A Grandmother's Love

"Grandmothers are voices of the past and role models of the present."

My Mamaw Travis (my dad's mom) passed away on January 18th.  I have been trying to write this post for months but my heart just wasn't ready.  Losing someone you love is one of the hardest things you'll ever face in life and I learned this from the woman I lost 5 months ago.  My grandmother lost a 19-year old son serving in the Vietnam War and her husband to a heart attack 23 years before God called her home. 

She taught me so much about God, love and life through example.

She was wise, strong, selfless, genuine and loving.

  She continues to be one of the greatest role models in my life.  I will never forgot the conversations I had with her about life, marriage and love. 

She was honest and passed down the legacy of working towards being a "good" person.

My dad spoke at her funeral and it broke my heart to see him so upset; but the words he spoke about her were sincere and genuine. His parents taught him how to work towards being a "good" person, living a Christian life and striving for the good of others and not yourself. The pastor who was with my family the night of her visitation said something that really stuck out to me.  He said that her and my grandfather may not have given their children everything they wanted but they gave them everything they needed.  I feel as though my parents have lived by this principle as well and the older I get the more I appreciate it.   Although we all knew she was ready and had been battling intensive multiple health issues over the last year; it just doesn't truly hit you until you're sitting in the funeral home.  I feel like it has "hit me" quite a lot.  I think about her often and the struggle of deteriorating health I watched her face.  I think about how she slowly lost her independence, strong will and determination.  I think about how she would be telling me "don't give up" in the difficult situations I have faced.  I think about the hamburgers she used to make, the Neapolitan ice cream she had in her freezer, the orange slices she kept on the cabinet, the times she picked me up from school in her "hoopty", the time she accidentally died her hair purple, the way she grew to love our family pets even though she wasn't an "animal person", the multiple times my family stayed with her for weeks or months when my parents were building or remodeling a house and so much more...

  I love you to the moon and back Mamaw Travis! Rest in Peace!

What We've Been Up To...December

**December**

1.  Grayson's First Birthday!! On December 17th Grayson turned a year old!! I think being an aunt is one of the best things in the world!! My sister did an AMAZING job planning his big party and it was a lot of fun!!

He still loves playing with the talking Chuck truck we got him for one of his gifts!

2.  Our first Christmas as a married couple!!! Preparing for Christmas was so fun this year!! I even made a wreath!

We had a busy and fun time with family and friends! On Friday the 23rd Matt's mom, dad and sister came to stay with us and we went to eat at a restaurant called 610 Magnolia which is owned by one of the Top Chef contestants. It was really good! Christmas Eve morning we had breakfast at Bob Evans and then went to the Christmas Eve service at Southeast that night with my mom and dad, Kara, Justin and Grayson.  After church we went over to my mamaw Raypole's (my mom's mom) house for dinner and celebration! It was so much fun watching Grayson open his gifts!!

On Christmas morning we woke up and opened our presents, then headed over to Kara and Justin's!

Grayson LOVED and still LOVES his Coupe Car we got him!! :)

This Christmas gift sure has kept Matt and Justin busy!! :)

I think Lily has outgrown her Santa outfit! It wouldn't Velcro underneath, lol!

Christmas Day we went to Cincinnati to celebrate with Matt's Sister Angela and his parents!

3.  New Year's Eve 2012 at 21 C downtown Louisville with Kara, Justin, Sara and Ben! Such a fun night!!

**Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.**   1 Corinthians 13:7



What We've Been Up To...October/November

Since my last post on October 4th SO much has happened in the Schedler household! I'm going to try and do a recap of month by month and highlight some of the important events/experiences. :) I've really got to try and do better with this blog thing! Matt and I were reflecting on Superbowl Sunday about what we did last Superbowl and couldn't remember all the details so I promised Matt and myself that I would try and keep up with the blog so we can keep track of our first year of marriage!

*October*
1.  We visited Matt's family in Canada!

We attended the Canadian Oktoberfest in Kitchner, Ontario with Matt's cousin Jen and her husband Mike!

We got to spend time visiting with Matt's grandparents! We also got to partake in Canadian Thanksgiving at his aunt and uncles which was on October 9th so we got to have two Thanksgivings this year! :)

2.  When we got back from Canada and I returned to my long-term sub position, I got called to interview at another school in Jefferson County for a third grade teaching position.  I interviewed on a Wednesday, got offered the job on Thursday and had to start the new position on Monday October 17th! The majority of my time since October 17th has been spent in my new position.  It has been a challenging ride so far but I am learning a lot and am enjoying getting to know all the new adults and children God has placed in my life! :) 

3.  I took my Comprehensive Masters Exam in School Counseling on October 15th and found out in December that I passed! Yay!

