First thing first....I now have an official public Facebook page! For those who are interested, it's: www.facebook.com/sarahmchurman. Info about interviews, book signings, etc. will be posted there.
Second, my first official book signing is in the works! Third weekend in November (coincidently also my 11 year anniversary) I'll be the gal with perma-grin :) thank you for keeping up with me and for all the encouragement. The book is being pored over by editors and test readers as I type this. The light IS at the end of the tunnel, and it's glorious!
<3 Sarah
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
One YEAR!
I almost let it pass me by........almost! Realized as I was heading to meet my Mom for dinner tonight that the date was the 26th. I then began to reflect on this date one year ago........and was humbled.
One year ago I had my first implant turned on. I'll never forget the emotions/thoughts running through my mind and body as I sat in the chair at Envoy Medical anxiously awaiting my activation. Being completely scared out of mind that the device may not work, or I may not like it. So much was riding on the moment; Lari's $30,000 savings mostly, but also 29 years of wholehearted desire.....Desire so strong I was scared my expectations were too high.
You see.......at this point I was so very tired; tired of missing so much and tired of working so hard to get so little. I was becoming angry; angry at what I was missing out in my social life, but mostly with my kids. I was starting to find myself 'checking out' a little on my life. This was not me, this was not how I am or how I usually looked at life. Over the 29 years until that moment, I've rarely let myself get down.
Melinda turned the device on, and for me, time stood still for a few seconds. The moment it was on, I KNEW. I knew before anyone spoke, before any noise was made, I knew I was 'complete'! She told me to set the remote down, and I heard the 'clack' of it hitting the counter and I snapped back to reality. Instant relief flooded me.........Lari's money was well spent.....I liked my new ear right away! All the fears I had diminished and was replaced by joy like I've never felt. Then began me hearing my internal noises, then hearing my voice and freaking out, then crying, then freaking out over how weird all these things sounded inside my head.
Life has not been the same from that day......I have blossomed into this whole new person spiritually, mentally, etc. One year later I still experience new noises. I still play the 'what's that noise' game. I still am finding new joy in music and nature. The path I have had the opportunity of taking this last year has been an incredible one. I've met so many cool people, I've made new friends, I've traveled, I've done exciting things, I've written a book, I've built closer relationships with those around me. Most importantly........ My faith has only been strengthened furthermore. The words God gave me when my father n law died 'Hold Fast' have become a daily mantra of sorts. God blessed me with $60,000 dollars worth of new ears in a matter of hours through a matter of crazy events............nothing is impossible to me anymore! Nothing should seem impossible to any of us!
To all who have followed me on this journey, thank you so much....
Much love and blessings,
Sarah <3
PS- People constantly ask me about music........I love an eclectic mix from 80s rock to jazz and everything in between. I'd like to take this opportunity to ask you to help me bless a good friend......Josh Weathers! Check out his music online. He just released a new album 'Josh Weathers Band, Big Night in the City'. My girls and Sloan and I literally jam out and dance all over the house listening to Josh. I feel like if I were a musician......I'd be him. I love his sound! Please, go help a brother out and go buy some of his music, I promise you'll be glad you did :)
One year ago I had my first implant turned on. I'll never forget the emotions/thoughts running through my mind and body as I sat in the chair at Envoy Medical anxiously awaiting my activation. Being completely scared out of mind that the device may not work, or I may not like it. So much was riding on the moment; Lari's $30,000 savings mostly, but also 29 years of wholehearted desire.....Desire so strong I was scared my expectations were too high.
You see.......at this point I was so very tired; tired of missing so much and tired of working so hard to get so little. I was becoming angry; angry at what I was missing out in my social life, but mostly with my kids. I was starting to find myself 'checking out' a little on my life. This was not me, this was not how I am or how I usually looked at life. Over the 29 years until that moment, I've rarely let myself get down.
Melinda turned the device on, and for me, time stood still for a few seconds. The moment it was on, I KNEW. I knew before anyone spoke, before any noise was made, I knew I was 'complete'! She told me to set the remote down, and I heard the 'clack' of it hitting the counter and I snapped back to reality. Instant relief flooded me.........Lari's money was well spent.....I liked my new ear right away! All the fears I had diminished and was replaced by joy like I've never felt. Then began me hearing my internal noises, then hearing my voice and freaking out, then crying, then freaking out over how weird all these things sounded inside my head.
