Coming Home!

On Thursday I'll be heading home to spend a few days with my family! I'm very excited to see them, but at the same time pretty darn nervous about my flight. So if you happen to think of me that day, please say a little prayer that we have a smooth flight and I have lots of peace :-) We were able to find a great price on a nonstop Southwest flight (which might I add is the only nonstop flight there is between Nashville and Seattle). I leave Thursday afternoon, arrive into Seattle in the early evening and head back home to my man Sunday afternoon. The main reason for my return home to Seattle is to go the George Strait concert with my sister Kati. Dad bought her two tickets for her birthday and she chose me to go with her!! Yea!!! I guess I should be brushing up on my George Strait songs. I also get an entire evening with Kris, which I'm excited about - so who knows what she's got in store for us to do. Friday's hanging with the parentals, Saturday the concert and Sunday I'm back to Nashville. Crazy huh?

This last week held a few fun surprises. As I told you all, we celebrated our anniversary at a Bed & Breakfast called the Byrn-Roberts Inn. It was very relaxing and the inn was just beautiful. The best part though was these amazing breakfasts that the owner would cook in the mornings - oh my word. If you know Jason and I, it takes a lot to get us out of bed in the morning and we weren't a minute late for one of these incredible breakfasts. I was able to read my book, Jason worked on his Sudoku puzzles, we watched movies, and enjoyed that fabulous jetted claw foot bathtub (which we have to get one when we get a house!!). Then on Sunday night (our actual anniversary) Jason drove me downtown for a surprise dinner at The Palm. We don't have The Palm back home, but it's similar to a Mortons Steakhouse, and I would say specializes more in fish than steak. Now here I have to explain why it is that we went to the Palm. Back a month or so ago, Jason was working at Mortons and waiting on one of their big VIPs. This gentleman is quite the regular there and had a group with him, probably about 7 all together. Well as Jason's coming back to the table to check on them, he noticed that Turner (the VIP guy) was slumped in his chair and looking as if he wasn't breathing! Well you might be wondering why no one else at his table had noticed this, and that would be because Turner is drunk 98% of the time he's there. So of course, he just appeared to everyone else as though he was intoxicated. Yeah, that and the fact that he had this nasty thick mucous crap coming out of his mouth falling into his lap. So gross. So Jason asks Turner - "you ok Turner?" No answer. Then Jason gives Turner a good slap on the back - thwack! "Turner!" Still nothing. So without a moment's hesitation, my husband jumps into action, wraps his arms around Turner and gives him the Heimlich. Out comes all this nasty crap that must have been blocking his windpipe or something. And by now of course everyone is realizing what is going on and getting quite concerned. Turner comes around and looks up at Jason, slurring something about nothing and all is well again. My modest husband goes on with the table as usual, but his coworkers made a huge fuss over him and kept saying that Jason saved one of their VIP's lives!! I tend to agree more with his co-workers. And his General Manager Corey had to have thought that as well, because he rewarded Jason with a $150 gift certificate to The Palm for his great deed! And that brings us to why we were having dinner at The Palm on our anniversary, and why I hadn't mentioned anything of this before, because Jason wanted to keep our dinner as a surprise. Isn't that a cool story?? So here I've attached a picture of the two of us at dinner at The Palm.

The other fun surprise that Jason had up his sleeve was what he got me for our anniversary. He had last Sunday night off from work and mentioned that he was really in the mood for a burger at Roberts Bar downtown. So I'm like - ok, that's a little odd, but I love their burgers too, so why not? I'm still dressed up from church that morning, so we both just freshen up a bit and head out the door. We get downtown and he parks a couple blocks from the bar and asks if we can walk by the Symphony hall on our way. K - its not on the way, but in the words of my husband - whatever blows your skirt up darlin'. We walk by the Symphony Hall and he doesn't even look at it - which I've pointed out, and now we're heading to the GEC (Gaylord Entertainment Center). It's not a pretty building and its getting fairly cold outside - what's with the detour dear? Then Jason turns to me and says, "I'm taking you to Dancing with the Stars - Happy Anniversary!" yeah!!!!! I loved that show and watched it faithfully. I was so excited and we walked straight inside and found our seats. It was a great show and so fun to see the celebrities and professionals dance live. Even Sara Evans made an appearance and sang her single and did her cowboy dance with her partner Tony. Then Jerry Springer also made an appearance and did one of his numbers for us. We had a great time. Isn't my man such a romantic?

