Friday, July 24, 2009

Finally found it!

Seriously, I think I would loose my head if it weren't attached! So I finally found the cord to the camera after putting it in a "safe place" and not being able to find it for the life of me!!! So enjoy some of these adventures....

Here's a picture of only the most amazing man in the world!!!



Some crazy shananigans!



If you look real close, you can start to see the "Third Eye" making it's appearance!!!



They didn't last too long with this craziness going on!!!



What a happy boy!



Well, gotta figure out a better way to upload videos...

Having a crazy day in the Tundra!

Love, Sarah

PS. Tune in next time, live and unplugged from the East Coast!!!

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Tubing Adventure

Darn - Since my camera is back from the Jr. High Minneapolis Mission Trip, I got some great photo's of our tubing adventure yesterday and thought I had my cord here, but I don't - so tune in tomorrow for some pictures...

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Dolly Parton rocks the house!!!

The Imagination Library is this awesome program that Dolly Parton set up for preschoolers to encourage literacy. I won't go into it, because she explains it so much better than I do - but if you have tots, ages newborn to 5 - PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE check this out and see if it is available in your area!!! Let me just say FREE - FREE - FREE BOOKS! And who doesn't love something FREE! And books, at that - children's books! I have no idea why I haven't posted about this so far because the email has just been sitting in my inbox waiting for my little guy to be born and get a name and birthdate before he gets signed up! But I know there are a few out there with preschoolers, so CHECK IT OUT!

Other than that, my man is home again and all is better with the world. It's been a rough weekend to be sure. I've had a lot more heart-aching things going on this summer than funny ones! (Much to my dismay!) The most recent - I've been diagnosed with gestational diabetes. I was devastated. I just found out on Monday... I've met with a Dietitian and hopefully we can get everything worked out. I was told that it wasn't necessarily anything I could have done, some people are just more prone and it could run in the family and just not know it, etc. There are so many different reasons. I think a lot of it comes from our hectic schedule that really doesn't allow me to eat at regular intervals. It's been an opportunity to trust the Lord in ways I've never had to before. I was so completely discouraged, but the doctor assures me they treat this quite a bit more aggressively than a lot of other dr.s so that no harm comes to my baby. I find comfort in that. I also find comfort in knowing that God is in control and that He knows what's going on and He loves me so much. This is an email I just wrote to my brother this morning actually regarding it - and it just sums up what the Lord has been showing me these last couple of days.

Hey - thanks for your call yesterday - I was just about to go into the Dr.'s office when you called and then I never had a chance to give you a call back. Plus, it's all very emotional to me - even still! :P (which is EXTREMELY annoying to me! especially when I'm work and can't get the waterworks to stop.) I have been getting some pretty amazing emails from folks who don't even have a clue and they are so encouraging to me... But today God is telling me VERY CLEARLY that He is in control and the He loves me no matter what and that nothing is going on without Him knowing about it and holding me through the very midst of it. So while it's all very discouraging and disheartening - I'm remembering that God is bigger than my problems and He's got to be my Lord even through the dark times, reminding me to maintain my positive and cheerful attitude. No lie, that sentence just came through my daily devotional with David Wilkerson, the email I read right before I looked at yours. So see, God is taking care of me. And talking to me so plainly, He might as well be using neon signs!

So you can see - God uses these awful things to draw us unto Himself. And even though this is an "adventure" that I don't want to experience - just like my mom's cancer is an "adventure" that none of us want to experience - if God uses it to bring me closer to Him, so be it. It's really very difficult for me to come to that conclusion - it's not one that I settle on lightly, but I don't want to fight. I just want to be closer to my Jesus. I've learned in my short life that it's so much better to walk with Jesus and not away from Him. There are a lot of kids especially out there who think they need to experience things for themselves and make their own mistakes (I know, because I work with a bunch of them!), and I'll give them that, but honestly - I hope beyond hope that they learn sooner than later that it's so much better to choose Jesus than our own way. We are so much happier and more content and isn't that what we're looking for? Isn't that what everyone wants out of life - the American Dream - life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness? It's in Jesus. All of it is in Jesus.

