Volleyball Camp

My mom and I co-directed a middle school volleyball camp through our church's youth ministry, Powerhouse. It was a 3-day camp from 8AM-noon and about 30 girls attended! They came from almost every area school and even a few from farther away! We had a ton of help from Morley Stanwood coach, Matt Kozuch, who ran mostly all the drills. He was a lifesaver because he has a wealth of volleyball knowledge and drills/games. We also had CCA head coach, Mike Shaver, teach a session on passing and Ferris State University volleyball player & Morley Stanwood HS graduate, Ashley Huntey, come in and share her testimony today. We had a registered dietician come in and do a talk on healthy eating and body image with the girls. Along with my sisters, our youth pastor's wife, and a high school volunteer we had a great group of coaches. Each day during snack we had a devotion/faith story sharing time and two girls accepted Christ for the first time. We're praying those girls keep growing and learning more about Jesus Christ and that the girls who didn't respond have time for those seeds of the gospel to grow inside them. Here's a picture of the whole crew.



After volleyball, some of us staff went out to lunch at Pepper's, mmmmm! We chatted about how camp went and any things that we could do differently next year. When Katie and I got home, these little guys were in the back yard. There were 3 of them laying out there in the shade.

Summer?

The weather has not been so summery lately, aka, lots of rain and cold weather. But I'm not going to complain because that means Zach is home earlier! They are mostly done with all the busyness of the springtime rush! He's been home at 5:30PM for the past three days and I couldn't be happier. :) Zach totally impressed me, and a bunch of other people, last night when he stepped in as the umpire for our softball game when one didn't show up. He may have gotten a little heckling from my dad and from his neighbor who has known him since he was a little kid, but all in all he did a great job!

Our garden is slowly growing. The beans, onions, tomatos, and jalepenos are doing okay. But with all the rain, a couple of the cucumber and pumpkin hills got demolished so we had to replant and build up those again. The sugar peas are NOT doing well, so Zach replanted most of them. He's actually out at the farm right now tilling and weeding. I feel a bit lazy at the moment, but I'll be out there later. Here's a picture of Zach putting cages on the tomatos and watering the garden.




Oh! And here's a picture of the growing jalpenos! I guess I might have a green thumb after all!


Amy's incision is still healing but she's had a lot of swelling in that leg. She has moved from using a cane to a crutch. Maybe she got sick of the grandma jokes! She can drive again but it's too painful on her leg so she's content to be driven around by someone else. She (and Katie) brought ice cream out to our house after work the other night to celebrate the end of her Daniel Fast and her no cancer results. Mmmm.

This morning I made some pumpkin bread, per request of my mother who also just finished the Daniel Fast. I used the recipe from my Better Homes & Gardens cookbook and it turned out great. There was so much batter that I made a whole loaf, 12 muffins, and 10 chocolate chip muffins. Here's a picture of the finished product and the link to the Better Homes & Gardens recipe: http://www.bhg.com/recipe/breads/pumpkin-bread/







Grandma & Grandpa O'Neill are up visiting this weekend so I'm off to the farm!

Love,
Sarah

"Do-Nothing" Week

Last week I desperately tried to do nothing. Well, nothing as far as working, projects around the house, working out, etc. And it was much harder than I thought! Didn't even get to drive around my new wheels very much because I was determined to leave the house the least amount as possible. We drove to Alma on Monday night, signed the papers, and I got to drive it home! Woo!

I still can't believe the car is mine.... seriously. It's the nicest car I've ever driven! We had been looking for about 6 months and are so excited that God has provided. It might not have happened as soon as we would have liked, but His timing is the best. After we paid for the repairs on Zach's parents' Tracer, they were able to sell it to a friend of ours who needed it. Perfect timing. :)

Okay, so I couldn't do nothing-nothing, so I did manage to clean the house, read a few books, play some volleyball on Wednesday and softball on Friday, and actually cook some meals for Zach. My sisters came out on Tuesday night and of course we stayed up watching Harvard Sailing Team videos and laughing til our sides hurt. Then we watched "The Four Feathers," an older Heath Ledger movie, which was pretty good except I didn't pay a ton of attention because we talked through the whole thing. Ha ha! That's what sisters are for! Zach and I also went out to a bonfire with our small group on Friday night which was a lot of fun to relax and just catch up with everyone. Robin's strawberry sangria was DELICIOUS and I'm going to have to get that recipe!

Amy's surgery was Friday early afternoon. They took out 2 lymph nodes and a bunch of tissue so she's got a 6-inch incision with at least 16 stitches and another little incision that they used some dissolvable stitches and glue. She stayed with mom and Katie and Grandma & Papa Thorne's house near Detroit (the surgery was in Ann Arbor) until Sunday afternoon. For the next few weeks she's got to take it super easy and not move around or walk too much. That's going to be her biggest challenge I think! Pathology reports on the lymph nodes and tissue should be back in 7-10 days. We're praying for ZERO cancerous cells!

