Quick Email Devo

Hey all - this is going to be a super quick post, mostly because I didn't have to write most of it! I don't usually read these email devotions I get from Proverbs 31 Ministry. I used to read them everyday but I got out of the habit of it. Today, though, I decided to glance at it and it talks about fear. I'm afraid of a lot of things, but I wouldn't classify myself as a fearful person. When I started reading through this, I was struck by this thought:

I've often wondered about the eleven disciples who stayed in the boat instead of stepping out onto the water like Peter (Matthew 14:33). Did they live with regret? I don't know. They did, however, miss an amazing opportunity to walk on water with Christ! Sadly, most people stay in the safety of the boat their entire lives and then wonder why life seems so empty, miserable, and dull. They go through life missing opportunities because they're afraid to really live the way God intended. What's Christ response to all of this? He asks "Why do you doubt me?" (Matthew 14:33). ...Dear Lord, I'm ready to get out of the boat by trusting You with my fears. Be visible before me so that my faith will be strong and doubt will flee. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

I've never thought twice about what the other disciples were thinking during this story! She goes on to say that as they saw him hoist a leg over the side you can almost hear them saying, "Peter! What are you thinking? Are you crazy!?"

I want faith like Peter's.

"Do you guys want to pray first?"

I love Tuesday nights. This week we had Stephanie come talk to us about her awesome husband, Tim, and homeschooling her sweet boys.



We also had another special guest, Blair, in town for just a few days, and able to spend some time with us Tuesday night.


I love these girls and I'm so grateful that God has blessed my life with them.


Give me understanding, that I may observe Your law and keep it with all my heart. Make me walk in the path of Your commandments, for I delight in it. --Psalm 119:34-35

I shot a Coke and it EXPLODED!

Yesterday, after a long exhausing weekend of babysitting (yeah right, they were awesome), Jason and I went out to his grandparent's lake property and he decided he was going to teach me how to shoot a gun. (And I shot a Coke and it EXPLODED!!!! Hence the title.)



Okay, so ironically, the gun I'm holding in this picture is the only gun I DIDN'T shoot yesterday. (Look at Dash hiding behind my legs.. hehe) I shot a gun that looked like the toy guns Sam and I used to have, and one that looked like the Noisy Cricket from Men In Black. That one was my favorite. :)



Here's my big strong man ready to protect me if anything were to ever happen. Which it won't. But if it did.. he'd be ready. (By the way, he is the greatest teacher, very cautious of safety and teaching me the right way to do everything.)

And here's Dashy doodle bug!! He wuvs his mommy... He however does not like the sound of guns. Duh.

But he loves me.

Okay, and he loves Jason too.. sometimes more than he loves me. Grr... I'm not bitter.

This is a painting inside the cabin of the property. Isn't it so cool?

And here's my rendition of the painting, of course, I was trying to get Dash as he, well, DASHED across the dock, but alas, I missed him.

Another beautiful shot overlooking the lake.

We had fun!!! :)

Babysitting: It's a Tough Gig.

In an effort to be the coolest babysitter ever, the --<3's> and I went to the grocery store to get "junk food". They said they didn't have any at their house, and who am I to deny pre-teen/teens their junk food?

With $20 in hand, we split up to get all the junk food we could ever want for $7 ea (for the kids), $6 for me. We ended up at like $17-something and decided to get 3 packs of Orange Tic-Tacs (the BEST kind) and went over by $0.20. It's okay though, it was worth it. And no, Mr. Teenage Cashier Boy, I do not need you to cover the $0.20 - I am not broke. :)

Ready? Set? Go!: Pixy Stix, 3 oversized Hershey bars, Swiss Cake Rolls, Pringles, Root Beer, 2 2 liters of Mountain Dew, Gobstoppers, Smarties, and 3 packs of Orange Tic Tacs.

