:(

Quick note... Don't hold your breath too long. Sam just informed me that my new camera is on a three week back-order - so I definitely won't be getting it before the middle of March... It's the saddest news I've heard in a long time!

But on a happier note, we are headed to Bottineau, ND today for the 4th - 6th grade ski trip! Should be tons of fun! Those silly kids usually are pretty goofy and fun!!!

PS. It's snowing....again....blah. Bought seeds yesterday, probably 20 different varieties! Hopefully, I'll be able to give you a pictorial tour of my successful garden this year!

I'm back!

Greetings friends and family! Got back from Big Sky last night - what a great trip! A really really great trip! And surprisingly enough, I actually missed skiing more than I thought I would! I had a great time by myself in the lodge working on different projects; actually the time flew by! But still... It was beautiful out there! Aside from all of that - I had such a great time with the kids and adults who went along on the trip - I don't think I've laughed so much since...well, probably last week! Just kidding! But hey, I do like to laugh! Anyway, it was such a great time!!

Other than that - I must put a little plug in for the most wonderful husband in the whole entire world!!! Sam knew that I was going to be working on his computer while everyone else was out skiing and we took off on V-day, sooooooo....... That sweet thang wrote me a V-day letter so that I would see it first off when I turned his computer on! So that took up much time - reading his sweet words of love and affection and getting all teary, and if that wasn't the icing on the cake - he told me about his Christmas/V-day present for me! (Side note... it's Christmas/V-day because he ordered this present for me before Christmas but it was on back order and they said they would let him know when it was available again - and that's not till now! So I get a Christmas/v-day present!!!) You wanna know what it is????? A Cannon Rebel Xsi camera body!! You wanna know what that means??? As soon as it comes in the mail, I will be posting pictures!!!! That is, if I even take the time to stop taking pictures long enough to come to work to start posting pictures! :)

So side note - Sue - how awesome is that????????? Turns out I'm the most blessed girl in the world - although I've known that now for a really long time - but the reminder is always nice!

So stay tuned! Pictures coming!!!!!

Good Morning.

I know that it's been a good long while since I've posted anything, and it's probably smartest just to become a follower - thanks Sue! That was whenever I do post anything, it will come to your email and you won't have to keep checking back! But hopefully in the near future I will be posting so much more as Sam and I have wonderful news of a new addition to our family! No, not another pet - but a baby!!! Although I'm sure that everyone who actually reads this blog, already knows, but I guess I was going to make it "official!"

Anyway, I've been feeling great - in week 7 now and praying for a healthy baby. It's amazing the amount of information in this great wide world!!! It can be certainly overwhelming at times! I thought that when you got married, they would play on your emotions, of course you want this - it is the best day of your life - sure you want to see your new name plastered all over everything - the wedding industry is quite the rip off! But then comes baby!!! Now, you have a new life to be responsible for and you are so afraid to mess him/her up - that you are inundated with everything that's "good" for your baby!!! And then you start freaking out - "What if there is something better and I don't know about it??? Will I end up in therapy for the next 18 years because my kid is angry that I birthed them in the wrong position - I just know I'm going to mess this whole thing up!!!!" I think I was made for the simpler days. I was just telling a friend the other day, what happened to the times, you had your baby - they joined your family - they didn't take over your family, you taught them how to walk in the ways of the Lord, you prayed for them and you continued on this journey that God has put you on - together. Perhaps I'm a bit simple minded. But I get overwhelmed pretty easily and freaked out. So maybe the hormones have been wrecking havoc on my emotions, but these are the kinds of thoughts I've been dealing with lately - among others....

But all in all - we are very excited to welcome this new little guy/gal into our lives! Sam and I have so much fun together, it's really a shame that we don't have someone else experience it with us - so soon.... I think it's going to be a great adventure of experiencing God in a whole new way! So bring on the baby!!!

