We spent almost a full week down in Nashville with Steve's family. Everytime we visit I fall a little more in love with Tennessee. From the rolling hills, mild temperatures and delicious comfort food, it's the perfect escape especially this time of year. Phil & Linda live in Franklin, which is a suburb about 20 mins from Nashville. Many Christian and Country music stars live in the area such as Alan Jackson, Steven Curtis Chapman, Keith Urban & Nicole Kidman, Michael W. Smith, Faith Hill & Tim Graw...you get the point. It's a beautiful mix of country and quaint small town feel. As usual, Linda made some amazing food for us. We are so spoiled! It's a toss up, but I think my favorite was the beef brisket and cheese grits. We also had beautiful weather for the most part. Christmas Eve was sunny & 66 degrees, so we decided to go for a walk at Radnor Lake Wildlife Sanctuary. Jeff, Steve's brother, is a forester in Virginia. He was able to tell us all about the trees and wildness, it was like having our own tour guide! Somehow I only have three pictures from the whole week...
Phil & Linda's house
Breakfast at Loveless Cafe
'The Factory' in Franklin... I felt like Lily Tomlin in her big rocking chair!
We got home the Sunday after Christmas and both went back to work the next day. Since we had taken so much time off, there was no shortage of work to catch up on. And there's always the mound of laundry, cleaning & grocery shopping to do after vacation which haunts me. :) Not long after the last load of laundry was folded did I have to start packing for trip #2 to California...
One of my close friends/roommates from Bethel was getting married in the O.C. (Orange County, CA). Somehow the weekend turned into a girl's only ordeal which is what we've been talking about doing for a long time, so this was the perfect excuse! We had an absolute blast with the wedding festivities, gorgeous scenery & weather and just getting some quality girl time. Here's a few photos of our time-
Paula's Bachelorette Party- we went to a Asian Karaoke place and sang out hearts out
Adrienne always makes us laugh!
The beautiful bride!!
Nothing like a little pampering... mani & pedis
Soon to be Mr & Mrs Sherman!
Amy & I wish our matching Target sweatshirts
Gorgeous ceremony site
The most amazing desserts ever! Red velvet lollipops, key lime pie, peanut butter fudge
I got home from California, took an hour nap and then headed to meet up with our friends Andy & Lisa who moved to the Philippines. We really miss having them around! Lisa is the most genuine, down-to-earth person you'll ever meet. And Andy never ceases to make us laugh with his witty and off-the-wall comments. :)
FINALLY (if anyone's still reading) our holidays ended with a visit from Kevin & Suzanna with baby Micah in tow. He was born in August and we hadn't gotten a chance to meet him yet since they live in Chicago... is anyone sensing a theme here? Too many of our family & loves ones live far away from us!! We have so much in common with Kev & Suz and our time with them is always too short. We prepared a great mexican feast for dinner and caught up on lost time.
Sorry this got really long...thanks for reading!
2 comments:
omgosh. you are too kind! I feel so honored to be mentioned on your blog.
It was SOOO great to see you guys! Why don't you think about moving to Manila? I heard there is some work for Steve there. Just throwing it out there?!?! Do you have Becky's #? She has something for you. If not, I'll have her get ahold of you.
By the way, I'm so glad you experienced a Korean karaoke room. You are hooked now, huh? Did they have tambourines? Andy gets pretty wild though so we don't go too much anymore.
Come and visit soon... we miss you and Steve.
Lisa
Sounds like a great time, even if it was so busy! It's worth it to take the time for relationships, especially.
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