5.6 earthquake!

Last night a little after 8 p.m. I was in my room downloading some music onto my ipod, and all of a sudden it started slowly shaking. I'm kind of used to earthquakes, so I thought it might be a small one and I'd just sit it out.

But then it kept GOING. And it was getting stronger and scarier. So I jumped up from my seat and ran to my doorway (my elementary teachers taught me well). And then I realized that I had some "breakable" stuff hanging on my walls - a glass flower holder, a frame, etc. So I ran over and was holding them in place while it continued. That was probably dumb, but oh well.

I felt like it went on forever. Finally, it started to slow down and then stopped. It was probably 15-20 seconds but felt much longer. I ran downstairs to see if anyone else was home. My roomate Jessica and her sister Heather were there and we all started squealing. "THAT WAS CRAZY!!" They said they ran to a doorway, too and just watched the house shake.

We got online and found out it was a 5.6 based out of San Jose area. That's pretty darn big! Luckily, no one was injured from it and no major damage anywhere. Just a bunch of people now sharing stories about how it's felt like a long time since we've had a big one, it reminded us of the '89 Loma Prieta earthquake, etc.

Shake, rattle, and roll, baby!!

Sarah's Top 5

1) The weather here has been so weird lately. It will be cloudy one minute, then sunny, then crazy thunder will start booming out of nowehere and it will start pouring. Everyone's dressing in layers, because we never know what the weather will be like throughout the day.

2) I am in love with hip hop. My class rocks my socks off. I look forward to it every week. We are learning a dance and the more I learn, the more excited I get.

3) Last Saturday was "Sharefest". All the churches in the area got assigned to a different part of town and we spent Saturday serving in our community. We were at a homeless services center. I painted a little, but mostly weeded. I LOVED IT! I did not want to leave. There is something intensely satisfying in pulling out weeds. I was inspired to plant a garden at my house, just so weeds could grow and I could yank them out. Seriously.

4) I went boogie-boarding last Thursday with some friends. I watched the sun set and it was amazing. I really get to live here.

5) Halloween falls on a Wednesday night this year (the night we have college group). So we are having a costume contest, trick-or-treating, and watching a scary (thriller/suspense) movie. I'm not sure what I'm going to be yet. Should be fun, though!

Six Flags Magic Mountain

It's funny that I finally have time to write about the road trip from last weekend. Yikes. Well, things have been super busy. Our new intern Jeff arrived from New York last Wednesday, we left for the road trip Friday and came back Sunday, and I have been catching up on sleep, catching up at work, and introducing Jeff to the fun and crazy world of college ministry. Woot.

But I wanted to share some fun pixs from the road trip and tell you guys a little about it. First off, it was fun. Not everything went smoothly, but when does it ever? I made some mistakes in my leadership role, but I will learn from them for next year. Overall though, I think the students had a good time. And Jeff got to meet them all and hang out with them, so that's good.

Friday morning we set off for So. Cal. When we stopped for lunch, one of our students (Jared) decided he wanted to ride the mechanical bull at BBQ place nearby. Here's a video of that:
So then Jeff wanted to ride the bull! Woohoo! Here's what he said right before he got on:

We arrived at our hotel near Six Flags around 5. So everyone went swimming until dinner. We ate at TGIFridays but had to wait a long time because we had so many in our group and it was a Friday night. (Hey! We ate at a TGIFridays on a Friday. How perfect.)

The next morning: MAGIC MOUNTAIN!!! We were there from 10-10. A day filled with roller coasters, games, food, screaming, pictures, and fun. I don't know why, but we all decided to buy capes. We wore them all day! Who knew capes were so much fun?! Best 5 bucks we ever spent. We kept trying top go on rides where our capes would fly behind us.

The only problem of the day was it was SO WINDY. Everyone was wearing shorts and tank tops because the day before had been so sunny. But around 4 pm, the wind was going nuts! Everyone was so cold and getting miserable. The craziest part was at 7 pm, I was walking with two of my girls and a light structure fell from the top of a building and almost hit them on the head! We screamed and tried to run away from the building, but just then a second one fell and almost hit us!! The wind was that strong! It was so scary. I can't believe we weren't hit. Thank you Lord for keeping us safe.

So then everyone went back to the hotel and hung out in the jacuzzi or took hot showers because we were so freezing. There was a Denny's nearby, so people tromped over for a late meal.

Sunday morning we went to a nearby church for worship. It was great! They meet in a high school gymnasium. Everyone was really friendly. Then we started heading home. We stopped at In N' Out for lunch because Jeff had never been to one and we needed to remedy that immediately. He loved it. Of course.

We all got home in the early evening and I promptly went home and conked out for 12 hours. I always get so pooped after trips like these, but boy is it worth it.

Road Trip!

It's time once again for the college fall road trip. This year I am taking 20 students down to Six Flags Magic Mountain to ride the rollercoasters! I'm sure I'll have some good stories and pictures to show next week. Till then, have a great weekend, everyone!

party weekend

My cold is gone, yeah! Now I can get back to some fun blogging. How about this past weekend?! Sounds great.

Ok, so roomate Laurel joined the exciting ranks of the big 3-0. We partied it up all weekend. Friday after work some roomates and I went to the BIGGEST pumpkin patch ever. Orange, white, red, yellow, heck even green pumpkins of every shape and size. It was slightly raining, so we had the whole muddy patch to ourselves. The lady at the patch even gave us some free artichokes from her garden.

