Thanksgiving and Life

I know its a little late but I just got the pictures and I thought I would give an update on my busy life. My family and I got back from Florida last week where we spend Thanksgiving (as you can see it including seeing a showing of the Blue Man Group, which was so fun). We had a great time relaxing (although I did have to work on a big paper with most of my free time). Now I am back at school and trying to get everything in before finals which start next week. I took a job helping out at a big youth confrence so that has taken up a lot of time plus trying to start getting all the details for Africa set. (its starting to look as though going in Feb. is going to work out-Lord willing). I am so looking forward to see where the Lord is going to take me in this next year, as well as where he is going to take all of you. Blessings!!!

Adventure Day

Last Saturday was adventure day for Rachel, Ashley and I. We made brunch and then drove up to the mountain to take pictures. Then I learned how to drive stick on Ashleys car-it was scary but fun. Then we went to IKEA and got cheap hot dogs and then we went to our favorite spot and watched planes take off and land. Then we went to Ashleys and watched a movie. Over all it was one of the funnest days ever. Just thought I would share it with all of you.

Favorite Things This Semester...

And I hate to say it, but school is not one of them. I have found some amazing shows that I think the world needs to be informed about! One of them is called Chuck and it's about this nerd who gets all of the USA's secrets downloaded into his brain by accident and so he becomes the most important tool the government has and he just wants to lead a quite life with his friends and family. Now while this might sound a little unrealistic and cliche-ish (in the sense that this could never actually happen, and on the off chance that it actually would, how ironic is it that the secrets were downloaded into someones head that could actually hold all that information, a huge nerd) but alas, TV is supposed to be somewhat unrealistic and it has fast dialogue and deep, witty characters that are easy to fall in love with. All in all, not a bad show to waste an hour on, and if you watch it online there are virtually no commercial interruptions.
Another little gem that Rachel and I have found is a show called Pushing Daisies. This one is very Series of Unfortunate Events-ish with a Tim Burton edge. Watch it if you think you'd like a more random presentation of some good themes. The basic premise of the show is that a guy has the ability to bring people back from the dead, but if he keeps them alive for more then a minute someone else has to die in their place and if he touches them a second time they will die forever. It's a show filled with fun characters that deal with real emotions and hard topics like forgiveness in a very supernatural environment.
To move from TV to books I would just like to say that when the Harry Potter books started to become popular, I was very skeptical. I heard what many mainstream Christians were saying about them and I was content to not read them. But this year I was encouraged by some friends who had read them to look past my preconceived notions and prejudices and give them a try. Let me tell you, I have really been enjoying them. Rowling can tell a story like nobodies business and I find that I have become so intrigued its hard to put them down. In fact, its gotten to the point that now Rachel, Cassie and I will only read them in the car when we drive across town to church or other outings. The perfect series to read on a wet, cold winter afternoon/evening with a fire and and a hot cup of cider!
On to sports!!! Now normally I am not a sports fan, but for baseball I make exceptions, because for one thing...Its Americas favorite pastime. And another reason is that baseball movies are some of my favorites and with titles like Field of Dreams, The Rookie, A League of Their Own, For Love of the Game, The Natural, Fever Pitch and of course Sandlot how can you go wrong. And this year the Colorado Rockies and the Boston Red Sox are going to the World Series. Now normally I would just be content to keep an eye on whose playing so as to not subject my roommates to baseball overload but because Rachel is from Colorado and I really like the Sox we are going all out and even have money(although just pennies)on the outcome.
So I just realized that this makes it seem like I don't do any school work, but in reality these things are shoved in between big tests, papers, and projects, but I don't want to bore you with that so go out and see if you can enjoy some of my favorite things because I love to share.

Check This Out

Please check out this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sge5pUSJIRY&mode=related&search=video on YouTube. Its the Pride and Prejudice trailer with Harry Potter clips...basically one of the funniest things I have ever seen.

Meet Knightley...

So this is the newest member of our family here in our room at school. We named him Knightley after the Jane Austen characther from Emma. We decided on that name because this little tortoise has a lot of character and he need a good strong name. He is still ajusting to his new home but even in the few hours that we have had him he is already a hit in the dorms. All four of us have really taken to him and he is going to be one spoiled tortoise.

The Process

So here we are goofing off and I thought I would document the process that it took to take the above picture. Anyway...have a good day.

