sarahmcv's Xanga

Hello out there!!

Sat, 14 Jun 2008 01:04:38 GMT

Wow it has been a long time since I last posted!! I have been very busy and just plain neglectful of all things computer except getting emails out and even that has been bad. Since January Laura has come home from her global semester, gotten engaged and graduated college. She is in the full swing of wedding planning (next June) and working at day camp. She brought back a gorgeous sari for my from India. She has one too and we will wear them at her wedding rehearsal.

My mom went to Thailand in February to visit the refugee camps of the Karen people that have been coming to Chicago in droves. We have 25 families attending our church.

I have mostly been working as usual and trying to find some downtime. The end of January I went to regional conferences for Creative Memories and got to meet a lot of fellow consultants. It was fun to make some new friends and connections. I also got inspired to work my business more and have been doing so. I also added custom framing with Creative Memories in April so let me know if you need any framing done. At the end of April I went to Nashville to visit my cousin and his wife and their 2 year old boy. I hadn't been able to visit them since they got married so it was fun to see where they live and what their life is like. We went to a plantation near their house and walked around. I also gave myself an early birthday present and treated myself to a half day spa. A massage, manicure and pedicure. All I heard for 3 hours was calming music, it was wonderful!!

In May I turned 25 years old!! Scary, I know! I celebrated with friends at Cafe Ba Ba Reeba in Chicago. The next day I held a National Scrapbook Day event at church and had 6 people in attendance. It was nice to have time to work on our projects. Memorial day weekend Laura graduated so we were with family in Minnesota at St. Olaf. It was a great weekend to celebrate Laura's accomplishment.

This past weekend I had a few days off from work so I flew to Appomattox, VA to visit my cousin and her new baby Chloe that was 6 weeks old. It was wonderful spending time with them and hanging out with some of their friends. Chloe is the sweetest little girl ever, she loves to snuggle and I took as much snuggle time as I could get!!

I also did a photo shoot with Julia and Chloe. It was fun trying out different poses and places. Here are some of my favorite shots:

Tomorrow I am shooting my second wedding, so we'll see how that goes. I'm working on the photography more and more, so hopefully I'll be able to actually do it for money sometime soon. Have a great weekend!! Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there!!!

Friday, January 25, 2008

Fri, 25 Jan 2008 01:13:03 GMT

It has been a while since I posted and I keep meaning to but that darn thing called life keeps getting in the way. It is COLD!!! here in Chicago! This morning the actual temp outside was -3 with a wind chill of -20!! I am quite jealous of my sister at this moment because she is on her way to sunny, warm Hawaii for the last leg of her global semester. She comes home on Tuesday and I can't wait!!

This weekend I am going to the Creative Memories regional conference. I am so excited to get some good training and to get motivated in my CM business. We also get to see the new product coming out and get the new product to keep which is very exciting.

Over New Year's we were with my dad's family and my cousin was there with his 2 year old son. Who needs a TV for entertainment when you have a 2 year old around? I will leave you with these photos of him.

Carter loves to "play" the piano! Within 2 minutes of me walking in the door he was asking me to help him play.

Carter also loves to play his guitar. I think maybe music is in his future.

Nana and Papa reading stories.

Carter thought his Nana unwrapping a present and saying "tissue!" as she took out the tissue paper was hilarious.

Another guitar session. When he is done his puts his hand up in the air and says "Thank you goodnight!" So cute!!

First taste of a candy cane. I think he likes it!

I hope everyone stays warm this cold weekend!!

Friday, January 25, 2008

Fri, 25 Jan 2008 01:11:38 GMT

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Tue, 18 Dec 2007 02:19:33 GMT

Here are some more ornament and tree decorating pictures for Laura.

Hope these pictures help you to celebrate and see a little of home. We can't wait for you to come home!!

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Tue, 18 Dec 2007 02:07:38 GMT

So it has been a while and I have no excuse other than being busy and lazy. I promised my sister (who is in China) that I would post Thanksgiving and Christmas pictures so here they are.

The table in Columbus, OH at my aunt and uncles friends' house.

The pretty flowers as a centerpiece.

The pretty cranberry pecan pie my aunt made.

All of the pies for dessert.
We had a fun time hanging out in Columbus with my aunt, uncle and cousin. It had been a while since we had been there to visit. Then on Friday we drove up to Toledo to see another aunt, uncle and cousin as well as my grandma. We got to spend Sunday at the new church building of the church my dad and his brothers grew up in. It was the church's first Sunday in their new building.

