I am starting over...

So I have really not blogged much this year and would really like to make an attempt to be a better blogger in 2011. So with the help of my friend Adrienne, I am going to blog 30 days straight. It will help me be more accountable and help you get to know me better, if you don't already. So keep me accountable and be ready because come January 1, it all begins!

Day 1-Introduce, recent picture, 15 interesting facts

Day 2-Meaning behind your blog name

Day 3-Your first love

Day 4-Your parents

Day 5-Your favorite recipes

Day 6-A picture of something that makes you happy

Day 7-Favorite movies

Day 8-A place you've traveled to

Day 9-A picture of your friends

Day 10-Something you're afraid of

Day 11-Favorite TV shows

Day 12-What you believe

Day 13-Goals

Day 14-A picture you love

Day 15-Bible verse

Day 16-Dream house

Day 17-Something you're looking forward to

Day 18-Something you regret

Day 19-Something you miss

Day 20-Nicknames

Day 21-Picture of yourself

Day 22-What's in your makeup bag

Day 23-Favorite vacation

Day 24-Something you've learned

Day 25-Put your iPod on shuffle, first 10 songs

Day 26-Picture of your family

Day 27-Pets

Day 28-Something that stresses you out

Day 29-3 Wishes

Day 30-a picture

WHOOP! What A Weekend

This past weekend was great! The TEXAS A&M AGGIES beat the No. 11 Oklahoma Sooners 33-19. It was such an amazing feeling for me even though I was unable to attend the game. I was still there in spirit, yelling for them the whole time! Ryan Tannehill has made a tremendous difference in the team the last few games and I am so happy he is our starting quarterback!

Also the KANSAS STATE WILDCATS kicked the tu longhorns butts also on Saturday night! Not only was it a victory for the Cats it was also a loss for the longhorns and anytime they lose is a good night for this Aggie! We were able to watch the game on tv so it was great to watch the loss happen.

Not only did we enjoy some football over the weekend, we enjoyed family and friends, food and beer! Our friends Erin and Corey came up for a visit and some work. Corey got a HUGE smoker for his graduation present and Matt and Pat were dying to see it and try it out, so graciously Corey hauled it up from Emporia so that the boys could bond over the smoking of ribs and pork butt! They spent all day Saturday around that smoker. I guess they thought it was going to do something more than just smoke meat! The food turned out AMAZING though. The ribs were so tender they fell straight off the bone. And well the beer is always good :)

Matt went duck hunting on saturday morning and saw NOTHING! He was so disappointed but he had a feeling it was not going to be a good day to hunt. But by Sunday he was happy because he shot himself an 8pt buck! He was so happy about it and I was such a proud wife...or at least I was trying to be. He took me up to where the deer was and I put on my brave face. I think I did good! Hunting isn't for me but it is something Matt loves so I am embracing it.

A little blurry for some reason, but here is Matt with his buck and the bow he shot it with!

Pat has a new 4wheeler that he has spruced up like any man would do and I had the joy of getting to ride it on my own Saturday...well not entirely on my own, Scout came along and he LOVED it. His ears were blowing in the breeze and he was sitting in front of me with his back legs straddling the seat and his front paws on the front of the 4wheeler. It was AWESOME! I think I have created a monster though because now all he does is sit by the 4wheeler and anytime anyone gets on he hops right up to the seat also.

Scout and I on the 4wheeler after our ride!

Sunday was pretty relaxing. We spent some time in the morning with Erin, who is the photographer for MILES PHOTOGRAPHY, taking family photos. As soon as I get them from her I will post them to my blog. She did a great job on the ones I have seen so far. The dogs were great even though they were incredibly distracted, but what do you expect with animals.

All in all it was a great weekend! I get to go home in a week and a half! Can't wait!!

I am sick...homesick that is

So I have been in Kansas now for about a month and the homesickness has hit me pretty hard this week. It is such a bad place to be because I know that it hurts my husband when I talk about it, but I can't help that I don't feel like this is home right now. I hope that one day I will feel this way but a part of me doesn't think I ever will.

