2010.

It's so hard for me to believe that 2010 is coming to an end.

It's been quite a year for us. It's been...
challenging,
full of change,
filled with uncertainty,
loaded with new blessings,
fun,
trying at times,
amusing,
and in the end, we can look back and say it truly has been a great year!

To summarize our year:
*I went skiing for the 1st time when we travelled with Uncle Sam, Aunt Lisa & family to Copper Mountain, Colorado. It was an awesome experience & thankfully we all survived with no injuries! I can cross snow-skiing off of my bucket list.

*We put our house in Durham up for sale in early February. We feel blessed that we finally sold it in July. The waiting, and ups & downs tested our patience, our faith, and left us questioning our future.

*I graduated from Duke in May with my Master's of Science in Nursing Education. Now, I'm Sarah Tarr, RN, MSN, OCN!

*Chris graduated from UNC the following weekend with his PhD in Organic Chemistry. He's now, Dr. James Christopher Tarr!!!

*We made 2 quick trips to Nashville in the spring searching for places to live in Nashville. With the help of Craigslist, we later found our tiny little Nashville home!

*In July, we loaded up 3 cars & trucks + 1 very large moving truck and headed 8 hours west to our new home city of Nashville.

*On July 30th, we celebrated 5 wonderful year of marriage!

*Chris & I both started our new jobs in August. Chris as a Post-Doctoral Fellow in Organic Chemistry at Vanderbilt & me as Full-time Adjunct Faculty in the School of Nursing at Belmont University. We both love our jobs!

*Sadly, we lost Chris' grandpa, Pa Tarr, in August. He was a wonderful man and is, and will continue to be, missed greatly by us all.

*We took a quick weekend trip to St. Louis. I crossed a visit to another baseball stadium off of my bucket list.

*I took a job as an author for a chapter of a McGraw-Hill Medical-Surgical Nursing textbook.

*For the 1st time since graduating from college & being married, we had the opportunity to spend almost two weeks at the holidays in GA with our families. It's been a great way to close out the year!

Again, it's been quite a year!!! We're looking forward to 2011!

what more could I want?

Since I was a child I thought I wanted to be a teacher...
I played "school" with my dolls & my sisters,
I made "lesson plans" and put grades in my "grade book",
I took my "class" on field trips and gave them spelling tests.

Sometime in high school, I decided that I wanted to be a nurse...
I loved nurturing people in their time of need,
I loved the example of nursing that my mom had established for me,
I wanted to join the ranks of the proud profession of nursing.
And that I did!...
I feel so blessed to have found a career that is so rewarding!

I have always loved books and loved to read...
My love for reading has always left me with the desire to be a writer.
I have been given a fabulous opportunity through McGraw-Hill and am now authoring a chapter for a Medical-Surgical nursing textbook!!!
I am soooo excited about this opportunity and the chance to be a part of such a wonderful publishing company.

I have been so blessed by the opportunities to be not only a nurse, but a teacher, and an author!
What more could I want???

where i've been...

(obviously not blogging!)

busy, busy times...

getting Christmas cards designed & printed,
addressing & sending 40 Christmas cards,
packing Operation Christmas Child boxes,
sorting Operation Christmas Child boxes with WBC,
writing & sending Christmas cards to soldiers in Iraq,
Christmas shopping in stores,
Christmas shopping online,
making a few handmade Christmas gifts,
decorating the house for Christmas,
wrapping Christmas gifts,
shipping Christmas gifts
baking Christmas treats,
checking out Franklin, TN's Charles Dicken's Christmas festival,
practicing my piano prelude music for Belmont's pinning ceremony,
grading last minute assignments,
entering final grades,
making preparations for my trip to Durham in less than 1 week!!!,
ETC...

This is such a busy time of the year, and I've tried more than ever to not get too caught up in the stress of the season.

I've been reading my daily Advent lessons and trying to focus on what this season is truly about. It probably sounds cliche, but I do mean it.
Belmont's Advent theme this year is centered around the hymn "Come Thou Long Expected Jesus". I've never paid much attention to it's powerful words...

Come thou long expected Jesus,
born to set thy people free;
from our fears and sins release us,
let us find our rest in thee.
Israel's strength and consolation,
hope of all thy earth thou art;
dear desire of every nation,
joy of every longing heart.

Born thy people to deliver,
born a child and yet a King,
born to reign in us forever,
now thy gracious kingdom bring.
By thy own eternal spirit,
rule in all our hearts alone;
by thine all sufficient merit,
raise us to thy glorious throne.

It's been busy, but I'm loving this Advent season...

Y-U-M-M-Y

***WARNING: These delicious treats are habit forming!***

Oreo Truffles

1 block of cream cheese, softened
1 package of Oreos, crushed finely
16 oz. Baker's white chocolate, melted
decorative sugars or sprinkles

Prepare a large baking sheet with wax paper.
Crush Oreos in a gallon-size ziplock bag with a rolling pin. Mix oreos and softened cream cheese until well blended. Form into 1-inch balls.

Dip into melted white chocolate allowing excess to drip off. Place on baking sheet and sprinkle with colored sugars or sprinkles.

Makes approximately 36-40.
Recipe from Kraft Foods.

We are in love with these yummy treats!!!

why i heart CVS

Got this...

Paid...$6.61 & got $2 Extra Care bucks back!!!
Love it!