Best Home Remedy - Nail Polish!

Last Friday was our firm picnic and I truly didn't expect it to be that great. I haven't been to a whole lot of company events where I wasn't bored and uncomfortable. But Friday's picnic completely surprised me! Sam Bartholomew, one of the original founding attorneys of this firm, has 180 acres in Kingston Springs with two huge ponds, one for fishing and one attached to a huge covered picnic area with a BBQ pit and a boat launch for paddleboats. Then just across from the pond, there's a good size adorable cabin that was built back in 1780!!! It was the coolest thing and when I first saw it, my response to Brooke and Kacie was "Look! They have their very own Cracker Barrel!" It had a huge screened in porch with rocking chairs, a swing, adorable guest rooms, a big old stone fireplace and in the kitchen you could see over hundred year old newspapers that were sealed into the walls that they had used to patch the holes. I loved this place. Too bad Sam wasn't one of the CEO's I had worked for, cause I would have definitely hit him up for having family reunions out there. Sam took Brooke, Kacie and her boyfriend Dan and myself out on the Gator (which is like a four-wheeler with a flat bed in the back) for a ride out on his property. And it was quite the ride. The three of us girls in the bed of that gator had to have been quite the sight. We were all tucked in and ready for our ride! So off we went and I don't think we stopped laughing for a solid 30 minutes. The picnic was fully catered with the best southern food - ribs, fried chicken, creamed corn, BBQ beans, sweet tea and blackberry cobbler...and if you can't tell, I had a blast. I did take a couple pictures of the property, but I hadn't gotten my storage card for the camera yet, so I could only take 3 pictures. I wish I could have gotten a picture of Kacie, Dan, Brooke & I out on the paddleboat - we were 1 inch from sinking this thing in the middle of the pond. And Kacie and Brooke thought they'd conquer the blow up slide, which in itself was completely hysterical to watch.

I did leave with some souvenirs however, 43 nasty chigger bites. Please don't misunderstand, these things are nothing like mosquito bites. A chigger is a small microscopic bug that bites you and then crawls inside your skin. I googled a picture to see if I could show you all a picture and ended up completely freaking myself out and decided maybe that wasn't such a good idea. When I got home, I didn't feel anything, I just saw some red spots on my legs. Then two days later these blisters popped up on my skin looking like chicken pox. What the heck??? The itching that soon followed cannot be described. No amount of cream could bring the sweet relief I was in need of. I went into work on Monday and immediately had to take off my shoes because of the pain. My attorney Larry proceeded to give me the "Bugs of the South 101" lesson and diagnosed me with chigger bites and then tells me to go buy some clear fingernail polish. Ok what? You lost me at polish. Turns out that clear fingernail polish suffocates these little boogers in my skin, killing the bug and brings relief to the itch so the bite will heal. It is the best home remedy ever!! I'm using polish on all my bites in the future! It doesn't rub off or need reapplying every hour - and it stays on better than a band aid - I love it!!! So lesson learned - if your near the woods in the South, wear bug spray EVEN if you don't see any bugs...trust me, they are there. And apparently every true Southerner has learned this little secret, cause when I've told someone I have chigger bites, the first thing everyone asks me is - you got clear fingernail polish?

The weekend was a slow one for us. We've been fighting some flu bug off and decided to take advantage of the free weekend to get some much needed sleep and rest. It's hit Jason harder than me and he literally slept most all Saturday and half of Sunday before he went into work that night. I took a picture of how peaceful he looked Saturday afternoon, isn't he adorable?

Oh and some great news - I got a raise!! Yeah!!!

Summer...Summer...Summertime!

That's right y'all - we're in the midst of our crazy hot summer here in Nashville and things are starting to heat up for sure! This last week has been a busy one with Jason's parents here for a visit. We packed in as much as we could and a had a great time...and yes, of course we had to do a puzzle! Jason seems to be getting into this whole puzzle thing now, because one night after I went to bed, he stayed up with his mom till almost 4am and almost finished it. I don't know what's got into him lately, but he must be catching the puzzle-bug. Some highlights with Jerry & Sherry that are for sure worth mentioning is having lunch at the Loveless Cafe, dinner at Mortons Steakhouse for Father's Day, (in which we also saw Don King with his entourage), and a Writer's Round at The Commodore in West End with Jason, Jeff Batson and Aaron Sherz performing!! And as a special treat, Jason and his parents were able to drive down to Atlanta to catch a Red Sox game on Monday night.

I had bought a new camera and had planned on taking some pictures, but of course forgot during the most opportune times...dangit. I've got to get better at this!!

Now its back to things as usual, just until we expect our next visitor, my sister KATI!! She flies in on July 3rd, just eleven days from now and I'm starting to get really excited!

Some of you have asked about the status of our hold with Rodney Atkins - well, we're still waiting. It turns out that because his current album is still doing so well, they're going to release a 4th single before starting to record his new album sometime in late August/early September. If you ever feel like you need learn some lessons in patience....Nashville's your town ;-) Jason's a pro at taking it all in stride and trusting God...but I'm still learning. We've been told its a 10 year town - and we're on year number 8. I'm so proud of Jason for sticking in there all these years, most of them on his own, because as I'm fast learning its not an easy business by any means.

In just a short 5 months, we'll be looking to buy a house - yippee!! I can barely contain myself and I try not to get too crazy by browsing through realtor websites, but its just too much fun not to! I've also recently discovered a fun new website for home decor ideas Rate My Space by HGTV.com. I've been in an apartment for the last 6 years and I'm soooo ready to own our house, paint some walls, decorate and then fill it up with family and friends. It's going to be a blast!