Then we went to dinner at the BEST Italian restaurant ever. "Bella Roma" = amazing food. We walked around the village and stopped at a nearby restaurant where we know the owners. They whipped up some party drinks for Laurel's b-day at the bar. So sweet! It stopped raining after that so we walked around some more. Then, we capped the night off with watching Thursday's taped episode of The Office. Yes, I am officially obessed with that show. ("Take A Chance On Me!")

Saturday was Harvest Party Day! At 1:30 I took Laurel and roomate Jen in my car. We were driving down the road and all of a sudden, Laurel heard the DJ on the radio wish her a happy birthday (roomate Joanna had planned that). We then embarked on a bit of a scavenger hunt, taking pictures at each stop. Laurel had no idea where her party was, so it was fun stringing her along. heh heh

We finally ended up at the farm of a friend of ours. Farmer Rob and his family live on 90 acres of the prettiest land, complete with redwood trees, Christmas trees (which they sell every year), a barn, horses, a pond, hills, farm animals, pumpkin patch, corn fields, etc. Everyone was waiting for us by the time we got there. Oh, what a harvest party we had!




hands behind your back - eat the hanging donut!


three-legged race


bobbing for apples


hike up the hill


Farmer Rob giving us a hay ride. Yee-haw!


sack races!


Happy 30th Birthday, Laurel! We love you!

flu season

Well, the flu season is upon us once again. Time for me to go get my annual flu shot. "But wait Sarah," you might be thinking. "You aren't over 60 or under 5 or work with kids or have a poor immune system." Yes, friends, all is true. But I also dislike getting the flu. So I try and avoid it at all costs, even if that means shelling out 30 bucks and getting pricked with a sharp needle.

So I found out the drugstore near my house was having a clinic today from 10-2. I thought, "Oh how responsible of me. I'll go in early October and beat the November rush!" So I went in, paid, filled out my paperwork, and waited in line. When it was my turn, I sat down in front of the nice old lady and she looked at my answers. And then she asked, "Do you have a cold, flu, or any other illness right now?" (I just happened to be blowing my nose when she asked. Smooth.) "Um...yeah actually I'm getting over a cold." She handed me back my paperwork. "Sorry sweetie. We can't give you a flu shot if you're sick. Come back next month."

Ah, oh well. I'll go back in a few weeks.

Let's stay healthy, America! *cough cough*

ugh

I woke up yesterday and my throat was on fire. En fuego. Yikes. So for the past two days I have been sucking on lozenges, gargling salt water, downing soup like there's no tomorrow, and drinking lots of tea with honey and lemon. I feel like my insides are just pure liquid.

Being sick is never fun. Can we all agree? When I woke up today I felt even worse. Now it's moved to my nose and head. Sweet! Ok, I'm gonna go pass out on my bed again...

Jim Gaffigan kills me

My older sister introduced me to a comedian a few months ago by the name of Jim Gaffigan. You might recognize him from TV spots or commercials (my personal favorite is the Sierra Mist "beard comb-over"). He's even on a TBS show called "My Boys". Anyway, what's he most known for is stand-up comedy.

So Wed. night the college group went swing dancing. But we had some time to kill before it started so we were browsing in Borders downtown. I saw a CD of Jim Gaffigan's called "Beyond the Pale". It was on sale and I impulsively bought it, figuring I would have something fun to listen to in my car.

Oh. my. word. This guy kills me! He is so funny. I have been listening to the CD the past couple days and literally weeping in my car because I am laughing so hard. One of my favorite things about him is when he does this "internal monologue" of his audiences in a high-pitched voice.

For example: he'll be talking about food (he loves to talk about food, especially cake) and he'll go off on IHOP.

"IHOP...that's a funny name for a restaurant. I never feel like hopping after I eat there. They should name it "ICanBarelyMove". Or "INeedaWheelchair". And then he'll speak in this super high-pitched voice (as if this is what the audience is thinking about that joke...) "Hey buddy, I like the IHOP! If you don't like it, you don't have to go there!"

Anyway, I highly recommend checking him out. He's got some funny stuff on You Tube. If you have 5 minutes, here's a sample. He talks about how funny/strange our holiday traditions are. Enjoy!

I have an intern!

Big news! I finally have an intern! This has been a long process. I posted on the Youth Specialties website about our internship position. After many inquiries, applications, emails, phone interviews, reference calls, and "second" phone interviews....drum roll please...JEFF FROM NEW YORK GETS THE JOB!

I am really excited to meet Jeff in person. It's hard doing everything over the phone because you don't really get to sit down and see the person you're speaking with. But I have been praying so much about this the past few weeks, and it has been made so clear that Jeff is the man. He finished college a couple years ago with a major in graphic design, but he has felt the call to go into full-time ministry and he was looking for an internship to gain some experience.

Since he lives in New York, he won't be out here for a couple weeks. He needs to finish up his current job, do his goodbyes, pack, and do the long drive. I told him he should be here for our Fall Road Trip which is Oct. 19th the students can get to know him.

This is a HUGE answer to prayer. I'll let you guys know how things are when he gets out here.