Old Year Challenges, New Year For Opportunities

Here on the eve of a new year it is good to reflect on the past year. It has had it's challenges. Tina's surgery, both girls starting new schools, Hope's new dog-Annie, Tina's job ending, balancing finances, I started a new job. But then there are the good things, our new church community, Hope's new dog-Annie, new friends, our small group, learning to play disc golf, discovering new things to see and do. With this coming year I know there will be more challenges and more good things-I look forward to both. God has provided and is still providing in all these situations.
Before Christmas, I sent an email to a friend and former coworker in California. I learned through her "out of office" reply that she would be out until this week. Yesterday, I received a reply and it was great to hear from her. I needed a few forms that were used there and she faithfully attached them to her message. The best part was that she also forwarded my message to other coworkers. I received email messages from her and other coworkers throughout the day. It was great to see messages arrive from friends I had not heard from since moving from California. Almost like letters from home (even though this is our home now). Add these to the good thing list. A great ending to this year. I did make a call to Peggy (another former co-worker) when I got home to catch up with her as well. In my conversation with her I learned that my friend Sam had stopped by and had moved back to California. She will be sending me his contact information. I look forward to catching up with him as well.

Advent Conspiracy

We were introduced to the Advent Conspiracy during last year's Christmas season. Their video presentations really make you rethink Christmas. Here is one from Rick McKinley from Imago Dei in Portland, Oregon. It was presented this morning at Crossings. Please post your thoughts.

-Norm

Joy To The World.........

Joy to the world, the Lord is come! Let earth receive her King; Let every heart prepare Him room, And heaven and nature sing, And heaven and nature sing, And heaven, and heaven, and nature sing.

Joy to the world, the Savior reigns! Let men their songs employ; While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains Repeat the sounding joy, Repeat the sounding joy, Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy.

No more let sins and sorrows grow, Nor thorns infest the ground; He comes to make His blessings flow, Far as the curse is found, Far as the curse is found, Far as, far as, the curse is found.

He rules the world with truth and grace, And makes the nations prove, The glories of His righteousness, And wonders of His love, And wonders of His love, And wonders, wonders, of His love.

The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood. We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory, like Father, like Son, Generous inside and out, true from start to finish. John 1:14 (The Message)

Merry Christmas!

Norm, Tina, Hope and Grace

Our Community Is On The Move........

Since May 2008 we have been a part of Crossings, a faith community in Knoxville. We are currently meeting as a community at Downtown West theater in west Knoxville on Sunday mornings, but that is all about to change! We will soon be moving to The Square Room at 4 Market Square (4MS) in Downtown Knoxville. Our first meeting there will be on January 11 with two services. Cafe4 officially opened for business on Monday morning and The Square Room hosted it's first concert on Saturday evening.

WATE aired a report about the Open House of Cafe4 and the Square Room this past Friday evening. It was very cool!

Our family (along with 1,000 other people) had the opportunity to attend.

Have a look....

Eastern Tennessee Honor Choir

Hope was picked by her choir teacher to participate in the East Tennessee Honor Choir. The choir consisted of students from Chatanooga, Knoxville and the Tri-Cities and all points in between. She worked for several weeks on the music at her school then joined the rest of the choir for the last three days. They changed the location of the event; this year it was held at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.
The place was so packed we had to leave after Hope's portion. It was a bit surreal watching Hope do the same thing I had done Cali with the Bay Area Honor Choir lo many years ago. I've never pushed Hope to singing; she hasn't had that much interest, but she had a great time.

Psalm 100

On your feet now—applaud God! Bring a gift of laughter, sing yourselves into his presence. Know this: God is God, and God, God. He made us; we didn't make him. We're his people, his well-tended sheep. Enter with the password: "Thank you!"

Make yourselves at home, talking praise. Thank him. Worship him. For God is sheer beauty, all-generous in love, loyal always and ever. -Psalm 100:1-5


This week-make yourselves at home-thanking God, praising him for all he is!

I'm Back!

I haven't blogged literally in months. While things have been happening, my life changed dramatically. I had no idea what I was in for when I finally visited the doctor about three months ago. I haven't felt really good in so long I can't remember but things started to worsen for me about five months ago. RaChael, Buck and the girls visited us in August and RaChael talked to me about my health and made me promise to go the doctor.