I hope your all enjoying some great weather and plenty of BBQ's back home. I'll be up and running with the new camera soon - so stay tuned!

Wow

So many of you know that So You Think You Can Dance has got to be my all time favorite show. And last night was the first episode showcasing the top 20 dancers. I wasn't able to watch the whole thing, but I did see the first hour and oh my word.

Lacey Schwimmer blew my socks off. For an insanely cool performance - watch below

Waiting On Hold

If I could let out a big ol yelp and at the same time remain completely calm, that’s how I would describe my current mood. Crazy I know, but I’m under strict orders not to get too carried away with excitement over Jason having a song PUT ON HOLD!!! That’s right folks – its freakin’ awesome!! Uh…(*clear throat*)…I mean its great news and we hope it all works out just fine.
Out here in Nashville, when you say you’ve got a song on hold, it’s as foreign to Seattle folk as it is to Nashville folk saying, “I’ll have a double skinny no foam cap”. So for those back home, let me break it down for y’all.

Jason and typically one other writer will get together to write a song over the course of a few weeks. Once the song is finished, Jason will then go into the guest bathroom with his guitar and microphone and lay down what we call a “rough cut” (because as we all know, bathrooms have the best acoustics). From there, this “rough cut” is oftentimes taken to our friend Jason Roller and he will lay down all the instrumental tracks – like literally ALL the instruments himself. Roller then mails the instrumental track back to us and Jason will hire a demo singer and schedule a demo session at Aaron Sherz’s recording studio. Once the vocal track gets laid down, we wait a bit for Aaron to work his mixing & editing magic and we end up with a fabulous demo track to pitch to publishers, record labels and artists. These would be the songs that you find on Jason’s MySpace page for example.

At this point, Jason starts to set up meetings with various publishers on Music Row and pitches his latest songs, leaving them with their own copy.

And then we wait….and keep on waiting.

During this time of waiting, whoever has been pitched to, is mulling over whether to put our song “on hold”. You have to remember, there are thousands upon thousands of songs out there being written every day. So getting a call that your song has been put on hold, is not only rare but very exciting when it happens. When a publisher, record label or artist puts a song on hold, it means that we are not to pitch it to anyone else until we receive a decision from them on whether they will cut it or not. This may sound unfair, but let me tell ya – these people have the potential of earning the writer some serious dough, so really, they can do whatever they want as far as we’re concerned. Now if Jason had been signed by a Publisher at this point, then his publisher would be the one pitching his songs and they would be in a better place to call whoever it is that has put the song on hold and ask where they’re at with it. But as an unsigned writer – any hold is awesome and rare and we’re grateful for it.

Now to explain how we got to where we are today. Jason was writing with Aaron Sherz on a song called “That’s How I’d Do It”. Aaron is a signed writer and had shared some of this song to his publisher. His publisher loved it and pushed for them to hurry up and finish the song so he could pitch it. So there we were flying out to CA to see Jason’s parents, and Jason and Aaron are texting one another song lyrics. They eventually finished the song, hired a demo singer and Aaron set about to mix & edit the finished track. The song was done Friday morning. Aaron gave it to his publisher Friday afternoon. His publisher pitched it to Rodney Atkins’ people on Monday and by that afternoon they put the song on hold. The song is less than a week old, pitched to only one artist and we’ve got a hold. Have I mentioned it’s a fabulous song?

Some of you may remember back to the Billy Currington days when he told Jason he loved his song “Right Where We Belong”. Well we waited, but Billy nor his people ever called to put the song officially on hold. The reason being…he decided to write all his own songs for his new album. And can you blame him? Between him and his label, they’ll make all the royalties without having to dish out to a writer their share.

All we know right now is that “That’s How I’d Do It” is officially on hold for Rodney Atkins and that he was scheduled to start recording his album in May. So we should have an answer on whether they’ll want to cut it or not hopefully within the next few weeks….Lord willing. Rodney's doing great as an artist right now as well. He's had two #1 hits recently "Watching You" and "If Your Going Through Hell". and he was also named Best New Male Vocalist at the Academy of Country Music Awards this year.

Please keep us in your prayers. Even if this turns out to not be a cut, it continues to encourage us, because its another positive step forward in the right direction. Jason’s writing only gets better and better and more and more people are sitting up and taking notice. It’s only a matter of time – and the important thing is, is that its in God’s time.

Stay tuned....

Three Glorious Days Off!

It just doesn't get any better than this last Memorial Day weekend. Jason was off Saturday and Monday and we were able to spend two and a half days together!! We had an absolute blast relaxing and enjoying each other's company. Saturday we met up with our friend Alicia and her mom Suzanne and we headed to the Watertown Drive-In to see Pirates III and Wild Hogs. It was a perfect night and the fireflies were in full effect. We LOVE going to the drive-in, its probably one of our favorite things to do together - we load up the truck with blankets, pillows, sweet tea and lawn chairs and we're set for the night. Then of course we have my favorite cheeseburgers along with crinkle fries for dinner, popcorn and maybe an ice cream bar for dessert :-)

Jason had to work on Sunday night, which was fine, cause he gets off earlier than usual and it gave me a chance to work on Kelley's wedding invitations. But Monday was the perfect day off. We slept in late, went to see Fracture, had dinner at PF Changs, sipped coffee on the patio at Starbucks and drove around Franklin dreaming of places to live. When we got home Jason baked up some grubbin brownies with ice cream.

