Schafer Shenanigans!

Religion says Do, Jesus says Done!

2012-01-12T06:52:00.000-08:00

I don't care what your religious beliefs are because after watching this everyone should know that doesn't matter, HE matters!

I think this man's message speaks volumes. It is important not to get caught up in someones religion but to see what they truly stand for. If they are living for Christ it should not matter what they call themselves because at the end of the day being Baptist, Methodist, Catholic, Mormon, or other doesn't matter, it is God's Love and His sacrifice that does. A good thing to remember everyday! I want people to see me as a Christian because of my acts and they way I present myself not because it says I am Christian on facebook. I need to be more like Him in order for others to be able to see that without me having to say it. It is time for me to unmask and live in Him!

Join the Movement!

2011-12-22T05:57:00.000-08:00

This video/movement is pretty awesome. Whether you are single or married it is for you. I know that at this point I am not a Proverbs 31 woman but I can be and I will strive to be that!

Friends are Family

2011-12-21T13:29:00.000-08:00

I have had some time to reflect on my life the past few weeks and have realized a few things.
Friends are family and when you find great friends you need to keep them close. I would say that I was not a good friend in high school or college. I was unhappy with myself which turned into me being unhappy in life. I did not engage with people and I did not go out on the weekends with friends in high school and so I felt very alone even though I knew if I just picked up the phone I would have somewhere to go or someone to hang out with. I was very insecure in high school and now as I look back on things I lost a lot of great friendships. That is on me and something that I have to work on daily. I still have insecurities, I still have unhappy days, but I am working on not pushing my friends away. No matter what the distance is between friends if you pick up the phone it is like they are in the same room. Because of my past I did not stay close with people once I left an area. So once I left high school I left behind friends, when I left college I left behind friends and it stinks to look back on what I lost. If I would have just picked up the phone, or sent an email anything would have been better than nothing. I think I thought people were always judging me and the mistakes I made but I have realized that true friends are going to be there no matter what.

Last night I hung out with some of my friends here in Kansas. All these ladies work with me at Kansas State and have been such blessings in this transition back to Kansas. They are some of my closest friends up here and even though our lives may take us in different directions I know that they will be there always. I have learned from my past and learned that friends like these are worth keeping! It is not the quantity of friends that I have it is the quality of friends and these ladies are pure greatness! So thank you to all of you that have stuck with me this last year and listened to my "poor me" stories and still loved me!

Starting over...

2011-12-16T11:40:00.000-08:00

I feel like I have used this cliche so often lately that I have begun to realize that I tend to not finish a lot of the things that I start. Some of that is out of my control but others truly is me becoming lazy.

I started over with my running because I got lazy. I stopped going to the gym or I stopped lacing up my shoes, why? Who knows but mainly I was lazy.

I stopped reading the Bible and stopped praying. Why? Because God had given me everything I have asked for and I don't need him anymore??? UMM NO! I need Him everyday, I just got lazy. I don't have the firm foundation I need/want to stand on, but that is not because He has not tried it is because I have not tried.

We are starting over in starting a family. Now this is not my fault but again it is starting over and I have learned from it. I have learned that through all of it, Matt and I still need to focus on our marriage and what is best for us. We need to still show each other that the other is the most important in our lives and not get caught up in every thing else. During this time I got lazy in showing Matt how much he means to me and how much I love him. Again, I got lazy.

Those are just a few examples of things I am having to start over within the last few weeks. It helps me to be able to look back and reflect on what I wasn't doing so that I can move forward.

Slowly I am getting my endurance back and I am not being hard on myself that I can't run 6 miles right now much less 3, but we all have to start somewhere. Today I did NOT want to go to the gym but I did and now I feel much better. It is baby steps and I have to keep focused.

I have an app on my phone that I look at every day that has a passage or two from the Bible and a little blurb about it. I know that it is not much but for me it is a start. I do want to dive in further and strengthen my foundation and trust in God but I have to start small or I will get overwhelmed. One day at a time. Praying is a little harder because when I remember to do it I feel bad that I did not do it first thing in the morning or right before bed. I feel like God is going to see this as an after thought and then I put it off again. I HAVE to get better at praying and talking to Him because that is so important and I NEED it. (side note-any advice from fellow friends would be great)

And starting a family and loving Matt is an everyday thing and I know the things I need to do to get there. Obviously details on the family part are not going to be shared but showing Matt that he is important and that my whole focus is not just to have a baby but to make a life and family with him. I got so caught up in getting pregnant that I never stepped back to remember the other person in the equation.

So this is where I stand, starting over one day at a time. Running is still hard, God is still a mystery to me that I can't wait to uncover, and I still miss that little one but each day is a new day.

9 Weeks

2011-12-06T06:00:00.000-08:00

*Disclaimer-I am not writing this for people to feel sorry for me, I am writing it so that I can remember. It might be weird that I want to remember these feeling but I do. And well this is my blog so writing my feelings is ok right??

October 31st was one of the best day's of mine and your dad's life. I found out that you were growing inside me and in a few short months you would be a part of this world. I could not wait until July to hold you in my arms. From the moment I found out about you I loved you and so did your dad. Probably if I was accurate I have loved you way before that day. We kept you a secret and only told our family and they were overjoyed and trust me they loved you from day one as well. I thought about you everyday wondering if you would be a little girl or a little boy. Either way we would have been happy. It was hard keeping you a secret from our friends because they were all so ready to hear about you.

November 30th became one of the hardest days of our lives when after some complications and a visit to the doctor we found out that you were no longer growing. Dr. Roles who is awesome and was so happy for us because she has been on this long journey with us, told us the devastating news that you stopped growing around 5 or 6 weeks. My body was in the beginning stages of letting you go so after hours of waiting we made a choice to have Dr. Roles go ahead and remove you. It was a very hard decision but we knew it was best. I was very sad, your dad was very sad and our families were very sad. You were and still are loved.

Even though you did not make it into this world you made a difference in our lives. You gave me hope! Hope that one day I will be a mom and your dad will be a dad. We are sad that it will not be you but we know that you did what you had to do for us. You gave our marriage strength and love that we had not shared before. You helped mend relationships that had been going in the wrong direction, and you instilled faith back into our lives. For all of these things I am grateful. Yes I am sad that I will not hold you but I am thankful that you are in Heaven watching over us and that one day you will be there sharing in our joy as we welcome our baby.

I write this to you so that I can remember even though it was a sad, hard time it was also a blessing. You did things that we could not do ourselves. May your precious soul rest at the right hand of our Father in Heaven!

I love you, little one.

Thanksgiving!

2011-11-28T13:50:00.000-08:00

I have SO much to be thankful for this year and Thaksgiving with my family was just what I needed. Although I did not take 1 single picture becasue I was too busy soaking up all the family time!

We left on Wednesday and made the long trek down to Texas. We made our stop in Fort Worth to eat with our dear friends Eric and Lindsey Watson. I miss those 2 so much and hope that someday they will move back to Kansas so we can have Super Mario Brothers dates again! We went to Cotton Patch and did not get kicked out this time and all our food was cooked properly! It was nice to just sit and chill with great friends again. I wish we could have seen more of our Fort Worth friends but with it being the holidays we were on a tight schedule.

Thursday was the big game and we all headed down to College Station for some tailgating. The game did not end at all how I would have wanted it to so I not even going to comment about it. I had a great time with my family and friends at the tailgate and as always soaking up all the Aggie Spirit that I love so much!

Friday it was a girls kinda day with a little Matthew and Ian thrown in the mix. My mom, Lea, Joe'l, Ashley, Faith, Hayley, Emma, Me and Matthew and Ian all went to lunch and then some of us headed to Mom and Dad's for a little resting. We spent that night eating some delicious soup brought out by Jason and Ashley. It was great getting to know Ashley and Ian a little more. Can't wait to have them apart of this crazy family.

Saturday was my sister's birthday and we spent that morning with her and then we got on the road to head north. We wanted to beat the traffic and we kinda did. We made another stop in Fort Worth to have lunch with Travis and Natalie Riley and her family at Texas Roadhouse for her birthday. We absolutely love that family and those 2 our some of our closest friends so anytime we get to see them is a blessing. We look forward to Christmas where we might be able to see them again. If not it will be a planned trip to San Antonio to see the new house!

All in all we had a great time and I have so much to be thankful for this year. I didn't get all 30 days of thankfulness but know deep in my heart and am so very thankful for ALL that I have and ALL that is coming up in the next year!!

Weekend of Thanks

2011-11-21T11:54:00.000-08:00

I am just going to sum up my weekend of thanks with one word....FOOTBALL! I truly am thankful for football. It calms my heart, almost gives me a heart attack makes me cry, scream and laugh all at the same time! It is the craziest thing ever that all those emotions can happen all at the same time.

Saturday was such a great day for me. My Aggies decided to show up all 4 quarters of the football game against Kansas! It was great and I hope that they decide to show up for all 4 this Thursday against Texas! I will always be an Aggie fan whether they are winning or losing. I bleed maroon and will until the day I die.

I also enjoyed watching Kansas State (my other school but that I don't love near as much as I do A&M) beat Texas for the 3rd straight time! I would have preferred the offense showing up a little more but a win is a win. I am proud of those boys to continue to excel even though every week they are the underdog. Collin Klein is probably one of the best quarterbacks I have seen in some time. He truly leaves EVERYTHING out on that field.

The last game of the night that I truly enjoy was watching Baylor beat OU. I do not root for Baylor very often since I am an Aggie and well you all probably know....But I did on Saturday night. My best friend is a Baylor Bear and I could not be happier for her and this win. RG3 is truly a great quarterback and I hope that he continues to excel in his career. He will be fun to watch on Sundays. I am thankful that Amber was able to spend such a great game with her sister. I am sure it made it that much sweeter. I almost cried for those Bears on Saturday night because they put their whole heart in that game and it showed.

So yes, I am kinda weird that I am thankful for Football, but come on it is such a crazy intense game to watch!

Day 18-Memories

2011-11-18T10:32:00.000-08:00

Today I am thankful for memories. Even those this memories still breaks my heart it is something that changed my life forever. I will never forget the 12 fallen Aggies from 12 years ago. I may not have known any of them but they were family. May you never be forgotten. We are the Aggies, the Aggies are we.

Day 14, 15 and 16

2011-11-16T10:46:00.000-08:00

I know I know I am bad at keeping up with this but I am trying :)

Emma and Haylea at an A&M Game in pouring down rain.

Day 14-Nieces and Nephew
My nieces and nephew are super awesome. They make me laugh and make my heart smile so much when I am around them. I can't wait to see them next week when I am in Texas. They are growing up so fast some days I wish that I could just keep them where they are! I can't believe that Faith will be a teenager next year! I can still remember her being a little baby. And Matthew is growing up to be such a young man. Haylea and Emma are like 2 peas in a pod and I love seeing those 2 play together. I can't get over how much they have grown up and as much as I don't like to see I can't wait to see what the future holds.

Haylea and Emma playing in the sand pile at Nanny and PawPaw's house

Day 15-People I work with
I really do love the people I work with. They are kind, understanding and generally have my back. I do miss my Cassie though and our long wonderful talks we would have in our office but I have gained some great friends here and I wouldn't change it for anything.

Faith is growing up so fast!

Matthew and Haylea at the shop.

Day 16-My phone
I know that seems superficial maybe but I am thankful that I have a phone that keeps me connected to the people I care for the most. I am far away from my family so it helps knowing they are just a phone call away.

Day 11, 12 and 13

2011-11-14T10:45:00.000-08:00

I am playing catch up since I don't usually blog over the weekend.

Day 11-
I am thankful for my health. I don't have any major health problems and I am thankful for that. I try pretty hard to eat healthy, work out and stay away from harmful things.

Day 12-
Thankful for days filled with friends and family. My sister and brother-in-law were in town over the weekend and I had a great time with them. We laughed, laughed, and laughed some more. We made great memories that will last a life time.

Day 13-
I am thankful for lazy Sundays spent on my couch watching Lifetime movies by myself so no one makes fun of me. It helps that it is hunting season and Matt was gone so it was just me and the 3 animals being super lazy and I loved it!

Day 10-Laughter

2011-11-10T14:02:00.000-08:00

I am so thankful that there is laughter in this world. There is so much pain but above all of that there is laughter. If you have ever heard a baby have a real belly laugh then you know what pure happiness is. I wish we could all go back to the days of the full on belly laugh and maybe this world would be a better place.... actually I know it would be a better place.

Here are a few things that have made me laugh lately!

This is totally my Rocky!

I am sure there are more things but for some reason I can't remember any of them right now! Anyway, share with me something that has made you laugh or smile lately!!

Day 8-Friends and Day 9-My job

2011-11-09T10:15:00.000-08:00

I am so thankful for all my friends. The one's that are close and the ones that live far away. I wish that i could see them more often but unfortunately I can't. If I were rich I would own a private jet and go visit my friends ALL the time!

My closest friends have held me up in some of my lowest times. They have encouraged me to keep going when I wanted to give up and they have continued to love me when I didn't deserve it.

Day 9-My job

I am thankful for my job because it pays the bills....some of them :) But seriously I love what I do and I love where I am at. There are some days that are hard to keep going but I always remember that I am helping someone reach their goal. I don't always get thanked but the times that I do make everything worth it.

Day 7-Clean house and Laundry

2011-11-07T10:57:00.000-08:00

Ok so this may not be a big deal to some but it is to me. A clean house means that I have a roof over my head and a clean laundry means that I have clothes to wear and I am very thankful for both of those.