Life has not been the same from that day......I have blossomed into this whole new person spiritually, mentally, etc. One year later I still experience new noises. I still play the 'what's that noise' game. I still am finding new joy in music and nature. The path I have had the opportunity of taking this last year has been an incredible one. I've met so many cool people, I've made new friends, I've traveled, I've done exciting things, I've written a book, I've built closer relationships with those around me. Most importantly........ My faith has only been strengthened furthermore. The words God gave me when my father n law died 'Hold Fast' have become a daily mantra of sorts. God blessed me with $60,000 dollars worth of new ears in a matter of hours through a matter of crazy events............nothing is impossible to me anymore! Nothing should seem impossible to any of us!
To all who have followed me on this journey, thank you so much....
Much love and blessings,
Sarah <3
PS- People constantly ask me about music........I love an eclectic mix from 80s rock to jazz and everything in between. I'd like to take this opportunity to ask you to help me bless a good friend......Josh Weathers! Check out his music online. He just released a new album 'Josh Weathers Band, Big Night in the City'. My girls and Sloan and I literally jam out and dance all over the house listening to Josh. I feel like if I were a musician......I'd be him. I love his sound! Please, go help a brother out and go buy some of his music, I promise you'll be glad you did :)
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Wowsa!
Been busy! I'm not sure how often I've mentioned it before, but I sit on a small committee that puts on a roping annually in my father in laws memory. Ross Churman passed away in Jan. 2010, and our small group has managed to pull off a spectacular roping the last 3 years! We paid out over $70,000 to ropers, and raised thousands for scholarships for college kids. It's nice to be a part of something like that. People have asked how we pull it off, how it's successful, etc. we truly believe its because we don't get a dime, yet do it for the ideology and to honor a man who touched so many in his life. We have a website if you want to know more or attend next years roping: www.rosschurmanmemorialroping.com and there's even a Facebook page.
Anyway, that was last weekend and we spent the week recuperating. Lol. Last weekend got off to a rough start.......my English Bulldog, Bruno, died :( this is the first pet we've lost that the girls bawled about....it was hard. This Saturday morning however, we woke up to find that our Momma cow had her baby! The new little guy is so cute and small and the girls are obsessed with petting him and checking on him. We have to drive around the place looking for him so they can 'see that he didn't get dead'. Lol. Oh to be so young and awed by nature again :)
Next weekend I am so excited that we were blessed with the opportunity to take Olivia to see Kooza, a Cirque du Soleil show! She has been begging to go for a year now but tickets are expensive! We were recently blessed with some extra money and decided to splurge :) I will also be throwing a housewarming party for some friends of ours next weekend who were recently given a house! Andrew was presented with a house from the Wounded Warriors Program while visiting the ballpark in Arlington on Military Appreciation night :) So nice to see God working in other's lives. The weekend after that I'm celebrating my 30th birthday selfishly by hosting a party at our house. Lol. Hey, I'm feeding everyone and even baking a cake ;) That makes it ok right? On October 13th we will be flying to California to the Crystal Cathedral for an interview with Hour of Power. We subsequently we're able to delay our flight home so that we can visit friends and take the girls to the beach. We figure if we eat Ramen Noodles the whole time, we can afford a few extra days to make memories with the girls.
I'm cracking down on my last chapter in my book currently, rushing to get it all together and to publishing. I'm just so over the moon excited about this new journey. Well, not exactly 'new' since I've been writing for the last 6 months, but I guess more so a 'phase 2'............the fun phase! The phase where I get to experience something I never imagined possible in my wildest dreams! I'm a freaking author :) A blessed, crazy excited, anxious, nervous, writer. Someone was talking to me the other day about hosting a book signing for me and I nearly cried at the prospect of actually doing something like that. I still wake up every day and go 'this is really happening!' And it's happening because of people like YOU. The ones who have reached out to me, the ones who read this blog, the ones who pray for me, the ones who have been my cheer leaders all along this crazy path life has had me on the last year. To each of you, I say THANKS! From the bottom of my heart, thank you. I didn't realize how much sharing a testimony can affect millions..........I pray that everyone would use their own testimony to help others. We all have one ;)
Good night folks......I'm starting to ramble.
<3
Anyway, that was last weekend and we spent the week recuperating. Lol. Last weekend got off to a rough start.......my English Bulldog, Bruno, died :( this is the first pet we've lost that the girls bawled about....it was hard. This Saturday morning however, we woke up to find that our Momma cow had her baby! The new little guy is so cute and small and the girls are obsessed with petting him and checking on him. We have to drive around the place looking for him so they can 'see that he didn't get dead'. Lol. Oh to be so young and awed by nature again :)
Next weekend I am so excited that we were blessed with the opportunity to take Olivia to see Kooza, a Cirque du Soleil show! She has been begging to go for a year now but tickets are expensive! We were recently blessed with some extra money and decided to splurge :) I will also be throwing a housewarming party for some friends of ours next weekend who were recently given a house! Andrew was presented with a house from the Wounded Warriors Program while visiting the ballpark in Arlington on Military Appreciation night :) So nice to see God working in other's lives. The weekend after that I'm celebrating my 30th birthday selfishly by hosting a party at our house. Lol. Hey, I'm feeding everyone and even baking a cake ;) That makes it ok right? On October 13th we will be flying to California to the Crystal Cathedral for an interview with Hour of Power. We subsequently we're able to delay our flight home so that we can visit friends and take the girls to the beach. We figure if we eat Ramen Noodles the whole time, we can afford a few extra days to make memories with the girls.
