ode to sunburn

itchy scratchy
peely backy
makes sarah
feel very crabby
:(

the vacation post!

we're back, unpacked, laundry done, and face peeling off....i must say that it was a wonderful trip! for some reason it has been super hard for me to type this entry...i'm not sure why...

as i mentioned previously, my dear hubby worked his butt off the days before we left so that he wouldn't have to work while we were on the trip. it meant so much to me b/c he has been working non-stop for the past few months and we haven't seen each other at all! i don't know what it is about vacations, but just being away from everything at home makes you feel so much better! i kept teasing patrick that he is a lot funnier and more likable in florida.

the trip started well. we dropped butch off w/my parents and had a pretty smooth flight--no problems checking in or anything. then it took FOREVER to get our rental car. for some reason, once we got into that car my brain broke. if you spend much time w/me, you know that my "CFS brain" can get me pretty confused and saying some crazy stuff. orlando has an unholy amount of toll roads--especially around the airport! i didn't realize that i was supposed to be helping patrick to navigate--that's what we have the gps for right? well, one of the toll lanes was really confusing--it split off into a ramp with "sunpass only lanes" on the normal road, and then the ramp said "change provided." patrick started to turn onto the ramp and i said "no no no" so he went into the other lane. we quickly realized that that was the wrong decision! but the wording was so confusing! later we saw a sign that going through the "sun pass only" lane without a pass could result in a $100 fine! yikes! (thankfully nothing happened...yet) the whole rest of the drive i was completely confused. i kept losing things and saying things wrong. we just had to laugh about it! we finally got to our hotel and ordered a pizza (we hadn't eaten in about 12 hours!) and i swear it was the best pizza ever! we ate the whole freakin thing!

the wedding the next day was gorgeous! we saw our favorite trafton family, and our old friend daniel. stephen and juliette were just so adorable and totally in love!

dr. trafton officiated the ceremony


the gorgeous reception!

the reception was super fun. they named the tables after all the special cities on their tour--we were at san deigo--the site of their first phantom performance as christine and raoul opposite one another. so sweet!

our table was kinda crazy. we were the table of stephen's friends and patrick, daniel and I were the only non-performers! i kinda felt like introducing myself as "stephen's fat boring friends f/m kentucky!" i mean, they all live in new york or LA and are in broadway shows. one is sandy from grease--the other girl has a part in Iron Man 2!! crazy! it was lots of fun though. we all teased patrick for his pickiness w/food and cracked up at joe's toast. fun times all around.

we are just so happy to see our dear friend all grown up and married to the woman that God clearly has chosen for him! i just wish that they lived here!

sadly, we had to leave the reception early for our hour long drive to daytona. it was rainy and dark, but i was like a little kid at christmas!!!! we got to the hotel and when we were checking in the girl at the desk asked if we had ever been there. i couldn't contain my excitement and told her that my parents were on staff and that i had spent half of my childhood summers here and that i dream about it at least once a month! she was so sweet and upgraded us from the 2nd to the 7th (top) floor for no charge! we got to our room and i ran out to the balcony, and even though it was so dark that we couldn't really see anything, just hearing the waves crash and smelling the salt made me feel so good!

we decided to get up early (i asked patrick if 8:30 was too early and he cracked up--we got up at 7:30) and went down to the lobby to grab some doughnuts and then went for a walk on the beach. ahhh... patrick was itching to get in the water but we didn't have our suits on yet. after our walk we went to ihop--patrick's favorite restaurant ever which was right across the street--for pancakes and french toast. we went back to the hotel to get into our suits and sunscreen, and sadly patrick's computer screwed up so he had to spend about an hour on the phone w/tech support (computer problems always follow us at inconvenient times--patrick said he felt like he was being tested) i didn't mind too much b/c i got to spend that time on the balcony reading some of my wonderful magazines while watching the waves!

