my favorite Christmas ever...as i recall.

This year Christmas was different.  I've never had a Christmas before being a married woman! It was a huge change, but a great change. I've been longing for this Christmas for a few years now. I've always loved Christmas, being with family and getting to see everyone. As I got older, I longed to begin my own traditions. Coming from a divorced family, holidays can be a little stressful. We would go to three different places on Christmas day so we could spend it with everyone. I was thankful to see everyone, but it made for an extremely long day.

I knew this Christmas would be different this year now that I have my own family...Scott Schneider:) We talked about how we were going to do things for months ahead of time, but never quite figured it out fully until the day of. Plans still changed the day of, but it ended up being perfect. This year, being our first Christmas as newlyweds, was still a bit chaotic. We haven't quite figured out the right plan for years to come....so once again, I still went to three different places. Christmas Eve, we hung out with Scott's brother, Jered and my sis-in-law, Jordan. We made a yummy meal and watched the best Christmas movie, Christmas Vacation. Christmas morning, my hunny and I woke up and had our own little Christmas together, just the two of us!  It was absolutely perfect! Then we went to Scott's parents and had Christmas with them. Finally, we had Christmas evening with the Hayward's.  All of my siblings were in town, which rarely happens. We took a family picture, ate a delicious dinner, and opened presents from one another. My sister, Emily, and I have a tradition of seeing a movie together Christmas night. We kept it this year, except Scotty came with:)  The day after, we went to church and then had Christmas with my mom. That night, we went back to my dad's and he had extended family over.

Though it was still a very busy Christmas, the quality time I spent with my wonderful husband and my family made for the best Christmas I've ever had. As we've all gotten older, we appreciate the time with each other more than ever. I savored every moment. I am so thankful for our families God has truly blessed us with. I'm also extremely thankful I can spend Christmas with my husband for the rest of my life.

I haven't uploaded the numerous pictures I have taken this break, but when I do, I will put them up for sure:)  Lots to come!!

a shout out to Douglas Melvin Hayward.

 Douglas Melvin Hayward, my lovely father, was born on Dec. 16, 19--.  He may not want me to tell you the date, then you would be able to figure out his young age. He grew up in Ladue, MO with 2 older sisters and 2 older brothers. Dad was the baby. Now, he is currently married to my step-mom, Lynn Hayward, and lives a busy, but joyful life. He is probably the most friendly mailman you'll ever meet, a father of 8 lovely kids (5 of his own and 3 step), and the leader of the college and career group at his church.  If you know my pops, you probably love him. Here are my top ten reasons why you gotta love Douglas Melvin:

dad and Elijah (his first grandbaby)

1. He has the greatest middle name (He wants all of his grandbabies to be named either Melvin or Melvina...not happening)
2. He may be the most animated person I know (his children take after him)
3. He loves keeping his traditions (ex. Sunday after church Quick Trip run for 2 hotdogs)
4. He will fall asleep working out or anywhere he can lay down
5. He loves his diet coke
6. He has wisdom beyond his years
7. He has a sensitive heart toward the things of Christ
8. He makes extremely difficult/mean/hard-hearted people his projects in life
9. His love he has for his wife and kids is unconditional
10. He is the most God-fearing man I know who lives his life each day to glorify Christ....and it's so obvious.

I Love you dad and I'm so thankful the Lord blessed me with you as my father...the greatest father any daughter can ever ask for. Thank you for living your life for all to see Christ through you. Happy Birthday Dad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

the first time dad saw me before the wedding

dad praying with me before we walked down the aisle

me and my sweet daddy

Scott is turning 23!

his freshman year of college

graduating college: hilarious picture

and now an amazing husband

 Tomorrow, my handsome husband is turning the big 2-3. It's his Jordan birthday (Michael Jordan's #)....big deal.  I am so thankful the Lord has blessed me with such an amazing husband. I'm thankful he has blessed Scott with 23 years of a beautiful life.