4.  We spent the weekend before Halloween in Chicago hanging out with Cara, Whitney, Todd, Maggie and Spencer! Chicago is such a FUN city and I LOVE visiting my old roommate Cara!

Me, Cara and Whitney before our Chicago deep dish pizza lunch!
5.  On Halloween Matt and I went over to Kara and Justin's to go trick or treating with Grayson for his first Halloween! We dressed Lily up as a baby since he was a dog. :) They were both so cute and it was so fun to share in Grayson's first trick or treating experience!

*November*

1.  Jodie and Ryan's Wedding in Cincinnati! So fun!

2.  My first University of Cincinnati basketball game! A lot different than a game at Rupp! :)
3.  We spent Thanksgiving this year at my grandma Raypole's (my mom's mom) house. We started black Friday shopping at 12 a.m. It was the craziest black Friday I've seen!
4.  John and Kari's Wedding in Northern Kentucky! It was really good seeing some friends from high school I don't get to see that often.

**Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.**

1 Peter 5:7

Busy Living Life!

I can't believe it's almost been a month since my last post! We have been sooooo busy, but in a good way! :)

What have we been up to:

*Visiting Tricia and Chase in Birmingham, Alabama! It was so good to see them and we wish we could have stayed longer!

*Spending 5 days in Gulf Shores with Kara, Justin, Grayson, Justin's Parents, Justin's Sister and her son Caden! We ate, soaked up the sun and played games! Matt and I got to experience sleep interruption since we shared a room with Kara, Justin and Grayson and Grayson was sick with a cough and drainage so he woke up several times a night. :)  We definitely aren't ready for a baby yet! He liked the sand, but was a little timid about the big ocean.  He LOVED the pool!
Here's a couple of pictures from the trip:

*We spent the last two nights of the trip in Destin, Florida visiting Kristy and Rob! I'm mad I didn't take any pictures while we were there. :( We had so much fun eating at an Italian Pub, going to a wine tasting and eating seafood! We wish we could have stayed longer there also!

*The day after we got back I started my long term sub position in 5th grade! Having taught for three years already, I thought there wouldn't be too much to learn, but boy was I wrong. Procedures, lesson plans and resources are different in every county/district and I have had a lot to learn about the traditional public school program, which I absolutely LOVE! I'm in my third week there and it is going great!

*The weekend after we got back from FL we spent some quality time at home.  We also went to two different festivals that weekend.  One was in downtown Louisville called Nulu fest and we had a delicious caramel apple! The second one was an Italian festival and was in downtown Jeffersonville. We ate some good Italian food and had to leave quickly because of rain. :(  Sunday after we left the Italian festival we went to Kara and Justin's house to hang out for several hours.  After being with Grayson 5 days straight the week before, we were really missing him, and of course Kara and Justin too! :)

*This past weekend we went to Chuy's (our favorite Mexican restaurant) on Friday (if you've never been to one you've GOT to go)! On Saturday during the day Matt and Justin went golfing while I cleaned and studied for my National Counseling Exam which is coming up October 15th.  Saturday night I went to dinner with the girls to celebrate Ashley's and Brandi's birthdays and then Matt met us out later! Sunday we went to Huber's with the whole fam and Grayson loved it! Here's a couple of pictures from Hubers:

This coming weekend we are headed to Michigan on Friday to stay with Katharine and Andy! Yay! On Saturday we are going the rest of the way to Canada to visit Matt's grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles and family friends! The Canadian Thanksgiving is on Sunday so we'll be able to celebrate with most of his family! I have Monday and Tuesday off for fall break so Matt took two personal days so we could stay and visit in Canada a little longer.

Sorry this post is so long! I'll try and do better with posting more frequently. :) Have a wonderful night!

Thankful Thursday

I am participating in my friend Megan's Thankful Thursday post! Love you Megan!!

          

Today I am thankful for:

1. A long term sub position! It has been hard not having my own classroom this year and I'm excited about sharing the next nine weeks with some sweet fifth graders. :)

2.  My loving husband and family who all mean the world to me! Me, Matt, Kara and Justin are taking Grayson to the beach for the first time next week in Gulf Shores and are super excited about it! I've got to spend a lot of time with Grayson over the last seven weeks since I haven't been working and it has been so nice to have this special time with him and watch him grow!

