Enter a Higher State

This weekend I went to visit one of my best friends, Kaitlyn, in Denver. She is there for her summer internship that is part of our masters program. It was a quick trip as I was in Colorado for less than 48 hours, but we managed to pack in good food, shopping, a Rockies game, and lots of girl talk. I will be thankful when she and other friends return to Columbia for school in a few weeks.

Sean and I are headed back to Colorado in a couple of weeks for a little vacation -- we are so excited to get some time together while hiking, camping, possibly white water rafting, and of course relaxing somewhere in there too. More pictures to come soon of our golf lessons, Sean's upcoming birthday (next Monday), our summer reading lists and Sean's 20-ish unique things.

Kaitlyn and I

Uniquely Me.

1. I turn clockwise when I sleep at night. ie: from my back to my right side, then to my tummy and then left side. It's what's comfortable to me.

2. Favorite food: day old lasagna. It's always better the next day for some reason.

3. I always want a glass of milk after eating ice cream.

4. I love warm towels...even folding warm towels is refreshing to me.

5. A great moment in the day is when I open the door after a shower and the cool air rushes in.

6. Cleaning is fun for me...I think because I get to see the end result quickly. Instant gratification.

7. Sean gives me a massage every night to help me fall asleep. He has such a servant's heart!

8. Sour patch kids are probably my favorite candy. I always eat 3/4 of the red ones first, followed by green, orange, then the remaining 1/4 of the red. No yellow for me.

9. Learning is a passion of mine. I will probably want to be either in school or in academia for the rest of my life. (maybe with a few breaks, though)

10. God wrote my husbands name on my heart when I was 15...and mine on his when he was 14. (it took me a couple of years to come around)

11. Marriage is such a blessing. Not only to have a friend and comforter in my husband, but it also provides (many) opportunities to sharpen my beliefs and actions to be more like Christ's.

12. House is my favorite TV show. Partly b/c I like his sense of humor and partly b/c I'm amazed at how good Hugh's American accent is. (we're on a first name basis)

13. I use ellipses a lot when I write e-mails or letters...

14. Pandora radio is one of the best creations of the modern world. My current favorite station is coldplay with some dave matthews variety thrown in.

15. I pretty much only drink water. Not really for any particular reason other than I love it.

16. I could probably win a contest for best sleeper. I sleep SO deeply...pretty much nothing wakes me up.

17. I love warm weather and hope to be moving further south very soon. (We're thinking of Fayetteville, AR...which is really just a ploy to get closer to TX...and for Sean to get his masters.)

18. I'm trying to pick up golf and reading for pleasure. It's going well in the summer, but we'll see what happens when I start school again.

19. I never listen to the words of songs...well, rarely. I just like the beats, I guess. On multiple occasions I have expressed by love for a song when Sean gently reminds me that it is about a man beating his wife, or some other version of inappropriateness.

20. If JCrew would give me one of everything they make, I would consider giving them a kidney in return.

21. I'm SUPER inquisitive...always have been.

22. I'm thankful...for so many things: grace, finding joy in little things, my sweet husband and my supportive family to name a few.

So, that's some of 'me'...a work in progress, continually growing.

Welcome to the world, Caleb Andrew Schuler!

Our friends Manda and Jacob had their baby a little over a week ago. His name is Caleb and he is a beautful, healthy baby boy! They asked if we would come over and help take some pictures of Caleb, so we spent the afternoon repositioning and coerscing the sweet boy into sometimes strange positions. He was such a champ for the whole shoot! To be honest, us adults got worn out before he did. We are thankful for their friendship and look forward to watching how their family grows! Here are a couple of my favorite pictures:

Not me Monday

I've decided to try and participate in a blogging event called 'not me' Mondays. Here's what MckMamma has to say on her blog: mycharmingkids.net "Are you feeling guilty for not changing your children's bedsheets for weeks on end? Feel trashy taking your trash to the curb with no bra on? Overcome with embarrassment after your child wets his pants in public? We'll don't be! Not Me! Monday was born out of my desire to admit some of my imperfections and reveal a few moments I'd rather forget."

So here is goes...

I most certainly did not stay in bed until 4:00 in the afternoon on Saturday. While I was not in bed all day Saturday, I surely didn't watch three whole hours of a snobby prep high school show called NYC Prep on Bravo. I also didn't love every minute of the show and have my husband DVR one episode while I was in the shower so I didn't miss out.

The only time I got out of our apartment on Sat. was not to go get ice cream and it was not already dark outside.

I didn't take me 5 days to do two loads of laundry because I kept forgetting the clothes were in the washer. Those close are not still in my living room not put away. Nope, sure aren't!

I did not only make dinner two times this past week...one of which was not breakfast food because it was so much quicker to make.

So thankful for my husbands steadfast love and God's grace!

Turning the big 2-3, ya'll.

For my birthday, Sean took me to Sycamore in downtown Columbia. The food was wonderful there and we really liked the overall atmosphere. The weather was beautiful, so we just spent the rest of the evening at a park downtown enjoying some fresh air and great people watching! :) 23 is a strange age to turn because I feel 'in transition.' I'm not a kid, but not really an adult yet. Sean and I are so thankful for this season that God has us in and are so excited to find out what the upcoming year is going to bring. We grabbed some Coldstone to continue the birthday celebration, so Sean thought it would be appropriate to order a Cake 'n Shake. aka: a piece of cake blended with cake batter ice cream and milk. It was probably half of his daily recommended calorie intake. My mom and I made a trip to San Antonio to spend some time with family after the passing of my great grandfather. His memorial was very nice -- full of stories and people who were impacted by him. The picture below is my Aunt Dana, me, my mom, and my Nanny. I love this picture! We had a great time together, despite the ridiculously HOT weather! Quick trips to TX are bittersweet because there are so many people to see that we're not able to spend a whole lot of time with any single person. Our motto was 'a little time is better than no time.' We sure to wish we could just meet up for dinner whenever we wanted to!