Thursday, November 29, 2007

A Teacher Graduates.....



The following was taken from today's Chico Enterprise Record:

ENGEBRETSEN — Clara E. Engebretsen, 70, of Paradise, died Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2007, in Chico. Arrangements are under the direction of Newton-Bracewell Cremation & Funeral Service of Paradise, 873-7602.

Clara (Raymond, Lambeth) Engebretsen was my first and second grade teacher. I remember those years. Please pray for her family.


The picture to the right was taken in July 2006 at a school reunion.

-Norm

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Our Hannah Montana Saga



If you have a preteen or know of a preteen, I am sure you have heard of Hannah Montana. The tickets went on sale in Knoxville the day we drove over. We thought we could get some when we got here but, Hannah Montana, Miley Cyrus' alter ego, was raised in TN. The tickets were gone in a matter of minutes. We got big laughs when we said we were going to get some. Our plan B was to enter contests. I will not tell you the lengths I went to to enter these, just suffice it to say we entered about six contests, winning none.

The concert day came and went, tickets were selling for hundreds even thousands of dollars. I got a tip that the day of the concert they start selling regular seats that are held to sell at that time. I tried it and snagged three great seats for the concert in Charlotte NC. I decided to surprise the girls by showing up to their schools, picking them up and telling them on the way. My plan, like most of my plans, had some snags.

It started out rough; I tripped over something and tried to catch my balance with my other foot. Unfortunatly, my other foot was asleep and I went crashing down to the foot (Mitchell was thrilled). Yes, I sprained my ankle. Undetered, I grabbed my directions, ticket confirmation and ace bandage and off we went.
But certainly I wouldn't be blogging if this was the only problem. Mind you, I am still acclimating to the concept that the ocean is now on the other side and that the states are arranged differently. Through the pain, I didn't realize I had grabbed my "reverse" directions to get home from the concert. Now, I have been out of Knoxville before (sometimes on purpose), but certainly not this far out. Making sure I was following directions correctly, I would set the mileage at each change. At one point I went over the mileage and realized I had made a mistake. I started to panic. I was going in the opposite direction heading towards Virginia! (I think) I grabbed my atlas which I am never without, I realized my mistate; a difference of about 60 miles one way.

Then I uttered the words no mother should tell her children, 'girls, watch for cops'. I realized now that my directions would not take my there and started to call Norm to see if he could look up better directions. After some very confusing directions (Hope's interpretation of Norm's directions), we got there. We had about ten minutes before the will call booth closed, when we left the parking garage. Hope took off her sandals and took off running with Grace and I behind. I started running the best I could (I think I conjured up my lamaze breathing) to the bright lights. Just our luck, those bright lights were the greyhound bus terminal. After standing there in a daze, Hope squealed; she had found it. I hobbled up to the will call window with one minute to spare.

We went in to a stadium filled with twenty thousand screaming preteens and their mothers and I promptly threw up. I think the jog on my ankle got to me. But the girls were thrilled and it was all worth it. Are we done? No. The problem with running from the car like crazy Jonas Brothers fans (yes, that is who we really came to see), is that we had no idea were we had parked the car. For the next hour, we limped our way through downtown Charlotte (lovely town by the way). Once we found it, I decided I could not make it home that night. Much to the girls disappointment, we spent the night and enjoyed the trip home the following day. I am now gratfully lying down with my foot propped up which is the best feeling I have had since the day before.

-Tina

Sunday, November 18, 2007

Getting to Knoxvul (that's how you say it)



Like Norm had said, we visited a great new church; yesterday we met with the church to pack meals for Meals on Wheels. We packed 2ooo boxes! It was fun and a good way to get to know our new church family. Our church will be doing some sort of outreach every other week. Plus, they will be starting home groups at the first of the year.

A couple of things we've discovered this week. We signed up for our library cards. We have ten libraries; all interconnected. I am in heaven. The closet library is a beautiful stone interior/exterior with a fireplace and huge windows that over look the trees. I could stay there for hours. So far, I have hit three of the libraries. Click on the post title above to visit the Knox County Libraries website.

I also, along with the girls, got caught in a storm. Not a look-at-the-gentle rain kind of storms- a Jesus-help-me-I-can't-see-the-road storm. I was visiting a nearby town. And yes, I knew a it was supposed to rain. But this was beyond "rain". The lightening was incredible-light up the sky stuff. I should have known; the day started with what I believe was freezing rain. Later, I found out there was a tornado that had hit west TN. Once we made it home (after passing two accidents), it was fun to watch out of the big window in the living room.

-Tina

Sunday, November 11, 2007

We Visited A New Church Today

When I say new, I mean NEW. We visited Knoxville Life Church. It is a new church meeting in a movie theater in downtown Knoxville. I found out about it through the church directory of www.relevantmagazine.com/ . The church started about 4 weeks ago. The pastor and his family moved from southern California about 8 months ago to start this church. It's a great place with great worship. No King James Version 1611 here (believe it or not some churches here have it on their signs that they use that version, go figure!) We all enjoyed being there very much. The message today was the first in a series on the Fruit of the Spirit.

