Lately

So life keeps turning upside down for me lately. One day I am going back to Fresno State, the next day I am not, and then I am again, and now... who knows? I got word that they are not letting me into the one class I need to graduate. Their suggestion: go to summer school and take it. Which is like $1500. Im not thinking so.....

There is a replacement class I can take. It is an internship. An internship makes me really nervous, simply because I feel somewhat unreliable at the moment, cause, by the way, I might go into labor and who knows how that will turn out and I am going to be a first time mom and who knows how THAT will turn out... Anyways, I can't really worry anymore, since God keeps changing my plans. There is no reason to, because there is nothing I can really do. I just hope they let me into the internship class.....

Family is my priority at this moment, and hopefully God will smooth out the wrinkles. I read today in Proverbs, 14:4, that the stable is only clean when there are no oxen at work; however, an abundant crop needs a strong number of oxen. Looks like it's going to be a dirty stable then! I think my abundant crop is graduating and being the SAHM I know God has led me to be (for now). My oxen make a dirty stable, and that dirty stable at the moment IS Fresno State. It is necessary though, and I hope that I can have an appropriate attitude in all of this. I hope I can rejoice knowing this is God's place for me. And I hope I can be obedient to His call on spreading the Gospel even when I have to do unpleasant things.

Until next week, I will do what I have to do Next week classes start, so we shall see if I will be going or not. Who knows at this point???

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." -Jeremiah 29:11

Annual Gingerbread House Championships of the World!

Hi everyone! I apologize for yet another late posting. Not like I need to update every second, but still. Hubby and I were just reeling from the semester, and we are finally starting to find a rhythm again. (BTW- I got 4th in the spelling bee when I was a kid because of "rhythm" grrrr) Aaron graduated college, and to top it off, got a 4.0 this last semester! I am so proud of him! He pulled several all-nighters and worked his tush. I also MIRACULOUSLY got a 4.0 this semester. My first one! So Aaron is now working for Apple, and I have been at home selling things on Craigslist. It is practically my job at the moment!

That's all for another post though, because we had our annual Gingerbread House Championships of the World at my mom's house about a week before Christmas. Guests and partners were as follows: Diann and Annie; Major and Barbie; Marcia and Kristina; Pat and Aaron; Andre' and Jack; Nick and Sarah (Me). We had to come up with a theme and represent it with our houses. We had an hour and a half to complete and could only use the candy available and what came in our boxes of gingerbread makings. The teams put their heads together, in quiet whispers and darting eyes, and the gun went off!

Annie and Diann raced and grabbed all of the marshmallows!

Kristina and Marcia grabbed the gummy bears and Neccos!

Barbie and Major grabbed, well, everything!

Aaron and Pat grabbed the coconut, Nilla wafers, and a beer!

Nick and I grabbed the Hershey's bars and Big Marshmallows!!

Jack and Andre sat talking!

We competed for a strenuous hour and a half. No one could tell what the other theme was. There was icing and coconut and candy and sick bellies (from snacking on said candy)! It was brutal! The timer went off, and the themes were.....

The Hospital!!! (Made by Sydney's two grandma's, Annie and Diann)

Details: a "welcome Sydney" sign, Sarah pregnant with baby waiting for Aaron to arrive at the hospital, and a custom helicopter. *Special props to Annie and Diann for not only participating in the competition, but making ALL of the icing for construction during the competition.*

The Wizard of OZ! (Made by Kristina and Marcia)

Details: perfectly hatched roof, munchkins, the wicked witch under the house with the red shoes, and a yellow brick road.

A Castle Under Siege! (Made by Barbie and Major)

Details: a drawbridge, two lookout towers, a shot-in-the-face-with-a-pretzel-arrow gummy bear, jousters, and a bleeding out warrior.

A Brewery! (Made by Pat and Aaron)

Details: "inflatable" beer sign, keg, barrels of hops and other miscellaneous machinery, roof sign, and bundles and bundles of ready-to-ship bottled beer.

The White House! (Made by Nick and Yours Truly)

Details: signature marshmallow pillars, fountain, oval office, and an american flag.

Giza! (Made by Andre' and Jack)

Details: Custom crafted Sphynx, two pyramids (possibly with tombs inside :O ), and a true to life mirage of a palm tree.

Last year's winners were Jack and Barbie.

And this year's award goes to......

The Brewery!!!

Congratulations Pat and Aaron on successfully replicating the Sierra Nevada Brewing Company.