Life is good and we're so grateful for the time we've been blessed to have together. Jason is off again tonight and we're looking forward to dinner at home and watching So You Think You Can Dance. I feel like I've been spoiled to have so much time with him lately, but our love tanks are full & we're ready for the week ahead. I hope you all had a wonderful Memorial Day as well.

Much love, the Keiths.

Back in Seattle Again!

I had a fabulous weekend back home in Seattle to surprise my mom for Mother's Day! She had no idea either, which was perfect! My dad flew me in late Friday night and from there we headed to the house where mom had fallen asleep for a nap. When I tried to wake her, she thought she was having a dream, but alas! It was me! It was so beautiful too, no rain and all blue skies. The mountains and lakes were there to greet me and I had missed them so! And with a sigh of relief, there was never a Starbucks or coffee shop that wasn't within a few blocks distance. I mean really, how much better does it get than having your very own barista in the house, sleeping down the hall?!! (love you Kris!) And for those of you that don't know what a barista is, wel now that's sad! Oh and who was on my flight this time you ask? Bucky Covington - and he's still as redneck as ever.

The weekend was filled with movies, late night conversations, a soccer game along with many other things. I tried to fit in as much as I could and for those of you that didn't know I was coming home, I do apologize, but I was sworn to secrecy :-) However, it worked out just right that I was able to see my friend Chad from New Zealand, and I think it had been close to three years since we last saw each other! He's been back in the States to do some acting in LA, attend a wedding in Florida and see friends in Seattle and Portland. And the cherry on top, was running into Asher on Sunday morning at CCK! It was our own little mini reunion, just the three of us again. I also got a little time to hang out with Aaron & Heidi Powell and Jill Sonsteby at Kati's soccer game. I've missed everyone so much, I could seriously spend a month just trying to make up for the lost time with all my dear friends.

As you can tell, I had a lot of fun messin around with my sisters. And wow! Let me tell you, with six of us women in the house at one time, I don't know how my dad does it! It was crazy! For those of you that don't know, my cousins Kolleen and Kathrine still live with my parents and they've just recently turned thirteen - so you can imagine, there was enough estrogen for a few households! I loved having so much time with my sisters, it had been almost four months since I last saw them! Kris is working at a small coffee shack now, building for herself quite a reputation as the best barista there. They actually request her to make their coffee - now there's a Seattle coffee-snob for ya when you can tell the difference in coffee by who makes it! She's also going back to school to finish up, and I'm very proud of her for it! Kati has two weeks left of school at the UW before the summer and she's been super busy working part-time in an office job, babysitting and now being trained also as a barista for a different coffee shack in Bothell. I've commented to Jason before that if by some random act of God, my sisters moved out to Nashville, we would have to buy a big old warehouse and renovate it into an awesome coffee house complete with super comfy furniture, old wood floors, floor to ceiling bookcases with those cool ladders that roll across them, a stage for all these asipiring Nashville artists to perform on and big ol espresso bar. I can totally see it in my mind. Coffee is in our blood and it would be the hit of the town! We could call it the Kelly Cafe - or something like that... It's definately one of my many dreams. So, what do you think girls?!! (Don't panic mom & dad, like I said, it's just one of my dreams!)

Now that I'm back in town, I've been pretty busy with a couple invitation gigs. One was for a friend from work for her parents 50th Wedding Anniversary and the other gig is for my friend Kelley Skiles who's getting married July 7th to a worship pastor! I've attached the finished product of what it will look like when we mail it out. Simple, but classic and it will be printed on very pretty ice blue shimmer paper. I thought their idea of wanting to represent themselves with the treble and bass clefs was very sweet, since they're both very musically involved. Once I get the whole paper resource issue figured out, I hope to put up a simple website to advertise our invitation business, which I hope to get up and running in the next year. I've run into quite a problem out here not having any resources for quality paper - there's no PaperZone or anything like it here in the South and it sucks! So I've got to continue to keep a portfolio of paper I can order, build my designs and get crackin. My hope is that in the next 2-3 years I'll have built enough of a reputation that I will be making some good money making invitations, so that I can work from home and spend more time with Jason. Plus, it will make it much easier to be home raising a family when we're ready to take that step. This will be my 12th set of invitations - which includes all weddings, showers, private birthdays & anniversarys. I'm well on my way and already have another opportunity for another wedding out here. That's one thing about this town - word of mouth is the best form of advertisement, cause everyone knows everybody. So be praying for more opportunities and lots of creativity!

Tonight we'll be getting back into the swing of things by joining our awesome friends at small group, discussing chapter 3 of Simply Christian by N.T. Wright and then running off to Brentwood for Jason's softball game. And I don't know about y'all - but I'm pumped to see the finale later tonight of Dancing with the Stars and the Season Premiere of So You Think You Can Dance on Thursday - yeah!!!! I wish you all a fabulous week and much love!

The Keiths.