Today I have been trying to plan his birthday (pictures to come).  I want to make it so special for him. Its his first birthday we get to celebrate together being married. So fun. It seems my plans for his birthdays in the past always fail:( Last year I had this great idea to go to Old St. Charles and eat dinner at this great restaurant and then ice skate outdoors. Well it was beyond freezing outside, and I didn't make reservations (dumb me). We ended up walking up and down the street for a long time looking for a restaurant to eat that wasn't a 2 hour wait. We finally found a cute little cafe that wasn't busy at all. It was fine, but not the greatest place I could've taken him. After we ate, we were both still cold and lost the desire to ice skate. Fail. I hope my plans this year work out. I'll keep you posted.

be content in ALL circumstances

Lately, I haven't been the most content person I should be.  According to God's Word, we are called to "be content in every circumstance."  Wow. That's extremely hard to abide by. I guess if it were easy, he wouldn't have to command it, huh. When I am on the phone catching up with a friend, the same questions usually are asked after not talking for awhile...Hows your job? Hows married life? How's Scott?...Sometimes if I am not really thinking about it, I usually just answer with the same thing: "Everything's great."  Not that I'm lying, but it may be that I haven't really thought about it deeply in awhile. Married life is usually great. Yeah, of course we have our hard times that we are working through, but overall, I absolutely love being married.  My answer for "how's Scott" is usually the same too: "he's good."  Now when it comes to my job, that answer changes.  For awhile I wasn't minding working in an office. Right now I am kind of over it.  I am feeling discontent. Not only with my  job, but with lots of other things that won't do me good to worry about.  So guess what church was about? Yes, being content. God always knows what we need to hear and exactly when we need to hear it. I have no reason at all to be discontent with my life. I am truly blessed.  We both have jobs that allow us to pay loans and have a little fun, we have a place to live, we have amazing families and we have wonderful friends. Sometimes I think if we had less and didn't expect more, we wouldn't be so discontent. I mean, Paul, who wrote the book of Philippians, was in JAIL while writing about being content in ALL circumstances. That means if Scott doesn't get a job anytime soon, we are to be content. That means if lil betty broke down, we are to be content. Thank you, Lord, that you have blessed us beyond our needs. Help me to be content.

our apt when we first moved in...not a whole lot there, but we were content and happy!!

— hon·ey·moon·er noun

I would like to be a honeymooner for life. My definition of honeymooner: one who goes on a trip with their spouse at least once a year for the rest of their lives. The correct definition of a honeymooner: a trip or vacation taken by a newly married couple. So technically we have to be newlyweds. We will fit into this correct category for a few years, but that's no fun.  Going on a honeymoon after you get married is so great, but for some people, that may be the only trip they take with one another for an extensive amount of time. Ideally, to go on a large, expensive trip more than once a year or maybe even once every few years isn't likely (unless you are blessed with a little extra mula to spare).  It's funny, because a lot of people will tell Scott and I that right now is the best time to travel. "You are young and you don't have kids yet, so go travel!" Yeah, that would be great if we could afford it. That is more practical years down the road, after the kids have their kids and we are retired. I do look forward to that someday, but that's a long way away.  So for now, we are going to try and save some money when possible and take some sort of trip at least once a year. I'm not talking about a trip that will cost thousands of dollars. I'm talking about any type of fun, creative trip that will allow us to get away and enjoy each others company without the mundane routine of everyday life interfering for a short time.  Maybe that trip will end up being Branson, MO at one point. I'm ok with that. Maybe that will be a weekend getaway at a bed and breakfast. Of course I would like to go to Europe someday, but for now, small trips will be perfect.

I was looking at pictures from when Scott and I went to Playa Del Carmen, Mexico for our honeymoon this summer.  One or our favorite adventures included driving ATV's through the jungle, caving, and zip lining into a beautiful sinkhole.  It was by far our favorite part of the honeymoon.

I felt claustrophobic. 

yes, we went on that zip line together.

Honeymooner for life baby!

flash mob

When I went home to St. Louis last week my dad was so excited to show me a certain video on youtube.  He is learning slowly, but surely to become more computer savvy, but I was surprised he had a video to show.  I anxiously pulled up a chair by his lap top and watched this video in amazement. My dear friend, Leann, just sent me one very similar today at work. Click here to watch it.  I hope it gets you in the Christmas spirit!

This is another similar type of video.  It's awesome! Click here to see this one.