Yesterday after church, I cleaned my house and sometimes it can be a pain but when it is done it just makes the day seem so much better. I love the way a clean house smells, how it looks and how it feels. I am thankful that I am able to have a wonderful house that I get to clean because many people do not have this luxury.

I love the smell of clean clothes and clean sheets. I love that I am worthy enough to have clothes to clean and sheets to sleep on. I am beyond blessed even when I forget about these sometimes.

I am only on day 7 and it has made me more aware of all the things that I truly have to be thankful for.

Day 6-Freedom

2011-11-07T10:48:00.000-08:00

Today I am thankful to live in America and to be free. I am thankful to all the soldiers and their families that sacrifice so much for me and the rest of the nation.

To many people don't thank soldiers or their families for all that they give up. And it makes my heart hurt when this happens. There are too many people in this nation that complain about what our soldiers are doing yet the reason they can complain is because of a soldier. People need to remember all that has been sacrificed for each one of us.

So today...and everyday I am thankful for my freedom and for the soldiers and their families that sacrifice it all for me.

Day 5-InLaws

2011-11-07T10:40:00.000-08:00

Sorry these are late I don't use the computer on the weekends to blog.

Day 5
I am thankful for my in-laws. My mother and father in-law have been such a blessing to Matt and I in the this transition of moving back to Kansas and getting settled into a new house. Even when we lived in Texas they always made an effort to come and visit us to helps us feel close. And they even make me my own apple pies :)

Chris-my brother-in-law is such a hard worker and a great provider to my sister and Emma. Our family was blessed when this long haired bandanna wearing boy came into our lives.

Nick and Elora have also been blessings to me and I am thankful they are in my life also. Things can be rough with siblings and I might take things a little too much to heart but in the end I am still very thankful for them both.

And sometime in the future when my brother gets his act together I will be adding another sister to the family. I am overjoyed to add Ashley to the mix and can't wait for the holidays so that I can get to know her more!

Day 4-My Awesome Hubby

2011-11-04T12:37:00.000-07:00

Today I am thankful for my hubby-Matt. He is truly my better half...although don't let him know that! He has been there for me through thick and thin and lots of laughs and tears. Through it all he has never stood in front of me or behind me, he has always been beside me.

As some of you that know me, I am not the easiest to get along with. I can be pretty sensitive and take what other people say to heart and then I turn around and take it out on Matt. Weird thing is is that he had NOTHING to do with it in the first place, and you know what this man does...he smiles through it and tells me he loves me. Which kinda makes me mad but only for a second. I can be ungrateful at times but that does not keep him from doing wonderful things for me. I can be mean for no reason and the most loving wife 2 seconds later (and no this does not happen all the time, I am usually a pretty fun person to be around) and yet he still loves me.

He has been my rock, he has been my voice when I could not say what was on my heart, he has been my shoulder to cry on, and has been the laughter I needed when the days were pretty dark. I love him more and more everyday and I can not wait for our journey to continue. I feel truly blessed to call this wonderful man my husband and I so thankful for him and should probably tell him more :)

Day 3-Siblings

2011-11-03T10:53:00.000-07:00

Today I am thankful for my siblings. Lea, Joe'l and Jason are super crazy but I love them all!

Lea and I have had our ups and downs but in the end she is my best friend. I am sure I hated her in high school and probably a little through college but even then I loved her. She has been with me when I feel in love and when I got my heart broke. She stood next to me as I married the most wonderful man, and she is my best cheerleader through the storms we call life.

Joe'l and I did not grow up together but spent some weekends as kids together. She has grown to be a great friend and she is such a great mom. She has kept me from doing some pretty stupid things and I can't thank her enough.

Jason....well what I can I say about him. We did not grow up together since he is the oldest and I am the baby :) But I am truly thankful for him and the life that he leads now. He has become and amazing man and I can't wait to see what the future holds for him.

We are all a little crazy but we are all AWESOME! I would not be where I am today if I did not have these 3 in my life.

30 Days of Thankfulness...Let's GO!

2011-11-02T14:42:00.000-07:00

I am challenging myself to blog the 30 things I am thankful for so here it goes (there will be 2 today since it is the 2nd)

Day One

I am thankful for my God. I am thankful that I was introduced to Him and that He has been so wonderful to me. I am thankful that He gave His son for me and loves me day in and day out. I can't thank Him enough for the wonderful blessing He has given me, especially since I do not feel worthy enough for them. I am so thankful He loved us enough to give the ultimate sacrifice.

Day Two

I am thankful for my parents. I was not the easiest person to get along with nor am I now the easiest person to get along with but they still love me (sometimes, just kidding). My mom and dad gave up so much for us kids and we probably never thanked them enough. Weekend trips to gymnastics meets, school functions, money here and money there, they gave and gave to us and in return they raised some pretty darn good kids if I have to say so myself :) I hope that one day when I am a mom I can be half the mom mine was to me. And no dad out there holds a candle to my dad. He is super awesome, gave so much more to Lea and I than I could ever imagine and he did it all because he loved us. We were not his blood but we were his heart and that is all that mattered to him. My parents are pretty awesome, so if you don't know them you should and if you do you are pretty darn lucky! Love you guys.

Getting on a Soapbox...and something fun!

2011-10-27T08:34:00.000-07:00

I don't blog a lot but that's ok, it means I am busy...or just have no life. Anyway I am going to get on a soap box really quick so hang on...

Ok I am there. I don't get some people's sense of humor or their lack of tact maybe. I know people that make jokes about things that other people are struggling with and I just don't get it. It is rude and inappropriate but I guess I don't get it because I am not like that. I don't understand people being rude but thinking it is funny. Being rude is being rude and it is hurtful...or maybe I am too sensitive. Anyway I just don't like when others make jokes about things that other people are struggling with.

Ok I am off now!

Let's get onto something fun...here is a new song that I love because I am sure that my father-in-law had many encounters like this because of Matt, Nick, probably Ross and JP at times...although he will say that nothing those boys did/do compare to the hell he, Shug, Neil, Don, Mike and others made...haha

Laugh Until We Cry...

2011-10-12T14:05:00.000-07:00

I love this song because of the last verse. It is where Matt and I are right now, and I know that one day that will be us! I can't wait for the day we are laughing until we cry.

Pinterest is going to make me go BROKE!

2011-09-30T10:19:00.000-07:00

So I am in love with Pinterest and if you aren't on it you should be because it's AWESOME! I have found so many cute ideas that I would LOVE to do but don't have the money. Oh Matt is going to hate the fact that I found this lovely new website! HAHA

So anyway, I was actually able to make one of the things I found on Pinterest and I made it for FREE! Got to love that. Matt brought me home a pallet from work and we went to work on it together. It was a lot of fun. So below is the progress and finished product on the kitchen wall.

We have been trying to decorate our kitchen and came up with the "country kitchen" theme so I want to create wall decor out of a pallet to have it look like an old barn wood or something.

We took the pallet completely apart...ok so Matt did most of it and I watched!

Then we put it back together with very little direction because it was hard for me to explain to Matt what was in my head...sometimes I wish he could read my mind...sometimes!

And the finished product! We still have to get things to put on them but I like the way it turned out!

Hi God, it's me....Again

2011-09-23T08:48:00.000-07:00

Heavenly Father, I know we haven't spoken in a few weeks and for that I am sorry. I know that I should not come to you only when I need you but it seems like that is the habit I have gotten into. I want to come to you daily, for my joys, for my heart break, for nothing at all. I know I should I just don't. But I come to you now on my knees asking for you to help me. I need patience, understanding, compassion, and hope.

I need patience that your timing is in all this and that when you are ready for me to have a baby it will happen. I need patience to understand that it is not all about my wants but about your desires for me. I need patience to understand that people ask because they care not because they want me to hurt more thinking about it. And I need patience with Matt that I stop taking my emotions out on him and that I can be patient with his desires as well.

I need understanding about why. Why can't I get pregnant, why can't it be me? Why is it me that is struggling. Did I do something wrong? Have I not been good enough to deserve a baby? Help me to understand your desires for me and my family.

I need compassion for Matt. I need to learn to not take this out on him and realize he has done nothing wrong. I probably need compassion for myself so that I will stop being so hard on myself but I truly feel this is all my fault for the actions I have done in the past. I need compassion or really a desire to be joyful for others that are pregnant or having babies.

And Lord, I need hope. Hope that I am meant to have a baby, or hope that you have other plans for us. I am lost right now and I really need you. I know that I should be in conversation with you all the time not just when I need something and I am trying...I just need you.

A New Schafer

2011-09-19T10:56:00.000-07:00

I can NOT believe that I have not blogged about Nick and Elora's wedding...probably because I was a ditz and forgot my camera so I have NO pictures. If you want to check out some of their bridal photo's please check out Kate Schofield's blog spot! She did AMAZING work and Nick and Elora look great...although it's not hard for those 2. I do have a few pics from the reception we had in Kansas for them though.

Utah was absolutely amazing in more ways than 1. Going into the weekend Matt and I were a little nervous because a lot had been going on that Matt and I were struggling with that I am not going to get into. We had asked friends and family to pray for the weekend and Matt and I both continued to pray that God would reveal things to us that we had not seen and that he would open our hearts. Let me just say that God showed up big time! I was able to spend so much time with Elora, getting to know her in her own element and really talk to her about concerns that I had and how Matt had been feeling. I saw a side of her that I had not seen before and it was great for me and it was great for Matt. I completely saw where she was coming from in the beginning and was able to understand so much more than I had before. It is weird how God really open mine and Matt's hearts although when He did Matt and I felt like total JERKS! We totally misjudged Elora and I hope she understands how sorry we both were for that and we look forward to our lives together sharing many memories! It's hard when God totally reveals to you what you have wanted to see but at the same time convicts you of your attitude and not being the person He would like us to be.

Elora, I hope you know how much Matt and I love you and are so happy to have you in our lives. You are perfect for Nick and we could not ask for a better sister-in-law. We look forward to sharing many more memories with you and Nick and as we have said before we are truly sorry for misjudging you in the beginning. Love you!

We went HOWLIN!

2011-09-16T10:36:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I went home to Texas to celebrate my sister Joe'ls 30th birthday. I had SO much fun with her, my sis Lea, my momma and her friend Vicki from high school. It was a successful girls weekend.

On Saturday morning Lea and I headed to the Heart of Texas Soccer fields to watch Emma's first soccer game and she did great! She scored 1 goal and almost scored 3 more. She had such a great time and I loved being able to see her play.

After that we headed to my parents house to drop of Emma and pick up Joe'l and mom. My dad got to stay home with all 3 grand-kids....Emma, Haylea, and Matthew. Pretty sure he was exhausted once we got back!

We got to the hotel in San Antonio and then headed straight out to Dicks Last Resort and if you have never been there I highly recommend it. We had such a great time and the food and beer were delicious!

Next and last stop was Howl at The Moon! That night the Aggies won the Fight Song Duel! WHOOP! It was a lot of fun and Joe'l had to get on stage for her birthday and do the adult hockey pokey :) It was so funny!

It was a great time and I can't wait for the next all girl trip!

Twin Cities is Twice the Fun

2011-07-22T10:57:00.000-07:00

We spent last weekend in the Twin Cities visiting one of my very dear friends Alisha. She and I met and Kansas State and became fast friends. She was there through some really rough times that I had and then on one of the most wonderful days of my life she stood by my side again. Needless to say we have a lot of memories and a friendship that continues to grow.

Matt and I took this little road trip with other great friends of ours from Kansas, Leslie and Joey. I actually met Leslie and Alisha at the same time and our friendship has grown a lot since I moved back to Kansas. Joey and Matt and like 2 peas in a pod so there is never a dull moment when they are together.

You can barely see this but Matt is riding his golf club like a horse, and Joey has a dart gun he was shooting off.

Never dull moments!

We left Thursday evening after work and arrived in St.Paul, MN around 2:00am. We were tired and went straight to bed. On friday we headed out to see Alisha and get a few things for the game that night. We were going to the Twins vs. Royals game at the new Target Field on friday night but we came unprepared. A big storm blew in and it poured down rain most of the day so we had to get some rain gear, just in case. After our little adventure to the store we headed to a place called Psycho Suzi's for a late lunch and beverages! It was such a neat place. We really wished it wasn't raining so we could have sat out on the patio, but no big deal we still had fun. If you are ever in the area, you have to go.

After lunch we headed towards the field because we didn't know what traffic was going to be like. We got their early so we went to a pub and have a drink before the game. Thankfully the rain let up and it turned into a great evening for baseball. And for all the Royals fan's it was a great ending game, when Hosmer hit the 9th inning homerun!

Saturday the girls went shopping and the boys played golf at the only course that was open. We didn't realize how much rain had come down until we saw a few roads were closed due to flooding. It was crazy. That night we got all fancied up and headed to Bradstreet for some dinner and great drinks. This place is super cool and they make some wonderful drinks. They do not call themselves bartenders either, they are mixologist! Another great place to go if you are in that area!

All in all, it was a great weekend! I am so thankful we had the chance to visit and I look forward to many more adventures with my great friends.

4th of July fun

2011-07-06T11:00:00.000-07:00

We had an eventful 4th of July! Since we live do not live in the city limits we can set fire works off at the house, and the boys had way to much fun with this! There were some left over from last year that were shot off and ones that were bought this year....and then this happened...

