Hello!
I can't believe another season has come and gone. It was a busier summer than anticipated. I took a full load of classes so it actually felt like a regular semester. Justin finished a successful summer day camp program and has now started up the fall programming for the youth group. We ended up going home to Indiana twice this summer, once in May and once in August. The trip home in August was a surprise visit to celebrate Justin's parent's anniversary. This past Labor Day weekend we enjoyed the weekend in Las Vegas. We stayed at Caesar's Palace and sat at the pool all day.
I have started seeing clients at both of my practicum sites. I am feeling a little overwhelmed by the newness of the experience but am learning a lot quickly. I am also taking two other classes in addition to my practicum, so I am in syllabus shock at the moment. I just keep telling myself that I have to get through the next few months and the spring semester will be much lighter.
Justin has been preparing the confirmation curriculum for the youth as well as planning a trip to Disneyland. In the spring he will be taking the youth on mission trip to L.A. He also has just started taking our dog to training classes, which is great entertainment for the whole family.
We are looking forward to having family visit us this fall. Justin's parents will be coming over Thanksgiving and my little sister is going to spend most of her winter break with us.
The big news is that we are planning to move to Chicago next June after I graduate. Justin wants to get his doctorate in Sociology of Religion and Chicago has a ton of great programs plus it is close to our family in Indiana. This school year will be focused on preparing for the move and making the transition. Justin will soon send in his applications and take the GRE. We have begun looking at houses. And eventually, I will have to do the whole job hunt thing. It seems like a long time off but that is a lot to accomplish in the next 9 months.
We love hearing from everyone so stay in touch!
Love Sarah and Justin Spurlock
Sunday, March 02, 2008
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Spurlock Update 4/28/07
Greetings!
It is the end of the school semester and I am ready for a break. I made it through finals and am well on my to starting my practicum in August. I am excited to begin seeing clients and to not be stuck in the class room. I will be interning with two organizations -- Alliant International University where I will be working with children, and Kings View County Mental Health where I will be treating clients with substance abuse problems and other co-curring mental health disorders. May will be very relaxed for us but then I will have to hit the books again during the three summer classes I am taking. Luckily though, we are going home for a week in May to relax and visit with friends and family. Justin will be busy this summer starting up a summer day camp for the kids in the neighborhood around the church. In July and August he will have two weeks of summer camp with the youth as well.
Our biggest news as of late is that we got a dog. Yes, Justin caved and we now have an adorable cocker spaniel named Nilla (short for Vanilla). She suffers from separation anxiety because we got her from the animal shelter and she requires a lot of love. She has made the past two weeks eventful and forced us to be homebodies. Today's adventure was installing a dogie door. See my previous post for pictures.
Justin just celebrated his 27th birthday this past week. It was pretty uneventful since I was finishing up the semester but it is yet another reminder that time is marching on.
We love hearing from everyone so stay in touch!
Love Sarah and Justin Spurlock
It is the end of the school semester and I am ready for a break. I made it through finals and am well on my to starting my practicum in August. I am excited to begin seeing clients and to not be stuck in the class room. I will be interning with two organizations -- Alliant International University where I will be working with children, and Kings View County Mental Health where I will be treating clients with substance abuse problems and other co-curring mental health disorders. May will be very relaxed for us but then I will have to hit the books again during the three summer classes I am taking. Luckily though, we are going home for a week in May to relax and visit with friends and family. Justin will be busy this summer starting up a summer day camp for the kids in the neighborhood around the church. In July and August he will have two weeks of summer camp with the youth as well.
Our biggest news as of late is that we got a dog. Yes, Justin caved and we now have an adorable cocker spaniel named Nilla (short for Vanilla). She suffers from separation anxiety because we got her from the animal shelter and she requires a lot of love. She has made the past two weeks eventful and forced us to be homebodies. Today's adventure was installing a dogie door. See my previous post for pictures.
Justin just celebrated his 27th birthday this past week. It was pretty uneventful since I was finishing up the semester but it is yet another reminder that time is marching on.
We love hearing from everyone so stay in touch!
Love Sarah and Justin Spurlock
Friday, April 27, 2007
Our New Pooch
Introducing Vanilla Muffin Spurlock :) Sooo Cute!!! We call her Nilla for short though. It's a lot of responsibility just to have that cute face around but what can I say... she loves us.
