My first incredible day

First of all,
I just wanted to apologize for not posting anything yesterday- it was a very full day and we just didn't get the wifi up and running!
But I am officially in Kentucky--home of horseracing, competitive college basketball--and ahhem--whiskey and tobacco. ;) To clarify, my dad is here to represent The Master's Seminary at the Together For the Gospel Conference (Tuesday-Thursday, featuring Al Mohler, CJ Mahaney, John MacArthur and other exceptional speakers), and my mom and I are just along for the ride!! :))
It is 10:51 in Louisville, the high for today is a chilly 61 degrees, but as I look out the window the sun is shining and it looks like it is gonna be another incredible day!! :D
Let me back up a little though and tell you about yesterday...
Yesterday began wonderfully- I woke up at 4:30 AM to the blare of my radio alarm and stubbed my toe-for the second time- against my suitcase (which I stupidly positioned right beside my bed).
We drove to the airport, went through all of that rigamorole--then just chilled out before our flight took off around 7:ooish....I got a strawberry, banana smoothie at one of the airport cafes and that thankfully allowed me to forget all about alarm clocks, getting up at 4:30 AM, and stubbing my toe against suitcases. :))
Our first flight was from Burbank to Denver, CO, our second flight was from Denver, Co to Chicago, IL...then finally we flew out of O'Hare and into Louisville! Needless to say, we had a lot of layovers!!
I just rested on the first flight, then on the second and third flight I listened to my iPod and read Passion and Purity.
On board, I gracefully managed to spill cranberry juice all over my white/beige colored shirt...lovely. Why do things like that always happen to me?? Thankfully I was wearing another shirt and a jacket and my stained shirt is now soaking happily in the bathroom.
I DID grab Starbucks in the O'Hare airpot-- carmel frappe light, no whip cream.
Now for the most exciting part of the day (definitley the highlight, drumroll, hope you're ready for this!)-- on our flight from Chicago to Louisville, guess who was on board??? The big Kurt Gebhards!!!!!
Even cooler still (sorry Kurt ;)) ), guess who we saw by the baggage claim who was there to pick up Kurt?? ERIC BANCROFT!!!!!!!!!!!!! (I will post a picture as proof!) My parents and I got to talk to him for about 15/20 minutes- about what's been going on in our family's lives, 180 ministry, and how he and his fam are doing in Indiana! He says he and Danelle love where they're at right now-- everyday they wake up and can't believe they own their beautiful home, Isaac and David are making many friends in their neighborhood, they live only a few miles away from the boys' school and they are thankful to live in a place where there are 4 distinct seasons (Eric said Danelle was like, "What's that," when their tulips in their yard started blooming and he was like, "Babe, that is a TULIP!") He said he begins preaching through a series this Sunday--that he's only preached once (on Easter, I think he said). He will be preaching through ordinances of the church. I also got to meet a man named Troy, who was with him, who ironically, is the youth pastor of Castleview Baptist...so that was cool. I asked Eric if I could pass on any messages to everybody in 180 and he said what I would have expected: that he loves us all, misses us, continue to pray for him when we think of it and that we are in good hands with Austin (he said he and Austin get to talk all the time about what's happening in 180, so he stays briefed). We talked about NYC missions, my sister coming on staff, SLC retreat...then it was time for all of us to pick up our baggage and hit the road. Definitley a remarkable and unexpected gift from the Lord getting to see and talk with my old youth pastor!! :)
Then we got our rental car (there was an ice scraper in it and I was like, "Dad, what's that?" :)) ) and drove to (second highlight of the day) CRACKER BARREL!
I got sweet tea and a chicken salad...but I got a stomach ache....:(((
After dinner, we checked into our hotel-which is BEAUTIFUL (I feel like Princess Mia from Princess Diaries...I'll post more pictures of the hotel later). Then we unpacked and discussed the tenative weekly agenda (which I will also post later)...and then we explored the hotel a bit before hitting up the GYM! I ran two miles on the treadmill, then did some reps with the weights and some situps/pushups. Then we came back to our room-showered, I read my Bible and then we hit the sack (I didn't sleep so well, but that's OK).
Then today my dad and I got up around 8:30 (KY time) and went to the gym again- this time I biked ten minutes up hill the whole way (it was killer), did reps again, and ran on the elliptical bike....now I am finishing up this blog and getting read to check out the Louisville MALL!

Anyway...thanks for reading this NOVEL...and I promise to keep you updated on the rest of today's adventures!! :)))

-Mollie
James 1:17