June & July Bucket list (Summer)

I am choosing to ignore August due to the arrival of baby and instead am opting for a June and July summer bucket list, which while on one hand seems like it could be minimal at best on the other hand seems totally do able.

What is on your summer to-do list?
Are you enjoying the snow free time?
What are your favorite foods in the summer?

Strange Time In LIfe

This time of year always seems a bit strange to me.

I am wrapping up a TON of school year ministry type stuff and I am preparing for a TON of summer ministries, and this year gets even stranger as I am also beginning to work on plans for while I will be gone next fall. I am living in a state of already and not yet for sure.

Summer is closer than I care to imagine.
     Now if only Mother Nature would catch on as well.

I grieve the end of every school year because the kids are always soo marvelous, however it is ALWAYS time for the year to end and for the kids to move on to the next year.

I grieve knowing I won't be at the start of next school year, despite I know how wonderful it will be to have time at home with baby.

It is strange to think through the start of maternity leave and questions fill my head:

• Where will we worship?
• Do I come back to "work" to worship? It is the only worshipping community I know here in town - however, I don't want to be drawn to actually work, rather I want to enjoy the chance to worship with my husband (seriously this never happens - I think we can count on less than one hand the number of times we have sat in the pews together to worship) and a new babe in arms.
• Do we jump from church to church here in town and explore what others are doing?


• The details that I need to leave for the multitude of people (seriously thankful for these folks) who will be covering for me while I am gone
• The plans and the back up plans - the plans for if I go early and the plans for if I go late (seriously, nearly banking on going late)
• I literally have started a binder of information for people who are covering for me while I am gone - does it seem semi excessive - yes, however, I don't know how else to keep everything organized for them and accessible
• Not to also forget that I have stacks of postcard reminders that need to be sent on certain days that are already printed and just have a date to be mailed on/by
• Also mission trips to be signed up for, paperwork to be collected, information to be processed and registrations to be mailed
• Confirmation will also happen 
• which I am coming back for (at least for that Sunday, I can't walk with these kids for 3 years, to sit at someone else's confirmation two blocks down the street - it would kill me just about as much as some of them would be disappointed)
• There are moments in which it almost seems like more work to be gone than to be here

meanwhile - my head also spins with the reality that soonish (less than 100 days from now there will be a baby that I am charged to take care of...

Yes, I know it will all be fine. For some reason crossing under the 100 day mark for one reason or another on top of registering, on top of Marc pushing to start working on the nursery, this sweet baby is becoming more and more real (not that I didn't think it was real before, however, as my belly expands the reality becomes more real for me).

In completely unrelated things: our chickens are growing like crazy and as soon as Mother Nature plays along they are moving outside to their coop (currently the evening temps are just a little lower than I would care for them to be for the current size, however they have grown a TON). I hope to get some new pictures of them this weekend on one of my real cameras, these are just some photos from my iphone (which does take decent pictures but not awesome ones) from the other night when we were playing with the chickens in the basement (yes, they still live in the baby pool in our basement). Dakota remains fascinated by them but has not even come mildly close to them, I think she has a slight dose of fear of them (of which I have zero intent of helping her overcome).



Dear Mother Nature,
    Please send spring or even skip us to summer, or at least send the sunshine.
Love, northern Minnesota (and probably many more places)

One month as a Mrs.

The wonderful things:

• every night we both come home to the same house and every morning we wake up in the same house - I love this
• I see my husband every day (minus of course when I am traveling with youth for work) - although it does make coming home a little bit more exciting in terms of having both Marc and Dakota at home
• I also love that while I am gone someone is in the house taking care of it and watching it for flooding
• grace abounds
• we have decided to live by this - yeah there are things that we both need to get used to or talk to the other person about but we are fully admitting that this transition takes grace on both of our parts - so we live by grace 
• We actually have managed to figure out a good routine in the morning that doesn't add stress 
• it was strange at first to realize we only have one bathroom and two of us need to use it to get ready in the morning - it took us a few days to remember that we both no longer have our own bathrooms
• we no longer have two houses to clean, maintain, and pay to live in
• we only have one fridge with food no more running back and forth to get food to make a particular thing for dinner
• we only have stuff at one house, so no matter what we have everything in one place and we don't have to run down the street to pick stuff up before we go anywhere or do anything
• by combining both of our stuff I have been able to get rid of a ton of stuff
• I LOVE this - I love only having one set of everything and being able to donate the rest of my and his stuff to people who need/want it

