I’m not that great with this whole blogging thing…

So It’s been almost two months since I’ve written anything, and I wish I was better at updating this.  I’m not even sure anyone checks this anymore.  Last time I wrote something, we were still in school.  I was trying to get through the crazy semester. Well, we got through it, and with pretty decent grades.  Cory did very well and I did much better than I thought.  I was so nervous about checking grades, but they ended up alright.  I’m glad that semester is over, although we both enjoyed it and learned so much.  It was exhausting and I had never been so ready for a break. 

We came to my house after the semester ended.  And then the next week my family and Cory and I went on a family vacation to California.  The trip was amazing.  It was wonderful to get to experience some of the west coast with Cory.  We saw some absolutely breathtaking sights.  We rented an r.v. and so we were able to drive around to different places and just stay in campsites each night.  We flew into San Jose and stayed in a hotel the first night.  Then we drove the next morning, stopped at the Santa Cruz boardwalk, everyone except mom and I rode one of the oldest wooden roller coasters.  It was a quick stop, but it was neat.  It was like an all year round carnival on the coast.  After that we drove a little more to the Monterey Bay Aquarium.  It was a really cool aquarium that was right on the water.  Then we drove to Big Sur.  We were in a great campground surrounded by amazing redwood trees.  We stayed two nights there.  We had campfires, hiked, ended up horseback riding to the coast.  It was a really neat place and the trees were amazing.  After Big Sur we went to Sequoia.  We stayed at a campground one night that was at Three Rivers, and the site was right on the river.  It was a neat campground, even though we weren’t there very long.  We got up early the next morning and drove to Seqouia where we saw some awesome Sequoia trees.  It was incredible how large they were.  We saw General Grant tree and walked around for a bit.  Then we drove to Yosemite.  The drive on Highway 1 was unbelievable.  You are right on the edge of cliffs, driving parallel to the ocean.  We stopped a couple times, looked at the elephant seals, walked down to the coast, stopped to see the amazing views.  It was a drive that can definitely make you sick with all the twists and turns and driving along cliffs, but it was awesome.  The views were spectacular.  We drove through Yosemite, just to see the area a bit.  Words cannot describe the breathtaking views and scenery.  Driving out of the tunnel to see the amazing “tunnel view” was incredible.  Pictures don’t do justice.  We went down to the Yosemite village to meet up with some friends.  One of my dad’s best friends from high school and his wife and son met us there to go along with our hike up Half Dome.  So after talking and catching up for a bit we drove back out of the park to the campground.  We stayed there for two nights. 

The following day was the big hike up Half Dome.  This was one of the hardest and most challenging things all of us had ever done.  I’m so glad Cory and I were able to do it together.  It was mentally and physically hard and exhausting.  It was about a 18 mile hike round trip, and it took us 12 hours.  I didn’t go up to the peak.  Once you get to one part you have to walk up the side up narrow steps with nothing around you but the open sky, and then you get to the next part which is cables.  And you climb up using the cables to the top.  I knew I wouldn’t be able to do it.  I was exhausted and I don’t like heights.  I would have gotten dizzy walking up those stairs seeing an 8,000 foot drop on either side of me.  I was so proud of Cory for trying.  He got farther up than I did.  But then it started storming.  It was so scary.  Lightning and thunder was going off around us and then it started raining and hailing.  It was crazy weather.  We started heading back down.  The rain stopped and the sky cleared up.  It was amazing how much easier is was going down than it was going up.  The hardest part about going down was the pressure it put on your knees.  My knees were hurting so bad.  And then your toes start hurting too, from them jamming into your shoes.  Anyway, when we all made it down, we were drenched in sweat and dirt and extremely sore.  We all slept so good that night, but the next day we were all completely sore. We drove back into the park though and went to the gift shop and looked at some more waterfalls and such.  Then we drove to San Francisco. 

