Allie and Kyle Firsts: Christmas

I suspected that this Christmas would be a special one since it was our first Christmas as a married couple, and it certainly turned out that way.

Our Christmas Eve morning started off perfectly slow and cozy. We stayed in our pajamas until noon watching movies and drinking coffee. I cherish these moments so much. I never feel more blessed than when we enjoy quiet mornings at the apartment. During these times, neither of us feel hurried to be somewhere else, we aren't worried about work, and we can just relax and enjoy being together.

Later that night, we went over to my parents house, and later my family and Kyle's met up for Mexican food and the 11 p.m. candlelight service at First Methodist. The church service was a peaceful reminder of God's grace and love. Even though we have heard the Christmas story thousands of times, Kyle and I left the church feeling so much more thankful for Christ's selflessness for sending us His son to save to the world. We are so glad that we have First Methodist as our church home.

After we left church, we headed back to my parents for a big family slumber party. All of the kids, plus their significant others, crammed into 2 of the upstairs bed rooms... it definitely felt like the days we used to wait for Santa. We woke up on Christmas morning, downed 3 pots of coffee, ate plenty of biscuits and gravy and pancakes, and opened gifts. And while the family transitioned into nap time, Kyle and I headed over to Katie and Lance's for the Schielack Christmas. We had so much fun exchanging gifts and watching Karly open her presents from Nonnie and Poppy. After all of the gifts were opened, we all prepared for the Christmas night party. At 7 o'clock my family came over, and we played a rowdy game of bunco. It was so nice to have both families together, and I couldn't be more thankful that our families are friends.



Our first Christmas as the Schielacks



Bailey the reindeer

A Savior is Born

"And she gave birth to her first born son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for him in the inn.

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.'

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.'"

Luke 2:7-14

Happy birthday Jesus!

In Lieu of Christmas Cards...

Kyle and I couldn't have imagined a happier 2010, and we look forward to seeing what God has planned for us in 2011! Merry Christmas to you all!

The Christmas Countdown

I love the week before Christmas! I have no problem getting caught up in the anticipation of Christmas day despite my age, and I always have a list of "Christmas Must-dos" before the 25th comes around.

Must Dos ...

• Starbucks holiday drinks... purchased with all of my giftcards from my students :)
• A trip or 2 to the Galleria... this is easier to come by this year, since I could hit the Galleria with a rock from where we live
• Lunch with sisters and mom... this is acutally on the list year around
• Church services... nothing is more "Christmasy" or gives more perspective to Christmas
• Watch a Christmas movie while wrapping presents
• Go to the acutal movie theater... not always my favorite thing to do
• And just do whatever I want, whenever I want 

With great enjoyment, I accomplished most of my list this weekend. Kyle and I woke up relatively early on Saturday morning. I drug him to Starbucks, Bed Bath and Beyond, JCPenney, and Target. On our little Christmas adventure I said, "isn't this so much fun... our first time to Christmas shop together." His reply, "really? Are we almost done?" I forgive him. I guess it really isn't that much fun for a guy to pick out a silk nightgown for his grandmother.

Before and After

Friday night was the first time in over a month that Kyle and I were actually in the same location. Between Aggie football, weddings, a cheer competition, the deer lease, and Thanksgiving ... to name a few, we haven't gotten to have a lazy Friday in quite some time. So, we took full advantage of this time because next week starts another series of the exact same madness.

For some reason, The Biggest Loser is one of our shows. The two years after college, before we got married, Kyle would record it on Tuesday nights. Then, when I would come over on the weekends, we would watch it. We have still stuck with this same tradition, except we were kind of behind on the show because of our aforementioned plans. So, what did we start of with last night? The Biggest Loser. And doesn't it always seem that when you watch that show you are usually eating something you shouldn't? Don't ask me why, but we were eating sausage, sauerkraut, a potato, and beer... oh my, I feel guilty just writing that.

Since falling asleep early on a Friday is one of my favorite things, Kyle got my lazy butt off the couch, and we embarked upon setting up the new computer. Thank goodness it was with relative ease.

Before

After



After that... I got to fall asleep. It was 9:15. :)

Good Bye Old Stuff

I am by no means wasteful, but boy do I love to throw things away. I love the feeling of cleaning things out, and getting rid of unneeded stuff. I spent part of my time at work today cleaning out my 1st semester file cabinets and loved the fact that I was able to fill up my classroom's recycling box. I did however have a moments guilt of all of the paper that got thrown away, but after I saw all of my extra space in my filing cabinet, all sad feelings were soon gone.

