Greetings!
I last wrote in July and honestly not too much has happened since. However, I realized it is already October and time has clearly been passing us by. Justin and I have settled into our fall schedules. He has been teaching a confirmation class to the Junior High at church and the youth are LOVING it oddly enough. So of course Justin loves any opportunity to teach solid theology :). He and the college pastor have started leading the Sunday evening service which is primarily for college students. Justin is the main speaker and the college pastor leads worship. Justin is really enjoying this opportunity to speak to and work with older students as well. On my end, we are in the sixth week of school believe it or not. The RAs are trained and in full swing and I've already had some some fun discipline issues to handle. I actually enjoyed RA training this year. It went much better than last year. I have a solid group of RAs that are all returners and as a staff we are more established. August was full of retreats and camping trips. Justin had a pretty wild experience up at camp with some rebellious kids. He gained a new passion for working with non-Christian youth and learned how to be a disciplinarian :). Then he took the youth on a camping trip over Labor Day weekend which was fun but very primitive. September was mostly settling into the fall. I finished a modular class, Introduction to Counseling, and we both have stared doing pilates - an entertaining yet healthy endeavor :). October will be filled with trips to visit friends. We hope to make it to LA and possibly San Francisco. (Julie, we are toying with the idea of coming to Maine for my birthday over fall break.)
In future plans, I have basically decided that I will go to school full time next year which means we will be moving in June. I had to accept the reality that I will never finish or focus for that matter if I don't go full time. Justin will finish his Masters in August and has already began dreaming about where he will do his doctorate. He would really like to do his doctorate at an ivy league school and is looking into Harvard and Boston University. They both have programs in international relations that Justin is interested in. Now keep in mind this is all still in the dreaming phase because we won't be moving from Fresno until I am finished with my Masters which will be about another three years.
I guess the next big thing are the holidays coming up! Man, time flies!
Thursday, October 20, 2005
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
Spurlock Update 7/13/05
Greetings!
Well, not too much has happened since I last wrote. Justin is fully recovered from his apendectomy! The cruise to Mexico was amazing! Catalina Island was our favorite port. Our only complaint was that it was too short. I made it through closing the dorms but it was no easy feat. This was by far the hardest year in terms of closing and check outs. I am attributing all of the fiascos to seniors who refused to clean and the fact that it is more difficult to check out entire apartments and houses than dorm rooms.
We have completed our traveling for the summer. We had a fabulous time in Portland, OR at the ACSD conference. It is such a blessing to be able to combine certain parts of our jobs. Portland is a very cool city, there were some amazing speakers (Dan Allender and Leonard Sweet to name a few), and we were able to reconnect with many old friends from Tulsa and Indianapolis. We spent one day with my old youth pastor and his family who I had not seen in over 6 years. It was a special week, a vacation of sorts. Then we went home to Indiana for a few days and had a super busy visit. Once again, it was great to see so many friends and family. And it wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be commemorating the one year anniversary of my father's death. Finally, my mom and sister came back to Cali with us and stayed for two weeks. We had a blast showing them all over the state and visiting with them. They just flew back to Indy today, and now Justin and I are left to ourselves and the quiet work as usual routine. It will be nice to settle again.
We are trucking through classes this summer. I should say, Justin is breezing through while I am trying to stay motivated :). Justin has three weeks of summer camp up in the mountains with the youth group and has weekly activities for them so he is staying busy. I will be sad to be apart from him while he is away at camp. I start work again this Friday and will be stuck in the office until the students return. I know that this will be my last year as an RD and most of the year will be looking for another job in Fresno so please keep that in your prayers. (Regardless, going to school full time in a year is always an option.) I am ready to focus more on school and to live off campus. However, I still love working with the students.
As always it is great to hear from you so keep us posted.
Well, not too much has happened since I last wrote. Justin is fully recovered from his apendectomy! The cruise to Mexico was amazing! Catalina Island was our favorite port. Our only complaint was that it was too short. I made it through closing the dorms but it was no easy feat. This was by far the hardest year in terms of closing and check outs. I am attributing all of the fiascos to seniors who refused to clean and the fact that it is more difficult to check out entire apartments and houses than dorm rooms.
We have completed our traveling for the summer. We had a fabulous time in Portland, OR at the ACSD conference. It is such a blessing to be able to combine certain parts of our jobs. Portland is a very cool city, there were some amazing speakers (Dan Allender and Leonard Sweet to name a few), and we were able to reconnect with many old friends from Tulsa and Indianapolis. We spent one day with my old youth pastor and his family who I had not seen in over 6 years. It was a special week, a vacation of sorts. Then we went home to Indiana for a few days and had a super busy visit. Once again, it was great to see so many friends and family. And it wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be commemorating the one year anniversary of my father's death. Finally, my mom and sister came back to Cali with us and stayed for two weeks. We had a blast showing them all over the state and visiting with them. They just flew back to Indy today, and now Justin and I are left to ourselves and the quiet work as usual routine. It will be nice to settle again.
