A Tradition in the Strong Household

As you can see from the pics below and the post here, this is a tradition when we are preparing to leave!

WebMD Personal Diet Evaluator

A friend sent me this today. It was very helpful and I felt victorious only having a few more pounds to lose! Thank you, Lord!

If you're looking to lose a few pounds, this is a easy and free profile from webmd.com. At the end of the assessment, it tells you helpful things including BMI, BMR, calories to eat to lose weight, how many calories to burn while exercising, overcoming your specific hurdles to dieting, and keys to weight loss. Some of it's new, some of it's a great reminder. It's free and no obligation.

http://www.webmd.com/diet/diet-health-check/default.htm

The Christmas Letter You Didn't Get. :(

We want to wish you a very Merry Christmas!

This year, I didn't get Christmas cards with a letter and photo out like we wanted to. Hopefully we will next year!

Here is our Christmas Letter that we wrote a couple weeks ago but never sent. :)
(The use of "I" and "I'm" refers to Sarah.)

**********************************************************
It's that special time of year. Holidays? Yes, of course. Reflecting on the birth of our Savior? Most definitely and most importantly! But it's also that special time of year when I'm not allowed to use the words "cold" or "BRRR" when talking about the weather. With anywhere from 40-60 degrees difference in Nebraska, any mention of these words gets met with a variety of reactions not geared toward goodwill! While it's 40 degrees right now with a forecasted high of 59 degrees, I am sitting here with a little space heater. (yes, I know it's 6 degrees in Omaha but feels like -14!) I'm still COLD! There, I said it and it's our Christmas letter so you can't do anything about it! Okay, done with the weather comments!

Our year started off watching and celebrating the Steeler's journey to the Super Bowl although Walt doesn't want to talk about their current season! :( As we look back on the past year, we reflect on a journey of our own. On January 2nd, wedecided to get healthy and lose weight. This time, the New Year's Resolution stuck. With the Lord's help, we are both at healthy weights and amazed at what we've accomplished!

Walt is close to celebrating 10 years with the VA. He gained a lot of experience this past year while his boss ran another state's division leaving Walt to run the Arizona division. This experience will no doubt help him with future goals. In addition to staying busy in Arizona, he spent a few too many weeks in Baltimore but enjoyed his trips to Seattle and Philadelphia! Thankfully in January, I was able to join him for one of his trips to Baltimore and take in the sights and restaurants of the Inner Harbor.

I enjoy staying home and this is my second holiday season at home. It's been very valuable as everything gets so busy! With all the fun things we've been doing this summer and fall, it's been nice to stay home and take care of the homestead. Staying home has also allowed us the time to travel and I enjoy preparing for our trips: packing, and unpacking. This summer, we found a new church home and have kept busy getting involved in a great fellowship group and Sunday School class. Over the fall season, I volunteered for the women's ministry leadership team and was active in two women's Bible studies. I loved the accountability it created to study the Word and learn from others!

Our travels this year included visits to Flagstaff, Sedona, San Diego, Family Life "Weekend to Remember" here in Phoenix, Vegas, and a Bed & Breakfast up north in August to escape the heat!

Over Labor Day, we visited Mississippi and stayed with Walt's aunt for a week. It was wonderful seeing family and some of Walt's friends that he hasn't seen in years! We also enjoyed a break from the heat and didn't mind the humidity.

While we've had many short weekend trips and visits to see family, it had been over two years since we went away for a week's vacation. Thankfully, we were able to do just that. In October, we sailed away on a Mexican Riveria cruise stopping in Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan, and Puerto Vallarta. We had a nice time and enjoyed celebrating Walt's birthday on the cruise!

For Thanksgiving, Walt got the Friday after Thanksgiving off at the last minute and we enjoyed a relaxing four-day weekend. We cooked all our favorites and had a wonderful day relishing the ways God has blessed us. The next day, we did a favorite tradition of ours: make homemade hot cocoa, trim the tree, and cheer the Huskers to a victory!

We are staying put for Christmas so Walt's boss can take some time off this month but we are VERY excited to be flying out late New Year's Eve to come to Omaha! It's been over two years since we've been able to come for a planned visit and spend time with friends and family. We can't wait!

