Rayna J. Inspiration

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Since we've visited Nashville for the bowl game, I have been ooh'ing and ahh'ing over the foundation and motherland of country music. So much so that I even started watching the series Nashville on ABC. I started with Season 1 episode 1 and now am in the midst of Season 4... and currently binge watching every second baby is down for the night and I don't have to grade papers.

Can I just say that I LOVE Rayna James! She's so down to earth, real and authentic. What I love about her the most is how she's able to be a mom, wife, and have the career of her lifetime even when it gets tough to balance it all. She has also really inspired me lately to be super patient and solution-oriented. For those of you who watch Nashville, I think you can agree that she rarely panics at her or others' problems and looks to be more positive and uplifting instead. Even if you can tell she may be doubting something, she still portrays positivity that this too, shall pass!

There's been a handful of times each day I would let some type of situation cloud my present moment of being. Sometimes that situation can come up multiple times in one day and make me stress or be anxious about what is going to happen. The reality is is that I'm not solving that situation multiple times a day when it comes up in my thoughts... I'm not getting anywhere by worrying about how things will pan out. Instead, I spend useless time just thinking about different possibilities, and of course worse case scenario.

This character of Rayna James often comes to my mind when things boggle my thoughts, her patience and solution-oriented personality inspires me to keep on pushing without stressing about what's going to happen. I've been telling myself, "Yes... I can do it all! I can be a wife, mommy and have my career." Things will progress and get better day by day as long as I stay faithful in God's plan [I also blogged here about different ways to overcome some of these feelings in addition to positive self-talk]!

What works for you when you stress about life?

Husker Bowl in Nashville

This past football season, the Huskers definitely had their share of highs and lows. We started strong and went about halfway through the season undefeated. Then we went out on the road and had a heartbreaking loss against Wisconsin during overtime, and then another loss on the road against Ohio State. Since those two losses, our guys sort of shook off some of their confidence they started with. All we could do was continue to support them and cheer them on as they played their best. We certainly did better than last season... and better yet, we were bowl eligible! Bowl games are quite an honor to be a part of... families have the opportunity to travel with their husbands and fathers and experience the Husker family intimately and sort of behind the scenes. For me, it's eye opening and rewarding to see what my hubs loves about football and the players!

We had the pleasure of spending a week in Nashville for the bowl game over the Christmas holiday, and I just fell IN LOVE! I didn't expect to love it as much as I did, but the historical places and love for country music was so hard not to lust over.

Both Nebraska and Tennessee teams stayed at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and it was nothing short of gorgeous! Since we arrived on Christmas Day, we all had a Husker family Christmas meal and the kiddos were greeted by Santa! My LO didn't like this Santa, just he like didn't like the Nebraska Santa. It made for a great infamous screaming picture though!

The resort was absolutely stunning! It was entirely saturated with holiday goodness, from snow tubing, to a human sized nativity display outdoors, to huge Christmas trees lit in the middle of the resort. It was perfect eye candy for the kids and our LO surely enjoyed staring at all of the lights!

We've been SO lucky to have family come and meet us for each bowl game that we've been fortunate to travel to. My family flew out early in the week and we all spent some QT exploring the Music City together! 

Despite the hubs busy practice and meeting schedule, we made it to visit the County Music Hall of Fame Museum, and oh em gee... what a place to fall in love more with country music! It was huge and full of the very beginning of country music, what started off so different than what it sounds like today. ALL good music but to hear country music in the 30's-40's was so eye opening for me... I have a greater appreciation for the story telling back then!

Sadly, we didn't end up pulling the W against Tennessee. We fought though and fell short in the 4th quarter. Needless to say, I'm so proud of our players and coaches for improving themselves and the team since last season when we all first started together. We can only get better each day, and I know this off season will be a hardworking one where our guys will be getting stronger and more physical in the weight room!

Have you been to Nashville? What's some of your faves to do?