Snow, Ice, Cold, Cold and More Cold!!

No one told me that it could get this cold in Kentucky!!  This poor California girl is freezing over here. I had my first experience of below freezing weather this January.  Did you know that the insides of your nose can freeze together?  Well it can and did.  This cold weather is crazy and amazing all at the same time. :)  At least I can now say I lived through the Polar Vortex of January 2014.  Well, all of you California family and friends enjoy your warm weathered winter as you look at these freezing pictures taken around Louisville and at the Seminary during the Polar Vortex.

Scraping ice off of your car in the morning is only fun the first time you do it.  But...sometimes the ice makes some beautiful feather like crystal structures that almost make it fun to scrape ice again.  :)

Don't I have the cutest ice scraper? :)  And look, he's using my super unique bear claw ice scraper that keeps your hands semi-warm while your scraping ice.

We had a small ice storm one night and the next morning we woke up to a crystal world.  Everything was covered in ice.  When the sun came up it looked like millions of diamonds everywhere.  It was absolutely breath taking.  On this day I could endure the cold for the unbelievable beauty that surrounded me.  The following pictures are from that ice storm.

A Time to Give Thanks...

This time of year always seems to be the busiest for us.  Matt is busy studying and working, I'm busy with nanny responsibilities and sewing, but in the midst of all this business it's good to stop and take time to give thanks.  God has been so good to us!  Matt began his second year of Seminary in August and he is now in his last weeks of finishing up this semester.  As I'm writing this post, we are sitting in Barnes and Noble and he is studying, reading, and preparing for his finals next week.  We are so thankful for every circumstance that God used to bring us here to The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.  At work, Matt received a promotion to operator; which came with a nice raise.  God is good to us financially! I could not be happier with my job as a nanny.  It is the perfect job for this season of our lives.  Since both of the kids that I nanny are in school, I have the whole middle of the day to myself.  This has allowed me to be able to attend chapel services with Matt on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  I'm so thankful for what God has been teaching me through all of the Godly chapel speakers.  God is allowing us both to grow so much in the knowledge of Him and Who He is while we are here attending classes.  I just finished up my third semester of Seminary Wive's classes by taking a discipleship class.  I learned so much from this class, but one thing that stands out to me is this profound lesson:  "ministry wives will need to learn to be 'self-feeders' before they will ever be able to feed (disciple) another."  This class greatly challenged me in my own personal walk with God through helping me to be more consistent in my daily Bible reading, prayer, and worship time.  I'm so thankful that Mrs. Mohler, the seminary president's wife, began this special school to train up minister's wives alongside their husbands.  I don't want to give any of you all the false impression that we live perfect lives.  No, we don't have perfect lives, and everything doesn't always go our way.  But, we are doing our best to learn from what the Apostle Paul said:  "I have learned in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content."  Even if that state is Kentucky and not California.  :)  Yes, we miss California, but we know that God has us over here in Kentucky to prepare ourselves for the future ministry He has planned for us.  We both can boldly say that whether in good times or bad, God has always been there working in us and even through us, and for this we are ever thankful.

Okay, now I will get you all up to date with some of the pictures of our latest adventures since our last post.  I don't know about you, but I love looking at pictures, so if you're like me, than this section of this post is for you.  Enjoy!!

Back in September, Matt and I went on a little mini-vacation to the Madison Art Festival in Indiana, which is about an hour away from Louisville.  The town of Madison, IN is reminiscent of small-town America, and we really enjoyed looking at all the amazing architecture from that era.  We had a great time even if it did pour on us the second day we were there.  There were many local artists and artisans with some very unique art on display.

We have found the best spot for eating fresh seasonal food at The Blue Dog Bakery and Cafe.  It's walking distance from the Seminary, and they have the best soups, pizzas and sandwiches.  Everything there is so fresh, and a lot of it is served farm to table so we are supporting our local farmers and enjoying good food. 

Last year we got our pumpkins from Huber's Farm in IN, so this year we figured, "why not make it a tradition while we're here."  Matt had never been to an actual pumpkin field to pick his own pumpkin.  This was quite fun watching my perfectionist husband trying to pick the perfect pumpkin in a field of 100s of pumpkins.  