taking the computer apart

we finally made it to the beach and spent a few hours swimming in the ocean which was so much fun! we just had the best time together. i really feel like we reconnected as a couple and just enjoyed being together. we had a few seafood dinners and a few ihop meals and just loved every minute!

the only bad thing about the trip was the sunburn! we had been out two different times on monday and put on spf 60 but i guess it didn't work! (patrick suggested re-applying at one point and i said i didn't think we needed to....oops) at dinner we looked like we hadn't gotten any sun at all. then after we came in for the second time that evening we noticed that we were starting to get a little pink...every few minutes we would notice that it was getting worse...then by the end of the night we were in serious pain! we still went out the next morning but the waves were rougher and were trying to beat me up! i got knocked under a few times, and at one point scratched my legs and feet really badly on the sand. i told patrick that we needed to take a break! we sat on the beach for a while longer and i collected some shells to take back to one of my coworkers. i think we had the perfect amount of time at the beach--we purely enjoyed the first day, had fun on the second but were hurting, and then were ready to be home by the time we had to leave.

patrick didn't have any work to do on the trip--which was especially good since he had so many computer problems! he was bummed though b/c central lost their games on tuesday so he missed the last games of the season. :( i got to read a lot, we took some naps, drove around a lot, and just enjoyed each other's company.

we got really lucky b/c the forecast was for lots of rain every day, but we had sun except for on tuesday evening. it was neat to watch the storm rolling in though!

i was sad that the chute family had to leave daytona during the time that we were here due to a tragic death in the family. hopefully we'll get to come agian sometime so they can finally meet my hubs!

our little pets are glad that we're home but butch is exhausted f/m a few days w/"grandpa, grandma, & autumn"

kitty dealt with this much better than when we went to disney last year, but he got in my suitcase as if to tell me not to leave him alone again!



i know i'm leaving things out, but there are more pictures on my facebook page! it's good to be home but i'm so thankful that we got to have this time together!

moving on

this is not the vacation post--i promise that will come soon w/pictures and all, but i had to write about a dream i had on vacation.

as i wrote previously, things are changing and my last group of bible study girls has recently graduated (most of them at least) and are moving on with their lives. i have been very excited for them, but also sad to once again see a group of amazing women that i have poured my heart and soul into move on from here. i know it is what is supposed to happen but it's hard.

i had this dream on monday night... it was about a particular group of four roommates (you know who you are) who are moving to louisville later this week (in real life, not just in the dream). in it i was trying so hard to get to their apartment (which has ironically been the location of many of my dreams...it's a lovely old yellow house that i adore) and all i wanted to do was spend some time with them before they leave. i was crying and crying so hard and just had this deep sorrow because these amazing women are no longer going to be in my daily life. i was (and am) grieving this change. hurting because once again people are moving on with their lives and because i stay in this cycle in which i pour myself into people and then they leave. it goes with the whole college ministry thing but i guess i'm realizing that it is taking a toll on me. in the dream i kept saying that i was done with this--that i couldn't do it anymore b/c it hurts too much--but in real life, i can't stop having these types of real and vulnerable relationships. and i know that God works through these types of relationships. maybe it's just time for me to focus on establishing them with women who are staying!

there is not a huge purpose to this post except to let you girls (all of you, not just the ones in the dream) know that i love you so dearly. you have touched my life and i will miss you. but i will always be here.

the lovely ladies came by this afternoon to say bye

true love

just have to quickly brag about the hubs--you know how disappointed i was when i found out that he was going to have to work some on our trip. well, the wonderful man has worked his butt off the past few days and has completely finished the film so that he can be free on our vacation! he is exhausted and burnt out, but he worked so hard. it means the world to me and i am so thankful for this wonderful man who works so hard to provide for me and to make me happy. i can't wait for our vacation and a few days of time with each other!

new do!

i cut my hair today! i have been wanting to for a while and decided that it was necessary before vacation. they cut off 8 inches--sadly two inches too short for locks of love. :( if i went those extra 2 inches shorter i think patrick would have killed me! as it was, he was not super thrilled, but he does think it looks pretty. he just hates change and loves long hair. ;) i love it though and feel more confidant and like i will actually do something with it instead of throwing it up in a bun!

