Thank You, God!

Our guests from Colorado left this morning on their long trek home. It was great to have them back. Just Friday night I asked God to bring us more guests and he brought us some more tonight . . . from Austin.

I love having our inn. I love welcoming new people to Journey's Inn. This place is a special place of renewal and hope.

This afternoon I prepared a spinach and ham quiche, banana muffins (my recipe) and some fruit. I love preparing the food when Cheryl can't. As I've mentioned before I'm the decorator/cleaner and Cheryl is our cook.

Right now Cheryl is in Louisiana with her parents and siblings. Her father is very sick and will probably pass away very soon. We'd appreciate prayers for Cheryl and her family. These are the dark times.

We're thankful for our guests and hope that every guest feels the presence and love of God.

All the Way From Lone Tree, Colorado

Renee and Bruce visited us the first time in May. Actually, they are special guests because they were our 1st guests when we opened in May! Their daughter is in college here and they are bringing her back to school.

In fact, they are booked with us through 2010! Good to have you back, friends!

College...a new beginning

We have the nicest family in our inn right now. They are from Loveland, CO. They traveled over 14 hours to get to us! Their fourth (out of six) child is heading to college. They are experts at it by now.

We've only had two (out of two) go. The first time was the most heart-wrenching as we were depositing our oldest daughter 1000 miles away from us. The second time was also the most heart-wrenching as our nest was now empty!

No matter how you look at it, sending a child to college is a challenge...joyful, sad, different for sure.

We wish our family from Colorado blessings as they drop their son off at ACU. Our prayers are with them on their journey home. I hope they enjoy the spinach quiche and pecan pie muffins. Comfort food is sometimes just necessary! :) ~Susan

Three Sisters

Lou, Sue and Lois just visited us. As Lou described them she said, "We are just three senior citizen sisters having fun together." Lou is from North Dakota and Sue and Lois are here in Texas. Lou was visiting for a reunion. We had a good visit.

I always wanted a sister! I think that is why I'm so thankful our daughters have each other and why my girlfriends are so special to me. I was still begging my mom to have another baby (sister for me) when she was like 50 years old. She told me to keep the dream alive, but that it just wasn't going to happen. :)

Lou, Sue, and Lois, blessings on your journey!

~Susan

The Baby Waterfall

When we first moved into our house, we enjoyed two waterfalls. We have a smaller one and a larger one. I thought that was the coolest thing. Then one day, the smaller waterfall stopped working.

I asked Vann to check it out. He did and got several other companies out to check it out. Long story - short. No one could get it going. So, for over 3 years we've had a pile of rocks that used to be a waterfall...and it was right by the door leading into Journey's Inn.

Last week Vann asked me if I noticed anything different in the back yard. He had fixed the waterfall. How? I don't know. Magic, he said. :) Thank you, Sweetie! Now, we find Yurtle back in that area a lot. I guess there are some delicious delicacies to be found near that water.

Juno

Cheryl and I found Juno this spring. We had decided to open Journey's Inn and were out running some errands. We were in a neighborhood around Lytle Shores and saw this cute little turtle in the middle of the road. (It had been raining.) All three of our turtles are red ear sliders.

I asked Cheryl to stop the car as I had to rescue this little girl. (Yes, I think Juno is a girl. Why? Because she is little and cute!) I know it doesn't make sense, but who said it had to?

At this point I'm sure Cheryl is questioning going into business with this crazy woman, but she happily stops the car and I run out and pick up little Juno.

Why the name Juno? We saw the movie Juno and really loved it. Actually Vann really loved it, too. Are we detecting a recurring theme here? :)

We've only had Juno a few months. She enjoys sunning on this one rock in particular and has gotten to the point where she won't slide in the water every time she sees us. She still won't eat from our hands and most of the time disappears when we appear.

That's o.k. I'm living in hope. We've come a long way with our other two boys!

Thanks for letting me tell you about our turtle kiddos. I hope you will stay with us at Journey's Inn sometime. I'd love to introduce you.

Jimmy Chitwood

The story of how we got Jimmy Chitwood is pretty fun. Caroline and I were out garage sale-ing one Saturday morning. We were driving on the loop in Abilene when we spotted a turtle in the middle of the interstate! Since it was Abilene and not too many cars around (even though it was the interstate) we pulled over and got out of the car.

We prayed that no one would hit this turtle. He looked just like a turtle shell in the middle of the road. He was so scared.

