The List: #149- See Hunter Hayes Live

 So, why Hunter Hayes? 

In reality, I have no idea. It was something I added on a whim to my list one day years ago when I was at CMA Feast. If I am being fair, I original entry was to meet him. However, I haven't really wanted to do that for a long time. I love his music and I loved watching him on The Masked Singer a few years back. I just no longer felt like meeting him. 

I will say, this was one of those ones I didn't think was going to happen anytime soon. I haven't heard of him ever coming to Knoxville, not that I was paying super close attention. I was looking at the performances that were happening at the Bijou Theatre at the start of the year and I was surprised to find his name on the list. So, I got me a ticket! I am so happy that I got to go because it was a really good show. 

He sang a few of the song I knew well from years past, and he sang a few new songs from his newest album that were really good. He puts on a good show. I also loved that it was at the Bijou since it's a much small theatre than the Tennessee, and it was a closer experience that I ever thought I would have gotten. 

The List: #205- Virginia (7/50)

When I made my plans to go to DC this year, I did forget that some of the stuff that we planned to do on out visit wasn't actually in DC, but in Virginia.

Arlington National Cemetery is located in Virginia. 

Arlington was not one of those places that I have always wanted to go to, until I was an adult. When I started volunteering during the Wreaths Across America in 2019 I became more interested in our Knoxville National Cemetery, and it's history. The thing about National Cemeteries is that once you start learning about them you will get to know about Arlington pretty quickly. 

Once I learned about the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and that it's been guarded by someone from our armed forces 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year, since 1937, I had to go. 

I have a very deep appreciation for those who have served in our armed forces. My dad was in the army during the Vietnam War, my grandpa served during the Korean War, and I know that I have many other family members that have served as far back as the Revolutionary War. I love being able to Honor those who served, and died, to give us the freedoms and liberties that we have today. So, learning more about this beautiful final resting places for so many members of our Military, and their families, was a privilege for me. 

 What I did not expect at the tomb of the unknown soldier was how incredibly quiet it was there. There is one guard who does everything in sets of 21. There are 21 step taken to cross the entirety of the tomb. He turns towards to tomb and wait 21 seconds. He turns and faces the direction he just walked from, changed this firearm to the other shoulder, and once he is done waits 21 seconds. Then takes another 21 steps and does the whole process over and over again. 

He did this for 30 minutes straight.

We watched for 30 minutes straight. 

That was not the plan. We got there right as they changed the guard. We planned to go get some pictures, then go walk around at some other historical headstones and monuments nearby, and then come back when it was a little closer to time. We did not expect to watch this dutiful solider make the same path over and over again for 30 minutes. It was something that I could not stop watching. 

No one said a word, until they did the changing of the guard. 

Which was special in it's own right. I do not know how many times a Sentinel Guards get to have at that post, but from my very limited knowledge of the post, they have to go through months of strict training. So, seeing the guards being able to change the for the post, it amazing. I am sure if  know exactly what they had to go through and train for, I would be more impressed 10 times over. For all I know, they could only get one more shot at it if they wanted to.

Plus, I feel so much pride for those who guard the tomb because over the years, the guard were given opportunities to leave the post because of dangerous weather conditions, and or matter of national security. They were given permission to leave, and there has not been one time that anyone has left the tomb unguarded for any amount of time. 

Now, in the last post I talked about how God restored two things for me on this trip, one of them being the statue at the Bible Museum, the other one was here at Arlington. 

The Argonne Cross.

The original plan as part of my European trip in 2025 was to go to the Meuses- Argone Cemetery in France. It's where man of the American men who lost their life in that battle are buried. The government tired after World War I to get many of the soldiers that were buried on foreign soil back to the states. Again, do to my lack of knowledge on the subject, not many of the soldiers were able to have their remains returned. I know that the ones were did return were on the request of their next of kin. However, I don't know if the next of kin had to help financially get those remains back, but there are thousands of soldier who are still resting in peace in France. 

The Meuses- Argone Cemetery was one of the two places I was looking forward to most for that trip.  

The WWI Cemetery has to do with the book I am writing. There is a character in the book that dies during battle in WWI and I had to research a very specific time a battle was taking place and work off of that iformation. Which is how I discover the Meuses -Argone Offensive. What I really discovered was there isn't a lot of history the has been written about WWI compared to WWII. Even with the Meuses-Argone Offensive being the most deadly battle during WWI, I never heard of it until I started writing this book. So, I was so excited at the possibility of seeing it with my own eyes. So, it's very sad that I didn't get to go to a place that has weirdly become so meaningful to me. 

So it only hurt that much more not being able to go there. 

God is funny in how He works sometimes. 

