June 23 // Gun Fever.

This is the 22 pistol that Papa let me shoot today.

It wasn't one of his rifles that had sparked my interest in the first place, but considering I'd never shot a gun before, it was probably good I start with this one.

June 22 // Adventures in Lancaster with Grandma Grandma.

When I woke up this morning with a sore throat, I knew that a visit to my (idiot) doctor (but I won't get into that) was going to result in having either strep or tonsillitis. This was really disturbing considering I had strep 4 weeks ago....

Sure enough, tonsillitis it is.....

I decided leaving the BBacher premises was a wise idea since I got 3 out of the 4 of them sick last time. My cousins are going out of town this weekend and didn't want me infecting them either, so off to Nana & Papa's it was....

I spent the day recouping in Papa's chair watching Little House on the Prairie (which brought me back to my younger days), Golden Girls (which brought me up to my later years) and MASH (which is actually kind of hilarious) with my Great Grandma, or otherwise known to me as "Grandma Grandma".

Grandma Grandma is 98-years-old and has dementia, so she has no idea who I am, or really, where she is usually, but she's a sweet old lady who always goes with the flow none the less. It was a pretty silly afternoon watching old tv shows with her while she crocheted baby blankets for the church nursery & continually wanted to know who I was (and then responding with "oh, the last time I saw you, you were a little girl" when really, it was yesterday).

June 21 // Happy [Grand]Father's Day.

(Papa with his oldest & youngest granddaughters)

Since I am no longer on the same side of the country as my dad, I left him a card before I departed, and spent Father's Day with my Papa at the cousin's house. We had a fun BBQ with my uncle's side of the family, being thoroughly entertained by Landon who refused to eat cow for dinner (he kept calling the steaks chicken, so I stupidly corrected him).

Don't worry Daddy, you were missed !!

June 20 // Alphabet Therapy for Angelman Syndrome.

Back home and back to reality rather quickly as I headed to Lake Ave today for the Alphabet Therapy workshop that the team & I have been planning for the last few months.

The Alphabet Therapy Project is a part of the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development. It uses a method based on ABA to teach children with Angelman syndrome the alphabet, colors, numbers, shapes and other school skills. Our mission is to help Angelman children learn as much as they can, and demonstrate what they have learned.

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June 19 // Homeward Bound.

I left for CA at the end of the day and Nashy
said goodbye to me with a nice, big southern rainstorm.

Mom had to work, but Dad & Hunter drove me to the airport
where we said our goodbyes until Christmas.
:(

June 18 // Crash.

Mom & Dad celebrated my last full day in Nashville by working.
Tonight we watched Crash & I have nothing more exciting to write about because I lived in front of the tube all day....
Hunter & I watched reruns of Friends, Will & Grace, Dharma & Greg, Hawthorne (great new show), SNL, & Alias.
It was a really eventful day.

June 17 // TICK

Hunter got a tick today.
EEEEEEEEEEK...

June 16 // Photos & More Photos.

Hunter took his senior portraits today (too weird).

Customer cameras weren't allowed in the studio so I had to sneak a few phone pics to document the momentous occasion.

When we got home, my mom wanted to get our Christmas card picture taken so we spent the afternoon AND evening taking the photos, then picking out/designing the card and ordering it...in June.

(this isn't the photo-just similar to it)

June 15 // Nashy's First UO.

Nashville has officially gotten its first Urban Outfitters.

I thoroughly enjoyed visiting it today.

June 14 // Family Reunions.

Today was a day of Klein family reunions.

It started this morning when I found my Grandpa Charlie's Kodak Retina IIa camera in my closet (he died when I was 1 yr old so this is really special). My Grandma Amy gave me this camera last summer and I'm not sure why I never tinkered around with it then, but today I opened the back of the camera and publicly freaked out when I saw that it takes 35 mm film. (rather than something that stopped being made 30 years ago).
My dad & I jumped in the car and went to pick up some film so I could (with the help of G. Charlie's light meter) start taking photos with his camera.
It's amazing being able to use the camera that my Grandpa took all my dad's childhood photos with (and it's amazing that it still works after all this time).


The reunions continued this evening when my cousin, Lindsey and her boyfriend, Tommy, came over for dinner. I haven't seen her since my Uncle Gary's wedding 9 years ago so it was really awesome to hang out, reminisce and catch up on these past 9 years. I'm really bummed that I forgot to get a picture with Lindsey, so the cameras are all you have from me today...

("Charles Klein" is engraved in the camera's leather case)

(This is the light meter that G. Charlie used with this camera)

June 13 // Facing My Fear of Horses....