Caroline raced out onto the interstate and picked him up and brought him to the car. It was at this point (not ever before) that we started wondering what we'd do with him. Of course, we had a perfectly good pond, but Vann had already commented that one turtle was probably enough for a pond that size.

As we pondered what to do, Caroline said she knew just the thing to do. She said, "Mom, we need to name it after one of Daddy's favorite characters in his favorite movie!" Vann loves the old movie, Hoosiers. If you remember the movie, Jimmy Chitwood is the star basketball bplayer. Hence the name Jimmy Chitwood.

Because of this, we all call Jimmy Chitwood, Jimmy Chitwood. You probably won't ever hear us call this turtle just Jimmy...or Jim...or James. Jimmy Chitwood.

We've had Jimmy Chitwood for a couple of years now and he's come a long way. He will now come out of the pond (though he feels more comfortable in the pond) and eat from my hand...or a turtle stick. He does this cute little turtle dance when he's swimming to get his food. It's hysterical.

I got a fright this week. We hadn't seen Jimmy Chitwood for a few days and we grew worried about him. Then last night he appeared and was waiting on his grapes. I almost kissed the cute little fella! (Not really, but I sure was glad to see him!)

Again, we assume Jimmy Chitwood is a boy, but it really might be Jemima Chitwood. :)

Next up - - the story of Juno...

The Turtles' Stories

We have three turtles that make the Journey's Inn pond their home. Yurtle is our oldest and biggest turtle. Jimmy Chitwood is our middle-sized turtle and Juno is our cute little baby turtle.

Yurtle's story
When we bought our house and Journey's Inn 3 1/2 years ago we were told there were two turtles in the pond. For the first month or so we didn't see any turtles and then I found one (who had gone home to be with his maker).

Then spring came and we started to see this turtle (we called him Yurtle not thinking the name would stick or we would have most certainly come up with a more imaginative name!). Everytime he (she?) would see us he would hide. We considered it a really fun day when we'd see Yurtle.

Also, that same spring we saw 2 or 3 little baby turtles in the pond a time or two, but then never again.

Winter came and Yurtle did what all turtles do, he hibernated and we didn't see him again until the next spring.

The following spring though he didn't disappear as quickly when he saw us. He began associating us with food. He still wasn't friendly, but at least not as timid.

The spring after that we noticed that all of Yurtle's timidity was gone! In fact, every time we went outside he was there following us around like a puppy dog.

This spring our housekeeper asked me if Yurtle was "agressive". I told her he was just very assertive and would hope she would feed him. He's been a lot of fun to watch.

When I come into the garden room for breakfast, Yurtle eyes me from the pond, gets out of the pond and waits on the sidewalk for me to come outside to feed him. All the while I'm eating my Cheerios and banana, he has his eye on me. Yurtle favors grapes and turkey the most.

One morning I got a fright when I went outside and at the foot of the steps, there was Yurtle...ON HIS BACK! That silly turtle had tried to climb the step and had flipped himself over. I was thankful I found him as they can't breathe for long on their backs.

When we had our open house for Journey's Inn, I met Jeff who used to live in there when it was leased. He told me he had brought home two turtles from Chinatown many years ago to put in the pond. He said they were babies when he got them.

His trip from Chinatown was before 9/11 but security still would not allow him to bring the turtles on the plane. Jeff said the pilot told him he would take the turtles in the cockpit with him and that they were his turtles. However, when he landed the plane, the pilot would give the turtles as a gift to Jeff.

Yurtle is so fun to watch and is definitely the most animated. Everyone is his friend - - rather a potential friend who will give him some food!

I'll tell you our timid and shy Jimmy Chitwood's story the next time.

Debbie and Kevin

Debbie is a scrapbooker from North Richland HIlls. She wants to come to Journey's Inn sometime with her scrapbooking friends. Wouldn't that be fun!?

Kevin and Debbie are here enjoying some mother/son time. I enjoyed talking with them and giving Kevin a "turtle stick" and some grapes.

Can't wait to see them again! ~Susan

How Do You Wrap a Vacuum Cleaner?

How do you wrap a vacuum cleaner? I'm not really sure, but I got one as a gift from God last week.


Vann had gone to run some errands and he called me and said, "Honey, do you know why there would be a vacuum cleaner on the sidewalk in front of our house? I meant to call you a couple of hours ago about it." Well, I didn't.


So I walked outside and sure enough! There was a nice, new looking, cool green vacuum cleaner on our sidewalk...right in front of our house!


Katie Lea had a friend visiting and I asked her if it was hers. No, it wasn't.


