My Christmas Break

I had such a wonderful Christmas break!  I proposed to Kara, and she said "yes"!  The two of us spent the entire 2 and half weeks together, and I proposed on day two.  

Christmas at Kara's house was a lot of fun.  We had a really yummy breakfast, exchanged gifts, and afterward is when Kara and I went outside and walked to our special spot - through a trail and up on a hill that overlooks a big pond (they call it a lake) - to sit and talk.  After sitting and talking for awhile, we stood up and I got down on one knee and proposed.  We had a really sweet time together before walking back over to her house.

We had Christmas with her grandparents, sang Christmas songs at a nursing home, got together one night with the Layman family and another night with the Eldridge family (two home school families) and had a lot of fun singing, playing games, and visiting.   We did a lot more, of course, but these were some of the highlights.

On Christmas day after going to Kara's grandparents' house, the two of us went to my parents' house in Middle TN.  Jason and Rebekah were already there with the girls, and we got a really warm welcome from Elaina and Claire.  :-)  It was really good seeing everyone, and my mom had cooked a wonderful supper. We watched Elf that night.  

The next day, Louis and Abi arrived.  We stayed till Monday afternoon, and while there we got to see a lot of my family and friends, went to the Opryland Hotel and to the theatre, and just had a wonderful time visiting.  We attended Cookeville Primitive Baptist Church that Sunday and had a wonderful time with the saints there -  it was exciting seeing their new building too.  

Monday afternoon, Kara and I went to East Tennessee.  On the way, we stopped at a hole-in-the-wall mexican restaurant in Smithville because I wanted Kara to try their tacos (my favorite tacos EVER).  This place recently opened up in Smithville, and it's very authentic and just wonderful.  So, we had two steak tacos as a snack as we made our way to East Tennessee.  

I took Kara to Knoxville that night, and we had fun.  I took her to Sitar (a really good Indian restaurant), the West Town Mall, toured her through different areas of Knoxville, and we stopped in downtown Knoxville to get out and walk across a big bridge that overlooks beautiful lights and the Tennessee River.  

The next day, I toured her through Oak Ridge and a part of Knoxville called Turkey Creek.  We had such a wonderful time, had lunch at Salsaritas, shopped, watched the Tale of Desperaux at the Turkey Creek Theatre (probably my favorite theatre - it's really nice and has lots of lights), and had supper at Wasabi Japanese Steakhouse & Sushi Bar.

At Wasabi, we had sushi (Alaskan Roll) and the Samurai Dinner (Ribeye, Shrimp, Chicken).  Our Samurai Dinner was served with fresh tossed salads with secret Wasabi dressing, Japanese soup, Japanese-style vegetables, and fried rice.  We sat infront of a grill with a chef cooking our food and doing fancy tricks.  I think my favorite trick was the flaming onion stack... and he then pushed the onion when it started smoking and said "choo choo".  It was a lot of fun and the food was yummy.  We didn't think we would be able to eat it all, but we ended up almost finishing our plates.  

On our way back from Knoxville, we stopped at the Waffle House in Oak Ridge just to play a song from their jukebox.  Kara had never heard "Raisins In My Toast" - a Waffle House featured song that has been my favorite and has many funny stories wrapped around it.  Afterward, we went to Books-a-Million, and Kara got a really good Wedding Planner.

The next morning, we had breakfast next door at the Barber's.  We took Hannah, Renee, and Micah P. along with us as we traveled back through Tennessee.  I stopped in Nashville at TSU to show Kara the first University that I attended.  We walked the campus and had a good time.  Afterward, we went to some stores and shopped for awhile.  That night (New Year's Eve), we spent our time at Grace Chapel Primitive Baptist Church.  We rang in the new year holding hands (Kara and I were in a side hug) in a circle with everyone there praying and singing.  It was wonderful.  Kara's dad and Brother Edwin led in prayer.

The next day, we all slept in because we got in so late.  Kara hosted a house full of people, and we played games and enjoyed spending time together.  

Friday, the Grace Chapel New Year's Meeting started with Elders Jimmy Fulmer and Steven Bloyd hosting.  It was such a blessed meeting, and we sat under great preaching.  We also enjoyed the fellowship, and the singing was very much a blessing.  I saw Louis and Abi there at the meeting, and I also saw many other friends.  Morgan and I exchanged Christmas presents - she got me a really funny book called Cowboy & Octopus.

Sunday afternoon, I drove back to East Tennessee with Micah, Hannah, and Renee.  I had such a great 2 and a half weeks with Kara, and I can't wait to see her - Lord willing - later on this month.