Lots of Info...

Ok, so Sarah and I went on two camping trips these past few weeks. First we went to Butano State Park with David, Joanna, Becky, and John. The campsite was awesome; lots of big redwood trees, lots of shade, campsites were not too close to each other and it was pretty quiet for the most part. We had a great time staying up late by the campfire and talking with everyone and spending a little bit of time at the beach.
Then we went to the Jackson Reservoir the following weekend with our small group from church. The campsite wasn't quite as nice as Butano, BUT we did enjoy our time with friends.
Friday was my birthday! I am 26 years old now, and with six older siblings, it always makes my family feel much older when I have a birthday; sorry. :(
I got some cool DVDs, a hatchet and mallet (from Becky and John of course), lenses for my digital camera, a book on digital photography, new sports goggles for swimming and a toy squirt gun from my Dad. :) All in all, I had a great birthday this year, and I feel very blessed by having great friends and family.
ALSO, Sarah got straight A's for her first quarter!

Good news and MORE GOOD NEWS!

We did the July 4th run again this year, and this time Sarah ran with me. The plan was that we would run one mile, walk one mile, run the next and so forth; this would mean that we would run three miles and walk two. However, we started going, and after the first mile Sarah was feeling good, so we kept going and ran two. After the second mile we stopped and walked at a quick pace for the third mile; we felt good, so we ran the fourth. At this point I thought that Sarah was doing great, so I said, "You're doing great. We are not stopping until the end." So that's what we did; we ran 4 of 5 miles in one hour and one minute. This is the longest Sarah had ever ran IN HER LIFE! She has been working hard for this race, and achieved some milestones along the way; she had never ran two miles in a row before, so she accomplished that, then ran three miles and now she did FOUR! I was, and am still, very proud of her and all the work she has done to get to this point. That's the first bit of good news.
So, as you know, Sarah has started school and has also gone to part-time at work, which means our expenses went up and our income went down. We had to put her first school bills like enrollment, parking and books on credit, since we didn't want to wipe out our savings and more. The expenses came to about $2,400, and they were all due at once. Well, yesterday Sarah's boss called all the employees into a meeting and started talking about how profits were down about 20% and, come tax time, if they didn't get rid of some money they would pay a lot more in taxes. So, they decided to give the employees a $5,000 bonus. They actually gave Sarah the check right there; after taxes it came to about $2,900, which will more than pay for her school expenses for this quarter (we were not sure how we were going to pay for all this, except that we kept praying that God would provide a way as he always has). This was so amazing, it nearly made us both cry when we got this. All we can say it that God is good and He does provide.

Good News and Bad News...

It's been a while since we updated our blog, and several things have come and gone since our last post.
David graduated from Fuller Theological Seminary with his master's, and we are very proud of him. It was great seeing him and the rest of my family down South; we miss them a lot.
Sarah starts school THIS Monday, June 25th! If all goes well, in 9 months she will be finished and will move on to her passion for copy-editing. That's the good news.
The bad news is that we had to say goodbye to our friends, Cameron and Erin Cox. We helped them pack up for Texas on Thursday night and had a farewell breakfast this morning with them. It was bittersweet saying goodbye to them; even though they are leaving, they MIGHT come back in a few years. The thought of them returning someday makes me less sad to see them go. Either way, they will still be in our prayers and we wish them the best as they start a new journey in the Lone Star state.

The Skinny

Ok, so lots to talk about since the last post. I have been working at Mr. Handyman for about a month now and I really enjoy it. I work in the "office" (which is in our friends' house) and I basically get to do all the things that the owners, Joe and Marla, don't have time to do--like schedule jobs , answer phones, type and mail letters and an assortment of other things. In a nutshell, I really like working there; I feel like I am part of the team rather than just an employee, and I don't think I could ask for better employers.
Sarah and I started riding my bike to work! I ride Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sarah does Tuesdays and Thursdays. Despite that she rides a day less than me, she has farther to go , so it works out. It's 35-40 minutes each way for me, and it's about an hour for Sarah each way. We have only done it for a week but we can tell that we have more energy than before, and it makes us feel good about ourselves.
Sarah starts at UC Davis JUNE 25th! She will be working part-time starting the week before and will eventually go to school full-time in September. She only has about 1 year to go, so we are anxious for her to finish and begin her career in copyediting.
We went hiking yesterday with our bible study group and had lots of fun with them. The trail was 9 miles round trip with lots of sun; not the best hiking conditions, but it was great to spend the time with our friends.
More BIG news...Sarah ran for two miles on Saturday! It's a big accomplishment because it's something that she has never done before and she did it without too much difficulty; I am very proud of her for working so hard to reach her goals.

