Blessed, I Guess

I used to kind of laugh when people would say they need a vacation after coming home from their vacation.
If there's anything Josh and I know how to do right, it's vacation (well we do a lot of things right being two type A overachievers, but vacation still holds true-ha).

We did have an amazing time in Greece, had a full itinerary some days mixed with the perfect amount of relaxation, downtime and amazing meals.
Now that we are back to real life all I have is a full itinerary of work.
Relaxation? HA!
Downtime, not really.
Amazing Meals, I'm honestly lucky if I have a free moment to even eat, and my itinerary is just going to get fuller...
To tell the truth, I haven't had a spare minute, second or hour to even look at all the pictures we took on our trip, yet alone share with friends and family (insert sad face).

I will be working at least 100 hours a week during the month of July (insert very sad face).  I knew that my new job would be very demanding and kick my butt in ways I didn't know where possible, and I'm here to attest that it is. 

"God doesn't call the enabled, He enables the called"

    This will be my mantra for the month of July.

It's amazing to receive God's greatest blessing in my life at the same time as my greatest challenge. 

Sunset in Santorini as seen by my Iphone.

An email from my aunt Sugie came in my inbox last night, a praise to God for His provision in their lives, it was sooo applicable to mine.   I hope her words can be an inspiration to you as much as me!

Let me share with you something that has become so crystal clear to me.  We all have some good stuff going in life and we all have some really tough, challenging stuff going on in life.  God is in the good stuff and God is in the bad stuff.  As I read the Bible I see more and more that it is in the tough situations in life that we feel desperate and often choose to turn to the Lord, and the good news is that He always is there and that He has answers and solutions and truth for every problem and crisis.  The way our faith grows is through us being more dependent on Jesus.  That is a discipline that must be cultivated.  So the good news is that we should not lose heart in the tough times but  be grateful that it prompts us to choose to turn to Jesus and let Him show Himself faithful to meet each need and encourage our hearts.  He is an awesome God.

Lots of Love,

Sarah

Love CMN

Love Children's Miracle Network.  I can't believe I have been volunteering and fundraising with them for more than 12 years, due to it being Phi Mu's National Philanthropy and UF's Dance Marathon (in addition to Florida Football and Friends how I ended up meeting my husband).

Check out the video, I'm in the Phi Mu Alumnae Officer's group pic at 1:58!



In other news we're back from our fantastic trip from Greece--it was AMAZING, I can't wait to share some of our 800+ pictures (don't worry I'll just share the highlights).

Speaking of pictures, does anyone have recommendations on how I can keep my instagram iphone pics from looking pixluated when I post them to my blog?  Perhaps it's because I am blogging straight from my iphone, but it seams some come out clear and others are pixely. 

I took a few hours away from my 90+ hour work week to unofficially wrap up my volunteer year.

The experience was wonderful and I'm so happy to be involved with these fantastic organizations. I'm the volunteer coordinator for the DC Gator Club. Saturday was International Gator Day, where UF Alums from around the world participate in a day of service. Of course one just wasn't enough for me, so I planned three. We partnered with DC public schools and thousand of other volunteers a few weeks ago to fix up all the campuses around the city. We are working with the USO for their annual family fun day. This past Saturday we helped with cleaning up Kennilworth Aquatic Gardens which is amazing. Most of us had no idea it even existed.






After a beautiful morning in the great outdoors, I headed to the Eastern Market (my favorite farmers market) for some fresh produce and a bit for lunch. I had a Cuban with a twist, it was served on Rosemary chibatta bread, I did like it...a lot-ha!



Back into the car and on the George Washington Parkway, one of my favorite roadways that travels adjacent to the Potomac, to McLean form my last Junior League commitment of the year, the talent show for my Langly consumers. I'm going to miss those guys this summer, but will be on the literacy club committee next year. Bonus, we won community partnership of the year!

And then my friends, back to work for the rest of my Saturday, Sunday, Monday, you get the picture.
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Location:A little break?