So much happened this last week, I don't even know where to begin. Jason and I left for CA last Thursday night and spent five fabulous days in California with his family. Unfortunately, my camera broke from the get-go, so I have absolutely no pictures to share from our trip, other than the ones I found online from the rodeo. To begin with, let me just tell you how crazy this trip started out. The number one place to see Celebrity's I've come to realize, is the airport. It seems like we always see at least one. My last trip out to Seattle, Jason and I flew back with LeeAnn Rimes and her band. The time before that when I flew back from Seattle, I flew back with Ronnie Milsap and his band. The first time I ever visited Nashville a couple years back, I saw Pam Tillis in baggage claim. You never know who you're going to run into. So anyway, Jason and I check in at the airport and head to our gate. We go to sit down and see Scott Walker standing in line at the counter. Scott is Billy Walker's grandson and therefore a distant cousin to Jason. So Jason goes up and says hi and asks where he's headed. Scott says "Clovis", Jason's like - "no way, we're going to Clovis". Scott explains he's touring with Trick Pony and they're doing a gig at the Clovis Rodeo. "No way! We're going to the Clovis Rodeo!" What a small world. As we're standing there, Jason recognizes a familiar face about to walk by and reaches his hand out to this guy to say hello. This guy, who I don't know from Adam, looks at Jason and says, "I know you". Jason explains they've met before through a friend. Then Jason goes to introduce me, "Sweetheart, I'd like you to meet Clay Walker". (see picture below) Holy Crap! It's one thing meeting a celebrity, but its a whole other thing when you don't even recognize them to begin with and get caught off guard. As soon as Jason said his name I yanked my hand out of Clay's like he had turned into a snake or something. Of course in true Kelly fashion, I turned all blotchy and got embarressed, trying to find what was left of some coolness. We said our goodbyes and he walked away. Also standing there with Scott and Trick Pony was Daryl Singleterry - though I never really found out why he was also on his way to Clovis.

After arriving into Clovis that evening, we had dinner with the family and started a puzzle (its becoming a tradition!) . On Friday, Jason spent the day with his dad out golfing, while I went shopping with Sherry & Grandma. It was such a gorgeous day too! That evening, Scott Walker came over for dinner before his show and afterwards Jason and I had planned on just dropping him off for his show at the fairgrounds, when Scott invited us to join him backstage for the concert. Wow! And talk about a good time! We met Aubrey, the new lead singer for Trick Pony and Jason got a chance to talk to Blue County, who opened the show. Turns out that Blue County had one of Jason's songs on hold for a while, which was a great conversation starter and in the end business cards were exchanged and Jason is going to meet with them again in the near future. The show was amazing and we had the best seats in the house - right up front with the security, ahead of even the crowd! At this point, you can imagine I'm kicking myself for not having any way to take pictures!!! I've included a picture each of Trick Pony and Blue County.

(Trick Pony)

(Blue County)

Saturday & Sunday was full of some hot sun and some awesome rodeo! We had fifth row seats in the center of the arena and the bulls and broncos were fiestier than ever. It was so much fun and made it well worth sitting in 98 degree heat for three hours each day. And yes, I did get a little bit of a tan!

Monday we celebrated my 29th birthday with lemon cake, a fabulous steak dinner and lots of family and friends. Even Steve O'Hara, one of Jason's friends and groomsmen was able to join us. One of the absolute highlights though, was when we dropped by my sister-in-law Kelly's 3rd grade class. The class had been studying baseball and Jason was the special guest to show off his baseball skills during PE. It was too cute. When we first walked into the classroom, all the kids immediately burst into song with Happy Birthday, and I totally teared up, it was just so sweet. Then we went up to the front of the class and the kids were able to ask Jason all kinds of questions about baseball. Then to end our visit, we went outside for PE and they alternated with him pitching & hitting. And to top it all off, they each gave me a little homemade heart that was colored with Happy Birthday written on it. I was blessed with wonderful gifts and much love from all the phonecalls from my friends and family. It was truly a wonderful birthday. Tuesday afternoon we got on a plane and made our way back to Nashville. It's good to be home and back in the swing of things.

Before I end this entry, I got a picture from my friend Genesis of our Easter brunch out together with our friends from church. We absolutely love our new friends and anytime we can, you'll find us going to the movies together, hanging out at each other's homes, shopping...whatever we can squeeze in. From left to right there's Steven, who's also the Worship Arts Director from church, me, Jason, Ben and his wife Alicia, Ashley and her husband Cody and then Steven's wife Genesis is the one taking the picture.

Have a blessed week and we'll be back soon with more from the Keith family!

California is calling my name!

In just a little over two days, I will be finding myself in sunny Clovis, California. Jason and I are heading out to Jerry & Sherry's home (my mom-in-law & dad-in-law) for a little sun, fun and relaxation. That's right folks - get them puzzles ready! While we're there we also have tickets to go see the Clovis Rodeo - yippe-ki-yea!!! If you know me at all, you know that I love a good rodeo and I've been hearing for the last couple years how amazing this rodeo of theirs is - and it just so happens to be over the weekend of my birthday. (*sigh*) Yes, another year older. I'll be 27. (**giggle**)

For the upcoming trip, I'm going through my typical OCD routine of having to write out a very detailed packing list from detailing every toiletry I own, down to coordinating the color of underwear with each outfit. Jason gets a kick out of it - but I'm compulsive like that and I have to have my systems or I get a little weird. I also got to do a little shopping last night. Isn't it normal for someone to want a few new things to wear when going on vacation? I scored some great deals and found some really cute shorts and tops at Old Navy and Charlotte-Russe. And Lord willing, I'm hoping to return with a tan.

This last weekend was my dad's 49th birthday....er, I mean 47th birthday. :-) We're exactly 30 years apart. Kati did a great tribute to him on her blog - you can check it out by going to my links on the right. I stole this picture from her post, it was too cute not to post again. That's my dad when he was younger - isn't he hot??