Ever since I was little, I have had a huge fear of horses.
There's something about their size and the fact
that I've been bucked off on several occasions
that has made me an anti-horse person.
BUT
Today I had to face my fear and do a horse photo shoot
in an open pasture with about 15 horses surrounding me.
The 2 above are Mystic & Diego; the subjects of my shoot.
Their owner, Lynne works with my dad & asked me
to shoot some current pics for her.
The shoot went great (after my heart stopped pounding)
& although I still have a fear of horses,
they gave me a good experience to erase a couple bad ones.

June 12 // Welcome to Springfield.

Mom & I drove to a small town called Springfield
to go Antique shopping today.

After driving into the middle of nowhere,
we turn on Main Street & start laughing at how not-so-main this street really is.
The 6 shops we came to see were all closed down (go figure).

But we could have gotten our hair done at Milady's....

Luckily, down the street we found the Antique Barn
which is big enough to fit 12 antique stores in it.
It was great.

June 11 .

Nashville doesn't believe in public restroom toilet seat covers.
Gross.

June 10 / So Long, Farewell.

Hunter left for Denver to embark on an adventure with Lenny.
My dad was really sad to see him go.
(and Hunter was sleepy?)

June 9---Lightening Bugs!

The lightening bugs (fireflies) are finally out!!
I wish I could get a photo of them flashing in our backyard (to show you what all the excitement is about) but after spending 10 minutes trying to take the photo right as they flash, this was the best I could get (they're pretty ugly up close)...

June 8---Netflix.

Since my parents have been working a lot this last week, Hunter & I have spent many of our afternoons (including this one) enjoying my 1 free month of unlimited Netflix...

June 7---YUMMM.

This is the Pancake Pantry
and no matter what day of the week
it is there is always a line that raps around the building.
The pancakes are DELICIOUS. geez person.

June 6---Spring Awakening.

Spring Awakening is in town (kind of).
Hunter & I decided to drive to Kentucky (2 hours away) today to see the play.
I wish we could have seen the entire thing,
but no one told us that the time changes somewhere along the way
& so we were 45 minutes late (thinking we were early)...

June 5---Way To Go Mom!

My mom's been working like a horse the last few days preparing for a huge test required for her new job. After feeling like she was in college again with late nights of studying & not enough caffeine, she called us today with the good news that she got 100% on the test!
WAY TO GO MOM!

June 4---More Favorites.

The difference between porches in CA & porches in TN are the screens that protect you from being eaten alive by Nashville's array of mosquitoes.

This is currently my favorite room in our house.
You get the benefits of being outside, but you don't have to deal with the nasty bugs!

June 3---That Southern Weather.

Tonight as I was jogging home (me jogging...I know, hard to believe) I stopped to watch a storm that was lighting up the distant sky. As I ironically happened to be listening to "Southern Weather" by The Almost (big shocker..) the thunder got closer and suddenly began pouring buckets of water all over me.
That is my most favorite thing about Nashville. Southern rain storms will never ever get old.

June 2---The Almost.

The Almost is one of my favorite bands, and seeing them tonight is that much more of a big deal because I have unsuccessfully seen them about 4 times over the last 3 years.

My train of bad luck began when Matt & I were supposed to see them play with Paramore in LA, 3 years ago, but for some reason canceled their set in the last minute.
Then, last summer, they went on tour with one of my other favorite bands, Envy On The Coast.
BUT,

the tour started in Seattle after I had already moved back to California,

then they played in California while I was visiting my fam in Tennessee,
and then, of course, they made their way to Tennessee after I had already left and gone back to California.

FINALLY, tonight, our schedules matched up and Hunter & I got to see them perform a rare, 1 night only show, because they're in town recording their next album.

They were awesome and the night got even better when I got a picture with Aaron Gillespie (the lead singer of The Almost & drummer of Underoath) !!! It was kind of really exciting even if I do sound like a pathetic, celebrity crazed teenager.

June 1---My New Room.

With only a 3 hour & 40 minute flight, Hunter & I safely arrived in Nashville, greeted by my mom and cloudy, cool weather (it's supposed to rain in the next few days--YAY!)

While I was gone, my dad finished painting my room, so I was very excited to come home and see it all put together. It's VERY yellow!

May 31---"On This Day...."

While Hunter, Logan & I took the kids to see "Up",

my Aunt & Uncle enjoyed their new, almost completed
backyard patio. On our way to the movie, Landon
asked Hunter, "On this day (his alternate way of saying today)
can you go with me if my have to go potty. I to yittle, I could get yost"

May 30---A Few Photos From Matt's Graduation....

(Brenda Schlenker: Matt's graphic design teacher)

(Matt's best friend, Matt Kwa & Hunter)

(Graduation party)

(To The Moon & Back performing at the party)
www.myspace.com/tothemoonandbacktwice

(Kate & Matt)