Better lay off my man, if you don't wanna go to Fist City.

Hello hello!
Whitney reporting here.

We've had a great few weeks in Louisville, and that may be coming to a close as Layne begins class tomorrow. There goes the freedom, the free time, but hopefully not the free meals. (Thanks, Dr. Parker.) Last night we enjoyed tapas and Comfy Cow (only the best ice cream on this side of the Mississippi...And on the other side) with 5 of the 6 Baylor grads at Southern seminary.

Joel, Layne, Dr. P, Me, and Katherine Ann

We stayed out til closing time, as Dr. P told us of his escapades while studying abroad, including a sleep in Napoleon's old bed and friendship with a German baroness. We stayed later for his marriage counseling, and now I'm happy to say that I have Loretta Lynn's "Fist City" down pat. 

Watch out, ladies...

We've also had our next door neighbors from Ohio over for dinner, and as Allen came in, he whispered, "What's an enchilada again?" As Layne pointed out, Mexican food is the same 4 ingredients mixed up in different ways. So if it sounds Me-hee-cano, then you can count on some meat, some beans, some cheese, and some tortillas. And that's what we had, for you guys who were real curious.

Our other 2 neighbors came over to play Risk. Took 2 nights to finish this one...Like old times again, just me and the boys playing Risk, angry at La(y)ne by the end of it. (Kidding!) But we had a good time with our Bachelor Pad seminary grads next door.

We've also found the best park for running that I've ever been to. It's called Cherokee Park, and it was designed by the same man who designed Central Park. It has a huge 2.4 mile lane for running and biking, and there is plenty of shade and PLENTY of hills. There are also tons of trails like those of Cameron Park, but they seem more runner-friendly. I've only fallen face-first once. And our burning hot shower has only seared my cuts and bruises twice.

We've visited a few churches, but tonight at Sojourn the Baptism service was awesome. They used a metal tub sculpted like a coffin to symbolize the death of the old life and the raising up to the new life that is found in Christ. Their testimonies were awesome, and the place exuded with joy. Sojourn is real artsy, with a loud Coldplay-indie-folk-type band and solid preaching. They're about to move into a beautiful Cathedral a few blocks down, and its in the middle of a not-so-nice area of town. They seem very engaged in ministry with the people directly around them, and I like that. We've enjoyed it so far but plan to visit a few other places.

In other news, I watched the two boys that I'll be nannying for part of 2 days this week. Here's Chernet and Tedi outside the Southern pool:

 They are super energetic and a ton of fun. They're both 5 and from Ethiopia, and Tedi (on the right) is a really great boy and very helpful. Chernet (below) is very loving and loved to tickle my arms and kiss my cheeks. He only knows numbers, letters, mom, dad, and "Excuse me" in English. Kinda lucky for him though, because at the zoo when we were supposed to stay on the path and not touch the kangaroos, he didn't understand me and could walk after the kangaroos as much as he wanted. I might try that technique myself next time I want something good, like touching kangaroos.

Here's the water splash area at the zoo. We ran all throughout the zoo until we found it! No time for animals when you have water spraying out of a ship and its cargo.

To sum it all up, it's been a fun time in Louisville so far. We are excited about the future, and I have an awesome husband to share it with: