young'ens

Today I found out that another one of my college girls got engaged over the weekend. This is the fourth girl to get engaged in 6 months and ALL OF THEM ARE 18!! These aren't the 22 and 23 year olds. These are the young'ens. Everytime I hear of a new one, my first reaction is shock. I mean, am I the only one that thinks 18 is super young to get married?

Don't you want to live on your own for awhile before you get hitched? Don't you want to experience life away from your parents and where you grew up? (they are all going from living at home with their parents to living with their husband) Don't you want to go to (or finish) college? Don't you want to travel and have life experiences? Don't you want to figure out who you ARE? Heck, I changed so much from 18 to 25, it's ridiculous.

When you hear about an 18 year old getting engaged, how do you react? Has anyone you've known gotten married that young?

Happy Thanksgiving!

This morning we played our annual flag football game against the high school group. College group won by one touchdown. Final score was 35-42. Woohoo! We get to keep our trophy! And now I am at the parents' house and just finished the most amazing meal. I hope you all had a wonderful day. This video is in honor of the Macys parade this morning. Happy Thanksgiving!

recently

* I am apparently the ONLY female in the U.S. who didn't see New Moon this weekend. $140 million in 3 days?! Holy crap, America.

* The ladybugs are baaaaack for their annual Torture-Sarah-Party. I have resorted to keeping the vacuum up in my room for October and November. Suck it, ladybugs! Literally.

* Have you ever watched a movie and then afterwards thought, "I can never get those 2 and a half hours back"? (Transformers sequel - F)

* Had another fun Saturday night at the monthly farm potluck and barn dance. Because we've gone so many times, we have most of the dances memorized. So fun!

* Took some college students to Target to buy toys/school supplies/hygiene items, etc for Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes. Have you heard of this organization? It's so awesome. You put together shoeboxes and they send them around the world to kids who might not have Christmas gifts otherwise.



* Do you guys remember me blogging about the Kay family back in July? I ran into them today at Target! It was the first time I've seen Jacob since his accident. He looked great! I mean, the poor guy has a huge skin graft on the left side of his head. But he was alive! Walking, talking, smiling, arguing with his mother about which puzzle they should buy. I almost started crying. He is a miracle. His journey is far from over but it was still so encouraging to see him.

* Watched the Christmas concert drumline practice. They're getting good! They were outside this time, bless 'em.



* And last but not least: Happy 1st Birthday Judah! In the past year, you have filled my life (and so many others) with JOY! I look forward to our Fun Fridays SO MUCH. I have loved watching you grow bigger and stronger. I have loved watching you look around, explore, stick everything in your mouth, smile, learn, laugh, jump in your jumper, grow teeth, grow hair, go on walks with me to Farmer Joes or the park, eat solid foods, read, roll over, touch things and try to figure them out, crawl, pull yourself up, play, watch me sing and dance to make you smile, and it's especially cool when you show us how smart you are. I can't wait to spend another year with you, little monkey! I love you so much.

Love, Auntie Sarah xoxoxo

braces update

I had an orthodontist appointment this morning.

Me: "Dr. Anderson, do you know how much longer I will have my braces?"

Dr. A: "Hmmm..." (looking around at my teeth and muttering dates under his breath) "Let's see, 6 weeks, then 4...Sarah, I bet we could get you out of these in 10 weeks."

Me: "REALLY!?!"

Dr. A: "Yep, you are almost done."

Me: "HELLS YEAH!"

Ok I didn't actually say that last part. I think I just smiled really big and maybe let out a small squeal.

The end is in sight! Only 10 more weeks of silver in my mouth, nightly 15 minute flossing sessions, getting food caught in my braces (this is the worst offender), pain everytime they get tightened, wires poking into the sides of the mouth, rubberbands pulling my jaw closer together, and looking like a high schooler!!! HAPPY DANCE!

pah-rum-pum-pum-pum

I'm sitting in my office. Everyone else has gone home for the day. It would be very quiet - except for one thing.

The drums.

Two days a week, a group of about 10-15 people gather here at the church to hit drums. Or I should say trash cans. They have a collection of bright silver trash cans that they turn over and bang the bottoms of. They are practicing and getting ready for the Christmas concerts that will be in a month.

I am trying very hard to be productive, but it is so hard when the drums are right by my office. Drums drums drums. They might as well just come in here because they're so loud.

However, I know the end result will be SO WORTH IT. Here is what they will look like in one month (this video is from last year's Christmas concert):

cast the first stone

A friend of mine shared something really cool this week and I wanted to share it with all of you. We were talking about John 8.

"Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, 'Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?' They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, 'If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.' Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there.

Jesus straightened up and asked her, 'Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?'

'No one, sir,' she said.

'Then neither do I condemn you,' Jesus declared. 'Go now and leave your life of sin.' "

For some reason, this story hit me in a way it never has before. We don't know who this woman is - we never learn her name. But she has just been group-busted in the act of adultery, publicly humiliated in front of religious leaders, and in danger of losing her life. And Jesus basically tells the men who want to stone her "He of you without sin...cast the first stone."

Here's what my friend shared: out of all the people there, JESUS was the only one who could have thrown a stone at her. He was and will always be the only person to never sin. I never thought about that before! And yet his reaction was the complete and total opposite. All the men leave and Jesus goes and approaches her. He, a man. She, a woman. He, a religious leader. She, a sinner caught in adultery, which Jesus taught against. And he offers her no condemnation, no judgment. He offers her grace and love and tells her to go and leave her life of sin.

I am so not worthy of God's love and grace. I am a sinner and I deserve death. But God loves me so much, He sent His son for me. I receive forgiveness and grace and love. I am humbled. I am sobered. I am in awe.

I found a clip of this scene from the 1977 film "Jesus of Nazareth". Even though I think it's a bit strange that Jesus has blue eyes and somewhat of an english accent, I can look past that and see how amazing this story is.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2k0RzhVJSxE&NR=1

day off

I'm taking tomorrow off.

Wednesday is Veteran's Day so the church office will be closed. However, I have college group Wed. night so I will still be at work. To compensate, I have to take another day off this week. Gosh, twist my arm! I'll be chillin' tomorrow and I can't wait.

P.S. Anyone else dealing with a cold that loves to linger? I am at two weeks and still going strong. Off to blow my nose...

more GLEE news

If you're sick of me talking about my new obsession, I mean, my new favorite TV show, please pass by this post. Because I'm about to blab like a 12 year old.

So, um, my sister Emily MET SOME OF THE GLEE CAST TODAY!!

I'm a "fan" of GLEE on facebook and they're always posting sneak peeks, info about cast appearances, behind-the-scenes stuff, etc. And I read a couple weeks ago that to promote the GLEE Volume One cd coming out soon (with songs from the first 9 episodes), the cast would be doing a cd signing tour in New York and LA.

I immediately contacted my sister Emily who lives in LA and told her she had to go. I prepared myself for living vicariously through her. She had to get to the Barnes and Noble bookstore at the Grove (swanky) at the crack of dawn on Tuesday to be one of the first 400 people to buy the cd. She then received a bracelet to wear to the signing.

Today she went back to Barnes and Noble and waited in line with the other 399 peeps (and other people who were trying to sneak in). This is a picture of her and her friend Ryan waiting in line.


The GLEE kids that showed up were Artie (Kevin McHale), Tina (Jenna Ushkowitz), Kurt (Chris Colfer), Puck (Mark Salling), and Finn (Cory Monteith). Woohoo! Puck and Finn! (They are 27 in real life so it's totally ok for me to crush on them)

Emily called me on her cell phone and then stuck her phone in her purse so I could hear what was going on when she met them (security guards were not letting phones or cameras get near the autograph table). I heard alot of screaming, muffled conversations, more screaming, a guy ask, "How are you?" and more muffled talk.

Emily then called me when she left the store and filled me in on everything:

* she said they were all so nice and friendly!

* she went through the line VERY FAST.

* she had secretly bought a second copy of the CD and had them sign it...for me!! The security guards said only one CD per person, but Emily said she heard she could have 2. Happy early Christmas to me!!

* Artie was first. He said hi and then asked her if she was enjoying the show and what was her favorite song. Emily said she liked them all and would have to think about it. And then she added, "By the way, I wouldn't even be here if it weren't for my sister. She's 32 and an even bigger fan than I am. She couldn't be here but she called and told me all about it." Artie smiled and said, "Oh really? Cool. Tell her we said hi."

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! Remember, I am 12 years old in this post, so bear with me. But when Emily told me that I almost peed my pants. I was squealing like crazy. I got a shout-out from Artie.

* Tina was next. Didn't say much, but was very nice, smiled, and signed the cds.

* Then Emily came to Kurt. She then realized her favorite song and said to him, "I just want you to know 'Defying Gravity' is my favorite song.' " (it's on the album and on this week's episode) She said he broke out into the biggest smile and said, "Oh my gosh! Thank you SO MUCH. That was so sweet." She said he was so nice and genuine. And Tina on the other side of him said, "Seriously, it's the best song on the album!"

