This is a picture of Vanesa and I at a place called "Top O' the Mar" on Guam. Vanesa and I met in college and quickly became best friends. Thankfully God led us both to the pacific where I went to serve in Guam and she went to teach in Saipan. Since these islands are only about an hour flight apart, we were able to spend many of the major holidays together which helped us not miss home quite so much.

This is my friend Sarah. She was one of my soccer players and my office assistant. She was also a great friend. We had a few great adventures on hotel row with my cool convertible.

These are a bunch of my sports players at Nikka's big birthday party. I had just returned from Bali, which is why my hair was still in braids.

These are my friends, Karen and Holly. Karen was a teacher out in Guam and became a good friend. Her husband was one of the principals I worked for, so I was able to see her on a regular basis when she visited the office. Holly was a friend of mine from college, who eventually became a roommate on Guam. We had awesome times and have great memories. No matter how long between conversations or seeing each other, I know we will always pick up right where we left off.

This is Mrs. B. She became one of my closest friends while on Guam. She accepted me exactly as I was. I have great memories of Kmart at 6 a.m., tons of meals together and a summer of riding around on a golf cart on "granny patrol". She took care of me when I had my wisdom teeth removed. I'm very thankful that the Lord allowed me to know this special lady.

These are a bunch of the really cool people we hung out with and had awesome fellowship with on a regular basis. From left to right: Mike (my handsome husband who was only a friend back then), myself, Jason Scheck, Tim Harmon, Julie Plonk, Noel Infante, Jonas Macapinlac, Lisa Flower and Emily Davis.

I miss them hugely and cannot begin to express how much their fellowship was a blessing in my life.

Here's to friends near and far: (though most of these are VERY far).

I was just thinking today of how much I miss some of my friends. The Lord blessed me indeed when He led me to Guam. Each of these friendships were either started there or continued there. Thank you to those of you who invested your lives in mine.

Disclaimer: While there were many other close friendships developed on Guam, these were the pictures most quickly accessible and in my quest to blog more often, they became the ones I grabbed first. I'm sure more of you will find yourselves featured here in the future. :)

Also - no matter how much time I spent playing with the formatting on this, I couldn't get it to line up how I wanted it. I finally gave up, though every bit of secretarial perfectionism in me fought it.

Continuing Randomness...

Here is yet another random picture from "the old days". This was taken sometime in 2002 I believe. Next to me is the beautiful Mabel Duguies (I hope she forgives me for posting this picture). We were having a youth group unique dress day. Really, I promise we didn't normally look like this.
Working with the youth group at Harvest was awesome. I am so thankful that both Mike and I had the privilege to do that. I miss that type of ministry. Thankfully I still have the outlet of coaching at Providence to get my time with high schoolers. Oh yes, and if you do happen to read this, Mabel, I would LOVE to have you come show my girls how to drive to the basket.

Well, I admit to being kind of at the lack of ideas/not sure what to write point in blogging. I'm sure this isn't a shock to those of you who randomly check and find out that I haven't blogged anything in a month and a half. So, I thought I would start posting some random pictures. This is the first of said pictures.

This is from the trip I took to Bali, Indonesia in 2002. I went with April Briggs, Bob Shuck and Dr. and Mrs. Watson. Good times were had by all and I loved getting my hair braided by locals on the beach and having the awesome opportunity to touch and hold various reptiles. Maybe later on in my random pictures series I'll break out some more Bali pictures.

Whohoo! Here is a picture of my team after they won the championship match. They finished the season 17-2 in conference games and most importantly, pulled off the championship victory. They lost the first game, but then came back to win the next three. The 4th game was really exciting. The girls were down 7-16 and ended up coming back all the way to win the game 25-19. Check out their super cool socks they received right before the championship. They loved them and I think it helped take their minds off being nervous. Way to go, Lady Knights!

These pictures basically sum up my life right now. You can see first of all the crates for the dogs. Then you see the four dogs. I find myself understanding stay-at-home moms more. Yes, I realize they are just dogs. However, every time I come home to smell aromatic fragrances in the house as a result that the puppies left me a present, and as I find myself continually cleaning up after them, I can imagine that they could be sort of like kids. The pile of dirt was one I couldn't resist taking a picture of. Each day I have to sweep the floor. That pile was accumulated in less than 24 hours in our living room alone. I'm amazed by how much they can bring in. So, I sweep. We talked about using the Swiffer, but we would have to buy stock in the company for how many of those little Swiffer sheets I would go through in a week.