In October, my mom surprised my dad by flying me home for his birthday.  It was so good to see family again, and to meet my cousin Mike and his family for the first time.  It was a quick two-day trip.  Just a little teaser to make me miss California even more.  :) 

Before I left California to go back to Kentucky, my parents took me to see the ocean.  I sure do miss the Pacific Ocean.  The Ohio River here in Kentucky just doesn't compare to the great big Pacific Ocean.  

I've always had this fear of cooking steaks, but I love to eat them.  So recently I decided to conquer this fear and learn how to cook a good steak.  I've been doing pretty good so far, and Matt sure does like steak night Saturdays.  

Every year, since we've been married, Matt and I have packed up shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child.  We always have so much fun shopping for the items to put in our boxes and then coming home and trying to fit everything into the box.

Ok, I'll admit it.  Kentucky does have something up on California.  The trees all turn the most beautiful colors here during the fall!

As a side job, I sew vintage belts for two ladies who have a business designing the belts and selling them to boutiques. When I'm not sewing these belts, I love to quilt.  I made this wall quilt out of a bunch of vintage scrap material that I found at the thrift store here on campus.  All the pieces of material were already cut into shapes, so it was quite a challenge trying to piece them together, but I like the end result.  

Matt and I took our Christmas card picture the weekend before Thanksgiving.  It was freezing outside at Cherokee Park.  Matt was a good sport though.  We had to use the timer on my camera and set it up on a tripod to take the pictures for us.  It took us a while, but we finally got a picture we both liked.  The picture above is not the picture we used for our card, I didn't want to put that one on here only on our Christmas card.  

Ice Cream, Fairs, and Festivals Oh My!!

At this season in our lives, God has placed Luke 12:48 heavily on my heart.  "Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more."  We are both being given so much training while we are here at Southern Theological Seminary.  I truly feel like a sponge doing my best to be saturated with the good Godly teaching we are being influenced with on a daily basis.  Then, it dawned on me the other day, we are going to be very responsible to the congregation that God leads us to after graduation.  We have been given much, and then it will be our turn to give back.  That's definitely a scary thought, but I have all confidence that God will never give us more than we can handle, and that He is always there to strengthen us to the task He has laid before us.  Which brings another excellent passage to mind from Joshua 1:9b "Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”  What an excellent promise to hold on to wherever God has brought us to in our lives.  He will be with us wherever we go.  Once again I stand in absolute awe of what an awesome and mighty God we serve!!  We are definitely enjoying this season of intense training in our lives right now.  Which is good, because we have 3 years and 11 months more of it, not that anyone's counting down or anything. :)  Besides a busy schedule of studies, Matt and I find time to enjoy the Southern life here in Kentucky.  So, without further ado, here are the pics of what we've been up to since the end of July.  Enjoy!!

Ok, I had to start with this pic, because we have eaten more than our fair share of ice-cream this Summer. :) 

We experienced our first tow.  It was fun!!  It didn't cost us anything thanks to good Costco Insurance, and it ended up being the alternator which Matt was able to replace himself.  In the pouring Summer rain, it was a pretty interesting experience, but one that God blessed throughout.

Louisville is definitely known as a foodie Mecca.  So, we've been trying a lot of the local restaurants.  I loved the grilled cheese at Tom and Chee, but Matt didn't like it so much, probably due to the fact that he's really not a cheese lover. :)  I'm so blessed with a husband who took me to Tom & Chee anyways because he knows that I LOVE cheese.

See, we really don't just go to festivals and eat all the time, Matt does a lot of studying too.  

I just had to mention this.  I don't think I'll ever stop saying "you guys."  

That's what a tobacco plant looks like.  It kind of looks like seaweed to this CA girl.  There was a whole exhibit of all the varieties of tobacco at this year's KY state fair.

Ahh...now doesn't this State Fair exhibit look so healthy?  Do not be deceived though, this is not how all Southerner's truly eat....see the next picture and you will know what I mean.  :) 

Yep, you're seeing this right, Krispy Kreme Donuts on the grill!!

And here's what they're turning  those Krispy Kreme Donuts into.  Jelly filled sloppy joes, and donut burgers.  

I know...You're asking yourself, "who would eat such fattening weird food?"  Well, this picture says it all.   Hungry seminary students will! :)  Yep, Matt loved them, me no thank you.  :) 

Ok, this is the last fair picture, but isn't it just so creative?!!

For my birthday this year, I got the most amazing dutch oven ever!! Thanks to my wonderful husband and mother -in-law.  I've already cooked pork roast, and creamy chicken noodle soup in it and they both turned out amazing.  