LEAVING ME AGAIN?

Mental Note Monday

We've all heard the famous verse, "Be still and know that I am God." (from Psalm 46:10)

I love the NASB version..."Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."

Mental Note: Cease striving!

FOURTEEN

Fourteen is my favorite number and today it is really my favorite number as we are leaving for a cruise in 14 days! WOHOO! Sailing out of Los Angeles to the Mexican Rivera...Puerto Vallarta, Cabo San Lucas, and Mazatlan. We cannot wait! It is been a couple years since we've had a whole week's vacation!

Mental Note Monday

I've been bad at blogging lately! I still need to post about our MS trip.

I'm going to start a new post called Mental Note Mondays. It came to me while getting a massage this weekend. I love the cute ways bloggers have weekly posts such as Wordless Wednesdays and Frugal Fridays. I hope to post something that I literally made a mental note about and hopefully a Scripture that was encouraging to me this week. Sometimes short, sometimes long!

Here is the debut of Mental Note Mondays:

1. Don't eat chili the night before getting a massage!

2. Psalm 37:7: "Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!"

Also very cool from this chapter and the message at church yesterday:
This Old Testament verse: Psalm 37:11: "But the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace." flows right with the well-known New Testament verse: Matthew 5:5: "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth."

Jesus used the word meek not as being weak but as being strong. Meekness is humility horizontally expressed in a willingness to allow God to extend one's right, advance one's cause, and fight one's battles rather than taking matters into one's own hands.

Women's Retreat 2009

I'm a little behind but was waiting to get some pics from a CD so I could post here about the Women's Retreat I went to almost 3 weeks ago. There weren't that many scenic pics so most of these are mine. The retreat was wonderful! The theme was Motions 2009 and referred to how we often just go through the motions of life. The theme song was The Motions by Matthew West.

We went to a beautiful ranch up north that was so gorgeous!

Here are few pics from the weekend:

The Lobby of the Ranch


(From Photo CD)

Sunset one night after dinner. I was excited this came out!

(From Photo CD)
There were quite a few ladies...I think there were 112!

B&B Getaway

The weekend of the 14th, I went to our church's annual women's retreat. (blog coming soon) It was up north in the mountains and I came home glowing with how beautiful it was and how great the weather was. The next weekend, Walt woke up on Saturday and wanted to go up north and rent a cabin or stay at a B&B. We looked around and the paper happened to mention the area we were thinking about.

We found a nice place and called...they had availability. It was actually rainy here and up north so not super desirable! We get up there and the weather is so cool and spitting. The B&B was spectacular and we went hiking for 2 hours on Saturday...the cloudy rainy weather was actually refreshing! The next day, we went for a 5.5 hour hike down this rim and then back up! Phew! That was rough but it was such a great accomplishment!

Here are pics from that weekend:

The Oldest Standing School House in Arizona! (located in Strawberry, AZ)

Double rainbow!

So cool to see the entire rainbow!

The beautiful B&B we stayed at! (Up the Creek B&B in Strawberry, AZ)
The B&B was described as a modern farmhouse...very comfy!


Our room was called the Sunset Glow room as it had a balcony where you could watch the sunset. It was beautiful.



The Sunset...it was cloudy but still beautiful! Now if I could've removed that poll...ha ha!

The rain was fresh and cool! (Look at the beautiful scenery!)

We watched the sunset and sunrise...this is after sunrise and the neighbor's cows got onto the B&B property! The gate was left open and we saw them in the front yard...cows will be cows!

Breakfast Banana Split!

Breakfast was delicious!

One Year

It's hard to believe but we've been in AZ for one year now!

It's common to look back on a calendar year or a wedding anniversary but Walt and I also look back on our years in a new state. It's been a whirlwind of a year!

I started out staying home and I am again. Praise the Lord! Hopefully we'll have more happy changes in the coming year.

We really love AZ and hope to spend many more years here. (I'm even saying this in the midst of the "brutal" summer!)

Vegas 2009

(Obligatory pic of The Strip!)

