We've moved!

We are officially moved and in our new place. We love how much space we have! And Sammy loves the stairs! Unfortunately, he had to give up his back yard, but he's been a good sport about it so far and with a park about 10 minutes walking from the house, we'll just make sure he still gets to run around.
Much to Sarah's dismay there are still boxes all over the place. Things are slowing getting put together and we do have some paint on the walls. But Sarah is ready for everything to be set. Once that happens we will post pictures.

Now it's time to get a fireplace set so that we can start a fire in our new fireplace!

Merry Christmas from Connect Church staff!

We're in boxes! And taking finals!

We are getting things packed up and ready to move! Of course, it's going slowly since I still have two more finals to take. I took a really hard one this morning and two more tomorrow. And so much packing to do! Sammy really isn't much help. He tends to take things out of the boxes.

Almost there...keep going...so ready to move!

Snow!

Snow here! Our backyard has snow all over! The car doors got stuck shut because of ice! It's so exciting! Of course, it will all be gone tomorrow. But it was fun while it lasted!

(Sorry no pictures, Josh left the camera at school.)

Brrr!

Winter Weather is here! Last night the temperature dropped and this morning we have ice! Dallas/Fort Worth area is under a severe weather warning all day today. When we woke up the temp was about 31 degrees and will be dropping during the day. Most of the private schools are closed today, along with the community colleges and UT Arlington. There was no announcement for Southwestern. However, the weather channel said not to drive unless it is an emergency and class does not count as an emergency. So it looks like I will be spending the day at home in my sweatpants! Funny how just last night I was complaining about how I don't have enough time to get done everything I want to do....

Hope everyone is doing well. The semester is wrapping up and we are trying to keep up. Today I actually had a couple of assignments due that I stayed up late working on. Grr. Oh well, they are finished. The last day of classes for me should be Dec 5th, unless they add another day for bad weather. I think Josh's classes end that week too. Joshua doesn't have any final exams, just two final projects. I have three finals on Dec 12th and 13th.

Have a great day and bundle up!

Movin' on up!

The new news is....
We have a new place to live! For those of you who have had the chance to visit us in our dear little duplex, you know that although our house is great, the neighborhood isn't so much. But, never fear! We will shortly have a new address!
We have found a townhome in a great block of townhomes and will be moving in next month. It is a two-story place with about 15oo square feet of possibilities! We are so excited! It really makes it tough to sit down and study for finals and write research papers when all I want to do is plan and pack and dream about decorations and arranging furniture.

Anyways, we will email out the new address when we move in. And then you should plan a visit to come see the new place!

much love,
Joshua and Sarah

Another Dallas Weekend

Last weekend we went to the architecture convention in Dallas with Jack and JoAnn and their dog Gracie. Before the convention Gracie came over to play with Sammy. They had so much fun running around our backyard and playing tug-a-war.


Sammy has been waiting for a friend to come play in his backyard!











Then on Friday we headed over to Dallas. Since we had the dogs, we stayed a little ways away from the Convention center in a hotel that allowed dogs. Joshua and Jack went to their lectures and classes and JoAnn and I hung out at the hotel and walked the dogs. On Friday night we had dinner in the West End with some people from Jack's firm. We got to ride the train, the Dart, into town. It reminded us of being in Europe again.
Saturday the guys went back to lectures and we met them for lunch. Then Jack went back for one more class and Joshua, JoAnn, the dogs, and I walked around town looking at monuments and sculptures.
Water Crossing! Everyone over! No complaining!

We got caught in the stampede outside the convention center, but don't worry, we are all fine now.


Thanks for a fun weekend, Jack, JoAnn, and Gracie! Come back and visit us again soon!

Joshy's Birthday!

Okay, so Josh's birthday was a couple of weeks ago, but I finally got the pictures. Joshua turned 24 on 10/13 and had a great time celebrating! My parents came up for Friday and Saturday and we did fun stuff exploring a little bit of Dallas. On Friday night we went up in Reunion tower and looked at all the lights of Dallas. It was really neat up there.The pictures out the windows didn't really turn out great for posting, so you will just have to imagine it...or come to Dallas and we'll take you! =)
(Oh, I forgot to mention that we went to this piano bar in the West End Marketplace before reunion tower, but that ended up being kind of a joke of an experience.)

On Saturday we visited some museums and walked around the Arts District.


Here are my parents sitting on a cool bench in the sculpture garden at the Dallas Museum of Art.




I'm not really sure what Josh is looking at in this picture.


















Later we went back to the West End marketplace for lunch and walking around. It's a fun area. Anyways, we had a great time celebrating Josh. And now he's 24!

A peek into the land of statistics...

A professor asked his research students to rate (anonymously) how well they liked statistics.
The results were:
Males Females
5.25 4.37
s 6.57 7.55
n 12 31
a. State the research hypothesis
b. State the null hypothesis
c. Compute the standard error of difference
d. Compute t
e. Determine critical value (α=0.01)
f. Compare
g. Decide
h. Translate into English

A sample mean on an attitude scale equals 3.3 with a standard deviation of 0.5. There
were 16 people tested in the group. Test the hypothesis: “The group will score significantly
higher than 3.0 on attitude X.” (Use =0.01)
A. State the statistical hypothesis.
B. Compute the proper statistic to answer the question. (con't)
C. Test the statistic with the appropriate table.
D. State your conclusion.
E. Establish a 99% confidence interval about the sample mean. (Careful here...)

AHHH! I just want to counsel people! I don't want to crunch numbers! *sigh* I will trust there is benefit in me spending precious time punching numbers into a calculator...

Better get back to work...

S'mores?

So Thursday night, after a great dinner of barbecued chicken (grilled to perfection by Joshua the chef), I was really wanting something sweet. Actually, cookies to be exact, which we didn't have. Then I found a bag of marshmallows in the pantry and realized that with the coals still being hot, we could probably make s'mores...without chocolate or grahams...so just marshmallows. Undeterred, I put on a long-sleeved pullover (because it was a bit chilly) and ran outside.
However, my adventurous dessert plans did have the desired result.

The marshmallows had spent too many nights in the pantry and were unacceptably tough. We tried to toast them, but to no avail.


We had fun with the attempt, though!

Then afterwards, my thoughtful husband made us brownies.
Yumm, that hit the spot.


I tried to capture the moment with a spontaneous photo of the two of us.Unfortunately, Joshua looked drugged in just about every one I took, so I'll spare you the rest!

Yawn from the land of studying

Excuse my yawning. It's almost 10pm and I'm waiting for Joshua to call to say that he's on his way home from his mid-term. Tomorrow his project is due in his architecture class, so we've had some long studying-and-project-building days.
My workload isn't terrible this week, but I have several projects hanging over my head that need to be done sometime. I just can't seem to get motivated at 9:30pm. I'm not a late night person. So instead I try to come up with other things I need to do that don't require much concentration. Usually that involves checking up on other blogs (not a very good use of time sometimes!), writing overdue emails, or organizing things for the next day.
Tonight, however, I picked up a book that I hadn't read in a while. Reviving Ophelia is a book about counseling adolescent girls. It is very engaging - even for those who are not aspiring to be counselors - and gives a very intimate look at the struggles girls face (such as eating disorders, cutting addictions, drugs, and other family struggles). I highly recommend it to anyone who has any sort of contact with adolescent girls.
Well, I just got the call. Joshua is on his way home. Time to look like I've been productive! =)

Peace out!

A visitor!

Joshua's sister Laurie came to visit us last weekend! Yay! We had a great time dragging her around to different activities. She got to help us help some friends of ours load up a moving van, then we watch part of the tu game at our pastor's house. Then we went to their aunt's house for dinner with Aunt Jerry, cousin Camille, her husband Matt and their daughter Jordan. The food was delicious and Jordan is a hoot! I mean it! We had so much fun with her!
Yes, folks, that is Jordan's pink bow in Josh's hair!

Jordan has a cousin also named Josh (I guess we are her 2nd cousins?) so she calls my Josh "big Josh." It was so funny to hear all night "Big Josh" this and "Big Josh come here" and stuff.

Yay for family! Thanks for visiting us, Laurie!

Fun with cameras

So when it's just the two of you, taking pictures that you are both in gets kind of tricky. Joshua has gotten pretty good at the "hold it out with one arm" approach, but you don't get much of the background that way. The auto-delay is the way to go if you have a place to set the camera. Of course, that too can be tricky...

Here we had set the auto-delay but didn't quite make it to the bench on time!
We were trying to take some nice black&whites at the Kimbell Museum in Fort Worth.










But every now and then you get a nice shot.