I'm cracking down on my last chapter in my book currently, rushing to get it all together and to publishing. I'm just so over the moon excited about this new journey. Well, not exactly 'new' since I've been writing for the last 6 months, but I guess more so a 'phase 2'............the fun phase! The phase where I get to experience something I never imagined possible in my wildest dreams! I'm a freaking author :) A blessed, crazy excited, anxious, nervous, writer. Someone was talking to me the other day about hosting a book signing for me and I nearly cried at the prospect of actually doing something like that. I still wake up every day and go 'this is really happening!' And it's happening because of people like YOU. The ones who have reached out to me, the ones who read this blog, the ones who pray for me, the ones who have been my cheer leaders all along this crazy path life has had me on the last year. To each of you, I say THANKS! From the bottom of my heart, thank you. I didn't realize how much sharing a testimony can affect millions..........I pray that everyone would use their own testimony to help others. We all have one ;)
Good night folks......I'm starting to ramble.
<3
Sunday, August 26, 2012
It's a book!!!
So we survived New York! The weather was beautful this trip and we enjoyed walking around seeing the sights. We arrived Thursday morning and spent the day walking around, eating, and shopping. Thursday night we were invited to go watch the taping of World News with Diane Sawyer. Sloan has had a crush on her since he was a little boy, so needless to say, he was floored. Lol. We arrived at ABC studios and were shocked to learn that they offered us to be on the set! If you've ever noticed the people in the background behind Diane on computers looking 'busy'.....well, we got to do that! It was hysterical to me because they logged us on the computers and were like "get online, get on Facebook, whatever, we just need you to look inconspicous and busy" I didn't have time to call friends or family, so I immediately found friends and family online and started chatting. At one point I started grinning like the Cheshire Cat and then people were instant messaging me saying things like "We see you smiling!" which only made it harder for me to keep a straight face. Lol. It lasted 30 minutes and then much to our surprise when taping was over, Diane invited us to hug and take a pic!!! Sloan was pretty much speechless and I was gushing as usual. Ha.
That night we ate at a Brazilian Restaurant that was fabulous. Those who know me, know how much I love food.....and vacations pretty much revolve around it. Lol. After we ate, I received some VERY exciting news from friends back home. The Military Warriors Support Foundation presented my longtime childhood friend Andrew, an Army Commendation Medal and Purple Heart recipient with a new home at the Ranger game! He and his wife Amy and kids are so deserving and I had been praying that this blessing would come through for them. We were on the streets of NY grinning big for them :)
Friday morning we got up and got ready and headed for my interview with 20/20. I was SO nervous as usual. It never gets any easier, whether I'm speaking at a church, in front of 5 people, or on TV, it's always so nerve wracking for me. The interview went very well though and will be airing Sept. 7th on ABC. It was a typical interview, but the thing I was most excited about was the opportunity to share my new book coming out! I've not allowed myself to get excited much, but being able to share it with the world on TV, the excitement is starting to creep up on me. The book is anticipated to be on shelves by the end of October if everything goes well. I'm literally in the home stretch and the light is very near the end of the tunnel. It's been an amazing journey to walk out for sure. Anyway, I wanted to let ya'll know that you have the ability to go to my publisher's website and 'reserve' a copy if you like. The site is: www.indigoriverpublishing.com
I'd blog more, but I have 2 girls tugging on my arm and we are about to leave to go have dinner with family.........plus I'm starving (big surprise) and can't focus well. Hope everyone had a great weekend and for those of you near me, enjoy this rain!!!