One thing about being way out here in KY is that I don't get to go shopping with my mom for my birthday. :(  But, she sent me a JCPenny's gift card and I was able to buy a whole new outfit.  I was so excited because I have lost 25 lbs since we've come to KY and my clothes were making me look like an orphan.  It's so nice to have an outfit that actually fits now, plus I had fun picking it out.  

This lovely little Southern vegetable is called Kushaw and it's actually from the pumpkin family.  One of the men from the church in Turner's Station was always sharing produce from his garden with us, and one Sunday this is what we got.  They told me that pretty much anything that you make with pumpkin, you can use Kushaw instead.  So, I was pretty excited to try cooking with it.  I have to say, it made me feel kind of Southern. :)

Here's what it looks like on the inside.

And here's the finished product....Kushaw pie.  The verdict:  it tastes even better than pumpkin pie!!

Ok, we've discovered that late Summer and early Fall is definitely festival time here in Louisville.  Matt enjoyed at least 3 of these pina colada's at The World Fest in Down Town Louisville.  I know what you're thinking...no they didn't have alcohol in them, we're in Seminary. :) 

While at the World Fest, I thought I died and went to Heaven when I saw that they had Elote...which is Mexican corn on the cob.  Oh how it made me miss the little street vendor in San Jose, CA that I used to buy it from every Saturday while I was going to college in the Bay Area.  

And the festival's continue with The Bluegrass Festival.  The Kettle Corn was amazing!!

So, what's the best way to enjoy bluegrass music?  Flat on your back on the lawn according to Matt.  

Before the Bluegrass Festival was over, God decided to roll in some "music" of His own with a huge thunder storm and buckets of rain.  Needless to say, the rest of the festival was canceled for the night.  That was okay though, because Matt and I enjoyed watching and listening to God's "festival" much more anyways.  Not that bluegrass music is bad or anything, you just can't compare to perfection.  

At the Seminary's Fall Festival this year, the them was "The World's Fair 1904."  We had the best time ever.  We were so surprised to see that they even had boba.  We haven't seen boba since we left CA, where we used to get it every Thursday night after classes at CBU at Boba Loca.  The night ended with an amazing light show right on the face of the Seminary's library.  I'm so thankful that we attend a Seminary where they truly care about their students.  

Ok, this last picture is just so you guys don't think that all we eat is fair and festival food all the time. :)  We actually eat really healthy during the week thanks to a great local farmer's market that we go to just about every Saturday.  

Well, I hope you all enjoyed that picture journey of our lives since the end of July.  I just wanted to include a list of a few things that we would like you to join us in prayer for.

1. That God would lead us to a permanent church home here in Louisville.  Matt finished off the summer preaching at the small church in Turner's Station, KY.  After much prayer, he decided that he would not be able to have the time to adequately server the church there during the school year.
2. For Matt's studies here at Seminary.  Especially for time management.
3. For both of us to be a light and witness at our jobs.

My Parents' First Visit to Kentucky

The moment that Matt and I have been waiting for over six months for finally arrived...my parents came for a visit!! We've been planning and anticipating their visit for so long now that it seems strange that it is now over as I am writing this.  We made out this pretty detailed itinerary for their visit while they were here.  We wanted them to experience as much of Kentucky as possible in the 3 days that they were here.  So, first let me share with all of you the itinerary that we made for them.

 Kentucky Itinerary for Sunday, July 14^th – Wednesday, July 17^th

Sunday

5:20  Pick up from airport

6:00 Eat Dinner at home (Kentucky Farmer’s Market Salad)

7:30  Walk at Waterfront Park and the Big Four Pedestrian Bridge [free]

Monday

7:30 – 8:00 Eat Breakfast at home

9:00 – 10:00 Seminary Tour [free]

10:30 – 11:00 Shopping at Costco

11:30 – 2:00 Kentucky Derby Museum and lunch at the Derby Cafe [$14.00]

2:30 – 4:30 Cave Hill Cemetery [free] & Cherokee Park Auto Tour [free]

5:00 – 7:00 Buca di Beppo for Dinner

Tuesday

8:00 – 9:00 Eat Breakfast at home

9:30 – 12:00 Muhammad Ali Center [$9.00]

12:30 – 1:30 Anchorage Café for Lunch

1:30 – 5:00 Country drive to Turners Station [free]

5:00 – 6:00 Our Best Restaurant for Dinner open until 8:00 p.m.