Enjoy!!!

puppy fever

Lately, I've been having puppy fever bad! Yeah, there are definitely times I have baby fever, but then I give myself a reality check. I'll just enjoy my nephew and friends' babies for now.  Our landlord basically made it impossible for us to have a dog. He said we could and then gave us a list of things that would have to happen first. No thanks. We will wait until we move.  The next place we move, we will make sure we are allowed to have a sweet puppy. We would love an English Bulldog, but I heard they are expensive because they have lots of issues that need to be taken care of. We already talk about our dog like we have one.  His name will be Karl. Scott chose it. I told him we can name our dog that, but not our child. Nothing against that name for a person if that's your name:)  Dogs are great for a lot of reasons. Most of the time they have so much personality, you can take them on walks, they are snuggly, they sit by you when you are sad, they can be your vacuum cleaner, and they love you no matter what. Karl, we will pick you up soon!

our first Christmas tree!

Yesterday, Scott and I went to the tree farm in Greenville and picked out our first, real Christmas tree!  It was a lot of fun.  We didn't realize how expensive they would be, but we found the perfect tree for us that was reasonable:)

We thought about how awesome it would be to get this fat buddy, but realized it was about as big as our apartment.

We baked cookies, drank hot coco, watched Christmas Vacation, and decorated our tree's lovely branches.  It met all my expectations of putting up our first Christmas tree together:) The first year of marriage is so much fun! I just bought the star for the top today, so the tree in these pictures doesn't have a tree topper yet.

We decided every year until we begin having kids, we will buy each other an ornament for each other. Scott began that tradition two years ago with an "Our First Christmas" ornament.  I actually laughed a little when he gave it to me because I thought that was what you get for your first Christmas being married.  It's on our tree now! He says he knew he was going to  marry me, so he wanted to give it early...haha...whatever.  I look forward to having kids someday and beginning fun traditions with them.  Merry Christmas is in 26 days!!!

crazy einstein woman

Yesterday I went to the dermatologist...finally.  I have sunspots on my face and I've been meaning to get them checked out for awhile now. I went to a doctor in Carlyle, Dr. DuComb. First the nurse came in and asked me a bunch of questions.  I thought she was Dr. DuComb. Nope! In comes Dr. DuComb singing my last name along with some other lyrics I couldn't understand. She had crazy, curly hair that looked like Einstein's and she talked about a thousand miles/hour. I had to have her repeat herself several times. After she stopped singing, she gave me a mirror to hold, turned off the lights, and held up a light to my face. Welp, my sunspots were a lot nastier in that lighting than they are in regular lighting...thankfully.  I found out it wasn't just from the sun.  It's a combination of 3 different things: being a female (hormones), genetics, and UVA rays. She told me everything I needed to do and said goodbye.  It would've been nice if she talked a little slower, but thankfully when she left the room the nurse re-explained everything she said and wrote down what I needed. I was happy I can use skin lightner, until I found out it would cost $240 for the skin lightening cream!!! That's just sick. That will have to wait. She did give me some good recommendations while I was there:
1. a bar of soap is the best thing to use on your face and body (specific kinds are best)
2. lotion is just water. body cream is best for face and body.

If  you think about it, that's what was used back in the day and it worked well. It will save us money too!  Anyways, I did purchase what she recommended and I also have to wear sunscreen on my face everyday. I guess it's time to start taking care of my skin so I don't get skin cancer.  I don't want to look like this lady:

a bowl of soup

I stayed home from work twice last week due to a nasty, nasty cold.  It's that time of the year in the midwest when the weather can't make up it's mind, so we all get sick. Not fun. Staying home from work is nice, but not really when you are sick. I haven't laid on the couch for a full day straight since I was probably in high school.  My body needed it.  Monday morning I woke up with a stuffy nose.  I still went to work and even worked out afterward. When I got home, I knew it was coming on strong.  I decided to make some good 'ol homemade chicken noodle soup...well, not from a can at least:)  My mom used to take care of me all the time when I was sick.  I do admit, I can be a baby when I'm sick.  This was the first time since we've been married that I've been sick.  I guess I expected Scott would be just like my mom when I'm sick...I should never assume.  He didn't know I was a big baby either, so it took him by surprise when I wanted him to, somewhat, wait on me hand and foot (I try not to ask him to do much for me usually:)  I am thankful I made a huge pot of chicken noodle soup on Monday that was able to last us all week!  So all Scott had to do was warm that up...and attempt to make grilled cheese for the first time.  He did great, though his specialty is Hamburger Helper.  Now he knows next time I get sick he will have to turn into my mom:)  A bowl of soup a day took my pain away...well, I like to think so.