Last week was my first week home and I felt like a kid in a candy store. I had so many things I wanted to do now that I finally had time! I wore myself out working in overdrive but it was also because we were getting ready to go on a mini-vacation too! I'm proud to say that I am posting about our vacation within one day of returning!

We had a great time in Vegas! We got in on Friday afternoon and it was good to see our friend (and best man in our wedding), Jim, and celebrate his 40th birthday. We stayed at The Signature at MGM Grand which is a luxury set of extended stay suites that is right behind the MGM Grand. It is a non-smoking and non-gaming hotel which was really nice! At the last minute, we decided to come a day earlier so we crashed on Jim's sofa bed for one night and then checked into our suite the next day. We had arranged to be in the same tower (there are three) and were delighted to be assigned to his floor and across the hall from his suite! It was perfect!

Since we all had been to Vegas before, our goals were less about seeing the sights and more about relaxing, trying new restaurants, and seeing The Lion King.



Friday night, we ate at Off The Strip – Just Real Food because it was the #1 restaurant on TripAdvisor.com. It was okay. Great service but very limited menu selection. Nothing unique about the food either. We had to give it a shot though!

Saturday, we hit the workout room to try to makeup for the damage we were about to do that day: the Bellagio Brunch Buffet! It was delicious! Seriously, the best quality breakfast buffet ever! This was Walt and my second time there and both times have been great! If I didn’t like something, it was because of an ingredient, not the quality! We then had to go by the Bellagio Botanical Gardens and the chocolate shoppe tucked in the back! (We missed staying at the Bellagio this time!)

(People watching was more fun than what was on display!)

We then went to the pool and relaxed. That night, we went to Emeril’s Fish House and while it was a good meal, it wasn’t as impressive as we had hoped.

(Can I eat my dessert yet?)

Sunday morning we were slow moving and we went to Hash House A Go Go for brunch and it was SO GOOD! The portions were beyond HUGE but they were presented so unique. Their slogan is “Twisted Farm Food” and it’s very appropriate. It’s all your comfort foods with a twist!

(This was a woman's entree sitting near us! There was no way she could eat even half of it!)

Sunday afternoon, we had a brief visit to the pool and then it was time to get ready for our night out. We went to The Lion King and it was very entertaining! It was very true to the movie and we all enjoyed it!




After The Lion King, we went to the RumJungle for dinner. I had been 5 years prior and it was fun to go back. Walt and Jim ordered the Fire Pit experience that was several rounds of tantalizing sides and meats brought to your table and carved in front of you to sample. I opted for chicken and pineapple skewers because I had my eye on something else to indulge in: Smores Banana Split! It was divine!

(Caramel, chocolate, and vanilla ice cream with caramelized bananas on the side
and a cup of melted chocolate, marshmallows, and graham cracker pieces)

We slept in on Monday and then said goodbye to Jim and headed home.
A great trip!

Changes

Last week, I gave my two weeks at work and will be staying home to take care of the house, Walt, and Grissom! While we were so thankful for the provision of my job, it was very stressful and many co-workers came to work sick and would keep passing around illnesses. That made it even more stressful. I had no energy to come home and take care of the home after all the stress of on the phone. I would come home to recover from the stress and spend many weekend afternoons in bed fighting off illnesses. All of this, of course, doesn't help the efforts of trying to conceive!

My heart's desire is to be a good wife, caretaker of the home and hopefully one day, a mother. We also want to travel to see our friends and family and having enough paid time off accrued was getting to be a challenge especially with all the illnesses!

Please pray that we are wise in our planning and use the resources God has given us wisely! Thanks!

Six Phases of Work...

This is so cute!

Six Phases of Work Explained with Cat Pics

Monday again?

Had my exploratory surgery last week. They found endometriosis in four areas and so they treated it by cauterizing it. Also found out last week that I may not have asthma because blood results came back a month ago that my cough and fatigue were actually from mycoplasma pneumonia...the most common form of community-acquired pneumonia or what I like to call the most common form of "I caught from people at work that won't stay home when they're sick" pneumonia. I was just told of the results last week because they said my blood levels showed I was getting over it.