Yep we caught the grass on fire! Thankful we got in under control and did not have to call the fire department! haha, it was a lot drier than the boys thought. It was an eventful evening though. We did have to buy a new fire extinguisher so we are ready if it happens again.

Sunday we headed east to Perry to hang out with family and friends and had a great time. I didn't take any pictures...guess I need to get better at that! On Monday we went to Wamego for their parade and wonderful fireworks show! The show last about 25mins and was so worth the tiredness I felt the next day at work. We will for sure go again!

All in all it was a great celebration weekend. Look forward to the next few weeks flying by and then we head to Minnesota to visit my friend Alisha!

3 weeks in...

2011-06-30T05:40:00.001-07:00

And I feel great! I am back to running...or not really running a lot but I am at least able to run for more than a minute at a time now :)

Week 3 of the couch to 5K has me running longer and it feels so good. I love how a good run can make life so much better. I had a pretty hard day yesterday but went out for a nice jog/walk last night and it really put me in a much better mood.

I am thankful that I am back to doing something that I love and I am enjoying every step. Matt has started to run with me also and it is a nice time for the 2 of us to talk about our day and things we need to get done. I seem to really let loose when I am running so I tend to talk about anything. I guess it is kinda like alcohol for some people but a much healthier alternative...haha

And I got some new running shoes...why you might ask? Because a mind can do tell you some crazy things! I got hurt a few weeks (like about 2) after I bought a new pair of shoes, and they were a new brand, which I knew I should have just stuck with what I know. But that's beside the point. Anyway, I associated the injury with the new shoes, which I know seems stupid but I did, so I had to get new shoes. They have worked out great and I am loving them! Will not change brands again!

Aren't they pretty!

Starting back at Square 1

2011-06-14T05:55:00.000-07:00

So I am starting back at square one on the running. I was released from the doctor last friday with very specific instructions to GO SLOW! Because he didn't want to see me anymore. Kinda a mean thing to say but I know what he meant. The problem here is that I want to go further because I know I can but Matt came to the doctor with me and he is being VERY strict! I know it's a good thing to start slow because as much as I like Dr. Chase I really don't want to see him again either.

So I am back to square one and on the Couch to 5K program again. It has been good because I am taking Scout with me and he needs to lose weight and so he keeps me from go further because he really can't. I am excited to get back on the road and really enjoy running again.

I started week 1 day one last night and it felt GREAT! I have no pain in my legs while running or after so that is good. I was not tired and did not feel exhausted after the run so I know that I still have it in me to keep it up.

I will keep everyone posted on the progress!

Let's Be Real!

2011-06-07T10:41:00.000-07:00

So I have been thinking a lot lately and feel like I need to be REAL with myself. It will be help me grow and to help me move on...at least I hope so.

Matt and I have been working on our relationship with Christ and it has been a struggle at times but also a real blessing. There have been things that have been revealed to me that I knew were there but kept putting further down in my heart because I know it's not good. This blog is for me to just put it out on the line and be vulnerable with myself and with Christ.

Jealousy
Ugh what a horrible emotion. I have a lot of it and it has been creeping up SO much lately.

I am jealous when my friends tell me they are pregnant because I WANT that for myself. I have not stopped to think if God wants that for me right now, just that it is MY want. Needless to say I have opened my eyes to this and have found JOY for my friends that are starting this new journey in their life.

I am jealous of people that "seem" to have SO MUCH! They go on trips all the time to different places, they buy huge houses, the get brand new cars, and seem to not worry one bit about money. I don't stop to look around at all that I HAVE. I have a wonderful life, and have been truly blessed and I need to remember this more and thank God daily for the precious life he has given me.

Hurt
I know this can be a healthy emotion but not the way I have been having it lately. I get hurt so easily when someone does not thank Matt or I for all the effort we have put into something but they thank others that really don't have anything to do with it.

I hurt when Matt and I see things that are wrong but get told we need to give it a chance and WE need to change when WE are not the ones doing anything. I get hurt when Matt tells me he feels like he has lost his brother because their relationship WILL never be the same because there is such a rift with them and things have CHANGED so much. It hurts me and I take that out on ones around us because they think it is Matt's problem and that he needs to grow up. I have and will continue to pray for my feelings towards this because I know that it won't change over night.

I hurt when I don't think my friends value our friendship and toss it away like old trash. I get hurt when I plan something and people don't come. I think it means they don't like me or want to hang out with me. Maybe if I was a happier person, maybe if I was cooler people would like me. Seriously what kind of emotion is that!

I guess my hurt ends up being resentment and that is the bad emotion. I don't like where things are going right now, but I don't know how to change them. I have tried to give it a chance and have tried to give the benefit of the doubt but I can't be the only one giving while everyone else is taking. Or can I? Can God give me the strength to keep putting on a smile and telling people that I think its great when deep down I am hurting.

Anger
I get angry at God when things don't go my way. How SELFISH! I am not on this earth for me but for Him. I am trying but I have to be real with myself and with others. My hurt turns into anger and I take it out on everyone around me.

I am sure that if anyone reads this it might make people mad but I have to put it out there for me. I need to be real and if I hurt people feelings I am sorry but I can't hide anymore. I need God, I need His help, but He can't help me unless I am honest with myself. I had to put it down on paper to start moving forward. I pray everyday that God will heal my hurts, that he will soften my heart, to change my emotions to be a benefit to others not a burden. I pray that I will see the best in people and not the worst, and I pray that I can help Matt close the gap that has formed between him and his brother.

I have put it out there for the world to see...

Happy 25th Birthday!

2011-06-03T06:03:00.000-07:00

My hubby turns 25 today! And yes you are seeing that number right he is younger than me :) haha! Anyways, he has been a true blessing in my life and I can't think of anyway better to honor him that to write 25 things I love most about him. Obviously there is a lot more than 25 things but I am going with his age :)

1. He provides for me.

2. He is a giver.

3. He makes me laugh daily.

4. He is pretty handsome.

5. He is growing stronger in Christ with me.

6. He loves me even when I am at my worst.

7. He loves to take me fishing even though I always catch and release!

8. He is an AMAZING cook.

9. He helps do laundry and clean the house.

10. He loves our animals so much.

11. He is so excited to be a dad. That does not mean that one is on the way yet, but he lights up every time we talk about it.

12. He laughs at my jokes even the REALLY cheesy ones.

13. He wears maroon and supports my passion for Texas A&M.

14. He is a very hard worker, and has one of the strongest work ethics I know.

15. He is so positive and has a wonderful outlook on life.

16. He supports me over anyone else.

17. He is my rock and has always been there for me.

18. He has an amazing heart.

19. He puts me first.

20. He calls me beautiful.

21. He does things just because.

22. He challenges me to be a better person.

23. He sees the good in people.

24. He knows just what to say to make me feel better. I think sometimes he knows me better than I know myself.

25. He is ALWAYS there for his friends and family even when they have turned their back on him or have said or done hurtful things. He never holds a grudge and is always there.

I love you Matthew Wayne Schafer! I could not i

magine my life without you. 25 years ago God knew what he was doing when you were born. He created you and molded you into the wonderful man that you are today and I so very thankful for that. I look forward to many more birthdays with you and growing closer each and every one of them.

The making of a Nashville Star

2011-05-02T10:28:00.000-07:00

So Matt and I went to Nashville to get a chance at my dreams of being a country superstar...ok not really, but the thought was fun.

We went to Nashville for a 2yr anniversary and had a great time. It has been a long time since it was just Matt and I and I think sometime we tend to forget that it is just as important to spend time just the 2 of us sometimes.

We got to Nashville early Saturday morning and spent most of the days walking around downtown in the little shops and listening to people play on the sidewalk. That night we went to the Grand Ole Opry and had such a great time. It was so fun to be in a place like that and experience that part of history. The next day we went and toured the Ryman Theatre, the home of the original Opry, and the Country Music hall of fame. That took almost the whole day so we spent the night at a local place listen to a few people sing. It is crazy to be out there and hear some of the most amazing voices and know that they will probably never sign a record deal.

We had such a great time just being together, talking about our last year together, and talking about what we have planned for year 3. I couldn't ask for a better weekend with my hubby!

Blog Name Change....

2011-04-29T07:31:00.000-07:00

Ok so I am changing my blog name AGAIN! AHH why can't things just work out the way I want them to! HAHA Anyway, I am on the road to 13.1 but it is going to be a VERY long road of recovery from this current injury (stress fracture). Some people believe I am just being a wuss and should suck it up and just run, but the problem here is that they have NOT ever had a stress fracture and don't understand the pain I am in and the consequences of just "sucking it up" and running. So they can talk about me all they want, I am going to be a good little patient and follow the doctors orders of staying of the leg, doing rehab, and training in a different less intense way to prevent injury.

It sucks to not be able to run right now, but in the whole scheme of life this is mediocre for me. I would much rather be able to play and run around with my kids and be healthy then try and run a half marathon and really injury myself. I look forward to the day I can put those running shoes back on and get back into the swing of things, but I am totally ok with not being able to right now. There is so much more to my life than running and I am good with that.

So now we will go back to The Schafer's because there is more going on with that than my journey to a half marathon! Thanks for sticking with all my changes....we are back to rachandschaf.blogspot.com. Please update your links :) Sorry for all the changes, no more I promise!

Two, Two, Two

2011-04-21T11:03:00.000-07:00

Matt and I celebrated 2 wonderful years of marriage together on April 11. This past year has been a roller coaster ride but at the end of the ride we are still hand in hand.

We did a lot of fun things in year 2 such as...

Concerts at Billy Bobs
Eric and Lindsey Watson's wedding
Adventures in Fred with the Riley's
Chris and Amber's wedding in Jamaica!
Joey and Leslie Blackwell's wedding
Bachelorette Parites
Awesome house parties by Alex Gregory
A 30th birthday in Vegas
Texas A&M Football Games
An Engagement
and many more things I am sure I just can't remember right now
Some of our memories from the past year

We had a lot of fun in year 2 but we also had some hard times.

We made a very big decision last year to move away from Texas to Kansas to being our life together. This was very hard for the 2 of us and to be quite honest there were times we didn't know if we were going to make it. We both struggled with this decisions, we prayed and prayed, and prayed some more. We screamed and cried and all that stuff and in the end we chose to move. It was very hard on both of us and especial

ly my family. We had to do what we felt was best for us and as hard as it was, I know it was the right decision. This may be more information than I should put on a blog but I want to be real, and letting everyone know that everything is not always hunky dory is important to me. Even though we had a rough few months in the end Matt and I

did what was best for us, and looking back I could not and would not have made this decision without him standing by my side and that is the important piece of all this.

Just Us-TOGETHER

Matt, it has been a great 2 years. I can not see my life without you. We have our ups and downs, but the best part about those are that we are in them TOGETHER. We fight through them TOGETHER, we cry through them TOGETHER, we laugh TOGETHER, we make the hard decisions TOGETHER. You are my best friend, my rock, my shoulder, my voice when I can't speak, my joy and you mean so very much to me. Some times I can't live with you...but I know for sure that I can't live without you! I look forward to what is ahead for us in year 3! It just keeps getting better with you. I love you...forever and a day!

Home Sweet Paxico Home

2011-04-15T10:15:00.000-07:00

The Schafer's have moved into their first home...yes that includes Matt, Rachel, Scout, Tiffany, and Rocky. We have been so excited to have our own place for some time and it took a few set backs for us to find this place. Matt loves the outdoors and so he did NOT want a home in a city, or really in a subdivision at all, but was willing to if that was all we could find. One day he stumbled across this house in Paxico, KS which is centrally located between Manhattan and Topeka, and he just knew it was the one. We looked at the next day and it was a done deal. We negotiated and got the house and the rest was history. A little painting had to be done, but his dad graciously did that for us while we were at work. There is still a lot that needs to be done but for the most part it is together. So here it is....

Starting from the top I will walk you through our house...

1. Standing in the drive way looking at the house

2. As you walk through the front door there is a set of stairs leading you up to the main floor or down to the basement area

3. At the top of the stairs you will see the wide open kitchen, one side has the oven and fridge

4. The other side of the kitchen is the sink and dishwasher. Matt has plans for this area such as a bar top or island...we can't decide

5. You can stand in the kitchen to view the living room

6. Our entertainment center

7. Standing in the hallway to your left is our bedroom.

8. In one corner of the room looking towards our bathroom

9. In the other corner of the room looking towards the hallway. It has 2 closets....yep one for me (the bigger one) and one for Matt.

10. Our bathroom

11. This is the first guest room located across from our room. Please disregard the mess it is the storage room at the moment, but will be an office/craft room.

12. The second guest room just down the hall.

13. Guest bathroom

14. Downstairs room. It is a long room which we don't know what we will do with. Maybe a second entertainment area or media room.

15. bathroom downstairs which is also the laundry room

16-19. Our wonderful view off the front and back porches. I can't wait for those nice spring and summer days spending time with friends and family enjoying this view!

So that is a tour of our house...feel free to come for a visit anytime. I can't promise it will be in perfect shape but I can promise you will have fun!

So much to blog about!

2011-04-14T05:47:00.000-07:00

I have so much to blog about just not enough time. Since we just moved into a new house (yep need to blog about that) we don't have internet yet so I am struggling to find time to blog! I hope to get back to blogging again soon because well...we have a new house, we just celebrated 2yrs of wedding bliss, the aggie women's basketball team won the ncaa championship, we spent the weekend in Nashville, and I am on crutches! Yep I think that sums it up. Stay tuned for the next installment...the new house.

We are headed to the CHAMPIONSHIP!

