We Got Married!! (4 years ago)

View on Catalina Island over-looking the ocean and toward the mainland.

We could see Huntington Beach from here!

Four years. That sounds like a long time. To us, it feels like it's only been one or two. And here's something to prove how newly-wed we still feel.

Things we said to each other our first month of marriage that we STILL say to each other:

• I can't believe I was able to get you to marry me.
• I love how we don't have to say goodbye at the end of our date!
• I'm going to be with you FOREVER? That's so cool!
• You are the perfect person for me.
• So who's gonna be in charge of taking out the trash?
• You are so hot!
• Being married to you is so fun. Did you think it would be this fun?

To celebrate, we were able to take a weekend trip to Catalina Island. We see the island almost everyday from our beach, so we decided it was time to actually go there. It only took 1 hr and 45 min to get there from our front door to the hotel on the island. Cool!

In addition to the pictures above, we went on a night-time flying fish tour and saw seal lions and flying fish, went to church-just a group of members (not even a branch), and stayed in a guest house/hotel that shared the toilet and shower with the room next to us. It was a really fun adventure!

Tanya's Visit

Tanya came to visit us with her boyfriend a couple weeks ago!! We had a very fun time together. We all got along really well. Here's the highlights:

• Downtown Disney. We began to discover that all 4 of us are easily entertained by water fountains. And Chris was the only guy who could climb the jumbo legos.
• The beach and boogie boarding. The boys spent a lot of time in the water while Tanya and I talked and tanned.
• Main Street. Too much walking for Tanya.
• Movie night at home.
• Church.
• Venice beach. Those skateboarders are so entertaining! But that freak show was kind of scary.
• Hollywood. Tanya was so excited to find Harry Potter's hand prints! Hopefully it made up for all the walking.
• Griffith Observatory. We had a little kissing photo shoot. First Tanya and Chris, then me and Jeremy. And we also learned!
• Thai dinner. Yum!
• Chili's lunch
• Music Around the World Day. Tanya came to my school with me to see me teach a Mommy and Me music event. She seemed to really enjoy it.
• Tanya and Chris also went to Duke's and Knott's Berry Farm by themselves.

We are SO glad they came to visit. They were really fun to be with and made us feel really cool.

Live on NBC

"We're live in 20 seconds!!"

That's what we heard as we rushed into the studio where the live filming of America's Got Talent, Week 8, Night 1 was taking place. With only 15 more seconds left, the stage crew hollered at Jeremy and me to get to our seats.

A few weeks before, I found the show on hulu.com (since we don't have real TV) and soon became an avid viewer. When I found out that the finals would be filmed in Hollywood, I went online to get tickets. They were free! All we had to do was show up no later than 4:00 pm and wear "hip" clothing (yes, that was in the instructions, mentioning that we could get turned away if our wardrobe wasn't cool enough).

Not sure if our clothes were up to par, we panicked when we were still on the highway at 4:30. LA traffic sucks. When we finally got to the studio, we were shocked that they still let us in, but it was standing room only. I guess they figured our clothes were more of the second-class type.

As we were led into the studio, a stage manager kept waving her arms for us to come up closer to the stage. The director counted down from 10 over the loud speaker as we climbed over bodies in the center isle to our new places. Before we new it, the show was in full swing and we were watching it from the VIP balcony with a family that was related to one of the producers!

Above: Train is playing on stage. Judges Sharon Osborne, Howie Mandel and the other guy on the right. Me and Jeremy are smack dab in the middle of the screen. Can you see our silhouettes on the center of the lowest balcony?

Below: A cheer squad performing. My head is just to the right of the cheer leader's bum and shoulder. Jeremy is to the right of me, directly under that blue light in the balcony room.

We could see everything perfectly--the performers, the judge's faces, the cameras, even the words on the teleprompter screens for the host. We could also see how that danger guy did his stupid tricks (he shouldn't have made it to the next round), the tech crew prepare for each number, and the make-up consultants assist Sharon Osborne and Howie Mandel during commercial breaks. The only annoying part of the show was the fidgety kids next to us who did not seem to realize the magnificence of where we were seated! (that's rich kids for you).

After the show, they told us to stick around for the pre-filming of the next night's feature. The band Train would be playing for us, and we would be on another night of NBC TV!!

The whole experience was awesome. I was really intrigued how the "theatre" was just a bunch of platforms hanging from metal lattices in a giant room. How amazing that they can turn a giant empty room into an auditorium, or city, or school, or outdoor set! Hollywood is pretty cool like that.

Feeling famous after the show, we decided to do what famous people do. We went to the Grove. (it's a really fancy mall that actors shop at). We pretended to be rich by eating at Magianno's Grill (luckily, we had gift cards) and then played Train during our car ride home!