I've been off of work for ten days. Walt left for Philly today for the week. He had to note that the temps were low-80s and chance of rain most days while it's 110-115 (and sunny, of course) here. Tomorrow I go back to work and of course, after ten days off, I'm not excited.

Will try to post more frequently! Hope you had a good weekend!!

Is it really mid-June already?

I can't believe fast time is flying. People say when you have kids, time goes even faster but I truly believe it's as we get older, time goes even faster. A week used to be torturous when we were kids waiting for Christmas but now I find myself a week before a vacation happy I have a week to get a few things done and that week flies by so fast. So why the ramble about time? Because it is something we have been struggling with for the last 5 months since I started working again.

I know so much of my communication with friends has slid to the back burner and I want to apologize for that! Many of my favorite friends are those who read this blog! There are still lots of things around our house that are settled. I finally got the knobs installed on the kitchen cabinets this weekend. (I ordered them over Thanksgiving- yikes!) Still working on some other decorating and hanging up! I feel bad because I've been so exhausted and not motivated to do anything when I come home from work. (It's not what you think or hope!) We work 9:30am-6pm so we have an hour to workout in the morning and thankfully, even if nothing else gets done around the house besides basic cleaning, we have been eating healthy and exercising so that is a praise.

While we've been living a much healthier lifestyle, I've been feeling crummy over the last two months. I had a cold (like everyone in my office) but it would not go away. Walt got sick too and finally we went to the doctor and she thought we were passing something back and forth for weeks so we went on an antibiotic (which I can't stand!) which helped Walt immensely and he has been up and going ever since. The antibiotic didn't work for me and after further evaluation, the cough that wouldn't go away was actually determined to be asthma!!! UGH! I am feeling better after a little over a week on a couple different inhalers. In other news, in 3 weeks, I'm having some exploratory surgery for some other issues. Lots of fun!

We have had a great time the last several weeks. We enjoyed my birthday, then a week later, we went to Coronado Island and have a fabulous mini-vacation over Memorial Day weekend. Two weeks later, we went to the Family Life Weekend to Remember here in Phoenix and stayed at the resort hosting it. It had been over six years since we went the first time while we were engaged. We had a very relaxing weekend and took a couple days off around it to not feel so rushed.

Things are going to be changing for us in the next couple months and that will be exciting. We'll keep you posted as they develop!

A low key week

This week went by really fast. The outdoor wedding last Sunday was gorgeous...great weather and huge trees that blocked the sun. The entire wedding area was in the shade!

Walt went to Seattle on Monday and got back on Friday night. He had a great time and had really good non-rainy weather! We went 3 years ago when we took an Alaskan cruise out of Seattle and then spent two nights in Seattle when we got back from the cruise. Great city!

We got a treadmill a couple weeks ago and we are both loving it. We're having to create a schedule of who gets to use it when! It's got a nice reflex cushioning deck so it's easy on the joints and I've experimented with running 6.0mph. Hopefully I will be able to run longer than my current 2 minute intervals! It's a start.

We're still getting settled with decorating. Our goal is to be done by May and we only have a few loose things to do and the house should be fairly settled. Then it'll be time to tackle some of the clutter I've conveniently hidden and forgotten!

Not too much new otherwise! Just wanted to drop in and commit to posting once/week!

Six years go by fast!

Yay, it's Walt and my 6th wedding anniversary today! I'm so blessed to have Walt in my life! Love you, Walt!

We're off to our friends, Neil and Nikki's wedding today. We also have two friends with today as their birthday so that is fun! Great day! Great weather here... 79 and sunny right now.

I'll try to write more later...my goal is to get back into posting at least once/week!

We're still here!

Sorry we've been MIA! This is quick and I'll update more this weekend. We've been busy with my new job, traveling to Baltimore, a wonderful Valentine's Day weekend in Sedona, and finally getting some things for the house! Will add more later!

SO TRUE!

A little humor for Monday! (or anyday)

(To be posted VERY LOW on the refrigerator door - nose height. )

Dear Dogs and Cats,

The dishes with the paw print are yours and contain your food. The other dishes are mine and contain my food. Please note, placing a paw print in the middle of my plate and food does not stake a claim for it becoming your food and dish, nor do I find that aesthetically pleasing in the slightest.