Thanks for joining us for "Fun with Cameras" starring the Seefeldts. Stay tuned for more adventures!

When, Oh Lord, can we go?

Sometimes it is so hard to wait on timing. Joshua and I love our church, I love my classes, and we love getting to know people in the area. And yet sometimes it's so hard to wait until we can leave the country again. I have to remind myself that this is a time of preparation, of equipping, and that we do not need to be hasty. I know our time will come. We just don't know when, either. Which makes plans interesting.
Do we find another house to rent and just make do until we know where we are going? Do we buy a house and hope that we are here long enough to make sense of the investment? Do I even get a license to counsel in the state of Texas?

At least we do know that God always provides and that He will again. He will provide answers when answers are due.

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts neither are my ways your ways," declares the Lord. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."

Santa Fe pictures

Hi Friends! As promised long ago, here are some pictures from our visit to Santa Fe.


This is my grandmother and me at the outdoor market Saturday morning. We went shopping for some fresh veggies and to look around at all the neat things there.




I thought this was a nice picture of the two of us. Josh is wearing a sweatshirt because during our time there it was surprisingly chilly!



This is a view of my grandmother's porch so you can see a bit of her house. It's a beautiful house with a beautiful view of the city from up above.





And this is our new house in Santa Fe! Haha! Just kidding.










A beautiful Santa Fe sunset....






What a great vacation!

Whew!

Howdy all! Everything is going well with us...just really busy! School is great and we like our classes but they keep us hitting the books (or in Joshua's case, building models) most of our free time.
Over Labor Day weekend we went to Santa Fe, NM to visit my grandmother. We had a great time. I'll post some pictures soon. We ran all over, looked at art galleries, saw a ballet and a flamenco show (which was awesome!), and got to see some other of her favorite things. And we had a break from the heat--the temperature was in the 50s and 60s there!
This past weekend we just hung out with friends and tried to get some homework done. On Saturday I watched my first ever UT football game when they were not playing A&M. And they lost.
=)
I've got to get back to learning statistics...not my fave! I'll post more when I get a chance.

Rollerblading fun

I just wanted to share a couple of pictures from our most recent activities with Sammy. He is quite the rollerblading buddy!
He runs full speed and pulls Joshua along after him!
It's so fun!

School Days!

School has started again! Sarah had her first day of classes on Thursday, August 24th and Joshua started on the following Monday. So we both have a week under our belts and are diving in!

Sarah is taking 10 hours again and will have lots of reading this semester. But her classes are really good. She is taking Counseling Theory, Abnormal Psychology, Spiritual Formations, and Statistics (bleh).
She is still on staff at the church.

(First day of school pic!)




Joshua has 12 hours. He has a studio, a class on acoustics and lighting, and practicum--which means he gets credit for working at his job.
He is still working for the same architectural firm and learning a lot through that experience.

(First day of school pic!)




We'll have more stories as the semester moves on!

God's creation

Hello all! This past weekend Joshua and I went to see Body Worlds3, an exhibit at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. My parents recommended that we see it, so we drove down and stayed with them for a night and went into town to see the exhibit. Wow! It was incredible! This exhibit showcases the anatomy of human bodies using real bodies that have been treated with a plastification process. Now before you get grossed out, understand that really the organs and bodies don't look real anymore...I had to keep telling myself that they weren't plastic models. It really wasn't gross at all.
Joshua and I loved realizing again how intricate, complex, and amazing our bodies are. What a creation by the Master Creator! I have always loved anatomy and seeing how everything works together. I mean, it's amazing how many muscles are in your neck alone! And your hands, don't get me started! It's so cool!

"Oh Lord, you have searched me and you know me...For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am wonderfully and fearfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well."
Psalm 139: 1, 13, 14

Two Years Later

Now that I have found the camera cable I can update with pictures. July 24th was our two year anniversary. We celebrated the Friday before by staying in San Antonio near the Riverwalk. We took time to "Remember the Alamo" and relax walking up and down the river.







Once upon a time...

2 Years later...

We had a great time! Can you believe it's been two years? Sometimes it feels like much longer...sometimes I can't believe time has flown by so fast! =) Glad y'all have been along for the ride. =)

Random Pictures

Here are some pictures from the 4th of July. We hung out with Joshua's friend Wesley and we took these pictures at Sonic with Wesley's camera.