In other news, like there really is other news, but anyway.... We are headed out to Big Sky this weekend with the Sr. Highers! Finally, for the first time, I get to go and not ski - which is what I've been waiting to do pretty much my whole life. The life of a ski bum minus the ski has always intrigued me! I've been fascinated with the idea of reading/drinking coffee/tea/HC in the lodge and watching everyone else freeze themselves to death! While exhausting themselves completely! And now.... Ahhhh... It's like the best of both worlds - surrounded by the wonderful ski atmosphere, hanging out with Sr. Highers, and not actually skiing!!! (I make it out to be a big deal, but skiing isn't really all that bad. It's kind of fun actually! But I'm always up for a new adventure, and I think I'm going to settle into this one quite comfortably!)

Well, even though I still don't have pictures to share - hopefully I'll figure something out soon. I'd really like to take some pictures. Especially once we have a baby, Sam can't hog the camera all the time! ;) So for now - good tidings. We'd certainly appreciate prayers for a great pregnancy, a healthy baby - a calmness of emotions and praise for Jesus holding us in the palm of His hand!!!

Guess what?

Today, it's like 10 degrees!!! How awesome is that?? OK. Maybe you don't understand. Let me put it into terms that you can understand.

Yesterday the record was -48 (no wind chill by the way, that was the straight up temp!) And today it's 10. Yeah!!! Ok, you still don't understand?

It's like this - pretend yesterday was freezing (32 degrees), then today would be 90 degrees!!!! HEAT WAVE BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Burrr, I'm cold.

Cold weather... I wish we had single digits. I was actually trying to remember this morning when it was above 0 last - I couldn't remember. Today was the coldest I've ever felt in my life - You'd think when it goes below zero, it's just cold and you can't really tell a difference, but today, I got in the car and it was -38. Seriously, that is the coldest I've ever felt in my whole entire life!

OH, here's one example. I filled up a water bottle this morning in the house, before I closed it, there must have been a little water in the top because it was on it's side on the way to work this morning. Which takes about 10 minutes. When I got here, there was a FROZEN drop of water coming out of the top of my water bottle! You ever heard of it getting that cold? One drop of water freezing before it hits the ground 1 inch away????? At least, we are warming up - (minus 34) now!

I was hoping Sam would email me some pictures of the house. The other night, after shoveling - AGAIN, he took some pictures with all the Christmas lights on... I wanted to get some pictures of the snow. I don't think any of you could believe me if I told you. I wanted pictures. I've never seen so much snow in all my born days! Well, I guess I need to go get the mail - burrr.....

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! Mail retrieved!

Have you ever been in such cold that it takes your breath away?
Have you ever had the runny nose snot in your nose freeze your nostrils together?
Have you ever had your appendages burn from the cold just from walking from the door to the car?
Have you ever walked down your shoveled sidewalk only to hit an unpacked spot and fall in up to your knee?
Have you ever left your drink in the car only to come back the next day to have it frozen solid?
Have you ever heard of a neck warmer?
Have you ever walked into the house with ice crystals in the shape of a circle where your mouth is breathing, on your neck warmer?
Have you ever had your hair freeze solid?
Have you ever had all the fluids in your car freeze, ie. brake fluid, power steering fluid?
Have you ever plugged in your car?
Did you even know that normal cars come with plugs? (We are NOT talking about hybrids here, folks!)
Have you ever kicked the snow off your shoes and some fall into the car and have it never melt for at least a month? IN the car?
Have you ever had the nicest sunniest days of the year and yet can't allow your bare skin to be exposed for fear of instant frostbite? (maybe that is a little bit of a stretch, but seriously, I'm not too far off!)

Sam, you have to admit, I did a good job of not exaggerating this time, didn't I?

PS. Anyone up for skiing???! :)

Anyone out there?

Does anyone even look at this blog anymore? I don't. I promised I wouldn't write anymore until I somehow got a way to post pictures. I thought I'd post even though I don't have pictures. That wonderful camera that was listed in my last entry has been a very wonderful addition to our family. Sam LOVES it. And we have been using it like crazy, taking some great pictures, but then in early December, an ERR 99 showed up on it. To make a long story a little shorter, we had to send it in to get fixed, so for the whole month, we were without a camera. So I have nothing to show of our trip to VA for Christmas... I would have loved taking photos of my family and I got together with a couple dear friends, who have recently had new babies. It would have been so much fun to photograph them with their little ones, but alas, just the memories will have to stay. Oh well. But the good news it, it's back, completely repaired and ready to rock and roll in the new year!!! If only I could pry Sam's hands off of it to get some pictures! HA, totally just kidding. We ran to Fargo yesterday to visit Sam's sister, Sadie and her hubbie, Nathan and their little guy, Ethan. I was taking pictures the whole time and got some good ones. IF, and I repeat, IF I get access to those pictures on my computer, I'll post a few for you!!!

