We Are Closed

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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!

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...

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...