Your powers combined...I am CAPTAIN PLANET!

This post is dedicated to planet Earth. We wanted to share some of the changes that Sarah and I made that will help the environment and save us money. These are easy things that anyone can do that do not require large lifestyle changes--very small if anything. So here we go!

1) Buy cloth napkins! Using cloth napkins instead of paper napkins/paper towels decreases trash, saves trees and saves money. If you use paper towels for spills and stuff, get cheap dish rags; you can get them anywhere for very little. Ikea has 4 cloth napkins for $1.99.

2) Use compact florescent bulbs! Yes, they cost a little more up front (we found them at the 99 Cent Store), BUT they use about 75% less energy, which means less pollution used to generate that energy. They also last 8-10 times longer; every hard-to-reach bulb should be compact for this reason alone. They come in all sizes so you don't have to worry about them fitting in any fixture.

3) Starbucks drinkers should bring their own travel mugs! Millions of these cups are going in the trash everyday (they can't be recycled since they are soiled). Starbucks gives you a few cents discount when you do, AND they will do it for both hot and cold drinks.

4) Recycle! It's a no-brainer. If you don't have a recycle bin from Waste Management, like us, buy a couple of plastic baskets (dollar store) and find where you can drop off your recycled trash at www.bottlesandcans.com.

5) Paper or Plastic? Neither! Bring your own bags--canvas bags or woven plastic (looks like canvas). The USA throws away 1 trillion plastic bags per year, 1 billion of which ends up in the rivers and ocean, killing marine life. Sea turtles eat the plastic bags because they look like jelly fish, their main source of food, and die because of it. Plastic bags take more than 100 years to decompose; surprisingly paper bags take about the same time due to the conditions at landfills. 14 million trees get cut down to produce the 1 billions paper bags we use each year.
Bring your own bags! www.reuseablebags.com

6) Change your thermostat! We have all heard this one, but it really makes a huge difference. Two degrees can make almost a 10% difference in our C02 emissions. 78 degrees in the summer and 68 in the winter.

7) Turn off the water. Turn off your water when you brush your teeth and minimize the water you use when you wash your hands; it saves about 5 gallons a day per person, so that's 180 million gallons per day for California alone.

There are tons of things we can all do, but these are all easy ones that can make a big difference.

Two Years!

We are back from our two year anniversary trip, and we had a great time. We left Sacramento Friday morning and arrived at Eureka around 3:30. We stayed with my cousin Nate and his girlfriend Shelly; she has a mini horse! We went hiking with them a couple times; Fern Canyon was awesome and we saw lots of elk.
We left Eureka on Sunday morning and arrived at the Inn At School House Creek in Mendocino in just a few hours. Mendocino is a beautiful, ocean side Victorian town filled with shops, Inns and great places to eat. Unfortunately, we had to come home on Tuesday, but it was good to see Steve again; we missed him a lot.

What's New

Not much is new with us. Sarah started volunteer-editing for an online company so that she could get some experience, and so far it is going well. We are doing more "secret shopping"; it doesn't pay a lot, but it's money and we get free stuff, so it's cool.
Our friend Joe bought a Mr. Handyman franchise recently and asked if I would be interested in working for him; not as a contractor of course, since I have no skills. It would be a great position and the best part would be that I would get to work with people I already know and have the same values that I have.
We rented "School for Scoundrels" the other day; it was actually funnier than we thought it would be, and it's worth a rental.
We are excited about our anniversary trip to Mendocino that's coming up. We will be leaving on the 30th of this month and will spend some time in Eureka with my cousin, then we will go back down to Mendocino. Sarah planned the whole trip many months ago, so she is now dying to be there.
Church is still awesome. Bridgeway is growing so much that they have added a fourth service to accommodate all of the people. We are also making more friends as time goes on; normally we shy away from hanging out with new people, but it has worked out well and we have lots of fun with our church friends.
Also, we went bowling with Sarah's side of the family last week. I haven't bowled in about eight years or so (since junior year of high school), and I scored 150 on my second game. I got five strikes that game too; I was pretty excited. Sarah did well too, unfortunately her score didn't reflect that. :)
Steve still doesn't let us sleep much.