And here's a bit of an update for y'all. Jason has posted two new songs on his Myspace Music page, for those of you that want to check it out. The two new songs he recently had demo'd are "Don't Give Up On Me" and "See Jane Go". You can listen to them by going to: http://www.myspace.com/jasonrosskeith

I hope your all doing well and don't forget to leave us a comment, we would love to hear from you!

Happy Anniversary to Us!

I can't believe its already been a year...ok, well on Sunday it will be! It has really gone by so fast. And yes, we know, we've been retards about the Thank You notes - I promise, they'll be mailed out real soon :-)

This week has been a long one for us. Jason has been fighting off a terrible cold - probably the sickest he's been since before we met. He's had this nasty cough and his head's been so congested - let's just say it's not been pretty. I've felt just awful for him...especially since he's been on the couch for the last few nights. I offered to sleep there, but he wouldn't have it and so we've slept apart just so we can both get enough rest. He's over the worst of it now though, so hopefully things will get back to normal. And with our anniversary this weekend, I'm doing my darndest to boost my immunity and ward off what feels like the start of my own cold.

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In other news, Jason met with the Senior Director of A&R at Lyric Street Records to pitch some music for Rascal Flatts. Of course, the one song that got their attention was Right Where We Belong. Kirk, the guy he met with, asked him to email him the lyric sheet, so he can get a better feel for the song. That's all we know for now, but once again, we're praying for God's timing in releasing Jason's gift into the music industry.

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Work has been going great for Jason, the tips have been good and he's seen some more artists coming in for dinner. For instance, Jack White from The White Stripes was in last week and Jason was able to wait on him, later telling me that he was a really nice guy. And not too long before that Little Big Town was in for dinner until the late hours.

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I've been doing really well with my job as well. I have a great appreciation for Larry and Paul. Paul told me the other day, that he and Larry went through quite a few years where they had a succession of terrible assistants that would only last a year at a time and that thankfully I had brought an end to this nightmare for them. It was very sweet and I got a bit embarressed by the flattery in front of the other assistants. They are so complimentary and such gentlemen, that I can't tell you how it only encourages me to do my very best. I'm building some great friendships with the girls at work too, which has been huge in helping me adapt to life in Nashville. Brooke, Melissa, Christy and Kacie have been such a blast to hang out with and I'm lovin getting to know them better.

So I know your all wondering what we have planned for our anniversary. Well let me just tell you! We reserved 2 nights at the Bryn Roberts Inn in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. And let me just make note here, that if my dad were writing this blog, he would have to mention that this is the exact same city where he was stationed for a time while he was in the Air Force WAAAYYY back in the ....70's? :-) Anyway, the Inn was built in 1900, and we'll be staying in the Candlelight suite, which was the original master suite when the house was first built. Our room has a king size bed, the original fireplace still works with two overstuffed chairs, its own private bathroom with big fluffy robes and oversized bath sheets, a full complimentary breakfast...and our favorite feature is the turret off the corner of the room, with a claw footed whirlpool tub. I've also included a couple pictures of the inn for your viewing pleasure. And Jason has something secret planned for dinner on Sunday, which I'm really excited about. We're hoping to check out the shops, watch some movies in our room and have fun just hanging out together.

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So in honor of our anniversary, I thought I would bring you all down memory lane and post some pictures from that magical day. My amazingly talented and dear friend Tina Frees, took these pictures along with another photographer by the name of Lyndsay Undseth. You can view more of their work at their websites, which I've included the links to below:

Tina Frees: http://www.freesitintime.com/ and Lyndsay Undseth: http://www.lyndsayundseth.com/

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Here are some highlights from the wedding one year ago this weekend! I hope you enjoy!