The last picture is of my volleyball girls. I'm spending lots of time with them these days. We have games about 2 nights a week right now and practice on the other 2 days a week. I'm enjoying working with them and especially enjoying the fact that they are currently undefeated.

So, this is my life right now. Volleyball and the dogs. I do try to spend time with Mike as much as possible, but he has had a super busy work schedule lately. It's a good thing business-wise, but not so much fun timewise. I have had the opportunity to work with him several times in the past three weeks, so that has been a blessing. I enjoy helping him and it lets me see him during the work day.

Call us Crazy...we've doubled our pack.

Yes, friends, we've done it again. We've added to the family. We'd like to introduce you to our new "kids", but unfortunately we still don't have names for the newest members of the family. They are both girls and both desperately in need of names. Since they are of the rottweiler family first and foremost, my husband would like to point out that they will NOT have sissy names. So, calling out to all of you who have some measure of creativity...we'd love suggestions.
The vital stats...both originated in Farmington, Iowa. They are half sisters (both have the same father), purebred rottweilers. One was born on April 13th and one was born on May 25th.
Let us know if you have any great name ideas. :)

My Kids

Here is an updated picture of "my kids" for those of you who may be interested. Each day when I come home from being gone, I open the door and say "Hey Kids" and you can immediately hear Sheba's tail start pounding the edges of her cage. Poor Cody is left with only a silent wagging of his stub.

We had the Herrons here for volleyball camp this week and they would rotate who got to say "Hey Kids" upon the opening of the door. The response was always the same though - ecstatic waving of the tail and stub. Maybe that was just because they knew they could finally go outside to the back yard and relieve some pressure.

I'm thankful for the companionship of these dogs. They give me someone to look after and "mother" around. They give me someone else in the house during the days and in the evenings when Mike occasionally has to work late. And even though I do recognize that they are "just dogs", they'll always have a special place in my heart.

Basketball -
Thanks to Kassy Harper for the picture. This was taken on our last night of basketball summer practice (two hours each Tuesday night). I was so excited because it was the first time we only had 9 girls (WHICH MEANT I COULD FINALLY PLAY AND NOT JUST REF). You might note that I have a very red face - which usually follows anytime I play. The girls improved tons over the summer and I'm looking forward to seeing how the season goes!

Yes, it is true. I caught this beautiful fish while we were on vacation in Michigan. For those of you who want the technical information. It is a 23 inch Northern Pike caught on a simple pole with a small night crawler. Nothing special, nothing dramatic...oh wait - it was dramatic. You see, my Dad, sister Barb and Uncle David were out not very far from the dock in a pontoon boat with all the little tykes fishing (where they could see the whole thing). I decided to stay on the dock and fish off the dock. They had the net and the bucket with them. Suddenly I thought I had a fish on and started reeling him in like crazy. Then my pole broke in half. I kept trying to reel in and finally just reached out and grabbed the line and pulled him up onto the dock. My wonderful husband was nearby and came and stepped on the neck and put his hand down on the body so the fish couldn't get away. He held the fish there while my Aunt Becky went running in to get us a bucket - all while I kept saying "Don't let him get away!!" This is without a doubt the biggest fish I've caught in life and I would also like to point out (in true Stapilian competition form) that it was the longest fish caught on vacation this year. Thank you. Thank you.

I have been tagged by a fellow blogger to list some random or weird facts about myself...

“Rules:” After posting these rules, each player proceeds to list 8 relatively random facts/habits about himself/herself. At the end of the post, the player then tags 8 people and posts their names, leaving them a comment on their blogs to let them know.

1. I broke 8 fingers during my 8 semesters at NBBC and dislocated a finger once. I guess collegiate sports weren't good for my bones, but certainly good for my spirit.

2. I have been toilet-papering 46 times in my life. Thankfully, I only chose to toilet paper people I knew and who had at least relatively understanding spirits, so I never had any run-ins with the police during my excursions. The all-time winner of home I toilet-papered the most was Pastor Mike and Brenda VerWay - yes, I believe it is a prestigious award.