Lulus and Toms

Most times before I actually begin working in the mornings, I like to do a little leisure shopping online...more browsing than actually purchasing:)  Today I was looking at one of my favorite online apparel stores called Lulus (www.lulus.com). I automatically fell in love with several of their shoes. This brought me to finally making my Christmas list my mother-in-law has been asking from me for months.  What do you think of some of these shoes?

Besides these shoes, I love me some Toms Shoes!  Here are two pairs that I can't decided which ones I want.  They are a bit similar...the top ones are wool and the ones below are not and the color is a little different.

a simple prayer

Today I woke up and performed my normal, daily routine of getting ready for work. Once again, I shut my alarm off a few times dreading opening my eyes. Everyday I try to spend time in prayer and in the Word.  The days I treasure sleep over my time in the Word are the days I notice a negative change in my attitude.  I'm not as joyful and I am not as mindful of Christ throughout the day.  This morning, I spent a little time in prayer asking God to help me be mindful of him throughout the day and to give me strength to honor Him in all I do. I read a great devotional on faith and then headed out the door for another day at work.  The first step I took onto my porch I praised God for the beautiful weather.  That was the first of many short praises and prayers I have had today.  Keeping Christ mindful throughout the day makes a worlds difference in my attitude, my thoughts, the way I love others, and the way I go about my day. He calls us to pray without ceasing.  That doesn't mean we have to be praying every moment of the day, but to keep him mindful and saying simple prayers is to pray without ceasing.  Simple prayers throughout the day is a great way to keep a relationship with our Maker.

gerber baby

My sweet baby nephew, Elijah David, is in the running to become the next Gerber Baby. He has 41 votes thus far, but we have until the end of the month to vote.  He is a beautiful, 9 month old baby. I call him my little Valentine because he was born the day before Valentine's Day....that's close enough:)  Elijah, Josh and Chrissy live in Austin, TX.  They just moved there a few months ago. We were all happy Josh got a job as an associate pastor and youth pastor at a great church, but we were NOT happy we wouldn't get to see Elijah more (and of course Josh and Chrissy). He is the most popular little buddy in our family right now. Why? Because he is so stinkin cute and sweet and he is the first baby in the family. Well, I just found out about a week ago that Chrissy and Elijah are coming in town for a week before Thanksgiving!  They are coming back for Christmas too and for Elijah's first birthday in February!!!  I can't wait to see them.  If you think about it, vote for sweet Elijah at this website everyday until the end of the month!!
http://www.gerber.com/photo/#/vote/

Look how adorable he is...

This is my favorite picture of Elijah and Josh.  The perfect father/son picture.

thank you shutterfly

I've been working on putting together our wedding book for a few months now.  I received a groupon in my email that had a good deal through shutterfly, so I went with it.  It is harder than I thought it would be.  I have so many wedding pictures to choose from!  I love them all!  I think the most annoying part is uploading more pictures.  Scott's computer is slow to do that.  It's finally coming together in the past two days. Even though it's been frustrating, putting it together has been constantly reminding me of how wonderful our wedding day was, but even more so, how blessed I am that God put such an amazing man in my life. Thank you shutterfly for allowing me to reminisce on our wedding day over and over and over again.  Soon I will be able to sit and enjoy looking through it...Lord willing it turns out well:)  This is the picture I chose for our front cover...our photographer did amazing.

24, fat, and happy

I just celebrated my 24th birthday on Halloween. Crazy. One more year and I will be able to officially rent my own car. I think 25 is the year when you are finally legal to do anything. Cool, I guess. Anyways, it was a lovely birthday. For about 2 months now I have been reminding Scott that my birthday is coming up. I also didn't fail to remind him I just wanted some sort of surprise. I'm sure he got sick of me bringing it up constantly but I tried to always make sure i said it in a different way so it didn't seem as nagging.  I know, it's manipulative. He decided he was going to take me out to dinner on Saturday night. He asked me where I wanted to go. "Scott, you're supposed to surprise me, not ask me," I would say. Maybe that was a little too much pressure on the sweet guy. I knew going into marriage he was not a planner, but I also knew he could get creative if he wanted to (ex. engagement). He decided to make reservations at the melting pot on Saturday mid afternoon for Saturday evening. He learned quickly that won't work for the future and that if he wanted to take me to an upscale restaurant he would have to make reservations earlier than that day. He told me Saturday wouldn't work, but that he made reservations for Monday night instead. I was so excited, but a part of me was a little sad because I would have liked for it to be a surprise. Saturday my lovely mother came and pampered me:) She gave me a mani and pedi, highlighted my hair, and gave me the cutest bomber jacket. I love spending time with mom.  Sunday morning my dad and step mom and Scott's parents came to church with us.  Afterward, they came to our apartment along with Jered and Jordan and had a birthday lunch for me. Alan walked in the door last with a beautiful, fall bouquet of flowers in his hand. Fall flowers are my favorite and they look perfect on our kitchen table!
For lunch we had pizza, Trina made delicious funfetti cupcakes (my favorite), Lynn made a homemade Pasta House salad and then I opened presents from everyone. I loved everything.  Scott proceeded to open the closet and pull a gift off of the top shelf. It was in a shiny, silver box with a perfectly placed bow on top. I was already impressed with that (even though he didn't have to wrap it)!  Everyone sat around me while I slowly opened the box. Inside was the most beautiful pearl necklace!  It was one of the best gifts I've ever received. I would tell Scott every-so-often that I would love a piece of jewelry from him that I could wear often. He would always reply, "I bought you a diamond ring!"