i also got some new clothes for vacation--yay! but i'm kinda bummed b/c it sounds like the weather in florida will be AWFUL. oh well. a rainy day at the beach is better than a rainy day in bowling green!

we let kitty out this afternoon, and i heard all these birds outside. we went on the deck and there were huge black birds flying around and squawking--it was like something out of a hitchcock film! then i heard a rustling in the bushes--and kitty was trying to eat a bird!!!!! i was horrified. i know that is what cats do, but i do not like it! i pulled him out of the bushes by his tail and put him in time out in the bathroom to think about what he did. ;) he had bloody paws. :( I don't know if the little birdie will survive or not. i hope it will. i fear that there may be more birdie fatalities while we are gone next week, but i'm trying not to think about it. patrick suggested locking him in the bathroom while we are gone but i think that is mean. (he's not a fan of kitty anyway).

patrick has been working like crazy trying to get as much done before our trip as possible. i'm trying to have a better attitude about the possibility of him working some on vacation, and will therefore be taking lots of magazines and books to read! that will be a good way to spend the rainy afternoons anyway.

well, i need to work on packing, and tonight i'm going to have a dinner date w/one of my original bible study girls. yay!

discouragment

bad news tonight. as you know, we have been super excited about our upcoming vacation to florida. more than anything i have just been looking forward to this time with my husband--he has been so busy with his side business that we have barely seen each other for the past month or so. i know that times like this come in every marriage, but it doesn't make it any easier. well, he just found out that the banquet for the baseball games that he is currently filming is next week, two days after we get back. to give you some perspective on the time frame that he normally has to complete the films, tonight is the banquet for the basketball season--which ended in march. the last games of the baseball season will be at the first of next week. it is just ridiculous. now he has intense pressure to get all the games edited and clipped, and said that he may have to work on it some in florida. i just wanted to scream! all i want is time away from that stupid computer! i couldn't help crying when he told me so of course he feels bad, on top of his own frustration of having this deadline thrown on him. i know he can't help it and i'm trying not to be upset but it is just so disappointing for me. i NEED time for us. just pray that something works out and that he doesn't have to spend too much time on it in florida, or that maybe they will move the banquet back or something. blah.

i took a nap and had a dream that i was decorating for christmas. then i woke up and it was may. :(

lazy day brunch

hubs is on a man-date w/the object of his "bromance" so i am taking the opportunity to enjoy a lazy morning brunch at the dining table w/lovely dishes.

wrapping things up

tonight i had a tea party in honor or my lovely bible study girls who are graduating (most of them) and moving on with their lives= leaving me :(. i am very excited and proud of/for all of them but it is definitely bittersweet. that is the hard thing about college ministry--they start here, and then they leave! it's like parenthood but much shorter and less stressful ;).

the spread: sadly mostly purchased food as i had to choose between cleaning or cooking. i did make the chicken salad and tomato sandwiches f/m scratch.

joanna provided lovely music and brittany brought "margarete" her final project for sculpture class

lovely ladies all dressed up!

including Butchy!

prim and proper...in appearance--you should have heard the conversations, though!

we had a lovely evening full of laughter and talking about the future and just enjoying each other's company. it never fails though--i do one of these big things at the end of my time with a group, and then say "why haven't we been doing this from the beginning?!?"