We are trucking through classes this summer. I should say, Justin is breezing through while I am trying to stay motivated :). Justin has three weeks of summer camp up in the mountains with the youth group and has weekly activities for them so he is staying busy. I will be sad to be apart from him while he is away at camp. I start work again this Friday and will be stuck in the office until the students return. I know that this will be my last year as an RD and most of the year will be looking for another job in Fresno so please keep that in your prayers. (Regardless, going to school full time in a year is always an option.) I am ready to focus more on school and to live off campus. However, I still love working with the students.
As always it is great to hear from you so keep us posted.
Sunday, May 22, 2005
Spurlock Update 5/6/05
This is our latest update that I e-mailed on May 6th. Happy reading.
Greetings!
Big news of the week: Justin just had surgery yesterday to have his appendix removed. He went into the ER on Wednesday night with appendicitis, had surgery yesterday, and now is at home watching movies and eating crackers. What a crazy week! I am very grateful for how kind and supportive the church has been. The youth group and all of the staff have visited and been wonderful pastors to us!
This Sunday I will check out my RAs and all of the students will officially be gone for the summer. It has been a great year. I have had some rough spots with my boss but over all very rewarding. And things could not be better with Justin and his job! We love the youth and our Senior Pastor!
Let's see, it has been a while since I last wrote so...In March we took the youth to Mexico. It was a great bonding time. We all had fun and returned dirty and exhausted :). One of my RAs came along and chaperoned which was special. Some sad news is that my Grandmother passed away in March. She had been sick for sometiime and it is good to know that she is no longer in pain. The good news is that I was able to make it home and say goodbye.
Justin's family came to visit last week and we took the youth to Six Flags Magic Mountain. It had been a while since we had been on a roller coaster. I can tell we are getting old :). Speaking of which, Justin just celebrated his 25th birthday on April 24th.
Next week we are going on a cruise to Mexico with a bunch of students who just graduated. I can't wait to relax. What a wonderful get away after surgery and the dorms closing. This summer we will each be taking three classes. That means by the end of the summer I will have 12 credits under my belt towards my masters and Justin will have 18! We are both going to attend the ACSD conference in Portland, OR in June and Justin will be taking the youth to summer camp for two weeks in July. Other than that we will both be in the office most of the summer. I will have a couple weeks off when my mother will come visit.
We hope to make it home to Indiana sometime this summer. I know that I am atleast going home for one weekend in June when my family will be scattering my fathers ashes. It sounds morbid, but it will be good to reunite my family again.
Well, it has been a year of drama, growth, and blessing. We live fast paced lives and I've learned that you never know what God has in store for you. We love hearing from each of you and keeping updated and in touch. We truly miss you all!!! Please call and write anytime. I hope this e-mail finds you all in wonderful spirits. God bless!
Love, Sarah
Greetings!
Big news of the week: Justin just had surgery yesterday to have his appendix removed. He went into the ER on Wednesday night with appendicitis, had surgery yesterday, and now is at home watching movies and eating crackers. What a crazy week! I am very grateful for how kind and supportive the church has been. The youth group and all of the staff have visited and been wonderful pastors to us!
This Sunday I will check out my RAs and all of the students will officially be gone for the summer. It has been a great year. I have had some rough spots with my boss but over all very rewarding. And things could not be better with Justin and his job! We love the youth and our Senior Pastor!
Let's see, it has been a while since I last wrote so...In March we took the youth to Mexico. It was a great bonding time. We all had fun and returned dirty and exhausted :). One of my RAs came along and chaperoned which was special. Some sad news is that my Grandmother passed away in March. She had been sick for sometiime and it is good to know that she is no longer in pain. The good news is that I was able to make it home and say goodbye.
Justin's family came to visit last week and we took the youth to Six Flags Magic Mountain. It had been a while since we had been on a roller coaster. I can tell we are getting old :). Speaking of which, Justin just celebrated his 25th birthday on April 24th.
Next week we are going on a cruise to Mexico with a bunch of students who just graduated. I can't wait to relax. What a wonderful get away after surgery and the dorms closing. This summer we will each be taking three classes. That means by the end of the summer I will have 12 credits under my belt towards my masters and Justin will have 18! We are both going to attend the ACSD conference in Portland, OR in June and Justin will be taking the youth to summer camp for two weeks in July. Other than that we will both be in the office most of the summer. I will have a couple weeks off when my mother will come visit.
We hope to make it home to Indiana sometime this summer. I know that I am atleast going home for one weekend in June when my family will be scattering my fathers ashes. It sounds morbid, but it will be good to reunite my family again.
Well, it has been a year of drama, growth, and blessing. We live fast paced lives and I've learned that you never know what God has in store for you. We love hearing from each of you and keeping updated and in touch. We truly miss you all!!! Please call and write anytime. I hope this e-mail finds you all in wonderful spirits. God bless!
Love, Sarah
Thursday, May 19, 2005
Welcome
Welcome to my new blog! I don't know how much I'll use it or how thought provoking it will be but it will be my place to have a voice.
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