The girls stayed in service with us and enjoyed it as well. The feel of having church in a theater is just cool. It is a comfortable setting for us anyway. We really enjoy going to the movies! The multimedia was very impressive (hey it's in a movie theater!!!). Please be sure to click on the title above to visit Knoxville Life's website.

The main purpose of Knoxville Life Church seems to be serving and loving the lost of this city. Now who can disagree with that?

-Norm

Saturday, November 10, 2007

We Went To The Knoxville Zoo




This morning Tina and I went to a number of yard sales. While we were in the car an announcement came on the radio about a free admission day at the Knoxville Zoo. We have been wanting to go to the zoo since we got here. We went today. It is a great zoo!



The have red pandas. I have included a picture of one to the right. Our whole family had a great time today. Add this to the list of places to take people when they come to visit!! Be sure to click on the title above to see the Knoxville Zoo website. They have more posted there than I could possibly include here.


Following our trip to the Zoo we went to Chick-Fil-A. I never did get to installing the garbage disposal and donating stuff to the thrift store. That will probably happen tomorrow. We'll see......................
-Norm

Friday, November 09, 2007

A Stressful Couple Of Weeks




A requirement of my new job is that I had to be certified to give medications to our residents. Last week I had two days of training and then should have taken a test. I did not feel confident enough to take the test, so I pulled out of the class. Here in Tennessee you can only take this certification test twice. If you fail it both times you can never take it again or be certified. I felt really guilty about pulling out of the class and I think work was disappointed as well. The Instruction Coordinator scheduled me for a second class this week. I was a little nervous about taking it again. The most difficult part has been mentally changing from a vocational training focus to a residential focus. At the Opportunity Center we were restricted from giving any type of medications. Now in this position, it is expected. There is definately a mental shift.

The testing consists of a written test with 100 questions, appropriately filling out a Medication Administration Record (MAR) from a doctor's prescription, completing a Medication Variance Form and finally, confidently demonstrating 8 different medication procedures/techniques. There is alot to this medication administration stuff. The training this week was three days and went at a slower pace. Our instructor this time was excellent! I actually enjoyed the training. I passed and will soon be receiving my card in the mail. I learned so much about medications and how to dispense them.
Another thing I walked away with was an increased awe of our God. The human body is so complex. The Creator thought of everything. Did you know there is a flap at the back of our mouth (the Epiglottis) that closes to keep food from entering our airway so we don't gag or aspirate?

It feels so good to have this completed. I studied hard the last couple weeks and it has paid off. Tina passed along a couple tricks for studying for tests. (She is a fantastic student) They worked very well. I am rewarding myself (and the family really) by installing a garbage disposal in the kitchen tomorrow. I also want to free up some room in the garage by taking a load of inherited items (item left here when we bought the house) to the thrift store, as well. We are all enjoying having a garage. It has been pretty chilly here over night, dipping down into the upper 20's. It is nice to get into a warm dry car that is free of frosty windows. Oh, yea we another project for tomorrow is to get a new garage door opener. Apparently, the one we should have received with the house could not be found.


That's all the news for now. Happy Friday and have a great weekend!


-Norm

Sunday, November 04, 2007

You Know You've Been in a Baptist Too Long When...

We have now set about the task of finding a church. Last week we went to a Foursquare Church and enjoyed it but want to experience what Knoxville has to offer.
Last week we went to Lovell Heights Church of God's Take Back the Night outreach and really enjoyed ourselves so we decided to check the church out.

We have gone to Community Baptist since Grace, now ten years old, was a baby. Norm and I have been both raised in Pentecostal settings, so it kind of took me by surprise when I saw both Hope and Grace's head snap forward searching for the origin of the different language being spoken.

Norm and I both looked at each other and realized we had never discussed this experience with the girls. Frankly, they were a little confused. Once we left, the questions started tumbling out. We tried to explain speaking in tongues as a 'heavenly language'. Grace turns and asks 'are they tonguenadians'? That was halarious! Once we explained that they were not from another "heavenly" country, she ascertained it was like the hispanic translator at Jackson Heights School who always translated what the principal said. This is her explaination of tongues and interpretation. We explained tongues as a gift and the girls seemed to understand it.

Next week we plan to visit a brand new church that is meeting in a theater downtown. We heard about it through Relevant Magazine and it looks like a place we should check out.

-Norm and Tina

Thursday, November 01, 2007

October 31 - EleventySeven



Last night we heard EleventySeven in the parking lot of a WalMart in West Knoxville. The event was called "Take Back The Night" and was sponsored by Lovell Heights Church of God. Everything was free, except for baked goods being sold by the Ladies Ministries. Our family won an IPod Shuffle. We purchased two cds giving us the opportunity to hear all things EleventySeven.

Their musical style is similiar to Hawk Nelson.

Their website can be found at
http://www.eleventysevenrock.com/










EleventySeven is:
Matt Langston-vocals, guitar, synth
Caleb Satterfield-bass, bgv
Jonathan Stephens-drums, bgv


The blog of Norm (and family). loving God, loving my family, loving people, living my life so that God smiles. making a great cup of coffee. enjoying time with my family. being the Church.