A little Boom Boom Pow

well, as some of you know Brian and I moved on to base two weeks before he left. I have to admit it was the best life choice we made since getting married :). However there are a lot of things that come along with living on base. The speed limit is 25 mph, if you lose your ID you have to register to get on and it takes you twice as long to get anywhere on base.
The biggest thing is the evenings though. At 6pm and 10pm they play a beautiful version of Taps over the loud speaker. I can't hear it from inside, but I try to plan our evening ousting with Jack for that time so I can hear it, its my favorite thing ever! However the other noise the evening brings drives me CRAZY!! There is a shooting range on base (who would have thought right?) and I can hear that in the house. It drives me nuts and I just want it to stop. I understand its important but come on, keep it down! ALSO the ridiculous helicopters are so loud.
I get it... its to protect us, but it also scares me and makes me wish my husband was here even more!

-The end

What a year can do to you....

The last year has been crazy! 

10 months ago I was on the other coast two months after graduating visiting my boyfriend who was in Officer training. 6 months ago I began planning my wedding to the man of my dreams and 3 months ago I got marry him :) Then a month ago I had to say good-bye for 9 months. (Eight in a few days :) ) 

This has been a scary, long and tiring 25 days. I am hoping to blog more, but I'm also hoping to finish my thank you notes, clean my house and figure out this whole bill paying stuff. We'll see what happens... the blog will probably get the first attention. 

On a more fun note... It was this little mans birthday this weekend. 

I got make his smash cake :) 

and he even shared :) 

it was a good, but long day... that is for sure! 

Also, on the 2nd my BFF had her birthday! We weren't able to make it since Uncle Brian left on the 1st, but he was sure to make sure she got the most perfect present any 3 year old  girl could need  :) 

The little booger wouldn't take off her pants for the picture and when they told her to smile they said "open your eyes and smile like auntie Sarah" Apparently I smile with my mouth wide open... 

She sure is over dramatic :) 

Calling my bluff

Since I can remember I have "wanted to get married and have babies", I have been challenged to not limit myself and be open to other things have God wants from me. I appreciate the challenge, but I am 100% confident that God has be exactly where he wants me. However, it is still a challenge.

Sunday morning I dropped off my "other half" to to travel 1/2 way around the world. Everyone who knows me knows the above fact about always wanting to be a wife and mom, but only a few of them know that I have always wanted to be a military wife. When I was little my dad had an army jacket that I loved to wear and sparked a fascination in the military. During different encounters I have leaned that the military is great, but there is a lack of Jesus. About 2 years ago my heart became heavy with the need of Christian influence in the military and not just Christians, but people who are willing to live within the military transparent lives.

This is a new exciting "venture" that I get to experience, man it has been a long year... going from dating a man, to being engaged to a man, to marrying a man and now living life with him on the different side of the world.

I will be tracking our journey on here!

a little blurb from Brians new blog

As hard as it was to continue walking away, I am constantly reminded of Matt's words at community group, "it sucks, but it's also a great opportunity for God to use you." These words have resounded in my head a multitude of times since he said them. I'm so excited to see not only what God does in my life through this time, but also what he does for Sarah. I know we will be stronger and develop some great relationship through this deployment.

(http://brianfrausto.blogspot.com/)

I got proposed to....TWICE!

Last thursday I said YES to the biggest venture of my life.. Becoming Mrs. Brian Frausto! We'd been praying and making pro/con list for a few months. Was it too soon? We've only been together for a few months, is this for real or just mushy love? It was only a few weeks until I knew I was in love with this man and there has never really been a "what if" but more so a "when. So that being said I left WA on Wednesday October 19 to go to CA hoping we were getting married in Feb, but knowing he was unsure still, knowing he was leaving the following weekend for a month of training and knowing he still hadn't talked to my Dad. all that being said here is how the story goes...

While in CA I got a text from Brian asking me if I wanted to go out to celebrate our 8 months before he left, of course it came to my mind that he might propose but I still couldn't figure out how he talked to my dad and bought a ring within a week. So... Thursday,date night, came along and I was pretty sure it was happening until I went to Brian's apartment to drop something off and there was a box for Bed Bath and Beyond on his doorstep. I asked him was it was and be said not to worry about it.

That threw me off... He bought me a present not a ring, whatever!

So after spending a good two hours getting ready, picking an outfit and making a last min change my prince charming arrived with a beautiful bouquet of Purple flowers. We got in the car and headed off. He wouldn't answer my questions, but he was so calm I knew he wasn't asking me to be his wife. He drove me to a place That overlooked the water in Tacoma, we got out of the car and all I saw where logs... So I asked if we could play on them. Real mature huh? Being ever who calm he held my hand as I enjoyed it. Then he said "hey look over there" I looked over and saw this

(pictures I took before the toast!)

A Romantic picnic for two under a canopy over looking a beautiful peninsula. As we walked up I saw a pink basket sitting on my chair, wine glasses and beautiful red flowers. We sat down (in our new chairs) and started pulling out our picnic dinner (from our new picnic basket, which was in the bed, bath and beyond box that threw me off). He pulled out a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, champagne, cheese and crackers and chocolates from Godiva. He opened the cheese and crackers for me to start nibbling on while he opened the champagne (which I made him shake up to see how loud we could make it pop, how far the cork would go and how much fuzz we can make fuzz over). He poured our champagne and said he wanted to make a toast to us.
This was the first time he got nervous and that was when I knew what was going on...for real! I started tearing up and trying to take in everything that he was saying! After trying to remember what he wanted to say he pulled out his toast that he wrote and read it to me. He said some amazing things and then explained our dinner and our relationship...
"You and I have a cheesy (cheese and crackers) yet quirky and fun relationship. We go together like PB&J (sandwiches) . Our strength make up for eachothers weaknesses. An like the finest most expensive chocolate our love is a sweet indulgence (Godivia) . So take up your glass and celebrate with me because 7 is the number of completion and 8 (the number of flowers on the table) is the number of new beginnings."
he then walked over, stood in front of me and said, as he got down on one knee,
"Sarah Bethany Trout, will you do me the honor of taking my hand in marriage and living out this crazy life together?"
I said YES! I kissed him and he reached in to get the ring and as he opened the box, his face dropped and he looked panic as he said "Babe, the ring isn't here"... now having the cheesy relationship that we do I thought he was joking, but not he was not. He started frantaically looking on the ground to see if it fell out and in his pocket then he said "Oh no I grabbed the wrong box" and without saying a word he RAN to the car... as I yelled "Run BABY RUN!!!!". He ran back, got down on his knee again and said "Sarah, will you spend the rest of THIS crazy life with me"
With laughter and great joy I said "Yes!" again.
So, January 28,2012 I am marrying the man of my dreams and living out the rest of this crazy life with him!

Our friend Chuck was in the bushes trying to take pictures of the proposal, unfortunately it was too dark, but we were able to get post engagement pictures. So much fun!

My eight flowers that symbolize the 8 months that we were starting

The pink box on the right is a box full of engagement things that Brian put together for me.. it had two bridal magazines, a picture frame, a new wine glass painted in a wedding theme, tick tacs, lip gloss and the movie 27 dresses. I love that he put that together for me.

After going to dinner, where we didn't take a picture, we wen to see Brian's friend Felicia and tell her the fun story and thank her for all her help coming up with ideas we spent some time there and then went back to Brian's apartment to finish our champagne, change our facebook status' and relish in the fact that we were going to spend forever together...

annnnd there might have been a little wedding planning done as well! :)
(he's just so handsome!)

I am one positively absolutely lucky and blessed girl! :)

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.