this is the second group of girls that i have led and i learn so much from each group. with the first group, i was in school and much more intellectual and focused on being the perfect leader and discipler. we had very intense theological discussions and learned so much about the Bible. it took me a while to learn how to be vulnerable with them, but it was amazing when i finally did! this second group started a few weeks before i got sick and had my world turned upside-down. half of the group that started with me ended up dropping out, and we had a few girls add over time. i have been more real with them--honest about where i am and not trying to be the "perfect bible study leader". i have not been the most godly woman for them and sometimes i wonder if i'm doing things right, but it's very real. they know that i will not judge them no matter what they are going through or dealing with, and i feel comfort that they will not judge me either. i've learned a lot for sure. with the first group, i honestly took a lot of credit (in my head) for their spiritual growth and walks with the Lord. i held myself responsible for leading them and counseling them, and took any issues that they dealt with very personally. now i have learned--for real, not just saying it this time--that NONE of it is up to or because of me. i am a very flawed vessel that God has graciously chosen to use to water these lovely ladies. I have to let go--these are grown women. they make mistakes, i make mistakes, and ultimately it is in God's hands. all i can do is speak the truth when led, pray for them constantly, love them unconditionally, and give them over to the Lord.

i don't think i will take on any new college groups after this. i think it is time for me to start trying to cultivate relationships with women who are at the same lifestage as me--and who won't be leaving in the near future! it's hard for me to let this go b/c i have learned that teaching the bible and having these types of relationships is vital for me to grow and see the Lord working in my life. i see Him so much more clearly through those around me, and there is no question in my mind that when we are all gathered together to study that He is showing things we wouldn't understand otherwise. there is something so passionate about college students, but sometimes i find that spending time with them makes me discontent with where i am now, and that is definitely not how it should be. i miss the constant mental stimulation, & meeting new people from different walks of life. grown up life is so mundane in comparison! i sit at my desk and enter the same payments for the same patients and see the same faces every day. i am not the type of person who has to have constant excitement and drama--i am extremely stable and commitment minded, but i just loved using that intellectual part of myself. my brain is turning into mush now! but i know that this is just a season. i need to remind myself to just be thankful for stability right now, b/c a lot of people would give anything for it.

i have also been very discouraged about marriages right now. i feel like i am just surrounded by relationships that are really deeply struggling. thankfully, patrick and i are doing well as we approach our 3 year anniversary, but i can't help but be a little rattled. i know so many women who are dealing with husbands who are being unfaithful. it just hurts. i want to shake their husbands and tell them to wake up and appreciate their wives who are so amazing! i'm sad about the whole jon & kate plus 8 thing...i know it's kind of silly, but it just makes me sad to see such a public disentigration of something that was once so uplifting. it makes me want to work so much harder on our relationship to do anything we can to protect it. i'm so happy that we're taking our trip to florida next week!! it will be a much needed time to get away from the daily drudgery that we get so bogged down in.

the end for tonight

i made chocolate eclairs last night (& again tonight) totally from scratch!

piped shells before baking


baked, split, and iced, but not filled

creamy eclair goodness!

you should be impressed, and jealous! ;)

Honestly, i've never liked eclairs, but a co-worker had a birthday today and that was her favorite dessert...so of course i had to make it from scratch! ironically, she was not working today (gah!) but everyone else enjoyed them, and hopefully she will be in tomorrow b/c i made more for my bible study girls and there are some left. well, i may not have liked them before, but i sure do love them now! i think i had 8! AAHHH!!! bad plan two weeks before going to the beach!

Other deliciousness:
GIANT cinnamon roll/cream cheese danish YUM!

I also made some of my bread which came out especially beautiful this time, but I haven't taken a picture yet.

some friends, coworkers, and family members have been saying that i really need to be "in the baking business" haha, but after so long of saying that it's my dream and i would love to BUT..., i have finally decided to start towards that. just a little, but at least being proactive. i am working on putting together a menu and pricing list and over the next few months will be working towards that. just doing desserts and baked goods for people as needed to see if there is any real business in this, and maybe eventually growing. small small steps for now, but let me know if you need anything! i will try to make anything that people request. we'll see how it goes, but maybe this could be a nice little side thing for when we have kids and i'm not doing the office thing anymore.