The things no one tells you about:

• We have had to figure out how to live together and it isn't always easy - I haven't had a roommate for years, almost 5 of them to be exact
• example 1: I had become accustom to sleeping like a starfish smack dab in the middle of the bed, this doesn't work as well with two people in the bed - Marc has had to give me a good shove from time to time to get back on the other side of the bed - he also says he has gotten a hand to the face a couple times
• example 2: Marc doesn't go back to his apartment every night leaving me with some downtime all to myself and Dakota - although we have learned that the loft is my "sacred space" to do as I want - read, crochet, craft and the garage is Marc's "sacred space" to do as he wants - hammer stuff, pound stuff, drill stuff, paint stuff, build stuff, rip stuff apart
• 2 stall garages BARELY hold two cars
• Confession: I was spoiled before and know it - I had a two stall garage with one car in it 
• I didn't have to care where I put stuff I had more than enough room and plenty to spare - now our cars both fit in the garage with all of our stuff (not really all that much extra stuff but some) and it is a tight squeeze - we both must park in our designated spots and realize that if you don't pay attention and park a little too far over the other can't get in
• really this is mostly my problem - I forget that I have to pull what feels obnoxiously far over to the right or Marc's car won't fit in the garage - he has been very grace filled
• it also doesn't help that we have been storing some stuff in the garage while we debate what to do with it all
• Last summer I was able to go almost all summer without putting in the window air conditioner in my bedroom - I just had a fan that ran all night. Now with two 98 degree bodies in one bed I have already put in the air conditioner and the heat of summer hasn't even arrived.
• Some men eat a lot - leftovers don't last all week
• so there is perks to having two people work their way through a particular meal - I don't end up eating it for nearly every meal for a week or even five or six meals - it is gone within a couple meals - if I get two meals from something I make it is victory for sure

Miscellaneous things:

• I love summer weather and being able to run outside
• or bike or hang out at the lake or just sit outside
• Managing a camp is a ton of work when you already have a full time job and a couple of part time jobs - however I am learning a TON
• I love not running on a treadmill
• Owning a house is a catch 22
• there is always 12 million projects to do (this is not an exaggeration or anything)
• I have almost begun to forget about how much I hated snow by April and how much I hated the treadmill - I am beginning to think half way decent thoughts about mother nature again
• We still have more stuff than I would like us to and so we continue to work on downsizing our stuff - seriously I am next to embarrassed at how much stuff we have - it is excessive and gross - we are both working on this - our closets, drawers, every hiding place doesn't need to be packed with stuff
• I love good long runs with Dakota outside
• I am having trouble keeping myself to only three or four runs a week - my knees can't handle any more than that or else they start to freak out and hate me - so we have come to an agreement - I run three to four days a week and they don't hate me
• I LOVE writing & sending snail mail - this time around it is wedding thank yous.
• I am finding it harder to write them to Marc's family as I just don't know them very well and have a hard time differentiating them from one another as I met so many people
• Marc has written some as well - which was more than welcomed
• My goal is to have these all done by the end of July - wishful thinking? Maybe but it is at least worth the attempt
• I find it annoying when I get a wedding thank you seven or eight months after a wedding I attended - at that point I had nearly forgotten that one was never sent

This post got RIDICULOUSLY long. Snaps to you if you actually read it all.