Well, I've probably waxed pretty serious at this point, hopefully you don't walk away feeling the weight of the world on your shoulders. The day is beautiful here. We are heading out to Lake Nelson - I should rename it "Third eyeball Lake" because there is a nuclear power plant right there that keeps the water nice and toasty and I always tease the boys that if they spend too much time in it, they WILL grow a third eyeball - probably right in their forehead (But secretly, I think they like that idea! Boys....sheesh...) Anyway, tubing for them, boat rides for me. And enjoying the man of my dreams for a few more days before we are separated for 10 days while he's in Guatemala and I'm in VA! :*( (Boo hoo) I'm so excited to see my family - I'm excited that he gets to go to Guatemala - but I wish he could come with me to see my family and I could go with him to Guatemala!!! I hate being apart! And there has been too much of it this summer! Hope you have a fantastic day!

3 years, nine months and the honeymoon isn't over yet in the Tundra,

Sarah

Monday, July 20, 2009

Correction....

My dad's rolling stop ticket was actually $91 and not $70. So put that in your pipe! Can you believe that? Oh the injustices of this world?

I had a good weekend. I'm afraid the plants are dying - just the ones I haven't planted yet. But what is a girl to do? We're running out of space to plant. Seriously. It's starting to thunder now. It's kind of matching my whatever kind of mood! I feel like there are tons of things to do, but I just don't know where to start. I reckon I should make a list.

Trying to get motivated in the Tundra,

Sarah

Friday, July 17, 2009

New Adventures!

Well, for the first time ever, Sam went out Spear fishing last night - "Where in the world can you go spear fishing in the Tundra?" you ask? (I know that's what you were thinking because #1 - sounds crazy to me and #2 - that's what my mom asked when she found out!!! Wherein my dad promptly answered - in his pond! HA!) Anyway, Lake Sakakawea. Get this the spell check came up saying that I spelled that wrong, and maybe I did, but that's seriously how they pronounce it here - and I reckon she was actually from here, so that's her name now, not Sacajawea. That must be the southern version. But for a quick history lesson - her name is properly pronounced Sakakawea. Man, I digress... Anyway, yes, Sam and a friend headed up to the murky lake to do some spear fishing and Sam was very proud that on his first shot, he got a big ole' carp! Now we've just got to get him in the ocean to do some REAL spear fishing!!! :) If you have a bit of time, you should click the link to the Lake, it's really very interesting! You'll be surprised to find such a large body of water in the Tundra! And yes, it does freeze over in the winter and tons of people haul their little shacks up there to ice fish. I know, it's a whole new concept for most of you - but people really do have to get outside in the winter around here - or else they'd be a heck of a lot crazier than they are now! :)

Well, this has been about the most beautiful summer ever! In fact, we are still planting annual pots. I don't exactly know why when Fall is right around the corner. Shhhh, don't tell anyone I said that. I'd probably get tarred and feathered! But all the flower stands went out of business before the 4th and we had a bunch of plants that we'd gotten for a really good deal and they are just sitting around. I'll have to get some pictures of our yard - it's insane how beautiful it is right now. In fact, our neighbor girl came over the other day and asked Sam if he thought he had too many flowers in his yard! HA! Now I ask you - how can anyone have TOO many flowers?? Just because it looks like a rainbow exploded in our yard, I don't really know what she's talking about! Do you remember back in the day when the theologians would have these huge long arguments about how many angels could fit on the head of pin? Well, now they can argue about how many plants the Coleman's can fit into their postage stamp size yard! HA! What can I say, we like variety, and color, and excessiveness....

The painting of our nursery is coming right along. I can't really reach the top, but it's just about done. Now we just need to go around and start collecting furniture. I also have some sewing to do. I just got some material to cover our rocking chair and make a valence for the window - so it's coming together.