Now I have been to the doctor in California with the same symptoms and was given iron pills and sent on my way; obviously this didn't work. I went to an internist in Knoxville and explained my symptoms. For the first time I felt listened to. I was so relieved and yet confused when the doctor said 'lets get to the bottom of this, I think you are bleeding internally'. I thought there was no way his hunch was right. But since I am at the age when you start getting routine tests done, I just accepted his radical idea.

While I was on a health fishing expedition, all my coworkers were called in to a special meeting with my bosses. We were told that evening that they were closing up shop as of that moment. So while I was waiting for my colonoscopy, I was job hunting. I was interviewed at Target and was offered a job. I told them the only thing in my future was just a routine test. On the following Monday, I went in for my colonoscopy. During the procedure, I noticed the doctor reacting angrily and the situation got tense. After the procedure, I was told that I had two inch polyps in my upper colon and they would need to be removed....and fast. I called Target and told them I would need about ten days to recover from this minor procedure. They were so gracious and would hold my job.

The doctor pushed for the procedure to be done and a week later I was scheduled for the colonectomy. They were to laproscopically remove the portion of the colon the polyps were located. Once I was out I was suprised; what was supposed to be a two to three hour procedure turned out to last I think about eight hours. I was soon given blood transfusions and fluids. RaChael flew in which was an overwhelming blessing and was there after the surgery. I was put in ICU and heavily medicated. Things are pretty sketchy from my memory so I have relied on RaChael's recollection. I was given I think about four units of blood and two IVs of fluids at the same time. My resting heart rate was 170 and my blood pressure was high; they started sedating me more because when I moved around my heart rate would climb. From what I understand it was touch and go for a while. I was given a diarectic and that corrected the problem.

I was in the ICU for five days; the length of my sister's visit. She was a lifesaver picking up the the kids, cooking and cleaning. During the day she would visit with me. I was so sedated her visits are like faint memories I wish I could remember. I was put in the normal ward for the next five days and give a few more transfusions. I finally got to go home. I was in a lot of pain and could only sleep sitting up.

Okay, I will try to explain the procedure. First, they placed shunts so that the area like the kidneys would not be damaged in the procedure. They started to do the procedure laproscopically, but realized to would have to be an open surgery. The polyps at that point were unknown if they were cancer and I was happy to hear they were not. The doctor told RaChael that they were like old food in the refridgerator; one day they were fine by the next it could go bad. Plus they were the kind of polyps that, if cancerous, would ravage my body. A portion of my upper colon was actually hernaited and was removed. There was also a hole in my colon. There was a hernia on my kidneys along with grossly enlarged varicous veins wrapped around them. They had to take my organs out and rerout and fix the problems.

Once I got home, it was a VERY slow recovery. I ended up back in the hospital a week later needing two more transfusions. It has now been almost two months and I am still in pain (the doctor thinks the anemia is slowing down the healing process), but I am doing much better. I continue to wear a binder around my stomach for support and I am still anemic. I have had rectal bleeding about four times but because of all my rerouting, they can't really scope me properly. If I bleed again, I will go immediatley for a bleeding test. I feel pretty good but it goes without saying I have to pass on the Target job. I am trying to do as much as I can to get back to normal while still be obediant to the doctors.

Our church and family have been a great support through this time; it has been tough to go through for everybody especially being so far from outside support. It was hard on Norm; he have started his new the job the day after my surgery, then he would come home and take care of the house and the girls. Hope and Grace both had to pitch in more. My memory is very foggy; I cannot remember October at all. But God has provided wonderful people in our lives that have been invaluable and I am very thankful to not only them, but the doctors who discovered the problem and took care of it. I am hoping to now start iron therapy and look forward to better health. I have had a lot of people praying for me and I appreciate it so much. I have learned some great lessons through this trial and I have given up the dream of wearing a bikini (ha!), but God is faithful and has been with me through this time and has brought spiritual healing and hopefully soon my physical healing will be complete.

