one more time, let's go there

Wow. What an amazing weekend we had!

We started off my 30th birthday with sleeping in and breakfast from Cosi (as mentioned in my previous post). We got all fancy and headed to Berea. Our first stop was the Artisan Center where I had a (very unhealthy) veggie plate for lunch. (I am a sucker for corn pudding.)

Then Nathan bought me this very very cool bowl that is now sitting on our dining room table. It was hard to find something in the very traditional craft setting that would work in our somewhat modern house, but I don't stop until I am successful!
We visited Nathan's family friends' 50th Wedding Anniversary Celebration. It was wonderful being around people who had been so happy for so long. We got some good marriage advice, and I got to hear stories of Nathan when he was a kid. Good times.

From there, we headed to the area around Berea College and continued to look around. Nathan's love of stringed instruments led us to the Dulcimer shop. I thought the window was pretty, so I took a picture.Dinner at Boone Tavern was AMAZING. I had the pork and Nathan had the duck (see menu here). I really wanted to have their "Race Day Pie" but I couldn't hold another bite. (I think it's funny that "Derby Pie" is copyrighted.) It doesn't matter what you call it, pecan pie with chocolate chips is hard to beat.

From there we headed to Berea Coffee and Tea, where I had a mocha and Nathan had a regular coffee. I love being around a college campus. If it weren't for debt, I'd go to college forever. But there is such a thing as debt. Oh well.

On the way home, we stopped and bought a bottle of wine. We spent the rest of the evening watching Scrubs, in our pajamas, with white zinfandel. Good birthday.

Then, today, I got the amazing birthday present of fall backwards. That extra hour of sleep was great. I got up, did my devotional, and we got ready for church. We went to Southland with Kent this morning. I was initially kinda uncomfortable - I'm not a fan of contemporary music. It feels forced and concert-ish to me. But then I remembered why I enjoy Southland.

The preaching is awesome.

Today there was a guest preacher from Charlotte (sorry I don't remember his name). He told the story of the Hoyt family, of a father who loved his disabled son so much that he completed the Ironman with his son in tow. It was an amazing story, and it showed a small piece of what God is willing to do for us. I cried a lot. It was very moving.

(I have unfortunately forgotten my youtube password, and I don't have time to go through all the hoops to figure it out. But you should follow the link above and watch the video. It is really amazing.)

We then went with two other couples and Kent to Guiseppe's. I have always thought it was some great Italian restaurant, and it was good, but it wasn't as good as the price. We then went to Kohl's and I found another Vera Wang sweater (yay!), and I came home to clean house.

Nathan went and got us an awesome dinner: brie, grapes, bread, and we finished the white zinfandel. Yumm.

I'm kinda dreading going back to the real world tomorrow. This has been such an awesome weekend!

Anyone who is not happy about turning 30 - come to central Kentucky, and I can show you how to ring it in right!