I am actually typing this into a word
document as we return from Foxton so that I can post it without using
too much internet.
To say that we have been blessed beyond
measure is quite an understatement. Everyone here has already gone
out of their way to make sure that we are in a good position to start
our work here.
I guess I can start with the trip over
and give the funny things and highlights of our life so far down
under.
We arrived at the airport in Nashville
a little earlier than expected (Greg Donnelly's perfect timing). We
hauled our bags into the ticket counter and they weighed perfectly
for our southwest flight. Mom was concerned that there wouldn't be a
way to get a picture of all four of us and woudldn't you know it, a
friend from Freed happened to be in line behind us and took our
picture. We spent about an hour in the arrivals Starbucks laughing
and talking with mom and dad. When it came time to finally say
goodbye, we hugged and went on our way. It wasn't that I wasn't sad,
I was just ready. Mom and Dad taught me to love the Lord, in turn
teaching me how to love Jared and I know that this is His plan for
us.
We found our gate and sat for a moment
to catch our breath. About 30 minutes later, I got tired of listening
to the guy behind me talk about Chinese Astrology and its effects on
dogs(no joke), so we went to Hudson News to look around and when we
returned they were already boarding our flight. We got seats together
after a nice stewardess (who was hopping on last second) said she
couldn't stand to break up young love and gave up her seat. :) The
flight to Houston was a bumpy one. They had torrential rains and
tornado warnings in Houston and had actually closed. When we landing,
many planes were trying to get into the area. The only problem I had
with that is that many of them were blocking the gate that we had to
get to in order to connect to our LA flight. While we waited on the
tarmack, we decided to have some fun.
The crew told us that more than likely
the outgoing planes would be delayed so we should be fine. Not so
Joe.
As we departed from our plane, Jared
heard them calling our names over the intercom as a last minute
boarding call. We went to the nearest info desk where they were able
to hold the plane for us as we ran through the terminal. Pretty sure
that is the first time in my life I feel justified using the term
'willy nilly'. So much for our A group boarding passes. I placed
myself in a middle seat towards the front next to a lady who loudly
said 'I am glad you sat there! That man beside you is grumpy!'
As we landed in L.A. I spotted Randy's
Donuts sign and thought of the movie 'My Girl', I tried to make every
hill I saw say 'HOLLYWOOD' but I just didn't see it.
We hadn't eaten lunch at this point and
it was 7 pm so we were delighted to get our bags and head to the NZ
terminal. We loaded up our gargantuan bags (that must have grown
since we checked them in Nashville) and scouted out the NZ check in.
The checkin process was interesting within itself, but I refuse to
give that ticket lady one more ounce of my life. :)
After going through security and the
lady in front of me getting searched (whew), we finally sat down to
pizza at Wolfgang Puck's and watched what was left of the SEC
Championship game. By the time we were done there, we sat for about
30 minutes and then boarded the plane.
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