Christmas decorations

Jennie Whitsell said she wanted to see postings of Christmas decorations, so here is our humble version of Christmas. Partly because we had to get rid of some becuase of the move, partly because we are going back to CA for Christmas, and partly because we are just cheap and have a hard time buying decorations that will be up for one month of the year.

I have always wanted a door wreath, so this year we bought one (Home Depot, $6.88-- can't beat that!)

This is my favorite-- a nativity scene that Bob's grandmother brought to him from Bethlehem. As you can see, Mary, Joseph and the baby aren't there yet because it's not time. However, they are either going to have to be early or late at our house this year because we won't be home during that time.

A beautiful table cloth Bob's mom made for us.

Stockings made by my brother last year. Our kitchen bar serves as our mantle apparently.

And our very simple Christmas tree. It does have one ornament, though!

Beautiful Tennessee

This is a cotton field in Jackson. It was the first time I've ever seen cotton being grown. You can't help but think of slavery and what our world must have been like back then. It was very humbling.

Nashville baby

Downtown Nashville

This is one of the three breakfast courses!

After visiting Bob's aunt and uncle in Jackson, we decided to go to a bed and breakfast in Brentwood, which is a suburb near Nashville. We went into Nashville that night just to see what it was like. There was live country music playing in every bar and people were wearing cowboy hats and boots. Fun to see and I have to tell you that a little part of me felt like I fit in. Even though you wouldn't know it on the outside...

We went to dinner at Spaghetti factory and back early to our bed and breakfast to enjoy the cute room and chocolate chip cookies. The next day we went to see downtown Franklin which has an old town feel that reminded me of the Orange Circle. We got frozen yogurt that we got to put the toppings on, which isn't as big out here as it is in California so it was a real treat, and shopped around in tea shops and used book stores. It was one of those days where you just don't feel the need to look at the clock.

Thanksgiving in Tennessee

Bob's aunt and uncle live in Jackson, Tennessee so we decided to take a road trip when they graciously invited us out for Thanksgiving. We decided to stop at Trader Joes on the way to grab them a bottle of wine and some chocolate as a thank you. Some people decide to tour the US to see different stadiums, etc. Bob and I have decided we are going to do this with different Trader's--so fun. However, we neglected to check out Tennessee alcohol laws, instead making ourselves look like goofs when we asked the worker why we couldn't find any wine in the store. Apparently normal grocery stores only sell beverages with a certain percentage of alcohol and wine doesn't make the cut so it has to be sold at the liquor store. Therefore, we gave his aunt and uncle chocolate as a thank you. Just chocolate.

We thoroughly enjoyed the route to Tennessee as well as their beautiful home and all the wonderful food Sheri always cooks. We spent a lot of our time playing pool (loosing at pool for me) and just relaxing. It was nice to spend time with them and see a new place.

Who needs kids as an excuse to have fun

On our way to Tennessee for Thanksgiving, Bob and I stopped in Chattanooga, a quaint little town near the Georgia Tennessee border. We had lunch and walked around and found ourselves in a cute park that had a merry-go-round. I immediately wanted to go but needed to be convinced that we didn't have to have kids as an excuse to enjoy. Bob did a good job convincing me of this, and here we are. I think we started a trend because once we got on a bunch of other adults came in and got on sans kids. The only complaint I have is that it wasn't long enough!

My birthday

My amazing husband cooked me dinner for my birthday. It was so nice having a wonderful meal in our own home. He treated me like a queen and wouldn't let me touch a thing. He brought me a chai tea to sip on while he finished the dinner, which consisted of cheese and bread appetizer, champagne, and salmon with vegetables. It was so good and so thoughtful!

Here is the appetizer.

We then went to a European style restaurant called Cafe Intermezzo that is known for their desserts. Each day they make different cakes and things, so they don't even have a dessert menu. But they have someone who stands by the counter and tells you what each thing is. We ordered heavenly lemon cake (named that by them, not me) and I got a butterscotch latte, and Bob a butterscotch hot chocolate. It was the perfect ending to a good day. It was even drizzling outside which made it more fun.