Worst part? When I woke up Saturday morning, I found them chowing down on Swiss Cake Rolls and Pixy Stix, washing it all down with soda... Oh, please don't tell your parents.

Dash's Lunchtime Bath

(Sorry about the terrible quality.)

The post bath ritual. Well, I missed most of the "Dash trying to dry himself off" part... but you get the idea. Gotta love his little attitude!

My Point of View

This is where I sit, 40+ hours a week, using my brain, draining my energy, learning and discovering, waiting for those "aha moments", reveling in those "aha moments", making mistakes, learning from mistakes, writing emails, placing orders, answering phone calls, snacking on PB m&m's, obsessively organizing my emails, and really enjoying what I do each day.

Just thought you'd like a peek.

Kiddos

So I decided today that I just can't wait to meet my kids.

Whoa whoa - slow down there, Sarah - you're not engaged, much less married! You can't want kids now!

Calm down. :)

Of course I know I'm not READY for kids! I don't know when I will be, even once I'm married, but it's really cool to think about who your kids will be. I mean, I could have a nerdy science/math kid or a talented artist or a computer guru or a ballerina OR a nerdy/artist/computer guru/ballerina kid all rolled into one!

Most of you know (okay well Becca and Em know) that I'm a blog stalker. I loooove reading about other peoples lives - it's like reading a good book but it's REAL. I especially love reading about families who homeschool. Why? I have no idea, because who knows if I will homeschool my kids. It just fascinates me. What could be cooler than spending everyday hanging out and teaching your kids?

Like I said, who knows what my future will bring with kids, careers, or anything else, but gosh, how fun is it to dream about it all! Until then, I will keep taking care of my own toddler, the almost 4 year old Dash. Wait... dog years... um. Okay then he's 28? Dang. I hope he doesn't think that he's the boss now...

I. Am. Alive.

Just wanted to let you know.

Expect a post at SOME POINT this week. :)

P.S. - Jason is 99% moved in to his house! YAY!

Feb. Weekend Recap

I got to spend time with Alex this weekend!! :) YAYYYYYY!!!!! I love this girl, if I haven't told you that already.

In other news, this is what the basement carpet looked like...

...until Jason ripped it up and now it's pretty and PINK!! This house never ceases to amaze me.

There is now somewhere to sit in the kitchen! Sweeeeeetness! An unused dining set from his Nanny will serve this purpose wonderfully.

And the best news: Jason (and his family) moved a bunch of his stuff down on Saturday!! Whoo hoo!! Now there's only a few things left to do before he moves FOR REAL!

I'm leaving Tuesday to go to Arkansas with work, so say a little prayer for me if you think about it. Have a fabulous week!!!

Honest Scrap

*Make sure to read my message below!*

Several friends have tagged me in this and it's time to take a stab at it!

Here's how it goes:

#1: Choose 7 spectacular blogs that you can't live without and pass this on to them, giving them the award.

#2: Post the "chosen ones" on your blog in link form.

#3: List 10 honest things about yourself.

(You may have all already done this, but if not:)

Emily
Becca

Alex

Anna

Kristin

Jennifer

Kasey

Vanessa

1. As stated before, I do NOT eat the chicken from Campbell's chicken noodle soup. Ewww, and if I get a piece in my mouth I have to spit it out. I also hate the freeze dried apples in apples and cinnamon oatmeal - love the flavor, hate the apples. :) I take those out too.

2. Don't get me started on onions - there are few things in this life that make me cringe more than the sound of chomping on an onion! (Okay, I'll stop with all my weird food habits.)

3. I'm not really a big fan of dogs. I know, right? Well, I don't like big dogs. And I don't always like other people's dogs. Exceptions: Harley, and... okay, that's really the only exception - he's just so precious (and him and Dash are destined to be BFF) and I don't have many other close friends with dogs (Exception 2: the Oglesby's dog, Ginger). Also random - I plan to get a golden retriever at some point in my life, probably in the next few years. Even though they're big. Yeah. I know.