AND THEN

EMILY GOT TO PUCK.

* He totally flirted with her.

* Apparently, Emily was so concerned with keeping track of her two CDs being signed, she wasn't looking at him. He was the one I heard saying "How are you?" and I guess he was trying to make eye contact with her. She finally looked at him and they spoke for a minute or so and she said he was being all smiley and eyes and flirty. She told him not many people could rock the mohawk, but he did. He thanked her and signed her cds. She said he is even hotter in real life.

* Lastly, she got to Finn. Also super friendly and smiley. She said, "You can sign your face," which I thought was hilarious. She meant his face on the cd cover, but it just sounded funny when she told me.

So fun!! I wish I could have been there to meet them with Emily, but I am so happy to hear the play-by-play and know my sister got to have this special experience. Thanks for doing this, Em!






Two more quick things:

1) New episode this Wednesday November 11th at 9 pm. I think it's the one where Rachel and Kurt sing "Defying Gravity". SWEET.

2) I recently found out the GLEE kids will be going on tour next summer. I will be buying tickets the day they are available.

I am filled with glee.

Hollywood Movie Night

Last night at the college group, we had a movie night. But to spice it up, we made it like a Hollywood movie premiere. We wanted all the students to feel like celebrities, showing up to see the first screening. One of our adult leaders got dressed up and played chauffeur. He picked up the students in groups of 1-3 in a huge Tahoe Suburban and drove them to the entrance of the house. When they got out of the car, they got interviewed by my intern Dan (who called himself Bryan Seabiscuit, a spoof on Ryan Seacrest) and videotaped by another leader. Then myself and some other people pretended to be paparazzi, roped off from the red carpet and screaming their names and taking their pictures. "Michael! Look over here! *click click* Katrina! Who are you wearing!?!?"

Inside the house, we had decorations everywhere and a table where a couple students served drinks (sparkling cider, coffee, etc). When everyone had arrived, we headed into the garage where we had set up all the couches to face the screen. We passed out popcorn and red vines and settled down to watch an oldie but goodie: Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. Great night!

*yawn*

I have been so tired lately. There are probably a few different reasons. I am busy. I am fighting off a cold. It's gets dark so early now (thank you Daylight Savings) so I always feel like bedtime is near.

But I can get 8 hours of sleep at night and still yawn my way through the day. What is my deal?!

Halloween

I had a fabulous Halloween.

Usually, most people in this area end up downtown on Halloween. It's so lame. I went one year and I swore I'd never go back. Tons of people are drunk, all the girls are dressed as skanks, and there always seems to be at least one gang-related stabbing. Plus there's nothing really going on. People just walk up and down the street, looking at each other's costumes and acting dumb.

So anyway, we wanted to give the college students an alternative option for the night. We went trick-or-treating. Who doesn't love free candy? (FREE was the theme of the night, because our students have no money) We took a ton of pictures of everyone's costumes and then headed out. Very successful collections! Woot.


Then we headed back to the church and played in the gym. Basketball, football, dodge ball, anything. We also had one of our students play DJ so we listened to techno music and Michael Jackson which was awesome. Everyone started heading out around 11:30 pm. I went home, pooped but happy.

My favorite costume: the Geico money commercial. This is Scott. He made this amazing costume. When we all walked out to look at it, he had a boom box and started playing the song "Sometimes I feel like...somebody's watching meeeeeeeeeee...." We died laughing! He is so creative!

Extreme Makeover: Office Edition

My office is getting a makeover. FINALLY.

Stage 1 - move a couch in so students have a place to sit when they come visit us. Done.

Stage 2 - paint the walls. Done this past weekend.

Stage 3 - paint my door and Jessica's (our new Director of Student Ministries - congratulations, Ese!) door with magnetic AND chalkboard paint. Then we can hang pictures (and whatever else) on it with magnets and draw all over it with chalk. How fun! 1 door painted, 1 to go.

Stage 4 - carpet (I am reeeally excited about this. Our bare floor is nasty.)

Stage 5 - new desks and chairs for 2 peeps.

Stage 6 - move out unnecessary furniture and move in a new filing cabinet and mini fridge.

Stage 7 - get a plaque for the door that says "Student Ministries" so we can feel official.

Stoked.

Thrill The World!