2011-04-04T07:00:00.000-07:00

Disclaimer: I did not edit this at all because I wanted it to be my true emotions of how I feel, so it might be all over the place and some of it might not make sense but it is what is going through my head and heart right now.

I am over the moon with excitement for the Aggie Women's basketball team. They beat Stanford last night in the final four to make their way to the Championship game agains Notre Dame on Tuesday night! This is the first time in school history that the women's team has made it to the Championship game. It has been a crazy season but in the end the women have proved themselves again to make it to where they are. They fought hard last night against a great team and it came down to the final seconds.

There are a lot of haters out there and I am trying really hard not to pay too much attention to them. I had no idea how many people hated A&M. It is hard for me to see some of the post on facebook about how they don't deserve to be where they are and that A&M sucks and is the most hated team in the Big 12. There is so much more that people are saying and it truly breaks my heart. I am sure there are A&M fans that are just as bad as everyone else but for me I try my best to support every big 12 team when they have made it to something like this. In 2005 I was so happy for the Lady Bears. They fought hard and won the national championship and I could not have been more proud of them. Yeah I was jealousy that A&M was not good enough to be there but I was still happy for them when they won and never would have said they didn't deserve it.

If someone could tell me why there are so many Baylor fans that HATE A&M so much it might make things easier or it might not. I guess I just don't understand why their hatred is so strong to say the things that I have seen being said. I am a HUGE A&M fan and that is no secret and I do enjoy the rivalry stuff between the teams but what I don't like is the name calling, saying they don't deserve what they have achieved, calling aggies stupid and dumb for their traditions and being just down right mean.

Tuesday night will be a big night for this Aggie and I really hope that people can put aside their differences and cheer on the Aggie Women! What a year it has been for them.

No training=Unhappy Rachel

2011-03-25T11:49:00.000-07:00

So I have not blogged in a while due to the lack of training I have been doing. This makes me a very sad person but I know in the end the down time will be worth being healthy...or at least that is what I keep telling myself.

So I have been in physical therapy for about 3 weeks now and have been making progress...so we thought. The first 2 weeks were tough and I was still having pain in my left knee but it was getting better. We did stretches, exercises, icing and stem therapy (oh how I love stem therapy!) For the first week I rode a stationary bike for 15-20 minutes and let me tell you how much I hated every moment. I hated it because for someone that had been putting in 10-15miles a week going to just exercises for 20mins didn't even seem worth it. But I was a good little injured girl and did what Chad told me to do :) The next week I was able to put some weight on my legs and moved to the elliptical. Aww this was kinda like running so it made me happy. So far still just a little pain but not at all like I was having before. Chad thought I could ease myself into running last weekend and I was overjoyed with the news. I could not WAIT to get my shoes laced up and get back on the road. As much as I wanted to just go after it I followed instructions to do 5 min jog, 1 min walk for 20 mins. And... it went very bad!

First 5 min jog was good, my legs were getting loosened up and I didn't have much pain in my knee so I thought "oh this is awesome, I am getting it back" then the next 5 mins came and there was the lovely pain I remember! Not only was I having pain in my left knee my lower right leg was so tight and felt like someone had wrapped a thousand rubber bands around the bottom of my knee. The pain just kept shooting down the back of my leg. Oh no was my first thought, then my second was "I bet my legs are just sore from not running and I just need to loosen them up." So naturally I kept going...can you see my competitive side...or stupid side I don't know which. Anyway, I made it back to the house and iced my legs and did the exercises I was told to do and went on about my day. My legs were tight and I was having some pain in my left knee but I was able to push through it.

Monday I tried again...and I failed miserably! I could barely walk to get back to my office and when I got there I just broke down in tears. I was so upset and in so much pain. I didn't know what to do. I didn't have PT that day but thought about going in anyway to see if they could help, but I didn't. Chad called me on tuesday before my appt to check in because he was not going to be there when I got there and I broke down in tears again. Told him all about my weekend and he just listened and didn't even laugh! He told me he would call Dr. Chase and get me in right away because something was wrong and we needed it looked at. So Thursday came along and I hobbled over to see Dr. Chase and he confirmed that I have patellae tendinitis in my left knee! Great I thought, but he said it is not a big deal, just do some different rehad, some strength training and get a patellae band and I would be back on my feet soon. As for the right leg below is our conversation...

DC-"I don't want to assume anything but I am going to put this out there...I guess on Saturday you didn't exactly take things slow as in slow jog did you? I bet you went at your normal pace and pushed through the pain."

ME-(laughing)"why would you think I would do something like that??"

DC-with a very scowler gaze"Rachel, you HAVE to think back to when you just started this journey and remember the time you put in. You can't just pick it back up or you will do what you did and stain your calf muscle. You are lucky you didn't tear anything."

ME-(no longer laughing)-"I know, I am sorry. I will start slower next time, and work through recovery and not try to get back in so soon."

We shook hands and it's all good..I think. So I am back to PT, starting a strength training regiment with a personal trainer, and trying to get healthy. That is the running update...stay tuned for an actually Schafer family update soon!

Set back...set back...set back

2011-03-07T12:52:00.000-08:00

*If you don't want to hear about my horrible running lately you might want to skip this post. I am logging all my feelings because I am hoping that at some point I will be able to look at what all I had to overcome to achieve my goals, including the very depressing times...which is where I am right now.*

This is all that is running through my head and it stinks! Every time I get excited about something I have done...like 6 miles then something else just hits me like a tons of bricks to bring me back down. I can't wait to have happy post! I am sorry for being such a downer lately but my knee trouble is really making things hard for me.

Saturday I went out excited to get another 6 under my belt and it was AWFUL! About 1/2mile in my legs would barely leave the ground and I thought I was just scooting along the road. I didn't think 6 would ever come or if I was even going to make it. Pretty sure about mile 3 I was near tears because I was so frustrated! Oh well, I finished and that is what matters.

Not 30 mins after thought I felt like I couldn't walk. My knee hurt so bad that I could barely put any weight on my foot without cringing in pain. I took alleve, iced it and everything and the pain was excruciating. I just laid in bed the rest of the night. Sunday morning I woke up and tried to walk and couldn't. My knee was not swollen or bruised so I just figured it was tight and would loosen up, it never did and when my husband had to help me up the stairs he said that was it and took me to the ER. I was certain I had torn something, but in the end it looks like nothing. The NP told me that this is common in female runners and there isn't much that can be done besides, rest, ice, pain reliever and some PT. I just can't seem to get the motivation now to keep going, I feel like this isn't for me and I should have NEVER set these types of goals. Who am I kidding, me really running 13.1 miles! Ha it seems like such a joke now when I can barely walk without pain, much less even think about training. Ugh I hate this!

Oh the joy

2011-03-04T10:40:00.000-08:00

of running! I totally love it, I just don't like the pain that follows some times. So I have been having some knee pain lately and kept putting of going to the doctor for a couple reason, 1)I am stubborn like my dad and think it will just go away, 2) I didn't want to doctor to tell me to stop running because that would have made me SUPER upset and I probably would have cried, 3)I thought I was a tough girl and could deal with it. Well I caved and went to an Orthopedic yesterday, and made a fool of myself by telling him he was my new best friend because....HE TOLD ME I COULD STILL RUN!!!! I was so excited I wanted to jump off the table and give him a big hug, but I didn't. He would have been totally funny if I did though. HAHA

And my friend Suzy was so awesome because she was waiting for me when I got to the doc that morning to make sure I was ok. Having such great running buddies is totally AWESOME! Thank you Suzy!

So anyway, I don't have major problems in my knee just some inflammation or something like that. He didn't do an MRI just an X-ray because he didn't feel like I needed it yet but if it gets worse we will have to do that. He told me that I have plenty of space between my joints around my knee cap except for 1 area but the tissues was healthy so he didn't want to mess with it right now. That was great news! So now I just have to do some PT to strengthen my muscles...umm what I am not that strong??? Whoa what a blow to the ego :) and then ice after every run and take alleve everyday until the pain goes away. I am one happy runner knowing that I can still go out and do crazy things like run 13.1 miles in a few weeks!

Sometimes I just want to give up....

2011-02-28T17:11:00.000-08:00

May 1 seems so far away but at the same time so close. I look at the training plan and think "I can totally do this" then I get out and can barely run 3 miles and I think totally different. I am following the marathon rookie plan and just finished week 3. On Monday I had 3 miles on my agenda so I headed to the gym to get it done. My legs were so tight that I didn't think there was anyway I was going to finish. Then I did a spin class which went well so it boosted my confidence a little. On Wednesday I went for a lunch time 4 miler with my friend Suzy and I was SO slow! I couldn't get going, I felt like I was going to have to stop the whole time. I just wanted to cry. I can't understand how I can run 5 miles at a 10min mile pace one day then barely break 11min on 4 miles a few days later. It was such a blow to my self esteem I wanted to just stop. Then the weather was pretty crap Thursday and Friday that I didn't get my run in, so I went Saturday with a friend and we went 3 miles. It was nice for me just to go and not think about anything and just run but the pace was still slower than I had hoped.

Sunday was a big deal for me. I went to Lawrence to meet a friend to do a 6miler. I was very worried about slowing Jaime down because I was not feeling very well but I still went out and did it. She kept telling me to not worry about it but it is still hard to know that someone is going at your pace when they can go faster. I know that it is important to get the miles in I just hate that I can't seem to keep the pace I have been at. Oh well I guess I am just being a baby. I should probably just be happy that I ran 6 miles and not worry that I did it in over and hour. UGH this is so frustrating sometimes.

Changing things up a bit...

2011-02-23T13:41:00.000-08:00

After lots of thinking I have changed the name and focus of my blog. I will still write about things going on with Matt and I but my main focus now is going to my journey to a half marathon and then a full one as well. I don't want to forget (although I doubt I would even if I didn't blog about it) about the highs and the lows of training. I think it is important to experience it all and I want to look back on this blog when I finish that 26.2 miles and see how far I have come. So stay tuned and get ready because it will be a long and bumpy ride :)

Valentine's Day...blah

2011-02-14T08:30:00.000-08:00

I am not a big fan of Valentine's day...never really have been. It's not like I have had a bad experience or that I am not loved it's just that I don 't like that people use this one day to show someone they love them. I understand not ALL people do this but most of the time it is the case. Men spend a lot of money on flowers, chocolates, gifts, a fancy dinner and more today just to say I love you. Why not use that money throughout the year??? I guess I just don't get it. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy seeing all the love that is involved in today I just don't understand why people can't be this way all the time.

Matt and I don't celebrate Valentine's Day...lucky him :) Truly it has nothing to do with me not liking love or gifts it is that we celebrate our love through out the year. He is wonderful at sending me flowers "just because", taking me on a date, letting me know that he loves me and he doesn't need a special day for that. I am not knocking or trying to bring down anyone that LOVES Valentine's Day this is just how I feel.

Although with all that said, I still take today and look at my relationship with Matt and I am so thankful he is my husband. Today more than ever I need him, I love him, and treasure him. With the roller coaster of emotions I have been on lately, he has always been my firm ground. When I broke down in tears last night and couldn't tell him why, he just held me and told me he loved me, and he supported me NO MATTER WHAT! He didn't even know that is what I needed to hear at that moment but it was. When I back off and shut down my heart to everyone else in my life, he stills pushes against the wall to knock it down. When I tell him he deserves better, he looks me in the eyes and tells me I am the best thing on this earth and he could not imagine his life without me, and he means it. When I am bitchy (which has been often lately), he just listens and still tells me he loves me. And when I am hurting and can't smile he knows just what to say to make me laugh. When times get hard he will do something that reminds me of why I love him so much. So even though I am not a big fan of today, I will take the time to let Matt know that he is everything to me, he is my best friend, my firm ground when it seems like I am on a constant roller coaster, my voice when I can't speak and so much more. I love you more today than ever and I look forward to many more years with you...with or without celebrating Valentine's Day.

The beginning of a beautiful friendship...

2011-02-02T10:35:00.000-08:00

with RUNNING! I know it sounds crazy but I have found something I love to do and it all started with this race. So I started the Couch to 5K (C25K) back in december not knowing if I could complete it, but with 1 week to spare on the training I did it! The program is a 9 week program and I did my 5K on week 8. It was awesome! I have not had a chance to upload pictures yet, but will do that soon. Below is my day...

Groundhog 5/10K Run-Kansas City.

The weekend started out great. My wonderful friend Suzy picked me up and we headed to Kansas City. We made a stop at the Nike and Adidas store at the Legends Mall and to the surprise of Matt I didn't buy anything :) We headed to Russ and Jamie's house to pick up our packets and a few hours later were still there! It was great to meet both of them and hear their amazing weight loss stories. I am so happy to have 2 more friends to share memories with. We went to Suzy's friends' house for dinner and sleep time. Suzy was very excited and I kinda felt bad because I typically keep everything inside so I might have not seemed as nervous or excited as I actually was. We went to sleep after figuring out what to wear (yes we contemplated for about an hour what we would wear to the race, haha) and then it was a restless night of sleep. I was more nervous than I thought and kept having crazy dreams about going the wrong way and all that fun stuff.

Well 6am rolled around and I was up and ready to head to the tunnels...yes tunnels. The whole race was underground! We headed back to Russ and Jamie's house for breakfast and more race talk and then headed to the race. The closer we got the more nervous I was.