Anyway, we are well. For the most part, everyone is getting a Christmas card/letter, even though it'll be a bit late, but for those that can't wait or don't receive one for whatever reason, I'll post our letter here and that way you can get caught up on the last 4 months of my life. Actually, it's an overview of the year, but maybe you can see why I didn't have the time to post earlier!

Happy New Year everyone!!!!

Dearest Friends and Family,
Sam and I have been going back and forth on whether to even write a Christmas card this year. It’s been forever since we’ve sent one out and sometimes on your list of priorities, it doesn’t even make the cut! But we LOVE hearing from you and posting all your pictures on our fridge, so we thought we’d send some well-wishes back to you!
It’s been a big year. The New Year always dawns bright with Youth Ski trips. And so that keeps us hopping for the first 3 months.
Then this Spring, Sam and I got a few days off and flew down to Orlando to visit my brother Wes and his wife, Cindy. We had a great time visiting and going canoeing at Blue Springs, seeing manatees and going to Epcot! It was definitely a highlight of the year! Then we flew back into Chicago, where Sam attended a 3 day Youth Conference at Willow Creek Church. It was a great opportunity of refreshment and renewal for us.
May dawned with sad hearts. As many of you know, Sam’s dad, John, battled Lymphoma for the last 5 and a half years. On May 16, Jesus took him home to be with Him. I don’t even know how to begin a tribute of his life. So I’ll just tell you the impact he had on me. I worked with John for the last year and a half and came to enjoy that time with him so much. Talk about a ray of sunshine. He was ALWAYS smiling, even when you knew the pain was almost too much to bear. He always had an encouraging word and was always thinking about other people. I came to rely on his encouragement a lot more than I realized. I learned so much from him just about being focused on others rather than myself, no matter what conditions were. I have a long way to go, but he gave me a standard to reach for! He was a man that knew where he’d spend eternity which perhaps was the best gift he ever gave his family; he made a huge impact on the world he left behind and for those that knew him, their lives will forever be changed. I could go on, but there is definitely a void in our lives where John was.
The summer continued on, as it always does, even when tragedy strikes. Our summers are extremely busy in youth ministry. For Memorial Day, we headed off to the Turtle Mountains with about 10 4th-6th graders. It was a cold camping trip – we woke up one morning to a world of white frost, everywhere. I think it got down to 20 degrees. Let me tell you, that is cold when you are sleeping a tent! In July, Sam and I took about 12 Jr. Highers to Minneapolis for the Middle School mission’s trip and it went great!!! As soon as we got back from that trip, Sam headed out to Chicago with the Sr. Highers for another missions trip. I missed out on that one, but I know they had some great adventures. Then as soon as Sam got back from that trip, he took his three younger brothers on an adventure to the Boundary Waters. They were gone for another week. I know they had a great time together, even though Charlie says a week in the wilderness is a bit much for him!!!
We had our shares of lows and highs this year. Sam’s sister, Katie got married this summer as well. Sam had the opportunity to marry Katie and Mike at a small, intimate, family wedding on May 4th so that John could walk his last daughter down the isle and that was so special. Then they had their big wedding on July 5th. My parents flew in for the wedding and got to take part in the festivities by doing the flowers – they turned out beautiful and it was a great fun time to help Katie celebrate this new chapter of her life!
In September, Sam and I got a chance to scoot on down to Jackson Hole, Wy – a must see! We LOVED it! Sam was inspired to finish the 40+ originals for his one-man art show in November, which was a huge success. I wish all of you could have see it! I’m so proud of him! I could go on, but there were just too many adventures to share – but I did want to tell you how thankful we are at how God has impacted our lives through our family and friends. Thank you for your love and support – we couldn’t get on without it! God Bless you this Christmas season and may you be overwhelmed by the love of your family and friends as we have been. May Jesus be glorified this Christmas season!
Love, Sam, Sarah and Tonto - woof!

