Yes, we are still in Houston!! But we are leaving on Thursday and going to Dallas. We will be taking the first meeting of the video training there and spending one night. Then we will move on to Oklahoma City where we will take the next 5 meetings. Then we go to Albuquerque where will finish the training. At least that is what we thing we are doing. Everything is always subject to change. We aren't sure yet when we are going to fit in Arizona. We have several options that we are leaving open.
Stan is working very hard and I am hardly working. Like I said before, the deck turned out to be a major job -- mainly because the person who made it did it wrong and it was about ready to fall down. But he is righting all the wrongs and they will have a much better deck after he is finished with it. My work is mainly in the kitchen, although I am seeing quite a few herb clients. But mostly, Heather is getting a very happy break from intense cooking for her three constantly starving children. She homeschools them and they are all Suzuki students (violin, guitar, and cello) so she keeps very busy. We are enjoying impromptu recitals after dinner.
We are also enjoying one of Texas' finest products: Blue Bell Ice Cream!! The favorite so far is Vanilla Moolenium Crunch. You see, we went to the store and we thought we bought some of it and got home and realized that is was the Chocolate Moolenium Crunch. :( So the next day Heather went back and got the vanilla one. But we are being good sports and eating the chocolate one, too. Sometimes you just have to learn to suffer.
Today, Stan is installing a French door for some friends of Dave and Heather's. Then tomorrow he will finish up with the deck. The weather here is beyond hot so he is constanly sweating and I am constantly trying to fill him up with liquids with minerals in them. This will make him appreciate Virginia summers....something he has never appreciated before. I, on the other hand, am spending most of my time in the comfort of the well air conditioned Farrell home.
We have gone to a number of meetings while here. Several in homes -- including the Lord's Table meeting on Sunday evening. The church here is about 500 so they even break up into smaller groups on Sunday morning so there were about 40 in the meeting we were in. They have everyone divided by geographical areas but in different rooms in the meeting hall. We all go over the same outlines and everyone shares from what they enjoyed from them. After that meeting we went to the home of some of the saints for a meal.
So we will be hitting the road soon. We will get back with you -- probably not in Dallas but in OKC.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Day of Rest
We finally had the time to upload some pictures. These are only a few, but we don't want to bore you. We spent a restful quiet day in Jackson. It was a much needed break. We stayed in the home of John and Rachel Hoekema and had meals at Dale and Debbie's. So since we had no responsibilities and a full day ahead of us we were able to do a lot of practical and organizational things. The only place we went was to the Post Office and to meals. The highlight of our time was getting together with an old friend of Stan's who was very instrumental in Stan's real experience of the Lord at the age of 23. Back when Stan was a hippie he was his neighbor and he used to spend time with him. Stan knew there was something different about him and it ultimately it was the final step in Stan's turn to the Lord. We spent almost 4 hours getting caught up with Larry -- it had been 20 years since Stan had seen him -- so we were able to hear all about everything we had missed.
On Wednesday morning we actually got to go to the Great Harvest Bread Store in Jackson. This is one of a chain that started in Great Falls, MT that we used to frequent. We were expecting to get one of their huge whole wheat cinnamon rolls, but they didn't have any that day so we had to settle for huge bran muffins instead. We munched them as we headed south on the interstate. We breezed through Louisiana stopping for lunch at the Blue Dog Cafe in Lafeyette and arrived in Kingwood, TX, at Dave and Heather Farrell's just in time for dinner. Great planning on our part -- we had yummy lamb chops.
Today Stan started working and Dave and Heather's deck. He thought he was only going to have to replace a few boards, but it turned out to be a much bigger project and he had to remove about a third of a large surface. We aren't sure how long we will be here or even where we are going from here. We are trying to figure out which church or churches we will take the LSM summer training on video. We do have time constraints and have to be in Utah by the 17th of July for a small family event. Eventually we will get it worked out.
Things will be uneventful for a while since we are settling in for about a week and Stan will be working. I am seeing a few herb clients and helping Heather with the shopping and cooking -- something that makes her very happy. So I am not sure when I will write again -- probably when something note worthy happens.
