Trip to Nashville....

On Friday June 22nd, my two boys and I made a trip to Nashville to get all of our Tennessee documents county certified and apostilled. Chris couldn't come with us, as he has taken enough time off from work already. We had an appointment at our agency at 11am. We arrived right on time amazingly enough for me....and were welcomed by their sweet receptionist Jane. It was so nice to meet her finally as she and I have talked on the phone numerous times. She offered me a cup of coffee, which in my book, shoots her right up to the top of my list of likable people. For a gal who just drove hours, and had no coffee that morning, she just offered me liquid gold, and I wasn't about to turn it down. But even better, she brought it in a huge coffee mug, the size I drink about every morning. Oh happy day! lol!

My agency rep and I sat down and began reviewing all the documents that I brought. They were all notarized and county certified from our county in Tennessee. They were also in clear plastic protectors. (A little extreme I know, but I live with a family of spillers (myself included), and I didn't want to take the chance that one of those documents accidentally received coffee stains, or juice stains or whatever.) So, for my peace of mind, and organization, they were all in clear plastic sheet protectors. Amanda, our rep, had never seen anyone come in with documents that protected. lol! She added some more documents from our agency to be apostilled, and gave directions to McDonald's and the two government buildings we needed to frequent that day. Her directions were "spot on" as they say in Europe. :-) Especially the McDonalds, which was greatly needed for all of us hungry kiddos.

We next headed to the county building where we would get the newest documents from our agency certified. Right across the way from this building was a big white dome, where we were informed the Tennessee Titans practice. I'm sure it had air conditioning, but all I could think was how hot it must be inside. Of course the temperature was in the high 90's, and every time we walked outside it was scorching and muggy and hard to breathe. There were air quality advisories too, which I don't doubt at all! We found our way inside, and had a zero wait time. Very cool, as the boys were getting a little antsy. I had a lovely talk with the woman who was certifying our documents. She was very sweet, engaging my boys in conversation and talking about her own two grown sons. It took about 20 minutes, and then we headed out to our next government building downtown.

This one I was a little more nervous about. We had to locate the building in Friday traffic, and locate parking on the street. I don't know how we found the parking....divine intervention. But we did and with all the documents in clear plastic protectors in my dossier binder, we began the walk of several blocks to the building. We managed to locate it and the entrance, and walked inside. Security is tight, you need to produce a current government photo ID, and then stand in front of a machine that scans your head. At first I thought it was to scan the eye retina, but then I realized it was to take your photo. lol! (Too many spy movies again!). So, I reach into my purse and pull out my wallet to get my driver's license. Only it is not there! Panic on my face...as I try to calmly think where it could be. I have every original document and copies in my dossier binder. Copies of passport, (of course not the original). Original birth certificate, newly delivered to me and signed by Condoleeza Rice.....but it doesn't have a photo. No document, no matter how high the signature, would allow me to get inside...and almost in tears, I sat down to think and call my husband. All I could think was "Lord please don't let this trip be wasted.... we drove two and 1/2 hours to get here, so this step of the process could be accomplished." I thought I remembered taking my license out at a ballgame and placing it in the glove box of my car. So, the boys and I headed back out into the heat, walking the several blocks back to where we parked. Praying all the way, and encouraging my littlest who was tired and thirsty by this point to hurry along... and he can get a drink in the car.

Thankfully (and I mean it!), the drivers license was in the glove box. Normally I would never put it there...if we were headed to a game, and I didn't want to bring my purse, I'd have Chris hold it in his wallet. But for some reason that evening of the ballgame, I decided to put it in the glove box. So, we trekked back to the government building, and this time with the golden ticket. We easily got in this time around, and headed to the 6th floor where all apostilling is done. We had a short 5 minute wait, and when I was called up the lady asked how many documents I had to be apostilled. Um, let me count.... 1.....10.....20.....30....32. Yes, 32 documents to be apostilled please. It took about 45 minutes in all, and we picked them all up looking nice and shiny with the gold state seal on each one. We thanked her, and she mentioned how fortunate we were that all of the documents were correct. Many times she has to send people back to have the documents re-done. I was grateful for our agency's assistance even more so then, to know we got it right the first time, and we wouldn't have to come back!

So, we began our journey home from Nashville. What a long day, but how fruitful it was as well!