Escape the Ordinary

We Are Closed

2010-06-24T15:55:00.000-07:00

It's been such a fun ride having a Bed and Breakfast . . . especially one like Journey's Inn. But, we are now closed. We have decided to use this cute little place in other ways to minister to others. For now, a young couple who are preparing to go to Chile as missionaries are going to stay there a few months. After that, God will show us.

So, thanks for the memories. But here we go...onward and upward. Check out my blog. Lila's Journey www.susan-conwell.blogspot.com

Blessings and Joy!
Susan

Change - Bed and Breakfast to Guest House

2010-05-08T19:15:00.000-07:00

We are changing from a Bed and Breakfast to a Guest House. Everything will remain the same with the exception of the breakfast. We have found lately that most people are eating a light breakfast anyway. This way our guests can take full advantage of our kitchen and sleep as late as they like. We hope you will enjoy the change.

White Christmas

2009-12-26T15:53:00.000-08:00

We had a White Christmas! It was absolutely gorgeous. Here are some photos I took of our house and around our neighborhood. Enjoy!

The above photo is of our house or what some call the Main House. Our bed and breakfast guest house is behind our house.

Once the sun came out a little we explored our neighborhood and got some pretty photos with the blue sky. This house in the photo below is on our street. Can't you just smell the crackling fire and taste the hot chocolate?
This is the Church of Heavenly Rest. It's in our neighborhood and such a lovely structure.
I have always loved this home. But it is even prettier in the snow!

The magic fairy dust we call snow certainly changed the appearance of our courtyard.
I love this house! It's a couple of blocks from our home and is like a post card.
As the sun was setting, we said goodbye to the lovely snow. We felt thankful for the opportunity to take these beautiful pictures.
Come see us!

New Photos

2009-11-21T19:43:00.001-08:00

Chelsea Giles, talented photographer of Chelsea Lynn Photography out of Lubbock, Texas, took these photos of our inn. Her new business is really taking off! As you see her wonderful photos, I'm sure you'll see why. Thanks, Chelsea!

Roxanne Spradlin, gifted artist and friend, painted the vine beside the door. It's so lifelike, don't you think? Although it's a little hard to tell from this angle, she also painted the overhang above the door to be striped like an awning. It's so cute!

This is a photo of the bed down stairs. I fell in love with the bedspread from Anthropologie (love that store!). The headboard is actually an antique screen.

I love this picture. This is a close up of the kitchen chandelier. I love all those beautiful jewel tones!

There are more photos on the Journey's Inn website!

Photos of some changes

2009-09-19T14:59:00.001-07:00

We've been busy in the inn! Take a look at our newly recovered leopard chaise. Our little mink covered pillow is perfect on it. I picked up the mink collar at an estate sale and repurposed it as a pillow. My husband, Vann hung the chandelier for me. I love it! It's a cozy nook to read or listen to music.

Check out our new bed. It's an antique screen used as a headboard. The bedspread is from Anthropologie (my favorite store - out of Abilene). I had such fun painting the border on the dust ruffle and pillow shams. The painting is in metallic gold! Our blue bottle tree is coming right along. We find the blue bottles in antique stores or exploring along the way. The story goes that in the south blue bottle trees were popular because evil spirits were drawn to the brightly colored glass and flew up in the bottle. When the sun came out, it baked the evil spirits and they couldn't find a way out. Imaginative. ha.
The painting on the outside of the inn has been postponed due to rain. We're promised they will start on Monday. Hooray! I can't wait to post pictures of that.

Come see the changes for yourself. We'd love to have you.

Excited About Some New Changes

2009-08-22T14:15:00.001-07:00

I'm excited about some new changes we are making to the inn. I've gotten some new furniture in there and more on the way. The new (old) leopard chaise should be ready for pick up the beginning of next week. That is going to be such fun in our living area. My better half, Vann, is going to hang an antique chandelier with beautiful crystal prisms over the chaise. It will be such a cozy spot for reading, relaxing or just day dreaming.

A couple of weeks ago I found a tall (7 feet?) iron screen that will make a perfect headboard. It will add a touch of serendipity to the room.

Wednesday night I met with Roxanne Spradlin to discuss a mural she is going to paint for us outside our inn. The inn is being painted in a couple of weeks and then Roxanne will start her magic! The outside of the inn is going to be fabulous! I want to keep you in suspense but, but I promise I'll post pictures when it's completed. Roxanne is a very gifted artist and I'm thankful she agreed to this job. Not only is she a gifted artist, she's a delightful person. I've so enjoyed getting to know her.

Journey's Inn is getting more and more special. It's a special gift for us to be able to provide a haven for a weary traveler. Our mission is to be filled with hospitality and compassion. Come check us out!

I'll leave you with a couple of photos I took on Wednesday of this week. The first is our pond. The fish are reproducing like crazy. We have a lot of little babies right now. The other photo is of Yurtle, our friendly turtle. He's checking out my toes to see if they are berries.

Praying for Rain

2009-02-08T16:46:00.000-08:00

The clouds look ominous, it's already dark and my joints feel like it's going to rain. I sure hope it does! We are in dire need of rain. It hasn't rained in Abilene since October.

Maybe our turtles, Yurtle and Jimmy know something. They both made an appearance today. Ice and snow a week or two ago and 70 degree weather this week.