We had planned to go to Arlington from the beginning. What was not part of the original plan was to take the hop on hope off bus around the Cemetery. The only reason that we did, is because I had left over points that were going to expire on my viator app, and I needed a fairly cheap excursion to use them on. The points all but covered all but a few dollars of the bus ride. Had we not taken the bus, we wouldn't have gotten around the whole park like we did, cause it was very hot, and there is a very good chance we would have turned around and no ever seen the white cross dedicated to those who fought and died during World War I. A cross named after the very battle that most men lost their lives in and the same battle that a character I wrote also now associated with. 

I would have never known that it was there. 

Even better, is that the memorial was a cross. God's way of redeeming the world was the same symbol used not only for my own life to be saved at 14, but restored a moment that I mourned not having. 

I love that God did those two things for me, even though He did not have to, and I did not ask him to. I still hold hope that I will one day get to those places and see them, experience them, a maybe shed a tear or two at how much sweeter the moment I will get will be than what I though I should have experienced. 

As for now, I am so thankful that I got to go on such a wonderful trip, and I look forward to see all of the wonderful states that our country has, and will remember the reason I get to explore my country in freedom is because of those who sacrificed their lives for us. 

The List: #205- Washington DC (Bonus/50)

 The Nation's Capital! 

Was again, at trip that I didn't know that I was going to be taking so quickly. 

So, my roommate Sarah and I were planning on going to DC sometime this year. The thing is we put in a random date to see what the airfare would be like. That dates we picked were 90 DOLLARS ROUND TRIP. So, we book right then and there and made plans to go! Then a few weeks before we left, Sarah's step dad also joined us. 

Now, we only had four days and three nights here, and we hit the ground running. We walked as saw all of the memorials that any of us thought would be cool to see. The Washington Movement, The Vietnam Wall, and the World War II memorial just to name a few.

We hit up a few of the Smithsonian museums, which I won't get into here because this is actually a separate thing on my List that I need to write about.  

We also went to the museum of the Bible, which has got to be one of the coolest exhibits that I have ever seen being able to walk through the bible. 

Now, here is the really cool part that God is so awesome for. 

So, we need to go back to the trip to Italy I took, literally that same time last year. I was supposed to see so many things and places on that trip. The one thing that I wanted to see more than anything else in Rome was Michelangelo's Pieta. Those who don't know the name, it's the statue of Mary holding Jesus after is was crucified.

I saw a very small picture in an Art History text book in high school, and it was the first piece of art that has ever moved me. I like seeing pictures that people have created over the years, and other statues as well, but I have never wanted to see art with my own eyes more than I have wanted to see Pieta. Which is why I have always wanted to go to Rome first when I one day would travel the world. 

It's still heartbreak to know that I got so very very close and didn't get to see it. However, with reflection, and a lot of realizations, about the trip last year, and I am glad that I didn't get to see it. If I got to see it then, all of my memories tied with the first visit would have been marred with all of the awful heart that was soon to show itself in my life. 

Yet, God still shows His ability to restore, and heal at the same time. 

The Bible Museum is so massive that you can spend eight hours a day, for a week, and still need more time to read and see everything. The time frame we had made up have to go up and down flights of stair in an odd order to get see the most bang for our buck. So, after two hours or use going up and down the elevator, we finally got to a point where we can get on one floor and work out way down with the stairs. 

I did not expect to nearly burst out into tears walking turning the corner of the stair from the 6th floor to the 5th floor. 

 

The Bible Museum has a plaster cast of the very statue that I have always dreamed of seeing. The even more crazy thing? That shirt was the very same shirt that I wore to Vatican City in (ironically) a Hail Mary attempt to see it. It was like God was saying that He was still here. Still watching. Still knew that desires that I have, even if I am terrified to ever go back to Italy again at the moment. I know that when I do go, it's going to be a much better trip and somehow well worth the wait. 

God restored my love and desire to see this statue again. The worst moments of my life, the year of internally struggling, in my darkest hours, He restored. This moment captured in that statue was truly the darkest moments in all of history. The Savior of world's life snuffed out, with no hope and no way of knowing what comes next. Then suddenly, He's alive and we know what's coming! 

I had a expectations when I came to DC, but I never thought that restoration, even in some small degree, was what was in store for me. And it's not the only thing the God restored for me from that failed trip! 

These past few months God has been working in some really sweet ways in my life and He did not have to. I am so thankful that I got to go on this trip, and that God put things in my path and gave me the opportunity to see a work of art I have always wanted to see, even if it wasn't the way I wanted to.  

The List: #205- Kentucky (6/50)

 So, this visit was no one that I had planned that far in advance. 

So, my all time favorite Broadway show is Hadestown. When I saw it at the Tennessee Theatre in the last few years, it tore my heart out and I loved ever second of it. I don't think another show has ever made me cry that hard. 

So, a few weeks back I check to see if it was going to be coming near Knoxville anytime soon. 

