We Can Only Hope

40 Schools in Williamson County of Tennessee closed today in ANTICIPATION of snow. Are you kidding me!!??? Reports are there MIGHT be a wintry mix coming across Williamson County so they just went ahead and closed the schools JUST IN CASE! I remember a day in elementary school sitting at my desk watching thick snowflakes fall from the sky accumulating all over the ground, walkways and railings...thinking to myself....I wonder if they'll ever let us leave school early because of all the snow? Ooohhh no, we didn't leave early that day and I believe the next day we got to come in maybe an hour late! It was a lot snow for Seattle at that time and yet even then, we toughed it out and the parents trekked through the wintery weather to pick up their kids at the regular dismissal hour. It's cracking me up that here in Tennesssee, where apparently the last time they had snow that accumulated and did anything at all to this city was like 6 years ago!! So now people get so freaked out at the idea of a big scary snowfall that they close schools because something MIGHT happen!

Here's what our forecast looks like with our local news:

WSMV Forecast
Rain likely this afternoon and evening, thundershowers included. Might see changeover to snow late tonight.
THURSDAY: Mostly cloudy with rain and isolated thunderstorms especially late in the day, winds east 5-10 mph. HIGHS: Nashville-46, Lawrenceburg-46, Dickson-46
THURSDAY NIGHT: Rain expected early with a change over to snow/rain mix late, winds south 5-10. Snowbird may well fly on Friday morning. LOWS: Nashville-32, Altamont-30, Dover-30

So the schools closed....makes total sense right? Oh and note to self - look up what the heck "Snowbird may well fly on Friday morning" means. Snowbird? Is this for real?

And The Countdown Continues to May 22

Jason hasn't seen all three prior Indiana Jones movies, so we'll have to make a weekend out of it before the 4th one, "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" comes out on May 22nd!! These are some of my all time favorite movies ever!

Don't Let This Happen To You!

Chuck Wicks Debut Album

Yesterday our friend Chuck Wicks' album was released in stores across the nation. Though we are very excited for his success, it does come bittersweet since we were told by a rep at RCA that Jason & Chuck's song "Right Where We Belong" came very close to making the album.

If you get the chance, pick up a copy in stores now!

He's also on tour right now with Brad Paisley and Rodney Atkins, so maybe you can catch one of their shows. We wish him all the best.

To listen to the full CD online for the first week of its release, click here.

You gotta love Billy!

So what can I say?....but that we love Billy Currington.

For the fourth time, Billy Currington came into Mortons last night and had a little chat with Jason. But first let me give you a little recap of prior conversations with him in a nutshell.

First Visit - Jason asks Billy if he wouldn't mind listening to one of his songs. Billy says "Sure, if you can get it to me before I leave, I'll take it with me." (maybe not exact quote) So Jason calls me up and says, "Baby, can you get here with a CD for Billy Currington with a couple songs on it?". So I bust my tail to get dressed, burn a cd and rush down to Mortons. I meet Billy and his girlfriend Kristin and we give him the cd.

Second Visit - Billy comes in and tells Jason he loves his song. Kristin says she plays it in the car all the time.

Third Visit - Billy comes in with an entourage of industry folk and asks Jason if he's got "that song" cut yet? He's surprised it hasn't been cut and tells Jason to hang on, cause his time is coming. He also tells Jason that he loves his music and when he believes in something, he doesn't let it go. AND, he asks Jason if its ok that he was sharing the song with Craig Morgan. Um yea, I think we're ok with that.

Fourth Visit (last night) - Billy comes into Mortons with his girlfriend Kristin again and his manager. Kristin talks to Jason over by the bathroom and tells Jason that his song is by far her favorite one out of all the songs that Billy's been listening to for his upcoming album. She said she's told Billy to cut it cause it will for sure get on the radio as a single and go #1. (very sweet compliment). As Billy gets ready to head out, Jason and Billy cross paths again in the lobby of Mortons. Billy asks once again if Jason's got a cut on "that song" yet. Jason says no, still waiting for a break. Billy's manager, who was dining with them, asks Billy, "what song?" And I KID YOU NOT - Billy busts out singing Jason's song right there in the lobby!! "Hey beautiful kiss me goodbye, I hate to run but I gotta fly...." He freakin knew Jason's song off the top of his head!!! As awesome as that is, I only wish I was there myself to witness it.