We're back!

Sorry it took so long to get a new post on here. Christmas was a very busy time, then our computer crashed and it was down for a while, then Blogger seemed to have lost our Blog but then we got it back! Either way... here it is.
Sarah got her much-deserved raise from Northwest, and they hired a new secretary to answer the phones, so that Sarah doesn't have to. She is also planning the Valentine's Day dinner at our church; she was told to expect about 60 people, but it is now around 160. Needless to say she has done a lot of work for the church lately. It feels like planning a mini-wedding every couple of months.
Good news! Sarah is going back to UC Davis! The counselor said that she could enroll by next quarter, which would mean that she could graduate with a BA next year. It's good news, but it comes with new stresses like money and time, and the lack of the two.
As for me, I am still looking for a job, but I am sure that God will provide in his own time.
We went to the snow last weekend with Becky and John instead of watching the Super Bowl. Our innertube popped, but we had fun sliding down the hill on our butts!
Lets see... what else is new? Patrick and Mary moved off the planet, or to Oregon: one or the other. Steve is still healthy and makes sure that we only get the minimum amount of sleep that we need each night in order to live. I have talked to the High School pastor at Bridgeway about being on staff, but we have not talked about the details yet. I am also trying to take more pictures, because I like to. :)

CHRISTMAS IS ALMOST HERE!!!!!

I am happy to say that Sarah and I finished about 90% of our shopping before Thanksgiving this year; it helps when you buy the majority of your items online.
Sarah got a great Christmas bonus this year, and I......am still working at Sierra Select! We got our first Christmas tree on Saturday and we think it's beautiful! The tree has not been drinking much water at all, even though we put it in plenty of water about a half hour after we got it, so Sarah thinks it will probably die soon. :( We also cleaned out our guest room for David and Joanna for when they come up for Christmas!
We are going to have a great time with our small group from church this Wednesday; we are having a Mexican food Christmas party! Nothing says "Christmas" like guacamole. Our Christmas Eve will be spent with Sarah's side of the family, and Christmas day will be spent with my side.

Happy Thanksgiving!

So there isn't much that's new with us, which is probably why we don't update more often. John helped us build a cat tree for Steve last Saturday! He loves it; he sleeps up on the perch all day. It took most of the day to build, but it saved us some money, and it was fun.
We have the majority of our Christmas shopping done already, thanks to AMAZON! It also helps if you buy everyone the same DVD for Christmas... I hope you all liked "Glitter"!
We helped out with the two-year-olds last Sunday at church, and it was bad. Between the two of us we had 11 kids, and it was our first time. We have decided that it is not something that we want to do again; we can stick with the kids who are just learning to walk.
Sarah's cousin Justin is back from Iraq! We met him at at the airport last night and it was a very emotional time for everyone. We are all very happy that he is back safe and sound, and we are going to spend Thanksgiving with him and the rest of Sarah's family.
We were going to fix my Grandma Campbell's window today (which has been broken for about 5 years) but uncle Ted threw a fit about us fixing something on "his house" since he lives with her; so it looks like she will always have a broken window in the front of her house. Maybe he will get mad enough that he actually does fix it, that would be nice. :)

The Holidays!

Work: Sarah will no longer have to answer phones at work as soon as they hire a receptionist (which should only be another week or two, hopefully). I am currently looking for a new job that will pay better and still have all the perks as my current job, but none of the drawbacks. I keep wondering what it is that God wants me to do with my "career", and I have come to the realization that He is waiting to let me know when the time is right.
Church: Sarah and I gave blood last week at church; it was my first time but not Sarah's--she got a little woozy afterwards, but I was fine.
Our pastor just finished a series on Song of Songs and it was very entertaining; we are so happy with our decision to move to Bridgeway. We also had our second Sunday with the childcare and this time we had 6 kids to watch; Sarah was very glad that she did not have to change any diapers this time. Playing with the kids and keeping them entertained for 1 hr 45 min is pretty tiring. Also, Sarah will soon be an Activities Ministry co-leader, so she will get to plan all of the major events that take place at Bridgeway; it is a big responsibility that I am confident she will be great at.
Home: We are planning on buying a house/condo when our lease is up in 10 months, so we are doing our best to save money and pay off as much debt as possible. Someone parked in our spot today, it reminds us that this place we like to call "home" really isn't ours.
Holidays: We are not dressing up for Halloween this year--we just don't have any motivation or desire. We are helping our church set up for the Harvest festival this Monday and going to Becky and John's house Tuesday for Halloween. We are spending Thanksgiving with Sarah's side of the family this year; Sarah's cousin Justin is coming home from Iraq just in time! Christmas will be spent with the Kenneys!