CRAZY, I Know...

So I am back at college and here are me and some of my freinds. Two of them are my current roommates and Ashley is my roommate from the last two years. I must say that Cassie's new computer had us crying we were laughing so hard at some of these pictures. I will have some actual pictures up of our rooms soon but we still have to decorate so it will be a couple of days still. I am still looking for a job-hopefully the Lord will provide soon. Classes are going well-I think this is going to be a good semester. Anyway, these pictures should encourage you to go out and have some fun.

Four Movies...Two Weekends

So this is just a quick blog to let you all know what my thoughts are about a couple movies that I have seen recently. Last weekend consisted of the Transformers on Friday night and Hairspray on Saturday night! Transformers is a guy movie to the core. It is full of action and hot girls (which if I may say so, no one looks that good in real life..no one) but it is also full of amazing one liners that had me laughing for hours. All in all I enjoyed the plot and the outcome and it was truthfully entertaining. Hairspray was completely different. A musical to the core it had me from the first scene and I want to get up and dance with the characters like I was part of the "Corny Collins Show." The music was amazing and the only thing that I think could be better is the actual musical. And to add to all the wonderfulness that makes up Hairspray, John Travolta plays a full blown fat woman and does an amazing job. Then this last weekend Geron and I did a (very legal)double feature and saw The Bourne Ultimatum and No Reservations. Bourne is true to the genre and an all around excellent film..just be prepared to become a little nauseous because most of the movie is not shot on a steady cam so it is very shaking. I didn't really notice until the movie ended and I realized that my stomach was a little upset. The best part about the film was the interesting themes that they reused from the first movie. Then we rushed over to the next theater and No Resevations turned out to be the perfect way to end the evening. It was a fun and entertaining romantic comedy. It had some heavy issues but they didn't overpower the film and that usually doesn't happen. But because it had those heavier issues it made it more than just the usually romantic movie and turned it into a very well made film. All four movies are well worth your time and your money. All you need is a good friend (or friends...or family), some good treats, and you will have yourself a wonderful time at the movies.

Summer So Far

So my summer has been going pretty well so far. Some highlights have been working with my mom and dad, being a giant banana in a program video, and getting to know the staff better. Right now I am on a break from work because I am working for the guest group this weekend. (and all I really want to do is sleep). Oh, and I have been doing a ton of things (besides being a giant banana) that are totally out of my comfort zone... I now get up in front of the campers everyday before lunch and announce who had the cleanest cabin. It makes me really nervous but its kinda fun and people are now starting to use my camp name-Ruddles. Most of the time people just call me Sarah which I am totally fine with because I have never really been that into nicknames. Anyway just a boring old update from Sarah. Have a good week.

Purple???...Heck Yes!!!!

As you can see Friday night with Emily and Geron resulted in a new hair color for me. Yes, that is correct, my hair is now purple (but it's the wash out stuff so it could be in for who knows how long.) Anyway I really like it-its totally fun!

Parents reactions:

Me: Good Morning mom!

Mom: You have red hair!!!!!!

Me: Its purple!!!

Mom: You have purple hair!!!!!!

Then after a few questions:

Mom: Go show Dad and see if he notices (he's mowing the lawn)

Me: Hi Dad!!

Dad: You colored your hair!!!!

Me: yep, Its purple!

Dad: Yes it is very purple (Big smile)

So I was expected a little bit more shock. Maybe I have underestimated how well my parents know me and my sometimes drastic need to do something random!

My Crazy Life

As you can see my family came up to spend the day with us to celebrate my brother's 22nd birthday. These are my cousin's twins: Luke and Emma. Luke and I are on part of the set that I helped build during training week and where the rest of the program staff runs the shows during camp. Ususally I am in the back running the slides. We just finished up our first week of camp with the kids. I have been working for five weeks: two before the rest of the staff came and three after, but it seems like it has been a lot longer than that. I have been enjoying my time on staff. God has been teaching me a lot of good things and I am excited to see what else he has in store. Some of the highlights have been making a 60 foot blow up whale out of tape and tarp named Doris, getting to know the program team better, and being able to work with my mom and dad. Anyway I am trying to get in all the rest that I can this weekend before more than 200 kids come in tomorrow. This rest has included going into town with my parents and seeing Fantastic Four (a fun movie that I really enjoyed that had some interesting syimagery [symbolism and imagery put together in one easy word] at the end), and helping them buy a new Subaru Outback in a cool orange-red color. (yeah for spontaneous car buying experiences!) I hope you all have a really good week.