We're getting there people...one day at a time.On another note, Jason and I were able to see Tyler Hilton perform an acoustic set at a little place called The Basement in Nashville. The room was no bigger than my mom's living room! It was this cozy little venue and we got there a bit early to get a table up front. Not 5 feet from me, Tyler's standing there singing some of his latest songs he's written. I've been a big fan of Tyler Hilton since I saw his performance back three years ago on the One Tree Hill tour with Gavin DeGraw and The Wreckers. It was actually very close to the same time that I had just met Jason and I was able to take my sister Kati with me. We had such a blast and we both got to meet him and Gavin DeGraw after their concert. So here it is three years later, and I'm sitting at this little venue right in front of him at a cozy little table with my shirley temple and my man :-) How surreal life can be sometimes.

As Tyler was wrapping up his set, here comes one of the members of Little Big Town to shake his hand and meet him. (blonde guy in the picture above) I tried my best not to stare and let my jaw drop to the floor. Us...just chillin with the big boys. And as we're sitting there waiting for the next singer to come up and do his set, a particular huge songwriter who will remain nameless, that wrote with Jason years ago, comes up to Jason and says hi and I got an introduction. And the next thing out of this guys mouth is "I heard that song you wrote with Andrea Pearson - how the hell did you write such an awesome song?" Um Thanks? You gotta love the backhanded compliments these guys who are too big for their britches make. So of course - I step up to the plate and respond with - "Um excuse me, but my husband's been writing awesome songs for the last few years!" nice one. And then I think I threw something in there about being his muse...blah blah blah, let's not rehash that one. As we were getting ready to leave, he catches our eye again and I tell him it was nice meeting him and he tells me how lucky I am to have Jason and not to let him get away or something to that effect. I'm like - dude, your a flake - being as how he NEVER responds to emails or returns phone calls and then he goes off about ALL the people that are CONSTANTLY calling him, cause he's so big and amazing and - "Have someone in coach play fiddle for us!" and "Bring me the head of a pig!" (all you Brian Reagan fans will appreciate that). I'm all "cool, it was nice meeting you - bye!" and we walked out the door. Leave with the ball in our court ;-) SO there you go - a couple exciting days in the world of country music. Jason has had some great meetings with publishers and even with a couple labels pitching his music. He's gotten all positive feedback and we have a song being pitched this week to Julianne Hough, who is the winner from the last two seasons of Dancing With The Stars (she's making a country album, see picture above), and then he's got a couple songs being passed up to the Exec of A&R for BMG, which he's heard good things about. Then today he's meeting again with Jennifer Johnson, the lady who's been so supportive of Jason's music and has been trying to work something out where eventually she can offer Jason a writing deal at Midas Records, which is the publishing company she works for.

Something is bound to happen soon! So please keep us in prayers!!

Happy 2nd Anniversary to Us!

Two years have already flown by - and its really quite hard to believe. We've made some incredible memories together already and I cannot even wait to make some more! The 14th was our actual anniversary and we both took the day off so we could have a "pamper-Kim-and-Jason" day. We had booked appointments for a couple massage at the Escape Spa in Belle Meade. It was so much fun and so relaxing - something we could EASILY get used to. We arrived 45 minutes early to check in and to take advantage of the steam room. It was perfect, not too hot and we were allowed to lock the doors for a little privacy. After our steam, we went out into the lobby dressed in our silky chocolate robes and slippers and sat in the lobby that had a ceiling much like a night sky with twinkling little lights. We sipped on yummy cucumber water and wafer snacks that surprisingly were really delicious! I had almost dozed off on Jason's shoulder when our two massage therapists came to meet us and take us to our room. Inside the room was this really pretty dimly lit atmosphere with two massage tables, one up on a higher platform than the other and separating the two was an eternity tub for two lit up in soft pastel lights. There were candles lit and soft music, ahhh....there's nothing like an afternoon at the spa! After our 60 minute deep tissue massage, they left us to soak in the hydrotherapy tub for 20 minutes. It felt amazing and everything was so perfect. We left refreshed, soothed and even a bit sore. I so highly recommend it to all my friends out here too - everyone was so friendly and accommodating, I hope to definitely go back! Feeling quite hungry, we headed over to the Bread and Company for a little salad and sweet tea. We had somewhat forgotten what area of town we were in, cause that little bit of salad and tea cost us $26!!! Live and learn I guess right? Shortly after our lunch we headed home to relax and exchange our cards for each other. Jason had also surprised me with something I had been wanting for quite a while now - a new Bible with a really pretty chocolate woven leather cover engraved with my married name on it!!