We Are Still Here...

Ok, so it has been a while since we have updated our blog, and for that we are sorry. So here's what is going on with us:
I am still at Sierra Select and I finally had my review last week; it went well but my boss wants me to be more personal on the phone with our customers. I have not been told what my raise will be, but I don't think it will be much since the company is not doing so well.
Sarah is still at Northwest and taking on more and more responsibilities. Sarah does a great job at her work and her employers love having her there.
We got new curtains from Ikea for our bedroom; they are the first set of real curtains for both of us, and Steve loves to play with them. Our trip to Ikea has inspired us to use the space we have more efficiently. We have started to go through all of our things and are deciding what to keep and what to get rid of. We are also moving some things around to make more space.
Sept. 22nd was our 3 year first date anniversary, so we went to Mikuni's for dinner and then had some dessert and watched a movie.
We have also started to volunteer with the kids' department at our church, but have not yet had to work.

I am 25 years old!

I didn't really do anything on my actual birthday. We are having a Superman-themed party today at Becky and John's house with burritos! Sarah got me "The Office" season 1 on DVD and a Superman action figure!
Sarah is on salary now, so that should help bring in a little more money. She had her annual review and it went very well; they said that they will have another review in a couple of months and she should get a raise then. I have been at my job for a year and four months and I am still waiting for my annual review.
Sarah and I are still jogging, hiking, and doing other exercises to lose weight, and we are doing well. We went hiking last weekend and found a great swimming spot. The trail was a little difficult in some spots, but the scenery and trail was great.
Steve has some weight to lose too, but he doesn't do anything but sleep and keep us awake when we are trying to sleep.

Camping At The Yuba Pictures!

San Francisco... dum, dum, dummmm

So, Sarah and I decided to go to San Francisco this Saturday to escape the heat. Sacramento got to about 106 degrees and SF got to about 80 with a cool breeze. We went to the Ferry Building Market and saw a lot of cool stuff and had a mint shake to keep us cool. Parking was $8 when we got there; about an hour and a half later, when we returned to our car, they had increased the price to $10. Good thing we got there early.
Later, we went to the Golden Gate Park and visited the de Young museum. It was the grand opening of some exhibit and we got in for free; normally it is $10 per person. We had a turkey sandwich there for lunch and it cost $10; it was just bread, turkey, lettuce and cheese and so not worth $10.
Then we got lost trying to leave SF and ended up in the Castro district. We realized that the driving conditions for SF are set up so that if it is dangerous and could cause accidents, it's legal. If you need to turn around or go left, it's illegal. We do like some things about SF, but we realized that it is more stressful than relaxing going there. Driving conditions are always horrible--$3 to get in and $3 to get out, parking is near impossible to find, and when you do it is expensive, lots of people who are mostly smelly, and it's not visitor friendly. We remembered that the last time we went there we had more bad experiences than good, so we have decided that we will not be back for at least five years.
We also saw "Lady in The Water" with Becky and John; Sarah and I we hoping for a twist at the end like usual, but no. It was hard to enjoy the movie because there were a lot of talkers, cell phones ringing and random loud laughter.

SAKE!!

We had sushi with Becky and John on Sunday night at the Sushi cafe--lame name, but very good sushi. I tried sake for the first time with John; I don't know what the big deal is; it tastes just like a regular white wine. (FYI: sake is rice wine.)
It is so hot in Sacramento! It got up to 108 degrees and it is not getting any cooler. Sarah and I usually run in the evenings, so this morning we woke up at 5:15am to go jogging. It is much cooler at that time, but it is not easy getting up that early.
Our jobs haven't changed any, but we keep getting promises that they will. I have been taking on lots more responsibilities and was told I wouldn't have to answer phones anymore and would get a pay raise. I am still waiting on the last two. Sarah might not have to answer phones anymore either when her job moves buildings, but that might be a few months from now.

4th of July Pics

No Picture of Steve this time....