The Listening Room Cafe

On November 17th, Jami and I drove up to Nashville, TN for Lauryn Taylor's show at The Listening Room Cafe. We had a wonderful time and Lauryn did great! The other singers that sang that night were all great also, but of course Lauryn was and is our favorite!

Before the show we hung out with Lauryn at the PCG office and took these silly pictures.

This is Lauryn Taylor during her show. She did so great!

To her left is Megan Redmond and to her right is Taylor Henry. Both of them are wonderful as well! I'm a fan of all 3 of them. They played with one other guy and his name was Brandon Maddox but he didn't make it in the picture because I was making sure Lauryn was in the middle. Oops!

During the second round these great singers sang. On the far left is Gary. He is one of the guitar couches that works with the PCG clients. Next is Chris Blair. He is the owner of The Listening Room Cafe and he also is a singer-songwriter. The young lady's name is Samantha Landrum. She is amazing! At only 16 years old she has an amazing voice and is on track to make it big! On the end is Dillon Dixon. He is a really great song writer and also has a great voice. Lauryn, Samantha and Megan have all written songs with him in the past. Many of Samantha's current songs were co-written with Dillon.

After the show we hung around for a little while and talked with a few of the performers and took pictures with Lauryn. She is so great and I am so proud of her! Here is the link to her Myspace page so that you can listen to some of her music.

Jami and I really would love to go back up to Nashville on Dec. 16th or the 17th for Lauryn's showcase at The Bluebird but I'm not sure that we'll make it because Jami has school and I don't have anyone to keep BR. I hate that we'll probably miss it because I would love to be there for that show. I know it's going to be special!

Jami and I love you Lauryn Taylor! 
Keep singing, writing and following your dream!!

Dina the Dinosaur

Yesterday, we went shopping for BR's Christmas presents and bought her this adorable Dinosaur Walk and Ride toy. Before we made it home, Chase and I decided that she "needed" it now. haha! So we put it together and let her go. Problem is that she can't go very far inside without running into the wall or furniture. So today we took Dina outside and let BR push her around the yard and up and down the driveway. She loves her new toy! I'm so glad we gave it to her early!

Here is a video of BR in action.

With Dina's help BR will be walking on her own in no time!

Shutterfly

Shutterfly is a great online website to use for printing photos and making lots of great things with your pictures, like photo books and Christmas cards. In the past I have used Shutterfly to make our Christmas cards, photo books, birth announcements and soon I’ll be using them to make BR’s 1^st Birthday invitations. They have such cute designs and I just love all the choices! The website is easy to use so making photo cards, a photo book or any other type gift/project is a breeze.

Click on each of these links to view all the different products:

·         Christmas cards to http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-cards

·         greeting cards to http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/5x7-folded-greeting-cards
·         photo albums to http://www.shutterfly.com/photo-books/simple-path

·         photo cards to http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery

·         calendars to http://www.shutterfly.com/calendars

·         birthday cards to http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/birthday-cards-stationery

Here are four of my favorite Christmas photo cards:

 Above is their Family Memories Christmas card. I think this is adorable and would also make a cute birthday invitation if they made one like this, but I'm not sure that they do. I'll have to check!

 Above is their Peppermint Bliss Christmas card. I love the writing at the top!

Above is their Giggles & Grins Christmas card. I think it's just adorable!

And last but certainly not least, is my favorite one. This is the Classic Red Square Christmas card. I just love it and I'm not 100% sure why. I think it's because it's simple and you can add 8 different pictures.

Head on over to Shutterfly and get your next photo project started!

Operation Christmas Child - 2010

This year we filled two boxes for Operation Christmas Child through Samaritan's Purse. It was really fun to put them together! I wish we could be there to see the smiles on the faces of the little boy and girl that receive our boxes.

  

Above are the things we put in the little boy box.

Above are the things we put in the little girl box.

We did both boxes for children age 2-4. Also, we spent about $20 per box.

I loved doing this so much that I'm thinking this is going to be a tradition for our family every year. I love the idea of providing a gift filled box for a child overseas that wouldn't have a Christmas gift otherwise.

Merry Christmas!

Fills Me With Joy

Shutterfly Fun!

I love Shutterfly! I have been using Shutterly for a while now and I have always loved their quality and the products they offer!

We'll be using Shutterfly this year for our Christmas cards and I plan on ordering BR's 1st birthday invitations from them as well. Can you believe her birthday is in a little over 2 months? Yikes! I better get planning! haha

You can take a look at all the beautiful Christmas Cards they have to offer here.
http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-photo-cards

Shutterfly has great photo book options. They have lots of different themes and covers and the process is so easy! Check it out here...http://www.shutterfly.com/photo-books

Shutterfly is having a great promotion where you can write a blog about Shutterfly and receieve 50 FREE Holiday Cards! Click on the link below to see how you can get your FREE Holiday Cards here.
http://blog.shutterfly.com/5358/holiday2010-blog-submission-form/

I'm super excited about using Shutterfly for our Christmas cards because I know they will be great!

Lauryn Taylor

 I am so proud of this young lady and how far she has come with her music and the determination she has to fulfill her dreams. Currently, Lauryn is working with PCG Nashville. They are a talent organization that is working with Lauryn to develop who she wants to be as a performer and singer-song writer.

 I used to babysit Lauryn and her siblings when they were growing up and I'm so proud of her. She is beautiful, talented, funny and a true joy to be around and I love her!!

Tonight I wanted to share a YouTube video that Lauryn just posted of one of her newest songs. I think it's a great song and I can totally hear it on the radio already. 

Click HERE to visit Lauryn's web page. HERE to visit her YouTube page to listen to her other songs and HERE to visit her MySpace page. Her MySpace page doesn't have music on it yet but I'm sure they're working on it.  You can also "Like" or "Be a Fan" of her fan page on Facebook, HERE.

This Wednesday, Lauryn is playing her first show in Nashville at The Listening Room Cafe and I get to go!! I'm so excited!! My friends, Brittany, Jami and I are driving up there together on Wednesday afternoon for the show and then driving back that night because we all 3 have to work on Thursday. It's going to be a long day and night but it will TOTALLY be worth it. Lauryn is great and I'm so glad we get to be there for her on her first night in Nashville. Yay!!

I'll make sure to take some pictures Wednesday and post about that when I get back. I hope everyone is having a good week. Love!