It's so beautiful too! I'm very excited to start on my New Years resolution to read the New Testament from it - as a matter of fact, I've already gotten started!

To finish off the day together, we got dressed up and headed to The Stoney River Steakhouse in West End for a delicious dinner. Jason had a steak that was actually cured in coffee! I wonder if anyone in Seattle has picked up on this little trick? It was so good too! Everything was so wonderful and I would love to take my parents there sometime when they come for another visit, I think they would absolutely love it.

We also received some cards & gifts from our families, which was really fun! Kati sent us a Dama Stovetop Espresso Maker from Starbucks - I included a picture of it, and I'm sure we'll love using it once we figure out how it works. :-)

Then Mom & Dad Kelly sent us a check to get something fun for the house, but where do we even begin? I'm thinking of looking up a house plaque with our name on it or something - I'll have to think about that one for a bit.

Mom & Dad Keith sent us a sweet package that included these really cute coffee towels for our coffee cart that Sherry hand-stitched herself! I can so appreciate that, since I too love to hand-stitch things. They're so pretty though, I don't think I can bring myself to subject them to coffee stains, so I'm tempted rather to frame them and hang in our coffee corner!And there was also this blue coffee tray for serving our delicious cups of javaand something I'm so excited to use!...little pie cut-outs from Williams Sonoma! They look so much fun!!

So when the pie is finished, it looks like this!And then Williams Sonoma has this pie plate that I am absolutely in love with, so now I have to get this at some point to match our kitchen and to use with the cut-outs!!

It was a rare occasion, but Jason had four whole days off this last weekend and we had a lot of much needed time together and spending it with friends as well. Friday night was girls night, where some of us girls from work get together and go out to dinner and drinks (or in my case, a shirley temple). We decided to try something other than the Morton's happy hour and went down to Hillsboro Village and had dinner at Boscos - yummy! There were 8 of us girls total!! It was such a blast - and when I was driving home later that night talking to Jason on the phone, I told him how much I am blessed with some wonderful friendships out here in Tennessee. I'm not much of an outgoing person, so making friends has been really rough for me. I'm not as trusting to put it all out there on the line, so I've been observing a lot and really testing the waters before opening up. And after a year and a half I've finally come to a place where I've made some really great friends and love to hang out with them when we get the chance.

Here's my homegirls from work - we have so much fun together! Brooke is on the left and Kacie on the right and when the three of us get together, there's sure to be trouble. Brooke is my cube-neighbor. Our cube walls are about chest high, so when something weird, funny or bad happens in the office, our little heads pop up above the walls like little turtles and we start laughing at each other. Then Kacie has also become a really good friend - but she is one busy girl working part time at the office as a paralegal and then going to law school full time at night. Its rare when the three of us can actually all get together, but when we do - we have such a blast!

Here's Kacie with Kathy in the middle and Angela on the right. I really haven't gotten to know Kathy all the well until recently, because when I first started working at Adams & Resse, she was about ready to have a baby and then shortly after her maternity leave she found out she had thyroid cancer and had to be home with surgeries and treatments. She is one strong woman and I really admire her great attitude and hard work ethic. Then Angela on the right is actually still pretty new here - she is so much fun and has an accent like you wouldn't believe! I love listening to her talk and I swear she's one of the funniest people I know.

And then I had to include this last picture I had of Brooke being a goofball. We like to go on movie dates and see chick flicks together. The last movie we saw together was Atonement, which we both totally enjoyed.

Saturday I got to spend 2 hours on the phone with one of my closest and dear friends Jessica, who I've missed like crazy these last couple years!! Then later that night, Jason and I met up with our friends Nick & Mel for dinner. On Sunday after church we did a little shopping at Pier 1 with a gift card we received at Christmas and got a rug for our dining room!

It was such a relaxing and fun weekend and I enjoyed every minute of it! Thanks for all the voicemails, messages and cards - we love you all and are grateful for your friendship!

Happy New Year!

Wow is it already 2008? A brand new year is upon us, which brings us all to a place of thinking what we want to see accomplished these next 12 months and how we'll approach this year differently from the last. Oh yes, I'm speaking of resolutions. I'm not real comfortable setting resolutions or goals for myself, they make me a bit nervous because I'm afraid of setting myself up for failure and not making good on those goals and disappointing myself. But nonetheless, Jason's really encouraged me to set a few attainable goals for this next year, so I've been doing a lot of thinking and I believe I've come up with a good list.