3. Up until 9th grade, I was known to all as "Sandi". At that point I decided I was much too grown up for that name and informed everyone that they must now address me as the name on my birth certificate - Sandra.

4. For a period in high school, I held the state championship distance (though really our "state" only represented fewer than 10 other Christian schools - I can't remember how many) in shotput.

5. I'm a missionary grandchild, pastor kid and deacon kid all at once (since my Dad recently was a deacon following his pastoral retirement). I guess that makes me one of the biggest brats of all.

6. My major in college was "Church Secretarial Science" and I received a Bachelor of Science degree. I'm still sometimes puzzled how much science is involved in being a church secretary, but who am I to question?

7. This probably isn't really news to anyone, but I thrive on competition in almost any arena. Since growing old and leaving college, I've used coaching as my avenue to feed the addiction. I've coached girls high school volleyball for 5 years, girls high school basketball for 4 years, girls junior high basketball for one year, girls high school soccer for 4 years and guys high school volleyball (my personal favorite) for 3 years. I was even a basketball referree for one year.

8. I met my husband on the island of Guam where I served at Harvest Ministries for 4 years. He is amazing and I never could have imagined that God would bless me so greatly with someone like him. All that I ever planned on in the "perfect man" is encompassed in my husband. I praise and thank God for bringing us together and for giving Mike an extra measure of patience to put up with me.

There you have it - probably far more information than you ever wanted.

Praise the Lord!

Mike and I have wanted to have wood laminate flooring put down in our house for awhile. The arrival of one and then two beasts who shed like maniacs and who track in dirt like they are planning to build a sand castle indoors meant that our creamish colored carpet was crying out for delivery. So, we bought the flooring when it was on sale at BJs and started the project. We didn't get very far when we found ourselves very frustrated that everytime we banged one piece into place, three others that we already perfect decided to come apart. We then decided we were going to need a little help.

We inquired with some guys at church as to who might be available to help us and found someone to help. He has been a big blessing. So far the living room and kitchen are done except for the quarter rounds on the edges and I think he'll be finishing the master bedroom floor today.

I'm so excited. I keep walking out to see the progress and finding myself so thankful that we are able to get it done and so amazed at how much better it looks. Of course, I'll be sweeping 12 times a week, but at least it will look nice when I'm done as opposed to that carpet which will never look nice again.

My Three Cuties

Well, here you go. Maybe one day my blog will not refer to my husband or my dogs, but not for the near future at least. :)

This was taken a few weeks ago, so Sheba already seems to me to be much bigger than this picture. I just love it because it has Mike, Cody and Sheba all together.

I'm blessed to be able to share life with these three (though especially with my husband - I don't want to group him in with the dogs on something like that). Mike takes great care of me and of our little ones. Some people deal with diapers...we deal with housetraining a puppy. Anyway - just thought I would show you all my cuties.

Addition to the Family Once Again

We thought sometime this fall we would get a puppy to be a playmate for Cody. We didn't plan for that now. However, we innocently went into a pet store in NC (where we were visiting Mike's parents) to pick up a collar for their dog and left with a 5 1/2 week old female rottweiler/hound mix puppy for me and a kitten for Mom Herriage. Approximately three minutes later when Dad Herriage said "we should have gotten the male puppy", the van turned around and we went back to get the boy puppy. So, Mike's mom and I enjoyed our new puppies together for a few days before having to split them up and come back home to Florida.

Sheba is the name of my little girl. She is a cutey. The biggest difference we have found from Cody and Sheba is the fact that Rottweilers don't really make much noise vocally. Cody has only barked a single bark probably less than 10 times. However, Rottweiler/Hound mixes apparently enjoy using their vocal prowess to share their every emotion. We are hoping to crate train/potty train her quickly as the whining/howling and the releasing of bowels everywhere is starting to drive me a little crazy.

Anyway...meet our new cutey. We love her even though we don't sleep.