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What a good-looking couple huh? This was taken before the wedding and can I tell you that I wasn't nervous hardly at all? I thought for sure I would be jumping out of my skin with anxiety before the ceremony, but I was so calm and so at peace - it was the blessing and anointing from God kissing this day with His approval.

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And here we have the Kelly family.

From Left to Right: Loretta, Kristin, Jason, Kimberly, Katrina & Tom

We're a wild and crazy bunch.

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And this is us with Jerry & Sherry Keith.

Doesn't Jason and Jerry look very similar in this picture?

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Our fabulous wedding party!

Left to Right: Back Row: Jimi Duong, Katie King, Tony Jordan, Suzanne Bower, Jeff Batson, Kristin Kelly, Kimberly Keith, Jason Keith, Katrina Kelly, Jeff Hooper, Tina Frees, Steve O'Hara, Courtney Dugan and Jorian Bradford

Front Row: Aaron Powell, Deb Nielsen, Jaida Frees, Adelaide Sandstrom, Jeshua Frees, Loree Hale and Asher Levi Arnold.

Phew!

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Check out Jeff bustin up in the background. You can also see the skies are so white from the snow that's about to fall. (another blessing from God!)

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The look of love....that and he's probably thinking about the wedding night. :-)

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This is the good part.

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We'll never forget Uncle Billy putting Jason on the spot to sing If Things Go Well. I think he's saying something to Billy like, "you and I are going to have a little chat when this is through..."

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Our first dance. Can you tell how happy we are? This might have been the moment that we realized it was snowing which matched the lyrics of the song he wrote about us called, If Things Go Well..."And if things go well, they'll be a one room cabin on a snowy night, me and her by a roaring fire cuddled up as the sun goes down..."

It seriously couldn't have been more perfect.

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This is probably one of my favorite pictures from the wedding.

Tina captured this moment amazingly.

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Look at the Snow!!

This is us saying Goodbye!

Happy New Year!

I trust you all had a wonderful Christmas and a great New Year!

Jason and I spent the most romantic and relaxing Christmas in our cabin near the Smoky Mountains. We weren't quite in the Smoky Mountains, but we were close to them, in Morristown, Tennessee. I think we saw maybe one or two cars and not a soul in sight from our cozy little haven. The cabin had to have been maybe a year old - cause everything seemed so new and beautiful. We spent most of our time lounging in our pj's just hanging out.
For the majority of the time, I was obsessed with a puzzle that Mom Keith sent to us. This is how the puzzle looked Christmas morning and I had finished it by the next day! (And yes, Jason did help as much as he could :-) )
Jason kept himself quite busy writing up yet another new Christmas song. As I sat there working on the puzzle, he would often be sitting at the table or in the hot tub singing to his recorder with a Cream Soda in his hand. Ah, this is the life! I believe in total he has completed 4 Christmas songs this holiday season and I can't wait to hear what they sound like when they get demo'd.
I was good for the most part in getting some pictures from our time in the cabin, but I am sad to report, that we didn't get one of us together. We did however get a few of eachother on Christmas Day and throughout our trip that I think many of you will enjoy.

This first picture is of our little "Charlie Brown" tree. I had originally thought we would cut a little one down to use, but the cabin had this little guy and I had brought some bulbs to hang on it. Isn't it cute? We got so spoiled by our families too. ALL these presents are mostly from family back home! We got new clothes, books, cds, games, and cash! Talk about being blessed! Thank you so much to our families! We sure did miss you all and loved having the chance to talk to you all on the phone.
This next picture from our vacation is our Christmas morning breakfast. I had made Banana bread and Jason made us French Press coffee.

Christmas morning we hammed it up for a couple pictures while we opened our gifts. This is not my most flattering moment, but we had to take this for my family to see me in this oh-so-lovely-redneck-apron thing they sent me. Thanks Kati and mom. Very cute.