1. Journaling. I've journaled on and off since I was 7 years old, and when I look back on some of the things I wrote, I embarrass myself! I was so foolish at times, so naive and I'm beginning to realize that's all part of growing up and that the choices and mistakes we make, only shape us into the person we are today. I really shouldn't regret the mistakes I've made, but be grateful that I've learned valuable lessons through those times. So I plan on journaling regularly once again.

2. Exercise. How original right? I do have a goal to get my body in great shape before we plan on starting a family. Because we've talked about having four kids, I want to be able to bounce back easier by having some good muscle tone before we start down the family path. I still have a few years before we head that direction, but I think it would be good now to start making it a habit of getting in shape. Jason & I saw this infomerical for Turbo Jam, this cardio workout that actually looked like a lot of fun. So we're going to give it a shot and hopefully it will work for me. Being on beta blockers for my heart arhythmia really makes working out difficult since they purposefully keep my heart rate down. But no harm in giving it a shot!

3. Be more honest. I've really shied away from saying what I really think about certain situations because I have learned an automated response of avoiding conflict so there would be no repercussions from questioning something or speaking truth. Let me be more specific, if I ever believed something contrary to what my "authority" has taught me and verbalized it, there was sure to be consequences and repercussions - so therefore I quit seeking truth for my life and started believing whatever was spoon-fed to me so that I would be agreeable and not be "divisive". Now I realize that to find truth, you HAVE to ask questions and sometimes you have to wrestle with God, and you know what - He loves it! When you wrestle with God or those He's placed in your life - it says that your not willing to settle for what's being handed down to you, it means you want it directly from Him and your willing to fight for it, no matter what it may cost you to get it. I love that. I love that Jacob wrestled with God. I love that all the heroes of the Bible did things contrary to what was expected of them and they made waves. I love that they received their truth directly from the mouth of God and stood firm on it no matter what others said about them. I resolve this year to be more honest, stand up for what is truth, even if it ruffles some feathers or creates some waves :-)

4. Read the New Testament. I've read the Bible twice through now. Once when I was elementary school with my dad. The second time while I was in Masters Commission. Both times I was in very different places in my life. Since those times, I've grown even more and realize that with my clarified perspective of who God is, I need to re-read the New Testament once again so I can see some things that I more than likely missed before.

5. Pray Out Loud. I've taken a sabbatical the last couple years from verbalizing my prayers out loud very often. I've always had a deep inner-conversational relationship with the Lord since I was a little girl, but the last couple years I've realized that when I pray out loud a lot of times, it comes out very rehearsed and impersonal. I believe people can learn a programed way of praying that isn't intimate and real, but practiced and rehearsed. And I realized that I've been doing this - and it would drive me nuts to listen to myself, saying things I didn't even know what they really meant. I've been going through a scrubbing of my mind the last couple years, where I've needed to ask why I believe what I believe. Jason has been so great in asking me - "Ok, now show me, where does that belief come from in the Bible? Show me." Usually my response is, "I don't know, I heard it somewhere or a pastor taught me that." I admire Jason for always referring back to the Bible when it comes to an answer for how we should respond in a situation - not a person or belief-system. I've had enough of defining my relationship with Christ through what others teach, but now I need to define who I am and my relationship with Christ through what His Word says. Christ's Word is without error, so why would we so heavily lean on an individual to define who we are over His Word, when we as humans are not perfect and can miss the mark so easily and in turn teach others to do the same. So to help me begin to pray out loud, I'll start with praying the scriptures and then go from there to praying in front of others, making it my goal to keeping it genuine and from the heart.

6. Read 20 books - 2 of them marriage books. Its easy to get wrapped up in television, especially when I don't want to have to think anymore when I get home from work. But reading is definitely a hobby of mine and a good habit to have, so I want to read 20 books this year, with two of them being books on marriage.

7. Get the house in order. There is so many things we want to accomplish on the house this year. It's really nowhere I want it to be and I really want to work on taking the time this year to get it to a place where we can fully enjoy it. We're literally doing a complete overhaul on almost every room and on the outside too. In the spring, we want to completely repaint the outside, level out the yard, put in a new walkway and picket fence around the front. And in the back, a new fence, a larger porch and a stone patio. Lots and lots of projects. I'm learning that I'm really not a very patient person and I need to work on this. We really have gotten a lot done already, which I'm very grateful for. It's definitely been a learning process for the both of us!!