Sunday, December 24, 2006
Happy Holidays from the Spurlocks
Merry Christmas!
I last wrote in August. Life has been busy as usual these past few months. The most exciting news is Justin finished his thesis this semester and graduated with his Masters of Arts in Leadership and Organizational Studies from Fresno Pacific University on Dec. 15th. His parents came for the graduation and visited with us for a week which was fun. We went to Santa Barbara and relaxed. I made it through my first semester as a full time graduate student. I must say that graduate work is challenging and my finals were grueling but I know I have learned a lot and am excited to continue on the path towards becoming a therapist. I am always amazed at how fast time goes by and we are already contemplating future plans. I plan to graduate in May of 2008 and Justin is looking into doctoral programs all over the country which he would possibly start once I am finished.
Things at the church are going great. Justin took the youth on a global poverty simulation retreat in September and hosted another all-nighter in November. I have been leading two bible studies, one with a group of high school girls and another with a group of girls from Fresno State. We both continue to enjoy working with adolescents and young adults and are blessed through those mentorships daily.
In October, I celebrated my golden birthday turning 27 on the 27th. Our friend Andrew from Philadelphia came to visit over Thanksgiving and we spent the holiday in San Francisco. We are actually going to enjoy Christmas together just the two of us. Then my family will join us on a cruise to Mexico from January 1st-9th to celebrate the new year and our five year anniversary!
The spring holds many more adventures -- many conferences, mission trips, weddings, retreats, etc...We always love hearing from our friends and family so stay in touch.
We wish you a very blessed holiday season and a happy new year!
With Love, Sarah and Justin Spurlock
I last wrote in August. Life has been busy as usual these past few months. The most exciting news is Justin finished his thesis this semester and graduated with his Masters of Arts in Leadership and Organizational Studies from Fresno Pacific University on Dec. 15th. His parents came for the graduation and visited with us for a week which was fun. We went to Santa Barbara and relaxed. I made it through my first semester as a full time graduate student. I must say that graduate work is challenging and my finals were grueling but I know I have learned a lot and am excited to continue on the path towards becoming a therapist. I am always amazed at how fast time goes by and we are already contemplating future plans. I plan to graduate in May of 2008 and Justin is looking into doctoral programs all over the country which he would possibly start once I am finished.
Things at the church are going great. Justin took the youth on a global poverty simulation retreat in September and hosted another all-nighter in November. I have been leading two bible studies, one with a group of high school girls and another with a group of girls from Fresno State. We both continue to enjoy working with adolescents and young adults and are blessed through those mentorships daily.
In October, I celebrated my golden birthday turning 27 on the 27th. Our friend Andrew from Philadelphia came to visit over Thanksgiving and we spent the holiday in San Francisco. We are actually going to enjoy Christmas together just the two of us. Then my family will join us on a cruise to Mexico from January 1st-9th to celebrate the new year and our five year anniversary!
The spring holds many more adventures -- many conferences, mission trips, weddings, retreats, etc...We always love hearing from our friends and family so stay in touch.
We wish you a very blessed holiday season and a happy new year!
With Love, Sarah and Justin Spurlock
Monday, August 21, 2006
Spurlock Update 8/21/06
Well summer is coming to a close. What we expected to be a slow and uneventful summer has turned out to be quite busy. We are fully settled into our new place and are still enjoying it. Last I wrote we had just returned from a wonderful trip home to Indiana in May. I had also included some prayer requests. Unfortunately, Justin had to make an unexpected trip home for the funeral of his baby cousin. Then the day that he was returning from that trip my Grandmother passed away. Justin was able to see her the day she died though. So the next week we both went home once again for her funeral. Needless to say it was a sad few weeks and exhausting with all of the traveling. But we were glad to be able to make it home and be with family during such hard times.
On a happier note, I had mentioned that Justin would spend two weeks at camp this summer. He and another youth pastor were the key note speakers for the week and they did an amazing job. Justin really enjoyed speaking and spending quality time with the youth! He has been facilitating weekly activites for the students this summer. We took the youth on a day trip to Santa Cruz where they had fun at the boardwalk and also had an all-nighter one week. (I think Justin is still recovering from that one. Our age is beginning to show :).) Finally last week we spent a few days in Las Vegas. I found a really good travel deal online that we couldn't pass up so we took a mini-vacation. It was quite relaxing. We saw several shows, one of which Justin got to participate in - very funny!