A few days later we went out to dinner at Noche, a tapas place, with our friends Whitney and James. It was my kind of dining-- a little bite of everything. They had great food and great Sangria. Then the boys agreed to watch the movie The Proposal, which I suprisingly enjoyed. I am not usually a laugher during movies, but that one got me going. Good as far as a romantic comedy goes. I really appreciated our time together.

Grilled

This was just too funny not to share...

My aunt gave Bob and I this blanket as a wedding shower gift. It is so comfortable and soft, that I am often seen carrying (or wearing) it around the house. It is the first blanket that we grab when sitting on the couch or when feeling a little cold. One morning I was wearing the said blanket around my shoulders and leaned over the electric burners to grab something. My blanket rested on the burners, which I didn't know until I started to smell the burning, creating these lovely grill marks. Good for chicken, bad for fabric.

Fall!

I love fall!

Family visit

My family came to visit at the beginning of November to see where we live and to celebrate my (yikes!) 27th birthday. They were only here for a few days and it seemed like a whirlwind but it was great to spend time with them on our turf. We visited a quaint downtown area one day, went to the lake to go canoeing another, and they graciously spent time watching us play tennis. We thought having 5 adults and two dogs in our apartment would feel really crowded, but it really went okay.

The day that we went canoeing was by far my favorite. Since we got our canoe I have wanted to take it out for the day and have a picnic somewhere, which we got to do. We packed lunches, drove about 25 minutes to the nearest lake (which also happened to be in a boonie-town), rented another canoe and headed out. We paddled around for a while and stopped on shore to eat our lunch and spent some time eating, resting, and skipping some rocks. We stopped for ice cream on the way home. Good, clean fun if you ask me.

My mom was the one who took all the pictures and she is still compiling them, so these are just a couple. We had gorgeous weather while they were here, no rain, and we appreciated their company. Love you guys!

No more fetch

We had the privilege of watching the two dogs that Bob walks for a week and a half while the owners were out of town. Fun until something goes terribly wrong, which it did. The dogs love to play fetch with sticks and we spent many days watching them play tug of war and fetch the sticks that were thrown to them. One morning Bob went outside to play with the dogs and came back shortly after as I was headed out for work. I asked him why he had come back so soon and he told me the awful accident that had happened.

He threw a stick for the dog and it landed upright in the soft grass, sticking straight up. The dog went at it full force and started whining. Blood was dripping from its mouth. It had cut its mouth or throat really bad, but we could not get it to open up its jaws to look. He called the owners and had Bob take it to the vet. The vet was awful and slow moving. They kept the dog for the entire day, cleaned its ears, x-rayed its hips, and gave it a pedicure (which they actually called it). Can you imagine going into the hospital for a bleeding mouth and them doing this to you? Then at the end of the day they called Bob and said he needed to take it to the emergency pet center. Nice. Bob and I were incredibly worried about the dog since it had been hurting and bleeding for so long. We checked it into the hospital which was great. They did an endoscopy on the dog and found a three inch gash in its throat.

After performing surgery, we got to take the dog back home and nurse it back to health. The owners were so kind to us, encouraging us that it was a fluke accident that could happen to anyone. They were originally going to come back from their trip early, but allowed us to take care of the dog instead. The dog is healing well and the owners have asked us to watch them again next weekend (I know, surprising, huh?). We are so excited. We had so much fun having these dogs in our home and have missed them after one day of not having them. Needless to say, we will not be playing fetch with them again.

Unexpected canoe ride for Bob's birthday

Let me just precede this story with an apology for not having a picture. During the mishap I am about to explain, the camera was out of commission, which will probably spare me some embarassment, but would have also made you laugh a little harder. Bob's birthday was October 20 and he had been sick for a while, so at his request we were just going to lay low for his birthday and he was going to decide that day what he felt like doing. Very difficult for someone like me who wants someone's birthday to be extra special. Anyway, it turned out to be an absolutely gorgeous day, and being that we had just purchased our canoe, we decided to take it out for a spin. Little did we know what a spin we were in for.