Kyle and I just bought our Christmas present to each other. A new computer! (Kyle said it is more like his Christmas present to me since he is the one that saved all the money, but whatever :). We both haven't had new computers since we started college, so we were totally excited about getting rid of the ghetto tower, speakers, and cords that all old computers unfortunately have. I can't wait to dust off the desk and place our new computer on top. Good bye cord confusion. Good bye slow computer. You will now be making your way to Rockdale to live with Granny. You have served us well, but it is time that we say good bye.

As much as I love getting rid of the old things, I get weirdly excited about using/finishing other things. Examples: laundry soap, coupons, books, lotion, dryer sheets, spirals, groceries, and the list goes on. I know its really weird, but I like it when things have served their purpose. I guess so I can get rid of it after I use it?

Allie and Kyle Firsts: Christmas Decorations

Although it was only November 13th, our apartment welcomed the arrival of our first set of Christmas decorations!

While Kyle was gone to the deer lease with the boys, my mom, Meghan, and I braved the Nutcracker Market in search of decor to fill our small, yet cozy, apartment. Needless to say, we succeeded in finding the perfect items for our 900 square feet.


The best part about the decorations? Kyle's response. "Al, the apartment sure does look cute." ... (and I hope you just read that with your best Kyle accent that you could summon).

Our first Christmas tree

coffee table decor

Nativity from my mom and Connie

our little gingerbread man

mistletoe :)

the BEST Christmas tree candle

Bailey's jingle bell collar

Now, Kyle and I plan on putting a pause on the Christmas excitement, and we will enjoy 3 Thanksgivings this week. First, with my dad (accomplished yesterday). My family will celebrate Wednesday night followed by Kyle's family on Thursday. Kyle will then go on his last hunt before his shoulder surgery on the 11th, while the girls (mom, Meghan, Jill, and I) head off to the Nutcracker and enjoy some time getting back into the Christmas spirit.

The Inevitable Snooze

The snooze button has officially welcomed itself back in to my morning routine. I truly HATE the snooze button, but every year about this time (and usually until June 3rd) I find myself pressing it multiple times until I absolutely HAVE to get up. It might be shameful to admit, but I am a strategic snoozer. I set 2 alarms and snooze once. This way, I feel the regrettable satisfaction of what the snooze button has to offer.

Well, there is someone in my life that disagrees with my snoozing philosophy. Yep. Kyle.

On Tuesday morning, I was really not wanting to get up. So, I snoozed, and I snoozed, and I snoozed. About 15 minutes after I had dragged myself out of bed, Kyle comes into the bathroom where I was getting ready and gives me a death glare. Oops... my snoozing had gone too far.

Jump forward to Wednesday morning. My alarm goes off. Kyle kicks me in the leg. I'm up. Good bye snooze button. I'll miss you.

The Face Only a Mother Could Love

It is amazing how happy a dog can make you, and I am sure I could bore you with thousands of "Bailey" stories. So, I won't, but I will explain a few important things that have gone on in the life of Bailey.

Last weekend, Kyle and I went to Rockdale and College Station. Between travelling back and forth, mixed with the 4 Schielack wiener dogs, Bailey was better suited to stay with my mom. I already know that my mom is going to be a fantastic/obsessive grandmother because she gives Bailey more attention than I would expect her to give a human being. Not only does my mom make sure that Bailey receives ample kisses, scratches, outside time on her skateboard (followed by lots of Benedryl), and handfuls of popcorn, Bailey got sleep in her bed 2 nights in a row. Kyle and I have gone through phases (in our short 4 months of marriage) of letting her in the bed at night, but recently, Bailey's welcome has come to a screeching halt. For some reason, regardless of how many times we take her out, Bailey likes to pee on our bed. Why me? Do you know how many times I have washed the sheets in 2 weeks' time? She wouldn't pee at night while we were sleeping. She would do it while we were at work or an hour before bedtime, leaving Kyle and I to sleep with the skimpy blankets from the living room. So, 2 measures have been taken. First, the bed is a dog free zone. Second, the bedroom is closed while we are at work. However, to keep our room smelling dog free and keep the air flowing, I leave 1 of the bedroom doors open (see below).