8. Finish Rapunzel. Ahhh yes, the cross stitch project I've been working on since FOREVER! Something I learned from dad is to finish something you've started. I hate not finishing a book and I hate not finishing a project. I've been working on this darn Rapunzel for the last, I don't know - 10 years!?! It's time to get'er done!

9. Get a website up for Invitation Business. I would love to get to the point where I can work from home by the time we start a family. And I've had a number of years experience now, making wedding invitations and other various invitations over the last several years. Ideally I would love to do this full time and get a website up and running that advertises my new venture so I can do invitations locally and nationwide.

Well that about covers it. I know 10 is a more rounded number, but I just can't think of one more.

Weird Christmas

This year was a weird Christmas for us. It was our second Christmas together since moving out to Tennessee, but also the second year we've spent away from family. Last year we went to a cabin out in the Tennessee mountains and it was more like a vacation, which kept us more or less distracted from what we were missing with our families back home. But we still managed to have a wonderful time - nothing but relaxation, hot-tubbing, reading and hanging out together. This year has been quite different. Don't get me wrong, we're still enjoying the time we have together, but we both really miss our families even more so and though spending our first Christmas in our new home has been really nice, it also feels really empty. I was fortunate to at least have had time with my family back in Seattle over Thanksgiving and then also with a visit from Kris a couple weeks ago, but I know Jason is really missing his family since the last time we saw them was in April over my birthday. I also think we're both just so worn out from working on the house so much, that by the time Christmas came around we really wanted nothing more than to veg out with some holiday movies and sleep. We just haven't felt the Christmas spirit like we have in the past. It felt like we were always one step behind this year, from not sending out Christmas cards, to having to overnight our gifts to our families, to not wrapping presents till the last minute - it just felt off this year. When we went shopping for each other, we were more interested in what we could get for the house rather than ourselves - it just seems to be more the pressing need than anything else. I guess we could have wrapped up the vanity mirror and drew straws for who got to unwrap it?? We did get each other a few things that we really wanted - Jason got me a purse and two pairs of new shoes. And I got Jason the We Are Marshall DVD, a Frank Sinatra CD, and a black watch from Fossil that Kris and I both picked out for him.

I'm a pretty big on traditions and with it just being the two of us and spending Christmas in our new home, I wanted to make it as special as possible. I had planned out a pretty big Christmas dinner, but still had a few things I needed for the recipes. We figured while we were out on Christmas Eve shopping we'd stop by the grocery store on our way home. Note to self - not a good idea to wait till Christmas Eve. Out here everything closes REAL early on Christmas Eve and is closed ALL day on Christmas. We drove to 4 different grocery stores and they had all closed by 6pm and wouldn't be open on Christmas either. I was getting so discouraged, I thought the least I could do for us was cook up a delicious Christmas dinner and now that was looking a bit bleak too. But Jason got up first thing Christmas morning in search of an international market, one where maybe an indian or mexican guy wouldn't celebrate the holidays and still have his store open - and sure enough he found one! An hour later he brought home what I needed and I cooked up a big Christmas dinner with pork tenderloin, baked sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, homemade rolls and brown sugar carrots. I had unpacked the china Grandma Moreland had given us from our first Christmas and our wedding crystal and we were able to use it all for the first time, which was really fun.

We still managed to have a great Christmas and I even got a few Christmas puzzles, 2 of which we bought and 1 sent to us from Jerry & Sherry that's sure to keep me busy through the New Year!

We also drove out to Gallatin to see some really pretty lights out on a big farm that we had heard about. I took a few pictures so you could get an idea of how it looked. You literally drive through the entire farm under arbors, over bridges, around nativities over ponds. It was very cool. This is actually the view of the farm from the side as we were getting ready to head into the entrance.

They had this barn that was decorated like a house that was split in half and you drive straight through the middle of it - it was a trip!
Life-size nativity scene.
And this somewhat creepy snowman that comes up to your car to dance around and wave.

That's it for Christmas - I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas holiday too!!

All Things Christmas

Here's our beautiful Christmas tree! Note the saw in front of the fireplace :-) It's red, so it matches the decorations. I took a few close-ups of different ornaments and the stockings - enjoy! And no tree would be complete without a Banks sleeping beneath it! Can you see her?

the mantle where the stockings are hung with careI love decorating the house for Christmas, everything is so cozy and sparkly.

And these are some of my favorite ornaments - like this ZZTop Santa I got last year.