The stairway was not designed by NASCAR and is not a racetrack. Beating me to the bottom is not the object. Tripping me doesn't help because I fall faster than you can run.

I cannot buy anything bigger than a king sized bed. I am very sorry about this... Do not think I will continue sleeping on the couch to ensure your comfort. Dogs and cats can actually curl up in a ball when they sleep. It is not necessary to sleep perpendicular to each other stretched out to the fullest extent possible. I also know that sticking tails straight out and having tongues hanging out the other end to maximize space is nothing but sarcasm.

For the last time, there is not a secret exit from the bathroom. If by some miracle I beat you there and manage to get the door shut, it is not necessary to claw, whine, meow, try to turn the knob or get your paw under the edge and try to pull the door open. I must exit through the same door I entered. Also, I have been using the bathroom for years -- canine or feline attendance is not required.

The proper order is kiss me, then go smell the other dog or cat's butt. I cannot stress this enough!

To pacify you, my dear pets, I have posted the following message on our front door:

To All Non-Pet Owners Who Visit & Like to Complain About Our Pets:
1. They live here. You don't.
2. If you don't want their hair on your clothes, stay off the furniture. (That's why they call it 'fur'niture.)
3. I like my pets a lot better than I like most people
4. To you, it's an animal. To me, he/she is an adopted son/daughter who is short, hairy, walks on all fours and doesn't speak clearly.

GOT 6?

WOHOO! We are beyond excited for our Steelers!!!!

I flew back from Baltimore tonight and got to see the entire first half of the game on the plane thanks to Dish Network's partnership with Delta! I landed right at half-time, got on the van to go back to my car and was driving home in time to listen to the 3rd quarter on the radio. I got home shortly after the beginning of the 4th quarter and was able to see the fabulous ending in all it's HD glory!

WOHOO! We can't wait to order our t-shirts! I really hope they do a "GOT 6?"

Exciting month

It's been awhile! I've been a little anti-computer this year...funny to say that but definitely true the past 3 weeks!

We are super excited that the Steelers are in the Super Bowl but it's kind of bittersweet because we're in the midst of Cardinal-mania. We feel like we're in the enemy's camp and let's face it, the Cardinals aren't jerks so you don't really want to throw it in their faces that you think your team is better and you pray that you kick their tails! The new church that we've attending for a couple months has about 2,000 people and the pastor saw one of our shirts last week and said the church would be majorly split if it turns out to be Cardinals vs. Steelers. Sure enough, it is!

Walt is in Baltimore for two weeks and I am going to visit him Thurs-Sun of this week. I can't wait! He has been to Baltimore a few times since 2004 and this is the first time it worked out that I can go too. He will be there for the Super Bowl and plans to attend the group's party for the first half and then go to his hotel room to pace in peace for the second half! The first items he put into his suitcase were his Terrible Towel and #7 Jersey!

I told Walt that the Steelers can beat the Ravens 3 times in the same season which of course means that they'll be in the Super Bowl. Unfortunately, I accidentally scheduled my flight back a little late on Sunday so I will miss it. Totally forgot about that possibility! Thank goodness for DVR...especially for the commercials.

Walt figured out the exact date he became a Steelers fan: 10/8/1978! 30 years! WOW!

I wish I could visit him longer but Grissom prevents me from going for too long! That's okay! It's nice to be needed!

Also, in exciting news, I was offered a position at the VA and started on Tuesday. I will be talking to veterans on the phone about their benefits. This was part of my job as a temp in Dallas so there will be some familiarity but this time I will have most of the answers! YAY!

I enjoyed my 8 months staying home but we have some financial goals we'd like to meet this year and this opportunity was too good to pass up!

We hope to come to Omaha soon but the new job means waiting for vacation to accrue so our
hope is December!

That's it for now! I will try to update more often!

WOHOO! TampaBOUND!

Good day!

Happy the Cardinals won and the Steelers are going to the Super Bowl!

WOHOO!!!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!