"Late" Update on Life

So I'm really bad at this whole blogging thing.  I can't blame it on a lack of time.  I can't blame it on a lack of updates in our lives.  And I can't blame it on other people forgetting to remind me... Thanks Ross and Whit!

Well I'll try for a quick update -- Way back when it was Christmas, we had some visitors.  The Walker clan came to visit us at our new home and we had so much fun.  We loved having Larry, Nancy, and Alyssa here!  They spent a little more than a week here and loved every minute of the beautiful weather.  We took lots of walks/runs, played with Mack, ate too much, and laughed everyday!  While they were here, we took a two day trip up North to Sedona and Flagstaff.  We went to the Grand Canyon and boy is it is sight to see!  I've been there a few times now and I'm more impressed each trip!  Such an amazing place. -- Ross and I got a new camera for Christmas...Thanks Nancy and Larry...so we took lots of pictures!

We are so glad we could have family here for the holiday!  Thanks for visiting!  Can't wait to have you back again!

 Red Rocks in Sedona, AZ

 Grand Canyon

 The "Original" Walker Family

The "New" Walker Family 

Walker Kids and "Granddog" - Mack

After our company left, Ross had to go back to school and I was left at home with a very empty house!  We got caught up on some stuff and got back into a normal routine and as we all know, that routine is pretty boring.  Ross works all day and I sub a few times each week when I'm not training with my coach.  We are both coaching track this year and it has been so much fun!  We love helping the kids and it's great spending time together.  

I've been traveling a little bit this year and will complete my indoor track season this weekend in Albuquerque, NM.  I'm really excited to see my family -- We haven't seen them since the wedding!  Hope you're ready for me, momma!  Also excited that the Mountain West Conference is being held at the same place so we will get to see Kari Hardt run for BYU... Go Kari!  And we'll see the Hardt/Lemieux family!  

Well I'm off to workout!  Knew I'd never hear the end of it if Whit didn't get a little update!  Wish me luck this weekend!  

Love and Hugs! 

Sarah 

Thankful...

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving...We sure did!  We missed our family in CO and ND but had so much fun spending the weekend with our friends, the Hardt's and Lemieux's.  We went out to Queen Creek on Thursday morning, with mashed potatoes in hand, ready for a wonderful day.  I spent the morning helping with the food and playing with the kids!  Ross was outside most of the morning helping Shaun with the horses and getting ready to go hunting.  After we ate, the guys all left to go elk hunting up north and us girls stayed home plotting a plan for Black Friday!  ** Side Note - Whitney is CRAZY!  I had no idea what I was getting myself into. **  However, we planned what we wanted to get and set out for Target at 3:00am...arriving to a line of at least 1,000 people.  The doors opened at 4:00am an we got inside around 4:05am.  Talk about a mad house!  There were four of us and we "divided and conquered" -- as Whit called it -- and did very well with our shopping!  The trip was a success...minus the 30 minutes we temporarily lost one of our shopping friends!  After hitting up Target, we headed to Walmart, Sears, Toy's R Us, Ulta, Paradise Bakery, back to Target, Ross, and FINALLY back to Walmart.  Our shopping morning was over by 9:45am!  Pretty darn good day I'd say!  The rest of the afternoon we hung around the house and played with the babies!  --- Also tons of fun!

Oh... and about the boys -- They got an elk around 8:30am on Friday but shot it down in a canyon, so it took them 7 hours to drag it back to the pickup.  Ross claims he's sore from it... I think the is just complaining!

Lately, Ross and I have been talking a lot about how blessed we are to have so many wonderful things/people in our lives.  Below is my list of things I'm thankful for.  I want to challenge you to write down 50 things you are thankful for!  Ready.... Go...

I am thankful for....
1.   my husband
2.   my mom and her husband
3.   my sisters
4.   my grandma and grandpa
5.   my mother-in-law
6.   my father-in-law
7.   my sister-in-law
8.   my best friend Katie
9.   my other best friend Whitney - and her entire family!
10. my other great friend Derrick
11. the Kero Family
12. my health
13. my crazy dog Mack
14. my job(s) - all three'ish of them
15. our new home
16. my many opportunities to travel the world
17. my opportunities to travel the US
18. my opportunities to compete at the highest level in my sport
19. my education
20. my opportunities to represent the USA in track and field
21. my college track career
22. my dedication
23. my commitment
24. my creative abilities
25. my inner perfectionist
26. my organization
27. my husbands sense of humor
28. my relationship with my grandparents
29. my memories of my great grandma's
30. my throwing coach - Dave Dumble
31. USATF
32. my training partner
33. our friends, Mr. and (future) Mrs. Ryan Whiting
34. our friends, Jason, Jordan, Anna, and Jessica
35. my comfy bed
36. a warm place to live
37. yummy food in our refrigerator
38. my husbands sarcasm
39. the little moments in life that I will never forget
40. things that make me smile
41. giving and getting love everyday
42. God and the love and forgiveness He shows me daily
43. summer vacations spent with family
44. the holidays
45. our amazing wedding last summer
46. my husbands job
47. my love for helping people - especially children
48. my willingness to give everyone a second (sometimes third) chance
49. the rest of our family and friends
50. my future

Made me realize just how amazing my life is!  Couldn't be more thankful for everything I have in my life!