And mine & Jason's First Christmas ornament my parents got me in 2005

And I've always loved this thick crackled glass red ornament that my mom gave me one year.
I got Mr & Mrs Snowman Ornaments this year at Old Time Pottery.
This year Jason and I have done a TON of baking as Christmas gifts. With the new house we've been a little more strapped with unexpected things to take care of, not to mention still trying to settle in. But the treats we've made have turned out so pretty and taste pretty good too if I do say so myself :-)

These would be Jason's hands reaching for the frosted sugar cookies. By far these are the prettiest sugar cookies I ever made. Now if only they survive the shipping! Kris celebrated her 25th birthday with us last weekend! We tried to make it a relaxing but enjoyable time for her. We took her to Opryland Hotel to see all the pretty lights and had a really nice dinner together at a fancy place in the hotel. We watched movies, ate junk food and I even attempted to make her a pumpkin cheesecake...yeah not so much. At least it looked nice for the picture. Isn't she cute blowing out her candles?
Happy Birthday Kris-tin!

Soon I'll post some really cute Christmas cards we've received! Christmas is just in 4 days y'all!!

ERIC IS FREE!

My friend Alicia texted me a short time ago with this:

"CNN says Eric was freed!!!"

I went online and this is what it says!

Family: American finally freed in Nicaragua

"MANAGUA, Nicaragua (CNN) -- An American man held in a Nicaraguan jail was released Friday, four days after a court overturned his conviction on charges of murdering his former girlfriend, his family told CNN.

A mix-up kept Eric Volz, 28, of Nashville, Tennessee, in custody after an appeals court reversed the ruling that found him guilty of the 2005 death of Doris Jimenez.

Thursday night, a Nicaraguan appeals court in Granada cleared up the confusion and signed release papers for Volz, said Maria Jose Oviedo, assistant to one of the judges on the court.

Once the documents were processed by the police hospital in Managua -- where Volz was undergoing treatment for a variety of ailments -- he was set free under Nicaraguan law, a court official said.

The release came despite a prosecutors' decision to appeal the case to the Supreme Court. Magistrate judges in the appeals court in Nicaragua have up to 10 days to review the request for appeal. Watch how Volz was convicted »

The delay began after the Managua judge who sentenced Volz to 30 years in prison stalled over court documents, said Volz' attorney.

Attorney Fabbrith Gomez said the judge, Ivette Toruno Blanco, claimed the documents were incorrectly numbered and that she had returned them to Granada.

Magistrates in Granada spent the rest of the week trying to figure out the whereabouts of Volz's case file.

Once the files were found, the appeals court judges "stayed up late" Thursday night working on the paperwork for release, Oviedo said.

The order was delivered to the hospital in Managua, a city about 30 miles away from Granada, Friday.

Volz was convicted in 2006 of raping and killing Doris Ivanez Jimenez.

Ten witnesses in the case testified or gave affidavits swearing that he was in his office in Managua, two hours away from the town where Jimenez was killed, at the time of her slaying. He founded and served as publisher of EP (El Puente) magazine.

But one man testified that he had seen Volz in the town, San Juan del Sur, just after the time police believe Jimenez was killed.

That man, Nelson Danglas, was originally arrested in the slaying but received full immunity in exchange for his testimony against Volz. No physical evidence from the scene linked Volz to the slaying.

In addition to Volz, the same court convicted another man, Julio Chamorro, of the murder, although investigators never connected him with Volz."

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Now's let's pray that he makes it safely home with his mom back to Nashville!!

God is big!!

A Call To Prayer!!

Many of you might remember a post I dedicated last year to Eric Volz's unjust imprisonment. It turns out that yesterday the Appelatte Court finally made their decision to rule that Eric Volz is innocent!


It's a HUGE answer to prayer!


He has been in prison for over a year now and was originally sentenced to 30 years by Judge Ivette Toruno, after she threw out all the evidence and the testimonies of over 10 witnesses. He was found guilty for a murder he did not commit. It was believed by his family and many others that the Judge made the ruling as a result of fearing for her life. During the trial, there was riots outside the courthouse demanding his life for justice and death threats to the Judge herself. Here we are over a year later and the Appelatte Court has finally came to their decision and ordered that he be released, but the Judge who originally convicted him has to sign the papers in order for him to be physically released from jail.


She refuses to sign the papers and has told her staff not to bother her with this!!!


