A post from a little farther north

We are here.

Okay, so in all fairness we have been here for quite some time. But as far as the blog is concerned, this is the first time I've gotten to post that, "We are here."

We left our house bright and early on Tuesday morning and were in Nashville, Tennessee by 3pm. We got to spend a wonderful evening with Josh and Sarah and their two cutie pies: Tyler and Jordan.

Today (Wednesday) was spent traversing throughout our old stomping grounds. On the way to Bowling Green we stopped in Franklin, Kentucky. This was the town I coached and taught in for five years. We also lived there (across the street from Josh and Sarah) for four of those years. What great memories. Not only did I stop at the school and see tons of familiar teachers and administrators, but we drove by our old house and around the quaint little town of 8,000 that so embraced us so many years ago. What wonderful memories!

After that we headed to good ol' Western Kentucky and Diddle Arena. Head Coach of the Lady 'Toppers Mary Cowles was an assistant coach when I was at WKU, and boy has a lot changed since then. Diddle has been completely renovated. It looks nothing like the gym which I called home. The locker room is amazing. One cool thing is that they have a mural on one wall in the locker room. As I looked it and JB looked at it, a blonde gal boxing out front and center jumped out at us. Surely that's not me! I looked closer and saw the familiar brace I had on my right hand during my senior season and recognized the drawing taken from a picture of me in the senior media guide. How cool was that?! I also got to sign Mary's wall of graduates and visit with other familiar faces like Paula, Fly, Dixie, Doc E., and more. Great memories from that place! I also got to make a quick stop and visit with Emily D.!

After visiting WKU we headed to my old teammate Shea's house out in the country of Bowling Green. What a beautiful home on forty acres! It was amazing. Justin and Shea treated us to a fantastic lunch and despite the rain that prohibited from successfully touring the land, we had a wonderful afternoon. Isaac got to take a great nap at Shea's too which really helped give him a second wind. Shea is one of those loyal friends who will always have a special place in my heart.

We concluded our day with a quick stop at the Wilsons -- our old pastor, Mike, and his wife, Deanna, along with their three kids: Sam, Grace, and Jessie who are now quite the teenagers! Wow does time fly. We wished we could have spent more time with them but Jessie had a sixth grade graduation. We wanted to go but by this point were absolutely spent. So we opted for an early return to Josh and Sarah's, an hour and fifteen minutes south, back in Nashville. But even though the visit was short and sweet, it was great nonetheless.

Later, I will give more details of our trip. I would tell you that I will post pictures, but truth be told, I didn't take a single one. With both boys, we were quite occupied the entire time and pictures just never availed themselves.

It was a FABULOUS day. We are absolutely exhausted but so blessed by all the wonderful people we got to spend time with along the way.

I'll dance down memory lane in more detail at a later date. We will spend tomorrow (Thursday) wish Josh, Sarah, and the boys, before flying out to New York very early on Friday morning. Your continued prayers for our safe travels are much appreciated!