Jason got a bunch of cute new clothes from me for Christmas, I couldn't help but spoil him. Last year was tight for us in the gift department for each other, since we had the wedding coming up, so this year we made up for it and had some fun shopping for one another. He got me some yummy perfume, Obsession Night and a beautiful Willow Tree statue of a husband and wife holding eachother. He also got me some clothes from Banana Republic and a CD of Chris Daughtry. Like I said, we spoiled each other.
And this is our Christmas dinner. We got a few questions about what we did for dinner, so we thought we'd take a picture to show you. When we first got to town, we had stopped at the store and picked up some steaks. Jason marinated them in terriyaki and pineapple juice for a few days and then we grilled them up. YUM! He made us a delicious Christmas dinner, probably one of the best I've ever had. We also had potatoes and green beans. Oh, and that would be cream soda in our wine glasses, since I know Kris was probably wondering :-) This is the view from the hot tub on Christmas night.

And this is Jason saying goodbye Tuesday morning, as we were getting ready to head back home.

So now this brings us to New Years Eve. As many of you are aware, all the employees at Mortons' restaurant are required to work on New Years Eve - and after hanging out there this New Years Eve, I can definately see why. It was insane! I got to Mortons around 11:40 and the place was slammed! The guests were getting crazy, blowin their horns in rythmn and dancing around their tables. The wine was flowing and people were shouting. It was hysterical and if it hadn't been so dark in there, I would have gotten some better pictures of these folks. I did get a picture of Jason in action that night. He was asked by the management to expedite at "the wood", which is by the grill. He basically had to make sure all the garnishes and extra things needed were ready on the plates before the servers came to pick them up. This is the back of him at the wood, but you get the idea. I can't believe how fast all the servers were working. I tucked myself away next to an empty corner table and watched in amazement.

Then when the countdown began, the servers stopped, everyone was yelling and whooping and then the free-for-all of kissing began. I grabbed my man and my camera and we got in our Happy New Years kiss!! After he got off work, we were both pretty wiped. We tried to find a place to eat at, but everything was closed, so we gave up, took our steak from Mortons home, had a snack and fell asleep on the couch. And so begins 2007!

What are your New Years Resolutions or goals? Mine are to work out on a regular basis. I've lost a bit more weight and was very excited to receive 4 new pairs of pants from Jason for work, in a size 4 - yippee!! But more than wanting to lose any more weight, I really want to tone up. My other goals for this year is to get more involved with our new church and meet some ladies there. I'm getting a bit better with being more outgoing, but it is taking some stretching on my part for sure. I've hung out some more with my new friend Leigh-Ann, who is an absolute sweetheart and we had a great time last Saturday night hitting the honkey tonks and having dinner at Roberts downtown. Then for dessert, I took her up to Mortons and we sat in the bar and laughed and talked for close to 3 hours.

So tonight ends my four day weekend and I'm so sad that I have to go back to work tomorrow. At least its only a 3 day week, which is very cool. I feel so spoiled to have had so much time with Jason this weekend, in addition to our Christmas vacation. Even though he was only off on New Years Day, we have had so much fun spending all this time together in the mornings and when he gets off work. I seriously have enjoyed every single minute. Last night was Mortons Company holiday party and it was held at BBKings Bar on 2nd Avenue downtown. There was a great live band and we had a private corner in the back reserved for us. We had a great time hanging out with our friends and meeting new people. I do have to make note of the food though. There was this buffet table in the back and I kid you not - EVERTHING WAS DEEP FRIED! Just lookin at all that gave me heartburn. Jason is still taking more Pepcid from last night's indigestion. I couldn't bring myself to eat any of it - though I did try my very first fried pickle. That's right, I said fried pickle. Basically what I've learned from the south is...they'll fry anything.

And for those of you who are wondering, we have not heard from Billy Currington yet. Now that the holidays are coming to an end, and we know he'll be recording soon, we are praying like crazy that he will call and put Right Where We Belong on hold. So keep praying!!! It's not unusual at all, that things in the music business take a very long time to come to fruition. So just cause we're not calling yet saying we have a cut, does not mean its not going to happen. Just please, please, please keep on praying for us!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Years as well. If you have a favorite memory to share, please share it with us in a comment! We always love to hear from all of you back home. We love you and miss you all - Jason and Kimberly Keith