Tina

Psalm 92

This was what we read last night.:
It is good to praise the LORD and make music to your name, O Most High, proclaiming your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night, to the music of the ten-stringed lyre and the melody of the harp. For you make me glad by your deeds, LORD; I sing for joy at what your hands have done. How great are your works, LORD, how profound your thoughts! Senseless people do not know, fools do not understand, that though the wicked spring up like grass and all evildoers flourish, they will be destroyed forever.
But you, LORD, are forever exalted. For surely your enemies, LORD, surely your enemies will perish; all evildoers will be scattered. You have exalted my horn like that of a wild ox; fine oils have been poured on me. My eyes have seen the defeat of my adversaries; my ears have heard the rout of my wicked foes. The righteous will

flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the LORD, they will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green, proclaiming,

"The LORD is upright; he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him." -Psalm 92

We were in the car on our way home from a spectacular Christmas light display at Shadrack's in West Knoxville. Grace also read Psalms 91 and 93. All great readings! We continue our time of Thanksgiving....... -Norm

Psalm 100

We have started something new in our family. As some of you may know it's been a difficult couple of months. In response to this we've entered a time of thanksgiving. We are doing a short reading as a family and sharing what we are thankful for following each day's events and activities.

It is easy to focus on all the things that aren't going right or the challenges we face each day. We are putting those aside to give thanks.

This was the verse we read and talked about last night: Psalm 100 NIV

1 Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.
2 Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.
3 Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.
5 For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.

The first verse so impresses me. Here in eastern Tennessee, Fall is in full swing. The leaves are changing and are absolutely beautiful! Creation is shouting for joy to the Lord through a kaleidoscope of colors. As his children we are encouraged to worship with thankful hearts on good and bad days, even during challenging months. I am grateful for a Father who is good. Since before the creation of time, He has been faithful.

-Norm

Movies and ZooBoos

While we were in California and researching Knoxville I remember seeing information about free movies being shown Friday evenings on Market Square and at World Fair Park. Being that it is October and that last in the series, there was a double feature on the big screen. We saw Ghostbusters and Beetlejuice. The girls and I sat on the Square in our lawnchairs cuddled up in blankets and sleeping bags. It was a cool Fall evening. As we were walking to the car I remember thinking this is one of the things I love about being here.

This weekend Knoxville Zoo hosted an event too. Last night we attended the annual Boo at the Zoo. It was a great time of walking through the zoo as it is starting to get dark and later. There were different treat/candy stations set up on "Treat Trail". Each station was sponsored by different area businesses. The great thing about this is that it is not spooky or scary. There were alot of little kids dressed up and they appeared to have a great time. We really enjoyed ourselves. Animals, treats and time with my girls made for a very good time!

The End Has Come

Well, yesterday marked the final day of my 30-day resignation notice at Sertoma Center. Part of the responsiblities in my now former role as a Residential Coordinator was doing House Visits/Inspections. We were required to be in the homes at least one time per shift per month. The majority of my homes had three shifts per day, two shifts during weekend hours. I finished out my final day doing my third shift visits. I started at 11:00 Pm on Thursday and finished at almost 4:00 Am on Friday. I took the opportunity on Friday to have a staff Thank You Get-Together with my team of house managers. It was great to be together! They all do such a great job! Putting all they have into assuring their residents are well taken care of. It has been my honor to assist and support them in what they do. I will miss them. I had the priviledge of working with two other RCs. They are incredible people. We handled everything from on call duties, staffing houses to delivering cars to homes for weekend outings. I will miss them as well. A difference in management styles, among other things made it necessary for me to find other employment. This past year has been a challenge. I am returning to employment training and will be working at Emory Valley Center in Oak Ridge. I am totally excited about this new adventure! I have been reflecting on my drive across the United States last year heading toward an interview at Sertoma. Unsure of what would be waiting on this end. Thankfully, I was hired and we have been able to reestablish our family in a new area . Now, onto a new chapter in this the story of our lives. -Norm

TN Valley Fair

The Midway
Loverboy

A new calf born during the fair.

Fireworks at the end of the day.

Hope Goes Off With a Bang

Hope turned fourteen Saturday. We went to Shoney's for brunch which is like a cross between a Denny's and a Golden Corral. Once stuffed with bacon, Hope decided she wanted to see Journey to the Center of the Earth again. We donned our 3-D glasses and enjoyed seeing the movie again. If you haven't seen it, I recommend it. I got a wild hair and suggested we go see Indiana Jones so we drove to the dollar movie and watched that film. That was pretty silly. Her real present though, was seeing the Jonas Brothers in Atlanta last week.