Other than being homesick, things are going good. I really like my job and all the people that I work with. My boss is great! He really knows how to keep the office fun and full of life. He is a great person to work for and I am truly blessed for the opportunity that I have been given here. The DCE team and Kansas State has really made me feel at ease and also made the "homesickness" not be as hard.

The house hunt is on hold for now because we need to get the down payment together, so until then we are living at Matt's parents. It has been a true adjustment, but so far it hasn't been too bad.

I have about 2 weeks until I am back home and can't wait. I miss my family so much and can't wait to see them! I am going to end this with some pics of the last time I was home.

Emma loves "the boys" at the gig'em aggie games

Daddy and his girls

The only picture I took at my 10 year reunion, but it is with one of my favorite people in this world!

And the bad blogger award goes to...

ME!!!!

I have been so busy the last few weeks, I have not had time to blog. I know, I know, I say that everytime, but this time I REALLY have been busy.

Matt and I have moved back to Kansas! I know it might be a shock to some, but we made the move for us and for the future family we will have. I was miserable at my job and was having no luck finding anything new, until I was offered a job at Kansas State. I am now working as the Academic Advisor for the Bachelor Degree Completion program, and so far so good.

I am very happy to be out of my old position. My boss was a nightmare and I just could not continue to work for her, and for something that I did not believe in. I truly miss all the students that I worked with, and a few others in the office :) but I am happy now, and for now that is what counts.

Matt found a job and so far it is working out, but we are hoping that he either moves up fast with this company or is offered a salaried position with another company. But it's a job and it pays the bills.

Other than this big move, we really aren't doing much. We are looking for a place to live, but the process has been slower than I had hoped. It will work out how it is supposed to I guess, but I really hope we find something soon. Saving money for a house is harder than it sounds!

It's the best time of year...COLLEGE FOOTBALL!

I know it has been months since I blogged last and for that I am so sorry, but instead of boring you with the non-happenings on my life I will just start from the present.

College football is among us and for me it is my favorite time of year. There is nothing better than hanging out with your family and 80,000 of your closest friends watching your team head to victory! I can't even explain to you how much I just love this time of year!
For me last Saturday was one of the best times I have had in a long time. I was able to spend the whole day with my family and good friends tailgating and then both my teams won! So all in all it was a great day.

This is the first year we are tailgating at Texas A&M games and let me tell you it was a blast! We got to College Station a little after noon and set up camp. The guys tried to get the tv hooked up so we could watch other college games but that was a no go. But the girls talked, drank, and just had a good time catching up.Then it was game time! I just love sitting in the stands at Kyle Field and watching our team take the field. When they line up and sing the "Spirit of Aggieland" along with all the fans it brings tears to my eyes and chills to my skin. It is an experience that can not be described and it can not be understood by anyone other than Aggies.
It was a slow start but a great finish, and the Aggies came out on top of SFA 48-7. Not only did the Aggies win, but also Kansas State beat UCLA on Saturday as well. So saturday was extra special for me! I am lucky that I have 2 outstanding teams to cheer for, except when they play each other, I am 100% Aggie! Sorry to my Wildcat friends but I truly bleed maroon!

JAMAICAN ME CRAZY...

So we just got back from an AMAZING trip to Jamaica for my very best friend's wedding. We had a wonderful time and it was so relaxing. When I got back to work people asked me what we did and I said "Not really anything, but that was the best part!" We had no agenda, except for the wedding day of course, so we just did what we wanted. We met some new wonderful friends that I can't wait to hang out with again. We are already talking about doing a couples trip with all of them next year!
The first day we were there we spent most of the day in the pool. The water was very nice in the morning but by the evening it was pretty warm, but that didn't matter to us. We, or at least I, had a great bartender, Ueroy! He took great care of me and made me some of the most delicious drinks! We went to the beach a few times, but tending to stay in the pool because of the locals that try and sell you all sorts of things down there. They stayed in the ocean and the moment you came down to the beach they bombarded you. That was my least favorite part. Although the beach was beautiful! Travis Farst, one of my friends husband was walking around in the ocean and found a sea urchin and brought it to the girls on the beach! It moved in my hand, it was really cool and awkward.
On Sunday we went with our new friends, Monica and Justin Reese to the Dunes River Falls and let me tell you, if you ever go to Jamaica you need to go see this! It was the most amazing thing I have seen and I am so happy that we went. There was a steel drum band one night and they were great. It was our last night there so we were very tired and didn't stay long but the part we saw was cool. Matt and I also went into town on the last day to do a little shopping and just had a great time together.
The trip was so much fun. Stay tuned for wedding pictures!