On Wednesday morning we actually got to go to the Great Harvest Bread Store in Jackson. This is one of a chain that started in Great Falls, MT that we used to frequent. We were expecting to get one of their huge whole wheat cinnamon rolls, but they didn't have any that day so we had to settle for huge bran muffins instead. We munched them as we headed south on the interstate. We breezed through Louisiana stopping for lunch at the Blue Dog Cafe in Lafeyette and arrived in Kingwood, TX, at Dave and Heather Farrell's just in time for dinner. Great planning on our part -- we had yummy lamb chops.
Today Stan started working and Dave and Heather's deck. He thought he was only going to have to replace a few boards, but it turned out to be a much bigger project and he had to remove about a third of a large surface. We aren't sure how long we will be here or even where we are going from here. We are trying to figure out which church or churches we will take the LSM summer training on video. We do have time constraints and have to be in Utah by the 17th of July for a small family event. Eventually we will get it worked out.
Things will be uneventful for a while since we are settling in for about a week and Stan will be working. I am seeing a few herb clients and helping Heather with the shopping and cooking -- something that makes her very happy. So I am not sure when I will write again -- probably when something note worthy happens.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Nashville and Beyond
We are really in Jackson, MS, right now, but I haven't had the chance to post what I wrote while on the way here until now. So here it goes.
It's Sunday evening, June 21 and there are finally a few minutes to write down a few notes before we go to bed. We are in a little bed and breakfast cottage someplace on a hill in the south cental part of Tennessee. It is a long story how we got here but first I'll get you caught up since the last posting.
Stan finished the closet/pantry on Friday afternoon -- at least as far as he could. Rick and Kelly will have to paint it and then do the finish work. We went to a home meeting that night in Murphreesboro and got home very late due to the fact that someone decided to make I-40 into only one lane instead of 4!! But we eventally got back.
Saturday morning we took off a little time and went and saw the Opreyland Hotel. We walked around the huge "courtyard" which is actually all inside. It is beautifully landscaped and has a "river" waterfalls, shops and restaurants. Then the most important thing was a trip to Trader Joe's. It was the last one until we get to Albequerque so we had to stock up as much as we could. That evening we went out to dinner with Rick and Kelly to a BBQ place with lots of local color. (I will eventually get the pictures up.) It was great food. When we got back to the house Rick and Kelly played a concert for us on cello and violin while I made bread for Sunday dinner. Kelly has a beautiful, large kitchen so they set up their chairs and stands right there while I cooked. I never seem to get away from cooking baking or doing something in the kitchen!! I am not complaining. I start getting itchy fingers if I don't cook for a while.
We went to the Lord's Table meeting with the church in Nashville and afterward a number of the saints came over for dinner. There were 2 sisters from the church in New York City who had come to Nashville for a nurse practitioners' conference. One of them was the wife of the couple we had stayed with in NY last time we were there. I had baked all desserts for that wedding in her kitchen. Small world!!
After dinner, we finally got away at about 4:45 amidst much packing, hugging and picture taking. Our goal for the evening was to get to a bed and breakfast place just off the Natchez Trace Parkway. The Parkway is an old trail between Nashville and Natchez, MS -- about 450 miles-- that has been there for centuries. It started as an Indian trail for the Choctaw and Chickasaw Indians -- a very beautiful and scenic drive with a speed limit of 50 MPH.
This is where things got interesting. Somewhere along the way Stan realized that he had forgotten to print the directions to the Ridgetop B & B. But he thought he remembered enough to get us there...but guess what: he didn't. After driving back and forth on the road it was supposed to be on we tried calling. I called the number on Stan's phone I thought was it, but it was Deidre Dilg in Nashville. I was in the process of telling her how to access Stan's email when we drove out of range for the cell phone. We kept going in and out of range on a road we couldn't stop on. She kept trying to call but then the phone ran out of juice. I got my phone -- which had only one bar on it and was beeping to warn that we were going to run out of power any second. I was swaeating bullets. Eventually we got through to her and got the number and arrived about an hour later than we should have. We just hadn't driven far enough on the highway to see the sign!!
They gave us a cute little one room cabin. We had breakfast the next morning in our hosts' house. While we ate a delicious baked Frend toast breakfast we watched a racoon, a wild turkey and humming birds eat their breakfasts through a large picture window. Our hosts were very pleasant people (as all good B&B people are) and they gave us ice for our cooler and let us used their sattlelite internet service to check our e-mail.