I hope you enjoyed our competition. I can't wait for next year's........

Nutty

I went out looking for nursery room furniture at thrift stores, and this is what I found:

Nutty!

They are my favorite! This one is going to be named Nutty (I really like naming things. My car is Ladybug, our stunted Christmas tree is Piper, and my two plants are Fischer and... uhoh, I forgot the other one.... its new).

This is Piper. He leans a little

to the right, and don't touch

the pinecones... they came

unglued...

I just put up some things for Christmas, since everyone else is. Yes, I gave in to the peer pressure. I am feeling very festive though, so it works out. I didn't go all out.... yet. We dont have lights, except on Piper (he plugs in, no extras necessary : ) Piper is economical like that)

But here's some of the pics of what I have gotten to do. Cheapo stuff collected for the past three years : )

My grandma made the crocheted

snowflakes : )

I hope hubby is cool with it, since it took me like 20 minutes to do it all, and he's at class right now. Poor guy, he always comes home to furniture rearranged and house changed up hehehe. Right now, our fat girl Hunneybun is attempting to squeeze through a little crevice in order to sit on my chest. She just succeeded, and I can't breathe now....

Anyways, I cant wait for thanksgiving and I hope you all get your plans smoothed out and have a great time : )

Make Good Choices!

-Sarah T.

Updates!

Solomon sleeping/hiding under the dining table

Fat girl (Her real name is Hunneybun) being cute

Once upon a time, I got to hang out with my husband and enjoy the coming holidays.... THIS year, however, it seems that things are a little bit crazier than usual....

Aaron officially got a job working at the Mac Store selling Apple products. He seems to love it : ) It may be the MOST tempting place to work though, since we have upgraded our phones and now he has his eyes on some headphones (in my personal opinion, his current headphones work just fine!). But he is working really hard to provide for our growing family, and doing a great job at it : ) Very proud of him!

This means, however, that he is taking 18 units and working almost full-time. CRAZY! We get to see each other, probably around 9pm. And then we both scurry off to finish our homework. It also seems that my professors decided to get rid of tests and replace them with essays.... Of which I am HORRIBLE at writing. I really am pretty terrible. I cannot write a logical sentence to save my life. Gun to my head? Nope, still horrible.

So though I am only taking 13 units and not working, my essay time has skyrocketed, and mind you, I am definitely no whiz at busting out 10 page papers in a day. Try minimum 2 days.

ANyways, the good news is, Aaron will graduate at the end of this semester, and I will be taking a year off from school to prepare for baby.

Baby Belly at 21 Weeks

Speaking of baby, we went in for our 20 week ultrasound. Baby's heartbeat was awesome! Anatomy was all there, and baby had some big lips and Savage calves (we have bodybuilder genetics in the calf region).

Baby at 8 Week Ultrasound.... (little blob in the small circle)

Baby Profile at 20 Week Ultrasound (sorry for the glare)

Head on Right, nose and lips facing upwards. Hand in front of face (the random blob).

Baby's calves (knees on top, toes on bottom, legs side by side)

And the most surprising news:

We are having a baby girl!!! Well, 90% she's a girl....

We have chosen a name, and now everyone is starting to call her it, so I think it's a keeper. We are going with Sydney. No middle name yet, but we are considering Sydney Anna, Sydney Kay, and maybe Sydney Grace. Not sure yet.

Okie Dokie- Other than that, we are just chuggin along, trying to stay on mission, looking to the future, and putting our noses to the grindstone. Thanks for listening!

Make Good Choices!

-Sarah T.

Busy and soon to rest....

Well, it is mid October. Sorry it has been awhile- just cracking down on schooling and such. These past three weeks I have just been running from class to class to homework, etc. I def need a break, but it gets difficult when professors do online assignments and tests OUTSIDE of class grrr. oh well- on that note, this will be my last semester for a year. Hubby and I have decided it would be best for our family to take the year off and finish next spring. I will have one semester left, and baby should be about 9 months old, which will be much easier than a newborn!

Big decision for us, so now after December, I won't have too much to do. I am contemplating coaching again, and when baby comes, baby comes to track meets : ) Start them early right? Last year, I coached pole vault at a local high school, and LOVED it! This is my kiddos' senior year, and they improved so much last year, I would love to see them to their finish : ) However, I have to get past my new head coach. He is very different from our previous head coach, but I think he will be great as well.

