2007

Wow, 2007 is almost over. I love looking back and seeing what we've done and thinking of what we want to do the next year. While we've had numerous disappointments this year, we know that God has blessed us with many opportunities.

For those of you that know us, you know we like to travel. (Even those that have only known us a few months know that!)

This year, we really did make an effort to travel less but when writing out the below "Year in Review," traveling was still quite evident...just more affordable and humbling as so many blessings arrived to make them possible.

This year, we set a personal record for travel to both of our home states. With the exception of Maui, the rest of the trips were great adventures on the road!

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE YEAR:

January: We took a road trip to Vegas and enjoyed some relaxation at the Bellagio especially with the low rates and gift certificates from our credit card! A week later, we went to Omaha for Sarah's uncle's funeral.

February: We went to Mississippi over President's Day weekend.

March: Walt's sister and nieces came to visit over Spring Break. We went to San Antonio for the NCAA Sweet Sixteen/Elite Eight tournament.

April: Traci came to visit us. We celebrated our four year anniversary. Walt had a week long work conference in Waco and Sarah drove down to spend the evening with him.

May: We drove to Mississippi and attended the funeral of Walt's uncle, then drove to Georgia for a few days to celebrate our anniversary. We then came back through MS to attend our niece, Cecily's, high school graduation.

June: We went to Galveston with friends and most importantly we went to The Police concert in Dallas! (We also started our blog!)

July: We joined Prestonwood Chuch! Walt's sister and nieces came to visit and we headed to Galveston again! (We love the beach...even Galveston beach!)

August: We went to Omaha for our friend, Rachel's wedding!

September: Sarah's mom came to visit over Labor Day and we drove down to Corpus Christi.

October: We went camping. We made the decision for Sarah to go to nursing school. (started researching programs and pre-reqs needed) We went to Maui! Walt turned 40!

November: We went to Omaha over Thanksgiving and enjoyed staying a whole week this time!

December: Sarah started school with a winter "mini-mester" to get a pre-req out of the way!! (Thank goodness it ends January 8th!) Walt had an unexpected visit from his dad and step-mom as his aunt passed away just before Christmas. She lived in Texas so they came through on the way to the funeral. We then hosted Christmas and had a house full with Walt's dad, aunt, sister, and nieces! We had so much fun planning a menu and baking up a storm the day before they got here! We went to Christmas Eve service at our church and then drove around looking at Christmas lights. Although we were pooped when Walt's dad said goodbye yesterday morning, we really enjoyed not traveling anywhere!

2008 will be a year of less travel! Although we did notice yesterday that we didn't take a cruise this year! Hmmm... (opening new tab to check sailing dates and itineraries)

We Want to Wish You a...

Merry Christmas!

Happy Birthday Grissom!

Grissom is 2 years old today!
Happy Birthday little buddy!



"THIS IS NOT A BIRTHDAY HAT!!!!"

Another video from Maui

We loved watching the waves crashing onto the lava rock!!!

More pics

More pics posted on this link:
http://waltandsarah.blogspot.com/2007/10/celebrating-early.html

Trying to go back and catch up!!

Omaha

We would be remiss to not mention this in our blog. Our prayers are with those affected in Omaha by this horrible tragedy. We both dearly love Omaha and take comfort in reading the stories of the victims, heroes, and the community.

Our friend, Joe, sent this to us today. It's touching and amazing how many have been touched by this.

For those unfamiliar, Von Maur is a very nice store to shop...marble floors...gorgeous...comfy couches for hubbies to sit on while wives shop. They thought of everything. When living there, I always parked by the side entrance and walked through Von Maur to go into Westroads.

Is this considered animal cruelty?

With no kids in the house, Grissom is aware that he is the object of most of our photo sessions! He is normally happy to oblige and often poses as seen in the first photo. However we could tell we had crossed the line with the second pose.









Hope you are finding time to enjoy some laughs amidst the holiday chaos!!

The real reason Walt wanted to go to Hawaii for his 40th!

Sorry for the delay in posting this! I finally found a site that would post a big file!

It's official...

I am a college student! (again!)

I'm taking a mini-mester that starts this coming Friday! (Dec 14) I went online and found plenty of work to start on now! Between work and school, I will be quite busy! That's okay though...it will be worth it!

Please keep us in your prayers as we continue to seek wisdom that this is the path we feel led to! (Sarah becoming an RN.)