We had a very leisurely drive down the "Old Trace" stopping from time to time at some of the verious points of interest. Things like a nature trail hike, Merriweather Lewis' gravesite (of Lewis and Clark fame), and a visitors' center. For lunch we stopped and picniced along the wide Tennessee River. The breezes off the water made the hot muggy day more bearable. The road is very nice -- hardly any traffic -- no trucks are alowedd -- beautiful and relaxing. Stan said it hardly feels like he was driving.
We are heading for Jackson, Mississippi, where dinner is waiting for us at Dale and Debbie Hoekema's.
It's Sunday evening, June 21 and there are finally a few minutes to write down a few notes before we go to bed. We are in a little bed and breakfast cottage someplace on a hill in the south cental part of Tennessee. It is a long story how we got here but first I'll get you caught up since the last posting.
Stan finished the closet/pantry on Friday afternoon -- at least as far as he could. Rick and Kelly will have to paint it and then do the finish work. We went to a home meeting that night in Murphreesboro and got home very late due to the fact that someone decided to make I-40 into only one lane instead of 4!! But we eventally got back.
Saturday morning we took off a little time and went and saw the Opreyland Hotel. We walked around the huge "courtyard" which is actually all inside. It is beautifully landscaped and has a "river" waterfalls, shops and restaurants. Then the most important thing was a trip to Trader Joe's. It was the last one until we get to Albequerque so we had to stock up as much as we could. That evening we went out to dinner with Rick and Kelly to a BBQ place with lots of local color. (I will eventually get the pictures up.) It was great food. When we got back to the house Rick and Kelly played a concert for us on cello and violin while I made bread for Sunday dinner. Kelly has a beautiful, large kitchen so they set up their chairs and stands right there while I cooked. I never seem to get away from cooking baking or doing something in the kitchen!! I am not complaining. I start getting itchy fingers if I don't cook for a while.
We went to the Lord's Table meeting with the church in Nashville and afterward a number of the saints came over for dinner. There were 2 sisters from the church in New York City who had come to Nashville for a nurse practitioners' conference. One of them was the wife of the couple we had stayed with in NY last time we were there. I had baked all desserts for that wedding in her kitchen. Small world!!
After dinner, we finally got away at about 4:45 amidst much packing, hugging and picture taking. Our goal for the evening was to get to a bed and breakfast place just off the Natchez Trace Parkway. The Parkway is an old trail between Nashville and Natchez, MS -- about 450 miles-- that has been there for centuries. It started as an Indian trail for the Choctaw and Chickasaw Indians -- a very beautiful and scenic drive with a speed limit of 50 MPH.
This is where things got interesting. Somewhere along the way Stan realized that he had forgotten to print the directions to the Ridgetop B & B. But he thought he remembered enough to get us there...but guess what: he didn't. After driving back and forth on the road it was supposed to be on we tried calling. I called the number on Stan's phone I thought was it, but it was Deidre Dilg in Nashville. I was in the process of telling her how to access Stan's email when we drove out of range for the cell phone. We kept going in and out of range on a road we couldn't stop on. She kept trying to call but then the phone ran out of juice. I got my phone -- which had only one bar on it and was beeping to warn that we were going to run out of power any second. I was swaeating bullets. Eventually we got through to her and got the number and arrived about an hour later than we should have. We just hadn't driven far enough on the highway to see the sign!!
They gave us a cute little one room cabin. We had breakfast the next morning in our hosts' house. While we ate a delicious baked Frend toast breakfast we watched a racoon, a wild turkey and humming birds eat their breakfasts through a large picture window. Our hosts were very pleasant people (as all good B&B people are) and they gave us ice for our cooler and let us used their sattlelite internet service to check our e-mail.
We had a very leisurely drive down the "Old Trace" stopping from time to time at some of the verious points of interest. Things like a nature trail hike, Merriweather Lewis' gravesite (of Lewis and Clark fame), and a visitors' center. For lunch we stopped and picniced along the wide Tennessee River. The breezes off the water made the hot muggy day more bearable. The road is very nice -- hardly any traffic -- no trucks are alowedd -- beautiful and relaxing. Stan said it hardly feels like he was driving.
We are heading for Jackson, Mississippi, where dinner is waiting for us at Dale and Debbie Hoekema's.