Here are a few pictures of Mike, Cody and I from last month. At this point he was about 8 months old. They are a little blurry because they came from Mike's camera phone. I like to call the one on the bottom "In the Doghouse". We actually added that so that Cody could have a cool place to hang out when we weren't home. The crate we had for him was getting seriously cramped and we both feel better about leaving him home alone if we know he has room to move around and can have his food and water in there with him. It is 4 foot by 4 foot by 6 foot tall. On the right hand side of the doghouse, you can see where Cody has done some creative redecorating of our vertical blinds. That happened during his maniac separation anxiety day when he pointed out to us that we would not be able to leave him home alone loose in the house. Anyway, here is our little guy. He is a good dog and we are thankful for him.

Ahoy Matey!!!

This is my awesome brother-in-law, Mark Dickerson, and my really cool nephew, Mark Dickerson.

They happened to be down in Florida with some youth group kids visiting college. At the same time, my aunt and cousin and family were visiting from Illinois, so we all met up for dinner. Since Mike occasionally drives like a maniac and we left early to account for traffic, we got to the Disney area in time for a quick stop at Downtown Disney (basically a shopping area and best of all FREE). I figured little Mark would love some of the cool things to see. This was our first stop and a great picture. I enjoyed seeing them and look forward to spending time with the rest of the family this summer on vacation.

Slowing Down

Well, Mike and I spent a lot of time this weekend discussing life and the busyness of it. We don't want to get 10 years down the road and wonder why we wasted so much of our life being busy. So, one of our first major changes is that we are closing down the Ebay store for Mouse Memories (my sister's Ebay store that I manage, keep all the inventory in our house, ship packages daily for and make it all work). It has just become too much of a 24/7 job. When I'm home, I'm always thinking of the work that could be done on the computer and Mike and I spend several evenings a week with me in one room working and he and the dog in another room. We just don't want to continue that. The hours pile on top of each other and overwhelm. Even when we work together on it (and he is AWESOME about helping me), it is just too time intensive. So, we discussed it with my sister and her husband and we are going to close it down next week. I'll go back to working in her warehouse 3 days a week from now until August 1, which won't be so bad once I have evenings and weekends free. Once August 1st hits, I'll be full-time into volleyball season followed by basketball season and won't work outside the home at that time. I'm excited about life slowing down and being able to enjoy it as opposed to work the whole time.

Feeling Better

Finally I've overcome the food poisoning episode and the killer cold. The Lord gave me strength when I really needed it and gave me the rest I didn't realize I needed as well. Thanks to all who prayed that I would feel better.

2 Corinthians 12:8-10 (King James Version)
8 For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.
9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

Okay, so I might be about to stretch this a little out of context, but these were the verses that came to mind this morning after spending a little over 36 hours with some form of flu/food poisoning. My entire body still aches and I haven't been able to eat much, but I think I'm headed out of it as opposed to still going strong. In the first 12 hours of it, I lost over 5 .5 pounds, probably from the fact that everything in my body had been emptied out. Now I've put one pound of it back on, so I think that means my fluid levels are getting back up there.

I was reminded as I was fervently begging God to take this away from me of what a small issue it truly is in the scope of eternity. Could I really have the same spirit that Paul had? How does one really take pleasure in infirmities? I do recognize that it is much harder to feel like you can do things in your own strength when you are sick and just praying that it will go away fast. So perhaps God is using this to remind me that I can't operate in my own strength and I need His help. It did give me the opportunity to slow down a little - certainly not in my timing, but I've had to recognize that I'm not in control and wait on God's timing to feel better.

Please pray that I'll feel better quickly. This weekend is the big scrapbooking expo consumer show that my sister's company participates in. This requires many hours of work and I have an important role in preparation and being cashier for all day Friday and Saturday. I'm just asking the Lord to heal me as I know my sister needs my help and I don't want to let her down.

Okay, off to take a nap. I can only be up for a little while at a time before needing to rest again.

Straight Hair

Here is a picture of Stela and I (courtesy of Cristina Vielmas). Right before the game she said that after the game she was straightening my hair. I said okay and hence the picture. I do like my hair straight and loved it when I had it professionally done in Saipan several years ago. It just makes it so much easier to deal with. Unfortunately this one went away after washing, but the professional one lasted about 6 months. I just don't have the skills or patience to deal with straight ironing it every day.

