Hello from Oz

I wanted to start with this picture. All throughout our apartment there are sayings but this is my favorite. I am so blessed to have you all as friends. Thank you so much for your comments and encouragement since we left the USA. It is comforting to know that even though we are so very far from home that a message from you all is just a click away. Please keep the clicks coming.

When Norman took this job he said "We will have to journal every day" Well his part of the "we" is asleep on the couch soooooo ....This will be our(my) first official entry into the journal.

After a week and a half delay in our departure we were finally cleared to come to Australia on Tuesday morning the 6th of September. We were able to rebook our flights for the very next day. We wanted to get on down here before they changed their minds or we lost ours. We arrived at the ATL airport American Airlines ticket counter only to find out that we had NO ticket number. After an hour of phone calls, being put on hold, dropping the line just as we gave the phone to the clerk and having to call again and be put on hold for another 10 mins...we were confirmed. This rest of the trip was very pleasant. Our seats were excellent, food was typical, and the timed passed much quicker than before.

We arrived in Brisbane @ 4:50 (10mins ahead of schedule), got our luggage, went through customs, met our limo driver and were on the road by 5:30. Unbelievable!!!

It took us about an hour to arrive at our new home in Hollywell Queenlands. It is BEAUTIFUL!!!! Our view is magnificent and we are within walking distance to Big W (Wal Mart in disguise) Target and Woolworths (grocery store) .

To all my Georgia fan friends the apartment is completed decorated in red and black and I mean COMPLETELY!!! We have a red couch, red lamps, red place mats, red dishes, red towels, red ceiling, red toothbrush holder, red scissors, red first aide kit, red hot water bottle and even a red vacuum cleaner!!!! Black is thrown in for accents throughout. It makes me laugh - it is all the stuff you see in a department store and love but would never buy. And although I am still by far a Tennessee fan through and through I am thankful it is not done in orange and white.

Friday was mostly spent unpacking suitcases and getting acclimated to the time. We went to bed about 7:00. Saturday we were awake at 4 and were able to enjoy a beautiful sunrise just before 6. I went for a nice long run to Paradise Island through a nice park with 8 different exercise stations along the way. After that Norman and I ventured out to Big W and Woolworths for some food and supplies. We had dinner with Sheryl, the HR person from John Deere who had been so helpful to us when we were here back at the beginning of the summer.

Today we drove about 25 mins. to Merrimac and met with the Gold Coast Church of Christ, a small but very warm and friendly congregation. Had tea and coffee afterwards and met some nice folks there. We came back a different way and it was a little bit shorter. I took a break from this blog and went for a long run and when I got back the other part of "we" was still asleep. Guess he will have a long night.

Well that should pretty much catch you up on the life and times of the Norman's Down Under Adventure. Oh by the way we have the most beautiful lorikeets in our backyard. If I can get them to be still long enough for me to take a picture I will post one. They are so colorful!!!

Any weary souls out there?

Any weary souls out there? I am weary. I hesitate to say that because I know so many people who are experiencing some really difficult situations and my heart aches for each of these. I called my mom(and prayer warrior) this morning and she prayed with me. Later I went on my morning run. I decided to do a little extra today before the weather got bad. I was listening to my shuffle when Josh Groban's song, "You Raise Me Up" came on. I have listened to this song a least 100 times but today the Lord spoke to me through Josh's beautiful voice. I began to cry out to God - thanking Him over and over for raising me up every time. EVERY TIME !!!

The song finished and then it began to play again, as if God were saying, "If you did not get it the first time-here it is again!!!" (I had accidently recorded it twice). I couldn't help but laugh. I love God and His wonderful sense of humor.

Thank you, God for raising me up so I can stand on mountains. Thank you, God for raising me up so I can walk on stormy seas. Thank you,God for giving me strength. And God I thank you for doing the same for all those that you and I know that are hurting so badly. In Jesus' name!

My Baby Boy turns 25

Samuel's First Christmas


Samuel's Sayings and Doings


Samuel's Homecoming

WOW!!! I was not expecting this to hit me like it did. I woke up this morning at 2:00-wide awake. At 5:30 I decided to get on up. I went to the drawer and pulled out Samuel's baby book to see what time he was born. I began to read some of the things I had written - details about his birth, what he did and when, his first Christmas, first birthday and the day he was baptized.

Needless to say the tears began to flow as I read and remembered all the little things he did-watched his Tennessee beat Kentucky for the SEC title when he was just 5 hours old,smiled at 9 days, held is head up at 4wks,first Road Trip at just over a month old, laughed all the time at 3 and a half months, cut his first tooth at 4 months, crawled and said "Dada" at 6 months, said "Momma" at 9 months(not sure why they always say "Dada" first when we spend about twice as much time with them), sang with perfect pitch at 12 months, took first step at 13 months and so on.

And so the days were filled, watching him grow. Samuel, you are such a blessing to me. I am so proud of you and I am thankful to have you as my son. Happy 25th Birthday. I love you. MOM

Check out Three New Blogs-trying to catchup

Trip to Chicago

<





























During my fall break Summer and I flew to Chicago to visit with Samuel and to drive his car back so we could sell it. We had a wonderful time with lots of great food. We walked to the Navy Pier, which is just a stone's throw away from his apartment, went to see him play Flag Football, ran along Lake Michigan,visited the Lego store, went to the top of the Sears' Tower (which is no longer the Sears' Tower), saw the BEAN, walked down Michigan Avenue. Samuel's apartment is really convenient to everything and he has it nicely decorated. It has a roof top area where you can see the city and Lake Michigan. Summer and I had our devotional up there early one morning. The weather was beautiful!!! Samuel was the perfect host taking us to several great places to eat-RL's, Foxx and Obels, The Yolk, Gage's and another place where we had a delicious steak. We also had a delcious meal on Sunday night by a friend of Samuel's and also got to meet some of his friends he has made in Chicago. I had to take a picture of Luke's Place and of course, Papa's mark is EVERYWHERE!! Thanks, Samuel for a wonderful visit!!!

Summer and I had a good drive back home with a stop over in Bradford to see Meme and Papa. Thanks, Summer for going with me.