Oh, I just remembered, I was going to tell you about Curly and Moe. Well, due to the time lapse, my mushy brain that can't remember details anymore and some other extenuating circumstances, I'm not actually going to go into the details like before - but I did want to make a big announcement - Sam's little brother, Curly - or was it Moe, anyway, we just call him Johnny - asked the love of his life to marry him! That's right - our whittle tiny Johnny is gwowing up! Can you believe that??? I still can't! Haven't even seen him since the big question got popped. I guess they are too busy planning their next July wedding. Let me see if I can rustle up a picture....



Aren't they about the cutest things? Anyway - that gigantic sand castle behind them, that's what Johnny built and Sam helped with in the popping of the big question - isn't that a gigantic sand castle? So we're very excited for them!

In the famous last words....Well, I suppose..... (that means it's time to go.)

Living the dream in the Tundra,

Sarah

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Guess what?!



That's right folks - That's a picture of me - taking a picture....with my brand spankin' new birthday present!!! True, it's not an SLR - but here's the deal... Sambo got me a digital Canon Rebel for my birthday - tangibly held it in my hands and everything. But when I took it all out of the box, turns out they changed the look of the battery. So before we go and start buying all new accessories - we decided to take it back and do a bit more research. We already have two canon batteries, why do we want a totally different one? We are all about being able to inter-change. So after thinking about it long and hard, this is what we decided to do. Take it back. That's right, after all this time, I wanted to take back my beautiful birthday present! But in the meantime - isn't it nice to have a point and shoot. Especially for your purse, especially for "gotta-capture-this-moment-right-now,-not-look-for-my-bulky-camera-and-switch-the-lense-and-get-the-settings-right", especially for UNDERWATER - yeah, ya heard me!, especially for your husband who goes through cameras like most people go through underwear, especially one that's crushproof for up to 220 lbs., yeah, especially one that's shockproof for up to 6.6 feet - that's right - you can drop this baby - sit on it - leave it in your pocket while you are swimming (only to 30 feet though!) - it's practically indestructible! When I saw it - I thought - this is the camera for us! Especially with Sam getting ready for a trip to Guatemala - gasp, he couldn't go without a camera, we are way to limited in our finances to have him use film - can't afford to develop all that film! and there is no way in you know where I would let him take his good camera! So this is the perfect solution to our dilemma!

Anyway, yesterday turned out to be about one of the best birthdays ever! I came home after work to the most beautiful roses EVER!



And that's when I got to check out my new Rebel, even if for a short time! Then we headed off to Paradiso's, where you get a free meal on your birthday! So after that, we ran a few errands and took back Camera #1 for Camera #2!!! Then Sam says we had to get home pretty quick because some very important friends of ours were coming to see us! I asked him who and he said it was a surprise!

Well, we roll into our driveway and surprise, oh surprise - who's car was there - you might have seen it before.....



That's right - Erik!!!! So we went in and couldn't find those kids anywhere - they were hiding all the way in our basement (never mind that my house is a total mess!) Luckily kids don't care! We found them, Erik, Bridget, Brittany and Tiffany!!! How sweet is that???? They spend their morning making me a cake! (Bridget is quite the chef/baker extraordinaire!) And then they came over and surprised me for my birthday! How special am I that a bunch of Sr. High kids would give up their afternoon for me???!!! The only problem is that I don't have a picture of them, because we had to charge up the new little camera, but lucky for you - I have a picture of the cake!!!!



(For those of you who missed the earlier postings on the pictures of Sam's pond, here it is - forever imbued on my birthday cake!) That's right folks, there is the Love Pond, right there - in living icing!!! Isn't that amazing??? Can you believe these guys decorated this so perfectly for me??? How cute is that - there are even some fish in the pond! (Shhh....don't tell Sam, but they are probably bigger than any fish Sam will ever have in the pond! HA!) I crack myself up!

Then, we sat down and played some serious hands of Ultimate Solitaire! Erik was confident that the score keeper always won, just because I keep the score and I always win... But I proved him wrong - he took score this time, but I still won. I know, it's a hard life, but someone's got to live it! So maybe we aren't all pro's at blongo ball - but we've all got skills, right, Erik?