Drama, drama, drama....

Not really, but I made you start reading, didn't I?! Let's see, I know it's been forever since I blogged, and seriously, I'm not even going to look back to see when that was. I just think my life is so much more interesting with pictures and now we are COMPLETELY without a camera. That's right, Sam ruined his in the Boundary Waters. Now we are in the market for a new one. It's an expensive one, so we are waiting till the very last minute to see exactly how God is going to work that one out! By the way, it's a Digital Canon D40 - so for some reason, if there is someone out there with a camera or a lot of money that they are anxious to give away - there you go! Just to give you a little head's up - there is a second camera that we want for such trips as Sam's previous Boundary Waters one, and this is just a little one - it's an Olympus something. But it's nearly indestructible. I think the people who made this camera must have spent some time with Sam. It's digital and goes waterproof up to 33 ft, can withstand a 6.6 ft drop, and also can withstand up to 220 lbs. of pressure, making it "crushproof!" I think this type of camera would be just about perfect for us in our everyday life - but it is $379. The Canon D40 that Sam is looking to buy is for the business of art and photography, oh and, 5 times the amount of the Olympus! Hey, when we ask, we ask big!!! :)

So that has been the drama with the search for the camera. Thus, an empty and ugly post, once again. Well, the Lord helped us sell our Blazer. I know, just a year ago, I was writing about how the Lord provided a car - a blazer, Sam's "Dream car..." which I wasn't too excited about with the gas prices going higher and higher, but what are you going to tell a man who has his heart set on it?! Well, just wait and see what he learns. One year later, we sell our blazer for more than we bought it for and what a blessing that was! Sam decided he couldn't handle the gas guzzler! So as of Saturday afternoon, we are down to one vehicle. Which I don't mind too much. But poor Sam has to chauffeur me around, like I said, I don't mind! :) Now we are in the market for a new vehicle as well. When it rains, it poors! That's especially true of finances, isn't it?! But one of our pastors at church is selling his minivan, we love ours, and it's really nice. I think we might go ahead and get it since it's right in out budget! God is good! It's a nice van that has two sliding doors. And now, to most of you, you are probably thinking - those vans came out like a million years ago - what kinds of cars do you have?! Get in the century! Oh well. The van we have has been a God send. Only one sliding door and the handle is broken, I like to call it our anti-theft program! But the van was $300. That's right, I didn't miss any zero's. So there you go. And it's taken us EVERYWHERE, nearly from one end of the country to the other, not quite, but almost! We've camped in it, hauled up to 15 kids at a time in it, hauled the dog around in it, taken it hunting, taken it to all kinds of places. It's great. So that's what's going on in that department!

Let's see - our confirmation group is exploding! Sam just called and in the 7th grade alone, we've got 18 girls already! We've probably got nearly 80 kids in confirmation (7th-9th) alone! Which is great, but we just added on to our church, but there is definitely NOT enough room!!! It's a great problem to have but so frustrating when you don't have the tools that you need, you know? We are having trouble finding enough teachers, but we have an amazing group of adults this year and the Lord is really restructuring our ministry. I've stepped down from teaching confirmation to attend a Bible Study for myself, which I'm really excited about and I know we have a great group of adults taking over!

****News flash*****
OH man - God is AMAZING!!!! Just like 2 seconds ago, Sam called to tell me that he thinks he found a camera... Here's the quick run down. Sam found the camera he wanted in the Classifieds here in town. We met with the guy and he had this amazing deal - selling his Canon D40 and 4 lenses, including a 50-500mm, tripod, flash, 2-4 gig cards, filters, two camera bags, etc. etc. etc. He's only used this camera like 4 times in his life, just bought it in Feb. Anyway, he got a job cut and has to sell out - this whole package is worth $4000-$5000. But he was selling it for $2100. So we talked about it and got the necessary funding and talked to a great photographer friend of ours, he said it was a steal! We told the guy we'd take it! So that night after youth group, we went to give him the check and pick it up and he said that he got back and checked his computer and it turns out that it sold two days ago. That was that. Sam was in the depths of despair! It just seemed like this opportunity just went poof! But Sam just called and it turns out that things with Ebay didn't turn out so well for this seller and it was a nightmare! So Sam is meeting him today at 11:30am to pick up his new camera and all the goodies that go along with it! You all just witnessed God working in a amazing way, right in the middle of this blog! Now Lord, just a car and another camera - oh, and a few bills! Wink, wink! ;)