Other news worth noting: Jason is continuing to meet with Publishers on a weekly basis. We have yet to hear anything for sure on the Midas possibility, so he's moving forward with still putting himself in front of publishers and getting his name out there. We really believe that when its right, God will open the door for the right publisher to sign him, whether its Midas or someone else. God is good. Along with finishing up some songs in the studio, he's been putting in quite a few hours at Mortons. It is prom season....so pray for him :-) I kid you not, he had this high school couple come in and spend $109.80 and give him $110 and told him to keep the change. Yeah that's correct - 20 cent tip. They were very lucky he didn't catch up to them in the parking lot. However, a highlight was he was able to see Tim McGraw & Faith Hill in all their glory when they came in for dinner last Friday night - now that's class. Jason confirmed that she really is just as pretty in person as she's made out to be in on TV. I would have made a mad dash to stalk them out while they were there, but instead I was on my "date" with Brooke at the movies. We saw In The Land of Women and went to Cheeseburger Charley's for dinner. yum!

Softball season has returned and we find ourselves juggling small group and games every Tuesday night. Last week our small group was moved to Monday so we could all attend a class on The Tomb of Jesus, given by a renowned Archaeologist who is out to disprove the claims that the tomb was recently discovered by Titanic director James Cameron. I'm really intrigued by archaeology and found the class really interesting. But then it also freed up our Tuesday, so not only me, but our friends Ben & Alicia could join us to cheer Jason on at his game. He didn't disappoint either - hit a home run right from the get-go. That's my man! Afterwards we headed back to Ben & Alicia's to satisfy our American Idol fix. Yes, we are addicts.

I'll be sure to bring my camera and get a few shots on our trip in CA and post for all the world to see...at least that's my goal. I wish you all a wonderful and blessed week!

Happy Birthday Tina!

So today's entry is dedicated entirely to an incredible, faithful and loyal friend of mine, Tina Frees. Today is her 31st birthday!

I have so many wonderful memories with Tina - after all, we've been the closest of friends for 21 years!! So in honor of her today, I wanted to share a few of those memories I hold so dear.

When I was in 2nd grade, which was also the year we first met, I received my one and only spanking from Mr. John Hart for talking out of turn in class. I was devastated. I thought for sure my parents would have a fit. We were carpooling on the way home together after school and I was in tears over my situation. I remember clearly Tina trying to convince me it was really ok, after all she'd had her fair share of spankings and detention in school too. She was so sweet to me trying to make me feel better :-)

Jump ahead to Freshman year - 1993. Tina was a Junior and we attended the same high school. What a great year. We were on the drama team together, in the same choir, went to the same Prom (JSB) - and spent more hours playing yahtzee in the back yard that I can count. We would often take her Dakota truck to Country Village where she worked and buy espresso beans to munch on and then just drive around. That was one of the best summers of my life.

Then there was Masters Commission - 1997. I was living over at the Rogers house and pretty consumed with my super busy schedule and didn't have much time for anything else. Throughout that whole year I received numurous cards from Tina saying how much she loved me and how much she valued our friendship. Then for my birthday that year, which was treated just like any other day in the life of an MC Student - I received in the middle of class, one dozen long stemmed Sterling Roses. She knew these were my favorite roses from one of my all-time favorite flicks, Bed of Roses and she looked ALL over town to find them. I will never forget that, she made that day, a day I'll never forget.

I also remember the time when we went to the FAO Schwartz book signing fundraiser for the Ronald McDonald House downtown. Afterward, we stopped at the apartment cabana in Kirkland where Courtney was working, sneaked into the pool wearing borrowed swimsuits we found in the Lost & Found. When we finally got redressed after losing power in the girls bathroom, we drove home in my parents blue Honda Prelude, where we were followed by those crazy boys who tried to ram our car & followed us backto my parents house and the cops got called!! Now that was a memory!

There are so many great things we've shared over the years and I'm so excited for the many more memories to come. I love you girl & wish you the best birthday yet!

A Little Loveless

I happened to be browsing through my camera and found a picture of my parents at the Loveless Cafe while they were here for their visit. All the other pictures were taken with my mom's camera which I have yet to get copies of, but I thought at least y'all might enjoy this one.

How Rude!

So it's Monday morning - probably my least favorite part of the week. I'm a little slow moving and not the most social person until I get my first cup of coffee in me. I pull into the parking garage and find a spot that has open spaces on either side and turn the engine off so I can finish applying my makeup (yes, I'm one of THOSE drivers). Within a few moments a guy pulls in next to me in his nice new black toyota camry and gets out of his car. I literally thought he was banging on my window - no, that would be his door slamming repeatedly into the side of my car as he's getting out!!! HOW RUDE IS THAT? I got so steamed I was only seeing red. Is this guy for real? Instead of getting out of my car and freaking out on him - I pulled out a big torn piece of white cardboard and left him some words of inspiration on his windshield. ;-) What a jerk....or worse. I figured, better to leave a nasty note than key his car, which is very much what I was tempted to do.
Arghh!!! Seriously, if the parking spot your pulling into is too small to the point where you bang the crap out of your neighbors door - find another spot!

***Sniffle***

This is me at work. And I usually have to ask someone to repeat themselves once or twice before I can actually hear them past all the stuffiness in my head.