Saturday I had a family bridal shower in Grand Rapids so I made the most of my trip by stopping at Target afterwards and then visiting my dear friend, Carlyn! It was so nice to have a FRIEND to hang out with and chat with and wander around the mall at Pottery Barn dreaming of future purchases. :) Made my weekend! Sunday consisted of church then two father's day celebrations: dinner at the farm with the Cooks then card games and a good ol' game of wiffle ball at the Thornes. Wiffle ball was boys vs. girls and the boys seriously whooped up on us. It used to be fun to play that way because all the girls were older, bigger, faster, etc. But now that the boys are bigger PLUS they have Zach on their team too... let's just say I'm not sure us girls will be winning much more. We've been blessed with two great dads and we are so glad to spend time with them! At the farm we weeded, hoed, and watered the garden then staked up our tomato and jalepeno plants. I had to feed the pigs some dandelions too - they love the sweet taste! Here's a picture of my favorite little piggy: Spot.

Creative name, I know, I know but he has one black spot on his front leg. He's the runt of the litter so he's super cute! There are others I have named as well, such as Panda, Skunky, and Slim. But I'll post pictures of them later.

The week flew by and it's hard to believe it's already time for another one: "Do-Something" week begins! It all started with Angela's Basic Training class at PT Plus at 9:00 this morning. I can already feel my triceps getting sore! My siblings and I are planning to film another spoof of a HST video tomorrow morning! Woo!

I love summer.

The Weekend in General

Well, after months of searching and praying for the right car, we think we've found it! On Friday I found an ad on Craigslist for a 2003 Pontiac Vibe in Alma. I e-mailed, Zach called, then he test drove it later that night. When we finally got home Friday night, after work, school, and a double header softball game, Zach gave me a card. He wrote this great letter to me and then had something wrapped up inside the letter. It was the key to the car! So Monday (tomorrow) I have to go in to the Secretary of State with my dad and switch over all the paperwork from the other car into my name so that the dealership can get all the paperwork done so we can bring home the Vibe! Woo! I'm sooooooo excited! I'll post pics as soon as it's home.

Saturday was GREAT! It was raining so Zach didn't have to go to work! woo-hoo!!!! We went in to CCA and played basketball from 8-10. I love it when he can come too and we get to do active things together. Most of my family was there too, surprise surprise. If it involves a ball and competition, my family is there! After that we ran some errands and headed home. Zach got so much yard work done around here it was amazing. He got all the remaining trees cut up and stacked in piles. Then he mowed the front and back lawn and spread grass seed so we will have a lawn. (Right now it's mostly brown dirt and weeds because the trees didn't let enough light in for grass to grow.) Next step is to get a tractor tire rim from the farm to make a bonfire pit and we are good to go. He's such a hard worker and I appreciate everything he does around here. After all his hard work outside, we had a nice dinner together of taco salad and a cold beer. Zach loves Mexican food and I cracked up when he said this last night, "If I wasn't Polish, I'd be Italian first and Mexican second." Ha ha ha! For the end of our at home date night, we watched the movie, "Food Inc." Our cousin Chaeli recommended it to us and wanted to know what Zach thought since he works in the farming industry. It was quite interesting and raised so many questions about my food and where it comes from. Luckily, most of our meats are locally raised: beef from the Jefts and pork from, well, home! Zach and his dad have raised pigs for the past handful of years and we've been blessed with homegrown pork. After that movie I'll definitely be paying closer attention to the ingredients label on the foods I purchase. I'll have Zach post his thoughts about the film later.

Today was a fun day with my family. After church, Zach and I headed out to my parents house for lunch. EVERYONE was home! All 7 kids and then some. Add in a boyfriend and his siblings (my siblings friends) we had quite the crew. My sisters and I managed to make enough spaghetti, garlic bread, and salad for the group and we had a great lunch. Thorne family lunches are never quiet. NEVER! It's loud and borderline insanity, but so much fun to laugh and have everyone there. We also watched a few home videos which were hilarious! I wish I had them on DVD so I could post clips on here. Our little voices were high pitched and cute. In one scene, Katie and I are taking turns reading some commentary out of the back of a Bible. I'm maybe 8 and Katie 7. I was teaching Katie to read... "Katie, do you see an "R" in that word?" or "Katie, no, that's a long "a" sound." Surprisingly I was fairly patient and kind to her, which didn't happen much as a child. My family watched this video last night and showed it to me today and when my dad was watching it he said, "Now one's a teacher and one's a nurse." Oh, the nostalgia...

Speaking of nurse, Katie passed her boards! Woo! She is now, Kaitlynn Elizabeth Thorne, RN! She's on the hunt for a job and Rachel is trying to convince her to get a job in GR so they can get an apartment together. I have to admit, I wouldn't mind having here that close. :)

Someone not so close is still Candace. :( She just moved to Minneapolis to start a job at Target headquarters later this month. I'm trying to figure out a long weekend to go see her this summer. That's seriously one of the best parts of being a teacher. I love having the summer off to do whatever. Work another job. See friends. Travel. Stay home. Anything. Since I've got some time, I want to make it out there to see her and hang out with her. I wish flights to anywhere were cheaper because I'd be out there all the time! Can't wait to see her new place and the city of Minni.