Adventures in Fred

We spent memorial day with the Riley's at Lake Texoma and had a blast! Natalie and Travis found a great RV spot right next to the water. They took "Fred" up on Thursday night because we did not know how long Jackson would wait to grace them with his presence and they didn't want to miss out on a great spot. We got there late friday night, so after we got Fred ready we sat around had a few beers then went to sleep so that we could be ready for a full day.
We woke up saturday to a beautiful morning! We watched a family of ducks grab so food from the shore and it was super cute when they lined up to get back in the water! We spent most of the day just hanging out and playing laddergolf or redneck golf depending on which one you prefer. The girls were AMAZING at it! The boys still need some practice. We went fishing later that day and then sat around the fire, played games and just relaxed.


We went to the pool on sunday and stayed in our own little corner! It was a great time. Sunday night was a lot like Saturday with just hanging out by the fire, playing games and talking. Fred had a little accident on Sunday night from the storm but I have been told he is being taken care of and will be good as new!

Thank you so much to the Riley's for letting us join them on this wonderful trip. We look forward to many more adventures with them!

No AC...

So our AC went out on Monday and it has been HOT in our little house. We are hoping that the AC man comes today to fix it or things are not going to be fun around the Schafer house. Our landlord went and got a window unit for us to use last night and it helped for the bedroom but the rest of the house is miserable! Hopefully it get's fixed soon.

I am ready for the 3 day weekend! We are spending the weekend camping with our great friends, Travis and Natalie Riley and we can't wait! We always have a blast with them. Pics soon!

Oh and Matt went and got 2 bags full of firewood for us to use while camping this weekend...just in case we want smores :) and this is what I saw when I walked out this morning to go to work! I just love Tiffany and her need for very unusual play toys!

Bowling and a Wedding...WHAT??

So I have not updated in a while...yes I am a bad blogger! It has been really busy with the end of classes, our conference track meet, and traveling that I just have not had a lot of time. So here is an all in one blog of what we have been up to.

We went out a few weekends ago with some great friends. Who knew bowling would be so much fun for adults who can't really bowl! We had a blast. It was a great way to get out of the same old routine of just hanging out at someone's house and watching tv. We had a ton of laughs, a few almost kicked out moments, and way too much fun. I can't wait to do it again.
The 1st weekend in May we went to Kansas to our dear friends, Eric and Lindsey's wedding. It was a beautiful wedding and such a blast. These 2 are perfect for each other and I am so happy to have been able to share their special day with them.
Last weekend was the Southland Conference Track meet and UTA hosted it this year, so on friday I was scheduled to help but they did not need me, so I spent most of the day outside watching the meet. We had a 4 hr rain delay so the meet went well into the night, but I left around 9:30. I am just too old to be staying out that late...hahaha! Saturday I was going to head back out to Arlington to watch again, but we decided we would head up to Aubry to hang out with the Riley's (more on this later). Sunday was a big day for our track athletes. The came up a little short with the women's team getting 2nd behind SFA and the men's team getting 4th. I am so proud of all of them and can't wait to see what next year holds.

Saturday night was a blast as usually with the Riley's. Matt and I headed to Aubrey Saturday night and had such a great time. We ate wonderful food, took a tour of the town, and then played our favorite game-Catch Phrase! Pretty sure the guys cheated, but we will let them say they won. We are looking forward to Memorial Day when we will head up to Lake Texoma in Fred (their camper) with the Riley's for a weekend of fun!

Rachel Schafer
Student Development Specialist II
CHAMPS/Lifeskills Coordinator
University of Texas at Arlington

Sent from my iPhoneThe kids along for the ride to Kansas. They are so good in the car!
Should be in KS in a few more hours. We are ready for a great weekend
with the family.