That's one thing about Abilene. If you don't like the weather today, just stick around. By tomorrow it will surely be different.

Happy New Year!

2009-01-02T18:17:00.001-08:00

We're looking forward to God's richest blessings in 2009. Cheryl and I are getting together tomorrow and will pray about the direction of our journey. We love having the inn and want to find more fun and God honoring ways to use it.

Jana and Richard, from Abilene, stayed at Journey's Inn on New Year's Eve. Jana gave her husband a night at the inn as a Christmas present. Isn't that so fun?!

Jana took this picture while at the inn to remind her of their time there. She placed her New Year's Eve hat in the lime green aluminum Christmas tree we had displayed. (Thank you for letting me use the photo, Jana!)

I hope Jana and Richard will come again and again!

Specials, Specials!

2008-11-14T13:04:00.001-08:00

We're running some specials on our website. Check it out! We want others to see the fun that can be had at Journey's Inn.

Check us out!

Shirley, Shirley...

2008-10-04T17:48:00.000-07:00

I got a kick out of Shirley. Shirley is Cheryl's mom's caregiver. Cheryl, her mom and Shirley were dropping off some food at the inn. This was Cheryl's mom and Shirley's first visit to Journey's Inn. Cheryl encouraged Shirley to go look at the courtyard and to check out the turtles.

Shirley's eyes widened like saucers and said in a heart palpatating way, "I'm scared of turtles." I said, "Oh, Shirley, one of the turtles will be scared of you and I'll show you how I feed the other turtle." Reluctantly she came outside to check out the turtles and watch me feed Yurtle.

I said, "Well, Shirley, at least we don't have snakes." Her eyes popped open again and she said, "You have snakes, too?!?!"

After helping Shirley climb down from the pole she had climbed, I helped her back in Journey's Inn and fanned her while her heart slowed down to the sound of the clock on the wall.

Shirley, Shirley...

Juno, our baby

2008-10-02T17:45:00.000-07:00

Our baby turtle, Juno, died. We don't know why, but we'll miss the way she slid off the rock whenever she saw us. I know she is in turtle heaven. Yurtle and Jimmy Chitwood miss her.

We'll have to be on the lookout for a "soon to be struck by an automobile" turtle after a rain.

Kickin' Place

2008-09-30T17:43:00.001-07:00

Curt Cloninger, the world famous actor (well, at least famous in church circles) did a couple of skits at our church on Sunday. Fabulous. He stayed at Journey's Inn on Saturday night and Sunday night. When he saw the inn, he exclaimed, "Kickin' Place!" That makes me feel great! I love to have a kickin' place.

He said Cheryl's quiche was just fabulous! (It is a really good quiche.)

Come again, Curt. Bring your lovely wife next time.

ACU's Summit

2008-09-20T15:18:00.000-07:00

ACU's Lectureship is now called Summit. Joe and Lauryn, from Florida are staying in Journey's Inn during Summit. It will be great to see them.

Joe and Lauryn's love story started when they were youth interns at our church. It will be great to see them again!

Photos from our Open House

2008-09-15T20:03:00.000-07:00

We had a delightful Open House for some of our friends not too long ago. Here's a photo of the rock table with the goodies.

Here was the entrance to our inn during
Open House day.

While our guests were visiting, our little bird friends were visiting, too.

Isn't He Handsome?

2008-09-13T17:00:00.000-07:00

Cheryl's husband, Glen, took this photo of this handsome little fella taking a bath in our courtyard. It is refreshing to watch the birds, turtles, fish and wildlife in the Journey's Inn garden.

This and That

2008-09-12T19:49:00.000-07:00

It's good to have Cheryl back. She was missed and does such a great job of cooking. :) Our guests always comment on her good food. She makes an asparagus quiche that is wonderful!!

Linda and her mom are visiting us tonight from Austin. This is their first time in a B & B. I hope they just love it!

We're going to be very busy over the next couple of weeks. That's good. That's just the way we like it!

I had planned to have a Book Club meet in the inn next week, but we'll have a guest. That's o.k. Next time. We're studying Same Kind of Different as Me. That was a wonderful book. I so enjoyed it.

Come see us! We'd love to help you 'escape the ordinary!'

Cleaning, Cleaning

2008-09-01T20:23:00.000-07:00

When we opened in May we had guests coming quickly so we did what all good folks do who have guests coming. We stashed all the things we didn't have time to think about in a cabinet and closet. We even put a lock on the closet. Why? It was sca-wy in there!

Today was a blessing. We didn't have guests and it gave me the perfect opportunity to clean out the sca-wy closet and cabinet. Looks good as new. Boy, do we have a lot of stuff to sell in a garage sale! Maybe in October...if it's cooler. Oh, I hope, I hope!

I'll leave you with a great quote on cleaning from Erma Bombeck. How we miss her. My second favorite household chore is ironing. My first being hitting my head on the top bunk bed until I faint.

Thank You, God!

2008-08-24T20:19:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-23T19:30:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-17T19:23:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-16T14:57:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-13T15:22:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-11T18:19:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-10T18:04:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-09T17:33:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-07T16:30:00.001-07:00

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?

2008-08-07T16:15:00.001-07:00

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

2008-08-06T18:35:00.001-07:00

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

2008-08-05T17:53:00.001-07:00

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?

2008-08-04T19:07:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-03T16:09:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-02T20:00:00.000-07:00

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.