I've had a cold or flu or whatever you want to call it, where I've gone through 4 boxes of Kleenex since Friday night. Jason has been simply amazing taking care of me when he happens to not be working. I've been pretty much a drugged up zombie and don't recall a lot of the weekend, except that Saturday morning he made me Cream of Wheat and hot tea before he headed off to work. And on Sunday, after having to get up and take a hot shower at 8:30am with my Shower Soother (which are fabulous by the way if you haven't tried them) just so I could breathe, I ended up falling back asleep in the guest room with kleenex shoved up my nose. Around 1:30 in the afternoon I came to and forced myself to wake up enough to spend a little time with Jason before he had to leave for work. I soon discovered that while I was asleep he had not only cleaned our bedroom and made the bed, but he had cleaned the kitchen, emptied the dishwasher, washed two loads of laundry, picked up the living room which would include my PILES of kleenex sitting around the house AND, just cause he loves me THIS MUCH, he cleaned out the kitty litter and moved it back into the hall closet. (And let me tell you, for Jason to deal with kitty litter is REAL LOVE right there). He later told me that while moving her litter box, she got so upset over someone other than me handling her litterbox, that she worked herself up into such a frenzy she threw up in the hallway - and yes, he even cleaned that up too. He's been the best putting up with this sad excuse for a patient. When things get to be a little more exciting other than the sqeaking noises my ears make when I blow my nose, I'll be sure to post more.

Oh - and yes there is lots to share of my parents visit to Nashville, but unfortunately all the pictures were taken with my mom's camera and I haven't been able to get my hands on those just yet.

Stay tuned for more from the Keith household...

NOT GUILTY!!!

Well this blog is dedicated entirely to Eric Volz - a cousin to my friend Alicia.

Eric Volz is from Nashville and has been living in San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua for the last two years. On November 21, 2006 his ex-girlfriend Doris Ivanez Jimenez was murdered. Through pressure from the media to blame the "gringo", and against over 100 pieces of evidence NOT pointing to Eric, the judge tried and convicted Eric, sentencing him to 30 years in prison. The judge threw out all the evidence, testimonies of over 10 witnesses who was with him that day, and cell phone statements proving he made calls from Managua, two hours away at the time of the murder. He is innocent and needs our help.

The media has finally been picking up on the story and it's been covered by The Today Show twice, the Wall Street Journal, The Tennessean and soon Dateline will be doing an hour story on him.

This family needs all the encouragement and prayers possible to get Eric freed from his 30 year sentence in the Nicaraguan prison. For the full story on all the facts, prosecution and defense, or to even make donations towards funding this case, you can go to the "Free Eric Volz" website: by clicking click here

For media coverage:

The Today Show - the first story they mention Eric, aired Monday, March 26, 2007 - to watch, click here to watch.

The Today Show - the second story they covered on Eric Volz, including an in-person interview with him - click here to watch

And there is also a MySpace page set up for him as well - just click here

Please continue to spread the word - and I will post updates as I hear them.

God has the Victory!

Guilty As Charged

It is true, Jason and I were in Seattle last weekend for a quick trip to see my dear friends Tina & Jay Frees and spend some time with their family. Even though the time flew by, we had a wonderful time relaxing and laughing A TON. Thursday night Tina picked us up from the airport where we waited in some oh-so-familiar Seattle traffic...not much has changed has it? :-) Then once we got to the Frees home, we all headed out to PF Changs (one of my personal favorites) for a big old Chinese dinner - yum!! What was it the waiter said Addie?..."Things are about to get a whole lot better!" He was such a nerd and we couldn't help but laugh at how oblivious he was to what was actually going on at the table.

Saturday we packed our things for a night away in a lake house owned by Jay's aunt & uncle over on Hood Canal. We first met up with our good friends Roy & Loree by the ferry docks and all rode across over to Kingston. After dropping Jaida & Jesh over at their grandma's house, we headed to the lake house for the night. To say we had a blast that entire day, would be an understatement. I only wish we could have hung out together longer! We had dinner at a little Italian place in Poulsbo and walked around the little shops trying to spend all our men's money, while they bonded together in a nearby coffee shop :-) Later that night, the guys stayed up till the wee hours of the morning playing poker and making some memories I for one will never forget. What was really funny, was that the guys were playing for who got which beds. But by the time they finished playing, and Roy had slaughtered both Jay & Jason, all three of us girls were conked out on the fold out couch in the living room, so the boys ended up getting cozy in the master bedroom all together....how romantic right? Don't worry, at least there were TWO beds in there...but for my own personal safety, I'll just leave it at that!

Next morning we all woke up and made some fresh coffee & the boys made us breakfast. Jason & Jay enjoyed the hot tub for a bit before we all packed up and headed back to the mainland. I absolutely loved our time together and am so incredibly grateful for Jay & Tina inviting us out to be with them - it was definitely some much needed time together!! Later that day, still feeling quite tired and worn out - we decided on Mexican for dinner and then ice cream back at the house with a good movie. Much to Jason's embarrassment, the staff somehow found out (Ahem..Addie) that it was Jason's 36th birthday!! (well technically on Monday, but what can you do when it comes to having the chance to put a gigantic sombrero on Jason and having the staff sing to him - his favorite by the way!) A stop at the Spotted Cow and Blockbuster was all we needed to set up for a restful evening back at the Frees home - of which sadly, I feel asleep before I could enjoy either of those...I am still so bummed I didn't get to try any of that Irish Cream Ice Cream - dangit!!

Next morning, we woke up and realized we'd lost an hour sleep thanks to Daylight Savings and needed to get going if we were going to make our flight on time. I kissed all my munchkins goodbye and Tina & Jay drove us to the airport. It all went by way too fast. I already miss them so much and can't wait till we have another opportunity to see them again.

