Bed and Breakfast Dreams

 

Not long after Ryan’s mom passed away, we explored the idea of embarking upon a career as innkeepers at a bed and breakfast. Assistant innkeepers, actually. I found a listing for a newer, multi-room cabin in Tennessee, near Gatlinburg, that was looking for live-in assistant innkeepers to help with tasks around the property and some of the cooking in the kitchen. Everything about it seemed a perfect fit for us, and we inquired. Alas, they had just hired someone, but they invited us to submit our resume in case the one they hired didn’t end up being a fit. We didn’t feel right about that, so we never applied, and about a year later we ended up with a different kind of B&B job: managing WillowBridge. (Other than cooking and cleaning, there wasn’t much about those two that were the same.)

            But the idea of running a B&B has always lingered in the back of my mind. It will probably never be a reality for us. If we end up doing it, we’ll have to be willing to give up our own travel plans, because obviously we can’t travel the country and host people in our home at the same time. Isn’t it a good life when you have too many good dreams? What a gift!

            So even though we are unlikely to become innkeepers, we do have the privilege of welcoming friends into our home, and last week was such a week.

            I’ve written about Frog and Jenna before, because they stay with us every winter when they head to a marriage retreat in Ohio. We are a midway point for them, so they stop for a night on their way to and from the retreat, and we have a good time catching up, eating good food, and learning what they learned at the conference!

            This year we threw in an extra bit of fun: a photo shoot!

            Next month – Valentine’s Day, to be exact – marks their 20^th wedding anniversary. I was at their wedding, in my pre-Ryan days. Here is a photo of the three of us on that day, actually!

            Jenna asked if I would be willing to do a photo shoot for them. She brought her wedding dress and bouquet and Frog brought a suit similar to his tux from his wedding day, and they braved the FREEZING temps to pose on snow and ice for new wedding pictures. Jenna has only shared one of them on social media, so I will share the same one, but here is a picture Ryan took of me, all bundled up, photographing them. Poor Jenna was on the other side of my camera lens in a strapless dress. Such a trooper.

            We had to work quickly, because it gets dark here around 6 p.m. right now. So the moment they arrived, they threw on the wedding garb and we rushed out for pictures. Then we had time to eat dinner.

            Sometimes we take them out to eat, but we stayed in this year. That first night, Ryan grilled burgers and we made tater tots in the air fryer. I sauteed some mushrooms and brought out all the toppings I could think of for extra gourmet burgers, and we had homemade hamburger buns, too! I made cinnamon cookie bars with cream cheese frosting for dessert, and it was a good night.

            We transformed our overflow office into a guest room for the night, and I thought it turned out pretty cozy!

            When they came back the second time, we had pulled pork for dinner, and Ryan got to use the shredding claws I gave him for our anniversary. Game changer on shredding meat, by the way! We had homemade macaroni and cheese, steamed broccoli, and Oreo Milkshake Cookies for dessert.

            After dinner, we settled in on the couch to watch the playoffs and we all laughed at how we worked on our laptops while we watched. (Picture fun for Jenna and me. I’m not sure what the guys were working on.)

            They left Sunday morning when we left for church, and we will look forward to their stay again next year! Always good to have them here in our little mini B&B. It may not have mountain views, but even a frozen and snow-covered lake isn’t too shabby!

Oh! And Jenna gifted us some of her gorgeous homemade hot cocoa bombs and salted caramels. She's amazing.