As for the weight loss goals, I'm now at 33.5 pounds. It feels like it is much harder now. I'm working out more and feeling more of a difference in my clothes, but the scale isn't budging. I just can't give up. Jenny, here is the picture you've been asking for. It isn't full body, but I can tell a difference and that makes me feel better.

It's official.

Now that Mr. Redmon told the basketball girls in the locker room that I would be coaching high school girls volleyball and basketball next year, I feel free to share the news here as well. Since some of my girls check the blog, I didn't want to break the news before he did. My plan is to start with a two-day practice in May for those interested in playing volleyball next year. That will allow us to have a better idea of who will play on which team and warn the girls who might be on the bubble so they can work over the summer. That will also allow me to introduce the plans for the new year. They are going to find themselves in a whole new world. I'm seriously going to be pushing conditioning much more and allotting time for it in practices. Even if you are an expert at a skill, pack on extra pounds and you'll have a hard time performing it well. Now imagine that you aren't expert at a skill and you have extra pounds...and hence you see the need for extra conditioning.

During the summer, we are also going to have two practices a week (one for volleyball and one for basketball) as well as a week of camp for each. I think this year we will need to do that camp in house, but I'm hoping that next year we'll be able to start bringing in some other help to run the camps. We just need to keep the cost down this year and build the basic skills. That is something I can do.

So, that is my good news. I'm excited about continuing to work with the girls next year and having the freedom to make the coaching decisions. Even though it will be a lot more work for them, I think we have a group of girls who will rise to the occasion. If some choose not to work hard, I will be disappointed, but I'll also have a great spot next to me on the bench for them. No matter the skill level, I'll only reward those who work hard. That might be a new world for them too.

Roll Call & Favorite Movie

I admit to copying this idea from someone else's blog, but it would be cool to know all the people who occasionally stop in and read my blog. So, if you don't mind, I'd love to have you drop a comment. Let's make the topic "Favorite Movies".

I'll start off by telling you mine. I love "Runaway Bride" and "Sweet Home Alabama". I tend to lean towards the romantic comedy genre. I also love "While You Were Sleeping". Some of my friends in Guam and I would watch the same movies over and over and then have fun repeating the lines. "Hey Luc, is this guy bothering you? Cause it looks like he's 'leaning'."

Anyway...would love to hear from you if you stop by to read occasionally.

A Visit With Friends

Well, this picture was taken the Saturday before Christmas when Mike's parents and brother were down visiting. The couple on the left in the picture is John and Robin Beaton, friends from Guam. I'm very thankful that we live in the same general area (about 40 minutes away) as the Beatons. We've enjoyed several opportunities to get together with them and each time walk away being thankful for the fellowship. Once again, our friends from Guam often end up feeling a lot more like family than just friends. Thanks to the Beatons for always welcoming us in and letting us know when other friends from Guam are traveling through.

Test. My blog has been down much of tonight, so I'm testing to see if it is back up.

Well, I thought I would report in on the diet progress. I'm now 31 pounds down. I have 19 more to go. I've had a few weeks of slow going where I only lost a half pound each week, but I guess that is better than gaining and I made it through the entire holiday season and continued to lose rather than gain. So, I try to use that to encourage me when I get frustrated that the weight is coming off more slowly now.

Cody in the Bathtub

Okay, I promise that ALL of our blogs won't have to do with Cody, but he is still the new and exciting in our house. The other day, Mike got up early and left for work. He took Cody out and played with him a little before leaving. I should have had another hour and a half of sleep, but Cody didn't think so. He pestered me until I finally got up. He was just a wild boy that day running around the house like a maniac. I was in the office working when I heard his metal tag clanging against the bathtub and found him hidden in there. He was just so cute peeking around the corner that I had to snap a quick pic.

My Boys

Mike's Christmas Present - Cody

Meet Cody, the newest member of our family. Mike has always loved Rottweilers and I started looking for one to get him for Christmas. Because I wanted him to be involved in the decision, he knew ahead of time, but that is okay. We went and looked at a 3 year old, but to be frank, the dog scared me to death. It was then that I came to the realization that I would need the dog to start out a little smaller and grow with me so I wouldn't be afraid of it eating me.