Sammy has found a new buddy!










Sonic...always good for a few laughs.

Viva Mexico!

I know, I know it's been forever since we've posted something! But we were on a mission trip to Mexico for a week. So now I will share some pictures and stories from the incredible trip. We went to Monterrey, Mexico, a city surrounded by mountains. We drove there from Kerrville, Texas with a youth team from Westwood ministries.

We got to do many different forms of ministry while we were there. We painted the inside of a church and played with the kids there at the church. We lead the worship service that Sunday at the church; Joshua and I lead the music in Spanish and Mark gave a message. We had a fellowship with some of the ministers' kids of that church. We got to buy food and toiletries and distribute them to families living in the city dump.
(Here is the truck full of bags to distribute)





Then we got to visit an orphanage and play with the kids.



Here is Kelsie playing with some of the kids at the orphanage after we painted their faces.





It was an amazing trip and we are so thankful to have been able to be a part of what God is doing in Monterrey. Please pray for these kids and the families we worked with, that the seeds that were planted will take root and grow. Pray that Monterrey will become a city of the Lord.

Happy 4th of July

Sammy and I wanted to take this opportunity to wish everyone a happy 4th of July. We had a great day celebrating and getting to spend the day with Joshua. Usually he is at work, but yesterday we got to have him home again.
We went over to a coworker's house to grill with him and his wife and new baby boy. Sammy came and entertained everyone in the backyard. He played soccer, fetch-the-tennis-ball, and his version of frisbee, which is where he waits until the frisbee hits the ground, grabs it, and runs off to chew it.
Then we watched a movie with one of our friends from A&M and watched fireworks. But I'll write more about that when I post a pic from the adventure.

Hope you have a great 5th of July, too! =)

Baseball!

VS.

This past weekend Joshua's parents came in town and took us to a baseball game. The Rangers were playing the Astros. What rivalry! =) It was our first time to go to the ballpark since we've been here and my first time ever here in Arlington. We had a lot of fun!

Being from Houston, I was rooting for the 'Stros, but they lost. Unfortunately they has several bad plays in the field. Just not their night. Ah, well.

Busy Life

I apologize to those who have been checking this blog and found nothing new posted in a long, long time. I've been so busy with school and work! This was my first summer class ever and I had no idea how fast they move! But the class was great and I loved it. It was a class on group dynamics and we did a lot of work in groups to experience dynamics in groups. Anyways - between reading 30-40 pages every day, writing several papers and assignments and keeping up with my work for my jobs, I did not get time to update this site.

Here is what has been going on:

I turned 23 on June 4th! My parents and brother came up to visit and celebrate with me, which was way fun. Over the course of the weekend and the week I got 4 cakes! Sunday night Josh and my friends surprised me with a birthday celebration at Cheddars. So fun!
(I don't have any pics yet from that weekend because my mom took all the pics. I'll post them when I get them.)

For my birthday present my parents took us to Niagara Falls! My aunt and grandmother came too. We went to Toronto first and got to see the city from the CN Tower, which is so way cool!

This is the view from the CN Tower. We got to each lunch up there. The restaurant slowly revolves so you get to see the whole city and Lake Ontario.








Then we drove to Niagara Falls and got to stay in a hotel that overlooked the Canadian Horseshoe falls. The waterfalls are so incredible!
This was the view from our hotel room!
We had so much fun! We took a boat ride right up to the falls. It's amazing how much water is flowing so fast!


These are the American Falls-->






What an incredible trip! If you have not been, totally go to Niagara! And make sure you see it from the Canadian side!

More to come later!

We're still here!

I know, I know, what is wrong with me that I haven't posted anything in a while? Well, lots has happened, but we lost our camera cable and were unable to download pictures. Finally a nice lady in the photo department of Wal-Mart sold me another cable. Woohoo!

So, let's see....where to begin?

I'll start from where we left off...
(These will be posted backwards so that when you read them it will be in chronological order...tricky, huh?) =)

Dallas and Cheesecake

Before Joshua headed back to work full-time, we took an afternoon to head into Dallas. We visited a couple museums and then went to the Cheesecake Factory (the real reason for the trip!). It was everything I thought it would be! =)

We visited the Nasher museum in Dallas and there was an exhibit about the architect who designed the building. Pretty cool display. I had to pry Joshua away after spending 45 minutes looking at models and sketches and drawings.