7:00 – 7:30 Dessert at Pie Kitchen

Wednesday

7:30 – 8:00 Eat breakfast at home and depart

9:00   – 11:00 Patton Museum and Fort Knox [free]

12:00  - 1:00  Abraham Lincoln Birthplace and picnic lunch [free]

1:00 (time change) – 4:00 CST (acutally5:00 EST) Mammoth Caves

(Historic Tour Begins at 1:45 and lasts 2 hours) [$12.00]

6:00 – 7:00 Dinner at Whistle Stop Café

8:00 Arrive back home

We actually did pretty good at sticking to this schedule.  We did so well, that we got to do extra things at night like play corn hole when we had time left over.  Well, now that you've seen our itinerary, let me share some pictures with you from our exploration of Kentucky with my parents.  

After picking my parents up from the airport, we came back to our apartment on the Southern Seminary campus and had dinner around 6:00 p.m.  We had a cobb salad that I made with fresh Kentucky ingredients from the Farmer's Market.  After dinner was finished, we took my parents to Graeter's Ice cream.  They loved it!! Especially my dad.  We ended up going to Graeters everyday that they were here.  While we were at Graeters, my parents got to experience their first Kentucky storm, with especially loud thunder.  After ice cream we went to the Big Four Pedestrian Bridge at Waterfront Park in Downtown Louisville.  We enjoyed walking across the Ohio River on this bridge and we got some good pictures with the city skyline in the background.  Our first night with my parents was great.  It was especially fun to see how much they enjoyed seeing the lightning bugs once the sun went down. 

Just had to slip this picture in of the beautiful sunset taken from the Big Four Pedestrian bridge after the storm.  The Glory Holes stretched from one horizon to the other.  It was absolutely breathtaking.  This picture definitely doesn't do it justice.  

The next day, Monday, we visited the Kentucky Derby Museum and Churchill Downs.  So much history in this place, be we were all surprised to discover that it wasn't as "classy" as we thought it would be.  The chairs in the stands were just green metal folding chairs.  I'm sure the expensive private box seats were better, but it was interesting to see the simplicity of it all.  We ate Hot Browns, and Derby Pie at the little cafe in the museum.  We all loved the Derby Pie, and the Hot Brown were good, but very rich!

Here's a picture of one of the two iconic Churchill Down's steeples.  It was pretty hot out there on the track as we were listening to our tour guide, but it was worth it to be able to actually be where so many famous horses have raced throughout the years.  

After Churchill Downs, we drove over to Cave Hill National Cemetery.  This is an incredibly old and historic cemetery.  Colonel Sanders (KFC) is buried there along with quite a few other historic Kentuckians.  We all enjoyed walking through the gardens, reading the tombstones, and pondering life.  I guess it might seem kind of strange to take your parents to a cemetery, but my mom really enjoys going to cemeteries.  No!! she's not Goth or anything, :)  she just likes all the history that's there.  

For Dinner on Monday, we went to Bucca di Beppo.  They have really good family style Italian food. In this picture we're eating a bruschetta appetizer.  It was delicious!!

This picture is so that you all can see the special booth that we got at Bucca di Beppo.  If you make reservations, you can request their one table that is located in the kitchen so that you can watch them cook.  It was a neat experience.  

Since we finished our itinerary early Monday night, we got to play a game of corn hole.  It was Matt and I against my Mom and Dad.  And......they beat us!!  It sure was nice to play on the beautiful Seminary lawn surrounded by all the green and the lightning bugs.  

On Tuesday we went to the Muhammed Ali Center in Downtown Louisville.  My Dad is a BIG Muhammed Ali fan, and we've been looking forward to taking him to this museum for a long time.  Wow, wow, and wow!!! this museum is amazing, it's done so nice.  We all really enjoyed our time at the museum, buy I'm sure my dad enjoyed it the most, as he got to learn more about one of his childhood heroes.  

Here's kind of a random and interesting fact.  The Muhammed Ali Center has the second longest escalator in Kentucky.  It really was quite long as you can kind of see by this picture.  We were already about half way up when I took it.  

Here's a picture of the view from the top floor of the Muhammed Ali Center.  That's the Ohio river, with Indiana on the other side.  