Friday, June 19, 2009
To Nashville
We arrived in Nashville after a long drive and a bad thunderstorm. As I (Debbie) was driving through the heavy rain I kept my eys peeled for funnel clouds. It turns out that more people are killed each year in TN tornados than any other state!! More about this later.....So we arrive at Rick and Kelly Rigali's in the ourskirts of Nashville better known as Antioch. We will be here until Sunday afternoon. In the mean time Stan is building a storage closet/pantry for our hosts and I am seeing herb clients. Rick and Kelly have an old stone house on a small hill in a beautiful setting. We just saw several deer cross the back of their property. I will eventually include a picture of the view out their kitchen window. They have recently added a large kitchen and they have lots of things that need to be done on their house. Stan is doing the top item on the list.
This was the day that the emergency radio kept going off. It is the sound of a siren coming from the kitchen every time there is weather to be warned about. I am getting used to the sound, but there is still something ominous about it. It must have gone off 7 or 8 times this day. It was more for thunderstorms than for tornados, but there was one definite warning. Fortunately, it was far enough away not to be a concern. It went off one last time after we were in bed so I laid there wondering how much time we would have to grab our things and run down 2 flights of stairs to get into the basement. Eventually, I fell asleep and awoke unscathed in the morning.
This was the day that the emergency radio kept going off. It is the sound of a siren coming from the kitchen every time there is weather to be warned about. I am getting used to the sound, but there is still something ominous about it. It must have gone off 7 or 8 times this day. It was more for thunderstorms than for tornados, but there was one definite warning. Fortunately, it was far enough away not to be a concern. It went off one last time after we were in bed so I laid there wondering how much time we would have to grab our things and run down 2 flights of stairs to get into the basement. Eventually, I fell asleep and awoke unscathed in the morning.
Finally!!
I am finally getting caught up. It is Friday and this is the first time I am able to sit down at a computer to do this. You will have to forgive my clumsiness at this format. I am pressing buttons that I should press and posting empty posts. Please hang in there and I promise that I will improve. Pictures will eventually appear, too. I am not sure I have the time for that today.
So, I will start with Monday and gradually work my way up to today. We finally got on the road at about 1:45 on Monday. Packing the van and cleaning the house for out renters turned out to be a bigger task than expected. We should learn to expect the unexpected. We had an uneventful drive to Creedmmor, NC where we stopped at the home of Jamie and Angela Reid and their 6 children. A number of years ago we had a bi monthy Bible study with them in their home in Gloucester for 2 years. So we got caught up with them at dinner and saw their large old home and the many kittens that they are breeding. If any of you are shopping for a $750 kitten, Angela is the person to talk to. They are very cute and have blue eyes. That is the kittens, not the Reids. It was great to see them all again. It is always special to see old friends
After dinner we moved on to Mebane, NC, just the other side of Durham, where we spent the night with Wally Hill, whom some of you may know. His wife, Peggy, was in California visiting family so we saved him from yet another solitary evening. It was great seeing him and their new home. He took us out for breakfast at the local Cracker Barrel and we got back on the road to head for Nashville.
So, I will start with Monday and gradually work my way up to today. We finally got on the road at about 1:45 on Monday. Packing the van and cleaning the house for out renters turned out to be a bigger task than expected. We should learn to expect the unexpected. We had an uneventful drive to Creedmmor, NC where we stopped at the home of Jamie and Angela Reid and their 6 children. A number of years ago we had a bi monthy Bible study with them in their home in Gloucester for 2 years. So we got caught up with them at dinner and saw their large old home and the many kittens that they are breeding. If any of you are shopping for a $750 kitten, Angela is the person to talk to. They are very cute and have blue eyes. That is the kittens, not the Reids. It was great to see them all again. It is always special to see old friends
After dinner we moved on to Mebane, NC, just the other side of Durham, where we spent the night with Wally Hill, whom some of you may know. His wife, Peggy, was in California visiting family so we saved him from yet another solitary evening. It was great seeing him and their new home. He took us out for breakfast at the local Cracker Barrel and we got back on the road to head for Nashville.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
The Day Before
We are almost ready to leave. Tomorrow we hope to leave by noon. We will start taking pictures to show you our progress. Stay tuned.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