"All over the world at this moment, crazy people just like us are laying in streets." (said by the hippie lady next to us)



Yesterday I had the opportunity to Thrill The World along with people in 250 cities across 33 other countries around the world. "Thrill The World" is a global attempt to break a Guinness World Record for simultaneously performing the routine from Michael Jackson’s video for “Thriller.” (In California, we performed the dance at 5:30 pm)

I heard about it because the dance studio where I take my hip hop class was a sponsor. For the past couple weeks we spent the last 15 minutes of class learning the Thriller dance. We were told that anyone could do the dance - kids, teens, adults, 80 year olds. It didn't matter. Let's unite around the world with an iconic dance! Yessss...

This was the third year "Thrill The World" has happened. They are trying to beat last year's record of 4,179 people from 10 nations (Australia, Canada, England, Germany, Ireland, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, New Zealand, Scotland, United States of America, and Wales). When I find out the actual figure from this year, I will let you all know.

Yesterday I showed up at my dance studio where everyone was wearing zombie clothes and putting on zombie make-up. We ran through the dance a couple times all together and then walked over to the street downtown they had blocked off for us. Tons of other zombies were already there. There were so many people. Onlookers, photographers, our local paper, people videotaping us, I saw friends who had showed up, etc. I met up with one of my old students, Jessie, her sister, and a couple friends. Here are some pictures before the dance began...










At 5:28, someone got on a microphone and said, "All zombies on the ground! 2 minute countdown!" All 263 of us zombies screamed with excitement and sprawled out on the street and waited. (This is when the hippie lady laying next to us said the opening quote) And she was right! It was such a cool feeling, knowing that people all around the world were laying on the ground, waiting for the music to start. Different races, cultures, languages...it didn't matter. We were in this together.

With 15 seconds left to go, we all counted down backwards. Here is a video that Jessie took with her camera of us getting up and starting the zombie march:



It was so much FUN! We all had a blast!








A couple other students came to watch, so I gave them my camera so they could tape the dance. You can't see me (I'm towards the back) but this is what we looked like.



What a wonderful experience. I can't wait to do it again next year! (P.S. check the "Thrill The World" website and see where the closest one is near you. They are happening all over the US. You should do it next year!)

GLEE + Joss Whedon = awesomeness

You have probably heard me rave about my new favorite TV show GLEE. And you might have heard me rave about Joss Whedon - the man behind Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly, Dollhouse, and my personal favorite: "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog" (which if you haven't seen yet, PLEASE go to Hulu and watch it. It will be the best 42 minutes of your day). Anyway, I heard some news today that combines the awesomeness of GLEE and Joss.

Joss is going to direct one of the upcoming episodes!

Joss directed an episode of The Office (another one of my favorite shows) in its third season and to this day, it is still one of my favorite episodes (the one where a bat is loose in the office and Jim pretends he got bit to tease Dwight). So this news makes me very happy. Here's what the article said:

"Turns out, the genius who gave us not only the 'Once More, With Feeling' musical episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer but also Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog is a big fan of Ryan Murphy’s new phenom. So when Twentieth (the studio behind Glee) approached him about the gig, pretty much his only reservation was scheduling.

'Joss directed one of the great musical episodes in the history of television on Buffy,' gushes Murphy, 'so this is a great, if unexpected, fit. I’m thrilled he’ll be loaning us his fantastic groundbreaking talent.' "

Any GLEE and/or Joss fans out there? Are you as stoked as I am?!

when we get bored at work

20 years ago

On this date 20 years ago, I was 12. And at 5:04 pm, the 7.1 magnitude Loma Prieta earthquake struck Northern California. If you lived up here on that date, I bet you remember where you were and what happened. Here's my story:

It was during the "Battle of the Bay" World Series - Oakland A's versus the San Francisco Giants. I believe it was the night of Game 3. My friend Chrissy and I were about to babysit a girl named Lisa (who was 8 or 9) so her dad could go meet his wife and son at Candlestick Park for the game.

He had just finished giving us directions and opened the door to leave. Suddenly he whipped around and I will never forget the look in his eyes. Total and complete fear. He rushed over to the 3 of us, grabbed us, and herded us to the nearest doorway. For 15 seconds we huddled there, feeling the ground shake like crazy and the windows come in and out. Like they literally looked like they were waving in and out of their panes. To this day, I have no idea why they didn't break or shatter. Lisa was whimpering and crying and I think I was just so scared I didn't know what to do.