Concerts and Bachelorette Parties=Great times!

The last couple weekends have been super busy, but super fun. I will be summing them all up in this post...so get ready!

Amber's Getting Married! I could not be more excited and happy for her. She and I have been through SO much together and I can't wait for the day she says "I do." All the girls got together Easter weekend to celebrate this upcoming wedding with Amber. We had a shower for her and then a "Sex in the "little" City" bachelorette party for her. It was so much fun! Amber you are going to be a beautiful bride and I can't wait to share this time with you!



This past weekend we went out with Natalie & Travis Riley, Trey Cook, and Rachel & Blake Barry. It was so much fun meeting new people and watching a great concert. We went to Cooper's BBQ and then headed to Billy Bob's to watch Chris Knight. It was a great show, with great friends (old and new) and I can't wait to do it all again! We were sad to hear the Harwell's could not come with us but are hoping that baby Russell is feeling a lot better! And at the end of the night Natalie and I won the best wife award by running in the pouring down rain to get the cars and pick up the boys!

Happy 1yr Anniversay-Sunday

I didn't get on yesterday so I am doing my anniversary post today.

One year ago I married my best friend. I can't even believe that it has been a year since that wonderful day. So much has happened. We have moved twice and are finally at a place we love, we have made tons of memories with friends, and spent a lot of time just having fun together.

Matt-This list will never be able to explain to you or anyone how much I truly love you. I don't think I even realize it most of the time (and I don't mean that in a bad way at all)

*You are my best friend
*You are the person I can tell anything to and know that you won't judge me.
*You are there for me in my darkest of days, and understand when I don't want to talk about it. *You do everything you possible can to make me smile when I feel like nothing can go right.
*I hate (secretly love) the fact that I can't stay mad at you! When we argue or have a disagreement I can't look at you or I will smile and forget why I was mad. I love that about us. *You took a chance on teaching me to use a gun and I have had a blast every since!
*I love to golf with you because you are so patient with me when I can't find my ball :)
*You are my rock, you listen to me complain about stupid things
*You give me continued support for my career that I love so much but don't make a lot of money in
*You support my students by supporting me and I love that about you
*You took a chance on me when I had so much baggage, and a huge wall surrounding my heart. *I told you everything when we first met and you still took that chance
*You love me for me and I can't explain to you how much that means to me
*You have NEVER given up on me when so many others have
*You love Scout even though you try and hide it
*You support the Aggies as long as they are not playing the Wildcats
*You wear maroon in support of my team even when your friends give you a hard time
*You love me despite that fact that I don't deserve it

Like I said before this list does not even come close to explain the all the reason that I love you! It has been a great year and I look forward to many more with you.

I need a haircut...

Is what Scout continues to remind me everyday while he pants in my face! I have been so busy the last few weekends, that we have not have a lot of time to pamper the puppies. I can't even remember the last time he got a haircut! So hopefully soon, I will be able to get him to the groomer so he is not so HOT! But I know he still loves his mommy!

He is trying to ignore me while I am taking pictures!

Now if you notice he is sticking his tongue out at me!

There we go, finally got a picture! Look at all that hair!!

New Car!!!

So this weekend, I was lucky enough to get a new car! I am so excited about it, and I totally love the new car smell. This was not in our plans at all at the moment, but some things happened to the old car that we had to make a choice.

I have been driving a Jeep Grand Cherokee and it started to act up on us. The sensory devices stopped working and then it stopped starting! So needless to say we were a little worried about what the problem might be. My dad got us a new starter because that is what everyone thought was the problem, but once Matt got that on there it still did not start. So after playing with a few things we were able to get it to start so we immediately took it to a dealer to have them check it out. You see, it would start whenever it felt like it but never on a consistent basis, so we could not turn it off once we got it started unless we were prepared to wait a couple days for it to start again. We ran into a salesman once we got to the dealership because the service department was closed, so he took down our information and was going to have the service guy call us in the morning. Long story short, the service guy called us and told us the problem and how much it would cost to fix, and the salesman called and told us he could get our jeep paid off, if we wanted to trade it in...so since the other jeep had no warranty and they were going to pay if off even though it was broken, we traded it in! And they gave us a GREAT deal on the new one as well.
So I have a beautiful new Jeep Cherokee, that has a warranty that will last a long time...and the best part is IT STARTS! Yes it runs and starts whenever I WANT IT TO, not when it feels like it! Thanks to my sweet hubby who made this all happen!

