Road Trip to Tennessee

We love road trips, but it has been a while since we took one. We started a tradition a few years ago to go somewhere on or around Thanksgiving. This year, we met my family in Sevierville, TN (near Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg). It was such a beautiful drive. Arkansas was at the peak of its color and it was beautiful driving through.

This is in Arkansas at a rest stop

We stopped in Little Rock at a Wingate by Wyndham the first night. We got a good deal by calling the main Wyndham number and booking the hotel through them. We asked about their best deal and apparently having a Costco membership paid off. We got $20 off for having a Costco membership.

On our way to Tennessee, we stopped for dinner at a wonderful BBQ place called Blue Moon in Lebanon, TN. http://www.bluemoonbbqlebanon.com/. It was some of the best BBQ I have ever had! They had run out of their banana pudding, so we decided to stop on our way back home. Unfortunately they are closed on Mondays so we didn't get to try it. Bummer.

The Blue Moon certainly has character

When we got to Severville, it was packed. Traffic was bad. We stayed in on Thursday, cooked and ate our Thanksgiving meal with family and ventured out to see the Christmas lights that night. We found a great drive through Christmas light display that we enjoyed. This is where we stayed in the smokies.

Christmas Lights in Sevierville

Friday we went to eat a late lunch at one of my dad's favorite restaurants, the Applebarn. http://www.applebarncidermill.com/ We went there to celebrate my dad's birthday. While there, I was surprised when I ran into a couple I knew from Heritage Baptist Church in Lynchburg, VA where I used to work. I used to work with Keith on staff there for almost 10 years. Everyone at Heritage was just like family to me, I miss them all so much. They are a couple who know my parents as well. It was a nice reunion. Of all the many people that were there, I couldn't believe that we ran into someone we knew!! It was so nice to see Keith and Judy.



Shopping...

My husband and I also started a tradition of shopping after Thanksgiving, but we are not black Friday crazy shoppers. We prefer to go late on Friday or Saturday. We were staying really close to an outlet mall so we decided to go shopping there. We needed some shoes. I really don't like shoe shopping. Shoe stores rarely have my size in a low heal. So after shopping at many stores, we tried a store called Bostonian Shoes. (they also sell a brand called Clarks) I couldn't believe how they fit! I found some nice boots I liked as well as some shoes. (Scott found a few pair as well) We found our new favorite shoe brands, Clarks and Bostonians found here. http://bostonian.clarksusa.com/

These are my new Clarks...they are so comfortable!!

Sunday my husband and I went to Gatlinburg to go to a craft show and do some more shopping. Gatlinburg is such a fun little town to walk around in. We enjoyed all the sights and all the little shops. It was a beautiful day!!

My husband likes learning about his heritage. He's been to Ireland and Scotland and would love to go back. I think I will go with him this time. :-)

On Sunday night, we went to a quaint restaurant called The Partridge & Pear Restaurant at Christmas Place. http://partridgeandpear.com/  It was very Christmassy. The food was very good and they even had a chilled salad fork. (Sally G would appreciate that)

On Monday we had to leave to go back to Texas. We met a friend for lunch at Cracker Barrel. He was a friend of ours from our college days at Liberty. He lives near Nashville, TN. It was so good to see you Jon Heisey!!

Lessons at Dance Etc.

In an office close to my work is a dance studio named Dance Etc. I've been by it many times and thought it would be fun to take dance lessons with my husband. He's not much of a dancer so I wasn't sure he would do it. The dance studio is under new management and Jack Foltyn is the new owner. I met Jack and he told me what they had to offer and so we decided to give it a try. It was really fun! We learned the very basic steps of three different dance styles: Fox trot, ballroom and swing. It was pretty fun...we might get hooked!

This is us with Jack Foltyn. He is a great teacher! He's offering a great special right now. $35.00 for 2 private and 2 group lessons. Website: www.danceetcdallas.com. He's also an Elvis impersonator...can you tell? :-)

Veteran's Day Parade in Frisco

We found out that our town of Frisco has an annual Veteran's Day Parade. We decided to go check it out this year and we were pleasantly surprised! It was really good! All the city's high school bands were there and played in the parade. There were quite a few Veterans in the parade as well as fireman, police officers, boy scout troops, brownie and girl scout troops and others. It was really good! We need to make this an annual event for sure! What a great way to pay tribute to those who served our country.

New Venue - Lone Oak Ranch

Here are a couple of pictures from weddings at the Lone Oak Ranch. This is a venue that I started working at last month. It's a wonderful retreat center. It is great for outdoor weddings. The views are wonderful and it's such a relaxing atmosphere. There is a wonderful white chapel to choose as well, or for a back-up to an outdoor wedding in inclement weather. It has a very Texan flare, but can accomodate a sophisicated bride as well. It's worth a look!  This is the view from an outdoor location. There is more than one way to set up an outdoor venue.

Here is a picture from the ballroom.

 



Getting Started

This is my first posting. I have been wanting to write a blog, so why not write one on events.  How creative and fun could this be?  From the time I was a kid, maybe 9 or 10, I loved entertaining people. My friends from the neighborhood and I would write plays and invite the neighbors to our "show." Whether it was a play, a dance, or a musical, it was fun; it was creative. It was something I loved to do.

My life experience has been one in which I have been able to plan and coordinate many events. My work at a church allowed me to do weddings, dinners, blood drives, a Habitat for Humanity project, plays, musicals, decorating, programs, conferences, and more. What a fun job, huh?!

After moving to Texas from Virginia, that pretty much stopped. My life changed, got married and except for having the frequent dinner parties and yearly birthday party for my husband, I pretty much stopped doing events until recently.

Over two years ago, I became a part-time wedding coordinator at my church. It has been quite part-time, but this year I started getting more weddings and some away from the church. I also just recently started working for another venue as well. I'm currently taking an event planning class and well...things are starting to take off. I still have a full-time job, but weekends are slowly getting more and more booked up. I feel a renewed vigor in my life and this is where I believe God is leading me more and more.