my remaining roses have survived thus far, and are gorgeous! here is the one that remained on the decapitated bush:


i realized that butch has always loved roses (as evidanced bythis earlier post: http://sarahe5484.blogspot.com/2009/02/sweetness.html)
and she really loved my birthday roses f/m patrick


she also loves mud


i have tons more i want to write, but i'm so tired!! will update again soon.

a peek at the reading habits of a compulsive shopper

I feel that I should rename this blog to "I AM AN OUT OF CONTROL SHOPPER!!" but I think that "teapots and cakestands" is so much prettier! I'm sorry to subject you all to this (but of course you do have the option not to read), but I feel that it is good for me to put everything out there online--it helps me to be honest with myself!

so i decided to lay out all my (fairly) recently acquired reading material in an attempt to remind myself that i do NOT need anything else. the results, i must say, are quite shocking...

i already have 7 bookshelves devoted to my personal (already finished) reading material, as well as 3 temporary magazine/book racks for items waiting to be completed. I keep most of the magazines that I read, occasionally purging (by means of the recycling bin) when I feel that I have moved past the stage in my life where i would possibly refer back to them (for example, I got rid of the majority of my Brio & Campus life magazines right before I graduated college, and recently boxed up all my old Glamour & Cosmo magazines to give to a friend). In reality, I probably will never go back and re-read the magazines that I currently keep, but we'll see...I do occasionally refer back to old issues for recipes.

So here are 5 of my bookshelves:
cookbooks
People magazines/misc trash ;)
devotionals, Christian, world religions, philosophy, etc...


chick lit and misc. magazines other magazines

and here are my unread items:

new cookbooks

new chick lit/fiction/memoirs

AND....




MAGAZINES!!!!!!

in my defense, about half...well, at least a third...of the magazines are left over from cleaning out the waiting rooms at work and from some of my MIL's leftovers after the Edmundson family's yard sale last summer. BUT the point is, if I haven't had (or made) the time to read these in the past year, when is it really going to happen?!?

So now the question is, what order do i put the magazines in to read them? some of them are super old, so maybe i will just order them by month and read them in the current month, despite what year they are in--at least the old ones...

one thing is for sure--i don't need anything else!

rose carnage

For an early birthday present, my mom bought me two rose bushes to plant in our yard. I have been so excited to see them bloom. I have watched as the first buds slowly began to open...

and then, horror of horrors!

Butch had plucked the buds off of the bush, and ripped apart the one full bloom! How do I know it was her? Glad you asked....when I was examining the bush she was standing beside me, and literally belched a rose petal onto the ground.

she was not repentant

Kitty, on the other hand, was shocked and horrified at Butch's deviance.


I got really mad, and soon Butch was begging for forgiveness, and trying to show me that she was truly sorry.

There are new buds on the bush that I'm hoping will get to mature without being made into a bulldog snack, and in the meantime I put the surviving buds in a lovely little milkglass dish where they are starting to bloom!

In other news, I have been baking up a storm:

strawberry shortcake, rhubarb pie, and blondie pie

And have amassed a small collection of teacups and a lovely new pitcher!

In general, i am cutting back financially so that we can be moving towards baby stuff, but my birthday is on Monday so i did a tiny bit of shopping this weekend.

We are also keeping my parent's dog, Autumn (dad called me as I was getting off work on Thursday and said "me and your mom took off and are halfway to Alabama, can you keep our dog?). She and Butch are best friends, but a rainy weekend is not a good time to have a large golden retriever stuck in the house w/a tenacious bulldog! They are covered in mud two seconds after being let outside together, so we have been staggering "potty breaks." My floors are covered with muddy paw prints, and the walls have streaks of mud from Autumn's tail, but I feel like it's useless to clean until she goes back home! Kitty and Autumn are NOT friends so that is pretty interesting as well...

We've had a pretty good week despite the doggy craziness and rose massacre--I got to have a date w/the hubby tonight, we hung out w/Stephen again last night, and tomorrow we will see all of Patrick's family for homecoming at his Mimi's church (speaking of that...I need to get started on my hashbrown casserole!); then on Monday I will be 25!