Elite 8! EMAW

I thought K-State was going to give me a heart attack at an early age last night! Although I do believe I had a slight anxiety attack! But after 2 OT they finally got the job completely done and beat Xavier 101-96! I am so proud of them and the toughness they showed last night. Let's just hope that the next game against Butler does not go to OT or I might just have a heart attack! And for you non K-state people EMAW means "Every Man A Wildcat"

You might be wondering how I can be following K-State even though I am a die hard Aggie. Well 2 reason-1) I got my master's from Kansas State and just fell in love with the town and the college while I was there, 2) The love of my life, Matt, graduated from there. We at least have K-State in common! Even though I was very sad (actually I cried) when the Aggies ran out of time against Purdue, I can say that I am lucky because I have another team that I can continue to cheer for. I will always be an Aggie, but today I am a Wildcat! LET'S GO STATE!

We are heading over to our wonderful friends, Natalie and Travis Riley's house (well her parent's house) to help them cheer on the Baylor Bears against St. Mary's. Matt was going to try and find a bear costume to wear to show his support but we didn't have time. Gotta love him for trying though!

Happy Friday Everyone...and hopefully there will be no more anxiety attacks!

Wow it's been over a month...

since my last post. Where does the time go?? Well I can tell you. It's goes on 3 weekends trips in the last month! Traveling for the weekends really takes it out of me and then I get back to work and forget all about blogging. I told myself that I was going to do better but that doesn't seem to be happening. I tell myself I am going to do better at a lot of things but I don't do that either. Just been down in the dumps lately I guess, and I really hope that I can pull myself out of it. I will just give you a brief over view of the last month or so.

Valentine's Day was fun for Matt and I. We went and saw Miranda Lambert at Billy Bob's. She is such an amazing performer! We both loved going to see her and it was fun because it had been a long time since it was just Matt and I going out. Blake Shelton (her boyfriend if you didn't know)came out on stage for the last few songs! It was awesome to see them together and so happy. I truly hope the best for them because we can all see what the spot light can do for relationships.

The next weekend I was in Norman, Oklahoma supporting the UTA track team. They had their indoor conference meet there so I was lucky enough to be able to go and support them. I really love going to the meets so that my students see me outside the office and see that I really do care about them.

The first weekend in March was spent in Manhattan, Kansas at Fake Paddy's Day. This is a yearly celebration in Manhattan where the bars open at 9am and it's a party all day. We had such a great time catching up with friends and just being back in Manhattan for a weekend. I never went to Fake Paddy's Day while I actually lived in Manhattan, and now I wish I had. It was a blast!

The second weekend of March I was back up in Kansas for my dear friend Lindsey Berger's bridal shower and bachelorette party. We had such a blast! I can't wait until her wedding, because it is going to be so much fun. I will post pictures later(well some of the pictures).

This past week was spring break, but we only got friday off. What a bummer. Although I was out Monday and Tuesday because I was sick. So needless to say it wasn't really a good week. I am still trying to get over whatever it was that I had, but I am feeling better.

So in short that is a brief summary of what I have been up to the last month. I am sure there was so much more to talk about, I just don't want to bore y'all with all the details.

Real love

Since it is getting close to Valentine's Day I thought I would write about love: past, present and future.

Past love:
Some of you that read this may know but I have been married before. I got married a month after my 21st birthday. I thought I knew what I was doing and that our love would last and we would be able to work through anything. He was military and I thought I knew exactly what I was signing up for when we got married, but I was so wrong. He was a great guy just not the great guy for me. We slowly grew apart as we did not even spend much time together after we were married due to his career. I was lost, alone, and very depressed. I did not get married thinking it would end in divorce but it did. I was so ashamed because I knew what it did to my family, I was mad at myself for letting my marriage fail and more. I just knew there was something missing but I could never really figure it out until recently...I loved my previous husband but I do not think that I was IN love with him. He will make a great husband for someone else. With all that said now on to my next topic...present love.