We originally planned on spending three nights in Yosemite and two in San Francisco, but we decided to change it and have two in Yosemite and three in San Fran.  That first night, since we didn’t have a campsite, we stayed at my dad’s friend’s place (the one who hiked Half Dome with us).  They were so gracious to let us have the r.v. out front and some of us to sleep inside and to use their bathrooms and cooking us meals.  They were extremely hospitable and we were so thankful.  The next day we took his car, instead of the giant r.v., to the city.  We did the tour of Alcatraz, which was so cool!  And we walked around the city for a little bit.  We walked around Pier 39, drove down Lombard street, drove down the steepest street in the city, and just drove around and then we went back to his house, cleaned up, and drove out to the campsite.  This site was right on the coast.  We walked down to the water, which was freezing and then we watched the Magic game.  The following day we took a taxi back to the city.  We walked around Union Square and went into some stores.  Then we walked down to China Town.  We took the taxi back to the site.  We cleaned up and the next morning drove back to San Jose, dropped the r.v. off with the owner and went to the airport.  It was an amazing trip.  It was a lot of work though, and a whole lot of driving for my dad.  So it was a different kind of a vacation, but it was great to be able to see lots of different places. 

We got back to the house after midnight, and the next day Cory had to drive down to Montgomery to start work.  I’m going to put pictures from the trip up on facebook soon, but pictures really don’t do justice for some of the incredible landscapes and sceneries.  I’m just at home, trying to enjoy summer, trying to help around the house.  I have to get my wisdom teeth out at some point, and go to doctor and dentist appointments and all that.  In July I will head down to Orlando.  I’m sure the rest of the summer will fly by and before I know it, it will be fall semester.  But things are good.  Cory and I are reading a book together this summer, since we aren’t in the same area, and I’m excited about that.  Anyway, I know I say this a lot, but I’m going to try to get better at this blogging thing

~Sarah

Registering for classes

Well registration for classes for the fall starts on Monday, so Cory and I have spent hours and hours trying to figure everything out.  I don’t think people realize how hard it is transferring.  And it is not likely that in transferring you will finish in two years.  We’ve figured out that we are going to have a completely full schedule for our senior year.  And its not just full, but overloaded.  But we are pretty sure we will be able to graduate in May of 2010, which is awesome.  We will just have to persevere through the rest of this semester and then next year.  It’s going to be hard, that’s for sure.  16 credits is the recommended max and anything over that you have to fill out special paperwork and go to the registrar to get approved.  I had to do that for this semester, and it’s been very hard.  So we’ll just have to see how next year goes. 

~Sarah

Easter!!!

It’s been a great weekend at home.  I have truly enjoyed being around my family these past couple of years more than ever.  Through all the trials we have been through, we have become so much closer.  I appreciate my parents and my family so much.  They mean the world to me.  I love being able to spend time at home.  This weekend has been great.  We watched a couple movies, Slumdog Millionaire (so good!) and Yes Man (some funny parts).  We went to Amy’s track meet, did some schoolwork, relaxed, and tried to plan out a family vacation for the summer.  We had a wonderful supper with some friends and the family today.  But we definitely missed Chip!  There was a powerful message of Jesus’ saving, redemptive grace and the hope we have in Him…some extraordinary testimonies were shared in a neat and powerful way.  God has been teaching me a lot this weekend, through many different things.  Overall it’s been a wonderful weekend.  We will head back to school soon.  And now it’s the home stretch….about 6 more weeks.  It’s going to be tough.  I’m ready for this semester to be over, even though we’ve been learning so much.  It’s been great…just really hard.

~Sarah

another break

Tomorrow we have off of school because of Good Friday.  I think it is very appropriate to have tomorrow off as we celebrate the Easter weekend.  And I am looking forward to another break.  Even though we just had spring break a couple weeks ago, it is good to have another break.  I guess that shows how crazy this semester has been if I’m ready for another break already.  This has been a very hard semester.  And even though it is technically a break this weekend, Cory and I have so much schoolwork and studying to be doing, we will definitely be busy.  But about six more weeks of school.  We sign up for fall classes next week.  And that is another thing we have to work on this weekend, is our class schedules.  So anyway, we both want to finish well and push through the end of this semester.  It’s been hard and challenging.