Thanks,
Sarah

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's snowing today in Omaha...not much but enough to make Walt excited!!!

I forgot to mention that we were headed to Omaha! We are spending Thanksgiving with Sarah's family. We arrived on Saturday and will be here until this Saturday! We are so thankful to be able to spend more days here this time.

Praying that your Thanksgiving is a beautiful time of reflection on God's blessings!!

Here's what we did in Maui!

Saturday: We arrived and got settled. Loved our condo and breathed a sigh of relief! The condo was newly renovated and nearly everything was brand new including a stove that was just like ours at home! We planned to do a lot of our cooking so that was exciting!

Sunday: We went to the hotel breakfast orientation to learn about the island and what there is to do. We learned a few things but already had a good idea from research online and books so we didn't book much from their presentation. (the goal of them having a breakfast) We spent the rest of the day relaxing on the beach and Walt watched the Steelers game. It was lowkey as we had an early wake-up time on Monday!

Monday: We woke up at 2am and drove 2 hours to Haleakala Crater to watch the sunrise. We got there in plenty of time and the hour before sunrise was the best part. Then the sun popped out over the crater. We enjoyed it and were glad that we drove ourselves. We relaxed on the beach later that afternoon after a nap. We had dinner at Bubba Gumps at sunset that night. A sweet old lady named Joanna bought our dinner because it was Walt's 40th birthday trip! We were speechless!

Tuesday: It's really hard to sleep in with the 5 hour time difference but it was wonderful to take full advantage of daylight...sunrise around 6am. (11am CST!) We relaxed on the beach during the day and then went to a luau that night. We sat next to a family where the dad looked like Sting much to Walt's delight!

Wednesday: We did the "Road to Hana" with a self-guided CD, thanks to Chad and Amy! It took us 3 hours driving the curvy, scenic road and about 90 minutes going back. There is a part that you can drive going toward the south side but with the earthquake last fall, the road has been closed so you have to come back the way you came! We're glad we did it but when we go back to Maui, we will probably skip it! Although the prettiest places were along this road, it is a long journey! We did buy some wonderful banana bread and had a picnic lunch watching the waves crash against lava rocks. When we got back, we ate dinner at the hotel restaurant. The hotel gave us $100 in food credit so that was great for a couple meals and refreshments! Wednesday night was the most amazing sunset and Walt contemplated his final hours as a 30-something year old.

Thursday: Happy 40th Birthday, Walt! We went on a snorkeling trip to Molokini and Turtle Arches. Molokini is a tiny island that is the tip of a crater on land that never surfaced. We snorkeled for about an hour but there weren't a lot of fish as the waters were choppy and then we went over to the Turtle Arches area. The area we snorkeled in for another hour did not have much fish and neither of us saw turtles! :( A couple on our trip saw one baby turtle. We came back and relaxed on the beach and then went out for Walt's birthday dinner.

Friday: We rested and relaxed on the beach and then went on a sunset cruise out of Lahaina. It was great! We had fun talking to others and sailing around the beautiful scenery for two hours.

Saturday: We relaxed in the condo and then checked out at check-in time (12noon), took final pictures of our beautiful beach and resort and then drove around. We went to Borders and off to the airport for our 5pm flight. We flew overnight and got home at 5am the next day! (We can't believe this was two weeks ago tomorrow! Wow!)

Little by little getting stuff done!

I uploaded a few pics to our Maui pics link on the right. It's only 20 pics so you can get a glimpse of Maui but not be bombarded by 100s of photos!

For those who have been or are curious, I'll post what we did soon...our little memory calendar was just sitting here!

Also...a question for the techies, what's the best site for uploading videos to post on here? I have some that are a bit over 100mb which is the limit for blogger and other easy sites.

We're back...pics coming soon!

Here is one for now!
More later!

Celebrating Early!

UPDATE: NEW PICS!






Today was our last day at work before Walt's birthday so we had a little party for him. He came to work late so I took use of that time to decorate his office! We also had chocolate cake that was delicious! My photo organizer is giving me problems tonight so I'm not able to post more than this picture! (Below is the top of his filing cabinet.) I will post more when we return from Maui!

I love the huge crop of girls being born!

Ernie and Michelle's baby girl
was born today at 1:37pm!

Emily Anne
9 lbs 6 oz
19 and 3/4" long

Congratulations!!!