To top off a wonderful birthday, Scott and I took the day off of work on Monday, hung out all day and then ended with an amazing experience at the melting pot. What a great birthday. I apologized for Scott for not trusting he could pull this all off...he did perfect. I left the melting pot feeling extremely fat and happy. Here is a little bit of our experience at the Melting Pot:

Scott felt a bit sick afterward...I of course felt wonderful!

Thank you husband for giving me a great birthday. I love you Scott.

Jesse turned 30!

My brother, Jesse, turned 30 years old on August 6th. My mom and step dad threw a surprise birthday party for him a few weeks later at a small cafe in St. Louis, called the Maya Cafe.

Before I tell you about the party, you need to know a little background about Jesse. First of all, he was born with Cerebral Paulsey. He has a hard time speaking well, his motor skills were affected and his mentality is probably at about an 8 year old level. He still enjoys life to the fullest. Jesse LOVES music. My step dad, Vince, is in a bluegrass band and Jesse thoroughly enjoys his music. When Jesse gets off work for the day (he works at St. Johns Hospital) he will probably play his guitar, listen to a band on the computer (most likely Johnny Cash), or watch the Cardinals play on T.V. so he can cheer on Albert Pujols. Those are what bring him the most joy in life. Occasionally, Vince will let Jesse practice with his band during the week or even play with them at a show (he doesn't mind that his guitar isn't plugged in). He doesn't know how to play the guitar, but he still loves to strum hard and sing loud.

So back to his party....
Josh and Chrissy (brother and sister-in-law) were moving to Austin, TX a few days later, so they came in town for one last time before moving. So with all the parties it brought the altogether again:)
Vince gathered a bunch of his friends for Jesse's surprise party and they formed a "torture chamber." Basically everyone plays an instrument that is not their main instrument. It was pretty bad, but extremely entertaining. All Jesse knew he was doing that night was playing music with Vince's band. He wore his best outfit: his khakis, tennis shoes, a button-up shirt with Cadillacs and guitars all over it, and his new favorite hat my mom bought him to play music in. He wouldn't wear his hat until he played music.

that's Jesse to the left.

Scott and I drove him to the cafe. There were large curtains we had to open before entering the room of all of Jesse's friends and family. I was a little nervous he was going to be really startled and not really know it was for him, considering his birthday was a few weeks before. I opened the curtain and everyone yelled, "Surprise!" Jesse, with a small, confusing smirk on his face just stood there and scanned the room of all of his friends and family. I tapped him on the shoulder, "Jesse, it's for you! It's for your birthday!" I think he finally got it when he saw his large birthday cake:)  He walked straight to his guitar, picked it up, and began playing with the band. The guests all just sat back, ate good food, and mingled while watching Jesse having the time of his life.  After he played, it was gift opening time. His gifts either consisted of Cardinals stuff or music stuff. He loved it all.  Scott and I bought him an Albert Pujols jersey.  We could hardly wait to give it to him because he is possibly Albert's biggest fan;) 

he knew it was a Cardinal's jersey right away

I know the party meant so much to Jesse. I was so glad we could have a party to celebrate another year with one of the most amazing people I know.  Jesse is such a wonderful brother. He is extrememly generous and tender-hearted. I am so thankful the Lord has blessed our family with someone who brings us more joy than we could ever have imagined:) Jesse, we love you!!!