Sunday is Knoxville's celebration of the end of summer called Boomsday. It has the largest fireworks display in the nation on the Labor Day weekend drawing about 200,000 people. I volunteered to work that evening, so we parked at my work and walked downtown and enjoyed the festivities held close to UT. The fireworks themselves, are shot off the bridge I cross to go to work over the Tennessee river.

We walked back and I started to work, but not alone. Grace grabbed a sign and went outside to draw people with her dance moves. Hope helped inside with orders along with the owners. We had a great/busy time. Once the fireworks started business died down and we were able to watch the fireworks with my coworkers and their families. It was a blast (pun intended). The fireworks were spectacular. We hung out for about an hour waiting for the traffic to die down visiting with friends and enjoying a light sprinkle. -Tina

Jonas Brothers Take Over Atlanta

We bought tickets to the Jonas Brothers as soon as they came on sale way back in March, so the girls have been anticipating this concert for forever. Unfortunately its on a Wednesday. I got Grace out of school a little early to drive to Hope's school and be in line to pick her up. To get her out of school early takes an act of Congress so we just waited until school was over.

I had to open at the store and I have to open the following day, so Norm came with us. I sure he was heartbroken to know we didn't have an extra ticket. He went disc golfing while we battled thousands of girls. Demi Lavato was the beginning act. She was one of the stars from Disney's

Camp Rock. We were a little late because of road construction, but we made it. It was her 16th birthday so everyone sang to her and we watched a montage of her life. Oh, I forgot to mention the concert was held in Atlanta, GA.

The Jonas Brothers held a great concert. Hope and Grace loved it and sang their hearts out. They had a graduation party thing since Joe Jonas just graduated high school. We had to leave a little early since I needed to open. Of course, we stopped by the Varsity for a late dinner and headed home. The sould of thousands of girls are still ringing in my head. -Tina

Happy 222nd Birthday!

Today as I am sure most Tennesseans are aware, marks Davy Crockett's 222nd birthday. Crockett was born on a mountain top in Tennessee...but he spent quite a bit of time in Morristown, a town about fifty miles north east of Knoxville.

We went to the celebration hosted by the Davy Crockett Museum and Tavern. The festivities included Marshal Andy host of PBS' Riders of the Silver Screen, who showed the kids how to rope, play bugle along with telling cowboy stories and leading a sing a long of of old songs (including Davy Crockett song of course). Then a speaker dressed in Crockett attire went through the history of Davy Crockett's life. It was very entertaining and interesting.

Afterwards, they lead tours through the

Crockett home and tavern and served refreshments.

The weather has been perfect for all of

August with mid eighty temperatures

and this just capped it off.

A New Chapter

This week marked the first day of school for Hope and Grace. It came up so fast; I mean, didn't we just start the month of August?! It could be worst, the schools in Maryville started Aug. 4th. This was a particularly challenging start; Grace started Jr. High, Hope- High School.

Grace is going to Powell Middle School, Hope's school from last year. We met her teachers, signed up for PTA (finally) and walked around. She has a new science lab along with a beautiful new gym.

Hope, as written earlier, is starting Hardin Valley Academy; a school that was opened to the public just last Thursday. She went through to her classes so much she didn't have any problem finding them.
Hardin Valley Academy is a new model of high school that incorporates the college model. There are four academies: Liberal Arts (Hope's chosen academy), Health Science, Law and Public Affairs and Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathmatics. They must meet all the regular high school requirements in addition to the academy requirements. These will count towards college credits. She will have enough credits to enter college as a Junior in college after high school.

Each academy has its own principal, advisor and counselor and each semester has four blocks of classes . It is the only one of its kind in the state. The principal stated there are all schools from all over the nation coming to learn more about it. The facility is beautiful, each class is equipped with a smart board and two computers. The library has about 25 computers and more shiny books than the Borders. It is also nestled in the foothills and adjacent to one of state colleges. This allows the professors to come and teach at the high school as well.

The grading is stricter that California. All Knox County Schools grade tougher; An "A" is a precentage of 100-93, a "B" is 92-83 and so on. Hardin Valley in order to graduate from the Acamedy you must posess a "B" average. The actual prinicpal over HVA was able to hand pick each teacher: good for us, sour grapes for other schools.