Wild Animal Park

Highlights included:

• Three itty-bitty baby elephants, 4 older baby elephants
• Watching the elephants for a LONG time, splashing, walking, nursing, taking mud baths, creating mud-sunscreen, beautifying their bodies with mud, eating grass, shaking the dirt off of their grass heaps, chomping, pooping, bellowing, trumpeting, and more.
• The "journey into Africa" ride
• The steel band performance
• Being hot (it hasn't really gotten hot yet in HB, so it was nice to feel some heat!)
• Drumming with the African acrobats. Jeremy and I actually gained a little audience as we jammed out with one of the African drummers. And I learned a few new patterns!
• Nature Walk
• Making clay figurines
• Watching all the kids' different reactions to the animals, performers, plants etc.
• Critiqueing the variety of parental strategies displayed throughout the park- something very easy to do when you don't have your own kids :-)
• Not rushing

Psalms

In Sunday school, we studied Psalms in the Bible and then we were given time to write our own psalm. Mine ended up rhyming:

Psalm of Independence Day

By SarahLynn Zavoral

Land of freedom, land of choice,

For thy sake I sing and rejoice.

Constituted with wisdom from God,

By thy beauty I am awed.

Jeremy is not one to write lovey-dovey stuff, but his psalm ended up that way! He will KILL me if I post it and he will swear never to write anything from the heart again. So that's why it's here, too. Please don't say anything to him about it in person or on facebook/email, and I might get away with it:

Psalm of Gratitude

By Jeremy Zavoral

Praise the Lord for blessing me with a wife who is as pure on the inside as she is beautiful on the outside. And how grateful I am for the opportunities the Lord has opened for me in my career and education. Amen.

Our Fifth 4th of July

Fourth of July is by far my favorite holiday! (Easter is also a favorite, but I think I love the 4th even more).

It's the holiday of pancake breakfasts, concerts in the park, red white and blue parades, summer sweat, national anthems, historical reverence, BBQ's, watermellon, fireworks, homemade ice cream, family and cousins, and that intangible thrill in the air of pure summer joy and American pride...never to be squelched by the falsehood of a fictitious character or pagan tradition. So forgive me if I get a little nostalgic.

Our first 4th (2006) was spent in Utah shortly after we were engaged. We ate pancakes in the street, watched the parade with Jeremy's family, strolled around the craft fair on main street, and took a nap in a park near my apt. We also introduced both of our parents to each other! That was a big moment, very successful. Our families played football together and we watched fireworks from Squaw Peak. (no making out though, cuz our parents were there). We also went to Great-Grandma June's 90th B-day hosted by Uncle Jim's family. Perhaps one of my favorite 4ths ever.

The second 4th (2007) was spent in Austin, Minnesota, cuz we were living there while Jeremy did his internship for Hormel Foods. We entertained all the kids in our ward by collecting fireflies at the town party. The firework show was accompanied by the city band playing on the park stage. For sure one of my favorite 4ths ever.

Our third 4th (2008) took place in Huntington Beach. It too, was perhaps one of my favorite 4th's ever. You can read more details here.

Our fourth 4th (2009) was also in Huntington Beach. We took Ashlea to the parade on our new bikes. We ate lunch at Wahoo Tacos, spent the day on Main Street and the beach. We watched fireworks at the pier again. The bike ride home in the dark with all of the bonfires was really cool. I was having too much fun to take pictures. This was one of my favorite 4th's ever.

How weird to think that it's now our fifth 4th of July together (2010)!! This year, we drove up to Sacramento for the Great-Grandma June Family Reunion hosted by Grandpa Bob. WOW!! This was FOR SURE one of my favorite 4ths ever! (can you tell that I love the 4th of July?!)

On Friday, we went golfing with 9 people from the family. I was the only girl and I rocked!! We played "best ball" and competed as teams. It's now my favorite way to play golf. Matt entertained us the rest of the day with guitar hero, pool basketball and Godfather's pizza. Then, we all cuddled outside with the cousins for an outdoor movie night.

Saturday was filled with really fun get-to-know-you games and competitions that MomZ organized. Highlights included relays and egg toss. We visited, ate, visited, and played more games. Dinner was at the church with a special night of Davidson Family Feud and Aunt Sheri's famous "Great-Grand Mom" song that I've had stuck in my head since the first time we heard it 4 years ago. Then we had a special firework show with homemade ice cream in Suzie's back yard. We only got attacked by the fireworks 3 times!

Sunday, we went to church and visited with family. We drove back home and made it in time for our third year in a row of watching the Huntington Beach firework show from the pier. It was a perfect way to end the BEST weekend of the year!