So...I traipsed on back to Journey's Inn with our new vacuum cleaner. I hesitantly turned it on - - halfway expecting it to start smoking or catch on fire or blow up (o.k., I've watched too many espionage movies). But, none of that. Just a nice hum along with picking up the dirt.


Thank you, God! It's great! Also, I think putting my gift on the sidewalk was a very original idea of how to give the gift! Love it!

Gabbin' with the Girls

It was such fun meeting with Nan and Erin today. Fun girls! They do a fabulous job with Abilene Woman directory - - getting out 10,000 publications every month. Wow!

They signed our door. It's getting pretty full. I'd welcome suggestions about what to do with a car door that is full of signatures - - where to put another one - - what to do with this one...

Erin and Nan have a talk radio show on every afternoon on KWKC 1340 AM called Gabbin with the Girls. It's about women, for women and by women. Call in to chat at 325-676-1340. We'll have to do that!

Abilene Woman

I'm off to go clean and nest in Journey's Inn. Nan and Erin, the ladies who publish that cool "magazine", Abilene Woman, with the advertisements are coming over to the inn tomorrow to meet with us.

Cheryl is making some pecan pie muffins and I'll fix something to drink. Maybe they'll sign our car door. tee hee.

I love talking with people who have started their own businesses...especially women. They seem like fun.

Later...

Car Door?

We're a little odd. We know that. We just hope that others will love us for our quirkiness. (Is that a word?)

We've really gotten into the Journey theme. When we were setting up the B & B we thought it would be cool to have a car door hanging on the wall that our guests could sign. Well, we do! We got to thinking that when it gets full, we'll have to get another car door and another one and the B & B is 1200 sq. ft! So, we also have a guest book. Overkill, but fun.

I have to admit that I love my part of the business partnership. I get to nest and clean up. I don't enjoy that so much in my own house but I love doing that at Journey's Inn.

I get to go in and be the first to read the comments on the car door, the guest book and see if anyone has written anything in the story book upstairs. I get to see what food our guests enjoyed and then prepare the place with love and prayers for the next guests. Yep. I love my part the best. ~Susan

New friends from Lubbock

We just enjoyed having John and Linda from Lubbock. They were in town for a wedding and their son, daughter in law and baby girl came, too. Briana, the baby was fascinated with Yurtle, the turtle and with grandma's help, fed Yurtle a grape with a turtle stick. (See Lila's Journey blog - Turtle Feedings) Briana was also fascinated by our big cat Rosey.

Wonderful folks. Hope to see them again. ~Susan

No Ordinary Chicks

In our Bed and Breakfast, Cheryl does the cooking (and we are ALL glad about that) and Susan does the cleaning and nesting. Cheryl is a wonderful cook and really enjoys making things her family enjoys. While Susan really enjoys nesting and making sure that every pillow is turned just the right way, the towels are rolled correctly and everything is picture perfect.

It's amazing how well our (Cheryl and Susan's) business partnership works. We are very different in so many ways, yet very similar in so many other ways.

Differences in us...

• Cheryl really knows about the details and understands the inner workings of things.
  
• Susan could do those things but would much rather feed the turtles or decorate.
  
• Cheryl can go to a perfectly good garage sale and look around for five minutes and say there is nothing there.
• Susan can go to the same garage sale with Cheryl and ask for several boxes for all the treasures. Then Cheryl begins to see them as treasures, too.
• Cheryl "gets" the west Texas culture of hunting, taxidermy (her husband is a taxidermist) and has even gone varmint hunting. Correction: she has DRIVEN the varmint mobile while her husband and friend went varmint spotting.
• Susan doesn't get hunting at all. She's about convinced that most west Texans don't really appreciate a beautiful animal unless it's stuffed. :)
• Cheryl appreciates a good business suit.
• Susan appreciates flow-y and twirly clothes.
• The feather boa idea in the picture above was Susan's idea. Cheryl had to be drug along.

Similarities in us...

• We both love God with all of our hearts and have committed our business endeavors to him.
• We both love and enjoy our families.
• We both love to laugh!
• We both love a great story.
• We both are a bit on the sassy side!
• We must think a lot alike as we can tell what the other one is about to say before she says it.
• We believe that God brought us to this place and time and that Journey's Inn was a part of the plan.

This business venture has been one of the most fun things we've done. Setting up Journey's Inn with the furnishings from antique shops and garage sales was just down right nourishing and at times hilarious!

We pray that Journey's Inn will be a refreshing spot in this chaotic and toxic world and that it will be a wonderful place to "escape the ordinary" and find all the serendipity that is in store for you.