Well, it came to Boling Green, Kentucky! 

Now, there was a lot that went into this turn around trip. I had leave work early, it's a three and half hour drive one way, I wouldn't get back home till around two or three in the morning. The biggest issue? I had to get on a plane to DC the next morning. 

However, even with all of the craziness above, I was able to do it! I bought my ticket and told all the people that needed to know about my plan. 

Now, I thought that show was great this time around, however, the SKYPAC either didn't have a big enough stage, or it was the very odd one night only performance, the show was missing some really key stage unit that make the show that much more impactful. The turntable stage, if you have seen the show Hamilton you should know what I am talking about, and a part of the stage there is supposed to be a door that people enter and exit out of Hadestown. 

I don't know if I would have love the show as much as I did originally if these two aspects of the show were no part of the production. 

The show was fantastic regardless, and I can't wait to see when the original Broadway show recording hits theaters next month. 

Now, I didn't take many pictures, except for this one weird one that I wanted to show my mom the ceiling of the lobby. 

 Which I know this isn't much proof that I was in Kentucky, but it' enough. 

No Place Like Movies At Home: Send Me No Flowers

 So, we are back.... 

Things have been crazy. There have been lots going on, an I have been working on stuff for blogs, and lots of stuff in day to day life, but have not been able to make it here to update. So, be prepared for several updates. 

So, back to all of the movies that I own. 

So, I was really hoping to get all three of the Doris Day and Rock Hudson movies that I have in one day. Me and some friends of mine had a Doris Day Movie day. However, the DVD player that they had did not work. So, because of this, we streamed free Doris Day movies. One of which I own, and we still watched, was Send Me No Flowers. 

Rock Hudson plays a hypochondriac who thinks he is always near death. Doris Day, his loving wife, puts up with it to an extent. She switches out meds with harmless products that look like the meds. However, when Mr. Hudson is at the Doctor's office, he over hears the Doc saying things along the lines of "He isn't going to make it" and "We will do everything we can to make him comfortable", and the kicker "I wouldn't tell him when really happening, let his live out his last days the best he can". What Mr. Hudson doesn't know is that the Doc is talking about and elderly man who only has a few weeks left to live. However, Mr. Hudson thinks the doc is talking about him. Though all the crazy events that only a rom com can bring, Mrs. Day ends up believing him, and does everything she can to make his final days comfortable. That is until she finds out the truth.

For whatever reason, I always think I don't like this movie very much, until I watch it. I don't know if at some point I wanted a different Doris Day movie and got the names confused. However, I don't recall really ever disliking  a Doris Day film so I have no clue what I am talking about. 

this is one of those films that makes me excited to see the other two movies of theirs I own. It was also great to be able to see this movie with other people. It's always nice to see a movie with other people. 

The List: #205- Massachusetts (5/50)

 Got to spend some of spooky season last year in a really spooky town. State number 5 was Massachusetts!

So, one of the only good things that came out of my Italy trip last year was, I got a little bit of credit for plans tickets. I had just enough to cover a round trip ticket to Boston, Massachusetts. Sarah, out friend Beth, and myself decided to go! 

So, we went to some great sites of the start of American history. Like the Boston Tea Party museum. This is also a big walking town, so we walked like 9-10 miles the first day. So, it was a lot, but we got to see so much of the city. 

They also have a great map of all of the historic sites in Boston, all you have to do is follow the red brick road.... not kidding it's really a red brick road! 

Since we went in October, we decided that we were going to go and see Salem, Mass! 

We got to see the Witch Museum, took a walking tour of the history of the Witch Trials, and other historical moments in Salem. I really loved that we got to see so many sites from the movie Hocus Pocus and found out that there was a history of the TV show Bewitched here as well. 

I really loved exploring a new part of the US and I am excited to one day go back and visit another state. 

The List: #205- Florida (4/50)

 Let's take a trip to the beach! State four is Florida!

So, we did something a little different to Christmas in 2025, we went to the beach! Now, I am really not a beach person, I have gotten better, but I do find the beach a bit boring. However, I had a pretty good time the last few times I have been to the beach. 

So, we went to St George Island, Florida. That last time I was here was in 2010 when one of my older brother's got married. Needless to say it's been a while. 

Now, we didn't get the chance to see both of my older brothers, but I did get to see one of them, my SIL, and my oldest Niece and Nephew. Now, as much as I want to share my family pic I am not going to, but I will show you where I ended up most of the time.

This is Tugger. This is my older brother's dog, this is the last trip he got to make to the beach. He passed away a few weeks ago, so I was glad I got to see him. He has been in their family since my Nephew was less than 10 (he is in his early 20s now), so he has been around for a while. 

He and I got to be couch potatoes together. 

Anyways, we had a love Christmas together, maybe next time we will get all of my siblings there, but we will see.