Now that we're back in Nashville, we've been getting prepared for my parents visit next week. I'm very excited to show them around and spend a whole week together! One thing that I do want to make mention of is to ask you all keep us in your prayers for an upcoming meeting of Jason's on March 28th. A couple weeks back Jason met with the Creative Director of Publishing at Midas Music, Jennifer Johnson (www.midasrecords.com). She absolutely loved him. The ironic part is, Jason thought he was meeting with her to ask if she would be interested in "plugging" his music to other artists/labels - which in turn would cost an extra couple hundred a month for her services. She's been well known in town as a music plugger/pitcher - and Jason's BMI rep had set up a meeting for him to meet with her. As he's sitting in her office, he discovers she's been recently hired as the Creative Director for Midas Music. She listened to a few of his songs and told him that they had a opening for a writer and as far as she was concerned, she considered him to be the front-runner. Excuse me? Wow. Talk about catching us off-guard. True, that's been the whole goal of all these meetings he's been having for the last number of months, but we didn't go into this particular meeting thinking this was even a possibility! Isn't God amazing like that? She said she would need to get to know him better and she wanted to take his music to their CEO and other writers on the team. She explained that things have been super busy lately and that she would be out on Spring Break with her kids the following week, but that the 28th of March would work for a meeting, even though she wishes she could meet sooner. Please keep praying! We know its all in God's hands and that He will direct us to the right label and publisher. Jason was anxious and nervous at first, but he's much more at peace now and is looking forward to seeing her again. The last Jason heard from her, she mentioned that she had hoped the CEO could join their meeting on the 28th, but that "he (the CEO) might just have to trust her on this one"....it sounds all very positive! As my husband keeps reassuring me..."we're almost there". So there's the latest on the news with the Keiths!

Before I go - here's the picture of my good friend Brooke and I at the Kelly Clarkson & Reba concert - aren't we cute?! That was such an awesome night!

Love you all!

I'd Take A Seattle Earthquake Any Day!

I'm sitting in my office, 27 floors above the ground looking out at quite the storm. Dark wispy clouds have been flying by us with bits of hail and tons of rain. We're on what they call "Tornado Watch". Um no thank you. Many schools in the area started sending kids home at noon because of the storm & severe weather warnings. But not us, oh no. We here at Adams & Reese are like the friggin' infantry. Nothing can deter us from getting our duties done. Come rain, snow, sleet, rain or tornadoes. This morning a church down the street from where we live was struck by lightning. It didn't do a ton of damage, but it did knock some bricks off the wall and make a hole in the roof. Hopefully this storm will be over fairly soon!!

Many of you might be wondering how the Kelly Clarkson & Reba concert went....well let's just say it was fabulous! They sounded so amazing together and Kelly is just incredible live. I'm so looking forward to when her next album comes out. And Reba is in the midst of starting to record a new album that's all duets, in which she'll sing with Kelly Clarkson, Justin Timberlake and possibly Beyonce. I'm really looking forward to hearing it! The only bummer thing about the concert, was that because it was a private filming for tv, there was no cameras or photos allowed, which means I didn't get any pictures of Reba & Kelly. However, I did get a cute pic of Brooke and I, but I still need to download it from my camera. I had such a great time that night - Brooke and I had dinner at Mortons, where Jason was able to wait on us, then we went to the CMT Crossroads show and then back to her place to watch Greys with our friend Kacie. It was just the best night.

Ok - so change of subject. My mom-in-law sent me some pics of cats that get "painted". I'm guessing they must be airbrushed. I thought I would attach some of these pictures for everyone to glance at. And get this, some of these paint jobs cost close to $15,000 a pop!

Party Like It's 1999!

Tonight is the night y'all!!

I've got my outfit. I've got my camera. And I'm ready to party!!!

The concert starts at 8pm. Actually I guess it's not really a concert, but more of a recording? Supposedly Reba and Kelly will sing three songs of eachothers. This is definately a high moment of my life. I know Kelly must be staying someplace downtown and can I tell you how tempted I was to park myself in Starbucks in our building and just wait for her?! I figure she's bound to show up eventually.

Brooke and I are going to get ready here at the office around 5, then walk down to Mortons for dinner at 6. Have my hot hunny wait on us :-), then walk back over to the Ryman to see Kelly perform by 8 (also picture included of the Ryman, which was first the original Grand Ol Opry before it became the Ryman). And when you look at the picture of the Ryman, you'll notice the tall building in the left corner, that's where I work, up on the 27th floor. The contact from CMT emailed Brooke and asked that we not shop up any later than 7:30, since our tickets are at Will Call, and they will be locking the doors at 7:45 so there won't be any interruptions to the filming.

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Other entertainment news worth the mention. As many of you know, I'm a huge fan of dancing shows. And the contestents names were just released for this season's Dancing With The Stars. The very same show that Jason surprised me by taking me to thier show while they were on tour! Anyway, this year should be interesting with Heather Mills (formerly McCartney) competing, which as many of you know, she has a prosthetic leg.

As well as Billy Ray Cyrus - yes, I was a big fan of the Achy Breaky Heart back in the day.

Joey from N'Sync...of course the boy bands have to represent and give everyone a run for thier money... (ie. Drew Lache from 98 Degrees and Joey from New Kids on the Block).

I'm personally rooting for Paulina Porizkova.

She was a big time model back in my high school days, and other than her infamous Estee Lauder pics, we don't know much about her, except that she's amazingly gorgeous and not much of an actress.

There's two token athletes this year; Clyde Drexler, a basketball Hall of Famer, who knows, maybe he'll win everyone over like Emmitt Smith did last year?

And Apolo Ohno, the Olympic Speed Skating Champion.

Well that's I got for you now, more about the concert this week!