Anyway, then we had to had off to Childbirth Preparation Classes, or whatever the heck you want to call them! (Much to Sam's dismay.) But it went a lot faster than last week and I thought it was pretty fun - I mean, seriously, how often to get that much of Sam's complete attention completely uninterrupted? Ok, a lot, but that's besides the point. We got to practice relaxation - so I got lots of hand massages and back massages, that was fun!!! Ok, one more night, one more night, you can do it Sammy!!! We actually got out a little early and there were some pretty epic clouds, so we took off - storm chasing! Luckily Sam had his camera and so we took a little drive. It was really beautiful! Then to end the night - Ruth, Sam's aunts Barb and Jane all came over for some yummy ice cream cake from DQ and to visit - so you can see - how does a birthday get much better than that, I ask you? (I have yet to cut Bridget's cake because I wanted to take a picture of it and was planning on doing that last night before an ice cream cake came - unfortunately I have a glucose test today at the Dr. so hopefully I don't throw them over the edge with all my celebrating!) But I'm definitely looking forward to tasting a bit of the pond - Bridget's version, of course!!!

Ok, for Rhonda and the rest of you, just going to post a couple more pictures and then I'll be done for today, ok? This is taking way longer than I thought!!!

My hottie husband, as if I had to tell you - pshaw!


Yes, a very pregnant me....


And this is the crib set that my good friend, Lori gave us.... And the yellow fabric is another fabric I found to do some accents around the nursery - It's not the best picture, but I was anxious to show you!


Ok, well, that's all for now folks! But tune in next time...for some better pictures, once I figure out what I'm doing! :)

Loving the day after my birthday in the Tundra,

Sarah

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Birthday musings....

Do you just love your birthday? I used to. I don't know what the turning tide was. When I was little, it was like the best holiday of the year, seriously! My mom did up birthdays big! I always woke up with a bouquet of fresh flowers from the garden on my bedside table - special breakfast, special dinner - usually swimming all day with some friends... Those were the simple days. Then you grow up. You realize, you never did anything really special - being born - it's more something you are subject to rather than accomplishing, don't ya think? Sam decided that birthdays were so depressing, we would start giving presents to other people instead of focusing on ourselves... I'm not too prepared this year. I guess it snuck (turns out that's not a word, but work with me!) up on me! Birthdays have always been depressing for him because his birthday is in January and he's never wanted to get older. I never really even thought about the older part - I just knew it was one of those things that was all about me! But birthdays, I have decided are what you make them out to be!!!! So even though I don't have presents for all my loved ones around me, I want to say to all those dear, precious friends and family who do so much to make me feel so special and loved and accepted despite my many faults, thank you. Thank you for investing in my life and blessing me beyond my wildest imagination! Thank you for keeping up with me even though I live in a land far, far away and you send me such beautiful emails, comments and facebook messages. I couldn't go on without you! And to my Lord and Savior - for without You, I wouldn't have the breath to carry on each moment. My heart overflows.

Soon, I hope to have some funny stories to pass along to you. For now, you'll just have to imagine a 7 foot sand castle - and digging out the 1 foot moat with an oar!!! (More adventures of Curly and Moe!) Until next time...

Celebrating a birthday in the Tundra,

Sarah

Monday, July 13, 2009

If I could be so faithful as this in attending the YMCA!

Anyway, that's a side note.... Guess what? I never thought I'd hear myself say this, but.... My dad is a fugitive of the law! Ok, not really, but he did tell me about getting stopped by a cop for the 3rd time in his 67 years of living - did ya hear me??? Is that impressive or what?! I don't really think my mom has actually gotten stopped all that many times either but that's because she's faster than the radars that the cops use! ;) And for the record, my dad didn't get stopped for speeding - it's what you might hear tell of - a California stop; a rolling stop... Yeah, isn't that insane, so he's waiting to call to see how much the ticket it, but overall, he thinks it's going to be no less than $70. Can you believe that??? Sam says it's one more reason not to move to VA! It's true, we'd probably go bankrupt - although Sambo has definitely gotten better with his driving skills. Lots of people may argue with me on that point, but trust me!