At the museum they had these centers where you can pick and watch any of Muhammed Ali's fights.  My dad could easily have stayed here the whole day, but we still had places to go on our itinerary.  :) 

Muhammed Ali is definitely a man of many words, and this is a picture of just one of his many quotes that are displayed in the museum.  

Here's a picture of the entrance to the Muhammed Ali Center.  It thought that it was a pretty interesting architectural design.  

Taking a break outside the Muhammed Ali Center.  Matt didn't know I was taking this picture.  It was pretty hot and humid the entire time my parents were here, so any shade from trees was greatly appreciated while we were trekking through Kentucky.  

After we left the Muhammed Ali Center I thought it would be a good idea to take my dad by the actual house where Muhammed Ali grew up.  The house is still there.  It definitely wasn't very big.  

After the Muhammed Ali Center, we took my parents for a country drive out to the church where Matt is the intern pastor at - Turners Station.  We saw two Amish buggies on the back country roads, and a doe and her fawn grazing on the side of the road.  It was a really country experience.  We at at Our Best restaurant in Smithfield.  We all ordered fried chicken, and my dad quickly said that it was the best fried chicken that he had ever had.  I definitely have to agree with him.  It was AMAZING!!  I keep dreaming about it.  

Just had to slip this picture in of my Dad and his pickled beets.  He really did like them.  He's frowning because that's all that's on his plate at that moment.  Don't worry, he got real happy once his fried chicken was added to his plate.  :) 

Since we still had some time left over that night after finishing everything on our itinerary and going to the mall, we went to Historic old Louisville.  They have the most beautiful historic victorian houses you've ever seen.  Most of them are well over 100 years old.  After viewing these amazing homes, we went back to the Seminary to play another round of corn hole and see if Matt and I could pull off a win.  We had no luck, and my parents beat us once again.  So, they are the undefeated champions of corn hole.  I think my dad is going to have to buy my mom a corn hole game though, because she really likes it and she's really good at it.  :) 

Wednesday came too quickly, my parents last full day in KY.  Not only does my dad like Muhammed Ali, but he also likes General Patton.  Amazingly Kentucky has a museum for both of these influential men.  So, on Wednesday we took my parents to the Patton Museum at Fort Knox.  The car in this picture is the actual car that General Patton was in when it was struck, which later led to his death.  

These are the actual ivory handled pistols and leather gun belt that belonged to General Patton.  We had a great time at the Patton Museum and then we headed out to see Abraham Lincoln's birth place.  On the way to his birthplace, we passed by the United States Bullion Depository at Fort Knox, and we drove through Elizabethtown where the movie "Elizabethtown" was filmed.  

We planned on eating a picnic lunch at the park at Abraham Lincoln's Birthplace, so we got out and picked a nice shaded area and sat down to eat.  Right away I looked over at my mom and saw that she was practically covered in mosquitos.  She had become a mosquito buffet!!  I quickly stood up and yelled, "We gotta move!!"  So, we did, but not without some ichy mosquito bites.  I didn't think to bring bug spray!!  Well, it's definitely an experience that we'll all remember.  :)  The last I talked to my mom, she counted 15 bites.  Ouch!!  This picture is of the monument built as a memorial to Abraham Lincoln's birthplace.  There are 56 steps leading up to it...one step for each year of his life.  

Inside the monument is and "almost to scale" replica of the log cabin that Abraham Lincoln was born in.  

In this picture, they're all gathered around the spring on the Lincoln farm that is still running today.  It was so nice and cool down there.  

I think we might be wearing out our parents a little bit. :)  But...we still have our 2 mile historic hike in Mammoth Caves to go to.  

I don't have any pictures of our hike in Mammoth caves (The world's longest cave system) because cameras just don't take good pictures down in the cave, but it was so nice and refreshing to be down in a 52 degree cave when the weather outside of the cave was so hot and humid.  After our hike we went to the The Whistle Stop in Glendale, KY, for dinner.  They had the best fried green tomatoes ever!!!  Well, all good things must come to an end and my parents had to head back to hot, burning (it literally was burning with a large fire in the San Jacinto Mountains near their home.) Southern  California.  We had a great time showing my parents around Kentucky, and we can't wait to do it again,  maybe we'll take it a little easier on them next time, and maybe they'll let us win a game of corn hole.  :) :)

I hope y'all enjoyed this post on our vacation with my parents.