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Saturday, December 29, 2007

My Birthday in Nashville

Getting older again - I arrived home on Thursday and this car was sitting right in front of our apartment. I couldn't find our other car in the parking lot. Jay rented this car for our trip to Nashville for my birthday. It had a bench seat!

This was one of my gifts from Jay. A quilting stencil in the shape of cowboy boots. So cute!

The inside of one of the gardens at the Opryland Hotel.

A Christmas tree made out of poinsettias.

Me and my honey sitting beside the inside river way inside the Delta Garden.

Standing in front of the same fountain almost 2 years later, except this time married.

Our engaged picture :o) It's hilarious how much different we look.

Beautiful Delta Garden in the evening.

We watched the water show again. This time it was with a Christmas theme and the narrator read the Christmas story out of the Bible.


The lights outside the Opryland Hotel were so gorgeous. Someone meticulously lined each branch of these trees with white lights. Incredibly pretty.



Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Christmas 2007

Don't ask 'cause I don't know.

BJ and a new t-shirt.

Ally and the tote that I got her.

Dani (I hardly have any pics of her so here is a good one!) and her tote.

Dad enjoying the new Glenn Beck book that I got him. It's even autographed.

Mom's village atop of her fireplace.


The Lavy Christmas tree.

Jay's birthday is the 25th and mine is the 28th. Mom made this icecream cake for us.

Dad sporting some of Christmas gifts. The santa pants and hat and his new OSU shirt.

This HUGE bag was for me from my brother! I dug and dug and finally found a dinky little card at the bottom - a gift card to Joanns! Now why did he need that huge bag??? I love Joann's so it is a great gift.

Dad still reading his Glenn Beck book.

Jay LOVED this gift.

Me holding little Maverick at the Baker Christmas gathering. Isn't he a doll?

Jay found 100 gold dollars in the bottom of this treasure chest.
Aaron had to work for his $100. They were one dollar bills stuck in a box of peanuts. I helped him find them.
My $100 was much easier to find. It was in a bag and they were in a little book. My mother-in-law took them to Kinkos and had them make a little book. Such a neat idea.
The Baker tree and fireplace.
My mother-in-law wearing a Colts blanket!! What is this world coming to?

Saturday, December 22, 2007

Collingsworth Christmas

Aunt Kim explaining how awesome Gordon Mote's new CD is.

The cake I got for my mama, who has lost quite a few pounds in the last year. Doesn't she look great?


The 10 1/2 foot tall Christmas tree in Kim's living room. She figures it has about 2,600 red and white lights.

Two blonde mono babes - Courtney has been battling the same virus.

Ally and Court.

Me and Jay - it's the only photo I have and my eyes look terrible.

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Happy Birthday, Mama!

Love you, mama!

Due to Aaron's insistence.....

...Aaron insists that I am not keeping up with my blog. He doesn't think that my excuse of being tired is valid. So here I am....remember that post a couple weeks back about having strep? Well the doc was wrong. This appears to be my second bout with mono...yes, I know it is known as the "kissing disease." I am just tired all the time and I don't have much of an appetite. The first bout was back in college. That was sooo much fuuunnn! (wink)
I ordered several gifts via one particular company. I ordered these gifts back in November and they guaranteed that the gifts would arrive before Christmas. They didn't tell me they were going to cut it so close. I need some of the gifts for tomorrow and Saturday and the gifts haven't arrived yet. Hopefully they arrive tomorrow as the company said they should, otherwise....I will just sit home and cry.

Saturday, December 15, 2007

Christmas Party

Jason and I were invited to my boss's Christmas open house. She has a beautiful house and she is a great decorator. I asked her to take a couple pictures of Jay and me in front of her 10 foot tree.



B&B and "Down on the Farm"

We left about 6:30 or so and we headed east. I pretty much slept the whole way there. When I woke up and Jay said "We're here," I was staring straight ahead at an old garage door. I was like "Huh?" It was a brick house with the old garage doors that are wooden. I was still kinda asleep so I wasn't really sure what was going on. I finally realized that it was a Bed and Breafast place. As far as I know I have only stayed once in a B&B. It was back a few years ago when Dad took the whole family to a working farm with a B&B in the farmhouse. It was pretty neat. In fact, Jay and I checked into B&B's near the Grand Canyon but there weren't any there that we really were interested in.


Ron and Darlene own the State Street Manor Bed and Breakfast in Gallipolis, OH (http://www.statestreetmanor.com/) . I knew it was going to be a delightful stay when we were walking up the short sidewalk and Ron opened the door and greeted us before we even got to the front steps. You don't get that at a hotel! Darlene was just inside standing near a grand piano where I signed the guest book and we began the tour. Built in 1936-1937, it is still very authentic down to the glass door handles. Hardwood floors, a 9 foot Christmas tree, fireplaces and the garland hanging on the stair railing made for a beautiful, relaxing evening. Two big cozy green robes waited in our room for us to don before heading towards the hot tub. They even threw some towels in the dryer so they would be warm for us after we exited their hot tub! I read several entries in a guest book in our room. In particular, other guests related that Darlene's family recipe Banana bread was delicious. So come breakfast time I was expecting it. I must say, it was some of the best banana bread ever! Then came the Blueberry stuffed French toast, a treat that neither Jay nor myself had ever enjoyed.


All that to say this, if you ever want to get away for a night or two, the drive out is only about 2 1/2 - 3 hours from Cincinnati. Ron and Darlene are wonderful hosts and they make you feel right at home.

The cozy living room.

Christmas decorations on the stairs.

Hot tub on the deck

Told ya...glass door knobs.

Beautiful place setting with gold eating utensils and Blueberry stuffed French toast.


Then after we checked out from the State Stree Manor, my hubby took me to the Bob Evans Farm. We toured the Homestead and the Museum. They were also displaying some quilts. There were several nice quilts and I took a few pictures for you to enjoy.










Once back near Cincinnati, Jay stopped one last place. The Victorian Quilt Shop!! I loved it. I met several other ladies who quilt also. Although very few actually do the quilting by hand, I did find one lady who still hand quilts. She gave me some tips on the type of quilting thread she uses and some needles she has found to be the best. I would love to learn more from those ladies so I will probably go back there.

All this fun stuff and it was Jay's idea. What a sweet guy! He had told me before we left that the weekend was going to be 90% for me and 10% for him. He did a great job picking out stuff for us to do that he knew I would enjoy! Anybody jealous? Wink!