In other news, my mom is doing well! She continues to thank the Lord and others for praying for her. She's healing well and trusting the Lord to take care of her. She got word that she is eligible for some testing that will tell whether chemo will even help her, so she's hoping that will come back saying no. I'm getting excited to go and visit and I know that they are getting excited for their trip to Alaska! Wish I could go as well!

We had a few days of McVBS last week - which means, VBS down on the Reservation at McLaughlin. That was really good. I actually took a day off of work to head down there and help, it was a really fun time actually! Then this weekend, Sam had a car wash and a Family Fun Night fundraiser for kids going to Guatemala and it was a blast.

I'm interrupting this newsy post for some thunder! Don't you just love days like this? They make you want to stay in bed a little longer, true, but it's only 57 degrees and rainy. It makes you not feel bad for staying inside and working on some much needed projects, like painting the nursery, because ready or not, your baby is going to come. And it would be helpful to at least have the room painted if nothing else! :)

This week, we are taking it a little easier. Have a meeting tonight - birth class #2, much to Samuel's dismay, tomorrow night and then he heads out on Friday for Minneapolis. I'm not sure whether I am going to go yet. Too much to do here. But it should be a good time. I'm really thankful for this time of rest though. It's much needed!

Well, I should wrap things up!

Enjoying the rain in the Tundra,

Sarah

Friday, July 10, 2009

Updates and such!

I just wanted to send an update! My mom talked with her Dr. yesterday and Praise the Lord, they only found cancer in ONE of her lymph nodes! She still has to wait and see what's to happen next as she has an appt. with an oncologist in two weeks. He will discuss with her all the different options for treatment, but also another big praise - she can go to ALASKA on their much needed and already planned birthday cruise! I'm just so excited about that for them! God is good and even though this hasn't really worked out according to OUR plan - Praise Him that we can see HIS HAND in the midst of it walking us through just like He promises in His Word - God is good! Please continue to pray for her and my dad as they continue to have to make decisions throughout this whole process! Thank you!!

Grateful in the Tundra!

Sarah

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Almost Friday....

More to come tomorrow - spent my day in McLaughlin, SD on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation doing VBS! Fun times were had by all!

Enjoying an amazing summer day in the Tundra,

Sarah

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Do you ever feel kind of in a lull?

In the kind of lull where you just don't know what to say. You feel like all you've been doing is talking, talking, talking? Maybe it's because I think too much and it feels like I'm talking all the time - although, knowing me, I've been doing a lot of talking lately! :) In fact, we had a get together at some friend's house the other night and she just so happens to sell Mary Kay makeup and has a "Free - Please take one" Sample basket in her guest bathroom. Well, to tell you the truth, I just can't stay away - it's so much fun to rustle through it and see what kinds of new treats she's got in there. One time, I was over there and going through her basket, when someone knocks on the door and asks if anyone is in the bathroom - I hadn't realized I'd been in there so long! Well, I came out and let's just say, I was way more glamorous than when I went in!!! I had the reddest lips you ever saw! So back to my original story about my talking - I was in the famous bathroom, going through the basket AGAIN, and talking to myself - out loud!!!! Embarrassing, only I didn't know it was embarrassing until I opened the door and Sam was standing there and asked me, "Were you in here talking to yourself?" HA! Caught again!!!! That bathroom will be the death of me! :)

Well, we had a great weekend, as I mentioned earlier - my mind has taken the back seat lately as we've had so much going on and I've been exhausted. I had to go back and take a look at what I'd written YESTERDAY because I couldn't remember! HA - sad, isn't it? Well, this week, Sam is in McLaughlin, SD doing VBS this week. They head down in the mornings and come back in the afternoons. It's usually a good time, even though I have never actually gone because I take enough time off of work during the summer. We have a church that we support down there, it's on a Reservation and the missionaries that work there are good friends of ours and they have an incredible ministry there. It's a hard one though! So if you think about it, pray for our team down there bringing the light of Jesus!