Other than that, life has been as ususal. I survived my summer classes and have decided not to work part time. I will still be selling Arbonne on the side though. School starts next week so I will be adjusting to student life again but I have a feeling it will be slower than our ususal pace. I am really enjoying my free time and being to help out more with the youth group.
I hope this e-mail finds you all well and we always love hearing updates from each of you. Keep in touch.
Love, Sarah and Justin
PS: I forgot to mention last time that we traded in Justin's car in May and bought a Scion XB, It's our new toy :). Check it out @ http://www.scion.com/showroom/xb/gallery/ .
On a happier note, I had mentioned that Justin would spend two weeks at camp this summer. He and another youth pastor were the key note speakers for the week and they did an amazing job. Justin really enjoyed speaking and spending quality time with the youth! He has been facilitating weekly activites for the students this summer. We took the youth on a day trip to Santa Cruz where they had fun at the boardwalk and also had an all-nighter one week. (I think Justin is still recovering from that one. Our age is beginning to show :).) Finally last week we spent a few days in Las Vegas. I found a really good travel deal online that we couldn't pass up so we took a mini-vacation. It was quite relaxing. We saw several shows, one of which Justin got to participate in - very funny!
Other than that, life has been as ususal. I survived my summer classes and have decided not to work part time. I will still be selling Arbonne on the side though. School starts next week so I will be adjusting to student life again but I have a feeling it will be slower than our ususal pace. I am really enjoying my free time and being to help out more with the youth group.
I hope this e-mail finds you all well and we always love hearing updates from each of you. Keep in touch.
Love, Sarah and Justin
PS: I forgot to mention last time that we traded in Justin's car in May and bought a Scion XB, It's our new toy :). Check it out @ http://www.scion.com/showroom/xb/gallery/ .
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Spurlock Update 6/13/06
Wow, it is June and I haven’t written an update since January. The big news is that I am finished with my work at FPU and we have moved across town into a great town home. We have spent the last week setting it up and are having a blast. It is the first place we have lived in that is large enough to fit all of our stuff. I have to say, I thought I would be really sad to leave FPU but I was ready to be done with Residence Life. It has been an amazing four years in the profession and we have been blessed and built so many relationships and I will have a hollow spot in my heart living with out my fabulous RAs but life must go on and I know I will keep in touch with all of you. Justin’s mission trip in April was great. He took the youth to San Francisco with the Center for Student Missions and it went off with out a hitch. The closing of the residence halls went much better than last year. My team this year really came through for me and we ended on a beautiful note. In May we went home to Indiana for Justin’s sister’s graduation and for two weddings that Justin was in. It was our longest visit home yet since leaving Indiana and it was tons of fun. We actually had time to spend with family and reconnected with many friends from Taylor and ORU oddly enough. Justin is still going strong at the church. I feel like a lot of the kids we started with are graduating and we are gradually welcoming in the new Junior High students into the youth group. The summer holds a lot of fun activities for Justin including two weeks of summer camp and a conference in Boise, Idaho. Justin will be working diligently on his thesis this summer and will finish it in October. He is finished with his course work and will graduate in December. His degree will be in Leadership and Organizational Studies. Once he is finished he hopes to adjunct teach at a community college. I have two summer classes and will be full time working on my Masters in Marriage and Family Therapy in the fall. I may work part time at the complex we are living in as a leasing agent. Nothing is for sure but they talked to me about a job when we moved in. It will be a totally different feel for me going back to school full time but once I am finished it will be all worth it. In other less important news, I have grown my hair out into a chin length bob :). Well, that should catch everyone up for now. Allow me to end with a few prayer requests…Please keep us in your prayers as well as my Grandmother. She has been ill for the past few months and is currently rehabilitating. Justin’s baby cousin Max is having troubles with his liver as well. And lastly, my brother in law was recently diagnosed with diabetes and is adjusting to taking insulin regularly.