Once we were there we ran into Scott another member of Thunder Road Racing, which you should check out the blog, it's awesome! So anyways, I was beginning to get nervous but as usually I didn't show it. I don't know why I keep my excitement and nervousness inside but I do. Suzy and I headed to the starting line and it hit me, the excitement, the nervousness and the fear. I was so afraid I was going to let Suzy down, and myself down. Well we lined up, sang the national anthem (which gave me major goosebumps) and then we were off!

I had a time goal of under 30:00min. Getting out of the start was a little tricky trying to find some room to run, but I finally found my open spot and got my pace going. Mile 1 right on track with a little time to spare. It is heating up down in the tunnels especially since I was used to running outside in below 30 degrees! So mile 2 I slowed down a bit to try and make sure I had the energy to kick it in mile 3...well that didn't happen. My pace was not too much off my time but I had a little snag...we got to the last turn down towards the home stretch and the volunteer said we had a mile left, so I checked my watch...dang it I wasn't going to make my time! I was so discouraged and I hit a brick wall. Next thing I see is a girl puking and that just made my stomach turn...another brick wall. So anyways, I start to kick it in thinking I still have some time and then I look around the corner and there it was....the finish line! The girl told us wrong and I was so mad. Had I know it was only a half mile and not a mile I would have started speeding up then instead of coasting through. Oh well, lesson learned.

Final cross the finish line at 30:24! Dang you 24 seconds! I will get you next time. I am super happy with my time though. I ran the whole thing, non-stop and there is NO WAY I would have been able to do that 8 weeks ago. I was 52/179 in my age group. I can't thank Suzy enough for the inspiration and the ability to meet some wonderful new friends. I can't wait for the next races and to be apart of such a wonderful group of people!

Next up...St. Patty's Day 10K, Lincoln, NE half marathon, and Chicago Full marathon! And some small races in between. I love this new friendship I have made!!!

I knew I couldn't...

2011-01-16T19:53:00.001-08:00

Well I told everyone I would blog every day for 30 days and well I made it 3 days!
Yep totally suck at this blogging thing. I guess I could start back on the 30 for 30 blog thing or I can just start blogging about whats going on in our lives...oh the decisions. I guess stayed tuned for an update...

Day Three...First Love...REALLY???

2011-01-05T17:55:00.001-08:00

This one could go in so many directions for me, ugh! I have actually been thinking about what I was going to write on here for the last few days and it has kinda got me stressed out. Oh well guess I will just dive right in.

So when I first started thinking about this I was like, so my first love would have been in elementary school, and it was TJ Wickman. I know I know for those of you Midway folks but yes it was him....and then the week changed and there was someone new on the playground to chase :) So the first, chase me on the playground, write all over my notebook kinda of love was TJ.

Then jr high and high school came and I really didn't date anyone. I would like someone for a while and then we would start talking and then I was over it. Nothing lasted more than a few months until my crush was someone new. Looking back on it now, I hate the fact that I would do that. I just thought that the next guy would be the one that I would REALLY like and the one that I would want to spend more time with but it never happened. I was never content so I never really had a first love in high school.

Once college came I did meet someone and I did fall in love with him. He was my first love...or so I thought. The love I had for him was just on the surface, and didn't go much further than that. We rushed into a lot of things and because of that things ended in heart break. We did care a lot about each other and there was love there but now I see the difference.

Which brings us to now, my first and last love. My husband is the man that I can truly say is my first true love. He is the man that comforts me when I am sad, he laughs with me, cries with me, listens to me complain about stupid crap and more. The love I have for him is not even comparable to any other love I have had in my life and because of that I know that this is love. I know it might be cheesy for me to say he is my first true love but its how I feel. He has it all...I would chase him on the playground if we were kids, I would want him to be the guy I found in high school that stuck around after a few months, and he is the guy I found after college that I love on a much deeper level than I ever thought possible. Its the type of love that no matter what is going on in my life he is my rock, my comfort, my voice and more. That to me is my first love, the love that last no matter what, the type of love that makes me want to be a better person.

My First Love

Day 2...Blog Name

2011-01-03T17:10:00.000-08:00

Well I am totally boring and just came up with The Schafer's...well because that is who we are. When I first began my blog it was "Soon to be Mr. and Mrs. Schafer" but now it's just "The Schafer's". I have thought many times about changing the name but I can't seem to come up with anything creative! Maybe I should ask the hubby for suggestions because he can be pretty witty and come up with some great names...so stay tuned maybe for an update :)

On a side note there is something else I think I should talk about in this blog that will be happening in 2011 and no I don't mean babies...I will be running my first half marathon! I am super excited and ready for the challenge. It is 1 of the things I have put on my bucket list...which is very small at the time but I think a bucket list should be an ever revolving thing, right? So anyways, I am in "training" right now and have been doing pretty well so far. I will be sure to keep you updated on my progress!

Day One...a little late

2011-01-02T16:26:00.000-08:00

So I was not around a computer at all yesterday except when we were at our friends house and I didn't want to take time away from them to blog, so I am starting the 30 day blogging today!

My name is Rachel and I live in Kansas with my wonderful husband and our 3 crazy pets, Scout, Tiffany, and Rocky. I work at Kansas State University and Matt works at Dalcan Concrete...or something like that. I think it has more than 1 name and I always get it wrong ;)

Recent pic of The Schafers...minus Rocky.

I have been trying to figure out 15 facts I would put on here for days and I think I might have them so here it goes...

1. I am a Christian, and I can't wait to get settled and find out home church here.
2. I am a daughter to the most amazing parents, who are celebrating their 24th year of marriage today!
3. I am a sister to the craziest group of siblings out there...Jason-the weird older brother (haha love you), Lea-the oldest sister and she thinks she is the funniest of all of us...i beg to differ, Joe'l the other older sister who dad says was mine and Lea's interpreter growing up because she was brunette and we were blonde...she did a pretty good job of explaining things to us :)
4. I am an Aunt to 1 goofy nephew and 3 adorable nieces.
5. I am an Aggie to the core! I love Texas A&M and everything that it represents.
6. I have my Master's degree in Counseling and Student Development from Kansas State, where I met my husband, and am now contemplating a PhD....CRAZY!!!
7. I am training to run a half marathon by April of this year and then have the Chicago full marathon on the calendar for 2012.
8. I married my best friend on April 11, 2009 and have never been happier.
9. We will be buying our first house in the next few months and I am very excited!
10. Some people would say that I am a bit obsessed with my dog Scout but they don't really know the full story.
11. My favorite food is steak and potatoes and would love it if I could eat them everyday.
12. I am a beer girl and have tried very hard to like wine I just can't....oh well beer is cheaper anyway.
13. I really love my job and I am making great friends there.
14. My favorite color is MAROON! haha go figure
15. I am extremely hard on myself and don't think I am ever good at anything or good enough for things...maybe I should have left that fact in my head!

I am starting over...

2010-12-23T05:47:00.000-08:00

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

2010-11-09T13:47:00.000-08:00

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

2010-11-04T17:43:00.000-07:00

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...

2010-10-26T10:35:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-09-10T13:43:00.000-07:00

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...

2010-07-01T14:16:00.000-07:00

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

2010-06-10T11:15:00.000-07:00

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...

2010-05-27T09:35:00.000-07:00

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??

2010-05-18T12:42:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-04-23T09:08:00.001-07:00

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!

2010-04-22T10:08:00.001-07:00

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

2010-04-12T08:20:00.001-07:00

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...

2010-04-01T12:21:00.000-07:00

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!!!

2010-03-30T09:29:00.000-07:00

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

2010-03-26T13:25:00.000-07:00

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...

2010-03-22T14:06:00.000-07:00

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

2010-02-11T09:46:00.000-08:00

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

2010-02-01T14:02:00.000-08:00

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???

2010-02-01T07:31:00.000-08:00

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.

Christmas Party & Golfing...In December??

2009-12-21T13:47:00.000-08:00

We went to Matt's company Christmas part on Dec. 12. We had such a great time there and then took the party out to Fort Worth. It was so much fun hanging out with people we had not seen in a while and also hanging out with some new friends.

We also had the pleasure of going golfing that Sunday with Matt's mom who was in town from Kansas. Of course for her the 60 degree weather was tropical. She left Kansas and it was -13 I think and had just snowed for a couple days. Needless to say it was hard for her to leave on Monday. It was a great weekend with her.

I am so ready for Christmas! Tomorrow is the last day I have to work until Jan. 4 and I could not be happier. Today the coach that I work for gave me a present and I almost cried. Working for him has it's ups and downs, but I am sure every job does. I have worked with the team for over a year now and this is the first time he has every done anything to show me he appreciated me. So needless to say I was very shocked but also very touch also. I enjoy my job very much and I don't need a lot of reassurance that I am doing a good job but sometimes the little things do help.

I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!! I plan on doing Christmas cards next year, we will see if that happens!

Is it really December already...

2009-12-09T12:06:00.000-08:00

I have not been on in so long, things have just been so busy. Matt and I have moved again! But we are so happy in the new place. The house we were in before was more than we needed, so we are now in a cute little farm house. The landlord lives to the north of us and he and his wife are great. The houses share about 20 acres and Scout and Tiffany are loving roaming around. There is also about 8 horses on the farm that we will get to ride come spring time and I could not be more excited about it.
Thanksgiving was crazy. The family and I (minus Matt) were in College Station for the big game (as Emma calls it). We tailgated before the game with some great friends, and we all decided to make it a regular thing. So next football season we will get together for each game and tailgate. It is going to be so much fun. The game did not turn out the way we had hoped, but my Aggies sure did play a hell of a game. They fought until the end but came up short. I am not at all disappointed in their season, although I do look forward to next and hope for more wins.

Other than the aforementioned moving Matt and I have not been up to much. We are getting in the Christmas spirit thought! He has put lights up on the house and I have put up the tree. We are looking forward to the weekend because Matt's mom will be in town for the first time in about 6 months.

Today I am thankful to be an Aggie...

2009-11-18T15:21:00.000-08:00

I still remember it like it was yesterday. I woke up in the middle of the night with knots in my stomach and I had no idea why. I figured it was nothing so I went back to sleep. My alarm went off that morning and I woke up to the most devastating news, Aggie Bonfire had collapsed and at least 8 were dead and others were still on the stack. I couldn't breathe, I just thought it had to be wrong and I was in a nightmare, but it happened. When the dust settled, we had lost 12 amazing Aggies. I had thought about going to A&M but it wasn't my dream school at the time, little did I know God had a different plan in mind. I thought I was for sure going to that other school in Austin with friends from high school. But on this day everything changed. My family and I met my sister down in College Station for the memorial service being held the night Bonfire was supposed to burn. I didn't really want to go, because deep down in my heart I knew what was about to happen. We stepped on that field and my life changed forever. I had someone come and light the candle I was holding and it ignited my fire for A&M. My heart had never been so heavy in all my life, as it was that night. I felt like I knew each of those 12 Aggies that had died on the stack that day. I felt a part of this Aggie family and that I had just lost 12 brothers and sisters. It didn't take 5 mins after my candle had been lit that I turned to my mom, with tears streaming down my face not being able to say a word and all she said was "I know." She knew at that moment I was going to be an Aggie, she felt it, my sister felt it, and my dad felt it. We got home after that night and I researched how to graduate from high school early so that I could begin my journey as a Aggie. Texas A&M University means the world to me. I know even if this tragedy had never happened I would have ended up there because my heart and soul was always an Aggie, and nothing could have changed that. There is so much more I could say about this special university, but today I am going to just be thankful that I can call myself an Aggie, and that I will forever be a part of this Aggie Family. "There is a spirit can ne'er be told, it's the Spirit of Aggieland."

To the 12 that were lost-you will always be in my heart. Your spirit will live on.

Today I am thankful for...

2009-11-16T08:02:00.000-08:00

My family and my friends. I did not get on this weekend so this will be a 2 part post.

First I am very thankful for my family. They have put up with me for 27 years and it has not always been easy. My sister and I have had an up and down relationship but what siblings don't. She really did not like me at all when my mom brought me home from the hospital, she even tried to sell me at a garage sale! Today we are the best of friends. We have gone through many things together and she has forgiven me so many times I can't even count high enough. I have a close relationship with my brother now. It was hard to not have him around very much growing up, but he is making up for that now. He has such a sweet spirit about him, and is so loving and forgiving of everyone. I love hanging out with him because he is always making me laugh. My other sister is such a strong woman. She is a great mother to her 3 children, and even though I am sure it is tiresome she still finds the energy. My mom and I are a lot closer than we have ever been, and I am very thankful for that. I have started to see that our relationship is ok, even if it is not like her's and Lea's. I am not Lea, and I am different and that is what makes our relationship special. I could not ask for a better dad. He always had my back no matter what. I have taken him for granted many times, yet he is still always there. He means more to me than I could ever show him. I am so thankful for him and his unconditional love he shows me. I have done some very hurtful things to my family and for that I am sorry. I turned my back on them thinking I didn't need them, when in all honesty I needed them more than ever. When I finally came out of my funk, they took me back with open arms. It has been a long journey back but they are my family and I love them dearly.

My friends, what can I say about them. I have some of the greatest friends in the world. I can't even begin to name each of you that have had an impact on my life. Just know that I thank God for each of you everyday. I have friends that I can go months without speaking to, but the moment we are on the phone it is like nothing changed. When I am hurting they are there, when I have a joy to share, they are there, when times get tough, they pick me up. So many great things to share about each of you, I just don't have the time. I may not speak to you every day or every week, but know that I think of each of you daily, and I am so thankful that you are in my life.

Being Thankful...