The only draw back is it is in Oak Ridge. The same Oak Ridge that has the ORNL (Oak Ridge National Lab-from the Mahattan Project-someday we will have to rent that movie). So I go to Grace's school about an hour early (I get alot of reading done) to get in first in line so we can drive 20 minutes to get Hope from her school. They both start and end at the same time so Grace arrives early and Hope gets picked up late. Grace doesn't seem to mind; she wants to go there to HVA when she starts high school (I don't even want to entertain that idea just yet).

Grace started her school having friends (yeah). Hope once again started a different school knowing no one. I couldn't believe she wanted to go through that again after facing the same thing just last year. But she never wavered. She loves her classes (her favorites are acting and choir, of course) and has made friends. Grace's favorite is Choir-no suprise there.

We have now etablished our route after much trial and error. Norm would call me at work and tell me how he went, I would see him in the evening and tell how I went. The first day was tough (on me). Ah back to school lunches, projects and No. 2 pencils. -Tina

The Hollers' Visit

They got here, as Norm posted, on Tuesday afternoon. While we had just seen them Saturday, that didn't seem to lessen the enthusiasm. Most of the time was spent just hanging out which seemed okay with everyone, but we did manage to do a walking tour of downtown Knoxville and Old City. We would be remiss if we didn't stop by Magpies Cakes. The first night I taught the girls all how to make their own sushi which was fun.

Sivana (ten) is growing into a young lady with insights that are amazing, Gaveriel (eight) is just full of life,sweet and helpful. Trinity (four, turning five in Nov.) is just hillarious. It's so hard to believe how much they have grown and matured in such a short time.
Since we weren't together for any of the girls' birthdays, we decided to do a mass birthday party for all of them. After the party, the girls all put on a play called Frog in the Pond. The girls had worked on it from day one and it was great.
We also took a trip to Hope's brand new high school built (more on that later) and checked out Grace's new Jr. High (I can't believe it). It was so great to have them here and was hard to say goodbye. They left about the same time we headed for church. -Tina

Disc Golf At Morningside

Today Buck and I played a round of disc golf at Morningside Park in Knoxville. It was my second time to play there, or play a whole round for that matter. Buck hadn't played before. The weather was absolutely great 85 degrees and low humidity. We didn't keep score but were on the average 1-2 over par on most holes. I have posted an arial picture of the course to the left.

We had been waiting for an opportunity to go play since they arrived on Tuesday. With work, shopping and transportation challenges we did not get to go until today. It was great just being out there with Buck doing something we'd never done before.

Following our round we went over to Plutos. If you are in Knoxville and like disc golf, it's a must do. They have so many discs by the all the major manufacturers as well as shirts, hats, and the baskets too. I am amazed at how many types of discs there are. Different types, weights and plastics. Discs range in price from $8.00 to $20.00. I definately saw a few I would like to get, who knows maybe even a disc bag............ -Norm

Good and Bad News

A week ago Knoxville made the national news for a shooting at a church. A man entered the Unity Universalist church last Sunday and opened fire while the children were preforming a play. He killed two, was tackled to the ground and will have his first court appearance this week. His motive was a mystery for a while. He wrote a four page tirade about his motives. Basically, he is an unemployed machinist and said he couldn't find that kind of work. He is an alcoholic with a violent past who was frustrated that his food stamps were being decreased. He blamed the "liberals" for all his ills. He decided since he couldn't shoot the policitians he would shoot those who put them in office. Why he targeted this liberal church was that his ex wife used to attend. He himself, has no affiliation with any church. He had seventy six shot gun shells with him but only was able to fire off two. Besides the two that were killed seven other were wounded. This has been very unsettling to the whole community; it reminded me of the Dave Mobilio shooting that happened in Red Bluff CA.

Okay, on to the good news. RaChael, Buck, Sivana, Gaveriel and Trinity are vacationing in North Carolina. They have visited Raleigh, Charlotte and Asheville. Ashville is about an hour and a half from us, we couldn't resist, so the girls and I joined them. It was so great to see them. We hiked Grandfather Mountain and went on the mile high suspension bridge. It was gorgeous. They will be coming to Knoxville for a few days this week and we can't wait. -Tina

Tough Week.