Ice Out date

My sweet lime green kayak taunts me every time I go into the garage
as she sits beautifully behind Dakota's travel kennel and some yard tools
Marc's kayak is on the ground below mine

I think (knock on wood) that spring/summer may have actually arrived in Northern Minnesota. We have FINALLY gotten rid of the ice on the lakes around here, I hear up north there are still a few lakes with a few remains of ice in them. I never ever would have predicted this late of an ice out date. Fishing opener was over a week ago and there were some very unhappy fishermen due to the amount of ice still on the lakes as their beloved boats sit on shore and they make plans for how to catch the largest walleye.




While I really don't care a whole lot about fishing, although I do appreciate when a friend shares a fish or two for me to grill up, I do care that the lakes and river gets warm enough so I can put my kayak in the water. I am willing to go out paddling when the water is cold but not sooooo cold that hypothermia creates a real fear and reality if I were to tip over for one reason or another. Every year it seems that someone goes out on the lakes too early, flips over for one reason or another, and dies of hypothermia. The threat is real and so I impatiently wait, my kayak taunting me every time I go into the garage. I have my rack on top of my car all ready to go at first word that the lakes have even slightly warmed up from freezing temps.

Fingers crossed by the end of the month or early next month we will be able to put our kayaks in the water and do some serious paddling.

Dreaming of Summer

While sitting in room looking out at my April snow drifts (never in my wildest imagination would I have guessed that I would have April snowdrifts to stare at) I am thinking/dreaming of summer days and my summer to do list.


Sarah's Summer To-Do List:

• Get Married
• Paddle in ten new locations around my area
• thrive through a middle school mission trip
• thrive through a high school mission trip
• run copious amounts of miles outside - enough that I can forget how much I hate the treadmill and when winter comes again I will be able to talk myself back onto the treadmill
• swim in the lake
• learn to wake board
• Go camping at least four times
• Learn how to use pedals (the ones that you snap your feet into that scare the poop out of me right now) on my bike
• take thousands of pictures
• watch the sunset and the loons fish
• grill most nights of the week
• bike to work as often as possible
• enjoy summer stretch - a Thursday ministry with 6-8th graders
• lay in my hammock at least weekly
• Rollerblade the Paul Bunyan trail
• eat my weight in ice cream - seriously I LOVE ice cream
• have a bonfire at least weekly
• roast a s'more from time to time
• finish the retaining wall around my bush in my yard
• master some new marinades for meat and veggies on the grill
• spend more time outside than inside
• visit Itasca State Park - headwaters of the mighty Mississippi River

What's on your summer to do list?

September.

Where did summer go and how is fall upon us?! It is an exciting time in the church (as well as other places I realize), it is a time of new beginnings and ministries going strong. I feel like I have spent the past month preparing for this month, making photo copies, ensuring I have adult leaders to help where needed, making all the necissarily curriculum, and general long range planning and announcing all that is coming. It is exciting and terrifying.

Excitement in my world in terms of work this summer has been found all over, but one thing in particular that I have been working on for this fall is that we are switching out 2nd-4th graders to Family Faith Journey in terms of Sunday school. What does this mean?! Good question, we named it ourself. We are moving to a whole family Sunday school for our 2nd-4th graders, meaning they get to come with their parent(s) to Sunday school and together learn. The problem with this whole deal is currently there is not any curriculm written for this type of Sunday school unless it is extremely fundamental or not quite where we want to be at theologically so I am writing all my own curriculum. I forget how much time this takes. I am excited to see where this all goes and how it transpires, I know we will have to make adjustmetns as we learn what the year looks like and what this group of people need but I am excited none the less.

I am also jazzed that fall is around the corner. I love fall and look forward to sweatshirt weather, football season, all things pumpkin, runs where I am not over the top sweating when I walk out the door, and a 'normal' (or as normal as things get for me) routine. I am ready to get back in the swing of things as intimidating as it may be, it is exciting.

