Dating from Afar....

******* This is not a blog something I have mastered, that I claim to be good at or wish upon anyone, however, if you have any more suggestions I'd love to hear and learn from them*******

As you probably know from reading this blog... my boyfriend lives far away... far, far, far, far, far awaway... 2,884 miles away to be exact! The other day someone asked me advice on dating long distance. Unfortunately, I have no advice... I hate it, a LOT!! I cannot wait for Oct 5th when I fly down to Oakland for him to pick me up. However, there are a few things that we have figured out.

The FIRST piece of advice that I was given was that you have to communicate your emotions and feelings. Even as hard as it would be to tell someone over the phone that your having a hard day or that your grumpy or something of that sort.... its good because they are able to cater to your needs. Just as if they were home and were able to see you tear up or see your facial expressions. It IS hard and IS some times awkward because they can't hug you or physically comfort you, but you will BOTH be able to communicate better. In the long run it will be helpful and during your time apart it will help you both a lot. (I may have butchered that explanation, but I hope it makes sense)

Okay.. so here are some of the things that we have done, that have either helped or at least preoccupied my mind in order to pass the time....

- Before he left for VA I wrote him letters and put them in a box, some of them I dated, some of them I labeled like "for a bad day"..... that way even if I get busy with life, he can be encouraged and know I'm praying for him.

- We wrote letters our first month apart, very intentional letters... we found a list of questions and discussed them in written form. It was amazing to get letters in the mail, they are the best, but it also allowed for great discussion in letters.

- Intentional conversation is important, we have found that it gets really easy to sit and talk about how much we love each other, miss each other and can't wait to see each other. That's doing nothing to further our relationship, but instead its just making the whole thing worse. Its okay to have those moments, but not EVERY conversation.

- We facetime.. a LOT and we're goofy, not everything has to be serious. Seeing each others face makes it feel as if we just hung out the other night, its fun :)

- We text... I find it fun to text him before I go to sleep because its a three hour difference, so when he wakes up there is a message from me.

- A package is NEVER a bad way to go... we're cheesy so we write cheesy notes on all the items. It's my favorite and is always fun to get a surprise package in the mail, even if the items are pointless and ridiculous (although, maybe one important item is good)

( My awesome package I got at Fuge!)

- sometimes its okay to just sit and vent, for the first month we either didn't want each other to know how much we were missing each other... or maybe the first month wasnt that hard, but as time passed it got harder. Sometimes we just sit and talk about how we can't wait to see each other and how much this sucks. I think it is important to state that sometimes... your both thinking it, so why not talk about it.

(However, the biggest part is that you can't dwell in that... yes, it sucks, but it'll pass)

- Make sure to inform each other of what is going... its kind of nice to be able to feel like your with each other... send a text or an email about the dinner you hand with a group of your friends... with LOTS of detail. If you have text, text DURING the event something funny that happened, you may think it'll make them miss home more, but really they already miss home at least they will feel like their part of the joke if it gets brought up later.

- One of the things I have loved is reading the same books or listening to the same pod cast... your lives are going to be SO different, its nice to have something you two are doing that is the same... even across the country.

- Be creative... one of my friends whose girlfriend lived in Africa while he lived in America planned movie nights and skype dates together. They would watch a movie and watch it "together"... we're trying it tomorrow, I can't wait.

- I might insert more, but thats what I can think of now, its more fun the more creative you can get.

however please, please please do NOT Don't become the bitter "my boyfriend lives far away girl", its almost as bad as the "pitty me I don't have a boyfriend girl"... It's very rare that distance sneaks up on a person... so if you don't think you can handle that, discuss it... maybe that relationship isn't for you. Thats OKAY... thats what dating is for.

I say all that to say this... It doesn't matter what you do or don't do if your hope is in your boyfriend/girlfriend. If your hope is Christ it wont matter where you are or your significant other is your joy will be ever lasting.

"²⁰ We wait in hope for the LORD;

he is our help and our shield.

²¹ In him our hearts rejoice,

for we trust in his holy name."

Psalm 18:20-21

Country Traveler...

