Go Hawks. It has to be said. For those of you who watched the big game today, you will know that my Hawks made us proud...even though it wasn't a win...when you take an unranked team and pair them with #9 and they only loose by 2 (after being ahead for at least half the game!), then a loss is a little more easily swallowed. The only sore disappointment was that last play of the game...I think everyone in that room today sat in dumbfounded silence at what was taking place on the screen...not the way to go down if you have to lose...but it was what it was...and regardless...I have to say: Go Hawks.

Tomorrow after church we are going to hop in my dad's new toy car and take a little road trip across the big Mississippi River to the home of the people who have basically served as a second set of parents for me all my life. Some traditions aren't to be broken. So we will be leaving this year and coming back next. Just one day's difference, but a marker of sorts...a new beginning; or at least that's what we say it will be. It will be the day I start to try losing all this weight...or I will read my Bible every day...or I will spend more time with my family...or any number of other goals that will never be attained. Thankfully, God's mercies are new every morning and therefore when these resolutions fall through the floor, tomorrow is a new day...each moment an opportunity for a new beginning.

Just 24 hours from now, we will be waltzing into 2007...and though I quit making resolutions awhile ago...I have certain hopes and dreams for this year; some out of my hands and others perfectly within my power...so by the grace of God that holds me together...welcome 2007, welcome...I look forward to this dance.

Ok, so I feel as if I am in a bit of a rut with my music and have been searching for something new and coming up empty handed everytime...so I thought I'd just toss this out there to you who actually check this site and ask for your two cents...so, if you have some music you really like and you think I might enjoy it...let me know the artist/album and I'll check it out. :) Thanks!

Ecclesiastes 3

A Time for Everything

1 There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:

2 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,

3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,

4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,

5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,

6 a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,

7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,

8 a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

As this year comes to a close and with 2007 just around the corner…I can’t help but consider what this year has brought and speculate about what the upcoming one will bring. A couple days ago, this part of Ecclesiastes was going through my mind, so I pulled out my Bible and read through these familiar words…and I was brought back to a time that was filled with hopes and dreams when a girl I barely knew on the other side of the world wrote out this passage in a birthday card for me. I remember thinking how beautiful her handwriting was and how thoughtful it was for her to give me a card when she scarcely knew me…but it has only been in the past couple of years that these words have taken root…at the time, I was standing in the Sonlight of the world…everything was bright and shining…however, before long, I would be standing in shadow, wondering how everything blackened so suddenly. And since then, my view of the world has changed and I have come to appreciate the Sonlight against the backdrop of the shadow…and I have discovered that truly, there is a time under heaven for every season.

One of my favorite authors says, “Nothing comes to you without first going through the hands of our loving Father…” As I read through these activities that occur under heaven…the planting and uprooting…the weeping and laughing…the embracing and refraining…the tearing and mending…I have to simply stand in awe that we rest in the all-knowing embrace of a Father who loves us with reckless abandon. He can take a look at my life…at who I am…and though it may not appear as such, He knows how to work things for the good (Romans 8:28). Many of the circumstances I found myself in this year were not as I would have chosen…but Abba, who knows me and my thick-skulled-ness, knew what it would take to get through to me in His ever persistent way. And as I sit here catching my breath from the race I have been running these past few months, I feel a heart at peace…a heart that is processing and understanding and falling in love with Him all over again…so thankful that my reality is His grace.

HowManyOfMe.com

There are: 117 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

So here is some more info on the name "Sara"...granted its only in the US..but I thought this was fun...:)

• There are 343,464 people in the U.S. with the first name Sara.
• Statistically the 168th most popular first name. (tied with 2 other first names.)

...and I guess I'll just keep dreaming. As for this year, this was as close as we got to a "white Christmas"...on Christmas Eve Day, I got all excited only to see my hopes and dreams plummet to the ground at the discovery that this was only a "heavy frost". Now with only a few days remaining before my return to SC...I think snow is only a distant memory...or future hope. :)

My Brenna is the only person I know (still living) who would get this excited about a package of white computer paper...she does come by it honestly as my Gma Page was much the same way...I guess its nice to know she is easy to please...usually. :)

My family should know by now that these kind of pics usually make it to this site...we figure that in a few years, Cody's drill instructor will just love this pic. Ah yes, he is our pride and joy...but he keeps us all laughing. :)

I'm not too sure what the beauty of this thing is...but this was the most coveted Christmas gift in our household this year...with 3 generations of Marines (one of those a "will-be Marine"), this dog got everyone riled up. It now resides by Mom and Dad's fireplace...and "someone" put a pretty red bow on it so it is now at least a little festive. :)