PS- Please pray for Emily as she has some complications...she is on antibiotics, under an oxygen tent and has some issues with her right arm as it was lodged under Michelle's pelvic bone...they are improving though...praise God!

Going for it...

Pray for us as we are praying about a possible career change for me!

Over the last 4-5 years, I have wanted to be a nurse so I have decided to pray more about becoming an RN! As many of you know, my original career goal was/is to be a stay-at-home-mom and work whatever I can find with my bachelors in marketing until that happens.

After spending for 3.4 years trying to get pregnant and waiting to begin my countdown to being a stay-at-home-mom, I have realized that I have lost all joy in working and become very bitter every month that I am working. Definitely not how life should be at all! So while we have not given up on the dream of parenthood, we have decided to go ahead and pray about going for it. (I only have one pre-req to take before I could apply for the nursing program.) I am getting excited just thinking about it...I feel more alive!

Please pray for us as we determine if this is what I should do!
Sarah

Who knew you had to spray EVERYWHERE???

Camping was fun but HOT!

Love the smores!
Love the hot dogs!
Don't love my bug bites!
(not where I sprayed repellant but the places I forgot...like my butt! OUCH!)

14 DAYS!!!

We didn't post yesterday but I cannot tell you how beyond excited we are to be in the 2 week countdown!!!! We need a vacay big time!

Today was fun...went to a wedding!
Congratulations, Dave and Michelle!


Since we work for the government, we have Monday off (in honor of Columbus Day) so we are going camping tomorrow after church! I cannot wait to be immersed in nature. (even if it is just for 24 hours!)

-Sarah

Met my favorite author today!

My favorite author is Nicholas Sparks and I have been following him since his first book came out in late 1996! I have all 13 of his books and so you can imagine how excited I was on Sunday to find out that Nicholas Sparks was going to be in town for two book signings and one just happened to be down the street from church on Tuesday which is when we have Bible study!

I had a great time talking to people in line and meet people who were huge fans as well. We had a lot of fun to chit chat with him about his books and which ones he was selling for films.

My camera was malfunctioning due to some bad batteries but I managed a few pics before it went bad and also this lady in front of me was kind enough to take a couple pics and email them to me!

A little fun fact: Nicholas Sparks was born in Omaha, Nebraska...my hometown!

29 DAYS!!

How do you feel about your temple?

Romans 12: 1- "Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship."

I Corinthians 3:16- "Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?"

We are so familiar with these verses but do we really ponder what they mean for our bodies? These verses have really been laid upon my heart this week as I live life. I'll share a little of what I've been thinking about.

The obvious reference that people make is that we should not dump junk into our bodies....eating lots of junk food is not presenting our bodies as the temple of God. The case can be made for other things as well: drugs, cigarettes, alcohol, etc.

These verses are also thought of when instructing our young girls how to dress. Dress modestly because you are the temple of God.

I also see an additional view on these verses. We need to look at how we carry ourselves and what we say about our bodies. If you were presenting an actual offering to God, you would not say, "well it's alright but Abraham's is so much better" or "Look how terrible my offering looks!" No! We would want to give Him our very best and we would be proud to present it to Him and hope it is worthy of Him.

The same can be said about a temple. Would we build a temple and then disgrace it by saying, "It's hideous! I don't want it to be in pictures!"? No! We would be pretty proud of that temple and want to show it off to the Lord!

This has made me look at not only how I treat my body but how I offer it to the Lord. Why would I present my body as "substandard" when it's to be dedicated as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God? I could go on and on but I will close for now!

Have a fabulous weekend!
Sarah

CONTENTMENT

Webster.com defines it as “satisfied.”

Or the source that many use regularly, Wikipedia, defines contentment as “the neuro-physiological experience of satisfaction and being at ease in one's situation.”

The Bible mentions contentment a few times (see verses below) and Paul says he learned the great secret of being content in any and every situation.

“Being content whatever the circumstances” is a tough thing to do.

Am I really content? There are things I love about my life and make me so happy but are the three things I am waiting to happen keeping me from being content now? Am I truly thankful for what I have now even though I don’t have those things or may never have them? I think I’m content but then something happens that makes me think again. It’s a struggle and one that has been on my heart this week.

Pray for me as I explore this in more detail.

Thanks,
Sarah


Verses mentioning contentment:
Proverbs 19:23: The fear of the LORD leads to life: Then one rests content, untouched by trouble.