This past week has been a challenging one. One of the expectations of what I do for a living is to be "on call". This involves carrying a pager and cell phone, responding to and dealing with any issues that arise after hours/weekends. This is in addition to working 10 to twelve hour days this week. A new expectation is the "on call" person also works the Saturday they are "on call". I do not like "on call" weeks. I like them even less now that working a Saturday is involved. In theory, if we work a Saturday, we are suppose to get the following Monday off. Not this week. We are being visited by the State for two weeks beginning tomorrow for an Annual Review. I guess these have been very unpleasant experiences in the past. I will hold my opinion until after it is over. Saturday was longer than it should have been. I visited nearly all my houses (9), plus one more. Tina and the girls went to Asheville for the day, while I worked.

This past week we moved of two residents, one to another agency. I have mixed feelings about this. I spent alot of time with this resident giving medications, shopping and scheduling staff for the home. When staff were not available, I worked there myself. The move was a relief and a sad day all at the same time. I received a nice letter from a family member thanking me for all I did to support this individual. I will add this to my portfolio.

The second resident moved to another apartment due to some safety issues. The new apartment is in a quieter and safer part of town. Both required my assistance to move.

I am glad to have this week behind me. I am confident that even being reviewed by the State, this week can only be easier. We shall see. -Norm

Mitchell Gets a Pet

We have been looking for quite a while for another dog. Mitchell was so happy when Samson was here, so we've been looking for another pet; a pet for Michell.

I found Annie through Craigslist. She was an american eskimo mix. She was being fostered through a private group that rescues abused animals, rehabilitates them, and then finds them a home. After corresponding with Annie's foster mom, we decided to have a meet and greet at the dog park. There is a great off-leash dog park that is also home to a disc golf course that is just a few miles from us.
It was funny. Once we got to the que area we reluctantly took Mitchell's leash off. I think even he didn't know what to do; he just stood frozen for a moment. Soon he was running and chasing the other dogs including Annie. She obviously has the ear marks of an abused dog; she acts like every meal is her last, she cowers if you raise your hand and prefers you not to pet her head. But she was very sweet. After about an hour of watching the dogs play and asking a bunch of questions, the girls both excitedly told me they wanted her. While there, one of the other dog owners handed out lemonade. Now this was not ordinary lemonade. This was his Great Aunt Fannie Mae from August GA's recipe. He told us there was a secret ingredient and everyone took turns trying to figure it out. He told us he had to take the recipe to his grave and that just fueled the fire of speculation. I think I figured it out but didn't tell; who am I to go against the great Fannie Mae.

Everyone congratulated us as I announced we would take her. Her foster mom was teary eyed (is that a good or bad thing!?). We took her home and she has done great. We have to be careful not to make sudden movements or loud noises, and I don't think Mitchell will ever eat again. But she is doing well and the girls just love her, Mitchell....I think the jury is still out. -Tina

Call It Almost Gone.....

This weekend has been quite busy. Late Friday night I had to do my monthly 3rd shift visits. This requires me to visit nine residential homes and monitor staff. I must fill out an unscheduled visit form to document my findings. I started at 11:00 Pm and finished at 3:00 Am. Saturday morning Tina had to work. I mostly just lounged around. About noon, the girls and I started to take apart the wall that separates our dining area and the living room. We've wanted to open it since we've moved in. I finally got the courage to start tearing it up.
Mitchell, our dog appears to be lonely and needing a buddy. After I got all the sheetrock and dust up we went to the new Union County Animal Shelter. The girls found a dog they would like so we filled out an application. We are waiting to hear.

Last night, I went to hear The Hinsons. Back when I was in junior high and high school I enjoyed the music of the Original Hinsons. Ronnie, Kenny, Larry and Yvonne Hinson made up the original group. They are probably best known for their song "The Lighthouse", said to be the most recorded gospel song in history.

These days the group consists of Bo Hinson (Ronnie's son), Kym Calvery (Ronnie's daughter), and Shawn McDougal. It was a trip back to my roots, but to the tune of modern country. I hadn't seen the Hinsons in probably 27 years. While in California, I would at times take my mom to southern gospel concerts when groups would come through the area. While not a big country music fan, I did enjoy last night's concert. In my opinion the best song of the night was "I'm Still Here".