Almost every summer since about Jr. High I have not been home, because I was blessed enough to travel. In Jr. High a lot of it consisted of camps and family, soccer camp, church camp, grandma's house... etc. In High School I spent a month in Europe, two weeks in China and endless weeks at camp. In College I haven't been as privileged to travel, but this summer was a traveling experience like i've never seen before!
It started on a very early, very dark June morning as I boarded a plan from Ontario to Dallas. If you know me you understand that flying is not my favorite thing, but flying from Dallas to Tennessee was a totally new experience. After a long ride to Dallas, a tram ride and a slight fear that I might miss my plane I boarded a three row plane and headed for Knoxville, TN. There I was greeted by Stacey, who quickly became one of my favorite staffers. I hoped in a car with Thad, Brandon and Samantha and headed to Jefferson City, TN to start life as a.... Fuge Staffer!
Fuge was amazing, but very challenging. I spent my first week learning how to run Rec, how to teach bible studies and how to cater to students and situations I may come into contact with. We also spent a lot of time bonding as a staff, it was definitely challenging, but very fun. Getting use to the weather, the culture and the students was more of a challenge than I thought, but It was well worth it. Week one there was a little boy that I feel in love with, his name I can't remember, I just called him "Bear" because he had longer surfer hair and looked like a bear. It'd been a rough week and I was trying really hard to get everyone ready for Mega, when Bear ran up to me and asked if he could tell the group something. Now, if any of you have worked with 6th graders you know that getting them all together, but I did. Then Bear in front of everyone shouted "Tonight I became a Christian". That was the highlight of my summer.
The next few weeks I learned a lot, met a lot of cool people and I'll be able to blog randomly, but when I think about it, thats what matters, is the little kids that go home and get to say "I'm a Christian".

(These are my ladies, I miss them a lot.... Jenny, Dee, Jennifer, Nic Nak, me and Leah)

Oh lordy my staff, and if you look carefully my horrible, horrible tan line :) (Jennifer, Brandon, Jenny, Danny and Jon)

(Me and Sam on the hottest part of the summer!... this was day one of registration)

Once upon a ponder...

I left home a on June 2nd for Tennessee... It's currently July 20th and I haven't been home.
I have meet 20 amazing staffers that have changed my life, I have gone on my dream vacation with my mom, I am currently sitting in a room provided by my amazing boyfriend and am getting ready to go visit my high school best friend and meet her new little
Wow!!
Te craziest thing is I might be returning to the west coast, but things are no going back to "normal", I'll be going home to say good-bye, pack my things and head up to WA to start my post graduate life. What that consist of, I'm not quit sure, but I'm stoked for that adventure! So far fit means I move in with Miss Becca Fliant, then in November my best friend joins me.

Some of the plans/dreams/hopes thus far:
- Thursday night Jersey Shore nights with Becca.... With a cheese and wine theme to honor their Italian setting
- decorating an apartment... Or two (HGTV I will represent you well!)
- buy kayaks
- become a runner
- become a morning person
- have Saturday morning adventures in Seattle

This adventure is scary, but exciting. I've learned that I'll have to say goodbye, miss important events and even the not so important ones, but I can't wait to see how God orchestrates it for his glory.

Day 12

Today is day 12 of my amazing journey with my mom. Twelve days is a lot of days for anyone to travel, but for us the one preceding today almost did us in. There were no extra steps taken, extra sights seen or anything out of the ordinary, but for some reason day 11 was a hard one. We went to bed early last night in order to start our day off early today. That didn't happen instead is started with a lazy morning, with a mid afternoon starbucks stop.
With a text from the boy that said "Hope today is the best ever"... we were on our way.
We started at the American History museum viewing Julia Child's Kitchen, Dorthy's Shoes and the Muppet's, but I'm finding I'm not a huge fan of this like that, but instead desire the hard facts (which I will later talk about my trip to the Newseaum...). After a lot of "ooohing" and "awwwing" we made our way over for our 1:45 appointment the Holocaust museum.
When I was in High School I visited a concentration camp and WW2 has always been fascinating so to visit our countries national museum was a privilege. We walked in an went up the elevator, watched a movie about propaganda and then started our venture, but I was in for more than I'd expected.
There was an older lady and a younger lady walking together the older lady was explaining the pictures and translating the signs and as I heard her say "Those signs were anti-Semitic they read 'I only date German Girls' and those say the same about boys". (Now I have a theory that if you follow old people through a museum you learn more, so as I heard her speak I began to follow). After about 5 mins of trying to stand in the back and not ask questions a man, loud and abrupt, asked who she was. The younger women answered and said "this is my great aunt, she's a survivor and you may join our tour if you want"... then she looked at me (who had though I'd been so smooth is staying in the shadows) and said "You may as well if you'd like". This began a two hour tour of the Holocaust Museum being escorted by Ms. Margit Meissner.
She would describe the pictures and then tell of how her story fit in with what the museum had depicted. She was part of a 2,000 people escape that a man whose last name was Fry helped execute, it was during the time they were trying to take the elite and intellegant out of the Nazi run areas in hopes of saving people such as Einstein. Her and her mom were able to escape (I believe from Austria or maybe Paris, but I got a little confused on the part trying to hear over people, I'll tell you when I'm done with her book) they rode our with 1,998 other people on bicycles the day before Hitler invaded the town they were in.
She was such a small fragile women with so much history behind her, I got her book, a picture and a signature and look forward to sharing more about her.