Phil 4:11-12: I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.

I Timothy 6:6: But godliness with contentment is great gain.

It's a Girl!

Don and Christy's baby GIRL
was born today at 1:37pm!

Ava Diane
9 lbs 10 oz
22" long

Congratulations!!!

43 days

43 days until paradise and 48 days until Walt's BIG birthday!

Can't wait to find out!

Please pray that everything goes smoothly for our friends, Don and Christy, in Nebraska.

Tonight, they were checking in at 5pm to be induced as today she is officially overdue at 42 weeks!

We all have been eagerly awaiting this baby and on top of it all, the gender is a surprise so of course we can't wait to find out if Baby Fellows is a boy or girl!!!!

Happy Labor Day!

I hope you had a wonderful and restful Labor Day!

We had a great weekend this week. My mom came down to TX and we went to the Star Wars exhibit in Fort Worth and it was very cool! All three of us are Star Wars fans and it was great to see costumes and props used in the movies as well as models used to plan how to shoot certain scenes.

On Saturday, we took a road trip to Corpus Christi. We were there two days and had a great time. It was rainy but we enjoyed ourselves!

Here are a couple pics from our weekend.

In Corpus Christi:
I love being at the beach!

The view from our room!

In Ft. Worth:
Luke's original landspeeder from Episode IV

C3P0

57 Days

We are getting more excited!
We have friends in Hawaii right now and can't wait to see pics and hear how their trip went!
57 DAYS!

We're back!

We got home late Monday night after a whirlwind visit in Omaha! All the visits with friends and family were so wonderful! It really makes the drive home hard as we discuss and wholeheartedly agree that we both truly miss Omaha! The easy driving, all the new places to shop and eat that are opening up, and of course: our friends and my side of the family.

Michelle's baby shower and Rachel's wedding were so much fun! We had a great time and it was fun to see so many people at one time!

We are excited to go back to Omaha for Thanksgiving and my mom is coming down here in 2 weeks!

-Sarah

Seventy plus One!

We are really amazed at how fast time is flying!
Praise the Lord we are so busy!

71 days to go!

The Road to Omaha

I love that phrase when a team makes it into the CWS! It is all over ESPN and several other stations for weeks leading up to every June for the College World Series.

We are on the road to Omaha today!

We are going up for our friend, Rachel's wedding, a baby shower for our friend from Michigan, Michelle, catching up with friends, and a myriad of errands/appointments!

Being that we're up at 4am, sleep is not on the To Do List!

God is so faithful!

It's really simple but I am still in awe of how effective prayer is!

Thank you for praying!

Today at 11am, Walt got an email about LEAD. He was not selected.

We are a little bummed as we've had several pieces of discouraging news this year but are still hopeful to get some good news soon!! It is nice to have closure on this issue! (It was a 3 month process from application to selection notification.)

Still waiting on LEAD...

Some of you may remember us asking for prayer for Walt's interview for the LEAD program. He was told he would find out mid-to-late July and he has still not heard back yet. (It is August, right?) No news is good news for right now!

Please pray that we would find out soon!

(More details about this can be found in some posts that you can short cut to by clicking the Work label right below this post near the comments link.)

Helen

Thank you for praying for Helen! She is doing quite well. She had her back surgery on Thursday and was able to start sitting up on Monday night! She has been emailing ever since! She can also tell you which shows are worth checking out on TV or not! She gets to go back to work Monday!

Love ya, Helen!

85 Days!

I envisioned posting my countdown every Friday but you may get sick of hearing about it since we started at 99 days so indulge me while we do the count down bi-weekly with a pretty picture!

85 DAYS!

Beach time!

We are excited for this weekend! Walt's sister and nieces are coming into town tomorrow and we're going to the beach on Saturday! Fun in the sun! It will help while we have Maui on the brain!

I haven't done a Maui countdown in awhile...stay tuned!

Two years ago today...

Speaking of two year anniversaries, two years ago today, Walt and I moved to Texas!

Don and Christy's wedding was on the eve of Moving Day and it was so wonderful to spend that night with so many friends before heading out the next morning.

Where has the time gone???

Happy Anniversary, Don and Christy!

Happy 2nd Anniversary, Don and Christy!

We wish you two many years of marital bliss and joy as you prepare for your baby coming soon!

Love you and miss you guys so much!