Personally I am also excited because the training plan that I am using for the Disneyland Tinkerbell half marathon officially kicks off midway through September. I look forward to long runs in the cooler weather. I am not however looking forward to the long runs on the ice or snow or on the dreaded treadmill.September I am going to focus on celebrating the miles I get run, the laps I get swam, and the days I get in a good workout and not focus on beating myself up for the miles I should have run or the laps I should have swim or the weights I should have lifted. I choose to rejoice in the victories that will happen.

I am also excited because I have a really hard time getting motivated to crochet during the summer months, it never seems like time to create things, so I sort of take a break through the summer months and fall always kicks me back into time to crochet things again.

It is crazy to think of everything this year will hold and I couldn't be more excited. There are lots of things happening at church and in June I am getting married. Which I still don't think I have gotten used to that idea fully. Crazy! It should be a wonderful year of planning and at the end of it all I get to get married (one of these days I should start planning).

pressure to be epic.

The title of this post is because for some reason once I haven't blogged in a while I feel some strange internal pressure that the next blog must be AWESOME, which really, I am not sure where this pressure comes from but it exists inside of me, so don't expect epicness in this post, rather it will be ramblings.

The last month has been NUTS to say the least, but wonderfully nuts! I just returned from the National Youth Gathering with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America - I traveled with the Northeastern Minnesota synod (550 of us), 21 from the congregation I serve. The 11 day trip came with lots of challenges, fun, and ways in which God met us along the path. It was marvelous. At the beginning of the month I got to stand next to my best friend as she got married back in South Dakota. Wonderfullness abounds.

July's Yay God moments:
-Marc got a new job!
-Katie and Andy got married
-The Synod Journey -ELCA National Youth Gathering
-several trips out kayaking
-a fixed sump pump and sewage drain (the broke sump pump and sewage backing up into my basement was less than fun - but now that the problem is remedied it is nice to not have to worry about them)
-sleep - I was long over due for some good sleep
-planning season - now that some things have come to an end it is time to ramp up the planning for next school year and summer - never a dull moment in ministry
-my closet remodel (sounds lame but trust me the closet needed finishing) is done (just need to hang a set of shelves)
-my family and friends who have helped me keep my sanity during this all
-yarn - one can never have enough yarn while going on 26 hour bus trips (one way)


Dear Sarah,
    You now have broke your blogging silence feel free to go crazy and blog away - no pressure now, the lame post is over.
Love, me

Upper South Long Lake

Upper South Long Lake

Tons of lily pads and flowers out! LOVE IT!

Finally got back out on the lake and paddled upper south long lake. The lake is a decent size for a good afternoon paddle but wouldn't be enough for a day trip. The lake was surrounded with trees and homes. There are tons of residential houses around the lake and not many if any resorts which is nice.
The lake was busy for sure, one of the problems of paddling on a Sunday afternoon. The Police were out on the lake which made things a little interesting as well. With all the boats on the lake it was a little choppy.
I would rate the lake a 7 out of 10. It was smallish and crowded. But it did have quite a few varieties of birds, at one point there was a loon within five feet of my boat.

Training Plan

There is something utopic about planning for future races, there are the things I hope for (much fast times and personal records), the plan that seems totally do-able at the start (clearly not considering life, the weather, or any injury that will inevitably happen), and there is the excitement of upcoming races. I think I have most of my races planned out for the summer and into the fall. I need to fill in a few more races in September, November, and December, but I am excited to say that I am finally going to earn my coast to coast medal in 2013.  Ever since I heard of this medal I have wanted to earn it. I signed up for the Tinkerbell Half Marathon this coming January.

I just sat down and mapped out my training plan up through this race. I worked my schedule so that it easily fits the other races that I am registered for. It will take dedication to be committed to my training schedule, particularly since I have a couple mission trips this summer.

Note to self:

• you will miss some of the training runs and cross trainings that you have planned - it'll be okay
• keep dreaming big - keep challenging yourself - keep working hard
• update your ipod - stop being lazy - you know you are sick of the music on there
• this is a challenge between you and yourself - don't compare yourself to others - you are unique and you will have great victories and great challenges - embrace them - grow from them
• update your ipod - seriously - get it done