Oh, and I would post pictures from my time in California, but I lost them!  The camera is in my possession, but there are no images.  :/  How sad!

What a month!

August is turning out to be a whirlwind of a month!  My family and I visited friends and family in CA from 8/1 - 8/10.  I actually visited college friends for the first 4 days while my parents visited family friends from our previous church, Escalon Covenant.  We then 'reconvened' in Sacramento and spent time visiting with family for the second half of the trip.

As for last week, I spent most of my free time sending out newsletters and preparing for my talk at Church this morning.  On Thursday, my brother Ben, and his girlfriend Ashley, arrived for a visit.  We had a great time hanging out at home, going on walks, and spending the day in Seattle. As of 6:30pm, they will be in the air and on their way home to Southern CA.

It has been an exciting two weeks, and I already miss Ben and Ashley.....but I am breathing a small sigh of relief from all the visiting and eating I have been doing these last two weeks.  ;0  ;)

Adios until next week....

Email, anyone?

Hello everyone!  This is just a short post to check in.  Right now, I am gathering email addresses to send out my first monthly newsletter for Mission Year.  If you would like to receive a newsletter, please leave a comment with your email address.  (If you go to RiverRidge, I already have your email. Directories are wonderful!)  These newsletters are a way for me to keep in touch with you.  Have a nice night!  Take care, Sara

Hello again!

It's been a while!  If I was going to make excuses, I would blame it on curriculum again, but I won't make excuses!  

The last month has been a whirlwind of getting ready for August 22, my last day of work.  I finally told my work that I was leaving the area just two weeks ago.  I wanted to give them plenty of time to hire a new teacher.  Well, it didn't take long-- the teacher to-be was training with me all last week.  I won't get into it all, but leaving my children and my co-workers, along with some miscommunication between me and the teacher to-be, has caused some emotional turmoil.  I just want to be in Philly now, so I can skip the whole getting-ready part!! :D  

My wonderful manager,and my wonderful parents, have helped me process through it all.  The teacher to-be and I have somewhat reconciled, which has smoothed things out.  :)    I would still appreciate your prayers for continued reconciliation!

Just a reflection:  I think I might make preschool teaching a living if it was feasible, with the low income and all....I never thought I would enjoy being a preschool teacher as much as I do!   

Roadblocks

I put off writing a new post yesterday, wanting to say I had just resolved a dillemma (instead of being in the middle of it, which I am).

It has been close to two months since I sent out my first ministry launch goal letters. Part of being with MissionYear is writing newsletters to my supporters each month. But what do I write? Do I email or do I do it snail mail? All these questions and more have been bombarding me, causing unneeded anxiety. I think Satan is trying to creep into my thoughts, nudging me towards inactivity. Would you please pray for a continuing peace, expecially when confronting unknown situations. Thanks and I'll keep you updated. Have a great week!

Adventures in the Doggy World

Hello again! Hmmm, what was the highlight of the week? Not a lot. Except for a doggy emergency.

One of my dogs had surgery on her foot a couple weeks ago (my family is not into spending lots of money on pets, but this surgery was not as costly as expected, and very necessary) and has a bandage around her foot. She usually wears one of those plastic cones around her neck so as to stop her from tearing the bandage off, but she had proven herself pretty trustworthy in that area. So she had it off when my mom was out on a walk, and 20 minutes later my mom came home to see the bandage on the floor and blood seeping out of Abby (the dog)'s foot.

Yikes! All is well now, but I am sure you can guess Abby is wearing the cone much more now. Well, that was the excitement of the week! God bless, take care, and have a good week! Sara

Paperwork, Paperwork

Hello again. I have wanted to write something for the last week, but the inevitable curriculum (dun, dun, dun...) has been taking up my time.  I am talking about planning lessons, songs, games, stories (the whole nine yards) for the next month. 

I have always had a love, hate relationship with paperwork in general.  I love the structure of filling in blanks or circling the right answer, but hate how it takes so much time.  [I even like filling out those long apps doctors ask you to fill out before the first visit- weird, I know.] :) Anyways....  This is the first night that I have had a chance to post anything. 

I have to tell you a story about one of the children in my class.  She is learning to read and so far her repertoire consists of Go, Dog, Go and My J Sound Box.  She read My J Sound Box to every child in the class individually throughout the day.  She read it at least seven times, I'm sure.  I told her that I bet she will be a teacher someday when I saw her reading the book to, and simulataneously rubbing the back of, a child who had just woken up.  It was priceless!  

Not much else is new except that I am booking a September flight to Philadelphia tonight because the prices are going up and up.  I saw one one-way flight for 900 dollars.  What?  

Take care, Sara

What is this blog about?

{Before you read.....This blog turned out really long, but they won't all be this long!  :D}

The general answer to that question (the title of this blog) is that this blog will detail the ups and downs, and the ins and outs, of (a)getting ready to go to Philladelphia, (b)my life in Philladelphia, and (c)life after Philladelphia.  Wow- that was a run-on sentence!

There is a lot that has to be done before I even get on the plane for Philly. The obvious one is raising support for the trip. That in itself is a big one. There is also the job of communicating with my future roommates as to who will bring what furniture and appliances.  (We will be supplied with the basics, but will need to supply the smaller things.)  And, of course, you will here all about my emotions leading up to the trip.  :)

As for life after Philly, that is a blank slate right now.  You know just as much as I know on that subject...And as for life in Philly, it is going to be crazy fun!  I am aware that it is going to be extremely challenging and even discouraging and possibly boring sometimes, but I can't help but be excited about a new adventure!  

I am hoping to be adding to this blog at least once a week.  It will consist of updates, prayer requests, and pictures. maybe even some links to great sites.  But the prayer requests will be the most important part of this blog-- and the reason it was created.  As for now, please pray for a Christ-like attitude.  Now that I have a goal in sight, I am becoming very antsy.  Honestly, I am tired of the combo of not being able to drive, and living at my parents' house which is not near a bus stop.  I know that if I hadn't been staying at Mom and Dad's I would not have saved up as much money for the upcoming trip, or have been able to resolve the medical issues that I have resolved.  And I am thankful for that!  But I still find myself antsy and even grumpy more than I usually would be.  Please pray for my attitude!  I want to hear what God needs to tell me, but it is not easy when I am focusing on myself!  :)  Thanks for praying!  

I am sure that there will be tons of posts buy the end of one year, but don't worry- they won't all be this long.  :) Lets go on this ride together!  Yahoo!

In Christ, Sara