The Many Faces of Molly

Molly, my beagle baby, has two main objectives in life.

Objective #1: Sniff out any and every edible (or semi edible) object possible and chow down on said object before any human or other dog notices what's going on.

Objective #2: Never let me, Josh or her dog sitter Tatitiana out of her sight. In fact the only time Molly isn't within a 2-4 foot radius of one of us, she is actively pursuing Objective #1. Like tonight when I went upstairs to jump on a conference call and Josh went to his office, she helped herself to the remains of my dinner that I casually left unattended.

It's not easy being a separation anxiety ridden beagle who needs to eat her feelings. If anyone understands it's her momma. Our deep understanding of each other is just one of the many reasons I love her to pieces.

What's not to love?






















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Oh Wells or What If's

I've spent my life on a roller coaster of 'oh yeahs' and 'oh wells'. I've ridden this roller coaster pretty fearlessly most would say. I learned after my fair share of 'oh wells,' that success comes after quite a few failures some small, some large. But honestly have few regrets because I'm living my life to it's fullest capacity.

Recently, I've stepped out of my comfort zone once again trying to avoid having any 'what if's.' I guess you can't knock it till you've tried it, the grass is or isn't always greener and I'm proving over and over again hind sight is always 20/20.

Does getting older (and hopefully wiser) mean I'll start willingly trade a few of my 'oh wells' for a few more 'what if's?' it's been a really crazy ride these past few months and I'm about ready to swap front row center court for a rocking chair on the front porch.

I feel that I am following Gods will for me, just don't have a clear vision of what that is and where exactly it's leading. I am exhausted and overwhelmed. I know he doesn't call the enabled, He enables the called.

But for the first time in my life, I'm almost feeling like I'd be ok with a few more 'what if's.' Especially if it meant I would get a few more hours of sleep.

Menu Monday

On occasion there comes a stretch of days where I don't have a board meeting or volunteer obligations and Josh is in the country and doesn't have a business dinner. When this happens and we actually have a hour and a half on the weekend to spare, we try to take that time to plan out a meal or two together. I think the last time this kind of happened was the week of Passover. I made our traditional sedar with my mother in laws brisket and the next night made a double batch of Josh's favorite Passover dish, Eggplant Matza Lasagna (which he ate leftovers of for the remaining seven nights as I was volunteering or something of the like).

Yesterday, the stars aligned, and after brunch I pulled out my iPhone and he his blackberry. A quick check of the calendar confirmed we could actually have dinner together a few nights this week (other than our usual, a take out burrito bowl from Chipolte).

So last night we had BBQ Chicken Pizza- whole wheat pita, BBQ sauce, red onion, cilantro, grilled chicken breast, topped with mozzarella cheese and broiled in the oven.

Tonight we're Grilling for Life with Bobby Flay.



Pork Tenderloin Crusted with Green Onion, Jalapeño, and Ginger.






With his Grilled Asian Style Eggplant Salad.








Later this week we are trying the Corn and Black Bean Enchiladas from the new Fresh, Fabulous and Fast Weight Watchers Cookbook.



Then a new fav found at http://elefantitasalegres.blogspot.com/

Warm Asparagus Gorgonzola Steak Salad

http://www.cheekykitchen.com/2011/03/warm-asparagus-gorgonzola-steak-salad.html

Hope you week is filled with wonderful dinners spent around a table with those you love!

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We started the day with a brilliant brunch. Josh made omelets, while I sliced and diced an amazing fruit salad.



Raspberries, blueberries, strawberries and kiwi.



On the docket today, plan our trip to Greece. We are hooked and booked as far as transportation, hotels and where we will be when, BUT what we will be doing day to day... I am having a hard time nailing down. There is just so much to do! I have 5 hours of our trip planned and that is for a guided tour of the acropolis. Ahh, I need another day in the weekend to plan my dream vacation!

Hope y'all had a great mothers day! I'm blessed to have the most amazing mom ever!

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