Margit's Story
Margit Meissner

Two more "Ventures" down!

Well, here I am a college graduate AND a military girlfriend.

On May 7th, 2011 I, Sarah Trout graduate college. Something that no one thought would actually happen. It took a lot of people to get to this point and for all of those people I am forever grateful. For Mr. Lindamen who stayed an hour everyday after school for three years while I learned how to read and spell, to Ms. Baily who told me I could graduate even when I figured I never would, to my Mom who proofread and to Emily who listened to me complain, to Amanda who always worked a step ahead of me so I always had someone to catch up to, to my cousins who went before me who were inspiration, to my nieces and cousin I hope to inspire,to the brother who was blue in the face (and still is) trying to get me to apply for real jobs and real majors, to the teachers who bared with me and the friends who encouraged me, to the boyfriend who listened to me cry and bought me a load of Panera during finals... this yellow/gold/lancer yellow tube with nothing in it, as well as the diploma, (which I have yet to pick up because my class didn't transfer in time, HOWEVER did get there before the deadline so I am a legit college graduate for realsies...)
Yep... my brother is a stellar photographer... but he and my uncle together are dangerous... My uncle decided that i needed a laffy taffy necklace, but that I needed it DURING the ceremony. So I have three little cousins, one of them is bound to run over and give it to me right... right! So, as I sit cheering my friends on and being excited to hold this tube in my head this occurs..

If any of you know my uncle... or my brother you know this is not surprising. The last picture there is a lady in a green shirt... she was in charge of all of us and I got so nervous when she walked up. Oh the joys of my brother and uncle!

Well, I also mentioned I am not a military girl friend... yep! May 14, 2011 my wonderful boy friend was commissioned into the army and I was lucky enough to attend the ceremony. I loved every min of the day. If you know me at all you know that I am one of the biggest fans of the military and history and politics. Wow it was amazing to be able to see how the boys get commissioned in. Its been fun being able to meet the men that Brian worked with for the last three years and I've grown attached to a couple of them, such a joy to be able to share this special day with them.

Picture #1 we have to very similar to that... I love them and no matter what he says I'm not complaining, his cheeks were hurting and I was laughing at him :)
Picture #2 Scott said this one was cute, thats why I put it on here... I think all of them of us are cute :)
Picture #3 Thats Mark, but I was introduced to him as Graham and then I found out his real first name is James... so in conclusion... that's Brian's friend... he's great, he's in AZ and doing things top secret. Although he acts like he doesn't like me, I know I'm his favorite!

This is Brian's amazing family. They have been so welcoming to me and so kind to me. I am super blessed to have been able to spend time with them for the last few weeks.

Well, there is a SMALL update on my life and everything that has been going on.
A week from yesterday I leave for TN and start my "venture" as a camp counselor, but I have a couple cool things that have happened in between all this so I'll be updating more this week.
Thanks for reading! :)

Small Update

Well, I wrote this blog because there are a list of things that are coming my way that I've never done before and I thought it'd be fun to write about them, the first thing that was new to venture on is my relationship, but you've all heard enough about him and that mess, but I just realized that my other adventures are right around the corner.

In three days I graduate

One month from right now I'll be in Tennessee

Two months from today I'll be in Boston

Three months from right now I'll be living in Gig Harbor Washington

I tend to fail mesireably at change, I cry a lot and freak out, but I'm not scared of any of this stuff. God is good and HERE WE GO!!

come one Gig Harbor...

Last week my friend Becca text me and said that she looked at apartments for us in gig harbor... I got more excited about going to garage sales and restoring furniture than I did about the move. My excitement gets bigger ever day and so does my community, I'm excited to start anew in WA and decorate... with a little bit of spray paint :)