The HDI Conference has officially started! Although we've been here in Nashville since Friday taking some certification courses. I took my test today, so the rest of the time here is stress free. Just gotta run around attending the different sessions, visiting the different booths, and collecting free random stuff. The first general session and opening session was this afternoon. We walked into the enourmous room, and sat down while a country band was playing a few songs. Before we knew it, Reba McIntyre was on stage performing! I'm not a big country music fan, but it was quite a surprise. After some introductory stuff, Chad Hymas came out and talked to the crowd. Chad is a 32 yr old guy who became a quadriplegic 5 years ago when a 1ton bale of hay landed on him. He talked about his life and how he's had to overcome the challenges and adapt to a completely new way of life. He told quite a few stories and touched on how he set a world record by wheeling himself 500 miles from Utah to Las Vegas. He also plays full contact quad rugby! Quite an impressive guy.

When Chad was done talking the opening session ended and the tech booths opened downstairs. We hit quite a few in the hour and a half we spent there, coming away with a backpack full of freebies from the different companies here. My favorites have got to be the keychain etch-a-sketch, the sticky dart men, and the blue LED pen. The Opryland hotel has been incredible, and I highly recommend it to anyone traveling around this area, or even for a weekend trip. It has just about everything. I've literally only been outside 3 times since I got here, but hardly even notice with all the indoor gardens around here. But now it's late, and my feet are sore from all the walking, so I'm heded to bed, so I can get up and walk all over again tomorrow!