That leaves me with 4 errands to run today before I head home and work on a much needed sewing project. The only problem is that my 4 errands take me North, South, East and West in this town. There is no easy way to get around to them, so I suppose I'll be spending some quality time in the car this afternoon. The nice thing is that this town is so small, it will still only take a couple minutes to get from one to the other! Isn't it funny how our perspective changes? At home, it would take an hour at least to get to the grocery store because of having to travel 30 miles one way to get there. You don't just run over there for milk. Now, I'm so spoiled, that I can be in the middle of a recipe and send Sam to the store and he can be back in less than 10 minutes! Even though it's a small town, it's town and I like living in it!

Well, I guess I don't have many good stories for you - Rhonda, I will try to get some photo's up just for you!!! Let me tell you - photo's of me is NOT one of the highlights of my life, but just for you!!! Because you ask so nicely! :)

Enjoying the 66 degree weather in the Tundra,

Love, Sarah

Monday, July 6, 2009

Does life ever slow down?

They say that life only gets faster the older you get and then kids come along and it goes even faster! So basically that means, buckle up - we're in for a fast ride! Friday and Saturday was good - tag teaming the Art in the Park. Sam set up his own booth with art. He was so worried that he wouldn't have enough art to fill it, but alas, that was not a problem. He actually sold about 6 prints and one original! Go figure - it was 6 more prints and 1 more original than I thought he would sell!!! It's not that I'm a pessimist, it's just that I don't really expect people to come to a craft fair and purchase such nice pieces of art! So he more than paid off his booth, which is always nice! We had 12 hours on Friday and 9 hours on Saturday of visiting and manning the booth. Now if that weren't enough, we also had our youth group across the way selling ice cream! PS. If I see ice cream any time in the near future, like the next 6 months, it'll be too soon! HA! (Who am I kidding - I LOVE ice cream! But I did have too much!) So it was definitely a good but busy couple of days! And you know what? I'll have to finish this tomorrow, maybe I can drudge up some photo's to post. Although I don't really know how many we've taken in the past couple of days. We did do an hour photo session with a family for their family reunion. And then Sam took tons of pictures of horses and flowers and clouds, do you want to see pictures of that? By the way, when I put that little challenge out there to email Sam to tell him I need a camera - don't know if you remember that... Only ONE person emailed him. So I guess I can keep writing without pictures and you are just as happy, although, I must say, I was a bit disappointed - I thought it was going to be my big break!!! Well, I'll catch ya on the flip side! Love ya, miss ya, can't wait to see ya!!!!

Recovering in the Tundra,

Sarah

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Just in case....

I had actually won something on Pioneer Woman, I thought I'd better go and check. That sure would make my day better. But alas, no. What was I expecting - ever the hopeless romantic.... But so anyway, my mom came through her surgery - her lymph node test was positive - meaning they DID find cancer in her lymph nodes. So we are at another crossroad - decisions to be made, new adventures to deal with, and change. Have you ever prayed, being so positive that your prayers were going to turn out a certain way? But then, you wonder, is that just the way I WANT them to turn out, or is that the Lord giving me a peace and telling me that's the way it IS going to turn out? If you have that question, this is what I think it is - it's God giving you a peace that HE'S GOT IT UNDER CONTROL and He's not necessarily telling you the outcome. But He is reminding you that He loves you best of all and He knows what's going on in your life and He knows what you can handle and He knows what is going to bring you closer to Him. Because that's really what life is all about, isn't it? It's about getting closer to Him. Sure, He puts things, comforts, in our lives to make it that much sweeter. He gives us family and friends. But when it all comes right down to it, what He wants more than anything, is a close and personal relationship with each and every one of us. Now some of you ask, how can 1 God have such a close and personal relationship with the 6 billion people on this planet - and you know what? Some of those questions are just not able to be answered. But it's true - He does want that.

So those are my random musings on these hard things in life that come our way. Thanks for listening. Tune in after the weekend, I do have some great stories, and will hopefully have more next week! Thanks for your patience with my seriousness! :)

Soberly thinking about the wonderful things of the Lord in the Tundra,

Sarah

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Prayers!

Just wanted to throw out a quick prayer request. My mom is in surgery as we speak - pray for wisdom for the Dr.s and that there is no cancer in the lymphnodes!!!! God's will be done!

In prayer in the Tundra,

Sarah