Great verse from church today!

"The Lord's lovingkindnesses indeed never cease,
For His compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness."

Lamentations 3:22-23

Church

Today was a special day for us as we joined Prestonwood Baptist Church!

We visited several times back in November/December and then started attending in June. We have been ministered to immensely through the worship service and through a Bible fellowship class. We are excited to get to know the members of that class!

We have had a lot up in the air in our lives and this is a HUGE praise on our prayer request list. It feels wonderful to see this area settled in our lives. We are ready to serve!

We love you, Helen!

Pray for Helen!
She was released from the hospital this afternoon and ordered to strict bed rest until Monday. She has a herniated disk. She will have surgery on Tuesday or Thursday of next week. She just had surgery not too long ago as well!

Helen was in charge of Rachel's bridal shower this weekend and had to turn the reigns over to Sheila and Rachel's sister because she didn't know what was going to happen with her back! She is also Rachel's wedding coordinator for her wedding in 3 weeks and I am sure its bothersome for Helen for this to be happening now! Pray that she gets rest and everything goes better than expected and that she is still able to be be a part of the wedding festivities!

PS- Forgive me if you don't know who Helen is. She is our friend from Westside Church in Nebraska and was in our wedding! She is the coolest Asian chic around! Takes lots of pictures! (I see your head nodding as you realize that you know who I'm talking about!)

Friday is almost here!

This week has been long and flown at the same time!
Don't want to wish my life away but I am so glad it's Thursday night! Although I am in CSI, Grey's Anatomy, and The Office withdrawal! The week of September 24 cannot come soon enough! But it does give us time to go to our friend's house tonight and catch up!

Nothing terribly exciting happening...just normal busy life!
It's hard working full weeks! When's the next holiday weekend???? :)

Happy Birthday Mom!
She's a trooper. She gave birth to me on Mother's Day! As the youngest child, it was the one day all about her and I came late and made my entrance on her day! Of course, she doesn't see it that way...she will tell you that I'm the best present she ever received!

Hope you are all having a fabulous week!

-Sarah

99 DAYS!

I know we told some people but there are some who don't know!

We are going back to Hawaii!

We are going for a multitude of celebrations! We are celebrating Walt's 40th birthday and an early celebration of my 30th birthday. (May 2008) It is also to celebrate our belated 4th anniversary as well as an early celebration for our 5th anniversary!

Walt said he would love to wake up on his 40th birthday in Hawaii so with some financial blessings over the last six months, we are able to do so! I love spoiling him!

Something exciting that starts with this trip to Maui is we are going to start a tradition of going somewhere really special for our decade birthday celebrations! (It works great for one trip for both of us since our decade birthdays are only 7 months apart.) We both had the same idea for where to go for the next two! Europe next and then Australia! It gives us ten years to save for each trip!

We are now in the countdown for going to Hawaii!
99 days until paradise!

The only kitten we need!

He's not a kitten anymore but Grissom's the only kitty we need!
Since I was posting the tempting kittens' pics, I have to post our favorite pic of him as a kitten!





Not too much to post!
We're just enjoying our tomatoes from the garden! Delish!



(Disclaimer: This is not a picture from our garden!)

Resisting the Kitties

How can we resist that face??? Friday night, we visited a co-worker who had kittens available and we were so tempted! We loved these two so much, we were tempted to take BOTH of them home! Of course, we regained our senses and realized that going from one cat to three was crazy! So as hard as it was, we resisted these cute guys. I had so much fun taking pictures of them though!
-Sarah

Back to work...feels like a Monday but so happy tomorrow is FRIDAY!

First day back at work!
It's nice to just work today and tomorrow and then have the weekend again!

Wohoo!!!

Congrats to my high school friends, Joe and Angie! Their baby girl arrived today!
Isabella Ann, 7lbs, 4oz. The gender was a surprise! How fun!

Happy 4th of July!

The Office cast goes to the big screen!

Day 4
Today was a great day!

We saw License to Wed this afternoon and it was great for a rainy day flick. (which it was here in Dallas!) If you watch The Office, at least four people were in it from there. (The actors who play Jim, Angela, Kevin, and Kelly.) Now we just need to see Evan Almighty and we'll complete the cast even more! :)

It's been fun to have time to go see movies this summer!

If you want a glimpse of what we're going through...