Anyway, back to our regularly scheduled blog - I don't even know what I was writing, I'm so excited for Sam! Confirmation - yeah, anyway, so we are focusing a bit more on our leadership and allowing them to focus more on the kids. It's a great move in our ministry. Sam is starting his 5th year as a Youth Pastor and I can't believe how the time has flown! I know a lot of people don't even make it that long in Youth Ministry, which is so hard to believe when it only feels like we are starting to get a handle on things. Our church is so supportive and wonderful!

Let's see - I can't think of a whole lot more. We are just hanging out here this weekend, I think. At least I am! Then next week, we are heading to the Tetons, Yellowstone, and Jackson Hole for an art weekend. And now that Sam will have a new camera, I'm sure we'll be stalking all the animals we find. This is perfect timing for Sam to get sooo motivated to finish up the art he needs to have done for his show... He's plugging along on that. He's just working on this beautiful painting. I love it and think it should be done, but he says he's still got lots more to go on it - I'm sure it'll show up on his website here pretty soon.

Oh, that was another thing I was going to share with you. Sam ended up taking a kid out hunting for Elk this past weekend. Getting an elk tag in ND is a once in a lifetime opportunity and this senior from our youth group got drawn. Anyway, there was a bit of drama involved in that, but I just want to share with you another way that God showed Himself this past weekend! Anyway, Sam took Zac out last weekend scouting and didn't see any Elk and then this was the opener this past weekend, and they didn't see anything on Thursday night - opener was sunrise on Friday morning. Still didn't see anything, they hiked about 12 miles through extremely harsh terrain in the badlands and Sam was just praying the whole time. They took a dinner break around 5pm and talked to a Taxidermist who said that no one had been spotting them all day.... Everyone was a bit discouraged, then Sam and Zac decided to go for a drive and Sam asked Zac if he'd been praying and Zac said, "No, but you've been praying for us." And Sam was like, Man, you have got to pray, I've been praying because I want to see an Elk, if you want to see one, you need to pray too man. And so then he said that he could tell Zac prayed because it was a little quiet in the car. Then as they were racing along these gravel roads, all of a sudden, Sam flew by this field, where there was an Elk standing right there! Zac had a tag where he could shoot a cow or a bull, but he really wanted a monster bull! Sam thought this was a cow, so they turned around and then noticed it was a bull - a 5X5 - not very big for an elk, but still a bull, there is only a 50% chance that you can even see a bull, much less have the opportunity to shoot one! So Zac decided to take it. Here are all the amazing things about it - it was standing in a flat field right by the road. That meant, they could drive right in there and wouldn't have to drag it out - that is if Zac could drop it in one shot - normally you have to shoot an Elk 2-3 times and meanwhile they are running away... There was an oil rig about 100 yrds away, so the Elk couldn't even hear them. It was perfect. Anyway, to make a long story a little shorter, Zac shot and dropped the Elk with one shot - he was aiming for the heart and lung and got it in the jugular. If he had gotten the lungs or heart, he definitely would have shot a couple of times. The elk dropped and it was about 30 min. till dark, so it was cooling off - they had to wait for Zac's dad to come out from Bismarck with the truck - about 2 hours. And they started cleaning it. They were going to drag the elk, but Sam said the guts weighed about 250 lbs. alone! They tried dragging this Elk and made it about 5 ft before they were completely exhausted - Sam said it was like dragging a cow! So anyway, he got back by 2:30am on Sat. morning, in enough time to get up and go rummage saleing with me! :) God taught Zac a lesson about relying on Him this weekend and it was just perfect. If Zac had seen the size of bull that he really wanted to take, it would have cost him about $1200 to mount it and he wouldn't have been able to fit it in his room and as it is, he will European mount it, and it will cost him about $100 and he will be able to fit it in his room to be completely proud of! So that is just awesome! God is good!!!!

Well, this post is way too long, so I need to go! Later - until next time - maybe I'll have more amazing news on God's goodness! :)