3.  My wonderful friends! I miss my GSE friends and am really pumped about seeing Tricia and Kristy on our trip to Alabama next week!

4.  My dogs!

5.  All the little daily blessings God sends me! His timing is always perfect! 

I can't believe it's been over a week since my last post! Here are some fun things we've been up to:

Last Thursday I went and spent the day in the classroom where I will doing my long term sub. I got a really good feeling from this school and am hoping this assignment turns into something more. :) Last Friday Matt and I went to downtown Louisville for the Trolley Hop and met up with my good friend Kelly and her husband James to visit some galleries and shops. Afterwards we went to eat at Bunz and Burgers! They have amazing burgers! On Saturday my good friend Sara and Matt's sister Angela came to visit! We went to a cookout at my sister's house that night. My mom and dad and Justin's parents also came over We ate, played cornhole (although the heat was killing us!) and talked for several hours. :) Sunday we had lunch with Sara, her brother Clay, and Angela at Bearno's pizza in Louisville.  Monday we went to Family Palooza at Southeast Christian Church with Kara, Justin and Grayson and then went to eat at Logan's. We did a lot of eating out over this long weekend! Tuesday I went to spent the day at the school where I'm subbing to learn more about all the procedures and plans. :) Yesterday I went to a sub orientation ( I think it's a little crazy that I had to go to an orientation for subbing when I've already taught three years, but whatever :) ) for Greater Clark County Schools in Jeffersonville.  Today I had to go to a sub orientation in Jefferson County so that I can start my long term assignment on the 19th! Tomorrow I am spending the day at the school again and then Saturday we are heading down to Alabama to stay the night with Tricia and Chase!! Sunday we'll be heading the rest of the way to Gulf Shores!! Yay!!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Friday tomorrow!

Wonderful Weekend

Matt and I had such a fun weekend! I love weekends with my husband and family! Friday night we got take out Chinese and watched a movie.  Saturday we had my sister's 30th birthday celebration at Rivue in downtown Louisville! It was so fun! The room revolves while you're eating so you can get a great view of the city.  The food was really good and it was great to spend time with my family and some of my sister's friends.  After dinner we went to Osheas downtown and then ended up making a stop at White Castle before we walked back to the Marriott where Kara and Justin were staying for the night! We stayed out until 2 a.m. and that is probably the latest my sister and I have stayed out or up for that matter in I don't know how long! It was so good to see my sister have such a great night celebrating her birthday! Pics from the birthday celebration will be coming soon.  My camera battery was dead so they are all on my sister's camera. :) 
                                             

On Sunday afternoon Matt and I went to see The Help.  I finished the book on Friday and was dying to see the movie! The movie was so good, but I seem to always like the books better than the movies. :)

In The Middle :)

Last night I was laying in between Matt and Lily (for those of you that don't know Lily is my two year old black and white Shih Tzu) thinking how I wouldn't trade that moment or my life for anything. :)  Lily has had a little trouble adjusting to the married life.  Since she was 8 weeks old it has just been me and her.  Of course she has stayed with Matt and Dutchess for long periods of time but this living together thing seems to be taking a toll on her.  She is literally attached to my hip.  Being that I don't have a job right now, I am home most of the day with her and Dutchess and she is either laying beside, on or next to me. She only wants me to take her out.  When Matt tries to put her leash on her she runs and hides under the bed. :(  At night time she has to sleep in the bed with Matt and I touching my leg or arm.  Considering how spoiled she is I don't think our future children have a chance. :)  I know it may sound crazy but the love and loyalty you feel from your dogs is truly special.

Not only am smashed in the middle of my husband and dog every night, I am also in the middle of finding a job.  I quit my teaching job in Lexington to move to Jeffersonville because Matt and I thought it would be easier for me to find another teaching job than for him to find another job.  I have not found another job yet and while I love being a stay at home wife :)  I'm really missing teaching! I miss the kids, the girls I taught with and the feeling of making a difference. :)  Having the freedom to do what I want when I want is nice, but I'm ready to get back into a routine of things.  Matt and I have tentatively planned several trips for September and October during his vacation time and it's nice to have this freedom and flexibility with not having to coordinate vacation times, but part of me still wishes I had my own classroom this year. :) I know God has wonderful plans for me and my career path! I keep telling myself that good things come to those who wait!