~Sarah

J-Term

It has been interesting for Cory and I to go to school for this J-term (January term/Winter term).  Basically we are both getting 6 credits, taking 2 classes, in 4 weeks.  Instead of the every other day 50 min. classes, we have class everyday and it is for an hour and 50 minutes.  So this semester has been quite a journey, even as we are just a week and a half into it.  It is nice to not have a crowded campus and its nice being able to achieve these credits in such a short amount of time.  But on the other hand you don’t realize what a challenge it really is.  Before this term started I was thinking it wasn’t going to be hard at all and would be quite relaxing.  But I was definitely wrong.  I am just as busy with classes and schoolwork as in a normal semester.  Cory is taking both World Civ. I and II, and I am taking World Lit. I and History of Christianity.  We don’t see each other very often but it has been a growing experience for us trying to encourage each other through the craziness of this semester, and preparing for the extreme craziness of the spring semester.  I really didn’t expect J-term to be this demanding, but it surely is.  Both of my classes require a lot of reading and both have papers due in it, and it basically takes up every hour that I am awake.  (Although I did fit the season premier of 24 in, of course )  So all in all, it has been nice to be back at school, and transition, somewhat, into the spring semester, but it is a definite struggle keeping up with such a fast pace.  We’ll see how the rest of this semester goes.

~Sarah

Back to School…

Well Cory and I drove back to school today, after the I went to lunch with one of my dearest best friends (Meredith)  and after the Dolphins game (maybe they will get farther next year, but it was a huge leap from last season).  It’s a weird feeling being back, and getting ready to go to new classes in the morning.  We’ll have to adjust to having the longer classes as well as having them every day.  But thats the joy of Jan. term…knocking out six credits in just a few weeks.  It’ll be interesting to see how this goes.  I’m taking World Lit. I and History of Christianity and Cory is taking World Civ. I and II.  It will be good to have this winter semester to ease back into school, as the spring semester is going to be quite intense.  Hopefully I’ll be better at blogging and keeping everyone more up to date.  But for now, we’re just getting through tomorrow as we get reacquainted with school.

~Sarah

Liberty Bowl

My dad received a couple of tickets to the Liberty Bowl in Memphis from work, so he took Chip and Cory and I to the game, and although we didn’t really have a team to cheer for, it was loads of fun.  We had great seats, even though it would have been nice to be a little higher to be able to see a little better.  But I can’t complain, it was wonderful and a great game.  It was Kentucky versus East Carolina, and it turned out to be a really great game.  It was definitely fun and I was glad we all got to go.  The weather was really nice too.  It wasn’t too cold or windy, so every aspect of the game was enjoyable.  It was good to do something with my dad and brother.   Afterwards, mom and grandma drove out to meet us downtown and we all went to Jillian’s for dinner and then walked around Beale Street for a bit.  It was a nice ending to a great break.

~Sarah

Christmas Break

I am so glad we have had this break from school.  It was been reenergizing and has given me a chance to breathe again.  Finals were pretty intense and it was encouraging to look ahead to the break, and it has been a wonderful break.  Cory finished finals that Tuesday of finals week and he came out to my house, since my brother and his friend were here already.  And then I finished up on Wednesday and a friend brought me home.  It was nice to have that day at home and just relax and do laundry.  That next morning, early on Thursday Cory and I headed to the airport to fly down to Florida.  We got to Orlando after spending a long day traveling, and it was nice to be back there.  I hadn’t been back since we moved in the beginning of August, but Cory went back for Thanksgiving.  And I must say I had such a great time down in Orlando.  I was only there from that Thursday to the Tuesday the 23rd.  It was a quick trip but it was packed.  Cory and I spent a lot of time with his family, we had his big family Christmas celebration, and his immediate family Christmas the next day, and went to his brother and sister in law’s house another day where we had a bonfire and cooked hotdogs and made smores and then watched The Dark Knight, on blu-ray I might add.  Another day I went to the Browns, the family I used to nanny for.  And it was so refreshing to be around them and see the kids and spend time with them again.  I have missed them so much and was so glad and thankful to be able to spend some time with one of my favorite families.  I also got to spend some time with my sweet friend Lindsey one night and then another night I got to see Megan and Lia.  There are some other people I would have loved to see, but I’ll have to save them for next time down.  I also went over to the house to vacuum it and make sure everything looked alright.  And while we were in the neighborhood we stopped by the O’Brien’s.  It was so great to see them, even if it was just for a few minutes.  We also saw the Bryant’s after stopping by the Browns again.  And then another day Cory and I went to the flew market with his family.  It was lots of fun and huge.  It was the Webster flea market, one I had never been to before, but it was so big and fun to walk around in.  But all in all it was such a wonderful trip.  I loved every bit of it and was so glad to have been down there.  It was a really really great trip.  I wouldn’t have changed any of it.

