Tuesday, December 18, 2007

We would like to interrupt this program...

for a VERY important announcement...Jared and Katie are...blogging again!

I know 3 months between posts is a little ridiculous. Needless to say, life has been crazy! It seems like every weekend we are either out of town or have someone in town. So, time has been cut short for blogging. But, here's a quick update on what has been going on in the life of the Norrises.

Jared finished up his first semester in seminary. He managed to get through a VERY TOUGH semester with all A's and B's (I'm so proud) and most of his sanity. While Jared is an extremely intelligent and diligent young man, he definitely struggled through the semester with lots of sweat and tears--literally. Ladies, if you ever come home to find your husband sitting on the couch weeping and don't know what to do...just give me a call. I've got it down :) He has a learned a lot (like which classes not to take together), but he still has about 7 semesters left.

I am still working for our church's daycare. I am an administrative assistant and jack of all trades. It has been quite and adjustment for me, but I enjoy it most days. If nothing else, by the end of this job I should have an immune system of steel! I have been sick more in the last four months than I was in my entire college career. The latest ailment--a stomach bug that lasted THREE days! In case you're wondering, this was not fun! My husband was wonderful at taking care of me. He held my hair back while I puked in the Walgreens parking lot on the busiest corner in Shelbyville, KY and brought me lots of chicken noodle soup. But, I am finally back to normal (and five pounds lighter).

This Sunday we start our Marathon of holiday madness. So, we'll be sure to take lots of pictures and actually post something that's interesting by the new year! Maybe consistent blogging will be a new year's resolution...

Happy Holidays!

Saturday, September 22, 2007

Seminary...more like semi-conscious.

During this transition of life we have realized sometimes that there is not much time to spend together. So we make due; therefore, we have created a new way to study for us (though Jeremy and Amanda did function this way too). Here is what we do:

Katie Sleeps


I study



or sometimes sleep too.

Seriously, it is very hard but very rewarding. You don't realize how little you know about the Bible until you are pushed to explain what you believe and why you believe it. The biggest change is the amount of reading and comprehension that has to take place. I can remember studying 10 pages of notes and thinking that was a lot. I just got through studying 50 pages yesterday for a test. Please pray for us as you think of us.

Thursday, September 20, 2007

You get a line and I'll get a pole...


This past Wednesday the kids had a fishing fellowship. It was awesome. The kids had a blast, and some big ole' fish were caught. Its always great to see a kid reel in a big one! He barely got this one in. He struggled to turn the reel round and round, but in the end, father and son celebrated victoriously. By the way, if you can't tell by the smile the one in the grey shirt pulled this one in.

Sunday, September 2, 2007

Just In Case You Didn't Know...

I just wanted to let you know some of the great things God has worked out for Jared and I since we moved to Louisville.

Jared is (for two weeks now) the Children's Minister at Simpsonville Baptist Church. We met the pastor Steve back in May when he brought his daughter to Brentwood for our Summer Missions Training at the TBC. Steve and I got to talking because he lived in the Louisville area and I was getting ready to move there. After some conversation I discovered he was looking for a children's minister and he discovered I just so happened to be married to a FANTASTIC one! So, Jared came to our dinner the next night at orientation and he and Steve just hit it off wonderfully! The next weekend we visited the church. We cannot even begin to tell you how at home we felt here the minute we walked in. To make a long story short, we interviewed with the personnel committee and met some parents. Jared gave his testimony in church and then the church voted us in. Only 1 person voted no. We plan to find out who that was and to love them until they love us! :)

Now, I am working at Adventure club, which is our church preschool/after school program. I am mostly doing administrative stuff each day and then in the afternoons I work with the after school kiddoes. We have about 60 kids in the after school program and only a SMALL handful of them regularly attend our church. So, this is a great outreach for us. I am liking it so far, however, after only 1 week working the program, I am already sick. So, I need to start taking some vitamins if this is ever going to work!

So, we are pretty much ahead of the curve. Most seminary students are feverishly looking for jobs in churches right now. Many students drive an hour or longer each Sunday just for the opportunity to serve in churches. So, Jared having a job in ministry at a great church that he loves, is pretty much unheard of! And, me having a job already is wonderful. God is really taking care of us!

Anyway, thanks for caring enough to check our blog! We love and miss home so much, but we are liking Louisville pretty well, too. Maybe one day it will feel like home.

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Long Time...No Type To

Well, it has been quite a while since our last post. Quite honestly, I never knew what all was involved in moving. But, we finally got our internet up and running so hopefully the blogging won't be so sparse. And...since I am currently a housewife, I should have plenty of time on my hands while looking for a job.

Anyway, it has actually been almost 3 weeks since all of our personal belongings vacated our apartment in Smyrna. I don't want to miss the opportunity to say what a blessing our small group was to us. We rented a 26 foot Penske truck thinking that we would have plenty of room to pack up our small, 2nd floor apartent. Well, 16 people and 1 hour and fifteen minutes later, the Penske was packed full from floor to ceiling and our official "move out" was complete. WOW!

Thanks to Alison's genius, we simply formed an assembly line from the apartment to the truck. This worked great for all of the small stuff!
I just think this picture of my dad is hilarious! We all had to stop and laugh when we saw my dad standing there holding a pot of tulips and my other decorative branch thingy. It was quite funny!

