Category Archives: memories

holidays, memories, nashville, photography

A Christmas Tradition: Opryland Hotel

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I visited Opryland Hotel at Christmas time for the first time in 2005. One of my husband’s best friends got married there in November, and it happened to also coincide with my now-husband’s birthday. So, of course, I flew to Nashville to spend the weekend with him (never knowing he already had plans to get me an engagement ring for Christmas that year! AND I caught the bouquet at the wedding!) and I experienced the magic that is Opryland Hotel at Christmas.

Every Christmas since that year, we’ve made the trip to see the lights. It’s become a Christmas tradition that, even in the craziness that this year has been, I refused to miss. Especially now that the hotel is back open post-flood! It just made it all the more special.

So, Sunday night, I declared it date night and our gift to each other. We drove out to the hotel and spent a few hours basking in the beauty of the lights and holiday cheer.

As always, I took over a hundred photos, and I thought I’d share a few of my favorites.

Opryland Hotel

Opryland Hotel

Opryland Hotel

Opryland Hotel

Opryland Hotel

Opryland Hotel

Opryland Hotel

I’ve held a couple of my favorites for this week’s Weekly Winners, so check again then, or go visit my Flickr page. SUCH a fun tradition!! If you’re ever in Music City at the holidays… its a must-see. Trust me on that.

football, memories, texas

Proud to be a Cameron Yoeman

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My alma mater competed in the state football championship tonight. Thanks to Fox Sports Southwest, I was able to watch the game online. Thanks to Facebook and Twitter I was able to watch it with fellow alumni, as we all screamed at our computer screens. Jumped up and down. And scared our children (literal for most of them, my cat just stayed far far away).

My Cameron Yoemen lost by 6 points in the last 30 seconds of a game that Hollywood could not have scripted. This game was what Texas High School football is all about. My friend told me via text that this game would be better than any collegiate or NFL game I’d watched all year…

…she was right.

I have always been proud of my alma mater. A school with family history. A school whose traditions so mirrored my college’s that the transition from one to another was seamless. But over time, I’d forgotten. I’d forgotten the adrenaline of a great high school football game. I’d forgotten the pride my school has. I’d forgotten how I am forever a Cameron Yoemen, with a loyalty that I find is hard to find in schools here in Tennessee. (Oh there’s a school pride, so no Nashvillians hang me for saying that. There’s just an almost rabid quality to it back home. There is a reason all the football movies made are set in Texas.)

I found myself glued to the computer screen, literally yelling and cheering for my team. I could hear the band play and found myself chanting old cheers along with the cheerleaders. I was 18 again for awhile.

To any Cameron Yoemen who might stumble upon this blog: HOLD YOUR HEAD HIGH. What I watched tonight was the most incredible high school football game I’d ever witnessed. You’ll be back next year, fighting for that state title again. You played an incredible game, an incredible season. I wish I could have been in that high school parking lot in front of the athletic building, right along side dozens of other Yoe fans and alumni, welcoming you back home after a long ride back. You probably spent the ride going over the, “Coulda, woulda, shouldas” but they do no good now. No, now you need to bask in the glow of the best season this school has had in thirty years.

Congratulations, Yoemen. You did the whole Yoe Nation proud… you played an amazing game. Amazing. And when I come home at Christmas, I WILL be getting myself Yoemen swag to wear proudly around Music City… Because you have reminded me of a part of my roots I’d “forgotten” about, a part that I am ready to tell anyone who asks about.

GO BIG YOE!