First of all, we live on the second story. And our stairs turn in the middle. Meaning a 14 foot canoe absolutely cannot fit down them. Meaning that we had to find a way to get the canoe over the ledge in order to get to the ground. My brilliant idea, which surprisingly turned out to be the one that we used, was to tie a rope around a pillar and to the front of the canoe and lower it down. It went better than expected. Bob and I each grabbed a side of the canoe and walked it down to the river. He was very patient as I had to stop about every 30 seconds to adjust my hand or take a break.

We both decided to wear jeans and tennis shoes, since the day was a little cool, but beautiful nonetheless. We were excited when we got into the water and the sun was shining on us. We relaxed, Bob fished, and I took pictures with the spare camera (the one Bob dropped a couple years ago and we only take on yucky trips in case something happens to it). We paddled upstream and came to a point where the water was flowing a little harder. To save us from embarassment, I would like to label it some sort of class rapid, but it was not. Bob and I tried multiple times to paddle up it to no avail. Looking at it you would think it were simple to get up if you just paddled hard enough. That was our first mistake. We decided to take one last stab at it before giving up. I mean really, how hard could it be. So I, sitting up front, dug my paddle in as hard as I possibly could and was paddling with my might. Bob in the back was doing the same, or so I thought. This is the part where the story gets fuzzy and might be told a little differently from each of our perspectives, but since I am the one telling it, this is the way it goes. I am leaning a little to the right to really dig the paddle in because Bob keeps saying, "Paddle harder Jamie", to which I reply, "This is as hard as I can." (As a side note, I never understand why guys say things like that in these sorts of situations. As if it is not obvious enough that I need to paddle with as much might as I can muster. Like I didn't understand that before and I needed him to say that to give me the extra umph.)

Well, apparently while I am using every ounce of strength I have to paddle up this little stream, Bob decides we are pulling out and sticks his paddle in to turn us around. This immediately takes the canoe for a spin, jutting the boat sideways and we both spill out. When we emerge from the chilly water, I cannot stop laughing and Bob is heavy breathing, yelling at his phone to turn off. Then he freaks out that our boat is going to sink because a lot of water has gotten into it, but we are standing in the water. A funny sight indeed, water up to our chests, guiding our canoe back to the shore. I looked around to see if anyone had seen, hoping really, because it was too funny a sight to be missed. Apparently it was just a moment to be enjoyed by the two of us. By the time we got to the shore even Bob was laughing and we giggled all the way home in our sopping jeans and tennis shoes. The bad camera and Bob's cell phone both stopped working, but I think it was worth it for the funny birthday memories. Happy birthday Bob!

It is so awesome to watch the leaves change color around here. Some trees are partially green and partially changed. It almost looks fake to see all these crazy colors on the foliage. The other day Bob and I were driving and came across this tree that looks like it's on fire. We hurried to get out the camera to catch a shot of it as we were driving by. Although fall here brings colder weather, which is hard for me to get used to, it also brings amazing beauty I have never witnessed before.

Apple Orchard

About two hours away there is a place called Elijay that has many apple orchards. Bob and I set out with some friends for the day to attend an Apple Festival, which ended up being a dud. After paying 5 dollars each to walk around in the freezing cold and hardly finding anything that represented apples--although we did have some great gyros, ate fried oreos, and watched clogging (yes, clogging)--we decided to head a little further to the apple orchards to make our time worth it.

We grabbed some hot cider inside and then paid a very small sum to fill a bag with apples that we picked. The variety offered at the time was Rome Beauties, known for their cooking appeal. We picked to our hearts content and then could go inside and fill the bag with other varieties that we chose. Now we are eating apples like there's no tomorrow. Who knew that half a peck would be so large?

Georgia County Fair

We felt like since the fair was in town, we had to attend. But really, it was no different than any other fair I've been to. Corn dogs, funnel cakes, crazy people and animals. What would a fair be without elephants and tigers?

This guy was the funniest. We called him the kissing camel. He would come at you to get close to you, then turn his head away like he was rejecting you.

Pumpkins!

A couple of friends of ours went on a hike to some waterfalls nearby and there was a pumpkin patch on site. My friend Josh took these pictures, and because they are pumpkin, I fell in love. Isn't he a good photographer? I love pumpkin season!