Some of you can relate with us to this video and we pray for you regularly. I hope this video is a comfort to you.
In May of 2004, we left our future up to God in this area and we're still waiting. As soon as we resolve or fix one issue, another one comes up. If you have questions, please do not hesitate to ask us with love.
I normally have a thousand words I can write but this video says it all.
It's about 5 minutes but I hope you will indulge us. We are asked dozens of questions and I pray this gives you some insight as to what we're going through.

http://www.tearsandhope.com/emptyarms_video.html
(There is music and I posted a link on the right side if its easier to click to it there.)

The sky's the limit!

We had another great day of doing nothing!
We did get one important thing done...but just one! :)

We went and turned in our applications for passports! We have been blessed with going to four countries since we've been married but doing so with just our birth certificates (and marriage license for Sarah). Now with the stricter laws and of course, the huge delays in processing, we wanted to go ahead and get them now while we don't have any international travel plans on the horizon! Sarah has a passport but since it was before she was 16 and not renewed within 5 years, she had to take the longer renewal process (almost starting over) and this was Walt's first time applying.

Once we get them, we can take advantage of any last-minute rates on cruises or quick trips to Mexico/Caribbean! Excellent!

We just figure...why wait and have the stress? One guy was in danger of missing his much anticipated honeymoon to Paris after applying and waiting for FOUR MONTHS for his and his wife's passports!! (This was before the temporary relaxation in the law.)

None of these:

Equal none of this! (Bottom photo taken by Sarah in Cozumel.)

George, Brad, and Matt

July is here!
What a great Sunday!
Church was wonderful today...reminding us of the absolute TRUTH of the Bible and God's promises! It's been so much fun to have time to enjoy together and time to blog!

Today after church, we saw Oceans 13 at Studio Movie Grill. The movie was great (better than Oceans 12) and we loved eating lunch there. (If you haven't heard of them, Studio Movie Grill is a great concept of being able to eat dinner during the movie! They have ledges and half tables in the theater and the food is pretty good with a variety of food to order from...appetizers, entrees, desserts, and drinks. The wait staff is very discreet to not disrupt your movie. The prices aren't too bad and they have specials on Sunday so we saved all around between the matinée price and food specials!)

We ended the day by making homemade ice cream! It is delicious!

We've enjoyed doing nothing today and listening to the rain!
(We missed breaking the DFW record set in 1928 for the most rain during the month of June by only half an inch! I know we got that half an inch today!)

An Unexpected Motivation & a New Baby!

Somehow giving myself the freedom to do nothing gives me motivation to do things around the house that have been put off for sometime! Maybe I should plan to do nothing more often!

We had a great time tonight making homemade pizza and watching our city's fireworks show from our front yard!

The day ended with our favorite Helen calling to tell us that Tony and Jen's 2nd baby girl arrived tonight! Bria Lee Lantry was born around 8pm and they are doing great!
Congratulations, Tony and Jen!

-Sarah

Absolutely Nothing!

It's the weekend! Wohoo!
Walt and I decided to take Monday and Tuesday off to have a 5-day weekend.

Known for traveling or having people come into town for a long weekend, everyone has been asking us, "What are you planning this weekend?"

"Absolutely nothing!"

It feels great to say those words!

As much as we love to travel and as much as we love our family and friends visiting, it is exciting to have five whole days with no plans or obligations!

We will be reporting in with how our doing nothing is going!

If we don't talk to you before Wednesday, Happy 4th of July!
Be Safe!

Love,
Walt and Sarah

Walt’s Review of The Police Concert

As I was sitting at The Police concert last night, it took my memory back to 1983 when I first heard "Every Breath You Take." I realized I did not become a Police fan until about the last year of their existence as a band. Since their breakup, I have been a huge Sting fan and have seen him three times in concert. It made me think, "I guess I’m a bigger Sting fan than Police fan." I also thought through the early songs of the show that these three 50+ dudes look like they’re very bored on stage.

However, a turning point came when I heard “Wrapped Around Your Finger.” It made me become a Police Fan all over again. As the show went on, it just got better and better and by the time it ended, I had the feeling I had just witnessed a once-in-a-lifetime event.

“Message in a Bottle” to open, “Roxanne” to close, three encores, and everything in the middle- just unbelievable.

Wow! Left me begging…please record another album!

-Walt

On a brighter note...