In celebration of Valentines, I'm going to share 50 things that I love! (in no particular order)

1. I LOVE my husband Jason and kissing his neck!

2. I LOVE mint julip chocolates from Oh Chocolate

3. I LOVE my sister Kati's smile

4. I LOVE my sister Kristin's laugh

5. I LOVE rodeos and cowboy boots

6. I LOVE rainy days with a cup of hot coffee

7. I LOVE watching my husband sleep in on Saturday mornings

8. I LOVE ice cream cones from Sonic and McDonalds on the way home from work

9. I LOVE going to the high school basketball tournament games with my dad

10. I LOVE how my mom makes the turkey fly on Thanksgiving

11. I LOVE watching the Macys parade while eating cinnamon rolls

12. I LOVE a perfect steak from Mortons

13. I LOVE Kelly Clarkson's music

14. I LOVE sour watermelon slices from The Peanut Shop in the arcade

15. I LOVE going to the movies on Sunday afternoons with my honey

16. I LOVE the smell of fresh bread

17. I LOVE all styles of dance

18. I LOVE losing myself in worship

19. I LOVE my wonderful friends back home

20. I LOVE our new church and the new friendships were developing here in Nashville

21. I LOVE slow walks on warm evenings and watching the fireflies

22. I LOVE warm fires on a snowy night

23. I LOVE traveling and discovering new places

24. I LOVE looking at old Nashville neighborhoods and dreaming of our future home together

25. I LOVE a clean house

26. I LOVE my bosses, though sometimes they can drive me a little batty

27. I LOVE my cat Banks and when she hides under our blankets or bats around my gloves

28. I LOVE my father's hugs

29. I LOVE my mothers buttons (ha! just kidding mom, you remember where that is from!?)

30. I LOVE sleeping in late

31. I LOVE coffee with the girls on Friday mornings

32. I LOVE Nashville in the fall

33. I LOVE road trips with my sisters

34. I LOVE ice cream any time of day

35. I LOVE Dick's burgers and fries late at night

36. I LOVE to cross-stitch (that's how I got the nickname Grandma Scribbles)

37. I LOVE my inlaws and how sweet they are to me

38. I LOVE checking out books from the library, even if I never read them

39. I LOVE snow days from work

40. I LOVE the beach in Washington

41. I LOVE hot peanuts at a baseball game (not that I love baseball games, but I do love the peanuts)

42. I LOVE artichokes and pomegranets

43. I LOVE my Lucky jeans

44. I LOVE sweet tea in the South! (I've become very addicted!)

45. I LOVE Sterling Silver Roses

46. I LOVE Footloose, Dirty Dancing and How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days

47. I LOVE trips to Vancouver at Christmas to shop with Kristin

48. I LOVE long hot showers

49. I LOVE back rubs

50. I LOVE books by Nicholas Sparks & Francine Rivers

In other exciting news - my friend Brooke from work totally hooked us up by getting us exclusive tickets to the taping of CMT Crossroads with Kelly Clarkson and Reba McEntire. She had emailed Leslie from our office asking if there was any way her sister-in-law, who is a big time VP over at CMT could tell us how we could buy tickets to the private concert. Well, in case you may not already know this, all CMT Crossroads concerts are pre-recorded to air on CMT months later and the tickets are not available to the public - you basically have to have connections or be invited personally. Well Leslie called Brooke last night and left her a message that she was able to get us "on the list" to get in the concert! I'm so freakin excited! We show up, tell them who we are and in we go! Three times now I've missed Kelly Clarkson in concert in Seattle and it has made me want to cry. She is my all-time favorite singer and I can't even tell you how excited I got when Brooke called me last night to tell me the news. Brooke and I are becoming pretty good friends and have been hanging out and going to movies together - we are always finding something fun to laugh about. I'll be taking a million pictures for sure of the concert and maybe if I'm lucky I'll get the chance to meet both Kelly and Reba. The concert is next Thursday at the Ryman, which means I need to go shopping!! :-)

Some other very exciting news is that my dad surprised my mom with tickets to Nashville for Valentine's day. They'll be flying out here over the weekend of their 35th wedding anniversary and I feel very honored that they would want to spend such a momentous day with us. I was also very proud of my dad for making the decision to purchase the plane tickets so spontaneously. I had to ask him a couple times over the phone if he was still breathing - if you don't know my dad very well, he likes LOTS of time to think and pray things over ;-) (love you dad!) But this will be so great and dad hasn't been back to Tennessee since he was stationed in Murfreesboro back when he was in the military. And mom's never been herself either, so I have LOTS I want to show them. They'll be here March 20-27! And that's just over a month away!! Yea!!!

And more fun news to share, we have started attending a small group within our church on Tuesday nights. Jason has had to request them off, and thankfully Morton's has been great with working with his requests. The small group consists of about 6-8 couples and a few single people and they're all close to our age. My friend Brooke calls people like Jason & I "DINKS" which stands for "Duel Income No Kids" couples. Pretty funny. And that's basically what our small group is - a bunch of DINKS. Steven and his wife Genesis, who are also the worship & arts directors of the church, lead the small group at their home. (I included a picture of them from the website) Last Sunday, Genesis came up to us after church and asked us out to lunch and the four of us had a great time together. It was so easy to talk to them and they were so real and down to earth - we laughed A LOT. As a group we're studing a book by Rob Bell called Velvet Elvis. We're a bit behind, since we just joined the group, but so far I've really enjoyed listening to everyones thoughts and impressions of the book. It's amazing how well learned everyone is in the Word of God that it blows me away. The other couples have been so sweet too - extremely outgoing and friendly, its been so easy fitting in with everyone.

That's all my news for now. Enjoy this adorable video and have a wonderful Valentines Day!