I came back from Orlando and spent a wonderful Christmas Eve and Christmas with my family.  It was great to have Dad and Chip here and the family together.  It was just us, but it was perfect.  We had a great and quiet Christmas.  It’s been so great to relax and just spend time at home.  Our old next door neighbor’s (the McClafferty’s) came over one night, and I got to see one of my best friends, Meredith, which was really great.   Alli and Amy went down to Orlando after Christmas, and Cory came back up on the 31st.  New Years Eve we went to our old next door neighbors house, the McClafferty’s, in Collierville.  It was great to see old neighbors and friends.  We even were able to go next door and walk through our old house.  It was neat to see it and see the changes the owners (it’s the same family who bought the house from us, back in 98) made and also the things that were the same.  I loved that house and was glad we were able to see it.  It was neat that Cory was able to see it to.

It’s been a great break.  I can’t believe it’s almost time to go back to school.  But this break was definitely a much needed one, and it has been really wonderful.

~Sarah

End of First Semester at Union

Well we haven’t written anything in awhile, and a lot has happened, so I’ll try to get up to date in a couple of notes.  The end of the semester kept us quite busy.  We had another exegetical paper to write, a couple quizzes, and then finals.  It was interesting as we prepared for our first finals week at Union.  Studying took a lot out of me and really wore me out, but it all ended pretty well.  At Valencia, I really didn’t have to study that much, so I kind of had to learn how to study.  Studying has a lot to do with time management and being able to organize your time well.  I learned a lot through this semester and am so grateful to be at Union.  This semester taught me so much and it ended well.  Cory and I did pretty good on our finals.  It was weird leaving certain classes for the last time and knowing that course is over.  It was also weird getting the dorm ready to leave for awhile.  You get used being there and going home only on some weekends or on holidays and then just coming back to school, but this time we left for weeks.  I’m definitely so glad to have this break, but I also look forward to next semester.  Spring semester starts in February, but Cory and I will both be back for January term, so we go back on the 4th.  It’s been a wonderful experience so far at Union, I’m so happy to be there and blessed to have the opportunity to go there, I can’t wait to learn more and experience more there.

~Sarah

Campus and Community Day

Well this past Wednesday, Nov. 5th, was Day of Remembrance, Campus and Community Day here at Union University.  This is an annual thing Union does, ever since 2002.  This tradition has been going on for six years since a tornado hit the campus in 2002.  I’m sure it was devastating then, but it was nothing compared to what Union went through this past February.  Anyway, in fall of 2002, spring of 2003 and most recently, Feb of 2008, tornadoes came through Union and Jackson, TN.  God has done mighty things through each of those times.  One thing that has happened is that Union sets apart one day in the fall and students and faculty and staff go into the community and serve.  We didn’t have any classes on Wednesday, and there were tons of different things you could sign up to do, whether off campus or on campus.  It is so awesome to be part of a community that serves and gets involved with the city its in.  It’s not required for you to do anything that day, some students just enjoy the day of rest.  But about 800 students (we have about 3,400 here) served in the community.  And its so awesome that they willingly took the day to serve.  All the students have crazy busy schedules and most of them could have been doing so many other things, so to see so many students come together and serve is humbling and awesome.  Cory and I went to First Baptist Church of Jackson and helped in the student room.  It is a small group of us that went there and we tore up carpets, painted brick walls, sanded down walls, threw trash out, took stuff to the storage unit, and stuff like that.  I really enjoy doing stuff like that, so it was lots of fun for me.  It was great to be able to help a local church out.  We made new connections with people and enjoyed working hard.  I’m so glad to be part of this community and so humbled to serve our awesome and powerful and majestic and holy God!

~Sarah