So I woke up one morning from a medicine induced sleep to Brenna telling me that the geese were in the pond and their feet were frozen into it...and then there was a cat...a half hour later I was sure I dreamed that little encounter with my niece...but low and behold, I looked out our back door and this is what I saw. Thankfully, a goose's feet will not freeze when they are in the pond...but this little bit of Canada is just sticking around this week enjoying the freezing water. :)

My awesome housemate, Bekah, has discovered a new way of eating popcorn...knowing she has a weakness for my stovetop popcorn, I made some one evening when she was working on a huge project that she could not get greasy...so she pulled out the ol' spoon and gave it a whirl...half way into her bowl, she commented that it was rather effective and she just might convert...I guess I'm just more of a traditionalist. :)

I forgot just how bitter a December wind in Iowa can be...tonight I was reminded when Mom and I tried to go on a walk in the new part of our subdivision where there are no houses to help block the merciless cold. Needless to say, we cut our walk very short and were met with surprise when we returned to the house after only a few minutes.

This was a different kind of Christmas in our household...celebrating on Christmas Eve with my brother and his family left just my folks and me today. So after spending lunch with my best friend from high school/college and her family, my folks and I got in the car and headed to the movie theater to see "The Nativity" (I didn't know movie theaters were open on Christmas Day!)...trying my hardest not to critique it to pieces, I decided that overall, it was a really well-done movie...it was what I needed to fill the emptiness I had been feeling regarding the "Christmas-spirit."

Yesterday seemed a cruel trick...I was awoken early by my dad pounding on my bedroom door and yelling as only a good drill sergeant can....just as he used to do every Sunday morning as I was growing up. My blinds were closed, but I got a glimpse through a crack in them...and my heart leaped when I saw what appeared to be white...when I asked Dad, he informed me that in fact it was NOT snow, but rather a very heavy frost...so I got up and looked for myself. Oh well, I guess it was close...Lord knows we don't get everything we ask for. Yet, despite disappointments, there is much to be thankful for...

...time with family that one does not see so often anymore
...the hug and conversation of an old friend
...an unexpected gift in the mail from another dear friend
...phone calls from other beloved friends
...unexpected emails, no matter how random
...time just to be...to unwind...and to rest and get focused again
...a Saviour who came as a helpless baby destined for a cross in my place

The day started out normal...6am wake up...ready by 7am...Bekah's boyfriend, Eric came to pick me up at 7:07am to take me and all my luggage to the airport in Cola...I'd say things started off really well...then I got to the check in counter...where I was informed that my flight would be delayed one hour. Not so bad since the Cola airport has wi-fi...actually a pretty sweet deal if I had to say so. Hence the reason I got my post up earlier today.

So at about 9:20am we boarded the plane...and we were off to Chicago. Now, you have to understand that I don't recall the last time I had an "incident-free" experience at O'Hare...looosing luggage, nearly busting my ankle, delays left and right...so imagine my shock and utter delight when I got there to discover that my flight was on time...to board at 11:57am to be gone by 12:17pm and home by 1:45pm. That would have been nice. Even as we taxied out to the runway I was thinking how lovely this all was and how maybe, just maybe, I could put all my past experiences with O'Hare behind me and move on in our hate relationship....but she was about to get me again...she just waited until the final moments.

Yes, we were delayed a good 45 minutes on the runway. She's so funny. So we finally took off and 30 minutes later we were over CR...and 20 minutes after that we were still over CR...doing little doughnuts in the sky over CR as if it were some cruel joke...thinking we were going to land. Hahahaha. Nope. 1:45pm came and went...and we were finally told that we would be diverting to Rockford, IL...a tiny airport 3 hours (by car) northeast of CR. Giddy up.

So we finally land in Rockford. They let us go in the terminal and teased us with food that didn't really exist...and then got our hopes up even further that the fog would lift over CR and we would fly back within the hour. Obviously, that was not so. So an hour later, we were instead embarking on our journey to CR by bus. Thankfully, they did show mercy and stop at McDonalds for those of us who had not eaten YET in the day! :) McDonald's never tasted so good!

At 8:45pm, I finally arrived in CR and was reunited with my parents once again. Not a good day for travel...but I got to meet some really interesting people and have some really fun conversations, so as I told one of my friends, it wasn't a bad day; just a lot longer than expected. Not to mention the sharp disappointment that my beloved Crazy Aunt Mary, whom I have not seen in about 6 years, would not be able to make it for Christmas as planned because she can't get out of Seattle....due to Denver, Dallas, and Salt Lake having their own weather issues.