Until next time - Love and Hugs
Sarah

Home Sweet Home

3 posts in one day = SHOCKING

While planning a wedding and getting married, Ross and I also became homeowners. We bought a great little house from some friends of ours that completely remodeled the house. We loved it as soon as we saw it and it was such a great deal! We couldn't pass it up! Here are some pictures! Best part is that we haven't had to do much work to make it "home".

07.03.10

Brief recap of the wedding events/week....

Ross and I headed back to Colorado about a week before the wedding to get all of the final details in line and make sure we had everything ready. We had family and friends coming into town within a few days of getting to Fort Collins. It was wonderful to spend so much time with everyone. Sadly, we don't make it back home very often so any chance we get is great.

Ross had a chance to hang out with the guys for a few days before the wedding. Adam, our best-man and Ross' best friend, arranged a camping trip and a white water rafting trip. The guys had a great time... I only got to hear some of the stories and see some of the pictures! I'm sure I don't want to know the rest.

While the boys were out having fun, my best friend Katie planned a great little party for me and the girls. All of my friends and family that were in town went to dinner at a golf course, played a trivia game (Alyssa won!), and shared advice on how to always keep my husband happy! I loved all of the advice and will have it forever thanks to Jodi and Katie! I love the scrapbook! You guys are the best!

FINALLY, the wedding day had arrived and we couldn't have been more excited. We spent the morning getting ready at my mom's and took pictures before heading to the wedding. Everything had gone as planned, and then we had to walk down the stairs to the limo... Poor Alyssa feel down the stairs and scraped her knees... We all stood there quiet for a few seconds and then burst out laughing! Thankfully she was fine and our photographer did a wonderful job editing the pictures so you can't see the bandaids! The guys went to lunch and got ready at the hotel before heading to the Oval.

The wedding was perfect and we couldn't have asked for a more perfect wedding! After the wedding, Ross and I took our wedding party to our favorite little place to eat in Fort Collins, Big City Burrito. BEST.POTATO.BURRITO.EVER! After indulging, we headed to the reception for what would turn into the most amazing evening EVER! Our DJ was called "Too Much Fun" and they were exactly that. We found a DJ gem via the internet and I think everyone really enjoyed themselves. At the end of the night, we were sad to leave and couldn't believe it was all over so quickly! Amazing day, amazing family and friends, amazing memories, and the start of an AMAZING LIFE together!

Here are a few of our favorite pictures from the week!

Mr. and Mrs. Ross and Sarah Walker

The Oval at CSU

Silly Boys... I mean MEN!

LOVE these fun shot put pictures!

First Dance as husband and wife!

Big City Burrito

I have few words for this... Super funny!

Our special friends!

My family. Your family. OUR family!

Pretty ladies!

Finally...

Well, I warned you I wasn't very good at this blogging stuff. Clearly I don't update it very often, but I'm really going to try to be better about it. I have to say thank you to Whitney for keeping me on my toes with the blog... She updates her blog all the time and is making me look bad! Thanks, Whit! As you may or may not know, a lot has happened since I was last on here. A quick list of updates...

• I competed in another Grand Prix in New York City.
• I got picked up by Shore AC (a track club in New Jersey).
• I competed at the USA Outdoor Championships in Des Moines, Iowa.
• We got MARRIED!
• Spent time with our families in Colorado and North Dakota for the summer.
• We are officially homeowners in Chandler, AZ!
• Ross took a position as a freshman football coach at Desert Vista and got assigned to ALL biology classes for this year!
• I'm working as a substitute and back to training full time.

It doesn't really seem all that exciting, but we have been on the go for the last few months and loving every minute of it.

I'm planning on updating the blog with some wedding pictures and sharing some of our wonderful memories from our special day. I'll be back... PROMISE!

Sarah

Ooops...

So they posted in the wrong order... Start at the end and work your way back! It will make more sense! Haha... Sorry! I told you I wasn't very good at this stuff!

Question: Another GP?

Answer: Oh YES!

While in ND, I got a text from Jessica saying that might be going to Brazil for a Grand Prix Circuit... SCORE! This was another great opportunity and I was soooo excited! We got back home and I talked with Coach Dumble and we decided this would be another chance for me (and Jessica) to travel, compete, and make some money! We found out we would be in Brazil for three different meets over the span of 11 days!

Well... I was home for about two weeks and then jumped on another plane bound for Brazil! We left the USA on May 13th and landed in Fortaleza, Brazil on May 14th. We had our first meet on May 16th...and I WON my first Grand Prix meet of my career! I threw 57' 1" (I think) and had a great time! I really love competing and this traveling thing just adds to the experience.

As of now, we are in Belem, Brazil. We will be here for about three days before heading to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. I will compete again on Wednesday, May 19th and then travel on May 20th. We will be in Brazil until the 26th. I will keep you posted as much as I can and pictures will soon follow!

Side Note... Ross is doing great! He is so supportive of me and I couldn't be happier. He is finished with HS Track but Club Track is starting up tomorrow so the grind continues for him. He's finished with school on the 27th and if you as him...that day can't come soon enough! He's been home alone a lot the last few months but I know Mack is keeping him busy! I'll try to convince him to post...but not sure that will happen!

Good Night from Brazil--

Sarah