-Sarah

Cars

My third vehicle died on Monday afternoon. I was driving home with a car full of groceries when I heard a flapping sound then the engine quit... thankfully, I coasted into a nearby parking lot of a Bed and Breakfast/Riding Stable and even more thankfully I had cell phone service so I could make a phone call to Zach. He called Tyler, who came with a pick up truck and towing chain and dragged me home. The serpentine belt went bad which threw off a bunch of other stuff. Zach tried so hard to get it going again when he got home from work until the wee hours of the morning but with no success. He drove me to work yesterday and then my dad drove me home - I felt like I was in high school again! Zach dropped me off again today and then my mom took me to pick up a rental car until we can figure out what to do with the dead car: fix it? Or look for a new (used) one?

Since my second car died back in February-ish we've been looking, and looking, and looking, and looking for a new used car. But there just don't seem to be any around.... We drove to Lansing to look at a car at a dealership, which they were going to hold for us to test drive, and they sold it the night before. No phone call to tell us, "Hey don't bother driving all the way to Lansing because we sold it." Nothing. Zach was not happy about that! It seems like every one we find gets sold before we can get there. Plus with gas prices going up, people want little cars with good gas mileage -which is conveniently what we're looking for too - so prices of smaller used cars have gone up because they're in bigger demand. Oh well. I just keep praying and praying that we find one with low mileage for a cost in our price range. For now I've got a rental car.

School's almost done and I can't wait! The heat is SWELTERING in the elementary building I work in! It's an old building so there's no air conditioning. It's been in the low 90s here the past few days! The temperature only goes up as you go up the floors in the school. Good thing we are DONE on Friday.

I applied for a 1st grade teaching position at CCA. Hopefully I won't have to wait too long before interviews. It'd be nice to know early in the summer so I can start preparing a classroom and my mind! I've already decided my classroom with have a farm theme (it just seems to fit seeing who I'm married to!). I've slowly started to collect things like farm stuffed animals, farm books, baskets, crates, and things like that.

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Well, I was off to make dinner when the battery died on my computer then my sister Amy arrived for dinner. So here's the post now that I actually wrote last night.

Sarah

Discouragement

When spring time rolls around, most people are jumping for joy because it means summer is just around the corner. I, on the other had, dread it. It means Zach is gone ALL the time at work, the kids go crazy at school, and there seems to be umpteen-million things to do/parties to attend, etc. It's been really hard for me not to be discouraged. My mind gets to thinking and worrying about money (or lack of it) and how to spend it more wisely, student loans, teaching, coaching, lack of time with Zach, no friends, if my car is going to last through the day (which today, it died and Typer had to tow me home) no TIME to clean up anything around the house (sorry to our neighbors who had to look at 3 ft. weeds until recently), make a decent dinner, or just plain sit down and read a book. And it's hard to keep my thoughts positive when it feels like nothing is ever going to change. I was in the midst of a full blown woe-is-me, my life is so awful, I'm so lonely, pity party when we had a guest pastor come and preach the sermon on Sunday which gave me a good butt-kicking. He taught out of 2 Chronicles 20 and entitled the sermon, "Seven Ways to Refuel Your Courage." Thanks to Andy Girwarnauth, pastor in Guyana, South America for your teaching.

-Satan's most worn out tool = discouragement. Why discouragement? Because it fits EVERYONE. The enemy desires discouragement in your life because you DO NOTHING. You want to stay home and stay inactive. WORSHIP defeats discouragement in our lives! Discouragement is a lack of courage.

Seven Ways to Refuel Your Courage - 2 Chronicles 20:1-22

1. Resolve to inquire of the Lord (v. 1-5)
-seek HELP from the Lord

2. Remember that Power and Might are in God's Hands (v. 6)

3. Remind Yourself of the Personal Presence of God (v. 7-9)
-what a privilege to be in His close presence!
-OUR God, Abraham your FRIEND
-we cry out, He hears and saves us

4. Remove Your Focus from the Problem to the Power of God (v. 10-12)
-the most honest prayer we can pray: we don't know what to do, but our eyes are on You

5. Recover Your Courage and Strength from the Word of God (v. 13-15)
-not my battle, but God's

6. Receive Affirmation from God (v. 16-17)
-trust in a big God who fights the battle for me

7. Rekindle Your Courage through Proper Worship (v. 18-22)
- when you're discouraged, DON'T STAY HOME! When you don't feel like praying, going to church, fellowshiping, worshiping, that's when you need to the most
-Hold on in faith

http://www.trinityinfo.org/ - scroll down, left side of the page "Latest Sermon"

I encourage you to listen to his sermon online as soon as it becomes available, It was so encouraging and pulled my eyes up off of myself.

-Sarah