Back Home Again in Indiana

I’d like to escort you on a personalized tour of our hometown in Indiana. I have featured various locations that have played significant roles in our lives. Please join me as we take a stroll down memory lane.

The Midwest welcomes you with it's infinite flat lands. Unlike the hills of Tennessee, when you drive through Indiana, you can see for miles and miles. And very unlike Nashville, most of the space where we're from is comprised of farmlands. Enjoy the vast flat soy bean fields.

The majority of the landscape is covered with corn fields. "Knee-high by the 4th of July," as the old farmer's saying goes. By the end of July, it's higher than Brad.

Welcome to Smalltown, Indiana. This is our City Hall, complete with a random statue that I'm just now realizing I have no idea of what it is memorializing...

Here is the high school where Brad and I met when I moved to Indiana before our Sophomore year.

Back in the day, this space downtown hosted a Christian coffee house called Joshua's Cup. We would all pile into the cramped, relaxed atmosphere every single Saturday night. It was on these couches that Brad and I first really started flirting with each other. (I leaned against the arm of the couch and draped my feet across his lap. Whoa!)

This is Applebees. It is seriously the only legitimate restaurant in town, ie. it has waiters. Contrary to its common appearance, this is no ordinary eatery, for it holds the memory of the first time Brad ever held my hand - under a long, crowded table of 20 friends after a Battle of the Bands at the local Boys and Girls Club. Talk about butterflies!!

Two days after the famous hand-grab-and-hold of '02, Brad and I officially became a couple at Arby's, during our first "real date." We had an incredibly romantic, slow-motion first kiss across the table in a corner booth. Straight from a movie. That's how we roll.

Here are the theaters that we spent way too much money at during our high school career. Much more hand holding ensued.

This is Arni's, the hippest place in town. It's fully equipped with delicious pizzas, crispy garlic bread, and the best salads on Earth. Anybody who is anybody hangs out at this happenin' scene.

After the cool kids eat dinner at Arni's, they all head over to Dari-Licious for some scrumptious dessert. Oh, how many times have I played at the Turtle Park even though I was way too big and my ice cream was melting? Such great memories!

Here's the local bowling alley. Now, as a general rule, thugs normally reign these lanes. However, after our rehearsal dinner, our wedding party and some out-of-town friends dominated Crash McClains on the eve our nuptials. In your face, thugs!

Speaking of our wedding, this is the chapel in which Brad and I said, "I do." Literally the building where we began our lives together. I have a miniature replica of it on display in my house, and it serves as the cornerstone of our village each Christmas season, just as it was the beginning point of our marriage.

And here's a classic picture of Brad and me embracing the very essence of Indiana. Cornstalks.

I absolutely love Nashville. But, every once in a while, It's really nice to step back into our roots and enjoy the blessings of our upbringings. Thank you, Jim Nabors, for bringing us Back Home Again to Indiana.