I found a breeder who had 3 month old puppies for sale, so I decided to call. She told me that she actually had a 5 month old boy who was crate-trained, house-trained and leash-trained. He also was recently neutered, so that is an expense we won't have later on.

So, we went to see him last Saturday and he is a beautiful dog. He has a very sweet personality and has already settled in well with us. The last two nights he has slept out of the crate and just camps out by the front door, without wandering around looking for trouble. The Lord really blessed us in finding the perfect dog - I anticipate that he'll be a great companion for years to come.

Suz

In the beginning of November, my friend, Susan Wagar, came down from NBBC to see the NBBC soccer players play in the Nationals tournament that happened to be only an hour from my house. She stayed with me and we travelled back and forth to the games. I finally got the film developed, so here is the pic of us at the soccer game.

Susan is one of those friends that you gain in college and hope to have for the rest of life. I got to know her through riding with her (and Linda Lewis and Joy Wagner) to church at Grace in Iron Mountain (back in the days when Grace still had an evening service and it wasn't quite as hip and cool to go there for the two services, do all your shopping and get back to campus by 3:30 p.m.). We had tons of fun and began developing a great friendship. She took care of me when I received my volleyball concussion and was there for me to cry on when I broke off my promise-ring-almost-engagement relationship. I have tons of NBBC memories that have her in them.

Having Susan for a friend made my college days at NBBC much better and I'm thankful that the Lord allowed our paths to cross. She was definitely a positive influence on me and she even allowed me to graduate (even though I accidentally called her "Suz" instead of "Miss Wagar" in one class). OOPS. :)

I'm a believer.

Well, a little over 9 weeks ago, I decided that it was time to do make a serious change in where my body weight was heading. I had gained a fair amount of weight since getting married (something as a single woman I vowed wouldn't happen to me) and needed to turn the weight gain around.

After watching several of the commercials, I began thinking about the Nutrisystem program as advertised on tv. It sounded like just what might help me as it would teach me proper portion sizing and types of foods to eat and could be something I'd learn from long-term and not just a quick diet.

So, with my husband's full support (though he has NEVER criticized me or made me feel bad about my weight, just accepts me completely as I am no matter what size), I ordered the system and began the diet. We figured that by not eating out, drinking pop, etc, it wouldn't impact our food budget as much and is a good investment into my future health.

The current result being this: after 9 weeks, I've lost 24.5 pounds. I'd actually lost that much after 8 weeks, but maintained the week of Thanksgiving without going up or down. My goal is another 25.5 pounds and I'd like to make that by the middle of February at the latest. I'm committed to see this happen.

I love the food, love the diet and would recommend it to anyone. They say "results not typical", but I think that is just because society is law-suit driven and I can totally see someone not following the diet, not having good results and trying to sue them. If you follow the diet, you will be full and yet feel better each and every day. It has even helped me lose weight in weeks when I didn't have ANY time to exercise. I love feeling my tummy shrink and starting to get back in clothes that only depressed me 9 weeks ago and seemed impossible to go back to.

So anyway, just thought I would share my success with you. Once I'm done with my goal, I'll post before and after pictures.

The Viking Guys

My Dad is a complete Minnesota fan. He loves the Vikings, the Gophers, the Twins and any other team that calls Minnesota home. So, my sister, Danelle, had this brilliant idea that for Christmas the 4 of us girls get my Dad an inflatable Vikings guy. We also decided that if we gave it to him at Christmas that it would be a little late as football season would be almost over. So, they set him up for Thanksgiving and my Dad (after nearly two hours) happened to look outside and see this guy. As is obvious from the pictures, he is clearly happy with his present. He apparently ran right upstairs to put his jersey on so he could come outside and take pictures. It is great when a good idea comes together. Thanks to Danelle for her brilliance. Apparently her new name is "Queen of Gifts".

My Girls.

Here you go - the long awaited picture of my volleyball girls (minus Deborah who wasn't at this pizza party). This picture was taken after the hard fought semi-final game where we lost to the eventual champions in the 5th game 17-15. The girls played the best they had all year and I was very thankful that they worked hard and never gave up. It has only been a few weeks since that game, but I already miss working with this great group of girls.

Now I've started assistant coaching with the basketball team, so I get to work with a few of them in that sport. I enjoy it and look forward to the season.