We have tickets to see The Police on Wednesday night here in Dallas! "Roooooxanne!!!!!"
Walt has been very excited since March and it is finally here!

Less than 49 hours until the concert!

Here is a trip down memory lane:

Walt's Interview for LEAD

Walt went through the interview for the LEAD program (see yesterday's post) today and didn't feel like he did really well. Please pray that it was better than he thought. He feels down about it.

MySpace and Facebook

We have a MySpace page but its not as personal as the information here as to what is going on in our lives. It's harder to find friends that were not in college or high school since there is no church search on there so if you are on MySpace, we'd love to know how to get to your page!

Ours is www.myspace.com/waltandsarah

We are also on Facebook but its not as updated as MySpace or here...still working on it! Let us know if you have that too!

Praise and Prayer Request for Walt (LEAD)

Happy Sunday! We had a wonderful time at church today as it was reiterated that God is Everlasting! His holiness, His glory, His wisdom, His goodness...all everlasting no matter how life goes!!

Praise God!
Walt applied and made it to the second round of the national VA Leadership Enhancement and Development (LEAD) Program! He won't toot his own horn but I will! He was the only one in his division of his region (half of TX) that made it to the second round this year.

The first round was a 5 essay application.
The second round is an interview which he has tomorrow, Monday, June 25, at 3pm!

Please pray for him as he prepares for this interview and during the interview.

If he is selected to be a part of this program, he will be on the fast track to management learning VA specific information as well as being able to include it on his resume. Even if he is not selected, making it to the second round is quite an honor and looks good as he applies for promotions within the VA!

-Sarah

One Workplace???

It has been almost two years since we moved to Texas. I think there is something to be said for God only giving us enough light on our path for the next step or two because if He would have switched on the light to show us the whole "room," I would have went running!

There is so much I want to write about what is going on in our lives that I don't know where to begin!

I will start with work for right now.

Walt enjoys his job at the VA as a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor. It is the same position he had in Omaha but he works for a larger regional office and is learning how the VA works from a different part of the country. It has been a blessing to see him happy with work again.

After a couple unsatisfactory jobs, we decided to look for a fun job for me with less stress especially since we were trying to start a family.

So I applied at Old Navy and didn't hear back for several months until they needed temp help for the holidays (insane!!) in 2005 but loved it and was offered to stay permanently. Shortly after that, I was asked if I wanted to be a part of the shipping and receiving team. (receiving the boxes off the delivery truck and putting the new clothing out) This was so much better than folding clothes or standing in the fitting room all day! Then I was asked to be a part of the markdown team. (running around the store scanning everything twice a month to see what had been marked down...talk about finding all the bargains!!!)

While definitely not part of my career plan, I truly enjoyed this job and was content. We still had no success in the trying to conceive and I soon desired a full-time position with better pay.

After praying about it, Walt called me one day and told me that one of his co-workers asked if I would be interested in the temp job at their office. Walt was surprised when I was excited about it. I decided to apply and was hired.

So since April 2006, we have worked together in the same office. People eyes get really big when they hear this and even bigger when I tell them that Walt's office and my cubicle are not more than 10 feet apart. His office just happens to be the closest office to the temp cubicle. Walt and I have the same boss and I do tasks and projects for him and the other eight voc rehab counselors. I've been asked if its weird doing thing for Walt at work and without thinking, I replied, "well, I do things for him at home but at least here I get paid for it!"

We really enjoy working together and miss each other when one has a doctor appt or when Walt is out in the field for work. We save lots of money on gas while carpooling to work everyday!

We are blessed that while my job is a temp job, I have a contract until September 30, 2008, free health insurance (no premiums), and received 2 weeks vacation after working there for a year. Those were bonuses we weren't expecting! Plus, my favorite perk- all the government holidays paid! (You know you love them, Christy!)

That's it for now!
I promise all the posts won't be this long!

-Sarah

The Meaning behind our Blog Title

We were inspired by two dear couples (You know who you are!) to create a blog on here. We truly enjoy checking their blogs as least weekly for any new postings or pictures. It's like a Christmas letter year round! We love it!

The biggest delay in creating a blog was having writers block with the title. Our friends had such great blog titles that it left me stumped as to what to name ours. Staying Strong popped in and out of my mind.

Staying strong applies to our faith and the command and promise in scripture to "Only be and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go." Joshua 1:7

We hope you will enjoy reading our blog as much as we're excited to start blogging!