Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Congrats Cousin!

One of my two favorite cousins (her brother is the other one) is graduating from high school this weekend!  I am so excited to fly out at 5:00 am tomorrow (not the 5:00 am part) to be with her and the family for a week.

Rachel and I at her Christmas Story production. 

We love chocolate pudding.  It's a given when we are together.

Easter 2010 with Todd the Easter Bunny at the O' Club.

Thanksgiving 2011 - Bacon wrapped turkey!
Rachel is an amazing girl and I am so thankful for her friendship.  I wish her luck as she em-barques on the next chapter in her life - college! She is such a sweet hearted, caring, and sincere person that loves the Lord; you can't help but enjoy life when you are around her.

Love you, Rachel!

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Thankful

Paul's unit has a secure website that features news, video updates, and pictures.  I was looking through some of them today and noticed this picture.  
This is of Paul's Regimental Colonel. 

 I am so thankful that God has brought us under the authority of a praying man!  You may think, "Sara, this guy is just praying over his food." However, I see it as him still making time for God and being thankful even in the little things.  He is in a leadership role over the entire 6th Marine Regiment and that job comes with lots of stress and decisions to be made.  This man has a lot of weight on his shoulders.  It was such an encouragement to me to see this photograph that I had to share.  

To give you perspective on his duties, check out this link: 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/6th_Marine_Regiment_%28United_States%29


Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Go Home!!

I had just finished mailing off a care package to Paul at the downtown post office.  I was sitting in my car at the exit of the post office parking lot with my windows rolled down.  It was a gorgeous day and I was in a great mood. I see a lady walking towards my car when I hear her her yell:

"Gooo Home!!!"
{insert ugly mean face}

Really?  
Just because I have a VA license plate you are going to yell at me to "Go Home"?
I could see if I was driving like a maniac you would assume I am a terrible VA driver (and I would agree with you that VA drivers are scary). 
However, my car was stopped.

Start of rant:
I must assume that this lady is sick of people "polluting" her beloved ND.  There are many people here like that and I even hear their moaning at work.  They are tired of all the "outsiders" coming and turning ND into a place where they can't leave their car running while they run into the store or leave their homes unlocked. 

What they don't see is how well their state is economically.  Houses sell here in less than a week and most of the time over the asking price.  I have never seen so many restaurants and always packed too! People eat out here multiple times a week because they can afford it.  Shopping is a favorite thing to do here as well. New cars, new jewelry, new boats - you can see it everywhere! And if they don't have it here, then drive to Minneapolis to Mall of America to get it. 

This state has "outsiders" to be thankful for because they are bringing money to the state.  Granted it is ND oil they are coming for, but these people are helping build a strong economy.  If no one came to ND to explore and capture the oil, then North Dakotans would not be "living so high on the hog".  Honestly, their opinion of the state of our country is so skewed because of the riches they are experiencing right now.
End of rant

So before you decide to yell at some stranger through their open car window because they have "outsider" plates (I highly discourage this as it is very offensive); please think about that person.  You have no idea why they are even here!  I wish I had the nerve to yell back "I'm here because my husband is fighting for your freedom to yell at me" or "I would rather be at "home" with my husband, but he is in Afghanistan". 

Instead, I drove off shaking my head saying "Just another day in North Dakota..."