Bike Buds

Jeremy and his Little (from Big Brothers Big Sisters) have been working on two of our bikes, which got rusty from the rain in April. They finished de-greasing, spray painting and coloring them yesterday!
Everything silver that you see on these bikes used to be covered in rust. Jeremy's secret to rust removal: Dip a wad of tin foil into Coca Cola. Rub the tin foil on the rust. Watch as it magically disappears!! Then for fun, use spray paint and permanent marker to decorate the metal. These guys chose silver paint and red & black marker.

Another Year Done!

Another year of teaching is successfully finished!! I have now been a professional teacher for 3 full years. Weird. I always thought that teachers who taught that long were like veterans or pros!

Here are some highlights from this year (not in chronological order).

5th Grade Square Dance and Show. Written by SarahLynn Zavoral
4th Grade Narrative Musical Mime: Coyote and The Swallowing Monster. Arranged by SarahLynn Zavoral

3rd Grade Show: So You Think You Can'T Dance? Written by SarahLynn Zavoral
2nd Grade Musical: BugZ. 1st Grade Musical: The Beat of the Drum. Written by SarahLynn Zavoral

I don't quite feel like a pro or a veteran. Mostly, I feel exhausted. Luckily, the summer will be spent relaxing and doing lots and lots of planning for next year. And I can finally get some personal things done that are way overdue, like going to the dentist!

Goin' to Grad School

The talk of getting a masters degrees is not something new. Jeremy has always wanted to get an MBA in marketing, and I have always wanted to get my masters in education and hopefully someday a PhD in education administration.

About two months ago, we were at our weekly beach football game. We won our first game of the season, and all the players invited us to go to a bar for lunch and beers. We went the week before (don't worry, we didn't drink!), so I was a little hesitant to say yes again. There was a lot of chores to be done at our new place that day. But as soon as I thought of saying "no," a strong impression from the Spirit came to me that we should go to the restaurant and enjoy the company of our new friends.

During our lunch, we were sitting next to a girl who had just finished her MBA program in marketing at USC. Jeremy started to ask her questions and before we knew it, he was scheduled to go to the information meeting that she was speaking at that following Wednesday.

Applications for the part-time MBA program were due in less than two weeks. Jeremy figured he may as well try to apply. Then, if he got accepted, we would decide if we should do it. He scrambled to get his transcripts ready, found people to write recommendations, and he wrote 5 entrance essays. Luckily, he took the GMAT two years ago (right after he graduated). The scores are good for 5 years, so he didn't have to worry about doing that.

Well, he managed to turn everything in about 10 days after the deadline. A few weeks ago, we got the acceptance letter in the mail!!

We have been fasting and praying ever since the opportunity came up. It's really scary to think how we will pay for it all and whether or not Jeremy can handle both working full time and doing school part-time. But after recognizing how the Lord led Jeremy to find this opportunity and after pondering long and hard about it, we feel it would be stupid for Jeremy to not take this opportunity. So we're going forward with faith, and so far we feel very good and positive about it!!

MBA orientation camps will take place a couple times this summer and then school will start in September. The part-time program at USC will take 3 years. Wish Jeremy luck! And wish me luck too, 'cuz it won't be easy for me either!

A Sad Happy Time

My little baby sister, Tanya, graduated from high school last weekend.

I remember when Desha and I talked over Tanya's crib soon after she was born, thinking how old we would all be when Tanya would graduate from high school. Dad would almost be 60! and Desha would be 30! and we would both probably be married and have kids.

Now that Tauni has actually graduated, it's amazing to think how time has gone by. To me, she is still a sweet little toddler running around the house with her long curls, dimples and pitterpatter feet, pestering me during my homework, "Sarah! Let's play house again!"

When I talk to her on the phone or mention her to other people, I instinctively picture that little sister. Even when I dream about her, she is an innocent, hazel-eyed six-year old. Not the tall, gorgeous, distant young adult that she is now.

I moved out of my parents home over 8 years ago, but I still haven't been able to accept or even face the fact that Tanya is no longer the little sister I used to have. Even if our relationship changes for the better, there will still never be a way to renew the precious times that only her and I shared in our youth. Times that even she seems to have forgotten. Gone are the days when she used to beg me to spin her around just one more time on the grass in the backyard. Gone is my little pal that I was forced to drag with me to all of my babysitting jobs. Gone is the pest that took my jewelry and dolls and got me blamed for everything. Gone are the cheers and hugs to see me every time I came home from school. Gone are the nights when she would sneak into my room to sleep with me when she was scared. Gone are the silly dances and songs, the crazy sleepouts on the trampoline, the tea parties and forts. My little friend is...gone.