4. When I was a cheerleader in high school, someone shut the lights off in the middle of the Soddy/Red Bank basketball game. Well, those lights take like 15 minutes to warm back up, so our squad thought it would be a good use of time to take turns tumbling on the court. I was so pumped when it was my turn because I had recently become confident throwing my back tuck on the gym floor (which was a VERY big deal, by the way). So I took off running, did a round-off back tuck, but because I was so afraid I wouldn't rotate all the way, I OVERrotated and landed. on. my. butt. in. front. of. EVERYONE. That was the last time I tumbled.

5. When it gets to be about 10 o'clock or so, I have to start getting ready for bed. If I'm out, I want to leave. If Jason's over, I want him to leave. Like RIGHT NOW. Then I get mean. This has become a regular occurance because of #6.

6. Jason and I are obsessed with 24. Him, more than me, because he would forsake a good night's sleep to watch "just one more". I would NEVER do such a thing, and won't even let him start a new episode if it's after 9:30 or so. (We're going to start Season 4 this weekend!)

7. I often buy the whole CD on iTunes, even if I only know 1-2 songs, whatever CD it may be. Then, typically, I listen to the whole thing straight through 5-6 times while working, in the car, etc. Then, I forget I own it, wait 6 months, listen to it and miraculously know every single word. (This has happened with Shane & Shane Pages, Carrie Underwood 2, Taylor Swift 2, Brandon Heath, HSM3, Bethany Dillon, and Francesca Battistelli.)

8. In pictures, I usually stand to Jason's right. Why, I have no idea. But I'm sitting here looking at 7 pictures like that... Hmmm...

9. I hardly ever finish anything. (Does that sound bad?) Let me rephrase that: I hardly ever finish anything that's not really important in the first place. Ex. regularly scheduled scrapbooking, reading books, taking up new hobbies, reading books, craft projects, reading books...

10. I don't feel like finishing this. :)

READ ME: So I've Heard...

So I've heard that it's best to keep your blog on private settings... Anyone who is reading this, just post a comment if you'd like your email to be added to my list. I'm sorry to do this RIGHT after my post on getting followers, but as of FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 6th - my blog will be set to private.

This doesn't mean I want you to stop reading! But unfortunately I only know like 5 email addresses out of the 18 people... so comment with you email address! Or just call me... :)

THANKS!!

Weekend Recap (through pictures)

Dash was invited to Jason's house - "click click click click click" - ahhh... the clicking of little Dashy toenails on hardwoods. Oh, how I've missed thee.


My Mamaw stopped by Saturday morning to see the house and my brothers did too! Of course, they were only there to get the popcorn bucket, but nonetheless - we got a group shot! (Thanks Alex!)


PAINTING. I hate PAINTING! I'm over it, but luckily we've had tons of help along the way, including Mrs. Alex Walker this weekend. She was so sweet to come by even when I overslept (as usual) and we didn't get started until later.

We got to see the Martins!!!!! It was so wonderful to see them and hang out for a little while! :) We all miss you guys so much.


Beautiful friends!! (Julie, Alex, & Jennifer)

Random: Jason bought this high top table with stools for the living room in his new house - BUT I get to keep it until he moves in (and longer if I'm sneaky enough to let him forget I have it... mwahahaha!) Isn't it so cute though!?


We had dinner at my parent's house on Saturday for Sam's (the Fireman, for those of you who've followd my blog forever) birthday. Look at this HUGE steak! It took up the whole plate!

My boys. Aren't they adorable. :)

Yummmmmm... I love cake. Mom thought she didn't have any candles, but she found one pack - of 24. Perfect! Sam missed like 3 candles though. Either he's getting old or his lung capacity is shrinking.

Also, we went to the Rocha's for the Super Bowl last night! It was super fun. We ate. A lot. Probably too much. But it was super fun. :) This was my favorite commercial. And then this one.