"How May I Direct Your Call?"

Thats right...I have started working at the office here at camp and I am quite enjoying myself. I have been getting into a routine of working and then coming home and relaxing but I know that that will all end very soon when camp offically starts on Sunday and I have to give up most of my free time. I am trying to get it all in before hand. Its not that big of a sacrifice because I know that this is where God wants me. So for now I am enjoying being with the fam and watching some good movies like The Queen, Pirates 3, and some oldies like The American President and Absence of Malice*. All of these films were very well made and not a waste of my time at all. I have also been enjoying The Waltons (thanks to my mom's renewed love of her old favorite show) and the first season of American Dreams which my family really like when I was in high school-even though it didn't last very long. It is the extended music edition so we have been enjoying some great music as well. Anyway just wanted to give everyone a quick update on the happenings of my life.

*Just as a side note-I love Paul Newman:)

Colorado!!!!!

Well, I have been having a great time here in CO. Yesterday we went to Colorado Springs to see the garden of the gods and we went to Focus on the Family. It was realy cool because we drove back in a thunder and lightening storm. Today we are off to Boulder to go sight seeing there. The first picture is of the three of us on Rachel's tramboline, as is the second picture with Rachel and me jumping. I am still sore. That day we also took a long drive into the Rockies with rachel's parents. The last two pictures were taken at the Garden of the god's.

ROADTRIP!!!

So here are just a few pictures from our roadtrip to Colorado! We have made it here safely and are enjoying the sun and mountains. The first picture was taken in Umatilla at a look out point. The second was Ashley being crazy while we were driving down I-84. The third is in front of the Utah sign. We had a great trip down here. I will post pictures of Colorado later but I just wanted to let everone know that we are having a great time.

Spring Break

Spring Break was so good. Rachel and I went to Seattle to spend some time with Ruth-Anne and we spend a wonderful rainy Saturday at the Washington Park Zoo. The top picture is the three of us with an Elephant in the backround. Then we took a five hour drive to spend the rest of Spring Break at Tadmor...Home!!!We had a great time relaxing, going to the beach, helping my brother and sister-in-law move, at watching a lot of movies. Now I am back at school getting ready for the last five or six weeks that are left.

DS Retreat

Thats right...we went to Tadmor for our Dorm Section retreat and it was a blast. It was (from left)Jordyne, Ashley, me, and Rachel. Lindsay, our RA, left right before we took this picture. There are are a lot more people in the dorm section but we had a blast just the five of us, watching movies and relaxing. It was a wonderful time.

Bridge to Terabithia

If you love the book than you will love the movie. Go and see it!!! You won't be wasting your time. Take a box of tissues, some candy, a good friend, and you will have yourself one fine evening!

Glasses upside down... Glasses normal!!!

Here we are goofying off with our glasses! Have a great day!

Another 1/2 year done...

Thats right, on Thursday of last week I celebrated my 19 1/2 birthday. It was a special day. After classes and work Rachel Ashley and Nicole took me out for Wings and we ate... a lot! Then we went to Safeway to by Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream but they were out, so we got popcicles!!! Then we can back and watched a movie!! It was a wonderful day.

My second first day of classes

That's right. After arriving at school last Wednesday I have only had two days of classes. Last Thursday was cancelled because of Ice (which didn't really amount to anything), We had class on Friday, Monday was-as you all know-a holiday, Tuesday morning we woke up to a good two and a half inches of snow which, of course, meant no school. Over the course of the day we ended up with a good three, and in some areas, four inches of snow that did not melt over night which meant no school on Wednesday. Thankfully when we woke up this morning the temp had risen to a balmy 34 degrees and we were only delayed two hours. And there you have it, I have completed my second first day I classes and I still have one sylibus that I have yet to recieve. To bad the homework wasn't non-exsistent. But the good news is that everyone was going stir crazy so people were really excited for classes to start again. I have to admit that I was too, but I really was enjoying the fact that I got to sleep in. Anyway I hope that everyone who was ragging on me to blog is now satisfied.