The world finally stopped shaking and we all freaked out. "WHAT WAS THAT!?" The power was out so Pete (the dad) ran around the house, trying to find a battery-operated radio. We finally found one and tried to find a station. I remember a lady's voice saying there had been a huge earthquake that hit the Bay Area but they didn't know how big or what the damage was.


* The quake killed 63 people
* injured over 3,700 people
* left about 12,000 people homeless
* the upper level of the Bay Bridge collapsed, causing cars to plummet to the lower level (I can still remember the videotape someone took of the bridge falling)
* A two-level viaduct on the 880 freeway in West Oakland collapsed, killing 42 people


Needless to say, we didn't baby-sit that night. Pete drove us home. I walked through the house, looking at everything that had fallen off the shelves. I remember there were so many aftershocks and they were almost scarier than the earthquake. We never knew when another one was going to hit. We ate dinner with candles, because we had no power. When power finally came back on, news was on day and night. Shots of buildings destroyed, fires breaking out, the collapsed bridges, people homeless. It was so sad. After a couple weeks of non-stop news, I whined to my mom, "When are they going to stop talking about the earthquake?" My mom just looked at me and said, "Oh Sarah, they're going to be talking about this for a LONG TIME."

20 years ago. Wow. I still remember it vividly.

If you lived up here when it hit, what's YOUR story?

Auntie Sarah and Judah time

I cannot wait.

Tonight I am driving to my sister and bro-in-law's house and tomorrow I get to spend the whole day with my nephew. Who is 10 and a half months old. And has 5 teeth. And gets cuter every time I see him.

Another Fun Friday, here I come!!!

** Here's an updated picture of the munchkin.

Yosemite

This past weekend I had the wonderful opportunity to visit the beautiful, mountainous, tree-filled wonder of Yosemite National Park. It was the annual college Fall Road Trip. Usually we drive to southern California and hit a theme park, but this year a lot of students wanted to go camping. And with Yosemite only being 4-5 hours away, heck yes!

I could not have asked for a better group of students. They were friendly, excited, and looking forward to seeing a bear. We reserved 2 camping spots at Crane Flats campgrounds, about 30 minutes away from Yosemite Valley. We set up tents, our eating/cooking area, campfire area, and got settled. Side note: I always forget how amazing the air smells and feels when I'm camping. It's like I can literally feel the fresh oxygen from the million of trees going in my nostrils. Random thought, but true.

I think my favorite part of the trip was just sitting around the campfire with the students. I can't remember the last time I laughed so hard. Things ranged from eating, playing Catch Phrase, imagining a trio of brown bears doing the Thriller dance through our campsite, me and many others tripping and falling over all the tree roots in the dark, playing "I've Never...", singing, adding layers because it was so freakin' freezing when it got dark, playing "telephone", throwing powdered hot chocolate into the fire (have you ever done that? It makes the fire huge!), and much more.

I'm so glad we went to Yosemite when we did, because all I've been hearing is that a huuuuge storm is coming the next couple days. The weather was perfect when we were there. We even had 3 students and my intern Dan hike to the top of Half Dome!

P.S. And yes, a few students saw some bears on their Saturday hike. Good times.

fail blog

If you have not checked failblog lately, I fully recommend it. This picture gave me a big chuckle today.

HOPE - just what I needed

My church is doing a 50-day "Hope Experience". Every day there is devotional to read (either in a book you can buy or online) and everyone is encouraged to join a weekly small group to talk about what they're learning.

I was reading today's devotion and it could not have come at a better time. I REALLY needed to hear this. I would like to share it with all of you:


<< Romans 15:4 "For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope."

There’s a lot of bad news in the world today. Anytime there’s a disaster anywhere on the planet, the media announce it instantly. You can’t get away from it: A plane has gone down, hostages have been taken, a gunman has gone berserk, an earthquake has occurred, poisonous gas has spilled. The availability of bad news is stunning.

Thanks to technology we receive so much more input than people did just 20 years ago, and this is probably why there’s a level of fear and anxiety in our society also unprecedented in history. In the past, only God was able to know as much bad news as we get every day, and I think still only God can really handle it!

As an antidote, bathe your mind in the Scriptures. In today’s passage, Paul says that everything that was written in the past was written so that we might have hope.

Everything? Really? How can every story about Moses or Job or Sarah or David or Samson give you hope, filled as they are with strange mistakes and sins and conflicts? Well, for one thing, they were all flawed people, people who made mistakes and had doubts and argued with God. Yet He used them because He is full of grace and love. That means there’s a future and a plan for you and me, too! >>


HOPE. It was just what I needed today.