Just put on a little lipstick...

So my last post was about exploring our great city - well guess what? This week, January 17-23, is restaurant week in Nashville. Here are the details: Enjoy outstanding local dining and special menus at a discount this week only. With 42 Nashville Originals participating, special offers range from three- and four-course dinners for $20.11 or $30.11, depending on where you dine, to coffee drink daily specials, lunch two-fers and even breakfast you can share with your office. http://www.nashvilleoriginals.com/

Union Station, photo by Bryan Hall On Friday night we went to the fabulous wedding of Logan and Jill. The wedding was held in the lobby at Union Station in downtown Nashville. Union Station is former train station that opened in 1900, and was converted to a hotel in the eighties. It has beautiful marble floors and a barrel vaulted ceiling featuring 100 year old stained glass.  I live less than 30 minutes from this grand hotel and I only seem to go there when it is for a wedding. Another one of my intentions for this year is to live more like a tourist. I don't want to take for granted the museums, historic landmarks and all the other wonders our great city has to offer. Lobby, Union Station Hotel So my challenge to myself and to anyone reading my blog: Spend some time living like a tourist in 2011. Explore your downtown area, soak up the culture, live music, festivals, family owned stores and restaurants. Take your camera everywhere you go and document your adventures.

It's a choice I make every day. How do I start the day? Option A: Hit the buzzing alarm, bolt out of bed, grab a shower, eat a bowl of cereal, slap some make up on, check my email and rush out the door. Option B: Wake up to relaxing music, do 10 minutes of stretching, a warm shower, 10 minutes of meditation, jot down my 3 gratefuls and 3 intentions for the day, while enjoying a healthy breakfast. I have figured out, it only takes getting up 30 minutes earlier to start the day in a much better manner.

Tennessee has snow once again, and work was cancelled on Monday, and we had delayed openings on Tuesday. The children may return to school tomorrow. This video reminded me that I need to add an ice scraper to my grocery list. Enjoy! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nMB9rV94Yg

                                                                                                         Practical Magic

I looked over my 2010 resolutions and I actually did very well on them. I loved, laughed and prayed. I traveled with family, girl-friends and also took that "alone time" trip with my hubby. The two I can't completely declare success on are budgeting and exercise. I think I'll keep pretty much the same list, but tweak it a bit to live with more intention this year. Laugh more, love more, pray more Spend time with those I love that make me laugh Show those I love how much they mean to me Remember that God meets me wherever I am  Try something new each month (recipe, language, sport, art project, etc...) Create a budget and stick to it - it's time to see exactly where we spend our hard earned cash! Add exercise to my daily checklist Be grateful for each and every day Pay it forward as often as possible

'Laughter is a melody, a concert from the heart, a tickling by angels, creative living art. Laughter heals and comforts, sometimes gentle sometimes bold. Laughter is a freeing dance, performed within the soul'.        -Serene West I hope your holiday season was full of love and laughter, and that you were surrounded by the ones you love. Laura

Lauren, Deanna, Bryan, Dan and Logan On Tuesday, we celebrated Christmas with Bryan's family. We had a great dinner, opened presents and the girls had a great time playing with their cousins Logan and Lauren. Pap'pa, Morgan and Lauren We are very blessed to have great family and we always have a time spending time with them.

In the midst of these wonderful holidays, I ran across this blog by a fellow breast cancer survivor. Julie has a much higher stage cancer and has been in this battle for years. Please take a moment to read her post about avastin. http://julieheppefightforlife.blogspot.com/2010/12/fight-is-on.html?spref=fb My friend Amber is taking avastin as part of her battle against colon cancer, and we are all praying it is destroying the tumors.

When we were growing up Dad always brought home a Whitman Sampler at Christmas. Linda, Lisa and I always fought over the messenger boy in the center of the box. It was the only solid chocolate piece in the box. Every year we would have to come up with a way to decide who got that special piece. This year, Dad brought the biggest Whitman Sampler any of us had ever seen. Of course the first thing we noticed was that it had not one, but four messenger boy chocolate pieces. Thank you Dad - we love you!

Dad carving the turkey Christmas afternoon we celebrated with my side of the family at Linda's house, in Murfreesboro. She had all the holiday trimmings and we had a fabulous meal. We opened more presents and enjoyed spending the day together. I love my family!  

We woke on Christmas morning to SNOW! I hear this is the first time in 17 years that Nashville has had a "white" Christmas. The girls were so excited they ran out on the deck in their pajamas and wanted to make a snowman. We convinced them to add boots, gloves and jackets and Bryan swept up all the snow from the decks he could gather and they created a very Nashville Snowman !

Chassi, Emri and Morgan Christmas with little children is always magical. The looks on their faces when they peek in their stockings, or see what Santa has left under the tree. Jenni making french toast Anna Belle and Josh We had a great Christmas with our kids and grand-girls. We opened presents, Jenni made us homemade french toast and we relaxed enjoyed the morning, while the girls played.