Present Love:
I am 100% absolutely, completely in love with Matt. I have never felt this way before and I love it. I was so scared to let myself love someone again because I did not think I deserved it because I let my first marriage fail. Every day though I fall more in love with Matt than I was before. I know now what it truly means to love someone and to not want to live without them. I was upset all the time during my first marriage and now I can see why. It was not right! He was a great guy, yes but just not my great guy. Today I can say that I have the most amazing husband in the world. He constantly reminds me how much he loves me, and he doesn't just do things on special occasions. He treats me like a queen and I couldn't ask for a better man in my life. I don't like the fact that I have been divorced but I know I would never have been this happy if I would have stayed. I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with Matt and grow together as husband and wife. The future is so bright for us and our love can only continue to grow!

I just got back from Tampa and came home to a clean house and beautiful flowers. He makes me feel so special and he continually tells me that my past does not matter. I am still coming to terms with being able to find a man that loves me for me and for my past even if he does not agree with it. I love you so much Matt and I thank you for loving me and being the most amazing husband I could ever ask for. Everyday is our day to show each other we love each other. I don't need Valentine's Day to do that! I love you so much.


My beautiful flowers that were waiting for me when I got home from Tampa. Thank you Matt, you are the best!

Muddy pup

I think Scout found every mud puddle on our land this weekend. Still
love him, just not half his body covered in mud!!

February Already???

I just realized I have not posted anything in 2010!! Where has the time gone? The Schafer house has been busy getting back in to the swing of things after Christmas, so here is a little update.

Christmas 2009

Matt's parents and brother come down for almost a week over Christmas and we had a blast! Nick is living in Utah currently so we do not get to see him very often, and his parents are of course still in Kansas. The three of them were hoping for warm weather since they haven't seen the 50's in months! Luckily for them there were a few nice days. One day the boys went golfing but it was still a little too cold for me so Kerry and I went shopping in stead. That was a lot of fun but cut short because Kerry got sick. The next day was still fairly nice so we decided to go to Alpine Shooting range and shoot the sporting clays course. Kerry stayed back because she still wasn't feeling good. I had the best time! I have never shot a gun before much less every done sporting clays but it was so much fun. I got 26 out 100, which I think is good for my first time!

Me shooting! So fun.

New Years 2010
We went to Fort Worth with Eric and Lindsey and then met up with some more friends. It was a blast. The group of friends that we hang out with down here are so much fun. Matt and I were taking during the night because the 4 of us were the only ones not single in our group and I asked if he missed it, of course he said no and we talked about the way the guys acted and how he did not miss that or would ever give up what we have to be single again. That made me happy. I was also happy that I was not single and do not miss they days of drunk guys coming around trying to do whatever they are trying to do. It was funny to watch though.

January
We had a hard couple weeks in January. We had to go back to Kansas for a funeral. Matt's grandfather (his Mom's dad) passed away a few weeks ago and it was very hard on everyone. He is in a much better place, breathing on his own and sitting out by a lake fishing. I had a really hard time during all this because I had not been back to KS to see family since July. I had a lot of guilt in my heart for that and made it a point to make sure I see them more often.

Other than that we have been spending time with friends up here in Fort Worth. One night we went to Joe T Garcia's to eat with 4 other couples and had a blast. We went with Natalie and Travis Riley, Lindsey and Eric, Sarah and Trey and Jenn and Kurt Harwell and their little boy Russel. It was so fun to see Kurt and meet his wife. I have not seen him since high school, and to see him as a dad was amazing. It is crazy to think about all of us from high school growing up, getting married and becoming parents. It is a great time in all of our lives.

Lindsey, Me, Natalie, and Sarah at Joe T's. Jenn had already left.

I will be better at keeping up with this in the new year! Hope everyone is doing great.