Then there was the wok. The funny thing about the wok is that we had meant to pack it in a box for almost 3 weeks, but kept forgetting. In our small apt., the best place to store the wok was overtop of the kitchen cabinets...and there it stayed. We gave Dixie the assignment of making sure it got on the truck. And, lo and behold, the wok finally got loaded. It was the LAST thing to go on the truck. Sara had the honor of delivering the wok to the Penske.


Mom had a small surgical procedure the day before we moved, so she was unable to lift anything. So, she was put on Norah duty...a duty I know she was glad to have. She and Norah seemed to hit it off quite nicely!After all was loaded, we sat on the floor of our empty apartment and enjoyed each other's company and some pizza thanks to my mom and dad. It was fun to just sit around and talk! I am not entirely sure what inspired this face from Jansen, but I am sure that it was just his way of expressing the broken heart he feels with Jared and me leaving!


Let me just say that if you are not in a small group, then you should definitely consider finding one! I'll admit, at first Jared and I were skeptical about the whole small group thing. But, a year ago, when Brad and Alison asked us to be the first members of their small group, Jared and I decided to give it a try. And I can honestly say...we are so thankful! Not just because we had an army of people to help us move, but because we had a group of people to live our lives with. People who became some of our best friends.

That's enough of the Small Group plug...I just thought I'd let you know what you're missing out on!

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Country Cookin'


Jared's parents are in town for a few days to help us finish up our packing, get the Penske loaded and get all of our stuff moved to Kentucky. So, when they got in town last night, we decided we wanted to go out for a nice, country dinner in the very charming little town of Bell Buckle. Jared's parents had never been there, so we thought it would be fun for them to go with us. All of the shops and stuff were closed by the time we got there, but the most important thing was open: The Bell Buckle cafe. Can I just say...I highly recommend the chicken fried steak.

If you haven't been to this cute little town, you should definitely make a day out of it. But, if you're interested in the Moon Pie and RC Cola festival, you will have to wait until next year. This summer's festival has already passed.

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Going Out With a Bang!

Okay...I have one more story for you today. As most of you know, I only have about 1 and a half more weeks here at TBC. So, in the good ole fashion of "Katie-ness," it was about time for me to do something really dumb. So, as I ran out to my car in the somewhat pouring rain yesterday afternoon, I remembered that I had cracked my windows at lunch time before I came in from the very bright and NOT AT ALL CLOUDY outdoors. When I got in my car I discovered that my brand new Dee Henderson book was soaked. I know what you're thinking...that's not so dumb. Well, the story continues. Once I was done drying off my book, I started to pull out of my parking spot. So, I am backing up with my foot on the break, looking over my shoulder like the good, safe driver that I am, when all of the sudden I felt this huge jolt and heard a loud, not-so-pleasant noise. I pulled my car back into the spot and looked behind me where I saw...nothing. The thought running through my head: "Oh my gosh, I just hit a person." So, I jumped out of my car and ran around to the back of it only to find...nothing. As I am crouched down on the ground trying to figure out what in the heck I had just hit, a car a few yards down the parking lot began to back up to where I was. Apparently, his car was what the unidentified object that I had hit. Oops. The sad thing is, it was a pretty large car...something along the lines of a Buick or a Lincoln TownCar...and I never saw it! I don't know if it was the rain, a blindspot, or the incredibly fast rate at which this man is known for driving through our parking lot, but I totally hit a HUGE car and never even saw it. Wow. That's embarassing. Luckily, he didn't want to call the police or file a report or anything like that. So, other than a sore back, two sore wrists, and a badly beaten ego, I think I'll survive. I will try to post a picture of my scratched up bumper later.

What a Gift!

So, let me tell you a little story...
A couple of weeks ago, a good friend of ours (Kent Shingleton) was speaking at a church here in the Nashville area. His assignment was to do a morning worship service and an evening worship service. So, during the morning service, Kent talked about the mission trip his whole family (he, his wife and 3 kids) had just gotten back from in Brazil. He talked about trying to raise so much money for his whole family to go. Well, later that night when he went back to the church, the part-time youth minister's wife came up to Shawnah and said that she wished she had known Kent and Shawnah sooner because her husband, who does real estate as his other job, just got a bonus that they were wanting to give to some type of mission project. But, since she was too late to give them money for Brazil, she asked if Kent and Shawnah knew of any couples that were going to seminary this fall. Hmmmm...as a matter of fact, Shawnah said, we do. So, to make a long story short, Jared and I got a check for just over $2,000 in the mail yesterday from 2 people we have never met that just have a heart for ministry and that wanted to use their financial blessings to bless the hearts (and pocketbooks) of a young married couple who are learning to trust God for everything they need. So, let me just encourage you...God supplies everything we need if we only trust Him to do so. Much thanks to Kent and Shawnah as well as the couple who sent us the money...If they only knew what they have done for us! Oh, and by the way...guess how much Jared's tuition for his first semester of seminary is. Just over $2,000.

Here We Go Again...

So, this is my second attempt at having a blog. The first time we (Jared and I) decided that there was absolutely nothing interesting or exciting about our lives that was blog-worthy. We have no kids, no pets...you get the drift. So, after a few months we just killed our blog. But, Jared and I are moving to Louisville in about 2 weeks for him to start seminary. Surely a young married couple moving away from everyone and everything they know will have something interesting to blog about. We don't have much money (although we do have great families who will make sure we don't starve). I don't have a job and Jared is starting a HEAVY load of courses in just a couple of weeks. We are truly living on love...God's love for us, our love for Him and our love for each other. This should be interesting! For now I will leave you with this picture of the Seminary that we are going to. It really is a beautiful campus!