Blessings,
That night we ate at a Brazilian Restaurant that was fabulous. Those who know me, know how much I love food.....and vacations pretty much revolve around it. Lol. After we ate, I received some VERY exciting news from friends back home. The Military Warriors Support Foundation presented my longtime childhood friend Andrew, an Army Commendation Medal and Purple Heart recipient with a new home at the Ranger game! He and his wife Amy and kids are so deserving and I had been praying that this blessing would come through for them. We were on the streets of NY grinning big for them :)
Friday morning we got up and got ready and headed for my interview with 20/20. I was SO nervous as usual. It never gets any easier, whether I'm speaking at a church, in front of 5 people, or on TV, it's always so nerve wracking for me. The interview went very well though and will be airing Sept. 7th on ABC. It was a typical interview, but the thing I was most excited about was the opportunity to share my new book coming out! I've not allowed myself to get excited much, but being able to share it with the world on TV, the excitement is starting to creep up on me. The book is anticipated to be on shelves by the end of October if everything goes well. I'm literally in the home stretch and the light is very near the end of the tunnel. It's been an amazing journey to walk out for sure. Anyway, I wanted to let ya'll know that you have the ability to go to my publisher's website and 'reserve' a copy if you like. The site is: www.indigoriverpublishing.com
I'd blog more, but I have 2 girls tugging on my arm and we are about to leave to go have dinner with family.........plus I'm starving (big surprise) and can't focus well. Hope everyone had a great weekend and for those of you near me, enjoy this rain!!!
Blessings,
Sarah
Thursday, August 23, 2012
New York......again!
Sloan and I arrived in New York this morning. I'll be doing an interview with 20/20 tomorrow that will air Sept. 7th. I'm excited because I'll be debuting my book on the show :) We are currently sitting at a hotel eating free wine and cheese and fixing to head to a taping of World News. Sloan is thrilled to get to see his lifelong crush, Diane Sawyer. Lol. I'll blog more later.
Blessings,
Sarah
Blessings,
Sarah
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Distractions....
So, let's just be honest......I suck at keeping my blog up to date. Lol. I guess I feel as though I have so much going on in my daily life that I don't find myself sitting at my desktop much. I'd rather have tea parties with my girls, ride horses, read a good book, play games with friends, spend time outdoors, etc. Seems as though there are a million things I could be doing at any given time. Lately we have been getting ready for the 3rd annual Ross Churman Memorial Roping. It's a roping that was started in my father in law's memory. He passed away in Jan. 2010. Check out our website at: http://rosschurmanmemorialroping.com/# or find us on Facebook to see what we're all about. It's always the 2nd weekend in Sept. and has been a great roping thus far.
Anyway, other than that I've been continuing to work on my book. Some weeks are easier than others when it comes to writing. Overall, I'm excited and beginning to let myself actually feel some of that excitement! I'm a big 'don't count your chickens before they hatch' kinda gal. I keep having trouble wrapping my mind around the fact that there are folks out there who would want to read what I write....but apparently there are :) God willing, the book will be out this winter.
As for my hearing implants...........they only get better as the days go by! I'm still adjusting to having 2 though, and I do find myself tiring easily on some days. Bless my kids hearts....they can be loud! Being in places where there are tons of people or noises tends to overwhelm me, but I'm still elated that I can actually function and take part in situations like that. I keep having people ask me if I still read lips, and the answer is....I forget a lot but I'm trying to keep it up just because I think it's a good skill set to have. I have started to not use captioning on TV and movies to put my ears to good use and practice actually hearing words spoken instead of cheating and reading them. I haven't used the captioning device at the movies in a while, and that's been nice too. I still have many moments where I'll be talking to someone and they'll pause mid story and be like "You are totally hearing me right now aren't you?!?" Lol. It sounds crazy, but I forget sometimes that I haven't always heard like this. Just goes to show how easily we forget.
Hope everyone has a great week,
Sarah <3
Anyway, other than that I've been continuing to work on my book. Some weeks are easier than others when it comes to writing. Overall, I'm excited and beginning to let myself actually feel some of that excitement! I'm a big 'don't count your chickens before they hatch' kinda gal. I keep having trouble wrapping my mind around the fact that there are folks out there who would want to read what I write....but apparently there are :) God willing, the book will be out this winter.
As for my hearing implants...........they only get better as the days go by! I'm still adjusting to having 2 though, and I do find myself tiring easily on some days. Bless my kids hearts....they can be loud! Being in places where there are tons of people or noises tends to overwhelm me, but I'm still elated that I can actually function and take part in situations like that. I keep having people ask me if I still read lips, and the answer is....I forget a lot but I'm trying to keep it up just because I think it's a good skill set to have. I have started to not use captioning on TV and movies to put my ears to good use and practice actually hearing words spoken instead of cheating and reading them. I haven't used the captioning device at the movies in a while, and that's been nice too. I still have many moments where I'll be talking to someone and they'll pause mid story and be like "You are totally hearing me right now aren't you?!?" Lol. It sounds crazy, but I forget sometimes that I haven't always heard like this. Just goes to show how easily we forget.
Hope everyone has a great week,
Sarah <3
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)