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!!!