While being kicked out of bed is no fun for Bailey, I will tell you 1 thing that makes Bailey more excited than anything else. Her cousin Henry. Henry is Meghan and Steven's tiny little mutt puppy. He has got to be the sweetest little dog ever, and he might be the only dog that truly loves our goofy, clumsy bulldog. So, jump back to last weekend when Bailey was at my mom's. Henry and Meghan are currently back at home until Meghan and Steven get married. This is quite perfect for Bailey because it was non-stop play for 48 hours with her best friend/cousin. :)

Bailey and Henry

Bailey... when she was allowed in bed

Sweet sleepy girl

Snuggling on the couch... our favorite thing to do

This is Bailey on Sunday after I picked her up from my mom. She was wiped out and slept in my closet for almost 24 hours straight.

The little pee pot is blocked from the bedroom. :)



You gotta love her...

After the Wedding

One of my favorite memories from the day of our wedding was the time Kyle and I were finally alone. We had spent a lot of time together at the wedding, but we hadn't had a chance to talk. After we left the reception, we did a photo shoot with the photographers, so we did not get back to the hotel until midnight. I remember feeling excited, happy, sad, overwhelmed... I couldn't believe the wedding had just happened and that it had been so perfect.

When we got to the hotel in The Woodlands, there was champagne and dessert waiting. I thought we were going to be too tired to eat, but we were starving because we hadn't eaten anything all night. Kyle and I just laughed and took pictures the whole time we munched. We were just so happy.

As happy as we were, I thought we were going to be too excited to sleep, but we were exhausted. The pictures from that brief time are such a special memory.

Well, we got a total of 3 hours of sleep because we had to leave for the airport super early. So, we crawled out of bed and got ready to head to the airport (with wedding make-up and jewelry still intact). We dropped off my wedding dress and Kyle's suit at the hotel desk for my parents to pick up later. It was still all so surreal. The things that we had spent over a year planning had come to an end. And, I couldn't have imagined it any better.



Dessert time.




Awesome room at Avia in The Woodlands.




Our tiny champagne.




Sweet boy.





Tired feet!





Happy together.

Gone With the Wind

Kyle and I have recently joined the Netflix craze. I usually don't care what movie Kyle picks because we only have time to watch movies together on the weekend... which means I will sleep through the entire movie. However, in an attempt to watch each other's favorites (Kyle's being the Godfather... which I did watch... even though it took 3 times of starting and stopping due to my inability to stay awake), Kyle rented Gone With the Wind.

First off, I didn't ask Kyle to rent this, so this is Kyle being romantic. You see, I am currently reading Gone With the Wind for the second time. It has to be my favorite book. But, as it always goes, the movie is not nearly as good as the book. The movie is great, but the book version of Scarlett O'Hara rocks! She is such a rebel (no pun intended), but she has such a good heart. Throughout the whole book she acts so hard and tough, but then there are those moments that make her so lovable and real. Quite frankly my dear, I love her.

So, we will see how our quest to conquer Gone With the Wind goes this weekend. We make no promises to get through it... it is a two disc movie after all, and we have to make a little trip to College Station to watch the Aggies b.t.h.o. Texas Tech and attend our favorite little person's 2nd birthday!

Newlyweds

Although I am horrible with change, marrying Kyle has been the easiest transition of my life. Towards the end of our engagement I was worried about how I would do leaving my mom and my siblings. However, it has been perfect. Really, since Kyle and I got engaged, everything has just gone so smoothly. From our engagement to wedding plan, I have lived a fairy tale... just ask my mom.

Everyone always says that the first year of marriage is the hardest. I know we have only been married for 3 1/2 months, but Kyle and I have never gotten along better than we do now. After 2 years of going back and forth from his apartment and my parents house, we have loved being settled in together. Side note: he recently started having ice water ready for me when I get home from coaching. Is he really that sweet, or do I already have him trained? haha... maybe both.

Here is a brief list of our favorite things to do since we have been married...

• Cooking- Many successful meals with a handful of "I can't believe he actually finished that."
• Chocolate Bar- He gives in and takes me when I start to whine.
• Netflix- It has made us perfectly lazy, but what more could you ask for when you have been gone at work all day.
• Bailey- We live behind a beautiful neighborhood that we love to walk her at... getting her to not poop in front of these mansions has been quite entertaining.
• First Methodist- We recently joined our church, and we are trying to get involved. Kyle just joined the Christmas choir. lol.
• Family- Miss them. Love them. Still see them lots.

Bandwagon

We have officially jumped on it.