feed her. The word we chose is "ice cube". It goes like this, I give her a piece of hot dog and say "ice cube" at the same time. We repeat this over and over until she's pretty sure it's her lucky day, for three days. Then we start messing with her, or at least that's probably what's she thinking. I still give her a hot dog and say "ice cube" but I also start saying other words like "doorway" or "place mat" or "couch" and when she tries to eat the hot dog, I give her a jerk on the leash. Yesterday was the first time I started that part of the process. She got to the point where the hot dog that I stuck in her face made her mad. She knew that if she tried to take a taste she'd get in trouble. The problem is she reeeally wants the hot dog so she'd have to endure a big jerk on the leash to get a little taste. I think it's working. She should be completely insane by the time her poison proofing is complete.