2009-11-12T09:14:00.000-08:00

How could this not make you smile!

I saw this idea on facebook (thanks Amber) and thought how great it would be to do...so until Thanksgiving I am going to post daily what I am thankful for. I may even extend this longer, we will have to see.

So today I am thankful for...My sweet husband.

Matt-thank you so much for loving me the way you do. You put up with all my crap, my A&M obsession, my wonderful dog Scout, and more. You have giving selflessly to me over the past few years and continue to surprise me everyday. My life was completed the day that I met you. You gave up everything you always knew to move to a big city to be with me. Leaving behind a life that you had always dreamed of, and for that I thank you. You have shown tremendous support for me during my darkest hours. You fought for me even when I stopped fighting for myself. You have put up with fatty bobatty (AKA Scout) even though he annoys the heck out of you. You even wear maroon, when K-State is not playing! I think I have even caught you wear an A&M shirt just for the heck of it :) You love me despite my flaws, and when I am mean or rude to you. You forgive me easier than anyone because you love me. There is so many great things to say about you and why I am so thankful but despite all I have said, I am so thankful for you because you saved me.

Our song is exactly how I feel about you. A few of my favorite lyrics from Wade Bowen's "Who I Am."

"Now that your in my life Baby I know exactly who I am...I love you oh so very much, love you more than words can say, and I don't know how or why but I love you more every day."

Thank you again for fighting for me when I said we could never date because I was moving back to Texas. Thank you for seeing in me more than I could ever see in myself. Thank you for making me smile and laugh when I feel like I can't. And thank you for loving me unconditionally. I love you!

This picture was sent to me with a caption saying...What has 2 thumbs and loves you move than anything in the world??? THIS GUY! :)

2009-11-03T15:31:00.001-08:00

Sent from my iPhoneA beautiful sunrise in the hill country. It was a great weekend,
thanks to the Riley's hospitality. More pictures to come.

Waco Weekend

2009-09-14T10:29:00.000-07:00

Matt and I ventured down to Waco this weekend to hang out with family and friends. It was Lea's 10yr high school reunion so there was a lot of Midway folks in town. She did not go to the reunion but we still had fun anyway.

Friday night we met Lea, Chris, Lisa and Randy out at George's and had way too much fun. Spending time with great friends helped when some of the people from high school showed up and completely ignored us. I was not too surprised because I knew they would be like to me but not to Lea. It did give her more of a reason not to go. She was able to catch up with some of the girls that she had not seen since high school and that was great. I spent most of the night just hanging out with Matt, Chris, Lisa and Randy while Lea caught up with old friends.

Saturday night was my dad's birthday so we went to Austin's on the Avenue for dinner and stayed to party the night away! I was able to finally meet Lindsay Uptmore, the wife of Pat Uptmore who was a great friend of mine in high school. She is wonderful and I look forward to spending more time with them when I am in Waco. Angela Faust Chouinard came out on Saturday night and I forgot how much I loved that girl. She was such a great friend of Lea and I in high school but we all lost touch. She is doing great and it was so fun to catch up her and Richard.

I had a great time this weekend, and had time to reflect on a lot of things. I truly can not say if I am going to go to my 10yr high school reunion that is coming up in a year. I saw how my sister was treated by people she was friends with in high school and I just don't know if I can handle it as well as she did. Lea, you are so strong and I admire you so much. I hope that my class will be different, but I am still worried about it and afraid that nothing will have changed. But we will see.

The best time of the year...COLLEGE FOOTBALL!

2009-09-08T09:42:00.000-07:00

I absolutely love college football. I love the atmosphere, the games, and the rivalries. I look forward to this the entire year...and it is finally here! The past weekend, I took the drive down to the best place on earth...College Station Texas! I love this place so much that I could spend every weekend there for the rest of my life and be happy. Kyle Field is one of a kind place. The 12th Man has no other competition anywhere else. This is by far one of the best places to be on a Saturday. I may be a little biased but who cares :) I love the town, the field and all there is to being an Aggie. We have struggled the last few years in football, but I am hoping this is our year to begin the turn around to become a top notch program.

Lea and I on or way to the game!

Saturday started off with the family leaving Waco and heading down to College Station. The crew included, me, Lea, Chris, Emma, Mom, Dad, Jason, and Rose. Rose is a dear friend of the family that we have pretty much adopted as our Aunt. She is a wonderful person, great mom, great friend and die hard Aggie. We got down there and Lea and I went to the bookstore, and walked around outside the stadium while Chris and Jason set up the ATM's outside. We got our Maroon Out shirts, and then headed to meet the rest of the crew at Wing's N More. We love this place. They have the best pickle chips (fried pickles) of any I have ever had. There wings are pretty good also! We also make it a point to eat there when we are in town. After a great lunch, we headed back to Kyle Field to cheer on the Ags to a great win over New Mexico. We had a great time. Emma loved every moment of it and she is already starting to learn about being an Aggie. She kept talking about all the Corps boys and waving at them as they walked past us. It was so cute!

Emma, Lea, Rose, Mom, and I watching the Corps march in.

I spent the rest of the weekend at my parents house helping them fix some things up. We cleared out some brush so that mom can get her flower beds going, and we also installed a flag pole so that it is ready for Sept. 11. I had so much fun driving around on the tractor! Who knew that would be so much fun. Scout could not stand the fact that I was on the tractor and he was on the ground, so once when I stopped he jumped on and rode around with me the rest of the time. It was so fun.

Scout and I on the tractor working!

Matt did not go to the game with us this weekend because he spent his weekend in KS with his family hunting. He had a great time, I just hope that soon we can find a place for him to hunt around here so that he isn't always having to go back to KS. This trip he had is a yearly trip for the boys in the family so I know this will be one that he always attends, but I hope we can find some places around here for him so that he is not deprived of it like he was the last year.

Been way too long

2009-09-08T08:15:00.001-07:00

Sorry I have been out of the blogging world for some time now. Things have just been so crazy with school starting and everything else going on, so I will give a short recap here and then another post about the weekend.

August-
Was full of fun. I was able to go down to College Station the first weekend and celebrate with Sheena (Lea's sister-in law) for her 21st birthday. It turned into more of a time for Lea and I to hang out in our old stomping ground, let loose and have some fun. I have pictures but I can't seem to find the camera right now :) Lea and I spent most of the night together away from all the little college kids, but we still had a blast!

The next weekend, Matt and I went to San Antonio with Eric and Lindsay who are a couple that we hang out with a lot here in Fort Worth. We met up with my sister and some other friends for an adult night out. We ate at Dick's Last Resort and had a blast. Our waiter was great and the food was delicious! We then went over to Howl at the Moon for a party. Our friend Lisa had won a part for 20 friends and she invited us to go. We got in for free and had 2 free drinks and then half price drinks until 8pm. We all enjoyed the dueling pianos and the quality time with friends.

Another weekend was spent meeting up with an old friend from high school, Natalie (Huey) Riley and her husband Travis at the North Texas Fair. We watched the rodeo, the went to see Roger Creager. We had such a great time and I was so excited to meet up with Natalie. She was such a great friend in high school and I can't wait to get together with her and Travis more often.

The rest of August was spent getting ready for the school year. I am teaching a College Adjustment class this year at UTA, and have enjoyed it so far. I have some ideas for next year to make it a more enjoyable course, but for now I am sticking with what I have.

Sorry for being so bad at updating this, but I will be better at it from now on. I hope everyone had a great Labor Day Weekend, and I will blog about that in a little while.

Surprise Party for the Bro-in-Law

2009-07-22T13:32:00.000-07:00

My brother-in-law's birthday is on December 25. Which makes for not many birthday parties for him. So this year my sister decided to surprise him with a party all his own. He will be turning 30 this year, so Lea did not want him to go without a big party. She invited so many of his friends from college, from San Antonio when they lived there, and from Waco. There was a great turn out and Chris was so surprised. It was great.

Great job Lea! We all had a great time celebrating with you and Chris for such a special surprise.

This is just a few of the people that were there.
Chris opening presents (Emma helping of course), Emma giving Chris all the balloons she found, and more pictures of friends.

Emma took a nap and made a friend. He was trying to hug her and finally she gave in but of course my camera had died by that point.

July 4th and a new truck

2009-07-13T09:54:00.000-07:00

We went to Kansas for the July fourth weekend and had a great time. First we drove to Missouri to spend time with some friends at their lake house. It was little chilly up there but still fun. We went jet skiing, and out on the boat. That night we watched the fireworks, drank some beer, and just spent some quality time with friends we had not seen in a while.

This is Scout and Tiffany on our way to Kansas!

Saturday we went to Perry and met up with Matt's family at a bbq they were having at one of his Aunt's house. We shot of a few fireworks there but then headed out to their land to shoot off the rest. We also watched to Perry Lake firework show. I was in a sweatshirt and blanket because it was so cold up there! We had a great time with family and friends that weekend, and can't wait for next year to do it all over again.

Matt has been wanting a truck for sometime now, but we have been holding out waiting for the best deal. We were going to be trading in my car, and so we needed some good incentives to be able to do it since we would be upside down on the trade in. Well this weekend all the stars lined up and we ended up with a deal we could not refuse. John McClaren in Waco is one of the best dealerships I have every worked with. We will continue to buy our cars from them. Jamie worked with Matt for many months on this deal. He was not there on Saturday so we worked with Scott Eskew. He and I went to high school together so it was pretty fun working with him and catching up on how he was doing. We love the truck and are so happy we were finally able to get such a great deal! If you are looking for a new Chevy make time to visit John McClaren in McGregor. They are wonderful people and will do whatever it takes to make it work for you!

A few odds and ends

2009-07-02T07:29:00.000-07:00

It has been a awhile since I have posted anything so this may be long.

We went to visit some friends in Longview last month (yes I just put the pictures on my computer) and their dog had recently had puppies. We were there with my sister, brother- in-law and Emma. Let me just say this little girl is not scared of anything. She loved holding the puppies, and she was so careful with them. It was precious. They also had a trampoline and we could not get her off of it.

Father's Day weekend was spent in Waco, without my parents. My mom took my dad to their favorite place for the weekend, VEGAS! And left the kids at home to put his gift together. My mom bought the grill, and we put together the bar top. It was so much fun, and great spending time with my sister. The bar top is made out of bottle caps...and no we did not drink them all during the weekend. A few but not all :) My dad loved it! We still have a few things to do to actually finish the bar, but we at least got a start to it. My dad is an amazing cook and I can not wait to eat some of the food he will prepare with his new grill!

Last weekend, Matt and I went to a bbq for his work. The house we were at blew my mind away! It was beautiful. But then again when you make the kind of money a Senior Partner does then you have the ability to have a beautiful house. The great thing about this couple is that you would never think they were that well off. They are so down to earth, and just great people. They graduated from Kansas State also, so that may have a little to do with it :)

We went to Billy Bob's that night for a Charlie Robison concert. It was great. Concerts are a little hard for me sometimes because I like to talk, but you can't really do that in a concert. But we still had fun listen to some great country music! Also Tuff Hedeman, world Champion bull rider, who also rode in 8 Seconds, came on stage and sang. It was awesome! I just wish we would have been able to meet him.

The previous owners of the house we are in had a doggie door going into the garage. So now when I come home Scout is poking his little head out waiting for me. It is so cute! He is too fat to fit any further. Also, after church we found Jackson, my sister's dog laying in the mud outside the church building. We go to a small church in Speegliville, so since we were heading out to my parents after church we brought the dogs with us. And when we were at my parents, their dog, Sully thought it would be fun to lay on me after he took a swim in the tank. It was lovely! Oh how I love my dogs!

A time in Manhattan...Ks that is

2009-06-19T12:21:00.000-07:00

Matt and I spent the last weekend in Kansas, having a family reunion and then hanging out in Manhattan with friends for a Pub Crawl and celebrating a birthday. The Schafer's have a family reunion every year and this would be the first one I have ever attended as a Schafer, or at all really. It was fun getting to know those in his family more and just be there as his wife. That night we went to Manhattan to have a pub crawl/mini reunion. It was so much fun. Being able to hang out with old friends, and catch up means so much to me. It was also our friend Corey's birthday so I was fun spending time with him and helping him celebrate his day. I miss all my friends from KS but it has been great starting our lives her in Texas.

Birthday Fun and more

2009-06-10T13:20:00.001-07:00

Matt's birthday was last week and we had 2 parties for him. The weekend before his birthday we invited friends over and cooked out. We played horseshoes, the Wii and just had fun hanging out. Then this past weekend we were in Waco and and hung out with my sister, her husband and another couple Saturday night. We went to Crickets and ate then played some shuffle board. It was a blast! Then on Sunday after church we went out to my parents and my dad cooked great food and we just talked and hung out. I love being able to do this now with friends and family. We hardly ever had people over when we lived in the apartment because it was so small and cramped. Now with the house it is fun having people over. Matt and I really enjoy cooking out and socializing so it is a great feeling to finally be able to do this. Now that I am closer to family it is great to be able to go home for a day or a weekend and spend time with them. I love being back in Texas and hope that we will be here for a long time.

Some pictures from the weekend at our house. Matt had not blown out candles in years. He enjoyed it. Even Scout got in on the fun!

This group is so much fun. I love going down to Waco to hang out with my sister and Chris. We always have a good time. And Matt even got to blow out candles again. Thank Lea for making the cupcakes for Matt! They were delicious.

Matt and I have enjoyed his birthday gift from me. I got him Mario Cart for the Wii. We have had so much fun playing it. We are still kids at heart.

