Her & I: know her & I get her...

Hi guys! You may have wondered where in the heck I have been hiding lately.. 

Well..

I'm really excited to announce that just last week I launched a YouTube channel with a great friend of mine, Summer (who blogs over at LeMusings of Moi).

Our hearts will be exposed through this vlog, we hope to make you laugh and give you some awesome beauty, product and fashion tips. 

Mainly though, we hope that we can reach you in a deeper way through this channel. We want to encourage each of you in a unique way, no matter what season of life you are in.. We want to hear from you and encourage you on the journey that God has marked out for you..

We are all about the beauty that comes from vulnerability. It's through that same vulnerability that Summer and I established a great friendship. We hope we can be a safe place where you can come with your imperfections, in turn see ours and feel reassured that you are not alone, no matter how deep the struggle!

While our first few videos have been more light hearted our intentions are much deeper than makeup, clothes and shampoo.. (although like most girls we are all about those things too).

We can't wait to do life with you and build a community centered around girls who are imperfectly perfect. 

Subscribe and join us on this journey!!

XO

Sarah

Check us out! & Subscribe!!

www.youtube.com/user/herandiblog

Hubby Hijack! Happy Anniversary!!

Eight years ago I hung out with a guy who had the girlfriend of my dreams that caused me to stumble into a prickly Arizona bush the first time I saw her. She had the type of beauty I thought didn't even exist. I felt nervous just being within 100 feet of her and yet she didn't even know who I was. 

About a year passed before the first time we spoke. It was at a Wendy's condiment counter we were both going for the ketchup dispenser. I distinctly remember the moment because I felt like the guy in Just Friends after he does the jumping hug on the first day date.

As I approached the counter I felt like I was walking towards the light in slow motion as if actually approaching heaven. Not knowing what to say I went with something safe and standard like, "Hey, how are you?" I was pretty upbeat and suave yet the response I got was nothing more than one you would get passing a stranger in the mall. So I drank down the frog in my throat with a sip of Orange Soda and pasted together the remaining pieces of my heart with some french fries and a chocolate frosty. 

One year after that I was asked to sing at this church that this guy who had this insanely gorgeous girlfriend worked at. We drove down from Nevada and played the gig. After the show I had my back turned to an angelic voice that said, "Thanks for coming, you guys did good." When I turned around it was like everything went into slow motion again because it was the girl of incomprehensible beauty talking to me. I picked my jaw off the ground and responded with a squeaky 13 year old voice then started coughing abruptly. Not best moment but recovered at lunch with a not so interesting conversation about chicken wings...

...Somehow combined it made a good enough impact.

Another year passed and I received a message on this little website called myspace titled, “Chicken Wing Girl”. This little message was like a dream come true for any single guy on myspace and it began the dialogue of what would eventually become a great friendship that took six months to get to officially dating, then took an immediate leap into engagement after about 3 months.

We have now been married for 5 years and have a life together that is the essence of my being. I now have two dream girls that are the most beautiful people on the planet one of course being my wife, and the other is the one crawling all over me right now begging to be tickled and laughing the best laugh in the world.

To my wife:

You are incredible. You are smart, gifted, talented, and beautiful. I can’t even put in words how much I love you. Thank you for coming into my life and giving me the best five years I have ever experienced. You are the single greatest thing that has ever happened to me. Happy Anniversary!!!!

Your Hubby,

Tai

Leaps Of Faith...

"He changes times, and seasons..."- Daniel 2:21



Changes, changes, changes! This life, or at least mine has been so full of them, that I find it almost comical. I am however grateful that they remind me of the one and only thing that does not change. Jesus.. which makes all the circumstantial changes bearable..

That being said, 10 days from now we are packing up our lives here in Gilbert, AZ and moving to Carlsbad, CA. I would just like to give God major props bc he picked just the right place to put us, for our liking. (Psalm 37:4 "Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart!")

But just because Cali has always been somewhere I'd like to call home, that doesn't mean there aren't obstacles, insecurities and all of the like that come along with this move. It's definitely a huge leap of faith for us, but we feel God there beckoning us forward. So although logistically staying put here would seem the safe bet, we are taking a risk. All we know for sure is, if God is in it, it's a risk worth taking.

I remember as Tai and I were praying about this decision he asked me if I had peace about accepting the position with Daybreak Church. The first thing out of my mouth was, "I know that I have NO peace in my heart to forgo the offer." In that moment I knew we had to go, step out and trust God. Also in that moment, I was flooded with several different emotions. Fear, insecurity, excitement, anxiousness, one second praising God, the next second questioning.. And while sleeping on it remaining in prayer.. that really amazing, profound, peace came along side of me that was unmistakable and its reigned in my heart for the days that have followed now.

Perfect peace that surpasses reason. The perfect peace of God.

And so here we are packing up, 10 days out from a new chapter. Excited, nervous, but mostly excited. Expecting God to show up and meet our every need according to His riches and Glory! (Phil.4:19)

Really amped to share the testimonies that follow!!

Pray for us!

California here we come!!

XO
Sarah

Have you ever stepped out in faith & obedience and watched God sort out all of the details?! I wanna hear! Let's chat about that!



Crazy Saturday Nights..