Home sweet home...even if it was 7 hours later than expected...its still just as lovely. :)

So one of my teacher friends would always tell the kids at recess to not lay on the cold (I use that term VERY loosely here!) ground because they would get pleurisy. Now, she is full of southern expressions and stories, and I had never heard of pleurisy...so I chalked it up to another southern saying that I would never understand since I am northern-born and raised...but not so....

The last week of CIU and teaching I started coughing pretty badly and then started getting a really sharp pain in my side...near the lung/rib area. So my wonderful roomie took me to the doctor where we sat and waited for 5 hours...and when the doc finally came in she said, "Well, you must be in a lot of pain to wait for this long..." I've never heard more accurrate words. So a long story short...I missed 2 days of work because not only do I have walking pneumonia...but also pleurisy. So its not a southern expression...its all too real. :) Apparently the short and understandable meaning of pleurisy is an inflamation of the lung. Yeah, can we all say it together, "Ouch!" But I guess I am in good company...some really famous people have died of this...such as Constantine, Ben Franklin, Francis Scott Key...among many others. But thankfully there has not been a death from it in a very long time...so no frets there. :)

Anyhow...in other news...CIU is done for a few weeks and my teaching career as it has been is now over as well. So I am sitting at the airport, my flight both here and in Chicago delayed...but ever so thankful for free wi-fi here in Cola. :) The song "I'll Be Home for Christmas" was just playing...how appropriate...now, Lord willing, "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" will also come true. :)

Welcome to finals week at CIU (which means Christmas is just around the corner!)...and my adventurous weekend...here are the highlights:

• The Zoo Trip...17 kids, 5 adults, 17 degrees outside, sleeping on a hard floor
• No one has returned my voice to me yet...4 days later and I am still going without
• A CO (yes, that is carbon monoxide) scare at home with Bekah...though it turned out that it was just our house nearly burning down instead, so that was a relief
• Because of the CO scare, a slumber party at Adam and Eric's due to the fact that NONE of our female friends called us back in our hour of need
• A little gathering with some amazing food at the house of our friend Karin...sometimes its not as fun to be at a gathering when you can't talk, not that I usually talk a lot anyway, but its nice to at least have the option
• Walking into my classroom this morning to my kids sighing at my lack of voice and asking, "Miss Page, is your voice EVER going to come back?"
• The announcement at school that I will be leaving my teaching position as of December 20th to "pursue graduate studies" (or rather, concentrate a bit harder on them anyhow!)
  

So Friday came and has now gone...praise God for that! Thursday at the end of the day I started coughing and began to lose my voice...well, but Thursday night, it was nearly gone. By yesterday morning, I had absolutely no voice above a whisper. Did I teach? Of course. Stubborn to the end...so I have come to find that 3rd grade is much easier to teach when you can talk. :)

As if a day with no voice weren't enough...I had yet another student throw up IN my classroom...on the CARPET. I tell ya, the fun never ends as a teacher...

Last night, we had an overnight zoo trip with the kids...so we walked around in the cold all evening and then eventually got them all to bed. This morning we woke up early and went and saw all the animals before getting on the bus to get the kids back into the anxious arms of their folks.

My last final is Monday...'tis the season for all the fun and stress. :)

Just a warning for you...
If a child is doubled over in his chair.
Then you find him lying on the floor holding his stomach.
And he refuses your offer to send him to the nurse...
MAKE HIM GO ANYWAY.

Otherwise, he might throw up in your classroom.
And not on the tile floor that is two feet away...
But on your carpet.
Where the stench will remain for the whole day.
And the rest of your students all day long will ask you, "Did someone throw up in here?"
And the stench will randomly reoccur and make you gag...
Until you have to borrow some air freshener to somewhat cover it up.

Just wanted to give you a warning from my experience today.
It was just lovely.

So I have to confess that last night was about the most fun I have had in many, many weeks. Eric, Bekah, and I met our friend Karin at a Mexican place here in Cola and then Eric came over to our house and we watched a movie...then he decided to fix our desert (because the Mexican place had no fried ice cream...again!), so he went with Bananas Foster...something I've never had and was VERY impressed with...even if it was slightly against the school's standards with the alcohol...ideally it all burned out...ideally.

Some brown sugar, butter, cinnamon, and the first 1/2 cup of French brandy... 

And adding the second 1/2 cup of French brandy...supposedly all this cooks out...haha, but after eating the desert, I think we were all wondering. :) 

Eric lighting our desert on fire... 

Kind of a cool pic of the desert on fire. :) Impressive, no?! 

Bekah dishing out the vanilla ice cream...check out those muscles. :) 

And the final product...vanilla ice cream with the topping...quite a tasty treat!  

And the finished desert...with a cup of milk. :)