This morning at Crossings, Mark gave a great talk. God has a big "kabot". As His creation we are small, but to often decide we do not need to trust him because we feel we are self sufficient (bigger than God). Trust/faith plays such a big part in the life of a follower of Jesus. This was a very good and much needed reminder. The talk was followed by a time of worship. Like I said, it was great.

Following Crossings we went shopping and had lunch at Sam's Club, EarthFare, Borders, and World Market. Today has been kinda weird for me. My bearings have been off all day. I went the wrong way on Kingston Pike while going to Crossings. Went the wrong way while going to World Market and then to EarthFare.
Thankfully, I am home now and not going anywhere. -Norm

A Look at K-Town

Norm invited us downtown to a concert at the visitor's center. It was a bit nostalgic; when we first visited Knoxville, this is where we came. A great blue grass band was playing (yes, I have some love for blue grass) as we mapped out our visit. This time, Dishwater Blonde, a Christian blues/rock band was playing. They host these concerts Monday through Friday at noon in the Visitor's Center and they are always packed; it's called the Blue Plate Special and showcases local bands of different genres. After the concert, I got the notion to check out Old City.

Old City is an area smaller than downtown and has more local stores and is less commericial. It's eclectic; looks a bit like the French Quarter/Ireland towns (I told you it was eclectic). Once we walked from downtown to Old City, I found some great looking stores and restaurants. My first find; Magpie's. I remember Magpie's from an article written about Knoxville by the New York Times. We walked into a storefront with the on-site baking visible, beautiful display cakes not to mention a cold case to drool over. As we were choosing our cupcakes, a customer entered pointing to the mini cupcakes. He told me to watch out for them; they were dangerous. After trying a cupcake sample I understood what he meant; they were fabulous.

Cupcakes in hand, we left the store. I noticed across the street Old City Java. Along with Magpie's, it was voted Best of Knoxville. We ordered some drinks and dived into our cupcakes happily chatting. The coffee house had a great vibe, very art house-y. As Grace, Hope and I were sitting being silly, I noticed Norm (too late, of course), driving by. We finished walking around Old City and headed back downtown.
It was Farmer's Market day, but I could only stare since I decided we would just stay here for the day. We started just walking around and discovered the East Tennessee Historical Society Museum. A sucker for museums, we checked it out. It was fun with a pharmacy/soda fountain and a trolley. We left and discoved little parks and squares and historical houses that were really cute.
Hope was going to participate in a improv acting class held at the main library downtown. While she joined the class, Grace and I checked out the library. After she was done, we left and went to Market Square. Market Square was hosting a Shakespeare in the park and a troup of actors were performing Merchant of Venise. I called Norm to join us. We enjoyed the play but were starving so we went to a great local restaurant; Tomato Head. Obvisously an Italian restaurant but is also know for vegetarian/vegan organic foods. It was great. We all had a great day learning for about our little K-town. When we got home Norm told me HE had gotten some cupcakes from Magpie's. Great minds..... -Tina

Wanna Play Disc Golf?

I recently discovered Disc Golf (a.k.a. Frisbee golf). There are three courses here in Knoxville and they are all free to play. I have driven past one of them at least once a week. Sometimes more often than that.

While trying to learn more about this game, I discovered my friend Mark and his sons play. I joined them for the first time a week ago. I wasn't very good, but it was great just to be there. I agree with Mark, it's not about the score, it's about community.

Prior to the game, I purchased an Innova set of discs that included a Leopard fairway driver, Shark mid-range driver and an Avitar putter. I've read about a couple more discs I'd like to buy. The discs average about $10.00 each. Some are more, some less.

If you have never played I would encourage you to give it a try. It is good exercise, challenging and great to be outdoors. It seems there are courses all over the country most of which are free to play. Morningside, Victor Ashe, and Admiral Farragat are the three local courses. We played 18 holes at Morningside. Soon, I would like to try Victor Ashe. The first hole is throwing across water. I've heard players frequently misjudge that hole and have to go swimming. -Norm

Here's a link on how to play.http://www.disclife.com/whatis.shtml

Tina's Birthday

My birthday is July 7th, but I was sick on my birthday. So when I got the Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday, Happy Anniversary calls, (I not only share my birthday with my dad-RaChael and Buck's anniversary is the same day-RaChael said it's because she has a poor memory for dates, and that's why she got married on our birthday) I kind of think of my birthday is our family's all-purpose day. Anyway, when the calls came, I announced I didn't know what they were talking about-it was not my birthday. After some long pauses, I explained that I could not possible be sick on my birthday therefore, it must not be my birthday.