So Eric remains in prision and the Judge is being held in contempt of court! This is an outrage! She must obviously fear for her life. The reason why this case is such a huge burden of mine, is because he is a cousin to my dear friend Alicia here in Nashville. I have watched her go through the fire this year and the toll its taken on her and her family. God is huge and has answered a massive prayer that seemed impossible. Now I ask all of you to PLEASE stand with us in prayer for Eric's safety. As the Judge delays his release with her refusing to sign his release papers, the intensity of the Nicaruaguan people's anger grows. The media is encouraging the Nicaruagan people to take justice into their own hands!! He needs to be released in safety as soon as possible so he can get home to his family here in Nashville! Please pray with us!


The Today Show interviewed Eric's mom Maggie this morning on the situation, and you can watch it by clicking here.


For the full story on Eric's unjust conviction to a Nicaruaguan prison, you can watch his video here:

The Evil Look

I'm not feeling all that great, I seemed to have caught a nasty cold that's circulating the office. I just got back from Walgreens all stocked up on Puffs tissue, honey for my tea, airborne lozenges, Shower Soothers (which I'm a HUGE fan of) and chocolate. (Rachel, you put one of these bad boys in your shower so the water falls on it, and it releases a menthol vapor that allows you to breathe and opens up your sinsus'. I absolutely love the Vanilla Mint scent and I swear these things are the greatest thing ever!!) The chocolate is for the "starve a fever, feed a cold" advice :-) So I'm feeding my cold.

It's so hard to focus at work, when you don't feel well and all you can think about is Christmas shopping, baking Christmas cookies, warm fires, hot cocoa and a good book. I've got all my lists typed up of what I plan to bake, buy and wrap. Now I just need the time to do it all.

I've included a video that Angela a friend of mine from work sent me - I laugh so hard every time I watch it.



Kristin is getting on a plane this afternoon to make her way out to Nashville. I've got a fun weekend planned of relaxation, yummy food and holiday stuff. Monday she turns 25!! So its sort of a Christmas-Happy-Birthday-Kris-Weekend! I can't wait till she gets here...well actually I can, I still have to clean the floors and make up her room. I'll get some pics from the weekend to post next week.

A Reason to Smile

Whoohoo!!! This puts a big ol grin on my face. I grew up on Indiana Jones and have seen the movies TONS of times throughout the years.

Can't WAIT to see this one!

Kelly Clarkson!

I believe I married the absolute best man out there! Jason is everything I have ever dreamed of in a best friend and husband - he's so smart, passionate about life and music, big on communicating, has a crazy sense of humor, absolutely gorgeous and remains so positive in some of the most trying circumstances. I'm so grateful to the Lord for blessing me with such an amazing man. Over the weekend we were able to accomplish quite a bit more on the house, which was so nice. Jason had told me that he had Monday night off and didn't want me to stress about working on the house, but instead have a date night with him. He asked me to think about where I wanted to go to dinner and then maybe go out to a movie with him afterwards. So all day Monday, I was asking various people at work which restaurant they would recommend we try. I was so excited to have a date night with him where we just enjoy each other's company. Monday afternoon rolls around and I'm sitting at my computer busily working away when I glance up to see him standing there with a big ol grin on his face. It took me completely by surprise, and he asked if I wanted to go grab a cup of coffee with him. Absolutely! So we head down to Starbucks and and talk until the meter on his truck outside runs out. He offered to walk me back to my desk and I wanted to give him the piece of cake that Mary, our Office Manager had saved just for him. When I came back to the elevators on our floor with the cake in hand, he handed me some tickets. "What is this?", I ask him. I'm trying hard to read the words, but all I see is "Kelly Clarkson" and I can't seem to decipher anything else on the tickets. I asked him - "Is this for tonight??!? Is this for her concert?" I started squealing and jumping up and down. I couldn't believe it! Months ago I had bought tickets the minute they came on sale when she was scheduled to perform at the Sommet Center downtown. I had 4th row seats in the center on the floor and was so pumped. Then she cancelled her tour and rescheduled for a night at the Ryman. I missed when the tickets went on sale and they sold out that day. I was so upset. While we were in Seattle for Thanksgiving, my friend Brooke calls to tell me that she's happened to come across tickets that she bought off a friend of hers. I was so happy for her, but so bummed that I wasn't able to see Kelly at all. I would have to say, she is hands down my favorite artist. Turns out throughout all the agonizing of mine, Jason quietly just listened while holding on to tickets he had bought off a friend of his OVER 2 MONTHS AGO! How on earth was he able to keep a secret like that for so long???? Amazing! His friend Jason Mush that he works at Mortons with sold him the tickets and ended up buying another set on Ebay, in which he took his friend Mandy with him. It was seriously the best surprise and I'm so blessed by my thoughtful and amazing husband. Thank you baby, I love you!!!