Here is our new contact information…
Sarah’s new e-mail: sarahspurlock@gmail.com
Sarah’s Blog: http://sarahsoundsoff.blogspot.com/
Justin’s e-mail: jspurlock@gmail.com
Justin’s Blog: http://freshdirt.blogspot.com/
Oh, here is the website to our new town home complex: http://www.phoenix-townhomes.com/
We miss you all and keep you close in our thoughts. Keep in touch! Many blessings!
Love, Sarah
Here is our new contact information…
Sarah’s new e-mail: sarahspurlock@gmail.com
Sarah’s Blog: http://sarahsoundsoff.blogspot.com/
Justin’s e-mail: jspurlock@gmail.com
Justin’s Blog: http://freshdirt.blogspot.com/
Oh, here is the website to our new town home complex: http://www.phoenix-townhomes.com/
We miss you all and keep you close in our thoughts. Keep in touch! Many blessings!
Love, Sarah
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Spurlock Update 1/17/05
Hello again!
I can't believe that it is a new year. I last wrote in October and the holidays have since come and gone. In October we did manage to see a few friends in LA. It is always rejuvenating to rekindle old friendships. This year was the first Thanksgiving we spent with out family which was weird. However, we went over to our Pastor's house and had a wonderful feast. Their family has been such a blessing to us. Christmas break went by way too fast. I worked the first week and made a few extra dollars being on call. We flew home to Indiana on Christmas Day and back to Fresno on New Years Day. We managed to see almost all of our family in a week. We also spent some time with some old friends from college on New Years Eve. It was fast but greatly enjoyed.
Justin has been preaching on Sunday nights and is in the midst of forming a youth worship team. I have been leading a monthly discussion of the television show The O.C. with the youth. While the show is sensational it has led to many relevent conversations. I just returned from our winter RA retreat and now all of the students are back on campus. We are both taking classes this semester. Justin will begin his thesis this semester and will be finished in August. I am taking it slow and only taking weekend classes. In February we will take the youth on a retreat and then on a mission trip to San Francisco in April. Spring Break will be in March and my mom and sister are coming to visit. Before we know it the school year will come to a close. My contract is up on May 31st and I will begin schoool full time in the fall which means we will be moving apartments around the end of May/beginning of June. We have already been apartment hunting and I must admit that I am beyond excited to start a new chapter in our life. Oh, we will be coming home to Indiana in May for Justin's sister's graduation and for a friend's wedding. It will be oh so nostalgic to be back on Taylor's campus again :).
Well that should about cover it. We miss you all dearly and love hearing from you. Keep in touch and God bless!
~Sarah and Justin
I can't believe that it is a new year. I last wrote in October and the holidays have since come and gone. In October we did manage to see a few friends in LA. It is always rejuvenating to rekindle old friendships. This year was the first Thanksgiving we spent with out family which was weird. However, we went over to our Pastor's house and had a wonderful feast. Their family has been such a blessing to us. Christmas break went by way too fast. I worked the first week and made a few extra dollars being on call. We flew home to Indiana on Christmas Day and back to Fresno on New Years Day. We managed to see almost all of our family in a week. We also spent some time with some old friends from college on New Years Eve. It was fast but greatly enjoyed.
Justin has been preaching on Sunday nights and is in the midst of forming a youth worship team. I have been leading a monthly discussion of the television show The O.C. with the youth. While the show is sensational it has led to many relevent conversations. I just returned from our winter RA retreat and now all of the students are back on campus. We are both taking classes this semester. Justin will begin his thesis this semester and will be finished in August. I am taking it slow and only taking weekend classes. In February we will take the youth on a retreat and then on a mission trip to San Francisco in April. Spring Break will be in March and my mom and sister are coming to visit. Before we know it the school year will come to a close. My contract is up on May 31st and I will begin schoool full time in the fall which means we will be moving apartments around the end of May/beginning of June. We have already been apartment hunting and I must admit that I am beyond excited to start a new chapter in our life. Oh, we will be coming home to Indiana in May for Justin's sister's graduation and for a friend's wedding. It will be oh so nostalgic to be back on Taylor's campus again :).
Well that should about cover it. We miss you all dearly and love hearing from you. Keep in touch and God bless!
~Sarah and Justin
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