January 30-February 3 - Incredible Tennessee

After flying home from LA on Sunday, I repacked my bags for Nashville, Tennesse that very next Wednesday for a conference with my office.

We started our trip off right with a limousine waiting for us at the airport. Our hygienist Mindy had never rode in one before.
She was ecstatic.

Let's just say this wasn't my first.We stayed and conferenced at the Gaylord Hotel.
It is the size of Texas.

Our first day of seminars started off with "School of Rock".
More than entertaining.

We unexpectedly got dismissed from an endo course for the afternoon. So Mindy, Bobbie and I took the free shuttle over to a shopping mall in our heels. Hmm, not the brightest ideas, but all we brought were business casual footwear. Bobbie actually gave in and bought sneakers to give her feet a break; I was not so wise.

Our first night we attended a charity event at the Wildhorse Saloon. Bobbie made me over country style.

Doc was sick from the moment we got to Nashville, but still pulled it together enough to join in the festivities. I'm not thinking that was the best of ideas either.

One of the Crown Council dentist, Dr. Wells, treats many of the country stars in Nashville. So he pulled together a dozen of his friends for this benefit.

The food was tasty. The pool enjoyable.
Shirley Temple was fun too.

Doc treated us to $100 for our countywear before we flew out. I got cowboy boots and a couple of snap shirts to fit in.

Included in the entertainment for the evening:

Jessica Andrews...
(she said it was a good thing she had a hit with "I know who I am", so she could afford to go to Dr. Wells and her grandmother's name isn't really Rosemary)Dierks Bentley...
(who I decided was really cute in person)

and Ronnie Dunn.
(I'm not sure if he was all there that evening, but he sounded good)

Day Two.
Keynote Speaker... Vince Poscente...Incredible!
Vince was a Canadian olympic speed skier. Did I say incredible?
Seriously, if you get a chance to see him, jump at it. Incredibly personally inspiring. Emotional Buzzing for sure. We also were inspired by David Neeleman of JetBlue and Joseph Michelli of The Starbuck Experience.

That night we had a black tie awards dinner.

The food was incredible.

I don't know what's prettier, Bobbie or the dessert.

Doc was nominated by seven different people for the Young Dentist of the Year. They brought everyone that has previously won this award on stage and said, 'we give this award to new dentists that show the most potential to do great things and as you can see everyone of them are living up to it.' Then they awarded it to my boss. Yep. I'm apart of something great... and we're just getting started.

Way to go Doc. We are so proud of you. An award well deserved.

Of course he couldn't do it without a few key people. :)

Day Three:
Last year we helped fundraise for the charity Smiles for Life. Based on ratio of employees to total amount raise, we ranked #8 in the worldwide Crown Council community.

And our reward for a job well done...
With a hand outstretched he says, "Hi, I'm Garth."
Wow, thanks for clearing that up for me. :)

We met this outstanding group during our humanitarian trip to the Dominican Republic in September. Dr. and Dr. Deckworth's team from San Diego couldn't be anymore fantastic.

All of those at the annual event who fundraised for Smiles for Life were invited to a private concert at the Grand Ole Opry.

How is Garth tied into this? Smiles for Life whitens teeth to raise money to then feed other charities local and worldwide. Like Smiles for Hope and Esperanza that we worked with for the Dominican Republic. We also donate directly to Garth's charity Teammates for Kids.

Okay, so I would say that I liked his music before I met him...

And it's a known fact that he is an entertainer...

But I had NO idea...

Just how stinkin fantastic he really is.

To say that I am a fan now seems like an understatement.

We would cheer so loud after each song and he would get what seemed like a little embarrassed and would say, 'Please, please, sit down...you're going to be here awhile.' After, oh, two and a half hours of stories and audience requests (including his wife's She's in Love with the Boy), he checked to see how much time we had in the building and then continued on for another half hour just him and his guitar. Incredible. Our trip unfortunately had to come to an end. On our way out we ate at the airport. In attempt to be good, I requested that instead of the mash potatoes with my meal, I would just like extra vegetables. Have you ever seen so much broccoli?

Next year the event is in Las Vegas. This whole experience was incredible, inspiring, exciting and hopefully the first of many, many more. The people of the Crown Council are doing so much to give back, to improve the lives around them. I love being apart of this. It makes silly things like appointment reminder calls worthwhile in a much larger perspective.

...sorry this is so long, but all that know me, know I don't like to leave anything out...