Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Ups & Downs

Life is settling into a routine here which is great! I'm training- I've made it halfway through training and halfway to my fundraising goal! Yeah!! & thanks to all who have donated. If you'd like to dontate, you can click the link on the right. I'm also working on joining the craft fair circuit with my goods. I'm doing my first one this weekend so we'll see how that goes! Emrys is working hard and settling into his routine at the church.

Yesterday on a drive out of town to Ithaca we did some seriouse debating on the house we were looking at buying and decided it wasn't the best investment choice. Too much necessary work to be done. So now we're back to square one and trying to decide what is a better option for us. Please keep us in your prayers as we look at these opitons that we will be able to make a wise decisions.

Thats all from Upstate NY for now.
Blessings,
sjt

Sunday, October 22, 2006

Hey! That’s ME!

Google still never ceases to amaze me. It was pretty cool at one point along our travels when we realized that if you type “sara emrys tyler” into google.com’s search engine our blog and other sites relevant to us came up.

Now, I’m working on getting an online business off the ground and I typed in my business name last week and nothing came up- ok, so my website had been live for 24 hours, what did I expect! But today I typed in “Charity’s Crafts” and the top two listings are actually me and my crafts that are being sold on Etsy.com and CraftMall.com. Now if I can get my actual webpage to come up there at the top of the list! (www.CharitysCrafts.com -Still a work in progress so all comments are welcome!). So come in and visit, browse, send a friend over... all that good stuff :)

For all of you who are wondering what I’m doing with myself while Emrys is off doing the pastor thing… here’s your answer. Well, this and getting bids for work on a house we’re hoping to buy, and walking & fundraising for a marathon, and taking care of household stuff and…you get the idea.
Blessings,
~sjt

Friday, October 13, 2006

Pride (In the Name of Love)

Last weekend I had the privilege of accompanying Sara on her big day of walking a half-marathon (that's 13.1 miles) in San Jose, California. She's in training for a full marathon in Phoenix this January. Completing these 13.1 miles--in less than 3 hours--was a major milestone in her progress toward that goal.

Sara walked at full speed and sweated it out for two hours and 57 minutes on the streets of San Jose. I had a different experience of the event. You see, I'm the one who carries cameras (two, for we had friends walking in the same race), water, and the expectation that he'll be on the course at a few different locations during the race to get action shots. My summary term for this job is "pack mule." Sure, it's more than that, but I get more sympathy if I compare myself to a beast of burden.

I really don't need the sympathy, though, because I too get something out of race day. As I walked a short-cut from mile 10.2 towards the finish line, I reflected on what I saw in Sara that day. She's been training since this time last year in order to complete these feats of pedestration. She routinely walks 4, 6, 8, and soon 12 miles a day, pounding the pavement and returning with aching muscles. Just fourteen months ago she suffered the horrendous effects of chemotherapy. Now she's an Energizer Bunny with sneakers. It's a stunning transformation, especially for a woman whose only athletic boast had been bowling in middle school.

As I watch from the sidelines, snap some photos, and check hydration levels I find myself overcome with pride. It's a strange sort of pride because strictly speaking I have no part in this fantastic blossoming of my wife. I just get to go along for the ride. But yet I feel pride, a sense of joy that says, "Look what the Lord has allowed me to be a part of!" or "Look at this amazing life with whom I am blessed to be intertwined!"

I marvel at the motivation, energy and persistance that I see in Sara. I also watch with joy her decision to use this awesome drive to raise money for charity. Perhaps many others will benefit from her ambulations. But even if she never gets her name on a hospital wing or never wins a gold medal in speed-walking, I will be just as proud.

And for that, I will gladly be the pack mule.

~emrys

Monday, October 09, 2006

San Jose Rock n Roll Half Marathon

Yesterday I walked the San Jose Rock n Roll Half Marathon. It was great! There were over 8,000 participants, a bunch of bands and lots of energy. We were up at 5:30 to drive to the start, wandered around and found our corrals and then stretched, visited and waited. Our friends Rob & Sarah were also walking the race and Emrys gets kudos as the official photographer.

I wanted to finish in less than 3 hours and just barely made it with a finishing chip time of 2:57:35 which works just fine for me! The rest of the day was spent hobbling around and driving back to Fresno from San Jose and dinner with Rob & Sarah's extended family.

The other part of this trip has been an amazing visit with our Goddaugher Emma and her sister Katie. The are quite the team. Emma is 16 months old and her favorite things are "kit-ty cat" and "pup-py dog". Emrys is the proud uncle: Emma mastered her own version of "Emrys" before coming up with a "Sara" which are more like "Emmas" and "Aara". We'll take what we can get.

It's been a great time. We'll head back to NY tomorrow.
~sjt

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

The Whirlwind Continues

We arrived in Bainbridge on Sunday evening and after an adventure of trying to figure out how to turn on the power (who knew that a utility box labeled "Cable TV" would hold the main power switch for the house!) we crashed. The next two days were spent cleaning, shopping, and settling in waiting for our moving truck. Just about dark last night our moving truck got here and this morning we have boxes everywhere. Ahhh moving. We're in no hurry to unpack - quite the opposite. We're digging for clean clothes and packing again. We have a 2:30 flight out to Fresno to visit friends and for the San Jose Rock n Roll Half Marathon that I'm walking.

So when we get back on Tuesday we'll get to sleep in the same bed, under the same roof for a whole month before we go anywhere again! We'll have organizing to do and only one more move in sight for a long, long time- and that's when we buy a house! If all goes well, we'll be settled, for good, by Christmas.
~sjt

Sunday, October 01, 2006

Road Trip End in Sight

We left Phoenix nine days ago and have spent four of the last nine days driving. With stops in Amarillo, TX (to sleep), Oklahoma City, OK (to visit with Sara's cousins), Bentonville, AR (to visit with Emrys' sister & her family), Owensboro, KY (visiting friends from Fuller) and now Prospect, PA (visiting other friends from Fuller), we are looking forward to arriving in Bainbridge, NY this evening.

With about 40 hours of driving behind us and about 6 hours to go the end of the journey is in sight. Hopefully, or moving trailer will be in sight too before we leave again on Wednesday.

That's right, we leave NY on Wednesday to fly to California to visit with our Goddaughter and her family and so Sara can walk her half marathon. October 10th we'll be in NY for good! - or until November anyway...

~sjt