stuck in the snow

Since my day as been more eventful than it normally is, I feel it is necessary to tell you about it. So here we go.

Well, first off- you should know that we are back in Colorado. And today is the day that we were taking our puppy, Tonks to get fixed, microchipped, and another round of shots (I know, horrible!) So when I woke up and it was snowing outside I didn't really think twice about leaving for town (we are in Colorado afterall, it snows all the time right?) It was just those pretty snowflakes that gently fall from the sky. Real innocent looking ya know. Real innocent looking.

When it snows, I always drive (you'd rather have the Arkansan driving than the guy from Lousiana after all) so we head off with puppy in tow. I quickly realized that this innocent looking snow was not so innocent after all. It was blowing. BAD. And starting to come down more. I didn't panic though. I could still see at least 40-50 feet in front of me. I made it to the vet without a problem and then we decided to continue our treck into the Springs. THIS my friends is where the problem lies. We were on the road maybe another 5 minutes when I couldn't see. At all. Couldn't see the road. Couldn't see any other cars. Couldn't see. AT ALL. But I keep driving because, well, I can't see where to stop. I managed to make it about halfway to the Springs where we stopped at the post office to mail some things and then headed out again (going back home would have been just as dangerous right?) Well, needless to say we made it fine and this isn't where the humours part lies.

Fastforward a few hours to the vets office where we are picking up our poor puppy. We are leaving and I start backing out and somehow decide that I can make it in my little car through a snow drift that probably comes up to my knees. And this, my friends, is where the fun begins. I got stuck. Can't go forward, can't go backward. And my fiance is asking me what in the world I was thinking trying to go through this drift. All I can manage is a strug. So he gets out to push. And push. And push. Nothing works. So I convince him to go back inside and ask for help. And help comes in the form of a shovel and vet assistant. And they shovel and push and shovel and push. And eventually we got unstuck. But it was exciting. And Jamie has been making fun of me all evening because I thought I could make it through the drift. And I feel slightly stupid (okay, REALLY stupid) but you have to give me credit that I drove in my first blizzard and didn't get us killed or anyone else and getting stuck in a drift isn't THAT horrible. It could have been worse. So don't make too much fun.

Leaving

Tomorrow morning we are leaving to go back to the horrible state of Colorado. (I should really work on my attitude towards this state I suppose). I guess that I thought that each time that we came back and left it would get a little easier every time, but I don't think this is true. In fact, I'm quite sure that it's NOT true. I dread leaving. I don't want to leave. I don't want to go back to Colorado ever again in my entire life, but I still have to go and endure at least another 2 months of life there. Hopefully that will be the end of it and we will be back in Arkansas. Hopefully.

On a more cheerful note and since Jamie and I are apparently obsessed with hymn lyrics these days here's one of my favs that will be a congregational hymn at our wedding. :)


O Love that will not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in thee;
I give thee back the life I owe,
That in thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.

O light that followest all my way,
I yield my flickering torch to thee;
My heart restores its borrowed ray,
That in thy sunshine’s blaze its day
May brighter, fairer be.

O Joy that seekest me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to thee;
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
And feel the promise is not vain,
That morn shall tearless be.

O Cross that liftest up my head,
I dare not ask to fly from thee;
I lay in dust life’s glory dead,
And from the ground there blossoms red
Life that shall endless be.

God be merciful to me

God, be merciful to me,
On Thy grace I rest my plea;
Plenteous in compassion Thou,
Blot out my transgressions now;
Wash me, make me pure within,
Cleanse, O cleanse me from my sin.

My transgressions I confess,
Grief and guilt my soul oppress;
I have sinned against Thy grace
And provoked Thee to Thy face;
I confess Thy judgment just,
Speechless, I Thy mercy trust.

I am evil, born in sin;
Thou desirest truth within.
Thou alone my Savior art,
Teach Thy wisdom to my heart;
Make me pure, Thy grace bestow,
Wash me whiter than the snow.

Broken, humbled to the dust
By Thy wrath and judgment just,
Let my contrite heart rejoice
And in gladness hear Thy voice;
From my sins O hide Thy face,
Blot them out in boundless grace.

Gracious God, my heart renew,
Make my spirit right and true;
Cast me not away from Thee,
Let Thy Spirit dwell in me;
Thy salvation’s joy impart,
Steadfast make my willing heart.

The South

I cannot begin to tell you how wonderful it is to be back in the South. Here are some of the great things that have happened thus far:

1. Some of you may not know this, but if you have ever lived somewhere else other than the South then you will know... there is a different smell in the south than anywhere else (no it's not the smell of chickens or cow poop). It's the smell of humidity. Moisture. In the air. Now, granted when I lived here I complained with the best of them about the humidity that we always have here, but when you live in the DRIEST place EVER moisture is a welcomed relief for the dry skin/chapped lips/moisture ridden hair. I love humidity. And I love the smell of humidity. It's quite wonderful.

2. After church today, Jamie and I (along with my family) went and looked at houses. For us. Beautiful houses. New houses. That we can afford. We want to buy SO bad and we are so hoping that we can get this particular house by June.

3. Speaking of houses- my parents are remodeling their house and totally didn't tell me! They wanted to surprise us- they aren't totally finished yet, but they've totally redone the bathrooms and all the bedrooms and are getting ready to finish the rest of the house within the next couple of months. Pretty exciting.