Matt, I love you and I hope that you had a great birthday! I look forward to spending many more in the years to come.

Warning: Many pictures ahead...

2009-06-05T12:30:00.000-07:00

there are a lot of pics below, but I just could not choose less :) I hope you enjoy.

These are just a few favorites of Matt and I. I had so much fun doing these shots, and I can't wait to get them in an album!

These are of Matt and the guys. The ring bearer was my nephew Matthew and I just love the top picture. He had such a great time hanging out with all the boys all day and taking pictures. he looked great in his little tux!

These are of me and my girls and family. I just love all of them, especially the one with me and my dad and then me, my mom, sister and Emma. Our photographer captured some great photos.

These are just some of the other ones that I liked. Emma and her Elmo Easter basket is definitely going in a frame! And the one where Chris is holding her is precious. She was my competition in the wedding for sure :)

The large group pictures is of all our friends, or actually I think it is mainly all Matt's guy friends from college and Kim. Matt made some great friendships and I am so thankful they were able to make our wedding. The picture of the older couple at the bottom is Matt's grandparents. Roland passed away only a few days after our wedding and at the funeral we were told that those last few days all he talked about was our wedding and how thankful he was that he was able to make it. Roland you are missed everyday!

And just a few more of our favorites. The one on the bottom left is Nick, Matt's brother doing his toast. To start it off he gave us a toaster and said if you want a toast then you can make it yourself. It was really funny, but then he did a very heartfelt toast.

Matt-you are the most wonderful husband in the world and I thank God everyday for you. I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you and make many more memories. I love you!

Reality TV

2009-06-04T13:51:00.000-07:00

So I am going to admit something that I have just admitted to myself. I love reality TV. Not all the shows but just a few. I don't think I am obsessed but I do tend to watch every episode and if I am not home at the time I have either recorded it or I watch it on-line the next day. I know I am a sucker. But for some reason I really do like watching it. With that said I am going to talk about/vent about a few shows I have seen recently.

The Hill's
So I began this journey by watching Laguna Beach and then following Lauren on to The Hills. I loved this show...at the beginning. Towards the end I just became more frustrated, yet I still watched it. I watched this show and was a little jealous of their lives but now I am so happy that I live a modest life without lost of money, or drama. I like where I am at and would not live in a place like that for anything. I enjoyed the drama to an existent but sometimes it just became dumb. The last 2 seasons I think may have put me over the edge. I am tired of hearing about Spencer and Heidi. He was such a jerk and Heidi was so dumb. He finally became somewhat nice in this last episode but I just wonder how true it is. Although I did not understand why, I do wish the two of them the best in their marriage. I am happy for Lauren though. She has grown up a lot on the show and I know she will do great things. I liked watching her because I did feel like she was really and easy to relate to. She also had some cute clothes :) With her leaving I don't know if I will watch it anymore because I don't like Kristin, but I am sure I will end up watching just to see what goes on.

The Bachelor/Bachelorette
Yes I am one of those that watches this show. I don't know why because I think only 1 out of the 10 or so have even worked out. I love Trista and Ryan :) But anyways I do watch it and root for the people I like. Last season I was devastated with the rest of the country when Jason did what he did to Melissa. She was such an amazing girl and I can not believe he did that to her! But great for her for moving on and doing great! She has such a great heart and she deserves the best. This season Jilian is kinda getting on my nerves. She is keeping guys that just don't seem right, or truly seem like they are on the show to promote themselves. I know she doesn't see everything that goes on, but really can someone be that naive?? I think Wes is on there just to promote his music career, I don't trust Juan, Tanner's foot thing is getting a little ridiculous but I think Ed, Kypton, and Dave (I think is his name) are great. So needless to say I will keep watching to see how things turn out...I mean it is summer what else is on :)

PS-I can not believe I just used an entire post on reality tv! I have no life...and wedding pics will be on soon.

We are moving...

2009-05-20T09:13:00.000-07:00

So we have finally found a house that Matt likes. He has been so picky! Even worse than me :) (But I still love you honey)But we have the place and we have started to move in a little at a time. I don't have pictures yet, but as soon as I have them I will upload some. It is just a rental house but right now that is fine with us. We did not want to buy and leave in 3 yrs or so since Matt works in construction and the company he works for can not promise anything after the current job he is working on. We hope that he will be able to stay with Linbeck and move up the ranks, but it is not certain, so renting is our best option. The house is in Fort Worth right off 35W. It will be about a 30 min drive for me to get to work, but I am ok with that. We both like the house, and the neighborhood, so the drive is nothing!

Now that we are moving we will have to figure out what we are wanting to do about church. We have been attending Gateway Church in Southlake and absolutely love Pastor Robert. He is so real and to the point, that we ALWAYS get something out of the sermon. And he makes us laugh! Gateway has 2 different campuses, one in Southlake and one in North Richland Hills. I mapped them both today from our house and the NRH campus is only like 30 mins. They have a 5:45 service on Saturday nights which would be great because Matt and I could go to that and then to dinner or something. It could be our date night. So I think that is what we are going to try and hope that the drive does not get to much. But I drive 30 mins for work, I think I can drive 30 mins, for God. Keep us in your prayers as we take on this new adventure.

Jamaica here I come!

2009-05-12T11:51:00.000-07:00

I can not wait until June 21, 2010 when I will be in Jamaica celebrating one of my best friends getting married! I will have the privileged of being a bridesmaid in Amber Lee and Chris Perry's wedding! Amber has been like a sister to me for so many years. We met back in the 6th grade when she was my big sister in volleyball. We had so much fun that year giving gifts and making memories that our friendship just continued to blossom. We remained friends through high school and even after she graduted since she was a year older than me. I hung out with her a lot during my senior year while she was a freshman at Baylor and made such great memories. I went off to College Station the following semester but our friendship stayed the same. She has been there through everything. Bad boyfriends, crazy family times, a very hard divorce, and more. Thank you so much for allowing me to be a part of your big day Amber and Chris. I can not wait. I love you both!

Relieved...well kinda

2009-05-06T15:03:00.000-07:00

So for the past few days I have been feeling sick every time I ate something. And so of course most people jumped on the pregnancy band wagon, and all I could think was no way! We just got married, we don't want a child this soon. I had all sorts of ideas of how bad it was going to be if I was pregnant and how the timing was all wrong and so forth. Finally I made a doctor's appointment, because it was getting pretty bad. Food, the smell of food, weight gain and so forth. I had prepared myself for a positive outcome...and it was negative. The doctor confirmed there is no little schafer's growing just yet :) She concluded that it was the pill I was on and changed it again.

So you would think I was relieved right? And I was a little but then another part of me thought of how great being a mom would be, and how much fun it would be to watch our baby grow, and learn new things, and all that fun stuff. So needless to say I am relieved that we are not having a baby because we did just get married and I want to just be with Matt for some time before we start a family.

I just get to keep being the best aunt in the world now! Some day when Matt and I are more ready (because is anyone ever really ready for a baby) we will try for some little one's. But I guess it is still ok to be a little upset that it wasn't positive.

Lea sent me this picture today and it made me realize that even though I don't have a little one yet, I can still spoil this adorable little girl.

Something good

2009-04-30T11:38:00.000-07:00

I have been trying to get out of this funk that I have been in and trying to find something good and happy to write about...but still nothing! There really is not much going on with the Schafer's lately.

I think we have finally found a place to live though. I have been so tired of looking and coming up with nothing. It is a little more than we were looking to spend on rent but it is a nice house and in a good neighborhood. So once I know for sure that we are getting it, I will update everyone.

I am ready for school to be out. I am not in school anymore and not a teacher, I just work with college students. And it seems lately they all have some sort of excuse for EVERYTHING! I do not think I was like this in college, but then again I was not an athlete and not trying to get out of study table. I truly enjoy my job and helping these students, but sometimes they just get on my nerves! If it is not one thing its another, and all I really want to say to them is that if they were smarter and made better grades they would not have to find excuses to get out of study table. But that would be really mean of me so I just bite my tongue :)

I am looking forward to the summer, because Matt and I are planning a few trips to go and visit friends. In July we will head up north to Minnesota to visit my best friend Alisha and her boyfriend Kirk. I am so excited because I have heard so much about Minneapolis from Alisha and I can't wait to explore it with Matt. Then in Aug. we are heading to South Carolina to visit Amber and Chris. It is going to be a great time because 2 other friends from high school are going to be coming in with their significant others. We are finally going to have a chance to all catch up. I can't wait!

I have a few things to look forward to this summer. Less students around, trips to visit great friends, and fun places, and just spending time with Matt being married. It should be a great summer.

Long Weekend

2009-04-28T10:18:00.000-07:00

Well it was a long weekend, and one that no one wants to have. We drove back up to Kansas to be with family during this loss. Roland was such a great man and is going to be missed. I was not able to make my great-uncle's funeral because it was in Florida. Both men will be truly missed.

One thing that kept us going this weekend was spending time with family. Matt's has a cousin named Olivia that would put a smile on anyone's face. His Unlce Cal and Aunt Linda adopted her from China about 4 or 5 years ago. She is full of life and always bringing a smile to anyone that is sad. She kept Grandma smiling through this loss.

Being with Matt's family so much has been hard on me because I have not been able to spend much time with mine. I live closer to them now, but seem them less than I did before. It is very hard to understand why this is the case. I get so frusturated and upset that I don't see my family very often, hopefully now that the wedding is over I will be able to see them more.

Our relationship needs to be rebulit and that can't be done if I am always gone. Growing up is hard, but I see others who are so close to their families and it hurts. I wonder why I am so different. Why I didn't stay as close, or why I am not as close. So many thoughts running through my head. It just hurts!

Bad things happen in 3's...

2009-04-23T14:56:00.000-07:00

That is how the saying goes and I never really experienced until yesterday. And let me tell you I wish it was not the case.

First Matt and I woke up around 5:30am to water dripping in our apartment. When I went to check it out I saw there was standing water all in our bathroom, kitchen and the carpet was wet. I called maintenance and they told me that the 3rd floor apartments water heater busted over night so all the water in it had been leaking while we were all asleep. They just shut the water off and have called a clean up crew. Not really a big deal, just sucked having to wake up to that.

Second, while Matt was getting ready for work his dad called to let us know that Roland, his grandmother's husband (Matt's grandfather passed away when he was very young, and so Roland was all he really knew as a grandfather, and he had been around for about 12 years) had passed away. He had congestive heart failure, but we were told he was doing better and that he would be going home. He woke up around 5:00 or so and went to the bathroom, the nurse asked if he needed anything else and she went out to get what he requested and came back and he had passed. It has been hard on the family because his grandmother is sick also, and we are going to have to figure out where she is going to be able to live. She is not going to be happy about not living at the house anymore.

And then third, my mom called me around 3:45 to let me know that my great-uncle Oscar had also passed away. All of this in 1 day. Oscar was my grandmother's brother and the closest thing we had to my grandmother after she passed away. In the last few years we had not seen him very much but he was always my favorite. It is really hard to hear about someone in your family passing away, and it's even harder when it comes twice in one day.

Needless to say I am having a rough day. I hope that the bad things are done for awhile because I just don't think I can handle anything else right now.

Softly Call the Muster, let comrades answer "Here"

2009-04-21T10:50:00.000-07:00

It is April 21 every year that my favorite Aggie tradition takes place. This tradition to me symbolizes what it truly means to be an Aggie. Aggie Muster is held once a year, and always on April 21. The main one is held in College Station, but there are thousands held around the world. Aggies gather together to remember those who have passed within the last year. They speak their names aloud and their friends answer Here. It is their last roll call as an Aggie. It gives me chills just writing about it now. This will be the first time in a couple years that I have not attend the Aggie Muster in College Station. It will be hard to not be there, but of course I will be there in spirit.

Some say Aggies are crazy, but I love being a part of such a wonderful school. I will always bleed maroon, and it will always be a place near and dear to my heart. I know that some day, my friends and family will gather together on April 21 and answer Here for me, as I have my last roll call. So in honor of all the Aggies that have passed this year, I answer "Here" for you. May God be with you and your families during this time.

"We gather today, Aggies all, to recall our past, to strengthen our ties, to honor those who have passed before us....We come today to affirm our commitment, our love for this place and all that it represents."

Jack M. Rains, Muster Speaker 1984

And if you want to know more about the history of Muster, you can check this website Aggie Muster History.

I am MARRIED!!!

2009-04-15T07:53:00.000-07:00

So yes it is true I am married! I had such a great weekend. Who knows why we both have goofy expressions on our faces in this picture! We could not have asked for it to go any better. I don't have any pictures from our photographer yet, but I will soon I hope. Some friends took a few pictures and I have posted them below.

I spent the week before in KS getting last minute details together. It was a little stressful but it all turned out ok. My family got there on Friday and it was so great to spend some time with them. I was not able to spend as much time with them as I had hoped but I guess I was a little busy :) I was very worried about the weather. It had been cold and rainy ALL week and all I could think was that my outdoor wedding was about to moved indoors. Neither Matt nor I wanted it inside so we were just praying the weather would change. Friday was beautiful. It was sunny and about 65. My nerves calmed a little with that but I still didn't know what Saturday would be like. Well it was great! It was sunny all day and in the upper 60's. It was still pretty chilly for my bridesmaids but they kept telling me not to worry about it, they would stand out there for me with no complaints. And they did. When the ceremony rolled around the sun went behind some clouds and the wind picked up a little, but we were not out there as long as we thought we would be, so I think everyone was ok. We really felt God was on out side when the weather became so beautiful, since it had been nasty all week, and then sunday was rainy and cold again. We got the 2 best days of the week for our rehearsal and wedding. I am going to take away so many memories from this past weekend. I can't wait to start living my life with Matt and making more memories as a family.