Thanksgiving Trip to Seattle

So Thanksgiving was a lot of fun and we managed to pack in as much as we could possibly handle in 6 days time. Unfortunately I wasn't taking pictures the entire time, but more relied on my little sister to handle the photo responsibilities.

But what I do have, I thought I'd go ahead and post according by which day we were there.

Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving Day turned out just like I had hoped it would be! We first awoke to mom gobbling through the house "flying the turkey"! It's a little family tradition of ours and the perfect way to start the day. Then we headed to the living room to watch was left of the Macy's parade and eat gooey cinnamon rolls. The rest of the day was spent working on a puzzle that Jerry & Sherry had bought us for the holidays... and eating, eating and more eating! Mom made a fabulous Thanksgiving dinner with a new addition that I absolutely loved, baked sweet potatoes!! Yum! Everything about the day was so relaxing and fun, and it felt so great to be home for yet another Thanksgiving. And Dad finally had another man around to play Chess, Scrabble and answer Trivia Pursuit questions. You know I have to mention that Jason beat Dad at every game they played, because after all these years when Dad constantly would win at those games and gloat about it - he finally got what was coming to him :-) ha!

Friday

On Friday night, Dad treated us all out to an amazing dinner at Salty's on Alki. The sky was crystal clear, giving us an incredible view of downtown Seattle beneath a full moon. It couldn't have been more beautiful. And the food was so good. Jason and I were so full just after those two days that we didn't have much of an appetite for the rest of our trip! But what else are the holidays for but to spend time with friends and family and stuff yourselves silly!

This is what Dad looks like after a full long day with all his Kelly girls :-) Hee hee....Saturday

Saturday was a total blast and filled with lots of fun things; like a carousel ride downtown, warm Starbucks coffee, a yummy Cheesecake Factory lunch, seeing "Enchanted" the movie and spending some much needed, warm-fuzzy company with our dear friends Roy & Loree Rowland and the Frees family. It was so much fun, I wished it wouldn't have gone by so fast! We hope to get together again in the near future for maybe a few days away by a lake out here in Tennessee - wouldn't that be fun?! I was a total dummy and didn't take any pictures that day, so I had to "borrow" some pictures that Loree had taken (which by the way, she did a great job!)

Sunday

On the Sunday night we were there, I was able to get together with some friends of mine and finally catch up on life. The ironic thing was - almost every single one of them was pregnant, well except for the guys and my dear Katie King. I'm thinking there must be something in the water out there. I was sad that Tom & Katie Hallstrom were unable to be back in town in time, since after all it was hosted at their house. But we knew they were there in spirit with us! I got some great pics with my friends and I'm so glad they were able to be there - I have missed them all so much! Plus with Jason joining me in Seattle this time, it was a great opportunity for them to get to know him better. Everyone brought really yummy desserts to much on and we just sat around the table laughing at different stories. Here's Katie King & I giving big squeezes!

Vanessa & Josh Curtis surrounded by all the sugary-goodness. I was so glad they were able to make it. Pregnancy hasn't been easy on her so far, and I'm praying she starts to feel a little better soon.

Aaron & Heidi Powell - check out her cute baby bump! I can't believe Aarons' gonna be a dad to a little boy!

Josiah & Karlee Blake - also expecting sometime early next summer. These two got some great genes, cause they're daughter Jordyn (below) is absolutely adorable!!

Miss Jordyn Blake. So stinkin cute.

My Nessa Roo :-) And no, I'm not pregnant - its just an unflattering angle.

Monday evening we were able to catch up with Chris Ross over coffee at Starbucks. It was the only day it rained while we were there and I absolutely loved it. The rain is so different back home than it is here, and I didn't realize how much I had missed it. It really did put a big smile on my face.

After we caught up with Chris, we then headed over to our friends Deb & Erik Nielsen's house for dinner. I hadn't seen them since they came out to Nashville earlier this year. And it was so good to hang out and enjoy some of Deb's delicious enchiladas. And Emily is getting so big! Its amazing how fast time flies and what all changes when you've been away for a while.

Then finally on Tuesday, we headed back to Nashville - to our very own home. We definitely needed that week away to get rejuvenated before starting again on the house and work on all our unpacking. But it gave us the rest we needed to get back into the swing of things here at home.

We felt very much loved while we were there and will miss you all until our next visit!

Happy Holidays!

The Keiths