Welcome to our blog!

Greetings! I figured that with so many friends and family out of state, in addition to trying to keep up with former students, I figured a blog was the only way to keep up with everyone. I should have listened to the promptings of my mom and started a blog over a year ago... mother always knows best, right?! This initial post will be a little lengthier just because it is the first. Well here is an update for you all...

Mark is very busy supporting his family. I am proud of him for working so hard, allowing me to be a full-time mom. He has been working at Crenlo about 10 years now! He is also working on his business degree (with an emphasis on Finance) through Augsburg College in Rochester. He is a couple years into his schooling and is trying to take on-line classes, in addition to his regular classes. Other than work, school, and fatherhood, he is working on projects around the house (hopefully the basement is next). He also tries to find time to listen to music and play the Wii that he just got for his birthday gift. Let's just say he thinks he is now a professional bowler...

Sara (yours truly) is staying occupied with being a full time mom and wife. I am so grateful and blessed to be at home! I miss my students and my old colleagues, but know that God has placed me in the most important job in the world... wife and mother. I also have been a lia sophia advisor (direct selling of jewelry) for a little over a year now and have been doing 2-3 shows a month, which has been a perfect balance! When I am not cleaning, cooking, doing laundry, taking care of lia sophia business, playing with Ava, or pestering Mark, I like to get together with friends and family, do a little reading, or just get outside for a little bit. I cannot wait to get back into my garden! My newest hobby is creating Smileboxes (e-greetings) because it is a fantastic way to avoid doing something constructive. As my oldest sister's senior quote stated, "Procrastination is the art of yesterday." Now, with maintaining a blog, I have a new means of procrastination. Hallelujah!

Avalon Rose (aka "Ava") is 6 months old now and is currently sitting up, eating solids, rolling over, and her newest passion is hanging out in her Jumperoo. She has 2 teeth and is drooling up a storm. She is the biggest blessing that Mark and I could have ever expected; she is an Angel Baby. I'm being totally serious when I say that... she is honestly way easier than I ever would have expected a baby to be and I don't expect any future children (Lord willing we have more) to be as happy and easy-going as she has been. She sleeps 11 hours a night, and is content pretty much wherever she is put. Her one tick is that she is very aware of who is holding her and she is sometimes not too sure that she likes going to total strangers. That is when she does "the lip". Some of you know what I am talking about! Otherwise, she is always wearing a smile and loves to be sung to, read to, bounced around, and danced with.

That is it for now. In a nutshell, God has been good! I'll try to maintain weekly posts, but we'll see what happens. God bless!