I love this picture! Emma would NOT walk down the isle unless she was able to carry ALL her Easter baskets. This includes her Elmo easter basket. It was precious!

Our first kiss as husband and wife! The roses were part of a Rose Cermony that we did. It was a great way to start our life together.

Heading down the isle with my dad. I was so excited and could not wait to be Mrs. Schafer.

Checking things off the list...

2009-04-06T12:27:00.000-07:00

Well I have been checking things off the list of things left to do before the wedding. I had my final dress fitting and it looks great! Well at least my mother in law and her friend Patty said it did :) I will spend the rest of the week in Kansas working on last minute things. Last night Kerry worked on the finishing touches for the flowers for the table decorations, and worked on the bridesmaids bouquets. They look great! Even though they are fake flowers I think it will turn out all right. Real calla lilies were just to expensive. I wrapped all the presents, well I at least put them in bags and filled them with tissue paper. I still need to get bags for my bridesmaids gifts and 2 other gifts. All we need to do now is get food, drinks and ice for the rehearsal dinner and wedding. For some reason I feel like there is a lot to do, but i guess there really isn't.

On Friday before I left we had the programs made, got our picture that guests will sign, picked up the a few more decoration items, and made sure everything was packed. The only thing I left was my camera, but Matt will bring that with him when he comes Wednesday. I think we are ready to go, I just hope the day goes smoothly and that the weather corporates. Right now the forecast says 66 and sunny. So lets just pray it stays that way!

Friday is Here!

2009-04-03T09:32:00.001-07:00

So it is finally Friday and it has been one heck of a week. I feel like I can't get caught up. Work has been so busy and then trying to get everything ready for the wedding I feel like my head is spinning! I am leaving in the morning and will have all next week off to work on wedding stuff. I know that most everything is taken care of we just need to get our last minute stuff together. Tonight Matt and I will be going over everything we have at home, packing it up in bins and putting it in the jeep for my trip up to Kansas. There are a few presents that still need to be picked up and wrapped and a few more decorations to get. His mom has scheduled me a spa day on Thursday so that should be fun. I will probably need it :) Other than that I can't believe my wedding is only 8 days away. I just hope I don't forget something and that is all goes smoothly.

So on to something other than wedding news. Wednesday night Matt and I watched Marly and Me. And let me tell you, I have not cried that much in a movie in a long time. But even though I cried as much as I did I would see it over and over again. It was such a great movie and showed the unconditional love of a pet. I just kept laughing and crying through out the whole movie. It was by far one of the best movies I have seen in a long time. At one point when I was crying Matt looked at me and said, "what is wrong? You read the book so you know what is going to happen.?" And I was like I know but that doesn't mean it still doesn't make me sad. When the movie was over I let Scout up on the couch (which Matt hates) and I just loved on him for as long as I could until he got down. As much as Matt hates dogs on the couch he knew I needed that at that moment so he just didn't say anything. So even if you know how it ends I highly recommend the movie.

Oh Mondays...

2009-03-30T14:39:00.000-07:00

I had such a great weekend and I wish that it was not Monday! But I have been busy at work so the day has gone by fast. I had my Texas Bachelorette party this past Saturday and we had such a great time. I will have to post pictures later because I don't have them on my computer yet. We first went and ate at PF Chang's, and it was so yummy! Then we headed to City Streets. It is a bar in Fort Worth that is like 4 clubs in 1. We stayed in the karaoke club the whole time and had a blast. My mom, sister and friend Lisa dedicated a song to me since I was marrying a farm boy from Kansas. It was "She thinks my tractors sexy." They sang it to me as well and it was so fun to watch. I never got the nerves to go up and sing because, well I just can't really sing! But even though I did not get up there I still had fun.

Only 13 more days until I get married!!! I have to work all this week, but I will spend next week in KS finishing everything up and getting ready for the big day. It is going to be great! At least I hope so!

19 days to go!!!

2009-03-23T14:56:00.000-07:00

Yep only 19 more days until I am Mrs. Matt Schafer :) I am getting so excited but also stressed at the same time. I am trying to figure out the music for the ceremony and I am having the hardest time figuring out what I want. We know the songs for our first dances and things but just not for the ceremony. Any ideas???

Other than that things are falling into place. I am actually taking the week before the wedding off and spending it in KS finishing up last minute details. I was just going to go up there Wednesday but now I am glad I am taking the whole week.

I had my bachelorette party in Kansas last weekend. We had such a great time. We went and ate at Buca di Peppo. It was so much good. The waiters sang to me (You've lost that loving feeling) and we just talked and got to know each other more. Then a few of us went out to the Power and Light District. Nothing crazy happened but we had fun! This is me with Matt's gradmother, Aunt's, and 2 family friends.
(Only his mom and her friend went out with us after dinner :))
The crazy group :) Not really, just great friends!
The whole gang taken by the waitress! And yes that is the Pope in the middle of the table!

This week I will just be finishing up things like programs (once I fugure out music), sending out rehearsal dinner invites(that should have gone out last week!) and finishing up the wedding day schedule. I hope that does not make me a bridezilla, but I just like to be organized. Also this weekend my mom and sisters are coming up to have a Dallas bachelorette party with some of my friends from up here. I am very excited and can't wait to hang out with everyone and enjoy a stress free night!

1 month and counting...

2009-03-11T10:27:00.000-07:00

I have one more month from today until I am Mrs. Schafer! I can't wait. I get more and more excited everyday. There seems like there is so much left to do, but I am probably just being a crazy bride :) Ha ha, I just hope I am not being a bridezilla! I am heading to KS by myself this weekend, for a shower and bachelorette party. I am so excited to see my friend Alisha. She moved to MN to pursue her PhD and I am so happy for her, but miss her like crazy. It will be so much fun to hang out with her again. The shower is going to be a Pampered Chef party. I have already picked out the things that I would like to have, so the guest will just pick from the board. It will be a lot of fun, well at least I hope. Matt's cousin Kim has put this all together for me. She is the best! I am finished with the gifts, we just need to get parent gifts. We are stumped at what to get them though. I am sure we will come up with something.

I just gave Matt a gift, because I knew I could not wait a month, and we had agreed on no gifts for each other. I made him a book on Shutterfly and had a blast doing it. I really was just playing around one day, but it turned out so cute I had to get it! He loved it. I had all these pictures from the past year and made it into a story called How an Aggie and a Wildcat Fell in love. It was perfect! He also said it was good I didn't give it to him on our wedding day because he will already be full of emotion and he wouldn't have wanted to cry. I thought that was so cute. So I am not counting down from a month! It is going to be such a long month I am sure.

Busy Busy Busy

2009-03-05T14:23:00.001-08:00

I have been so busy lately that I have not kept up with this at all. So a little about what has been going on.

First the wedding is only weeks away and I am getting so excited. We mailed out invitations a few weeks ago so its happening! We also bought Matt's ring last Sunday. He was so picky, but it was cute. He kept saying that he wants what he wants because he will be wearing it for the rest of his life. That made me smile. We are heading up to KS this weekend for another round of counseling. This is the second to last one so that just shows us how close the big day is. Matt is also having his bachelor party this weekend, so I am sure I will be the one driving back on Sunday and letting him sleep :) Other than that we are getting the last few decorations togther and the last few payments with our vendors. We are so excited and can't wait to finally be husband and wife.

Next weekend I will be going up to KS alone for the first time since decemeber. It will be so weird to travel it by myself. I will be heading up there for a shower and my bachelorette party. I am very excited and can't wait to hang out with friends and family up in KS. I am sad that my mom and sister can not go but I will be able to hang out with them at the end of March. It just stinks because I really wanted them there to meet Matt's family and to just be a part of what is going on, but I also understand their reasoning.

Other than finishing wedding details and work not much else is going on. The one big thing that has happened lately is that one of my closetest friends in the world got engaged last sunday! She and I have been friends since like 6th grade, which is a long time. She means the world to me. Since high school we have both lived in different cities or states until this past year when we both lived in Arlington for a short time before she followed her heart to South Carolina. Even through the distance she has remained one of the most important people in my life. She is like a sister to me! So Congratulations Amber and Chris. I so happy for you both! Below are a picture of Amber and Chris, her beautiful ring, and their own private beach where he propsed. They met in Jamaica so he wanted to propose on a beach, it was cold in SC so he brought the beach inside. So sweet!

2 months and counting...

2009-02-11T09:48:00.000-08:00

I can not believe that in 2 months from today I am going to marry my best friend. I can not wait to be his wife. It is so crazy to think it is only 2 months away. If you can not tell I am getting very excited!!!!

We are heading to KS this weekend for our second pre-marital session on Valentine's Day. How funny is that going to be. We don't really have anything else planned, but Valentine's Day has never been a big thing to either of us. Matt is so great at sending me flowers or doing sweet things just because. He is great at the romantic part of things. So even if we just hang out at home with his dad it will be fine with me.

Sunday we are going to lunch with our friends Joey and Leslie. Joey just got back from a year long tour in Iraq. I am so thankful for him and all the service men and women. Leslie was such a tropper throughout the whole process. She is in her last year a vet school so she had a lot going in the last year while he was in Iraq. Thank you both for your sacrifce!

Hump Day

2009-02-04T10:53:00.001-08:00

Oh man this week has gone by so slow. We had last tuesday and wednesday off due to ice. Well at least that is what the forcast called for :) So this week having a full week is taking forever! It is only wednesday and I so wish it was friday!

Things have been getting better each day. I am still a little upset, or sad with a few situations that have been going on in my life. I don't know if someone just doesn't care that I am hurting or that they just don't think it is a big deal. I feel so akward when I am around this person because I don't think they care, or that they really know me. I want this person to a bigger part of my life, but how do I make that happen when I don't think they really care. I think they are fine with the relationship that we have but I am not. I want more, I want to be closer with this person, but then again I feel like it is a lost cause. So I just keep waiting...

I am reading the 4:8 Principle and I am only to chapter 2 but I hope that it helps. It is about living a joyful life with God's help. Taking each day as it comes and have happy thoughts. It is crazy to see how one bad thought can ruin everything. I really hope that I can stick with this book, and not put it aside like I normally do with books like this.

And below is one of the things that can put a smile on the face of anyone who is having a bad day. I have this picture the desktop picture for my computer and it just makes me smile everytime. Love you Emma!

One of those days...

2009-01-30T13:56:00.001-08:00

Ever had one of those days where you felt like no one cared. Well today is my day. I have done a few things the past few days such as send emails, text and so forth to people and have heard nothing back. This really upsets me and it makes me feel like they just don't care about what is going on with me. I don't even like to bring this up because when I have brought it up in the past it just gets blown off. I am told I am over reacting but I don't feel like I am, but I guess maybe I am. Who knows, all I know is that I am upset and hurt by some of the events that have been going on in my life lately.

On a brighter note, I was in KS this past weekend for Matt and I's first pre-marital counseling appointment. It went great! We actually chose the pastor from his dad's suggestion and this was the first time we had ever met him. We both like him and know he will do a great job. We were both very comfortable with him, open and honest, and he was the same with us. It helped calm our nerves a little once we finally met the man that will marry us.

I also spent Saturday night over at Matt's cousin Jenny's house with Kerry (my future mother-in-law), Kim (Matt's counsin), Gayla (Matt's Aunt), and their friend Patty making our invitations. It was a lot of fun, but also took a long time. The invitations are not perfect, aren't cut perfectly but they are home made and made with love. We had fun just sitting around telling stories and having girl time.

Kerry had been great through this whole process. She has helped out a lot and I can't thank her enough. She and her sister's are very crafty so a lot of the things that are being made they are helping with. It is hard because so much is being done in KS that I feel like I am leaving out my mom and sister. Kerry doesn't have any daughters so this is something she will only do once, and I guess I feel like my mom and sister have already done it that I don't want to ask them to do it again for me. Maybe I shouldn't see it that way. Things are tough when it comes to this. I just don't know what to do anymore.

Lately I feel like everything I have been doing is wrong. I need to get out of this funk soon. I hate feeling like this, and I hate being hurt by the people that I care about the most. Life...ugh!!!

I need to get better at this...

2009-01-23T08:23:00.000-08:00

I have such a hard time getting on-line and posting anything. School started this past week and I have been busy with schedule changes, class excuse letters, and students getting eligible for the meet this weekend. I love my job, but this time of year is very stressful. But it keeps me on my toes!

Matt and I worked out a budget, which was pretty interesting. We finally figured out how we are going to finish paying for the wedding in the next 3 months. It actually was not as bad as we both thought it would be. We are heading to Kansas this weekend to begin our pre-marital counseling, so it should be interesting. We are both very excited for this time, and very ready for April to be here. We have everything together such as location, catering, cake, decorations, dj and attire. The only thing left is flowers and I am still trying to decide on them. Below are our table decorations. I will be making the decorations so it will be very special to see it all together on our wedding day. Thanks to my mom for helping me figure out what would look best. I think we spent over 2 hrs in hobby lobby one day. They also had an employee come watch us :) I guess they thought we were up to something. But Thanks Mom! I really enjoyed our day together.

I hope 2009 is going great for everyone! Things are falling into place for the Soon to be Schafer's.