On another note, I have been working on some nursery items! The walls are all painted a light and pretty seafoam green. I have installed some white bookshelves (thanks to my awesome sister Barbie!) that are mounted on the wall and off the ground. I am having a friend make the baby bedding, but that won't happen until after Christmas (she is super artsy and crafty and is making TONS of stuff for Christmas). Her site is dancingontheporch.etsy.com. Check it out. Also, I am working on some little crafts here and there for decorations. So far I've decided to put yellow pinwheels across one side of the room- which will be above the crib. I hope this works!!!

Okay, picture time:

4 Weeks

10 Weeks

17 Weeks

Okay everyone, you know the drill:

Make Good Choices!

-Sarah T.

Naming the Baby

Today I went through a list (A-Z) of baby girl names, including Armenian ones.

We have picked out a boy name: Samuel Jack Telloian. I like the way Sam would sound : ) Also, 1 Samuel is a beautiful story of Hannah, who wanted a baby so much. God gave her one, and she named him Samuel. Jack runs in both of our families. Samuel Jack kinda sounds like an alcoholic drink hehehe. That was UNINTENTIONAL!

Girl's names, on the other hand, are more frustrating. A girl can be so unique (not that a boy can't be, they are just a little bit more predictable in my eyes, therefore easier to choose a name for). I jotted down names that interested me, so here they are:

Roubina (Rubina)- my beautiful cousin's name that I love

Annie (Ani)- my mother-in-law's name that is so cute

Haley- I taught a little girl for about three years and we formed a close connection. She was so full of spirit : )

Hannah- classic

Heidi- different

Hollie- spunky

Janie- cutesie

Poppy- Our baby is due in the spring.

Renee- seemed dramatic and beautiful to me

Ruby- rockin. Hope our baby isn't cursed with red hair like me though....

Sasha- kinda russian

Sidney (Sydney)- very fun

Wendy- classical

Femi- this means love. I thought it was interesting

Houri (Houry)-another beautiful cousin's name- I absolutely love this one (probably my fave right now)

Mina- My second fave!)

Seta- Kinda cool. Reminds me of something in childhood, but I can't remember what.

Yeva- Armenian, but kinda Russian sounding : )

Help us!!! What's your opinion?

Racism and the Law of the Old Testament

So, I had an assignment for my class in college that I just finished. I REALLY didn't want to do it, but am so thankful I did. I now have more an understanding of the Gospel!

Okay, so remember Jim Crow laws? Blacks were separated from whites, and if they broke any of those laws, they could be lynched. The Jim Crow laws ended legally in 1965; however, in 1998, a black man (James Byrd, Jr.) was dragged behind a truck, decapitated along the way, and thrown into a black cemetery. The three murderers were white supremacists. The link to the story is attached.

For my class, I had to find a modern (within the past 20 years) lynching of a black person. This horrible story (which I remember hearing about as a little girl) came to mind, so I looked it up. As I was reflecting on the story and following the rubric for my short essay, I began to think about the "law".

My introduction was this (sorry it is lame, I am not a very good writer):

"The injustices and prejudices of the past do not escape our common era simply because they are illegal. The law cannot regulate beliefs. The law also cannot persuade someone to think a black person is equal to a white person: the white person simply must obey the law, or else suffer legal consequences. It has become more obvious that racial discrimination is still alive and well today, even though it has become illegal to act on such a belief."

So what became profound to me is this: the law cannot regulate a person's beliefs. Or we could say: the Law cannot regulate a person's heart toward God.

If you were to obey the Law of the Old Testament, you could wash your hands a certain way and eat certain meats and think you were okay in the eyes of God (Pharisee, anyone?). The white supremacists could (but didn't in the murder of Mr. Byrd) have obeyed the law and not hurt Mr. Byrd, but have still hated him because he was black (like many people still do today).

The New Testament describes (I've been reading in Hebrews):

"But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second." -Hebrews 8:6-7

So, the Law had faults, which was it could not regulate a person's heart toward God. The New Covenant had to come. Christ was crucified so God could deal with our hearts. He does this by giving us the faith to believe the promise that we are cleansed by Christ's blood. Also, He gives us the HOLY SPIRIT to sanctify us (in easier words: to change our hearts and beliefs toward God). Cool huh?

I never really understood why the Law was insufficient, until now, I guess. Anyways, I hope you learned something too!

Make Good Choices!

-Sarah T.