Laura, this is for you. On Sunday we decorated the tree for Christmas and we got our new ornament for the year. Each year my parents give each of us an ornament to add to a collection so that when we are out on our own we will have a collection of ornaments already. So this year we got ornaments from Chautauqua, where we vacation every summer.

Laura, the Hall of Philosophy is yours. We put it up on the tree for you.

The bell tower is mine.
Laura, we will miss having you home for Christmas! You are well represented though, dad put up your ornaments on the tree.

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Tue, 25 Sep 2007 00:03:42 GMT

Two weekends ago I went to Minnesota to visit friends. It was such a wonderful visit and I got to see a lot of people. On Thursday I went to Bethel and visited at the Child Development Center where I spent so much time in college, I also saw one of my professors. Then I met my friend Jenn for lunch and a walk around Como Lake. On Friday I went back to Bethel and saw my catering boss and then went to chapel for worship. It was so wonderful being able to worship with such an enthusiastic crowd again! After chapel I went to Ikea with Pam, who I was staying with. We got accessories for the attic at their house and I looked at the furniture I'm going to get for my new apartment.

On Saturday I got to hang out with friends from college. I had lunch with and spent the afternoon with Cally and Julia. How wonderful to spend time with such wonderful friends.

Then I had dinner with Kiersten. She is getting married next summer so we spent the evening looking at wedding stuff.

On Sunday, Pam, her girls and I went to an apple orchard to "pick" apples. Apparently they go to get nice pictures but then just buy apples already picked. We were in and out in less than an hour.

Me with Joy and Calley

The pond at the orchard.

It was such a gorgeous day!! We decided to go to Stillwater because I had never been there before and on the way we stopped at one of their friend's houses who has horses. So we got to pet the horses. They have 6!!

We had lunch on Stillwater and did a little boutique shopping then walked by the river. It was such a wonderful weekend. I wish I could have stayed longer but I will just have to visit again soon.

This coming weekend I'm finally moving out of my parents' house!! I am very excited but not looking forward to the physical part of the move. Pray for me this weekend.

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Tue, 28 Aug 2007 20:31:09 GMT

We heard from the surgeon about an hour ago that they finished and it went well. The surgery went much longer than expected because of scar tissue from having his appendix out as a child. But they got another surgeon in to help so they didn't have to open him up. He is in recovery now and we will hopefully get to see him within the hour. Thanks for everyone's prayers, please continue to pray that he does well coming out of the anesthesia and healing in general.

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Tue, 28 Aug 2007 14:36:27 GMT

Well the past few weeks at our house have been pretty busy!! My sister was preparing for her semester abroad and left last Friday. She is in Geneva, Switzerland now and will leave Friday for Greece. Over the next 5 months she goes to Cairo, Egypt; Bangalore, India; Thailand; Hong Kong; Shaing Hi and Beijing, China; Seoul, South Korea; and finally Hawaii. The biggest stress was getting her suitcase packed and under the weight limit.

Another thing that happened was that I have signed a lease on an apartment with a friend from church. We got very lucky finding a place on Craig's List that is only a block from my parents and very nice. We looked at it on a Saturday and then signed the lease Thursday. It happened very fast but I am excited to move out and have a place of my own. We get to move October 1st.

Today I am writing this post from the family waiting room at Northwestern Hospital. My father is having surgery today to have his prostate removed. We found out late spring that he has Prostate cancer. Thankfully it isn't very far along and is very slow moving so once they remove his prostate today he should be cancer free. It has been 2 hours since they started and my mother and I are waiting for an update as to how it is going. They say the surgery can take 4-5 hours depending on the mood of the robot. Yes, a robot is operating on him, crazy I know!! We just got the update and so far everything is going well. We are going to take a walk now that we have heard. I'll post later after he is done. Please keep him and the doctors in your prayers today.

Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Tue, 31 Jul 2007 20:41:10 GMT

More wedding pics:

Attempt at a jump.

The wedding party

Bridesmaids, that beautiful one on the left is my college roommate Julia.

The cake, it was yummy!

Julia, Sara, and I

Sara and Adam

Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Tue, 31 Jul 2007 20:32:03 GMT

I still haven't figured out how to do more than 6 photos in each post so here are the wedding pics:

The really cute flower girl that took her job very seriously.

The bride and her dad.

The pretty picture that I'm really proud of.

Unity candle

The Kiss

Sara always has her nalgene, even on her wedding day.