Thanks to Briana for the picture above. She was our senior and is the one in the center.

And the winner is:

Drumroll Please...

My Team Won! Whohoo! They did a great job and won 25-11, 27-25 and 25-13. I did feel a little bad for my sister's team because I think most everyone expected her team to win. It probably wasn't fair because my husband bribed my team. He told them that if they won, he would give them a pizza party...and if they won DECISIVELY, he'd give them 2 pizza parties. After the second game, we called him on my cell phone (all the way across the gym from where he was video taping) and asked him if winning in 3 would count as decisively. He agreed and now we owe them 2 parties.

Tomorrow night we go to the Semi-Finals against a school called Heritage Prep. They are the number 1 team and only had 1 loss all year. Hopefully my girls play well whether we win or lose.

I will say this to be fair to Barb: her girls had an off night. My girls had an on night. Had that situation been different, the outcome most likely would have been different.

However, for now we bask in the glory of our victory and hope for good play tomorrow night.

Showdown of the Sisters

Tuesday, October 31, 2006 at 6:00 p.m.

Well, it's official. On Tuesday night, the volleyball team that Barb coaches and the volleyball team that I assistant coach will meet in the 1/4 Final game of the playoffs. My team has the home court advantage. To spice things up a little, my parents happen to be coming into town that evening and will be able to come watch the showdown.

Of course, both Barb and I would prefer to be on the court playing against each other than having our teams play against each other, but this will be fun too. I like to say that this one doesn't really count since she is the coach of her team and I'm only the assistant coach.

I guess the positive result is that no matter what, we know that one of us is going into the semi-finals. I'll let you know later the result and hopefully have a picture of my girls too. I like to call them my girls even though I'm only assistant coaching. I love each one of them individually and I'm so thankful to have the opportunity to work with them. They've come a long way this year. We ended our regular season 16-2 and in 2nd place on our side of the conference. I'd say that is a pretty great year!

To my sister and her team: Bring it on. :)

Me and My Man

Today I'm super thankful for my husband. Granted, I'm thankful for him most every day, but sometimes I just feel the need to express it. Mike left work yesterday evening to come to the volleyball game I was assitant coaching even though he knew that he would have to go back in and work late. I was able to go with him and help him, but had he just stayed there and not come to my game, he probably could have been home by 8 or so instead of midnight. That is just one small instance of his awesomeness - a drop in the bucket of all the greatness he contains. :) He has a true servant's heart and I love that about him. God blessed me indeed when He gave Mike to me.

PS - Our volleyball team last night beat the undefeated team on our side of the conference. I LOVE beating undefeated teams. I was so proud of the girls. I'll have to get a team picture soon so you can see them.

Family Update:

Here is a picture of two of my sisters, Danelle and Lynelle (twins), from this summer. Lynelle already has two kiddies of her own and one on the way due in December, I believe. Danelle, just recently let us know that besides the three that she already has, she has another one on the way due in May. So, with Barb having 2, Lynelle soon to have 3 and Danelle soon to have 4, we'll have 9 nephews and nieces on that side of the family. Praise the Lord for these coming additions.

A busy 5 weeks.

I was just looking at the blog and realizing it had been 5 weeks since I'd posted. In the beginning I was delaying to give more chance of finding "6 Flip-Flop Loving Friends". Then you know how it goes...you get busy...tons of other stuff to do...and before you know it, 5 weeks have passed.

I am still alive. I'm loving assistant coaching volleyball and being back in the gym. It looks like after this season, I might be assistant coaching basketball too. I just love being with the girls. They are a great group and I feel privileged to be able to work with them and try to teach them something. They probably think I'm evil because I like to work them hard and push them, but I only want what is best for them and to somehow bring out the excellence in them. It's fun. Coaching again has also brought back tons of memories of my girls in Guam. They will always have a place in my heart and I'm thankful that they were patient with me as I was developing my philosophy of coaching.

Well, I'm off to bed, but promise to try to keep up better in the future.

In search of 6 "Flip Flop Loving Friends" who have 6 "Flip Flop Loving Friends" of their own.