4. We have a MILLION things to do while we are in town. I'm not quite sure that it'll all get done, but we'll see.

5. Did I mention that I'm sick? Thursday morning I woke up with a fever and my neck (where your lymph nodes are were VERY swollen). I decided that since spring break was around the corner and I did not want to be sick that I would break down and go to the doctor (i've been sick on and off for about a month). Turns out I had/have all this fluid build up in my ears that was now in my lymph nodes and I had beginning stages of strep. Perfect. So I'm on a bunch of meds (and not contagious) and got a nice lecture from the doctor about how I should go to the doctor as soon as I feel bad before it gets worse. yada yada.

6. So, now my turn to brag about my wonderful soon to be husband: Jamie had asked me about what I wanted for my birthday (he likes to plan ahead) and I said that I would like a strand of pearls (even though I figured we couldn't afford them) to wear on our wedding day but made it clear that I was probably too expensive so not to worry about it. Well, today we were all out shopping and mom and i went off without jamie. before i knew it jamie was asking me to come to kay because he needed to know the size of my neck(haha!). You see, he found a strand that he thought was beautiful, but didn't know the right size of the necklace so even though I know I'm getting a strand of pearls for my birthday/wedding present I'm so excited. He spoils me terribly. And I love him so very much.

7. I'm very exhausted so I realize that all of these things don't realy go together, but there you have it. For now at least.

Home

Dear friends,

In about 36 hours we will be in lovely (and likely wet) Northwest Arkansas. We will be in town until Sunday. We would like to see as many of you as humanly possible.

Love,

Jamie and Sarah.

Spring Fever

I'm not sure if any of you have experienced the phenomena of "16 7 year olds who are tired of winter and ready for spring" or not, but let me tell you something, it's not fun.

I don't know that I could express to you how ready I am for Spring Break. These children need it. I need it. We ALL NEED IT. Or we will all drive each other crazy.

Let me tell you what this looks like. I have a pretty good class of kiddos. HOWEVER, this spring fever means that all claws and teeth come out (even out of my way sweet kiddos) which results in me nearly losing my mind and wondering why it is that I do this day after day. And then some kid says something like "you should get a prize for teaching us miss lyman- you're the best!" and then two seconds later doing something that drives me up the wall.

spring break. do not delay. we all need you terribly.

Of Love and Life

Rewind back to my Senior year of college Christmas break. I spent part of my break with my roomie and her family in Kansas. I needed to be out of Arkansas and away for a while to relax and recharge. It was a wonderful, wonderful break. While I was there I talked with a very wise woman. We talked about love and life and such. She asked me what I thought about love and I didn't really have an opinion. I knew love existed. I could see love. I could love. I knew I could be loved by friends and family. But I didn't know that I could be loved romantically. We talked about romance and love and such and she told me "Sarah, when you meet the man that you will marry it will be EASY. You almost won't have to work at the relationship... it'll fall into place and when you do have to work at it, you won't mind working at it because it'll be so good. And when you find the man you will marry it will happen FAST. You'll feel like you've known him your whole life and you'll be engaged and married before you know it."

She couldn't have been more right.

Not even two months after we talked Jamie and I were dating. It was easy. It was fun. I ENJOYED it. I loved spending time with him and I felt like I'd know him forever after a month. And it was fast. We dated 6 months and then we were engaged. It seemed silly to wait to get married when we knew so quickly. We will actually be engaged longer than we dated. Crazy huh? Dated 6 months. Engaged 9 months. And then we'll be married.

And here I am... just as she said. I haven't talked to her since Christmas break of my Senior year and I need to go back and tell her how very right she was.

LIfe... for the past, oh 6 months

So, I thought that maybe I should let the world know what is happening in our lives since I've failed to do that in, well... months. oops.

So here we go.

1. Life has been a blur. Maybe that's why I haven't updated. Jamie has had wrestling every weekend since we got back from Christmas break and I've filled my time with random things like cleaning, school work, and occasional shopping. This past weekend they had a tournament at home and I got to be the announcer. It was fun feeling like I knew what was going on (even though most of the time I didn't) people sure thought i know what I was doing!

2. We got a puppy. Now THAT my friends is where most of my time has gone to. We got her two days before Valentine's day because one of the moms of a kid in my class was trying to get rid of these puppies for her neighbor.... she brought the last two of the litter up to school and another teacher got one and so this one little lone puppy was left. Well, I learned that the people were going to put the little puppy to sleep if they couldn't find her a home within the week. So, I came home to Jamie and told him about the whole situation and we went and got her that night. After all, who could resist such a cute little face? (meaning Tonks' face... not Jamie's :) )

She's just a BIT excited in this one...

And then to add on to all of that... our wedding is less than three months away (holy cow!) so I'm trying to get ready for that. School has been NUTS. Spring Break is next week so we are attempting to start packing for that AND I'm looking for a new job next year (my principal knows so I figure I'm safe in saying that right?) So, life is just a TAD busy these days. So that's us! Maybe I'll update sooner next time!

So I really suck at blogging. Maybe one of these days I'll actually sit down and tell you something exciting about our lives. But isn't it fun to keep you guessing? I think so.