Sweet Tea & Southern Hospitality

First and foremost, I want to apologize for the lack of recent blog posts..my life and mind have been a little off kilter and out-of-whack these past few weeks. However, much is happening in the lives of Sara and Chad and I anticipate many new blog posts to come!

Anyways, within the past few weeks Chad and I have relocated ourselves and our home from the ever-exciting village of Bourbonnais to the Blue-blooded city of Lexington, Kentucky. To our family and friends back in Indy: our Hoosier allegiance still stands firm...at least for now. =)

Since uprooting and moving to Lexington, Chad and I have managed (with the help of our family) to:
settle down into our quaint and contemporary Lexington apartment, unpack ALL of our moving boxes, decorate 80% of the apartment, familiarize ourselves with the 3 main roads that run through Lexington, conquer our first Southern comfort food meal experience, celebrate our one year wedding anniversary, begin a church internship/ministry experience, sign up for church and community softball leagues, study like mad for Nursing boards, and grill out a wonderful Memorial Day feast just for the two of us.

Whew...quite the list of accomplishments!

A few pictures to allow you to visualize our new (but hopefully very seldom) Lexington Lunch...

Our first Southern-comfort-food meal was at a Lexington renown restaurant called Ramsey's.

Ramsey's is a little home-cookin' Southern style restaurant located in a renovated/abandoned gas station. Its quaint, simple location and appearance are quite deceiving as to the hazardous calorie filled food consumed once inside.

SWEET TEA! "you know you're in the South as long as the tea is still sweet"

This (above) was my meal...well, almost. I had the country fried steak with creamed corn and a baked potato. Regardless of the exchange of side items I am sure my meal was just as calorie and cholesterol filled as the meal featured above. However, this meal could not touch the havoc of calories and cholesterol Chad's meal contained. (See Below)

This little delight is known as a "Hot Brown" or as the Pastor who treated us to this meal liked to call it, "Cholesterol on a plate." HOLY COW! Let me explain to you what this cheese covered mountain consists of:
Two-three slices of Texas toast, a few slices of country baked ham, a few slices of roasted turkey, a smattering of gravy, a few sliced tomatoes, a layer of melted cheese, and a few slices of bacon!!! ahhh.
well, needless to say, Chad liked it!

Take some time to really fathom that meal we consumed, how we didn't need to eat for a week after and how we will be working off those calories for the rest of our lives, and then you can continue reading. =)

On a more serious note....

While Chad and I often find ourselves caught up in all the newness and excitement of Lexington, at the end of the day we always reminiscence on the sweet and friendly spirit of this place! While trying not to sound too cliche, the Southern Hospitality we have experienced these past two weeks has made us feel right at home. It seems as though every person we meet or even walk past has a smile on their face, and if eye-contact is made, offers a pleasant "Hello or my name is.." The sense of genuine community and fellowship here is unlike any other place I have encountered...and although I have yet to build relationships and friendships with my fellow "hillbillies" --- the kindness that has been shown to me almost echoes the sweet whisper of reassurance I hear from my Heavenly Father each night as I pray for our ministry, relationships, friendships, jobs, finances, and family..." I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out-plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for. "