Have you ever done one of those chain things where you do something like send someone something, then get six other friends to get involved and in the end, you get a bunch more than what you sent in the first place? Okay, so a friend sent me one such activity invitation.

Basically, I received the piece of paper that asks me to participate. I send one pair of flip flops to her friend whose name and shoe size are on the paper. Then, I send the activity invitation to six of my friends who each send one pair of flip flops to my friend. Then, each of my friends send the invitation to 6 of her friends who each send 1 pair to me. The end result is supposed to be that you buy one pair of flip flops for someone and get 36 pairs in the mail. Now I can imagine you wondering what in the world would you do with 36 pairs of flip flops. Living here in Florida, I wear flip flops year round, so it isn't a problem for me. Maybe you can find something creative to do with them if you get that many. I think it sounds like a fun new adventure, and it would cool to get your mail every day and find a different pair of flip flops in your size. I'm guessing that the $10 or so I might pay for the pair I buy, postage, and sending the little paperwork on to my 6 friends is worth the excitement of getting tons of flip flops in the mail. I'm going to consider it "Entertainment Expense".

Therefore, I'm wondering if there are 6 of you who would be willing to join in the fun and think you can get 6 of your friends in on it to keep it going. I don't want to send it to people without them volunteering because I don't want them to feel pressured into participating if they don't want to. So, if you would like to join in, please email me at sandranmike03@hotmail.com with your address so I can send the paperwork on to you. Let's see what great flip flops we can get out of the deal. :)

News on Dakota

Well, it looks like we won't be getting Dakota as I thought earlier today. We found out that the current owner may have found her own new place for the dog, so they won't need a foster home.

So for now we just wait to see what the future holds.

Meet the newest member of the Herriage household (coming very soon). Mike has always loved Rottweilers and has been doing some research on rescued dogs. Long story short, we've applied and apparently been accepted as Foster Parents for a Rottweiler Rescue Group. We actually had to have a home study where a couple came in to see the environment the dog would be in. They also brought one of their Rottweiler dogs to see how we interacted with her. We passed the home study and thought we were going to soon be the foster parents of a 3 month old Rottweiler. We found out this morning that there had been a miscommunication and we are actually going to have a 3 year old dog named Dakota. This picture is of her. We are hoping to get her this weekend, but we aren't exactly sure when the timing will work out as she is currently in Miami and needs to be brought up to us. Her biography says she is NOT good with cats (which we are just fine with since we have some neighborhood cats that like to hang out in our fenced in back yard - they are in for a rude awakening). However, she apparently is very good with other dogs.

So the next project is to quickly get the house dog ready and get the crate and toys and food and water bowls and all the other stuff that comes with being a pet owner. We have to get everything ready so that when they bring Dakota, they can see that we are prepared and ready to take good care of her for as long as she is in our care.

So there you have it. We'll post some more pictures once we actually have her here. Since we don't have kids, you might have to endure dog pictures for a while. :)

This picture is actually 3 1/2 years old. This is my last group of seniors that I coached in soccer on Guam. Coaching was a large part of my life in Guam. I coached high school girls volleyball, basketball and soccer as well as high school boys volleyball. I loved every minute of it. My girls were very special to me and sports was an avenue I could use to get to know them better and to hopefully have a positive influence on their lives.

I post this in honor of a potential opportunity that has come forward for me. As many of you know, we've really struggled to find the right church since moving to Florida. We've been members of our current church for almost 6 months and have been attending there for almost 9 months. The church has everything we want as far as music and preaching, but we have had a hard time fitting in and finding fellowship. This past week, I was presented with the opportunity to help assist the volleyball team and I can't tell you how excited I am about the opportunity. I love coaching and am looking forward to getting to know these girls and hopefully teaching them something. It also appears that Mike might have the opportunity to be involved in the sound ministry, so we seem to be getting our foot in the door a little. So anyway - that is what is new here.

Sisters, Sisters

Well, here is the latest picture of all of my sisters and I. Barb is on the left, then me, then Danelle and then Lynelle. Barb is the oldest of us all (way older than me), then the twins are in the middle and my parents wisely saved the best for last. :) We were all able to be together this summer at the lake. It was great to spend time with all of them again and see how their families have grown. I'm thankful that the Lord gave me such great sisters.