We celebrated my birthday on Saturday. Norm and I went to a local farmer and bought tomato plants and then bought pepper, squash, mint, eggplant and zucchini plants to grow in our garden Norm finished constructing. Yes, I know how late in the game it is, but I wanted to try my hand at it before fall planting. Norm had to hurry and get it done, so we could catch the rainfall.

I have been completly jonsing for sushi again. I had purchased the special stuff to make it, but just hadn't tried to do it. Why not on my birthday. For my first attempt I made very simple rolls: California rolls and Smoked Salmon rolls. (Hope made herself some spaghetti) Okay, so they weren't as pretty as the rolls at the Stir Fry Cafe, but they turned out wonderful. I am inspired and am excited about expanding my menu. So good.

Afterwards, we went to a drive in movie theater to see Meet Dave and Wall E. The girls had never been to a drive in movie and I think Norm and I were first married when we saw our last one. So we made homemade popcorn (you have to-it's a part of the fun), grabbed my store bought cake (sad, I know) and headed for the movies. It stopped raining on the way which was good. We got a good spot. Nowadays, you just tune in your car radio to the station to hear the movie. This I am sure is much more cost effective, but I missed the clunky speaker you hang from the window. Next week they are playing Journey to the Center of the Earth. Hope announced we would be seeing this one as well. Forget the fact that she was at the premere and that we saw it just yesterday-hey, at least we still have our 3-d glasses. It was a lot of fun.

Happy Independance Day!

We decided to go to Pigeon Forge for the 4th of July. It was hosting its 18th Annual StarJam (whatever that is). It sounded like fun so we traveled all of 30 miles to the birth place of East TN's queen, Dolly Parton. What should of took about a 30 minute drive, didn't. Little did we know this was a big event. And of course, we thought we would be the only ones attending and the park would be super easy to find since we've been there once before.

After creeping in the car for a very long time (and having to ask for directions-I guess the en masse of people didn't tip us off), we found it. It was a stunning sight; about seventy-five thousand people showed up for the event. It looked a little out of place. For anyone whose hasn't been to Pigeon Forge it is like Branson MI. For anyone who hasn't been to Branson, it is like a country-fied Reno but with no gambling. Ok, a better description would be a big, long carnival with more shows. Sorry if anyone loves Pigeon Forge. It is also the gateway to the Smokies. There, I said something nice.

The reason we decided these firework show over the one in World's Fair Park in Knoxville was simple: the bands. The bands we saw were Ace Young (no idea-I don't watch American Idol, but I saw American Idol under his name-I drew my own conclusion), Metro Station, Boys Like Girls and Good Charlotte. If you don't know these bands, ask a teenager. They were great. Anyway-hold on to your mullet-Paris Hilton was there!!!! I asked Hope and Grace if they knew she Paris Hilton was-they didn't know-I have done my job. She, incidentally is dating one of the band members from Good Charlotte. I know this because it was in the Knox Newspaper. Oh, and one of the band members in Metro Station is Mylie Cyrus' brother-that I know from Hope.

After the concerts, we were a little concerned; the clouds looked pretty wet (I am getting to know clouds better now). Come to find out they had to postpone Knoxville's fireworks an hour due to rain. What was really funny was the bands kepy saying "hello Knoxville!" This didn't sit well with the crowd. The fireworks (I understand were the biggest in East TN) were great. They were synched up to the radio station that put on the concerts so you could hear it well. Of course it wouldn't be Tennessee if they wasn't a tribute to the UT Volunteers (They play the UT Volunteers song while orange and white fireworks were displayed-inspiring) and course Dolly wished us a happy fourth and sang the Star Spangled banner (may I remind you she has a statue). All in all it was spectacular.

Afterwards we hung in Pigeon Forge (the carnivel city that never sleeps). This morning we woke up to rain. -Tina