This is just about the craziest Saturday night that I have had in a long while. It had to be documented!

These are what you call temporary lip tattoo's.. It's supposed to look like leopard print, but on me I think it comes off as having lip fungus... That's my cute friend Lisa below. We have been pulling these types of shenanigans for quite some time..

One facebook friend reminded me of an example..

We used to work at a church together Lisa and I. Sometimes we would attempt fasting together.. needless to say, we got creative, and made up our own fasting rules.

Some are as follows:

1. Ice cream is allowed bc really, it is the same thing as juice since it's just really sugary milk once it melts in your mouth..

2. You can chew any food you want, but you just can't swallow it.. What does that mean? Chew up that double double and well..spit it out! (So gross, yet so creative)! We may not have survived 3 day fasts w/ out such rules.

Anyways, excuse my little tangent.. this is supposed to be a blog about lip tattoo's.. These are from a company called Violent Lips. Pretty fun if you wanna go all out in da' club.. or even if you (like us) just wanted to sit at home watching tivo looking extra saucy!! Either way.. this is for you!

What did you do this Saturday my friends??!

XOXO

Sarah

If you really knew me...

If you really knew me...

If you really knew me, you would know that I can't go to bed with a dirty kitchen, ever.

You would know how I've always walked on my tip toes since I was a little girl, and that my daughter Joya has carried this  tradition on. :)

I'd tell you how my mind is easily plagued by the what if's in life, and that I am gradually learning that life was intended to be lived one day at a time.. (one moment at a time for that matter..)

You'd know that I am a firm believer in laughing at yourself, and NEVER taking yourself or this life too seriously. Being able to make fun of myself is a strong point.. It's gotta be when you have the blonde moments I do, right?!

I would tell you how these past few years of my life have been the most trying, but that I am forever grateful for how the tests have molded me into a more compassionate and resilient person..

You would know that I hate (as in despise) onions.

That my biggest weaknesses have to do with cheese and chocolate..and how my perfect Friday night is at home with my family watching House Hunters International in my pajamas.

You'd see my insecurities because I'm an open book and find beauty in vulnerability.

And if you were in my head right now, all you would hear is "WeeEEE are NEVER EVER EVER GETTING BACK TOGETHER!" <3 T. Swift for that one. Really hope her album isn't all super poppy. (sorry just had to get that off my chest.. I feel better now)

Now what I really wanna know is your list of things...

Link em' up buttercup!

XOXO

Sarah

Unedited Monday Thoughts...

Here's a compilation of my thoughts over the past few days:

I really want need some lululemon pants. Tried a few (hundred) pairs on over the weekend and now I know what I have been missing out on all this time. My apologies to our bank account.

We are FINALLY getting a little vaca time in this Summer after all!! Carlsbad here we come! Counting down the days, minutes, seconds until Aug 8!

It's been really rainy here, which I LOVE. It's one of the best most monsoony (can that pass as a word?) Summers I have experienced in all of my 9 years in AZ. Loving. It.

While cleaning out my closet I have noticed that 1. I need to clean it out a lot more often and 2. I own a lot of the same style of lace tops. Do you ever buy the same piece over and over w/ out realizing it? Or do I just have issues?! One thing is for sure, I am a sucker for lace.

Other thoughts that need no explanation are as follows:

Cheese.

Wine.

Chocolate.

I need a pedicure.

Also, Is this not the cutest picture you ever did see? We got caught in the rain after eating some delicious pizza from Grimaldi's with our friends the other night..

Happy Monday to all!

XO,

Sarah

Lets Catch Up!

I have been an absent blogger for nearly 2 whole months! Where does the time go people??!

We have been having a great (although very VERY hot) Summer. We've been hanging out with our church's youth groups (Jr.High & HighSchool) visiting water parks, having some crayyyzee parties that also involve drenching one another in water.. Right now in AZ you can choose being inside in the AC or being outside submerged in water, somehow someway. Anyways, hanging with the youth and sharing Jesus has been AMAZING. Even better than I had even anticipated.

Then there is our little Princess girl Joya, who last Monday turned 3! This has stirred up quite a bit of emotion. Our baby is not really a baby anymore, and she is sure to remind me of this daily. "Hey mom I am 3 now, I am not your baby anymore...silly mommy huh?!" She keeps us as putty in her hands and makes us laugh really hard while she's at it. We were driving home just the other night, when I looked back to see her face full of contemplation.. "Mom, when I was a baby in your tummy, I pooped in there right?!" Seriously, she was really authentically curious. And now this topic of conversation is one that she likes to bring up frequently. Such a deep thinker that little Joya.

As for us, a few months ago I wrote about some repositioning God was doing, and the resistance on my part during the process. I remember praying and praying for the day where things would look how I see them to be ideal or "normal" (whatever that means). During this time I am so thankful to have caught revelation that sometimes, when things go awry God is simply reminding us of our consistant need for Him on a daily basis. When I am weak, then I am strong! In these times our full reliance on Him positions us for breakthrough after breakthrough. And because of that, I wouldn't trade any hardship I (or we as a family) have endured. God is faithful through it all, and we are blessed!

Hope you guys are having a great Summer!! I hope to be posting a heck of a lot more than once every other month..

XO

Sarah